October 7, 2015

Cosmopolitan’ calls the Kardashians, not the Obamas, ‘America’s First Family,’

Last night, Cosmopolitan unveiled their November issue with the Kadarshian-Jenner women calling them, “America’s First Family”, and many were not pleased.
To some on social media, the cover, which features sisters Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian, Kendall and Kylie Jenner and mom Kris Jenner, and not the Obamas, was a disrespectful act towards the real First Family.

According to USA Today, the magazine emailed in a statement, “We are teasing!” Spokeswoman Lauren Demitry also wrote, “”They are a huge cultural phenomenon. What we do know is there is nothing like the cover of a magazine to provoke a national conversation.”

Yet, this was was not the first time the magazine was criticized for its disrespect of Black people. In April, the magazine’s “Beauty Trends That Need to Die in 2015” only showcased Black women for out going fashion trends, but captioned “R.I.P”, while their white counterparts were labeled, “Hello, Gorgeous”.


http://atlantablackstar.com/2015/10/05/cosmopolitan-calls-kardashians-not-obamas-americas-first-family/

October 6, 2015

A mother paraded son thru Wal-Mart in women's underpants,boots and tutu as punishment

A mother is under investigation by the Department of Social Services after writing “BAD” on her son’s head, dressing him in women’s clothes and parading him around the Walmart as a form of punishment, according to Rock Hill Police.

Officers were called to the Dave Lyle Boulevard store about 8:30 p.m. Sunday. The boy was dressed in a tutu, women’s boots, a women’s undergarment and a T-shirt with permanent marker writing underneath. The boy’s head was shaved “in an unusual manner, bald on top with a patch of wig on the front of his head” and the word “BAD” written in marker on the back of his head, the report states.

The mother said she was “punishing her son for fighting and making homophobic remarks in school,” the report states. She added that he has been having behavioral issues, and “corporal punishment has been ineffective, so she was attempting to embarrass” her son as punishment.

Officers told the woman this was not an acceptable form of punishment and contacted a DSS case worker. The case was forwarded to DSS.

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/news/local/crime/article37817859.html#storylink=cpy

October 6, 2015

Farmworkers find a bumper crop of squalor in Coachella Valley trailer parks

Farmworkers find a bumper crop of squalor in Coachella Valley trailer parks


THERMAL, Calif. — When five farmworker families pooled their money to build the Don Jose Mobile Home Park on a plot of dusty land here, they knew little about building permits.

So they jury-rigged almost everything: Electricity was tapped from a post meant to power one well, the dirt road was covered in rugs to keep down the choking dust.


Twenty years later, some things have improved. But the park is still without permits. Its 55 residents live in aging trailers and cope with prolonged power outages. Their dirt road turns to pools of mud when it rains.

But its manicured lawns, whitewashed iron gate and carefully tended rose bushes signal that despite its flaws, it is home.

This part of the Coachella Valley, with its abundant agricultural fields, is dotted with unpermitted mobile home parks, housing thousands of farmworkers in dozens of tiny neighborhoods that were never designed to be permanent.

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-farmworker-trailers-20151006-story.html

October 6, 2015

Cop uncurled a 125 lb python from reptile store owners body

Collins said the victim appears to be doing okay at the hospital and is even talking.

The call came around 11 a.m. and Lt. Gregory Ripberger and Sgt. Daron Armberg were at the store within minutes, Collins said.

"It was only by the grace of God that one of the officers knew how to deal with snakes," Collins said.

Ripberger grabbed the snake by the head and worked to uncurl it off the man's body. Collins and other officers pulled Wilkens by his legs to free him.

The snake had begun to coil around Ripberger's arm before the officers were able to return it to its enclosure.

"It was a horrific event," Collins said.

Collins said the man was feeding the snake when it latched onto his arm.
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/10/05/animal-store-owner-crushed-python/73396696/

October 6, 2015

Rise in overcrowded housing, overcrowded = More than one person per room

EXCLUSIVE: Rise in overcrowded NYC apartments shows need for more housing, says Controller Scott Stringer


Perhaps most alarmingly, the number of studio apartments citywide with three or more residents has jumped 365% from 3,614 in 2005 to an amazing 24,557 in 2013.

The borough with the most overcrowded studios got way worse, with a 443% increase — that’s 12,615 additional studio apartments considered overcrowded in 2013.

All told New York City's overcrowding is now nearly triple the national average, with nearly one in 10 units — 8.8% — of rentals and homes deemed overcrowded in 2013.

____

Stringer said the growing trend toward cramped living makes for unhealthy conditions by exacerbating asthma, creates dangerous illegal apartments, and sometimes forces families into homeless shelters.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/exclusive-surge-number-overcrowded-nyc-apartments-article-1.2385078

October 6, 2015

Mighty 20-pound French bulldog scares off three bears from Monrovia home

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-french-bulldog-3-bears-20151005-story.html

Video footage shows the tiny dog chasing after the bears as they scurry around the property on Highland Place. One of the frightened bears quickly hops over a fence after being confronted by the small, black dog.


“She wasn’t having it,” her owner, David Hernandez, told KCBS-TV. “You are not coming into her property.”

The petite pooch’s bark was furious and frightening enough to scare off the bears.

According to Hernandez, bears are frequent visitors. It has gotten so bad that Hernandez installed security cameras and had to cover his daughter’s window with wooden boards to prevent the bears from sliding it open and entering, he told KCBS-TV.

October 5, 2015

video shows the moment a mother was pinned to the ground by police officers and repeatedly punched

Cindy Hahn, 40, is suing the city of Carlsbad and several police officers
She claims an officer told her to 'mind her own f****** business' after she asked a simple question
The same officer later pulled her over and pushed her to the ground
Video recorded at the scene shows her screaming 'help' as one officer holds her down while the other brutally beats her
She says the ordeal left her with permanent memory loss and brain trauma


In July this year, the San Diego District Attorney dropped felony charges against Hahn for battery on a police officer and resisting arrest – which her attorney Mark Geragos says was due to the video.
However, she is going ahead with the lawsuit due to the ‘senseless act of egregious police brutality’ and wants the police officers involved fired and reformed. Court documents alleged that they lied about the incident under oath during Hahn’s criminal proceedings.
Hahn’s father Mike Dalton, who has retired from the San Fernando Police Department, said the incident should never have happened
‘There was no need to punch her in the face,’ he said.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3260527/Shocking-video-shows-moment-mother-pinned-ground-police-officers-repeatedly-punched-face.html#ixzz3njA4tqKW
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October 5, 2015

Air France workers rip executives' clothes off during protest

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/10/05/air_france_protesters_attack_executives_rip_their_clothes_off_photos.html

Per AFP, the protests/attacks were a response to the company's threat to cut 2,900 jobs, which itself was a response to pilots' refusal to accept longer flying hours:

October 5, 2015

Video of rat eating spaghetti goes viral

The adorable rat from the Netherlands is called Baby and this clip of it half buried in spaghetti has racked up nearly 100,000 views in just over a day.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/11911617/Video-of-rat-eating-spaghetti-goes-viral.html

It comes weeks after a video of a rat carrying a full slice of pizza through a subway in New York went viral.


Sep 21, 2015 - 15 sec - Uploaded by Matt

October 5, 2015

Disneyland annual pass with no blackout days now costs more than $1,000

As Disneyland ponders how to deal with hordes of visitors during peak seasons, it raised the prices of annual passes on Sunday, introducing one that costs more than $1,000.

In the biggest change, Disney stopped selling a pass that let users attend its two Anaheim theme parks any day of the year, replacing it with two pricier options.

The now-discontinued Premium pass, which cost $779, allows unlimited attendance to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park and provides discounts on some food and merchandise. People who already have Premium passes can keep using them until they expire, Disney spokeswoman Suzi Brown said. But they cannot be renewed.

The new Signature Plus pass, costing $1,049, includes all the benefits of the Premium pass, as well as parking and unlimited downloads of keepsake pictures taken through the PhotoPass program. (Walt Disney World in Florida has a similar photo program, and a standalone purchase of unlimited downloads there costs $199.)

_____


And the Disney Premier Passport, which allows unlimited admission to the attractions not only in Anaheim but also in Florida, now costs $1,439, up 31%.

Additionally, the price of parking at the Anaheim parks rose to $18 from $17.

Going solo at Disneyland helps the imagination go wild
Going solo at Disneyland helps the imagination go wild
All price changes took effect immediately. Single-day admission prices, which jumped to $99 in February, remained the same.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-disneyland-prices-annual-pass-20151004-story.html