Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/334937300?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Sunday, October 20, 2013
'12 Years A Slave' Cast Explain Why That Dancing Scene Is So Twisted
Michael Fassbender and Sarah Paulson talk to MTV News about the 'brutality' of their characters.
By Tami Katzoff
Source:
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1715863/12-years-a-slave-brutal-characters.jhtml
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Shedding Sterotypes, More Librarians Show Us Their Tats
Is it their love of ink?
There seems to be something about tattoos that appeals to quite a few librarians.
Back in 2009 there was the Texas Library Association's "Tattooed Ladies of TLA" calendar that raised money for libraries damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Last year, the Tattooed Youth Librarians of Massachusetts came out with a calendar of their own featuring their inked-up members.
Now the Rhode Island Library Association is raising money by selling a "2014 Tattooed Librarians of the Ocean State" calendar.
The association's president, Jenifer Bond, tells Huff Post Books that:
"When we're out there advocating in the community, people always tell us that they love libraries. Purchasing a calendar is a great way to translate that sense of love into a show of support. RILA is committed to ensuring that libraries remain relevant in the digital age and will be here for our patrons when they need us most. It's a good cause! ... And if this calendar breaks a few stereotypes or sparks some conversations about libraries in the process, then we've done our job."
We've got a slideshow of the Rhode Islanders — 10 women and 2 men. For even more, check out this 2012 post from Mental Floss: "11 Amazing Librarian Tattoos."
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Saturday, October 19, 2013
Commuter chaos in San Francisco area train strike
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Commuters in the San Francisco Bay Area got up before dawn on Friday and endured heavy traffic on roadways, as workers for the region's largest transit system walked off the job for the second time in four months.
People were lined up well before 5 a.m. Friday at a Bay Area Rapid Transit train station in Walnut Creek for one of the charter buses BART was running into San Francisco. And traffic at the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge toll plaza into San Francisco and the roads leading to it was backed up for miles.
At the West Oakland BART station, a frazzled Tatiana Marriott raced to board a free charter bus to San Francisco shortly after 6 a.m. She had to be at work by 7 a.m.
"I probably should've gotten up a half-hour earlier," Marriott, 21, a seamstress, said, conceding that she would be late for work. "I just want BART and the unions to figure it out. I just want to get to work."
Other alternatives to BART include ferries and Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District buses.
"It's very frustrating," said Mary Nelson, a retail worker, as she waited for a ferry in Oakland. "I feel like they should be able to come to an agreement. I don't understand why they're holding a lot of hardworking people hostage."
The walkout began at midnight Thursday, the culmination of six months of on-again, off-again talks that fell apart. BART and the unions came "extremely close" to agreement on economic, health care and pension issues, but the parties were far apart on work rule issues, said Roxanne Sanchez, president of Service Employees International Union Local 1021.
The impasse came after a marathon negotiating session with the participation of federal mediators.
About 400,000 riders take BART every weekday on the nation's fifth-largest commuter rail system. The system carries passengers from the farthest reaches of the densely populated eastern suburbs to San Francisco International Airport across the bay.
SEIU said it was fighting to prevent BART from changing employees' fixed work schedules. Some employees work four-day, 10-hour shifts while others work five-day, eight-hour shifts. Union officials said BART wanted to schedule people as they saw fit.
BART officials say work rules refer to past practices that require approval from unions and management to change. The rules make it difficult to implement technological changes or add extra service on holidays because of a special event, the agency says.
Sanchez said SEIU and the Amalgamated Transit Union suggested taking the remaining issues to arbitration but management refused.
BART General Manager Grace Crunican countered that the agency needed to alter some of those rules to run the system efficiently. She said BART also needed to control costs to help pay for new rail cars and other improvements.
"We are not going to agree to something we can't afford. We have to protect the aging system for our workers and the public," Crunican said.
She urged the union leaders to let their members vote on management's offer by Oct. 27.
A four-day strike in July saw commuters lining up early in the morning for BART's charter buses and ferries across the bay, and enduring heavy rush-hour traffic.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency said it has developed plans to help people to get around, including providing two expanded carpool locations.
The key issues during most of the talks had been salaries and worker contributions to their health and pension plans.
Talks began in April, three months before the June 30 contract expirations. The unions initially asked for 23.2 percent in raises over three years. BART countered with a four-year contract with 1 percent raises contingent on the agency meeting economic goals.
The unions contended that members made $100 million in concessions when they agreed to a deal in 2009 as BART faced a $310 million deficit. And they said they wanted their members to get their share of a $125 million operating surplus produced through increased ridership.
On Sunday, BART negotiators presented a final offer that includes an annual 3 percent raise over four years and requires workers to contribute 4 percent toward their pension and 9.5 percent toward medical benefits.
The value of BART's proposal is $57 million, BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said.
Workers represented by the two unions, including more than 2,300 mechanics, custodians, station agents, train operators and clerical staff, now average about $71,000 in base salary and $11,000 in overtime annually, the transit agency said. BART workers currently pay $92 a month for health care and contribute nothing toward their pensions.
____
Associated Press writer Haven Daley contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/commuter-chaos-san-francisco-area-train-strike-154324589--finance.html
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Suspected polio cases found in Syria for first time in 14 years
LONDON (Reuters) - Two suspected cases of polio have been detected in Syria, the first appearance of the incurable viral disease there in 14 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday.
The U.N. body said initial test results from a cluster of cases of acute flaccid paralysis in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor in early October had come back positive for the crippling disease.
The WHO is still waiting for final test results from its regional reference laboratory. Wild poliovirus was last reported in Syria in 1999.
"The Ministry of Health of the Syrian Arab Republic confirms that it is treating this event as a cluster ... and an urgent response is currently being planned across the country, " the Geneva-based WHO said in statement.
"Syria is considered at high-risk for polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases due to the current situation."
More than 100,000 people have been killed in Syria's 2-1/2-year-old conflict, which began with popular protests against President Bashar al-Assad before degenerating into civil war. Nearly 2.2 million refugees have fled the country.
Polio is a highly infectious disease that invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within hours. It is endemic in just three countries, Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan, but sporadic cases also occur in other countries from time to time.
According to latest data from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, there have been 296 cases of the disease worldwide so far this year.
There is no cure for polio, but it can be prevented with immunization. Polio vaccine, given in multiple doses in a child's early years, almost always protects a child for life.
The WHO said it had issued a surveillance alert for the region to actively search for additional potential cases. Additional emergency immunization activities are also being planned in neighboring countries.
The WHO recommends that all travelers to and from polio-infected areas be fully vaccinated.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
- Health
- Disease & Medical Conditions
- Syria
- polio
- acute flaccid paralysis
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Verizon celebrates Vodafone split with a million new subscribers
Verizon's third quarter results are out, and it's not suffering any malaise after its break-up with Vodafone. In fact, it landed 1.1 million new mobile customers and over 300,000 new subscribers to its FiOS internet and video services during the three-month period. More than 67% of people on the ...Related Topics: redskins breast cancer awareness Malcom Floyd Kelly LeBrock brian wilson
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