August 20, 2014

40 Percent of American Workers Will Leave Paid Vacation Days Unused

I hope you're not reading this. That's because, this being mid-August, I hope as many people as possible are on vacation somewhere -- maybe someplace exotic, or maybe just a relaxing staycation at home. And if you are on vacation, you definitely shouldn't be staring into screens -- so please, close the computer or power down your phone immediately and take a walk outside.

Unfortunately, all too many of us could be on vacation but choose not to. That's the finding of a striking and important new study released this morning by Travel Effect, an initiative of the U.S. Travel Association. Entitled "Overwhelmed America: Why Don't We Use Our Paid Time Off?," the study found that 40 percent of American workers will leave paid vacation days unused.

Even more revealing are the reasons respondents gave for leaving paid time off on the table. The four reasons cited the most are the dread of returning from a vacation to piles of work (40 percent), the belief that no one will be able to step in and do their job for them while they're gone (35 percent), not being able to afford it (33 percent) and the fear of being seen as replaceable (22 percent).

"Americans suffer from a work martyr complex," said Roger Dow, President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. "In part, it's because 'busyness' is something we wear as a badge of honor. But it's also because we're emerging from a tough economy and many feel less secure in their jobs. Unfortunately, workers do not seem to realize that forfeiting their vacation time comes at the expense of their overall health, well-being and relationships."


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/paid-vacation-days_b_5693225.html

August 20, 2014

SF: Aunt of girl killed by hit-and-run driver arrested crossing against the light.

NOTE: Let this be a lesson. I see people doing it all the time with kids here in San Francisco.

SAN FRANCISCO — The aunt of the 2-year-old killed in a hit-and-run crash Friday night has been arrested and charged with felony child endangerment.

The young girl, referred to by friends and family as “Mymy” was killed in the crosswalk on Mission Street between 4th and 5th Streets when she was struck by a car traveling eastbound on Mission St. around 10:30 p.m. Friday night.

According to the investigation, the girl and her aunt, 25-year-old Lorysha Gage, attempted to cross Mission Street against the signal. San Francisco police say Gage, who was caring for the girl and her twin brother at the time of the crash, walked the girl into the middle of the street while the girl’s brother remained on the sidewalk. Gage then left the girl in the street to retrieve the brother, at which time the young girl was struck and killed by a car traveling on Mission St. with the green light.

The driver of the car is still at large.


http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/crime-law/aunt-girl-killed-hit-and-run-driver-arrested/ng5mL/

August 20, 2014

Politico: Obama can't go to Ferguson because...you know...

It’s a paradox of Barack Obama’s presidency: The first African-American to run the country finds himself in the tensest racial confrontation of his tenure, but is constrained from addressing the nation’s original sin in anything but the loftiest, most dispassionate terms.

“We’ve made extraordinary progress,” in race relations, Obama said on Monday, addressing the unrest in Ferguson, Mo., over the police shooting of Michael Brown, “but we have not made enough progress.”

That observation is so obvious as to be anodyne, but Obama has good reason to confine himself to Joe Friday generalities in the face of the discordant street demonstrations, belligerent police tactics and unfinished official investigation in Ferguson.

Ever since he first judged that the Cambridge, Mass., police had “acted stupidly” in 2009 by arresting Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. in his own doorway, Obama’s most candid comments on race have been just as likely to inflame a significant segment of public opinion as to soothe it.



http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/barack-obama-ferguson-race-110165.html#ixzz3AtMvp7e7

August 19, 2014

Iran’s Government Is Worried that Its People Are Having the Wrong Kind of Sex

A recent Iranian parliamentary report has presented a candid illustration of the sexual practices of the Islamic Republic's youth — so candid that it was quickly withdrawn from a government website.

The Iranian Parliament's legal research wing published the document, a copy of which VICE News obtained. Using data from several studies that surveyed some 142,000 Iranian students over the past decade, it found that 80 percent of unmarried females acknowledged being in relationships with members of the opposite sex, while 17 percent of all respondents identified as homosexual. Being in a pre-marital romantic relationship and being homosexual are both illegal in Iran.

The report offers a revealing glimpse of the tension within Iran between its increasingly Westernized youth — who are tentatively encouraged by reformist President Hassan Rouhani — and a deflated conservative vision imposed on the nation by its repressive clerical leadership.

"Under present circumstances, sexual desires are intensified due to high-calorie diets and sexual stimulants such as images and movies containing lustful nudity, pornographic images, and movies, etc.," it says. "Therefore the average sexual maturity age is decreased, resulting in earlier puberty of teenagers. On the other hand, lack of suitable circumstances for permanent marriage, as well as the adverse teachings of Western culture, have resulted in sexual relationships and behaviors beyond rational and religious restrictions of Islamic societies."



https://news.vice.com/article/irans-government-is-worried-that-its-people-are-having-the-wrong-kind-of-sex

August 19, 2014

The Revolutionary War was the ultimate "civil disobedience".

Many lives were taken on each side and we rightfully lionize them today. But if someone refuses to go home just because a cop tells him too, he becomes a "thug".

August 19, 2014

Malcolm X on police brutality (VIDEO)

August 19, 2014

Watching a Driving While Black arrest on MSNBC.

Ration 3-1 riot police officers to passengers, all with their hands up.

August 19, 2014

It's about to get bloody: Police telling media to "get back"

Per CNN. To "take care of the situation".

August 19, 2014

"They can't go home" WTF?

Police are telling people to go home, but they are blocking access to vehicles and any other means to GET home.

August 19, 2014

I'm joining the ACLU for the first time tonight.

I've always been cowed away from joining the ACLU ever since the 1988 election when Mike Dukakis was forn apart for his affiliation. But after the events in Ferguson, MO, I can't stand by idly anymore.