I’m not kidding. CNN is still out there looking for the missing Malaysia plane, and on May 1st, almost two months since the plane went missing, CNN is spending an unimaginable amount of time reporting on… nothing.
Stephen Colbert took on the network and does a fairly accurate depiction of what CNN does on a regular basis these days!
Watch!
This amazing video has gone viral! It shows a Baltimore street filled with parked cars collapsing on Wednesday due to heavy rains. The last 15 seconds of the video is truly scary.
Video
More good news for America, some very bad news for Republicans. And its messed up that things are this way, but this is unfortunately the path Republicans have chosen – be against everything that’s good for the country.
Republicans have gone out of their way to show the world that they are against progress in this country. That’s why today’s unemployment numbers will make these America-hating Republicans upset!
The Labor Department reported today that the unemployment rate dropped to 6.3 percent, due to a better-than-expected employment numbers in April. The numbers show that employers added 288,000 workers to their payroll in April.
The 6.3 percent unemployment rate represents a 5 year low, and it also represents that this country is headed in the right direction. But don’t tell that to the Republicans. Right now, I’m sure they’re bunkered down, trying to figure out a way to spin these numbers negative.
Tune in to Fox News and listen to the Congressional Republicans to find out their latest negative talking point on this very positive employment news story.
NAACP interim President and CEO Lorraine Miller has accepted the resignation of the Los Angeles chapter president after questions surfaced as to why his branch honored beleaguered L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling for life Tuesday after revelations surfaced regarding Sterling making numerous statements denigrating black Americans.
In a letter of resignation, L.A. chapter President Leon Jenkins wrote, “Please be advised that the legacy, history and reputation of the NAACP is more important to me than the presidency. In order to separate the Los Angeles NAACP and the NAACP from the negative exposure I have caused the NAACP, I respectfully resign my position as president of the Los Angeles NAACP.”
LOS ANGELES NAACP: Sterling donation led to award
STERLING SCANDAL: Clippers owner could use divorce to avoid sale
Jenkins has come under fire from the public in recent days after it was made public that the chapter honored Sterling with a lifetime achievement award in 2009 and planned to do so again this month. Published reports indicated that Sterling had donated $45,000 to the chapter since 2007.
Earlier in the week, Jenkins told a press conference that the donations came to “an insignificant amount” and the chapter planned to return the money.
The NAACP said in its statement Thursday that its national office in Baltimore is developing guidelines to assist branches in their award selection process.
h/t – usatoday
Cellphone video taken by student on board sinking South Korean ferry records last words and pictures of teenage passengers. Father requested faces be blurred to protect grieving families. (May 1) Video provided by AP AP
A 17-minute recording made by a student who died when a ferry sank off the coast of South Korea provides the most heartbreaking glimpse yet of how a fun trip turned into horror for young passengers on the doomed Sewol.
The video, translated by USA TODAY and the Associated Press, was found on the phone of 17-year-old student Park Su Hyeon when rescuers recovered his body. His father, Park Jong Dae, said he released it to give his mourning nation a glimpse of the April 16 tragedy from inside the vessel.
The video was released to select South Korea media Monday, the same day authorities released a video taken by a coast guard member showing the Sewol’s captain fleeing the sinking ship while hundreds of passengers, most of them Danwon High School students on a class trip, remained below deck. The videos outraged the nation already devastated by the catastrophe. More than 300 of the 476 people who were on board are dead or missing.
The student video begins at 8:52 a.m. Korea time on April 16. The ship had just begun to list, and the chatter among students is a mix of humor and fear.
Early on, an announcement can be heard: “Don’t move away from your places and brace for any possible accidents.”
A student lightly asks, “Am I going to die?” But another quickly chastises with “It is not time to laugh. We are in a real situation.”
Moments later, one student says “Dad, I don’t want to die.” Another says, “It will be fun if waters flow in.”
Students are heard discussing problems with life jackets, which increases in importance after an announcement is made to don life jackets. By the time the clip ends at 9:09, everyone in view is wearing one.
Some of the students in the video struggle as they try to buckle their life jackets. As the ferry lists, they joke about “final commemorative pictures” and “defying gravity” by trying to walk on the walls.
“It’s like we’re becoming the Titanic,” one student says.
Passengers were repeatedly told to say in place. The announcement, at 9:08: “We’re again announcing: For passengers who can wear life vests, please wear them now. Never move away from your places.”
Capt. Lee Joon Seok said he delayed having passengers evacuate the ship because of worries about sending them into cold waters and fast currents before rescuers arrived. He said he ultimately ordered an evacuation, but it was not clear if that order was ever announced to passengers.
The captain and 14 crewmembers have been detained on suspicion of negligence and abandoning people in need. Prosecutors are investigating whether stability issues related to too much cargo or a redesign that added more cabins to the ship contributed to the sinking.
Some of the teens in the video use it to offer their last words. Some warn their siblings not to take school trips unless they want to end up like them.
“I’m really scared,” a student says.
“Is it really sinking?” another asks. “Wow, they’re giving us life vests.”
“I’m getting out of here,” one says. “Me too, me too,” says another.
A student says: “We have to survive now.”
“We’re all finished. I have to leave some farewell words before I die,” says another.
One says, “Mom, I love you.”
Contributing: Jae Yang; the Associated Press
As if having another Bush running for president is not a bad enough idea, George Bush – the guy who wrecked the economy with two unpaid, off-the-budget wars, and who blew a budget surplus in the first couple of years of his presidency – is making himself available to help his brother Jeb run for president in 2016.
In an interview scheduled to air Thursday on CNN, George Bush tells Jake Tapper that he is more than willing and available to help his brother run in 2016.
“Hey Jeb,” Bush says, “if you need some advice, give me a call.”
Bush continued sharing information no one cares about saying, “I really have not talked to Jeb about the presidency. It’s hard for people to believe.”
He then adds, “I hope Jeb runs. I think he would be a great president. I have no clue what’s on his mind. And we’ll talk when he’s ready.”
How much torture are we supposed to take from this family? Haven’t we had enough? Are we supposed to succumb to the Bush every time another member of that family figures out another way to bankrupt the country?
These bushes are like poison ivy. They’re the itch that never goes away!
ThinkProgress is reporting that Seattle will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour over the coming years under a deal brokered by Mayor Ed Murray and blessed by labor and business groups alike, city leaders announced Thursday afternoon.
The new pay floor will phase in at different speeds for businesses of different sizes, but all employers will have to meet the $15 minimum wage by the end of the decade. Businesses with more than 500 employees nationwide will have a three-year phase-in period, while smaller employers get five years to ratchet up their payscales.
After reaching $15 an hour, the city’s minimum wage will automatically climb by 2.4 percent each year regardless of the rate of inflation. Even among states with relatively strong minimum wage laws, automatic increases are uncommon.
This one happened in China. In what appears to be an argument or a fight between a few adults, the two year old is seen standing, watching the entire incident unfold. A few minutes later, the man comes running outside, grabs the infant and tosses the child as he makes his escape.
After tossing the child and running off, another individual chases after the man, but according to reports, the man is still at large.
The baby lived, but sustained serious injuries and is now under observation at a hospital.
Video
Fire? What wildfire? You wanna go out some time?
This dude knows how to take care of business. During a live KTLA report on blazing wildfires this shirtless guy with a dog, got the job done.
“Wow, you’re super pretty. Wanna go on a date sometime?”
h/t AATTP
Dean Angstadt fells trees for a living.
He’s a self-employed, self-sufficient logger who has cleared his own path for most of his 57 years, never expecting help from anyone. And even though he’d been uninsured since 2009, he especially wanted nothing to do with the Affordable Care Act.
“I don’t read what the Democrats have to say about it because I think they’re full of it,” he told his friend Bob Leinhauser, who suggested he sign up.
That refrain changed this year when a faulty aortic valve almost felled Angstadt. Suddenly, he was facing a choice: Buy a health plan, through a law he despised, that would pay the lion’s share of the cost of the life-saving surgery – or die. He chose the former.
“A lot of people I talk to are so misinformed about the ACA,” Angstadt said. “I was, before Bob went through all this for me. I would recommend it to anybody and, in fact, have encouraged friends, including the one guy who hauls my logs.
The embattled crack pipe mayor of Toronto was found indulging with another crack pipe and this time, like all the other times, there’s a video tape.
Ford, realizing that he is once again caught with his hands in the cookie jar, admitted himself to rehab.
He released a statement. Here it is:
For Immediate Release
April 30th, 2014
Tonight I want to take some time to speak from my heart to the people of Toronto. It’s not easy to be vulnerable and this is one of the most difficult times in my life. I have a problem with alcohol, and the choices I have made while under the influence. I have struggled with this for some time.
Today, after taking some time to think about my own well-being, how to best serve the people of Toronto and what is in the best interests of my family, I have decided to take a leave from campaigning and from my duties as Mayor to seek immediate help.
I have tried to deal with these issues by myself over the past year. I know that I need professional help and I am now 100% committed to getting myself right.
I love the people of Toronto, I love being your mayor and I hope you will continue to stand by me.
With the support of my family, friends, professionals and the people of Toronto, I will conquer this.
Please keep me and my family in your prayers during these difficult days ahead.
I just want to say to the people of Toronto that I thank you for your ongoing support and encouragement. I cannot tell you enough how much I appreciate it.
Mayor Rob Ford
