Over thirty students at Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego have been suspended after allegedly using school equipment to film a twerking video.
Urban Dictionary defines “twerking” as “the act of moving/ shaking ones ass/buns/bottom/buttocks/bum-bum in a circular, up-and-down, and side-to-side motion. basically a slutty dance. derived from strip clubs.”
All told, some 33 media class students involved in the production of the video have been sent home for at least five days for violating the school’s zero-tolerance sexual harassment policywhich prohibits “verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature made by someone from or in the educational setting.”
Suspended seniors may also be banned from attending prom and graduation.
Many Scripps Ranch students took to social media following the suspension to express their displeasure.
“Suspended, banned from prom, and prevented from walking at graduation all because of an awesome twerk video,” tweeted one student, according to NBC 7. “I don’t understand.”
Another suspended student tweeted: “Suspended for twerking. What do I do? Twerk. At the beach. I twerk at the beach.”
Supporters of the twerkers have also been voicing their disbelief along with the hashtag “#freethetwerkteam.”
Meanwhile, parents are saying that the school should not have suspended the students, but rather used the incident “as a teaching moment to remind students that when a person is videotaped, he/she never knows where it’s going to go.”
At least one school board member, Scott Barnett, plans to bring up the twerking video at Tuesday’s board meeting to ensure that the punishment fit the crime.
Former New York Giants linebacker Michael Boley was arrested for child abuse in February just three days after he was cut from the team, it was revealed today.
Boley, 30, had been under investigation in Alabama stemming from a 2011 incident involving his then-5-year-old son.
The details of the case involving the ex-NFL star have been under wraps, but sources told the gossip site TMZ that the alleged abuse was physical and not sexual in nature.
The starting linebacker in Super Bowl XLVI was set to go before a grand jury in February, but he reached a plea agreement with the prosecution.
The 30-year-old father of six admitted to child abuse, and in exchange was ordered to enter a pre-trial diversion program. Upon completing the course, the charge would be dropped against Boley, who indicated that he intends to comply with these conditions.
As part of the plea deal, the football player was also required to turn himself in February 8 in Etowah County, Alabama. He was released without posting a bond later that day.
Boley, who was first drafted in 2005 by the Atlanta Falcons, ended his career with the Giants on February 5, just three days before his arrest. He is currently a free agent.
Channel 2 Action News has learned that at least three Morehouse College athletes are charged in connection with a rape.
The three men play on the college’s basketball team. A player on the college’s football team has also been charged in a separate rape case.
Attorney Jackie Patterson told Channel 2’s Tom Jones his client, Chukwudi Ndudikwa, never touched the victim and will be vindicated.
Jones talked to students from the Morehouse campus about the allegations and they told him they are appalled that something like this could happen on campus.
“It’s sad and it really hurts me as a student and those are my Morehouse brothers,” student Dominique Merriwether said.
Two Spelman College students, in two separate incidents, accused the four of rape. The allegations stunned Spelman students.
“To know that it was somebody, a Spelman sister, somebody so close, is very frightening,” Spelman student Lorraine Levels told Jones.
In the first incident, police said Morehouse basketball players Malcolm Frank and Shukwudi Ndudikwa raped an 18-year-old female student on campus in the East Suites in March.
Tevin Mgbo faces kidnapping, reckless conduct and sodomy in the attack.
“My client never touched the alleged victim,” Patterson told Jones Wednesday. She said the alleged victim was drunk and high the night of the alleged attack.
“This was a case where a young lady used very bad judgment by being high on Molly, which is a form of powdered Ecstasy,” Patterson said.
Police believe someone placed the drug in the student’s drink.
In the second incident, also in March, the female student complained Lucien Kidd, a Morehouse football player, raped her off campus, and then is accused of saying, “Did I lose a friend?”
Levels told Jones she is proud the students didn’t let the athlete’s popularity silence them.
The Saudi embassy in Washington, D.C. today denied its government warned the U.S. about accused Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
According to a highly placed source who spoke to MailOnline, the Saudis sent a written warning about Tsarnaev to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2012. That was long before pressure-cooker blasts killed three and injured hundreds.
The official told MailOnline about a written warning from the Saudi government to the Department of Homeland Security, and said he had direct knowledge of that document.
But the Middle Eastern nation’s embassy in Washington denied that account on Wednesday.
It issued a statement which read: ‘The Saudi government had no prior information about the Boston bombers. Therefore, it is not true that any information, written or otherwise, was passed to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or any other US agency in this regard,’ an embassy statement statement claimed.
‘The Saudi government also does not have any record of any application by Tamerlan Tsarnaev for any visa to Saudi Arabia.’
The Saudis’ warning, the official told MailOnline, was separate from the multiple red flags raised by Russian intelligence in 2011, and was based on human intelligence developed independently in Yemen.
The Saudis’ warning to the U.S. government was also shared with the British government. ‘It was very specific’ and warned that ‘something was going to happen in a major U.S. city,’ the Saudi official said during an extensive interview.
It ‘did name Tamerlan specifically,’ he added. The ‘government-to-government’ letter, which he said was sent to the Department of Homeland Security at the highest level, did not name Boston or suggest a date for his planned attack.
If true, the account will produce added pressure on the Homeland Security department and the White House to explain their collective inaction after similar warnings were offered about Tsarnaev by the Russian government.
A DHS official denied, however, that the agency received any such warning from Saudi intelligence about Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
‘DHS has no knowledge of any communication from the Saudi government regarding information on the suspects in the Boston Marathon Bombing prior to the attack,’ MailOnline learned from one Homeland Security official who declined to be named in this report.
NEW YORK — PepsiCo is once again learning the risks of celebrity partnerships after an ad for Mountain Dew was criticized for portraying racial stereotypes and making light of violence toward women.
The soda and snack food company said it immediately pulled the 60-second spot after learning that people found it offensive. The ad was part of a series developed by African-American rapper Tyler, The Creator, and depicted a battered white woman on crutches being urged to identify a suspect out of a lineup of black men.
A goat character known as Felicia is included in the lineup and makes threatening comments to the woman, such as “Ya better not snitch on a playa” and “Keep ya mouth shut.”
The woman eventually screams “I can’t do this, no no no!” and runs away. The word “do” is in apparent reference to the soft drink’s “Dew It” slogan.
Mountain Dew, known for its neon color and high caffeine content, is generally marketed to younger men and sometimes attempts to have edgier ads. But the controversy over its latest spot illustrates the fine line that companies must walk when trying to be hip.
In fact, Mountain Dew also was criticized recently because of its endorsement deal with Lil Wayne, whose rap lyrics compared a rough sex act to the tortuous death of Emmett Till, a black teen who was murdered in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman. Last month, Reebok also ended its relationship with Rick Ross after he rapped about giving a woman a drug to have his way with her.
Laura Ries, president of Ries & Ries, a marketing firm based in Atlanta, said companies that want the “street cred” of a celebrity may end up losing control of the message they want to convey.
If PepsiCo had created an ad for Mountain Dew, for example, she said it might not have been considered edgy or cool. But by handing over control to a celebrity, she said the company ran the risk of having an ad that wasn’t appropriate.
PepsiCo Inc., based in Purchase, N.Y., said it understood how the ad could be offensive.
“We apologize for this video and take full responsibility,” the company said in an updated statement late Wednesday afternoon. “We have removed it from all Mountain Dew channels and Tyler is removing it from his channels as well.”
Three more suspects have been taken into custody in the marathon bombings, city police said Wednesday.
The police department made the announcement in a tweet Wednesday morning, saying more details would follow. Police spokeswoman Cheryl Fiandaca confirmed the tweet but referred all other questions to the FBI.
Three people were killed and more than 260 injured on April 15 when two bombs exploded near the finish line.
Suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev died after a gunfight with police several days later. His brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was captured and lies in a hospital prison.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s relatives will claim his body now that his wife has agreed to release it, an uncle said. Tsarnaev, 26, has been at the medical examiner’s office in Massachusetts since he died after a gunfight with authorities more than a week ago.
After what happened in Sandy Hook, and especially after Congressional Republicans stood their grounds against any form of gun control, you can’t help but think that there will be many more stories like this. And with that knowledge, you’d think Republicans would want to cut down on these kind of news. But you’d be wrong to think that.
A Kentucky toddler was accidentally shot dead by her own brother as he played with a gun he’d been given as a gift, police said.
Caroline Starks, 2, was killed after her 5-year-old sibling fired the .22-caliber rifle at their Burkesville home at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
She was rushed to Cumberland County Hospital but pronounced dead.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the weapon — a Crickett branded by makers Keystone Sporting Arms as “My First Rifle” — was given to the boy last year.
KABUL, Afghanistan – The U.S.-led military coalition says seven people died when a civilian cargo aircraft crashed at Bagram Air Field, north of the Afghan capital.
In a statement, the coalition confirmed that all seven civilian crew members were killed in Monday’s crash.
The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the crash. But the coalition denied that, saying in a statement to The Associated Press that the militant group’s statement was false.
The coalition said there was no militant activity during the time of the crash.
The coalition said the cause of the accident is being investigated.
Investigators have found female DNA on at least one of the bombs used in the Boston Marathon attacks, though they haven’t determined whose DNA it is or whether that means a woman helped the two suspects carry out the attacks, according to U.S. officials briefed on the probe.
The officials familiar with the case cautioned that there could be multiple explanations for why the DNA of someone other than the two bombing suspects—Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar—could have been found on remnants of the exploded devices. The genetic material could have come, for example, from a store clerk who handled materials used in the bombs or a stray hair that ended up in the bomb.
On Monday, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents were seen leaving the Rhode Island home of the parents of Katherine Russell, the widow of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The elder brother died after a shootout with police four days after the April 15 bombings.
Ms. Russell has been staying with her parents since the bombings, and FBI agents have been seen posted outside the home since her late husband was identified as one of the bombers. Her lawyer has said she is “doing everything she can to assist with the investigation.”
Don’t want to sacrifice a great paycheck for the ability to work from home? With these six careers, you don’t have to.
By Andrea Duchon
Growing up, you often think of professional success in terms of your workplace – corner office with a view, anyone? But as you get older, your idea of the most desirable place to work might shift into something a bit more fluid and a little less 9-to-5.
Danielle Mund, a certified career and entrepreneur coach, explains that telecommuting is on the rise, despite recent debates about its merits in business. But which careers can easily be done outside the office?
“The easiest careers to telecommute in are those that aren’t as much about communal decision-making as they are about creation,” says Mund.
“These careers tend to have the need to be free from distractions, like colleagues popping into your cubicle unannounced, for example,” says Mund. But that’s not all. Changes in technology have obviously made it much easier to work remotely. “The Internet and the cell phone have made it infinitely more accessible to work outside of a traditional setting,” says Mund.
Healthy paycheck. Comfortable digs. Never changing out of your pajamas – what more could you ask for? Curious which jobs might lead you home? Keep reading to learn about six high-paying careers where you may be able to literally phone it in.
Love the possibility of making the world a prettier place but don’t want to sit in a cubicle day in and day out to do it? A career as a graphic designer could give you the opportunity to work from anywhere, rake in some decent cash, and follow your creative dreams.
Graphic designers are generally regarded as some of the most creative people on a team. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, they’re the ones responsible for creating visual concepts, selecting colors, images, and layouts, and advising clients on strategies to reach their audience.
Why It’s Ideal for Telecommuting: You may think graphic designers must work in a collaborative environment, chained to the communal table with their colleagues, but Mund says that’s not the case.
“Graphic designers are asked to solve creative problems, which perhaps counter-intuitively, is often something best done alone,” notes Mund. “We now know that creative work – things that require innovation or art – is best done in solitude.”
Additionally, open-plan offices, which are used by most creative agencies, have actually been found to decrease productivity, she adds. “Thus, telecommuting may be even more conducive for this type of work than working in an office.”
Salary Potential: What’s more, toiling away in creative solitude could earn you a healthy salary. Top paid graphic designers in the 90th percentile make $77,490 annually, according to the Department of Labor. On the low end of the scale (10th percentile), designers make $26,250, while the median annual wage registers at $44,150.
Education Requirements: You’ll be required to have a bachelor’s degree in graphic design or a related field if you want to pursue a position as a graphic designer, according to the Department. If you’ve earned a bachelor’s degree in another field, you should pursue “technical training in graphic design” and be prepared with a solid professional portfolio demonstrating your creativity and originality.
Think you might have what it takes to be a programmer but aren’t sure you’re cut out for office life? Computer programming may provide the opportunity to ditch the cubicle and work from home – and the pay isn’t bad, either.
Computer programmers create, test, and fix bugs in software programs by working with computer code, says the U.S. Department of Labor. These programs range from simple mobile applications for cell phones to more complicated computer operating systems.
Why It’s Ideal for Telecommuting: The two reasons this career is great for telecommuters stem from the fact that it requires a computer and it involves creativity, says Mund.
“Because you can work from anywhere with only an outlet and an Internet connection, it’s not difficult to choose the place where you’re most productive instead of focusing on punching the clock,” she says.
The second reason, Mund adds, is that despite the technical nature of the work, it is actually quite creative. “Generally speaking, programmers solve the types of problems that must be solved by one person, not a team. When a programmer can work away from distractions like coworkers, he or she can get work done more effectively.”
Salary Potential: And if you work effectively, salary for this career could be in your favor, too. The Department of Labor lists median annual wage for computer programmers as $74,280. The top 90th percentile of employees earns $117,890, while the bottom 10th percentile earns $42,850.
Education Requirements: According to the Department, most computer programmers have a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field. However, some employers may hire you if you’ve only earned an associate’s degree. Certification is an additional way to demonstrate your skills and give you a competitive edge, says the Department.
Turns out accountants aren’t only working during tax time. In fact, almost all organizations employ accountants to ensure that financial documents and records are in order 24/7. But don’t they have to be working alongside the rest of the office to rake in their hefty salaries? Contrary to popular belief, maybe not.
Why It’s Ideal for Telecommuting: An accountant doesn’t need a group of people around to carry out his or her best work – instead they’re able to get by with only financial records and a spreadsheet, says Mund. “And that, of course, can be done from anywhere – the office, the home, or elsewhere.”
The U.S. Department of Labor backs up Mund’s claim: While many accountants work in offices, some work from home or travel to their clients’ places of business instead.
But don’t think that telecommuting translates to fewer hours. One in five accountants worked more than 40 hours a week in 2010, according to the Department of Labor.
Salary Potential: Accountants earning in the bottom 10th percentile report a respectable $39,930, says the Department of Labor. The top 90th percent, however, could see $111,510, while the median annual salary is $63,550.
Education Requirements: If you want to pursue a career in accounting, the Department says you’ll need at least a bachelor’s degree in accounting or a related field. Looking for a competitive edge? Many accountants get licensed as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) to enhance job prospects.
Look around. Chances are that when your eyes focus on something near you, you’ll see text. And where there is text, there’s a writer behind it. Whether you’re reading an advertisement, a magazine, or the lyrics of a song, a writer is responsible for creating it, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
But did you know that some writers are able to work from the couch or their neighborhood coffee shops and still make a decent paycheck?
Why It’s Ideal for Telecommuting: Just like many other careers on this list, the meat of this profession is best done alone. “Input from others during the writing process can stifle the flow of thoughts from brain to fingertip to screen, cause undue fear or pressure for perfection, and so on. Writing on one’s own terms can yield better results than working in a normal office environment,” explains Mund.
The other key factor that makes this a great career for doing just about anywhere with computer access is that many writers don’t have what we would traditionally think of as a boss. As the Department of Labor points out, in 2010 about 68 percent of writers were self-employed. Some industries in which writers might find work include religious, grant-making, or civic work; newspaper, periodicals, or books; and advertising or public relations, notes the Department.
Salary Potential: If you find yourself in the top 90th percentile as a writer, the Department of Labor says you could make $117,860. The bottom 10 percent earns $27,770, while the median salary is $55,940.
Education Requirements: Much like the career itself, the path to writing isn’t written in stone. Still, if you’re interested in going down that path, the Department has this to say: “A college degree is generally required for a salaried position as a writer. Many employers like to hire people who have a degree in English, journalism, or communications.”
If you love public speaking and don’t mind long hours, a career as a public relations specialist could be right up your alley. But despite how “public” this career seems, you might be surprised to learn that you could carry out some of these duties remotely.
Public relations specialists write press releases and help clients communicate effectively to the public, says the U.S. Department of Labor.
Why It’s Ideal for Telecommuting: Because press conferences take place outside of the office, it’s clear why these professionals wouldn’t need to be there all the time, says Mund. But there are other reasons this career is great for telecommuting, too.
Public relations specialists are communicating constantly – but that doesn’t mean they need to actually be putting in face time to do that, she says. “This is the kind of job twentieth-century technologies, like phones and the Internet, were made for: immediate, scalable communication and information.”
And the need for that immediate communication doesn’t always happen in the office. According to the Department of Labor, people in this profession are often attending meetings, giving speeches, and traveling – which means putting in office time may be less common than other careers.
Salary Potential: Of course, that doesn’t mean this career path rewards you any less. The median annual wage of a public relations specialist is $54,170, says the Department. The top 90th percentile earning wage is $101,030, and the bottom 10th percentile is $30,760.
Education Requirements: Typically, says the Department, to pursue a career as a PR specialist, you’ll need a bachelor’s degree in fields employers prefer, such as journalism, public relations, English, communications, or business.
Ever wonder how and why your computer works when you turn it on and open up a program? The answer is software developers. These creative types develop the applications that run on your computer or other devices, and constantly work to make sure that they function correctly, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. But how are they able to work from their couch and still make a great salary?
Why It’s Ideal for Telecommuting: Developers, like programmers, work exclusively from computers, so they’re already set up to telecommute. Mund says that this career also requires a type of creation, so it’s best done when you can get into the “flow.”
She defines flow as a state of concentration and complete focus on the activity in front of you. And as anyone who’s worked in an office before can tell you, “flow” isn’t as easily achieved in a traditional setting where you’re likely to be distracted.
Salary Potential: If you earn median salary as an applications software developer, you could expect to see $90,060, according to the Department of Labor. The top 90th percentile makes $138,880, while the bottom 10th percentile makes $55,190.
Education Requirements: If you want to pursue a career as a software developer, you’ll probably need to have a bachelor’s degree, notes the Department. Most computer programmers have one in computer science, software engineering, or a related degree. These professionals also have strong computer programming skills, says the Department.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — After door-to-door sweeps proved fruitless, law officers urged residents of a small town in Northern California to lock their doors and keep a close eye on streets and yards for a man who stabbed an 8-year-old girl to death in her house.
The attacker, only described as wearing a black shirt and blue pants, was the subject of a broad search Sunday by the sheriff’s departments of Calaveras and surrounding counties, the California Highway Patrol and the state Department of Justice.
Leila Fowler was stabbed to death on Saturday at the home inValley Springs, Coroner Kevin Raggio said. Sheriff’s officials say investigators have collected fingerprints and what they believe is DNA from the home. Calaveras County Sheriff’s Capt. Jim Macedotold the Modesto Bee (http://bit.ly/14CJ5s2 ) authorities hope to have lab results on the evidence in a week.
“This is way too close to home,” Julia Poland, who took her 13-year-old daughter to an afternoon news conference on the search, told the Bee. “This kind of thing does not happen here.”
Leila was found by her brother — reported by local media to be 12 years old — after he encountered a male intruder in the home. When the intruder ran away, the boy found his sister stabbed. She was pronounced dead at a local hospital, officials said.
Authorities spent Saturday night and into Sunday conducting a door-to-door sweep of homes scattered across hilly terrain, checking storage sheds and horse stables, and even searching attics.
“It is a difficult area to search, it’s rural, remote,” sheriff’s Capt. Jim Macedo said.
Mass notifications alerted residents about the attack and the search for the suspect, officials said.
“I was working on my tractor and a CHP copter kept flying over my house,” Roger Ballew, 35, told The Associated Press on Sunday.
A SWAT team showed up at his house Saturday night and told him to stay inside.
“It was nerve-racking, I didn’t sleep well,” Ballew said.
Investigators on Sunday were interviewing several people, but no suspects had been named by late afternoon. Detectives were checking out tips that had come in to the sheriff’s office, including possible leads from outside the county, officials said.
“It’s just terrible,” resident Paul Gschweng told Sacramento television station KCRA. “What can I say about it, it’s just a tragedy.”
The station reported that a neighbor told police that a man was running from the girl’s home after the attack.
Investigators were asking area residents to call authorities if they had any information, knew of anyone who had unexplained injuries or may have left the area unexpectedly after the girl was killed.
Valley Springs is a community of about 2,500 people in an unincorporated area of Calaveras County, known as “Gold Country,” in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, about 60 miles southeast of Sacramento.
The county became world-famous in 1865 with Mark Twain’s short story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” according to the Calaveras County Chamber of Commerce website.
President Barack Obama joked Saturday about his plans for a radical second-term evolution from “strapping young Socialist” to retiree golfer, all with a new hairstyle like first lady Michelle’s.
Obama used this year’s annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner to poke fun at himself and some of his political adversaries, asking if it was still possible to be brought down a peg after 4½ years as commander-in-chief.
Entering to the rap track “All I Do Is Win” by DJ Khaled, Obama joked about how re-election would allow him to unleash a radical agenda. But then he showed a picture of himself golfing on a mock magazine cover of “Senior Leisure.”
“I’m not the strapping young Socialist that I used to be,” the president remarked, and then recounted his recent 2-for-22 basketball shooting performance at the White House Easter Egg hunt.
But Obama’s most dramatic shift for the next four years appeared to be aesthetic. He presented a montage of shots featuring him with bangs similar to those sometimes sported by his wife.
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