US stories

Great-grandma: Ready to 'lose' my life protesting

"CHICAGO -- Nan Wigmore brought her walker and packed her sign, “Grateful Great Grandmas Circle The Wagons, Support Occupy,” and rode on a bus for some three days, sleeping in the same clothes, to make it to the NATO protests in Chicago.

The 75-year-old from Portland, Ore., says she couldn't imagine being anywhere else despite the discomfort of her journey.

“My feelings are too deep to keep me in my old comfortable place, so I had to learn some new things and that means to move out of my comfort zone,” Wigmore said as she sipped a hot chocolate late Friday after a few hundred protesters met at a downtown Chicago plaza in the lead-up to the two-day summit that begins Sunday."

-- All of us need to take a lesson from Nan Wigmore and find ways to move out of all of our comfort zones. If this doesn't inspire you, I am not sure what will. -- JB, Supervising Editor

MSNBC article

Fatal Mississippi prison riot quelled, authorities say

"(CNN) -- Authorities said early Monday they had put down a prison riot that claimed the life of a guard as it continued into the late evening Sunday.


A 23-year-old guard died of head injuries in the disturbance at the Adams County Correctional Facility in Natchez, Mississippi, according to county coroner James Lee."(CNN) -- Authorities said early Monday they had put down a prison riot that claimed the life of a guard as it continued into the late evening Sunday.

A 23-year-old guard died of head injuries in the disturbance at the Adams County Correctional Facility in Natchez, Mississippi, according to county coroner James Lee.


STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• 19 people, including three inmates, were injured
• The prison was secured at 2:45 a.m. (3:45 a.m. ET) Monday
• The disturbance lasted about 12 hours
• A guard died of head injuries, officials say"
  

CNN article

-- Whether on Wall St., at private homes or police stations, theft, in some form or fashion, is taking place on every level. And the brazenness of these acts are just growing. How much more people will allow to happen is up to all of us to decide. -- JB, Managing Editor

OUTRAGE: Police Accused Of Stealing Citizens' Bail Money

"She used part of her disability payment and her tax return. Joel Greer's wife also chipped in, as did his brother and two sisters. On Feb. 29, a judge set Greer's bail at $7,500, and his mother called the Brown County jail to see where and how she could get him out. "The police specifically told us to bring cash," Greer says. "Not a cashier's check or a credit card. They said cash."

The Greers had been subjected to civil asset forfeiture, a policy that lets police confiscate money and property even if they can only loosely connect them to drug activity. The cash, or revenue from the property seized, often goes back to the coffers of the police department that confiscated it. It's a policy critics say is often abused, but experts told The HuffPost that the way the law is applied to bail money in Brown County is exceptionally unfair."

Huffington Post article

Airlines Could Charge Extra For Seats Together: AP

If you're flying this summer in the U.S., be prepared to kiss your family goodbye at the gate. Even if they're on the same plane.

Huffington Post,

21 May, 2012

U.S. airlines are reserving a growing number of window and aisle seats for passengers willing to pay extra. That's helping to boost revenue but also making it harder for friends and family members who don't pay this fee to sit next to each other. At the peak of the summer travel season, it might be nearly impossible.

Buying tickets two or more months in advance makes things a little easier. But passengers are increasingly finding that the only way to sit next to a spouse, child or friend is to shell out $25 or more, each way.

With base fares on the rise – the average domestic roundtrip ticket this summer is forecast by Kayak.com to be $431, or 3 percent higher than last year – some families are reluctant to cough up more money.

For article GO HERE