STOWAWAY SNEAKS THROUGH SECURITY AT MINETA SAN JOSE AIRPORT, ONTO LA-BOUND PLANE

My question is how does this happen with all the security processes in place? 


A Northern California woman who has repeatedly tried to sneak onboard airline flights without paying has finally gotten off the ground. 

A member of the House Homeland Security Committee says Marilyn Hartman, 62, bypassed a document checker at Mineta San Jose International Airport, walked onto the plane and even took a seat. 

Southwest Airlines did a head count after the plane was in the air and realized there was a discrepancy in its passengers. 

Hartman was immediately arrested once the plane landed at Los Angeles International Airport Monday night. 

The incident was at least her seventh attempt to sneak onto planes, most of which have occurred at San Francisco International Airport. 

On Feb. 15, she made it on to a plane bound for Hawaii. Fortunately, she was caught before that plane took off. Three days later, she tried again, but was caught. 

Then again on Feb. 20 she was caught, but that time she was ordered to stay away from the airport unless she had a ticket. That didn't stop her; she was also arrested on March 18, March 26, and April 7.

The 62-year-old told officials she is lonely, and has been trying to get on a flight to Hawaii. 

TSA says it is already making adjustments to prevent this sort of incident from happening again.

"We have to really make sure we get it right. We're not sacrificing speed for safety, that's why I think this is going to be a training and procedure fix, not necessarily spending more money," said Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security Rep. Eric Swalwell. 

Southwest Airlines says it's working with authorities and conducting its own internal investigation into the incident.

Hartman is being held at the LAPD 77th Street Jail and Police Station in lieu of $500 bail. She faces misdemeanor trespassing charges. 

The Social Security Administration denying Veterans benefits in record numbers: WHY we ask are there so many HOMELESS Veterans

Personally I find this whole process to be bogus and depressing. If you have depression already, this process just adds to the problem. Their whole position on the matter is to deny everyone. VA doctors send you to the SSA to apply and you get the run around, and we ask why? are there so many homeless veterans. They would rather sleep on the streets, than to be belittled talked down too.

NO VETERAN SHOULD HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS SITUATION OF JUST BEING ANOTHER NUMBER!

The Many Ways to Define Disability

If you are wondering why the V.A. has approved you for disability benefits, but you got a Social Security Disability denial, the answer may lie in the fact that every government agency and private insurance company has its own definition of disability. Some of the public agencies are state workers compensation, state or county public assistance programs, the Veteran’s Administration, commonly known as the V.A., and the Social Security Administration. Some agencies even have more than one definition of disability, depending on the age of the claimant or other factors.

The Social Security Disability Definition

If you are a disabled worker, to be eligible for Social Security Disability, you must meet Social Security’s definition of disability, which is not the same as the V.A.’s definition. Social Security requires that you be unable to engage in substantial gainful activity in any type of job you have held in the past or, if you are under age fifty, in any other job you can perform. As of 2014, “substantial earnings” was generally defined as $1,800.00 for blind individuals and $1,070.00 for everyone else. You may have been approved for V.A. disability and denied Social Security Disability because Social Security does not make partial disability determinations and the V.A. does. For example, if the V.A. finds you to be 55% disabled, then they will pay you 55% of the full benefit. In contrast, Social Security does not pay such partial benefits. If you are able to earn substantial earnings, as defined by Social Security, then you are not eligible for benefits even if you have lost 55% of your function.

Nigerian Health Minister says nurse died of Ebola

A Nigerian nurse has died of Ebola and the country has five other confirmed cases of the disease, Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said Wednesday.

The nurse had treated a man who flew into Lagos and later died of Ebola last month, Chukwu said in a statement handed to reporters in Abuja, the capital.

He said the five confirmed Ebola patients are being treated in isolation in Lagos, sub-Saharan Africa's largest city with 21 million people.

The five with the disease had direct contact with Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer who was sick when he flew into Lagos and died five days later on July 25. Authorities are now following up with others who had contact with Sawyer to see if they are showing Ebola symptoms.

Chukwu said officials are setting up an emergency center in Lagos to deal with Ebola which will be "fully functional" Thursday.

"We are embarking on recruiting additional health personnel to strengthen the team who are currently managing the situation in Lagos," said his statement.

He said special tents would be used to speed up the establishment of isolation wards in all of Nigeria's states.

Stiviano sparks Sterling love child rumors: This girl will not go away

V. Stiviano, the alleged mistress of L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling who exposed the scandal that cost him his team, sparked an Internet frenzy this weekend with an Instagram post that hinted she might drop another bombshell.

Stiviano posted a photo of her sitting with a young girl who's wearing a Clippers hat and the same face-covering visor that Stiviano has worn in public. According to reports, the photo was accompanied by this caption that later was deleted:

"I didn't really wanted to do this but you left me no choice. It's been four years since we met; so she says. Madison is going to be four soon. I think we should celebrated it, at a big event. Perhaps opening night of the #laclippers game or we can decide and wait till NEW YEARS to bring in 2015 with incredible news. I was thinking more in the sense of dropping hints until they - they (meaning the people of the 'UNITED NATIONS') get it. And when they do get the message, via #Instagram Their all going to know your the father and I'm the mother. There would be no reason for a paternity test; because we already have one. Then now - meaning NOW, we would all be in trouble. Wouldn't we? LET THE GAMES BEGAN!!! Can anyone guest who's the father of my beautiful daughter Madison V Stiviano ?"

Stiviano previously wrote "LET THE GAMES BEGAN" a couple of weeks before her recording of Sterling's racist remarks was released on TMZ, according to the LA Times, which reported that it coincided with the deterioration of her relationship with the Clippers owner.

In March, Sterling's estranged wife, Rochelle, sued Stiviano, claiming she had received more than $2.5 million in lavish gifts from the Clippers owner and they needed to be returned. A big piece of the suit involves a duplex Stiviano purchased in December for nearly $1.8 million with money that Rochelle Sterling claims Stiviano received from her husband. Stiviano's name appears on the deed, and Rochelle Sterling is asking a judge to transfer the property to her and her husband.

In the filing, Rochelle Sterling accuses Stiviano of engaging ''in conduct designed to target, befriend, seduce, and then entice, cajole, borrow from, cheat and/or receive as gifts transfers of wealth from wealthy older men whom she targets for such purpose.''

Stiviano's attorney has filed documents to dismiss many of the lawsuit's accusations and denies that Donald Sterling was taken advantage of. ''Nowhere in the complaint is it alleged that defendant so acted nor that the feminine wiles of Ms. Stiviano overpowered the iron will of Donald T. Sterling who is well known as one of the most shrewd businessmen in the world.''

Rochelle Sterling's lawsuit claims Stiviano met Sterling at the 2010 Super Bowl.

Since then, the pair had been in a relationship and Stiviano has received a Ferrari, two Bentleys and a Range Rover from the Clippers' owner, the lawsuit alleges. The vehicles are worth more than $500,000 according to the suit.

Donald Sterling and Stiviano's alleged dispute apparently was sparked by the businessman's displeasure with Stiviano posting pictures of herself online with Lakers Hall of Famer Magic Johnson and Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp.

The Johnson photo has since been deleted from Stiviano's Instagram account. Several of her many photos include her posing in front of Clippers signs or with team memorabilia, including a pair of jerseys emblazoned with her last name.

Her bio lists her as an ''artist, lover, writer, chef, poet, stylist, philanthropist.'' The Los Angeles Times reported that Stiviano's name appeared as the director of the Donald T. Sterling Charitable Foundation in an ad for a 2011 luncheon, however she is not listed as having an official role with the foundation in tax documents filed between 2010 and 2012.

A university president gave up $90,000 to give his minimum wage workers a raise

The interim president of Kentucky State University is giving up $90,000 of his $350,000 annual salary to give minimum wage workers on campus a raise, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports.

The lowest paid workers on campus currently make $7.25 per hour, the federal minimum wage. They'll now make $10.25 per hour, an increase that will stay in effect even after the university hires a new full-time president.

The interim president, Raymond Burse, was president of Kentucky State in the 1980s before working for General Electric as a senior executive and retiring in 2012. "This is not a publicity stunt," Burse said, according to the Herald-Leader. "You don't give up $90,000 for publicity. I did this for the people."

Kentucky's state legislature considered a bill this year that would have increased the state's minimum wage to $10.10 — the minimum wage President Obama would like to see instituted nationwide — but the measure failed in the state senate. A living wage for a single adult in Frankfort, where Kentucky State is located, is $8.29 per hour, according to MIT; for an adult with a child, it's $17.37 per hour.

Other college presidents have taken similar actions, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. The president of Hampton University donated more than $100,000 to give low-wage workers a raise to $9 per hour. After Obama called for a $10.10 minimum wage, the president of Centenary College in Louisiana raised the pay of the 25 employees who were making less than that.

Parking Reform Los Angeles: Stop taking advantage of the people of Los Angeles

Los Angeles is fraudulently taking money from the seniors who help build this city.

I have a friend 70 years old who received a $60.00 parking ticket on a street cleaning day in her Hollywood neighborhood.  The problem is they don't do street cleaning in her neighborhood on the days stated on the signs. They don't do street cleaning at all.  People have sat outside their homes with camera's rolling to see if they ever clean the streets.  Nothing!

This is Fraud to state on a street sign that the city is street cleaning when their not!  Well she lost the ticket and forgot that she even received the ticket.  When she went to the DMV to renew her registration, they informed her that she had an unpaid ticket.  She asked how much the ticket was, and they told her that it was $195.00.  Her $60.00 ticket was now $195.00.  Los Angeles should be ashamed of themselves.

This little old lady could not afford to pay the ticket, so now her registration was going to go up as well.  She receives a very small Social Security Check, that will only pay for 80 percent of her monthly living expenses.  She was so upset because she couldn't drive her car.

Her registration went from $83.00 to over $300.00, how sad.

She pleaded with the DMV clerk with no avail, and not to mention, they were mean to her.  This has got to stop Mayor Garcetti.  The DMV clerks need to learn to take the HEAT, a common saying in customer service.

H - Hear the customer out
E - Empathize
A - Apologize
T - Take responsibility

People living in poverty already, and being taken advantage of.

Here in Los Angeles we pay some of the highest taxes in this country, and you turn around and screw us, when it comes to parking our cars.

If you're gonna post no parking for street cleaning then clean the streets.  Two days a week is a little excessive when the work is not being done.

I'm a veteran and they are also mean at the VA hospital.  These GOVERNMENT WORKERS need to learn how to be nice to the customers.  SHAMEFUL!

                          

Single Working Women's Day!

Single working women today do it all. They bring home the bacon, fry it—and do the dishes. 

They earn the money, buy the groceries—and take out the garbage. 

They feed, nurture and clean up after the pets. 

This week celebrates the single women who make the modern world a better place—and who find the money, time and energy to lovingly support others. 

Pick a day or two and buy your favorite single working woman a gift—or do a chore for her. Annually, the week that includes Aug 4, which is Single Working Women’s Day.

Border failure rocks House GOP leadership

It’s hard to overstate what a humiliating failure this is for the House Republican leadership team, especially House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

House Republican efforts to build support among their more conservative members collapsed Thursday as Congress prepares to cut town for a month-long recess without first passing a funding bill to address the thousands of unaccompanied minors being detained at the U.S. border.

Confronted with the Republican leadership’s inability to shore up enough votes, House Speaker John Boehner pulled the doomed legislation, which would have provided $659 million in emergency aid to the U.S. border.

Congress is still prepared to leave town tonight for a five-week break, but lawmakers will leave having accomplished nothing in response to the humanitarian crisis along the U.S./Mexico border.

There’s still a small chance the House GOP will figure something out – there will reportedly be an emergency meeting within the hour, though it’s unclear what good it will do – but after exhaustive efforts, it appears House Republicans have killed their own party’s policy.

It was the first real test for the new House Republican leadership team and they appear to have failed miserably.

In a statement, Boehner blamed President Obama for Republicans’ inability to pass their own legislation and urged the president to take unilateral action regardless of Congress. The timing is breathtaking: literally yesterday, GOP lawmakers voted to sue Obama for circumventing Congress, and less than 24 hours later, Boehner is publicly urging Obama to circumvent Congress.

The resulting image is a helpless party, lacking leaders, direction, and purpose. House Republicans were desperate to prove they’re capable of being a governing party, and in the process, they’ve proven the opposite.

To be sure, the GOP border bill was, on a substantive level, pathetic. It would have done very little to address the problem, and its demise is a positive development for the country.

But the real story today is one of epic incompetence and a party that’s practically developed an allergy to completing the basic tasks of government.

This is, of course, great news for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who now appears to have more influence over what happens in the House than the actual House Republican leadership team.But in the meantime, John Boehner’s Speakership is turning into something of a tragedy. How many times has he put together a bill, only to be betrayed by his own followers? A Democratic source on Capitol Hill recently sent around a brutal collection of bills Boehner asked his members to support, only to see his own House GOP conference reject his appeals: a grand bargain, a debt-ceiling bill in 2011, a payroll tax extension, a transportation bill, a farm bill, one fiscal-cliff bill, another fiscal-cliff bill, another farm bill, and then yesterday. I think my source might have even missed a couple, including the collapse of Boehner’sdebt-ceiling bill in February 2014.

We’ll have more on this later, but for now Boehner has to be asking himself about the value of a leader with no followers. As if we needed additional evidence, he remains the Speaker In Name Only.

Eric Garner’s death ruled a homicide after NYPD officer put him in chokehold: medical examiner

The 43-year-old dad died July 17 after cops on Staten Island attempted to arrest him for selling untaxed cigarettes. 'Thank God the truth is finally out,' the man's widow said Friday after the report was unveiled.

My question is, why are police above the LAW?
The death of a Staten Island man who collapsed after being placed in an illegal chokehold by a police officer has been ruled a homicide.

Eric Garner died from compression of the neck and chest while being physically restrained by police officers, the New York City Medical Examiner said Friday.

Garner’s asthma, obesity and high blood pressure were contributing factors in his death, the autopsy determined.

It was the latest development in a case that sparked national outrage after The Daily News obtained video showing Officer Daniel Pantaleo putting Garner in the chokehold.

Garner’s widow said she was relieved that the ME confirmed what had been suspected for weeks.

“Thank God the truth is finally out,” Esaw Garner told The Daily News. “Thank God for that.”

In a terse statement, the Staten Island District Attorney’s office said it had been in touch with the ME.

“We await the issuance of the official death certificate and the autopsy report,” it said. “The investigation into Mr. Garner's death continues."

Garner, 43, died July 17 while being busted for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes.

“I can’t breathe,” Garner said repeatedly as he was taken down by the cops.

Pantaleo has since been reassigned. He could not be reached for comment.

The NYPD banned chokeholds in 1994 after a Bronx man named Anthony Baez was killed by an officer who placed him in one.

In the wake of Garner’s death, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton ordered that the NYPD’s 35,000 officers be retrained in the proper use of force when subduing a suspect.

Garner was black. Pantaleo is white. And the incident has roiled relations between the police and minority residents on Staten Island.