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Monday 26 June 2017

Overweight man says he was humiliated by Spirit Airlines after staff gave away the extra seat he purchased to another passenger because his flight was overbooked

Jose Cordova (right) says he was left feeling humiliated after Spirit Airlines gave away the extra seat he had bought because of his size without asking him on an overbooked flight from Las Vegas to Colorado

A Spirit Airlines passenger who booked two seats on a flight due to his size says he felt humiliated when the airline gave away one of the seats without asking on an overbooked flight.
Jose Cordova of Westminster, Colorado, says he purchased two neighboring seats on each of his flights to and from Las Vegas for a getaway trip with his two friends.
He purchased the extra seat because he knew he wouldn’t be comfortable in one seat, he says.
“I am a big person and I knew one seat wouldn’t fit for me, and to be comfortable, I wanted to have two seats,” Cordova said.
Cordova’s friend Scott Tenorio says he also called ahead to ask for a seat belt extender for his friend in an attempt to be proactive.
On the group’s flight to Las Vegas, the three passengers occupied four seats without issue, but on the way home Wednesday, they say Spirit Airlines took back one of Cordova’s seats without asking due to an overbooked flight.
Unwilling to take a voucher and later flight, Cordova says the airline forced him to move.
“I told them I had bought two seats. [They said] ‘Well, talk to them when you get off the plane,’” he said.
Cordova says the situation was embarrassing, and he felt humiliated.
“People were just watching him, and it’s almost like they look at, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to sit next to that,’” Tenorio said.
Spirit Airlines said in a statement it’s “looking into the circumstances” and has refunded Cordova for his flights. The airline says it will work with Cordova “on making this right.”
But for Cordova and his friends, the damage is already done.
“I could see in his face. He was sweating. I was asking him how his trip was, and he was just, you could tell, humiliated,” Tenorio said.
'I am a big person and I knew one seat wouldn't fit for me and, to be comfortable, I wanted to have two seats (pictured, Cordova's two tickets),' he said

New Jersey mom publishes her three-year-old son's $231,115 heart surgery bill in a desperate plea to the Senate not to scrap benefits cap ban in Trumpcare (11 Pics)

A New Jersey mom says she posted her three-year-old son's heart surgery bill online to show how potential changes in the health care law could drastically increase out-of-pocket costs for those with life-threatening conditions.
Ali Chandra's son, Ethan, was born with a congenital heart defect known as heterotaxy. He's already had multiple surgeries which have been covered by health insurance.
Chandra is concerned that the existing ban on lifetime benefits caps — meaning insurers can stop paying expenses once medical bills reach a specified limit — may be eliminated as part of the ongoing health care law overhaul.
 Ali Chandra’s little boy Ethan (pictured) was born with a congenital heart defect known as heterotaxy

 Chandra posted the staggering $231,115 healthcare bill for Ethan's open heart surgery, and recovery in the cardiac intensive care unit and on the cardiac floor

 Chandra (pictured with Ethan) a registered nurse and mom-of-two, fears that if the caps are allowed to return, her three-year-old's life could be at stake

 Chandra wrote that her son (pictured in hospital)  had undergone four of these heart surgeries - and would require more going forward

 Ali Chandra with her son Ethan, and her Canadian husband as well as their daughter 

 Chandra said her son 'blew past the million dollar mark' for his medical treatments a long time ago -  unsurprising when the latest bill shows almost a quarter of a million dollars for one surgery and recovery

 She is hoping to remind the Senate that the bill they are voting on has life or death consequences for real people - people like her young son (pictured showing one of the scars from a former surgery)

 'The statistics you read aren't just numbers,' Chandra said, 'They're names and faces and little boys who stay up late catching lightning bugs' 



"A lifetime cap on benefits is the same as saying, 'Sorry, you're not worth keeping alive anymore. You're just too expensive," she wrote in a Twitter post.
Chandra, a married registered nurse who also has a young daughter, recently posted the bill for Ethan's most recent open heart surgery. The family's share was $500, but she said it would have cost them $231,115 if they didn't have insurance.
Chandra wrote that her son has undergone four heart surgeries overall and will need more going forward. They also make regular visits to numerous doctors and must make emergency room visits trips for sepsis workups if his temperature rises above 100.4 degrees.
Ethan also takes five different prescription medications multiple times a day.
"None of this would be possible without insurance," she wrote in a Twitter post. "He blew past the million dollar mark long ago."

Restaurant owner says nearby Confederate flag is hurting his business

A Confederate flag flies high above a South Carolina restaurant.
Some customers hate it, including the restaurant's owner, but he says he can't do anything about it.
A broad stretch of John C. Calhoun Drive is flanked by two unambiguous landmarks. And each, in its own way, signifies exactly where you are.
On the right, a sign welcoming you to Orangeburg, South Carolina, population roughly 13,000. More than three-quarters of the population is black. On the left, a confederate flag.
The flag flies atop this pole, right next to the sign for the Edisto River Creamery.
By now, you know the flag's divisive history and seemingly everyone in Orangeburg has an opinion about the flag at the ice cream shop.
And what does the owner of this restaurant have to say?
"That flag needs to be moved and if there's any possible way that I can do it, it's going to be done," Tommy Daras said. "Right now, we're gridlocked."
To understand why Tommy Daras cannot remove the flag you need to know about Maurice Bessinger.
Politician, activist, and founder of Maurice's Piggie Park chain of barbecue restaurants across central South Carolina.
In a 2008 interview with Newsweek, Bessinger showed off his collection of Confederate memorabilia that filled his restaurants. He was a fierce defender of states' rights and segregation. In his 2004 autobiography, Bessinger called the Civil Rights Act "unconstitutional" and the Supreme Court ruling that integrated public schools a "really bad" decision.
And in 2000, when this happened at the South Carolina state capital.
"I raised the flag out here on the flagpole to protest the taking down of our heritage flag," Bessinger said.
Maurice Bessinger died in 2014. Of the flags outside his stores, Bessinger wrote "there they will stay. I will fight on because this is what God wants me to do."
A year after his death, Tommy Daras and his wife bought the Orangeburg location from Bessinger's children, but not all of it.
Before Bessinger died, he sold the tiny bit of land surrounding this flagpole, a little more than three-thousandths of an acre, for just five dollars to the Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 842.
"And we've been trying ever since to honor, honor the Confederate soldier," said Buzz Braxton.
Braxton is commander of the group's eighth brigade and a member of Camp 842.
"He put it in the hands of people that he trusted because he loved his confederate ancestors and his confederate history just like we do. So, there was nothing sinister," Braxton said.
Initially, Daras accepted the flag and the nearby marker. But that changed weeks after his grand opening, the group flew a larger flag in the aftermath of the 2015 church shooting in Charleston where Dylann Roof killed nine church members after calling for a race war.
"From that day forward, all hell broke loose for me," Daras recalled. "My windows were broken out, by phone was ringing off the hook, my employees were harassed. I was fist-fighting with people in the parking lot. Everyone in town assumed it was my property because it looks like it's attached to this building."
Maurice Bessinger's battle for the flag rages on. Daras has hired a lawyer.
The sons of confederate veterans say they're ready.
The attorney for the ice cream shop's owners says that corner is zoned for commercial use and the flagpole and marker are should be moved because they've violating the zoning rules. The city has rejected that approach. The attorney plans to appeal.

Sunday 25 June 2017

Police arrest black teens at the National Mall. Their crime? Selling water


While the violent crime rate in D.C. continues to soar above the national average, the U.S. Park Police appear to have other priorities.

Three plainclothes police officers went undercover at the National Mall to bust three young black teens on Thursday as they were breaking the law in our nation’s capital. Their crime? Selling water bottles without a permit for some extra cash.


 Yes, these young people were arrested for “vending on the National Mall,” and according to police, they were detained and handcuffed for “the safety of the officers and of the individuals.” The story went viral on Friday after a tour guide named Tim Krepp tweeted photos of the officers and turned it into a lesson on race.



“My kids sell water and everyone smiles at them,” Krepp wrote. “These kids do it and get arrested. It IS racist.” He later added, “God forbid the actual free market be allowed on our National Mall. There’s obviously a racial disparity in how they are treating these young men and other vendors that we see on the mall.”

Of course, the mainstream media jumped on this, and one local politician even lashed out.
Democratic D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen responded by asking the police chief to explain why the officers decided to handle the incident with such severity. “While still the same violation of selling a beverage without proper permits and licenses,” Allen wrote. “I doubt we would have seen little girls in pigtails handcuffed on the ground.”

While these officers had every right to enforce the (pretty dumb) law, they might have benefitted from some discretion in how they handled the situation. In the age of smartphones and social media, anti-police activists have more tools at their disposal than ever before, and more ways to propagate their narrative. Couldn’t they predict that the image of three white police officers arresting three black, unarmed kids might make headlines? Is arresting people for selling cold water really worth it?

Town Seeking 'Termination' Of Employee Who Posted Hate Speech On Video Of Muslim Teen



A Town of Babylon employee faces disciplinary action after he posted profane hate speech on a Facebook post highlighting the accomplishments of the Lindenhurst High School Class of 2017 salutatorian.
The Lindenhurst School District posted a video (watch it at the bottom of this story) on Facebook Thursday morning featuring salutatorian Yasmin Zohny along with co-valedictorians Sofiya Yanyak and Ziad Sabry. The video was shared to a local Facebook group in the afternoon. A few minutes later, Andrew Vita posted two comments under the video. Both directed vile hate speech toward Zohny, who is Muslim.
"This type of hateful language has no place in our society, let alone in our Town of Babylon workforce," Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer said of Vita, who has been employed with the town's Department of Public Works since 1985. "Mr. Vita will be subject to disciplinary action, particularly if records show these offensive statements were posted during work hours."
Vita's comments were quickly deleted by the admin of the Facebook group, but screenshots of his comments have spread across town and unleashed a torrent of support for Zohny, particularly from fellow members of the Lindenhurst Class of 2017, which will graduate on Friday evening. 
"I am completely and utterly disgusted that Andy Vita has commented such disgusting things on a post celebrating our salutatorian Yasmin Zohny," Paige McDonald told Patch in an email. "She is indeed Muslim and wears a hijab. I can promise you she is the SWEETEST person you'll ever meet and today on Facebook she was attacked for being Muslim."
Another member of the Class of 2017, Shannon McCann, called Zohny "kind, generous, caring and compassionate." McCann said Vita should be fired immediately.
"We need to step up and denounce these unspeakably hurtful people from our workforce in order to maintain a peaceful and safe environment for all," McCann said. "Yasmin has worked diligently and consistently her entire schooling career, inside the classroom and out, and she deserves to see this action be condemned."
Schaffer said Vita, who made $78,577 in 2016, will be "mandated to apologize in-person to this impressive young woman and go through sensitivity training so that we can determine the cause of the hate-driven anger he displayed in his posting."
Schaffer also said he will personally be offering Zohny, who will attend The University of Texas at Austin in the fall, a paid internship with the Town of Babylon if she does not already have plans for the summer.
Sahil Kapoor, another Lindenhurst High student and a friend of Zohny's, told Patch that he's faced "many racial comments" himself as an Indian-American in a family of Indian immigrants. 
"It is one of the worst things a human can face," he said.

Top 10 quotes from PM Modi's address to the US Indian diaspora in Virginia

Here are the top quotes of PM Modi at the event: 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day official visit to the US, on Sunday addressed the Indian diaspora near here in Virginia.
Here are the top quotes of PM Modi at the event:
1/ When India talked of terrorism 20 years back, many in the world said its a law and order problem and didn't understand it. Now terrorists have explained terrorism to them so we don't have to.
2/ When India did surgical strikes the world experienced our power and realized that India practices restrain but can show power when needed.
3/ When growing aspirations of people are given right leadership, they turn into achievements.
4/ Through technology driven governance we are creating an 'Adhunik Bharat'.
5/ Govts in India have been ousted due to corruption; in the last three years no one has been able to put any such charge on us.
6/ Transparent policies of our government have create an environment of trust among the people.
7/ I can see that every Indian wants to contribute towards India's development. India is progressing at a record pace today.
8/ The Indian diaspora rejoices when there is good news from India, it wants India to scale newer heights.
9/ I promise that I will fulfill all your dreams of making India as good as US.
10/ When I meet you all I experience the kind of joy one feels while meeting his/her family. You fill me with new energy.

Words of Wisdom for Every Man (7 pics)

Great advices.