A Los Angeles Times blog is reporting that some California malls are tracking movements of Thanksgiving weekend shoppers using their cellphones.
The blog says there’s more than one mall taking advantage of the technology.
“The Temecula Promenade is one of two malls testing out the new technology, which mall operators said is designed to monitor how shoppers flow through the center.”
Current GOP presidential front runner Newt Gingrich is taking a shot at Social Security, once considered politically invincible.
The former speaker of the House suggests letting younger workers opt their share of Social Security dollars out of the program and invest in the market. Some might consider this risky business. But then again, with risk comes rewards.
Sometimes.
And then he went on to suggest that the laws put in place to protect children do just the opposite:
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE:
Speaking at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, he challenged laws that prevent children from working certain jobs before their mid-teens. Gingrich blamed “the core policies of protecting unionization and bureaucratization” for “crippling” children.
“It is tragic what we do in the poorest neighborhoods, entrapping children in, first of all, in child laws, which are truly stupid,” he said.
“I tried for years to have a very simple model,” he continued. “Most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school. The kids would actually do work, they would have cash, they’d have pride in the schools, they’d begin the process of rising.” (read more)
Samoan fans cheer for their country at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. (Gabriel Bouys/Getty Images)
Tuala Mathew Vaea, manager of the Manu Samoa rugby team has been fined 100 pigs after rumors of bad behavior at the Rugby World Cup surfaced, according to the New Zealand Herald.
These allegations came to light when the captain of Vaea’s team sent a report to the Samoan Prime Minister, criticizing the manager’s behavior throughout the tournament.
According to the report, Vaea “did not want to be there at most times” and “spent most of his time drinking.” After a disappointing showing in the tournament–Samoa placed third in their pool behind South Africa and Wales–the coach was fired upon returning home.
But merely being fired as coach was apparently not a sufficient punishment. The Chief of Vaela’s home village of Leauva’a accused the rugby manager of tarnishing the title bestowed on him before entering the tournament. The coach’s punishment? A village council meeting ended with the order that Vaea pay 100 sows to his village. This is the equivalent of about $2,500 USD.
To put that in perspective, New York Jets coach Rex Ryan was fined $75,000 this week after directing some harsh words to a Patriots fan.
But at least he didn’t have to provide livestock for all of New York.
These days, states will take any help they can get to maintain their roads.
In Delaware, a Neo-Nazi group was allowed to join the state’s Adopt-a-Highway program, but only on the condition that the word “Nazi” not appear on their highway signs over a two-mile stretch of rural Cedar Grove Road in Sussex County, The Wilmington News Journal reports.
The newspaper reports the state’s Department of Transportation blocked Edward McBride III’s application to adopt Cedar Grove Road under the name of the National Socialist Freedom Movement Nazi Party.
Citing concerns that the state could be seen as endorsing a hate group, DelDOT also rejected McBride’s counter-offer to have an abbreviated Adopt-a-Highway sign carry the name “NSFM88 Nazi Party.”
“His request to have the words ‘Nazi Party’ displayed on a state sign was denied because DelDOT chose not to associate the state with the term and its generally understood philosophy of advocating the denial of civil rights,” DelDOT spokesman Geoff Sundstrom said in an email.
Two Adopt-a-Highway signs have been installed on Cedar Grove Road, but they read “Freedom Party” instead, the newspaper reports. McBride, the group’s national commander, says he plans to clean up ditches along the road during his time off from work.
The group believes white Christians should be the only race and religion allowed in the U.S. and has about 45 members statewide, according to the newspaper.
All Wayne L. Field wanted to do was live the high life. He kicked off his shoes, defrosted a lobster and put on a World Series ring.
Only problem was — none of those things belonged to him.
Field was arrested this week for the alleged burglary of the home of White Sox GM Kenny Williams, who was out of town at the time of the burglary. Included among the string of odd things Field did while in Williams’ home were: baking and eating a frozen pizza, drinking a beer, defrosting a lobster and surfing the internet.
Police easily caught up with the man, who left a hospital bracelet with his name on it in the home.
At the time of Fields’ arrest, he was wearing Williams’ shirt and World Series ring.
President Obama took his message on his USA Jobs Act to a high school gym today in Manchester, N.H., where he was interrupted by protesters, the Boston Globe is reporting:
He spoke for roughly 30 minutes in the gymnasium at Manchester Central High School. At the start of his remarks, a group of about 20 Occupy New Hampshire supporters in the audience started chanting “Mr. President,” followed by complaints about arrests of Occupy protesters.
Another group soon shouted them down with chants of “Obama!”
The president calmly told the group that they had made their point, “Now let me make mine.”
As protesters shouted about the “over 4,000 people” arrested at Occupy movements across the country, the president’s backers began countering with chants of “fired up, ready to go!” and “Obama! Obama!,” USA Today is reporting:
Turning to the protesters, Obama said: “Listen, I’m going to be talking about a whole range of things today.”
President Obama is speaking in Manchester to further promote his USA Jobs Act, as he’s been doing, and the heckling started right after The President said, “You guys are pretty glad excited about being seniors.” To us it sounded like the heckler yelled “Mic Check”–an Occupy Wall Street catchphrase. Then from the shoddy audio there were chants of what sounded like “Fired up? Ready to Go!” and “Obama.”
A Texas private university professor didn’t shy away from reminding an Alaskan Republican who paid his salary – the taxpayer.
Rice University professor Douglas Brinkley created a national stir today when he got into a heated verbal exchange with Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska,after testifying about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Young, who supports drilling in ANWR, set off the fiery exchange when he called Brinkley’s testimony “garbage” and then mistakenly called Brinkley “Dr. Rice.”
“It’s Dr. Brinkley. Rice University is a university,” Brinkley said. “I know you went to Yuba (Community) College…”
Young, who is visibly angry in the video of the exchange, shouted back, “I’ll call you anything I want to call you when you’re in that chair. You just be quiet.”
Brinkley, of course, didn’t take those comments lightly or back off.
“You don’t own me,” the professor said. “I pay your salary. I work for the private sector and you work for the taxpayer.”
Committee Chairman Doc Hasting, R-WA, stepped in to break up the heated argument.
Brinkley told Hastings that he felt it was necessary to correct Young after he had mistakenly called him the wrong name and called his testimony garbage.
“You would do that if someone did that to your name,” Brinkley added.
And they didn’t make nice after the meeting either.
Luke Miller, a spokesman for Representative Young, said the fiery exchange was “nothing more than a publicity stunt by Mr. Brinkley in order to sell books.”
“Witnesses are invited to testify before Congress to answer questions and provide insight, not repeatedly interrupt a Committee Chairman and Members of the Committee and be disrespectful,” Miller said in a statement. “People will want to make this into more than what it really is; an attempt by an author to create a stir and sell books.”
Brinkley took his own jab at Young in press. From The Washington Post:
Brinkley was unapologetic when we reached him, calling Young “a crazy zealot for molesting the refuge” and saying he wished he “could have gone mano-a-mano” with him. “I was hoping for the chance to get into a heated debate with him, but, alas, it’s hard in that forum.”
We don’t officially* know his name because the chief — who has since been put on leave —won’t release it, but the UC Davis cop who pepper sprayed a bunch of sitting protesters is now a meme.
(photo Lewis Hine via AP, circa 1908)
