August 19, 2015

Daily Holidays - August 19

National Soft Ice Cream Day Soft serve ice cream is a result of air being introduced during freezing. Soft serve ice cream has been around since the 1930?s.

In 1934 on Memorial Day weekend, Tom Carvel had a flat tire on his ice cream truck in Hartsdale, New York. After pulling into a parking lot, he began selling the softened ice cream to vacationers driving by. With amazement, seeing the love that people had for soft ice cream, he concluded that a fixed location selling the new-found dessert was potentially a good business idea. In 1936, Carvel opened his first store on the original broken down truck site, selling his secret formula soft serve ice cream dispensed from his patented super low temperature ice cream machines. http://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-soft-ice-cream-day-august-19/

Aviation Day A day to celebrate the development of aviation, Aviation Day falls on and commemorates the birthday of Orville Wright. Federal buildings in America may be required to fly the US flag on this day at presedential whim in order to promote the day, and general interest in aviation. Is there a better day to fly? Take a flight; fly within the country, fly to Spain, fly to Europe. Look up travel deals with companies like Expedia and fly to Sweden, if you’re feeling extreme! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/aviation-day/

World Humanitarian Day Humanitarian Day is dedicated to raising public awareness of the work undertaken by humanitarian organisations, and the huge challenge they face; we well as honouring the lives and dedication of those who’ve lost their lives in humanitarian causes. Consider using this day to offer your support to humanitarian workers, who strive to stop human suffering wherever it is found, by donating to, joining or supporting a local or global humanitarian organization. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/humanitarian-day/

Photography Day is all about celebrating photography. Today is the day to embrace your love of photography, whether you see yourself as an Amateur, Hobbyist or Professional, it’s the day to show off what you can do. Photography has the ability to tell stories and inspire people and with the dawn of digital photography we can share memories across the world in seconds with the use of online galleries. Photography has changed the way we see the world and gives you the ability to share your perception on the world around you, so why not share it! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/photography-day/

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/august19.html

August 18, 2015

Missouri Supreme Court strikes down red light cameras in St. Louis

Getting caught on camera running a red light in St. Louis will no longer result in a fine.

In a 6-1 opinion issued Tuesday, the court called the city's ordinance governing red light cameras unconstitutional because it assumes the owner of the car was the one driving the car at the time of the violation.

This is the third time a court has struck down the city's red light camera ordinance. In 2013, Judge Mark Neill found the law unconstitutional because the state had never given cities the authority to enact red light camera ordinances and because it violated due process. In 2014, Judge Steven Ohmer ruled the city had been wrongfully enforcing an invalid ordinance, though he did not rule on the constitutional issues. That case resulted in Tuesday's Supreme Court decision.

Ohmer allowed the city to continue enforcing its red light ordinance until the Supreme Court issued its ruling, though the money was put into an escrow account. Budget Director Paul Payne said the fund contained about $5 million as of June, though some of those funds were meant for the operator of the cameras, American Traffic Solutions. Payne said he was not immediately sure about what would happen to the city's share of the fund.

http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/missouri-supreme-court-strikes-down-red-light-cameras-st-louis

August 18, 2015

Daily Holidays - August 18

National Ice Cream
 Pie Day National Ice Cream Pie Day is observed annually on August 18th. This food holiday honors this refreshing frozen desert that comes in many delicious flavors. http://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-ice-cream-pie-day-august-18/

Bad Poetry Day Let’s face it – not everybody’s the best writer, lyricist or poet. But don’t let that stop you!

Bad Poetry Day encourages you to give it a go anyway by putting pen to paper and writing some terrible verse. If you’re feeling particularly cruel, you could read your bad poetry to friends, family and colleagues; hopefully they’ll enjoy good poetry more in the future! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/bad-poetry-day/

Birth Control Pills Day, Cupcake Day,

Mail Order Catalog Day Although Benjamin Franklin has a good claim to be the world’s first mail order entrepreneur, it is the anniversary of the first Montogomery Ward catalogue of 1872 that has provided the date for Mail Order Catalog Day. Over the intervening years, it grew from a single page of products to a monster capable of striking fear into the stoutest of postal workers!

Alas, the Montgomery Ward behemoth is no longer with us, having faded away in 1985, but stalwarts such as Sears still carry the torch, whilst the catalogue with the longest run to date, the Hammacher Schlemmer, still plies tools and building materials (no doubt including torches, should Sears ever drop theirs).

Celebrate the day in style by signing up for a few mail order catalogues and ordering some goodies. Running shoes are a great place to start, especially if your postman is not of a forgiving nature. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/mail-order-catalog-day/

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/august18.html

August 17, 2015

Daily Holidays - August 17

National I LOVE My Feet Day! is celebrated annually on August 17. This is a day to appreciate how valuable our feet are, to practice good foot care and pamper our feet.

Our feet are our primary mode of transportation. They quietly and faithfully help us stand, swim, run, walk, play sports, jog, skip and dance. They take us to school and work. Our feet withstand all the things we do in our everyday lives and accomplish things our hands cannot.

Taking care of our feet is important for preventing long-term problems. Years of wear and tear can be hard on them, as can disease, bad circulation, improperly trimmed toenails and poorly fitting shoes.

Practicing good foot care is easy. Elevating your feet when you sit is a relaxing way to help reduce swelling. Stretching, walking or having a gentle foot massage aids circulation. A warm foot bath is also helpful. Make sure your feet are dry before putting on shoes. Wearing shoes when outside provides your feet better protection. http://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-i-love-my-feet-day-2/

Black Cat Appreciation Day Because of superstitious beliefs in some cultures, black cats are sometimes associated with bad luck and, sadly, are more likely to be put to sleep or wait a long time to be adopted from shelters. Black Cat Appreciation Day was launched to show people that a black cat could be the perfect cat for them, and help raise awareness about black cats in general.

If you’ve been looking for a rescue cat yourself, why not consider a black cat? Not only are the superstitions about them bringing bad luck completely untrue, but you might find a black cat to be a fantastic feline companion for you! On Black Cat Appreciation Day, a fun way to celebrate, if you own a black cat, is to take photos with your pet to share and spread awareness about the day on social media. Children can join in by drawing pictures of black cats. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/black-cat-appreciation-day/

National Thrift Shop Day Though thrift shops have been generally replaced with discount department stores in modern times, the intent behind Thrift Shop Day still applies – save money and be economical by purchasing second-hand, repaired or simply cheaper products. Clothing, furniture and household goods are great examples of products which you may be able to find and purchase cheaply from thrift shops or discount stores. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/thrift-shop-day/

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/august17.html

August 16, 2015

Daily Holidays - August 16

National Rum Day National Rum Day is celebrated annually on August 16. Rum is a distilled clear alcoholic beverage which is a byproduct in molasses production or made directly from sugarcane juice. After the fermentation and distillation process, most rum is aged in wooden oak barrels.

Did you know that the Sugar Act of 1764, which was a tax on sugar, molasses and rum by the British on the American colonies, helped start the unrest that finally became the American Revolution. http://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-rum-day-august-16/

Tell A Joke Day Why did the chicken cross the road? To celebrate Tell A Joke Day, of course!

We’re pretty sure that you can do better than that; and even if you can’t, give it a go anyway! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/tell-a-joke-day/

Rollercoaster Day is celebrated annually on the 16th August. The origins of the celebration are not completely clear, however, the most widely believed explanation for Rollercoaster Day is that the date was chosen to mark the 16th August, 1898, which was when the very first patent for a rollercoaster ride was issued. The date has been marked by fairgrounds and fans of rollercoasters all over the world since the eighties. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/rollercoaster-day/

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/august16.html

August 15, 2015

Daily Holidays - August 15

Lemon Meringue Pie Day Are you hungry? Pie lovers and lemon lovers from across the country get your forks ready, August 15th is National Lemon Meringue Pie Day!
Served as a dessert, lemon meringue pie is a type of baked pie usually made with a crust of shortbread pastry, lemon curd filling and a fluffy meringue topping.
Meringue was perfected in the 17th century and lemon meringue pie, as we know it today, was perfected in the 19th century. http://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-lemon-meringue-pie-day-august-15/

National Relaxation Day Slow down… breath, and relax. Relaxation Day is all about winding down and just taking it easy. If you’re lucky enough to have the day off work, enjoy a quiet morning watching TV from the sofa, and perhaps consider some light gardening in the afternoon – all in the spirit of relaxing! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/relaxation-day/

World Honey Bee Day , previously known as Honey Bee Awareness Day, is an idea put together by beekeepers in the USA, who petitioned the USDA in 2009 for an official day to honour honey bees and beekeeping. A few years down the line, people across the globe are holding a date of observation every year.

Honey Bee awareness enthusiasts will likely put a bee in your bonnet and say this is not so much a day to celebrate honey bees, as it is to promote their involvement in sustainable farming.
On this day, bee lovers everywhere decorate their gardens with lavender, borage and marjoram, the bee’s knees in pollinator lures. If you have the time and patience, bake some honey chippers and make your own honey fruit cobbler. And because you’ve been as busy as a bee all day, sit back and watch Hitchcock’s ‘The Bees’. You’ll count your blessings honey bees are nothing like South American killer bees! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/world-honey-bee-day/

Corn on The Cob Day Love corn on the cob? If so, Corn On The Cob Day is for you! Share your passion with the world, and consider visiting Plainview, Minneapolis for a variety of parades, festivities and… yes… more corn on the cob than you can eat. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/corn-on-the-cob-day/

International Homeless Animal Day Every day, animals are abandoned or placed into kennels, dependent on charities and goodwill. These organisations are strained beyond coping, and are desperate to raise awareness of the plight of homeless and abandoned animals. Homeless Animals Day aims to educate people about pet abandonment, feral animals and benefits or neutering domestic animals. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/homeless-animals-day/

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/august15.html

August 14, 2015

How Are Women Still Being Treated Like Second-Class Workers?

It’s one of those stories that makes you double-check the publishing date, just to make sure that this really did happen in the 21st century: Police Officer Akema Thompson nearly lost her chance to try for a promotion to sergeant in the New York Police Department (NYPD), all because she gave birth on the wrong day. Luckily, she fought for her rights and won, but the fact that this story happened at all is yet another reminder that women are still being treated like second-class citizens in the workplace, even though they make up nearly half of workers.

Thompson’s ordeal speaks volumes about the way that female workers are still treated like interlopers in a man’s world. Even though pregnancy discrimination is supposed to be illegal in our country, the NYPD blithely informed her that people who were out on the exam day could only get a make-up test if you were called for court or military service, out with an injury, or had a death in the family. In other words, stuff that could happen to men. But even though pregnant women have no real control over when they give birth, there was no exception for women like Thompson.

This was no small matter, either, as opportunities to take sergeant’s exams only come around every few years, meaning that Thompson could miss out on years of opportunity simply because biology works the way it has for as long as there have been people.

This kind of discrimination was supposed to be banned by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, but the fact that the NYPD was so blasé in its refusal to accommodate Thompson shows that the culture has not yet caught up to the law. In many workplaces, particularly in environments like police departments, the assumption that men are the standard and women are the deviation is so widespread that it goes unnoticed. It is the air people breathe. It allows departments to forget about federal law and simply craft policies around things that are normal for men—military service, disability, death—but to treat things like pregnancy as unusual events that require no special accommodation. This, even though it’s far more common for a woman to give birth at some point in her work career than for a man to become disabled or to be called up for military duty.

http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/08/13/women-still-treated-like-second-class-workers/

August 14, 2015

Contract Approved For One Of Santa Clara Co.'s Largest Employee Unions

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a four-year labor agreement with one of the county’s largest employee unions.

The agreement with Service Employees International Union Local 521, which represents more than 9,000 county employees, stipulates a 4.5 percent wage increase retroactive to June 22 and a 3 percent increase each year after, according to union officials. The agreement was reached on June 30, when the union had threatened to go on strike claiming the county did not address its concerns on unfair labor practices, economic inequality, public safety and other issues.

A day before the scheduled strike, the county acquired an injunction in Santa Clara County Superior Court that would have stopped about 500 workers from walking off their jobs. The union ratified the contract on July 22. The agreement also includes a reimbursement of $900 to $1,800 for each employee under an educational leave and tuition reimbursement fund program, county officials said.

http://patch.com/california/mountainview/contract-approved-one-santa-clara-cos-largest-employee-unions

August 14, 2015

Walmart union Sindicato Interempresa Lider (SIL) in Chile reaches an historic agreement

After many weeks of negotiations with Walmart, the SIL in Chile signed yesterday in Ciudad Empresarial, a unique collective agreement in the history of the company.

This agreement unified more than 15 thousand SIL members of different Walmart Chile brands (Hiper, Express, Acuenta, Ekono, Central Mayorista) in a single negotiation. Brands like Ekono , Acuenta and Central Mayorista, with lower standards than other Walmart brands, improved the benefits offered to workers.

SIL, a pioneer in changing the the law allowing workers to negotiate across companies with common owners, is not only winning for Walmart workers, but is increasing power for all workers in Chile .

SIL is demonstrating that even against an anti-union multinational like Walmart when workers unite they have the power to win.

http://www.uniglobalunion.org/news/walmart-union-sindicato-interempresa-lider-sil-chile-reaches-historic-agreement

August 14, 2015

Nearly Half of Currently Exempt Single Mothers and Black and Hispanic Women Workers Will Gain

A new report released today by the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) and MomsRising.org finds that working women—especially single mothers, women workers of color, and women working in service and administrative support positions—stand the most to gain from an increase of the overtime salary threshold to $50,440 proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in July 2015. Of the 5.9 million workers who will gain coverage under the new threshold, more than half (3.2 million) of these newly covered workers are women and 2.7 million are men. The report also finds that, of currently exempt women workers, nearly half (44 percent) of single mothers, Black women (46 percent) and Hispanic women (48 percent), and more than three in five (61 percent) women working in service and administrative support occupations, will gain coverage and a chance to earn overtime pay with the new threshold.

IWPR's analysis finds that as of 2014, 21.5 million workers were exempt from automatic eligibility for overtime pay and could potentially benefit from an increase in the threshold. The group of people who will gain automatic eligibility from the increased threshold are salaried workers earning between $23,660 and $50,440 annually (equivalent to $455 and $970 per week), the old and new thresholds. Among these newly covered workers will be those who routinely work more than 40 hours a week and those who currently never or only occasionally work overtime. Currently, 8.1 million workers are exempt from coverage and regularly work more than 40 hours per week. Of these, 1.4 million will gain automatic eligibility for overtime hours they work with DOL's proposed threshold increase.

"For those who currently work over 40 hours per week without premium pay, the proposed increase in the overtime salary threshold could make a significant impact on the economic security of these families," said IWPR President Heidi Hartmann, Ph.D. "Our analysis shows that women workers who are typically the most economically vulnerable to low earnings and high unemployment—single mothers and Black and Hispanic women—are the most likely to gain coverage and have the opportunity to earn more per week in overtime pay under the new rule."

http://www.charlestonchronicle.net/97823/2152/nearly-half-of-currently-exempt-single-mothers-and-black-and-hispanic-women-workers-will-gain-coverage-under-dols-new-proposed-overtime-salary-threshold