Most Walmart Store Workers Didn't Earn $25,000 Last Year



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/23/walmart-salary_n_4151131.html

WASHINGTON -- As they seek to boost the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour, House Democrats joined a group of Walmart employees on Capitol Hill Wednesday to criticize the world's largest retailer over its pay and scheduling practices, arguing that its low wages steer workers toward public assistance programs.

The group representing the workers, OUR Walmart, took the opportunity to publicize figures shared by Walmart U.S. CEO Bill Simon, at a Goldman Sachs retail industry conference last month.

According to Simon's presentation, under the heading "Great job opportunities," he noted that more than 475,000 Walmart associates earned a salary over $25,000 last year. Using Walmart's statistic of 1.3 million U.S. associates, OUR Walmart members said that would leave 825,000 workers -- or nearly two-thirds -- who earned less than $25,000 for the year.

But Kory Lundberg, a Walmart spokesman, said they were misreading Simon's figure. Simon's allusion to the 475,000 associates pertained solely to store workers, Lundberg said, while the workforce of 1.3 million includes Walmart employees of all stripes, including truck drivers throughout the country and executives at corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. The more relevant number would be Walmart's roughly one million store workers, Lundberg said.

36 Years Ago: Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Plane Crashes, Killing Three Band Members
by Sterling Whitaker October 20, 2013 5:45 AM



Lynyrd Skynyrd had established themselves as one of the most successful rock bands of the ’70s by the time they released ‘Street Survivors‘ in October of 1977. The group’s career would come to a tragic halt just three days later, on Oct. 20, 1977, when their twin engine plane went down in a swamp in Gillsburg, Miss., killing three of the band members, a tour manager and both pilots on impact.

The group had put together a string of iconic hits including ‘Free Bird,’ ‘Gimme Three Steps,’ ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and ‘Gimme Back My Bullets’ prior to the release of ‘Street Survivors.’ Anticipation for the new album was so high that it went gold within days, and Lynyrd Skynyrd embarked on the most ambitious headlining tour of their career, traveling between concert dates in their own Convair CV-300. Rock legend has it that Aerosmith had looked into renting the same plane earlier in the year, but passed on it due to concerns over both the safety of the plane, and the readiness of its crew.

Lynyrd Skynyrd were traveling from Greenville, S.C. to Baton Rouge, La. when their plane apparently ran out of fuel toward the end of the flight. The pilots attempted to land on a small air strip, but the bottom of the plane clipped some trees, and the aircraft went down in a remote stand of forest. Skynyrd singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray were killed instantly, while the other band members and road crew suffered terrible injuries. Drummer Artimus Pyle and two crew members crawled from the wreckage and hiked through swampy woods until they finally flagged down a local farmer, who sent for help.

Following the crash and the press attention that came along with it, ‘Street Survivors’ became Lynyrd Skynyrd’s second platinum album. Out of respect for the band and their family members, MCA recalled the album’s original cover, which depicted the band members engulfed in flames. Devastated by the loss of their singer and the injuries sustained by the survivors, Lynyrd Skynyrd disbanded after the accident, leaving the survivors to try to make their own way with varying degrees of success and failure.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/lynyrd-skynyrd-plane-crashes/

Ingredients

2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
Salt and pepper
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
8 ounces skirt steak, trimmed
1 poblano chile, stemmed and seeded
1 red onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 pound pizza dough
8 ounces shredded Mexican cheese blend (2 cups)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

1. Combine oregano, chile powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper in bowl. Pulse tomatoes and their juice with half of spice mixture in food processor until coarsely chopped, about 5 pulses; transfer to bowl. Pat steak dry with paper towels and rub with remaining spice mixture. Grill steak, poblano, and onion, uncovered, over hot fire until well charred and meat registers 125 degrees, about 3 minutes per side for steak and 4 minutes per side for vegetables. Transfer steak and vegetables to carving board, tent with aluminum foil, and let rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice steak against grain; slice poblano into thin strips; separate onion rings.
2. Roll dough into 12-inch circle on lightly floured counter. Grill dough, uncovered, over hot fire until underside is spotty brown and top is bubbly, about 3 minutes. Flip dough and top with tomato sauce, steak, poblano, onion, and cheese. Continue to grill, covered, until cheese is melted and dough is cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer to carving board and sprinkle with cilantro. Serve.

Man Undergoes Extensive Plastic Surgery To Look Like Justin Bieber, Spends $100,000 In 5 Years



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/19/plastic-surgery-justin-bieber-100k_n_4128563.html

Not only is songwriter Toby Sheldon a 33-year-old Justin Bieber fan, his Bieber-devotion would blow teeny-bopping Beliebers out of the water.

That's because Sheldon went so far as to spend almost $100,000 on five years worth of plastic surgery to make him look like his idol, according to the British tabloid Closer.

This is what Sheldon looks like after all that plastic surgery he had done to resemble the 19-year-old Canadian crooner: