DOUCHE OF THE DAY: Four SoCal Men Busted For Participating in Terrorist Plot Targeting Americans
Four Southern Californian residents have been charged for their roles in a plot to provide material support to terrorists as part of a plan to kill American targets, according to the FBI. The four men are suspected of making arrangements to join up with Al-Qai'da and the Taliban in Afghanistan in order to participate in the terrorist plot. The men are identified as follows: Sohiel Omar Kabir, 34, a former resident of Pomona and naturalized United States citizen, born in Afghanistan; Ralph Deleon, 23, of Ontario, a lawful permanent resident alien, born in the Philippines.; Miguel Alejandro Santana Vidriales, 21, of Upland, a lawful permanent resident, born in Mexico and whose application for citizenship is pending in the United States; and Arifeen David Gojali, 21, of Riverside, a United States citizen. Deleon, Vidriales, and Gojali were arrested Friday in California, wile Kabir is in custody in Afghanistan. If convicted, the defendants face a statutory maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison. [LAist]
Three Little Habits To Find Focus
I’ll be the first to admit that I fall victim to the trap of the internet—a wonderful empowering tool that can fill your day with distractions, a million little “productive” tasks that matter little, constant interruptions from messages and status updates... so how do we beat this? Well good news. It takes three little habits. Set a time limit. Pick something important to do, and set a limited time to do it. Secondly, close everything. This means everything possible on your computer that isn’t absolutely necessary for the task at hand. Close it! Thirdly, pause before switching. So you’ve closed everything else, you’ve set a time limit for your task at hand, and you’re getting started… but then you get the urge to check email or Facebook or Twitter. You want to see what’s happening on Instagram or Pinterest or YouTube. Stop. Make yourself pause for 5-10 seconds. This is the key habit that makes the other two work. Take a deep breath. Think about whether you really want to fritter your life away doing those things all day, every day, or if you want to do something great and voila. These are little habits, and you can do them. When your time is up, you can give yourself a few minutes’ break to check your favorite sites then close again. [Design Taxi]
David Beckham Sings Swan Song, Leaves LA Galaxy at 37
Photo by Todd Pierson via Shutterstock
What began as an illustrious career in 1992 in Manchester, UK will turn another page for David Beckham on
VOICE OF ELMO KEVIN CLASH RESIGNS from Sesame Street
WTF!! Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo, has resigned from Sesame Street ... in the immediate wake of a new lawsuit accusing him of having sex with an underage boy -- the second such allegation in 2 weeks. Clash is being sued by Cecil Singleton, who claims he met Kevin in a gay phone chat back in '93 ... when he was 15 and Clash was 32. Sesame Workshop says, "Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us want, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from Sesame Street. This is a sad day for Sesame Street." [TMZ]
Mediation Fails, Hostess Says it Will Proceed With Liquidation
Nooo!! Hostess says negotiations with leaders of the Bakery Workers union have failed. As a result, the company will continue with a hearing today in which a bankruptcy court judge will decide if the company can liquidate. The mediation session was essentially ordered by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Drain. He said he wanted to try to do everything he could to try to find a deal before he ruled on the company's motion to liquidate. Company attorneys told Drain Monday that the strike had already cost it too much money to restart operations. Experts say it is extremely rare for a bankruptcy judge to refuse to sign off on a company's motion to liquidate. [KTLA]
LAX Labor Protest to Snarl Thanksgiving Travel
Photo by -Clearlight- via the LAist Featured Photos pool
For those of you crazy enough to brave Thanksgiving holiday travel, your journey via Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) will be especially trying, thanks to a planned labor protest slated for today! Wednesday, November 21. Local police departments are advising travelers to expect traffic delays near LAX on Wednesday, when airport unionized employees plan to march from Century Boulevard to Sepulveda Boulevard. Hundreds of workers, organized by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), will rally and protest proposed healthcare cuts to their benefits by Aviation Safeguards, an organization that provides wheelchair, skycap, baggage handling and ticket verification for airlines at LAX. It is expected to begin around 11 a.m. and last until 4 p.m. Passengers are advised to add an additional 90 minutes to their planned drive time between the aforementioned hours, on top of arriving two hours before domestic flights and three hours before international flights. Airport officials say the march will force closures of westbound Century Boulevard between Airport and Sepulveda boulevards, and northbound Sepulveda between Imperial Highway and 98th Street. Good luck, holiday travelers! May the Ambien be with you. [LAist]
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A note from Jake Dill:
