Immigrant Families Hold Amazon to the Fire for Ties with ICE
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Immigrant Families Hold Amazon to the Fire for Ties with ICE
Ahead of Prime Day, New Jersey communities condemn the corporation’s ties to Trump’s deportation machine
ELIZABETH, NJ — On the eve of the corporation’s two-day Prime Day event, hundreds of immigrant families rallied outside of Amazon’s warehouse in a show of power condemning the corporation’s ties to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Immigrant workers and families delivered a petition with more than 200,000 signatures to Amazon demanding the company cut ties with ICE.
“In a moment when the federal government is caging children in horrendous conditions, Amazon provides key technology and data infrastructure to fuel the Trump administration’s deportation machine and bolstering the work of ICE,” said Sara Cullinane, Director of Make the Road New Jersey.
Immigrant members of Make the Road New Jersey – including families who have been detained by ICE – called for Amazon to end its partnership with ICE and close any federal contracts that support the administration’s anti-immigrant agenda.
“Last year my daughters were detained by ICE. Family separation is destructive and devastating. Amazon must cut its ties with ICE immediately.” said Mario, a member of Make the Road New Jersey.
The rally also made its way across the street to the Elizabeth Detention Center, where more than 300 individuals continue to be held as they face deportation.
“New Jersey’s undocumented immigrants pay nearly $600 million in state and local taxes each year, according to the non-partisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. That’s $600 million more than Amazon – owned by the world’s richest man – paid in federal taxes. It’s time for the Garden State to put its values first and say no to Amazon,” said Ana Ramirez, Make the Road NJ.
The group also called out Amazon for its increasingly alarming workers’ rights violations, standing in solidarity with warehouse and tech workers across the country who continue to strike.
“As the Trump administration escalates its campaign against undocumented families in New Jersey and across the nation, it’s time for Amazon to start acting like a responsible corporate citizen. Amazon must stop providing the critical tech infrastructure that supports the Trump administration’s inhumane deportation machine. And as one of the largest and fastest growing employers in the state, Amazon must start treating its warehouse workers with the respect and dignity they deserve,” said Albert Arroyo, Co-Manager of the Laundry, Distribution and Food Service Joint Board, Workers United, SEIU.
The rally paused for a moment to raise fists in solidarity with Amazon workers at a fulfillment center in Shakopee, Minnesota who plan to strike during Prime Day to protest dangerous productivity quotas and the corporations refusal to convert more temporary workers into employees. The workers, many of them Muslim immigrants from East Africa, previously have protested to call attention to their working conditions.
The rally is one of several coordinated actions taking place across the New York tri-state area this weekend, building on a collective grassroots energy working to hold the corporation accountable.
This effort sets the tone looking forward, as the FTC’s starts its investigation of Amazon. Progressive groups are prepared to mobilize around antitrust efforts against the all-too-powerful monopolies and corporations that undermine US democracy, starting with the House Antitrust Subcommittee who will hold a hearing next Tuesday, July 16 on the impact of market power of online platforms.
Man says DoorDash delivery driver ate half his food before delivering it
The convenience of ordering food to your doorstep with the tap of a finger can be tempting — but it can also come with issues.
Chris Payton of York County says he ordered food from Dickey’s Barbecue in West Manchester Township using DoorDash — a food delivery app that sends its own drivers to pick up orders from restaurants, delivering it right to your door.
After the driver dropped off his food, he says he opened up the box and discovered half of it had been eaten.
Two of the six ribs he ordered were gone and what appeared to be bite marks were left behind.
“I was just dumbfounded I was really shocked that something like that would happen,” said Chris Payton of York County.
Payton says he he believes the DoorDash delivery driver is to blame.
“I guess she just pulls over to the side of the road and just decides to have herself a little snack before she delivers,” said Payton.
We spoke to the employee at Dickey’s Barbecue that handled the order and while they were not allowed to speak on camera with us — they did confirm Payton’s story and said they have had previous issues with the same DoorDash driver.
“It’s just crazy I don’t understand people why they would do something like that,” said Payton. “It’s somebody’s food you pay for that you expect to get it, you pay for a service,” he added.
Online, dozens of similar complaints from other DoorDash customers across the country can be found.
FOX43 reached out to DoorDash for comment, but we did not hear back.
Payton says even though DoorDash refunded him his money, he hopes the driver is reprimanded for their actions.
“Treat your customers with respect, treat somebody’s like you would like to be treated yourself,” said Payton.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Husband mistakes wife for intruder, fatally shoots her
YPSILANTI TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — The Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an overnight fatal shooting in Ypsilanti Township.
Investigators told WXYZ a 30-year-old man mistook his 31-year-old wife for an intruder and shot her.
It happened Thursday morning around 2:30 inside the couple’s shared home.
The couple’s two young children, ages two and four, were inside the home at the time according to police.
According to investigators, the couple suspected an attempted home invasion earlier in the day.
“So he’s a little bit on edge, goes to sleep, thinks his wife is next to him. When wakes up again, sees what he thinks is someone who is in his home, grabs his weapon and pulls the trigger,” said Derrick Jackson with the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office.
According to Jackson, the couple’s 4-year-old first spoke to a 911 operator, explaining their mother couldn’t breath. Then the husband took the phone, indicating he had shot his wife in the chest.
The 31-year-old woman died from her injuries.
Sheriff’s deputies believe this was a tragic accident, one that’s shaken the small neighborhood where it happened.
“I was so shocked,” said Alexandria Fullbright, who lives down the the street. “There was police cars all down the street. There’s tape, detectives.”
The man was taken into custody following the shooting. Jackson said he was released Friday afternoon. At this time no charges have been filed.
The Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office sent the report back to the Sheriff’s Office to get more information on the case.
via: https://fox2now.com/2019/07/13/police-husband-mistakes-wife-for-intruder-fatally-shoots-her/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Parents charged with child abuse for missing follow-up appointments after baby had liver transplant
Santa Fe, NM (KOAT) — A child who had a liver transplant missed several doctors’ appointments and didn’t get his medication, and now his parents are charged with child abuse.
According to court documents, Kyla and Jason Witterman were arrested Monday for failing to take their 1-year-old son to his medical appointments after he had a liver transplant in April 2018. Court documents said the boy’s parents also didn’t give their son his medications, which transplant experts say is critical after the surgery. The Wittermans are both charged with child abuse.
“They are basically sentencing themselves to death,” said Maria Sanders, an educator with New Mexico Donor Services. “They need to continue taking anti-rejection medication, and the anti-rejection medications keeps your body, the person who receives the transplant, from rejecting that valuable organ that was transplanted to them.”
Documents show that the boy’s doctor reported the family to authorities for missing appointments. It wasn’t until police went to check on the family at their San Juan County home that the New Mexico Children, Youth & Families Department was notified of the situation. While Sanders isn’t directly connected to this case, she said situations such as this are drastic.
“It’s very disheartening to hear about situations where a person who receives a transplant isn’t taking care of that organ,” Sanders said. “It is an extremely precious gift.”
A spokesperson with the San Juan District Attorney’s Office told KOAT that the 1-year-old and his 13-year-old brother are in state custody and currently staying with a family member. The toddler is reportedly in good health.
Currently, there are about 48 infants in the country waiting for a liver transplant.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Serial drunk driver spared jail because she’s a woman
A serial drink driver who smashed into three cars after downing a bottle of wine has been spared jail – because she’s a woman.
Victoria Parry was told by a female judge if she was a man “it would be straight down the stairs” to prison but was instead handed a suspended sentence and a driving ban.
The 30-year-old hit the vehicles and crashed into a ditch before her Fiat Stilo burst into flames.
She was pulled from the wreck just off the A46 near Stratford-upon-Avon, on May 23 last year.
She was handed an 18-month suspended sentence and banned from driving for 24 months at Birmingham Crown Court.
A breathalyzer test showed she had 102 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath – almost three times the legal limit of 35mcg.
The shop manager has two previous convictions for drunk driving and admitted dangerous driving at Warwick Crown Court in April.
She was given a chance to avoid prison time by Judge Sarah Buckingham, who said: “if Miss Parry was a man, there is no question it would have been straight down the stairs”.
She did not elaborate or give any further reasoning as to why she might be spared for being female.
“This is a shocking case of dangerous driving against a background of two previous convictions for excess alcohol,” the judge added.
“But this offense was committed in May 2018 and she has not been in trouble since.
“She has clearly got an alcohol problem. She is, whether she admits it or not, an alcoholic.”‘
“I SHOULDN’T BE DRIVING”
“You richly deserve an immediate custodial sentence of 18 months. I want to see whether you can really address the issues rather than paying lip service,” Addressing Parry, she added.
“If you succeed, I will not make the custody immediate. If you don’t comply, I will conclude that you are not worthy of the chance.”
The court heard Parry almost caused a major crash when she overtook into oncoming traffic before plowing into three vehicles.
“Her driving was such that she caught the rear bumper of a van, and she next hit the wing mirror of a Vauxhall Insignia, and then the side of a BMW very heavily. She hit it with such force that the BMW’s rear wheel was knocked off and the car was written off,” prosecutor Tim Sapwell said.
“It caused her Fiat to spin in the road and go down the embankment into a wooded area where it caught fire.”
Other drivers rushed to her aid, including an off-duty police inspector who released her from her seat belt and pulled her out of the burning car.
He noticed she smelled of alcohol, and Parry told him that she had had a bottle of wine, telling him: “I shouldn’t be driving.”
The court heard Parry had been banned from driving for three years in July 2015 for her second excess alcohol offense.
Lucy Tapper, defending, said Parry started drinking up to two bottles of wine a day after being in an abusive relationship.
“There is deep and genuine regret on her part. Having a crash presents its own consequences in terms of what you’ve done, and to have your car burst into flames is quite terrifying,” she said. “She says she thought she was going to die. This has been a very salutary lesson to her.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/07/08/serial-drunk-driver-spared-jail-because-shes-a-woman/
Photo Credit: Paul Beard / SWNS
Man dies after adding a teaspoon of caffeine powder to protein shake
The family of a talented young musician who died after adding just one teaspoon of caffeine powder to a protein shake is warning people against using the substance.
Lachlan Foote died the day before his 22nd birthday after blacking out and never regaining consciousness in New South Wales, Australia.
Initially, there were rumors that Lachlan died of a drug overdose, reports news.com.au.
But his family learned of the fatal caffeine powder last week, when they finally received the coroner’s report.
And they have called for the product to be banned in Australia, as they believe it’s “scandalous” the potentially lethal powder can still be bought online by fitness buffs.
The coroner’s report concluded that Lachlan died of caffeine toxicity after the 21-year-old unknowingly ingested a dangerous amount of the powder in a protein shake on New Year’s Day last year.
Just one teaspoon of the caffeine powder of the type he had was the equivalent of up to 50 cups of coffee.
His dad, Nigel, said: “It turns out that Lachlan came home after celebrating NYE with his friends and made a protein shake, innocently adding too much pure caffeine powder – a teaspoon is lethal.”
Caffeine is a stimulant used in some whey protein powers to help boost people’s athletic performance.
Nigel said the family wanted to warn others against using the product, in a bid to save lives.
Caffeine powder is popular in fitness circles, commonly marketed as a diet supplement and used as an addition to protein shakes and health drinks.
It’s unclear where Lachlan got it from. A search of his computer and bank statements by both his family and police came up blank.
“We think Lachlan obtained the caffeine powder from a friend or work associate,” Nigel explained.
“Therefore, it appears the pure caffeine powder was bought by someone else and shared, so it’s very likely that Lachlan never got to read the warning label on the packet and was unaware of its potency.
“And the fact that he kept the caffeine powder in our kitchen pantry, where one of us might have mistaken it for flour or sugar, proves the point — Lachlan would never have kept it there had he known it was a threat to the family.”
Tragically, Lachlan sent a final Facebook group message to his friends on the night he died, complaining that his protein shake tasted bitter.
“I think my protein powder has gone off. Anyway… night lads. Cya in the morning,” hey wrote at 2:07 AM.
Nigel said that they found him “dead and cold on the bathroom floor (on) New Year’s Day, 2018… the day before his 22nd birthday.”
He said it had been “excruciating” waiting for the coroner’s report.
Caffeine powder ban urged
A pathologist told the coroner that there was no illicit substance and that Lachlan had only had a few beers.
The Food and Drug Administration in the United States prohibited the sale of large quantities of pure caffeine powder in 2018, four years on from the death of an Ohio teenager in similar circumstances to Lachlan.
Logan Stiner was a champion wrestler, gifted student and popular local in his town of LaGrange when he died just days before he was to graduate from high school.
He bought the powder online from Amazon and, like many, used it in protein shakes.
“As long as I live I will hunt that stuff down,” his mother Kate told local media after his death.
A search of eBay shows pure caffeine powder is widely available in Australia.
“It’s just insane that something so dangerous is so readily available,” Nigel said.
“Please warn your friends, talk to your children and perhaps check your kitchen cupboards. Pure caffeine powder looks just like any other white powder, but a heaped teaspoon of it will kill you.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/07/08/man-dies-after-adding-a-teaspoon-of-caffeine-powder-to-protein-shake/
Photo Credit: facebook
Sick boy walks mom down the aisle on wedding day
Maxine Connolly didn’t know if her son would live long enough to ever see her get married, which made it extra special when the 8-year-old walked her down the aisle at her wedding.
Maxine, from Scotland, married the boy’s father, Michael, after being together for 13 years. Aside from their son Jack, they have three daughters between the ages of 9 and 2.
Jack was born with a life-limiting condition, SWNS reports. At only 5 days old, he had his first surgery. Since then, he’s had two other major operations to fix a heart valve defect.
“His condition affects his day to day life,” Maxine told SWNS. “I had to give up my job last year because I kept having to take time off for Jack being unwell. He’s had three open heart surgeries. His first one was when he was five days old and that lasted for 16 hours. The last one he had was at the start of July in 2015. He’s going through diagnosis for autism.”
Jack will likely need a heart transplant and often needs a wheelchair to get around. Fortunately, for his mom’s wedding day, he was able to walk on his own.
“When I was halfway down the aisle, Michael had tears running down his face,” Maxine said. “He hardly gets emotional so you never see that side of him. I always say to him, ‘It’s OK for men to cry.’”
From what it sounds like, it was a very emotional day for the family. “The wedding coordinator brought Jack up to my room after I got dressed,” Maxine continued.
“When he came into the room the first thing he said was ‘Mommy you look so beautiful.’ When he said that I had this lump in my throat, I tried my best to not cry, so I held it back. But my eyes were full. It was so hard, he was so cute wearing his kilt. He looked so mature.”
“He was helping me walk by picking up my dress,” she said.
“Everyone kept telling him that it was fine but he kept trying to help, it was so cute. We kept telling him that he was such a good boy. It made him feel amazing because he loves to get praises.”
After the ceremony, Maxine had one more moment with her son that apparently brought everyone to tears.
“I also had a dance with Jack and literally everyone started crying,” she said. “Michael said to me that I made all the men cry too. I really felt like crying, it was a moment that I honestly thought I’d never have. I’m so proud of him.”
Photo Credit: Grant McKelvie / SWNS
Man busted using password-breaking software to hack women’s accounts
A man gained unauthorized access to more than 100 women’s digital accounts, all of which were password-protected, according to a statement this week from Assistant US Attorney Melissa M. Marangola.
Between March 2015 and December 2016, Justin Potts, 37, of Rochester, NY, used computer knowhow and password-breaking software to harvest the usernames and passwords of women’s online accounts.
Potts used Elcomsoft Phone Breaker software to gain access to the accounts, according to a report in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, citing a plea agreement.
Elcomsoft Phone Breaker “enables forensic access to information stored in a wide range of Apple devices running all versions of iOS,” according to Elcomsoft’s website.
It can perform “over-the-air acquisition of iOS devices, break into encrypted backups, obtain and analyze backups, synchronized data and passwords from Apple iCloud,” Elcomsoft says.
Elcomsoft also offers forensic tools for governments, military, law enforcement and IT security.
“Yes, sometimes our software is being used by bad people for bad purposes, like breaking into someone else’s account. This is, of course, a violation of our software agreement, but there is little we can do to prevent that,” a Elcomsoft spokesperson told Fox News.
“Our software is mostly intended for Law Enforcement Agencies,” the spokesperson added.
In this case, Potts accessed Facebook, iCloud, Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail accounts, according to the statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.
He gained access to these accounts without permission of the owners and used this access to obtain their personal information and personal photographs, Marangola said.
Potts then saved the personal information of the various women on his own electronic devices.
Rochester police alerted the FBI’s Cyber Task Force about Potts in March 2017, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
On Potts’ storage devices, agents found about 450 computer files that indicated unauthorized access into the women’s password-protected accounts, according to the Chronicle.
Potts was sentenced to three years’ probation by US District Judge Charles J. Siragusa.
He also had a previous conviction, according to the Chronicle.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/07/12/man-busted-using-password-breaking-software-to-hack-womens-accounts/
Photo Credit: Rochester Police
Lashana Lynch will play 007 in new James Bond movie
James Bond fans wanting 007 to be either black or female are in for a double treat — with the movie spy about to be played by a black woman, according to a report on Sunday.
British actress Lashana Lynch, 31, will be introduced as the new 007 in what is being described as a ‘popcorn-dropping moment’ in the franchise’s 25th movie that is currently being filmed, according to the Mail on Sunday.
But it is not a complete do-over — with her just taking James Bond’s secret agent number after he retires from MI6, the report states.
Bond himself will still be played by Daniel Craig — and will still adhere to his old-fashioned macho characteristics, an insider told the UK paper.
‘Bond, of course, is sexually attracted to the new female 007 and tries his usual seduction tricks, but is baffled when they don’t work on a brilliant, young black woman who basically rolls her eyes at him and has no interest in jumping into his bed,” a source told the Mail.
The insider called it a “pivotal scene” when Bond is called back from retirement and introduced to Lynch as the new 007.
“It’s a popcorn-dropping moment. Bond is still Bond but he’s been replaced as 007 by this stunning woman,” the source told the Mail.
Londoner Lynch, who played the fighter pilot Maria Rambeau in “Captain Marvel”, is hoped to modernize the franchise criticized by many as being too dated and sexist.
“This is a Bond for the modern era who will appeal to a younger generation while sticking true to what we all expect in a Bond film,” the source said.
“There are spectacular chase sequences and fights, and Bond is still Bond but he’s having to learn to deal with the world of #MeToo.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/07/14/lashana-lynch-cast-as-007-in-new-james-bond-movie-report/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
3-year-old girl drowned in river while parents were high on meth, police say
BARREN SPRINGS, VA. (AP) — Virginia authorities say the parents of a missing girl found drowned in the New River were high on meth at the time she fell into the water.
The Wythe County Sheriff’s Office says they’ve charged 45-year-old Kimberly Dawn Moore and her boyfriend, 45-year-old Adrian Neil Puckett, with felony child neglect with reckless disregard for life and felony child endangerment.
Sheriff Keith Dunagan said the couple were under the influence of methamphetamine and “didn’t pay attention and now they lost their child.”
Crews found 3-year-old Josie Burleson dead in the river Wednesday. She was reported missing Tuesday after the couple says she wandered off while playing on the river trail.
Dunagan said more than 100 searchers looked for the child in the area in a five-hour search.
Photo Credit: truecrimedaily.com