Wal-Mart, a drain on U.S. taxpayers, to up pay for some to $9 an hour

Wal-Mart says it will increase its pay to a half-million of its 1.2 million workers to $9 an hour by April. That’s up from the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour that Wal-Mart is paying most associates. 

Only 6,000 Wal-Mart employees make federal minimum wage. 

American taxpayers pay an average of $3,000 a year for each Wal-Mart employee on public assistance.

Wal-Mart's gross revenue is $475 billion, its profits $17.2 billion.

Wal-Mart employees who get $7.25 an hour for 20 hours, which keeps them from getting company benefits like health insurance, make $145 a week or $7,540 a year.

The poverty level this year in America is $23,850 so even full-time Wal-Mart employees qualify for public assistance.

When a food drive was held in a Canton Wal-Mart to help those receiving public assistance, almost every employee in that store qualified.

Farrow out at MSNBC

You know your days are numbered when your ratings are lower than Al-Jazeera America. So MSNBC canceled the Ronan Farrow Show.

And on the same day dumped the Joy Reid show, Farrow’s lead-in.

“Way Too Early” host Thomas Roberts will get Farrow’s 1 to 3 p.m. time slot.

On Feb. 4, Farrow had 22,000 viewers to 44,000 for Al Jazeera America. 

Also, Chris Hayes may be moved out of 8 P.M. to a better time slot.

Sticker-shock prescriptions

The widening income gap also decides who can get prescription drugs, by default. Anyone can get them . . . if they can afford the co-pay..

That’s no problem for Warren Buffett. But for others, it’s not that easy.

For example, Stelara for a disabling form of psoriasis, is $1,578 for each of four injections, or $6,312 for a year’s shots. For starters. Later, the patient’s cost soared to $2,728 per inoculation.

Soliris, which treats life-threatening blood diseases, costs $440,000 a year. For Warren Buffett, pocket change. For the rest of us, unaffordable.

Sovaldi, the best drug for hepatitis C, costs $84,000 for the recommended 12-week treatment. Warren Buffett, we aren’t. Even with co-pays, that can run $16,000.

All these are labeled specialty drugs, which are expected to cost Americans and their insurers $400 BILLION by 2020.

10 top-selling specialty drugs:

1. Humira, for inflammatory conditions.

2. Enbrel, for inflammatory conditions.

3. Copazone, for multiple schleroris (MS).

4. Atripia, for HIV treatments.

5. Revlimid, for cancer.

6. Gleevec, for cancer.

7. Enoxaparin, for blood clotting.

8. Rebif, for MS.

9. Avonex, for MS.

10.          Gilenya, for MS.

The article is in the January-February 2015 issue of the AARP Bulletin.

Read it and weep.

Computer helped launch Barlett & Steele to stardom

In 1973 the Philadelphia Inquirer fed 100,000 pieces of information into a computer and proved that the Philadelphia justice system, particularly the prosecuting attorney, was engaged in a massive paper-shuffling system loaded with indiscriminate indictments.

It was the first computer-assisted series of stories in newspaper history.

Donald Barlett and James Steele won the 1973 Heywood Broun Award for their series on violent crime and the justice system quagmire. The pair went on to successful, four-decade investigative careers that included two Pulitzers for their Inquirer work and the magazine equivalent for their Time magazine projects.

Today, feeding information into computers to spot trends or glitches or anomalies is routine.

Don Pack passes away

The sad news from retired printer Dick Latshaw about former Composing co-worker Don Pack:

“John:

“Don passed away tonight (Tuesday) about 9:30.

On Siesta Key in 2003

“There is to be an obit in the Beacon.”

Latshaw, who lives on Pauleys Island, South Carolina, explained how it came to this sad ending:

“Don and Betsy were on a cruise off Mexico when Don fell and hit his head. They took him to a Mexican hospital where they put him on life support. He was flown to Fort Lauderdale and was to be taken off life support as soon as all the kids get there.”

This happened Friday.

Dick got the information from Sally Pack, Don's former wife and the mother of their seven children.

Don’s girlfriend, Betsy Friese of Sarasota, who accompanied him on their travels in the Americas, wrote:

“Dear Friends:

“It is with deep sorrow I inform you Don died February 17, 2015. While on a cruise he went into a coma and was airlifted to Ft. Lauderdale. His children were with him during his final hours.

“Don and I were together for 17 years. He was the love of my life, my best friend, a kind and gentle soul as well as an avid sports fan. He loved to fish, exercise in the pool and did not miss too many happy hours.

“Services will be private.

“Sincerely

“Betsy”

Pack, who was my late father’s bookie when Don worked at the BJ, was the pool guy at Sea Castle on Siesta Key, Florida during many of my 19 winter visits there.

But he vacationed in Latin America with Betsy and drove to his pool jobs in convertibles that teenagers would drool over.

Don is not the only BJ retiree I have had reunions with in Florida. Unfortunately, most will be joined by Don in That Great Newsroom in the Sky.

People like former BJ Composing honcho Dave White, whose widow Gina White lives in their Venice, Florida home; former BJ printer Terry Dray, whose widow Cecily lives in their Avon Park, Florida home; newsroom rewrite guru Don Bandy, who passed away in Bradenton, Florida.

At least Hugh Downing, who also crossed my path on Siesta Key, is still above ground and has lived in The Villages, Florida with wife Sharon for a dozen years.

And arranges a weekly golf outing with me at a different course so that I can try out as many of the 47 links as possible during my 3-month stay in The Villages with former State Desk reporter Paula Stone Tucker.

There have been WAY too many obituaries for me to post on the BJ Alums blog, including blog founder Harry Liggett, who with Pat Englehart taught me, at age 38, what it was to be an outstanding editor during the glorious State Desk reign that brought Ol’ Blue one of its four Pulitzers, for the coverage of the 1970 Kent State killing of four students and wounding of nine others.

RIP, Don. Maybe you can get St. Peter to give you extra perks in return for a “sure thing” trifecta.

Retired BJ printer Don Pack, who was my late father’s bookie, was the pool guy at Sea Castle on Siesta Key, Florida during many of my 19 winter visits there.

But he spent his vacations in Central America with his main squeeze and drove to his pool jobs in convertibles that teenagers would drool over.

Retired printer Dick Latshaw, who lives on Pauley’s Island, South Carolina, related this sad news about Don:

John:

Don and Betsy were on a cruise off Mexico when Don fell and hit his head.

They took him to a Mexican hospital where they put him on life support.

He was flown to Fort Lauderdale and he is to be taken off life support as soon as all the kids get there.

This happened some time Friday.

He is to be cremated. There will no services.

This is per Sally Pack.

Dick Latshaw

Don Pack was a big man who lived life big. What a tragic impending ending.

Don is not the only BJ retiree I have had reunions with in Florida. Unfortunately, most will be joined by Don in That Great Newsroom in the Sky.

People like former BJ Composing honcho Dave White, whose widow Gina White lives in their Venice, Florida home; former BJ printer Terry Dray, whose widow Cecily lives in their Avon Park, Florida, home; newsroom rewrite guru Don Bandy, who passed away in Bradenton, Florida.

At least Hugh Downing, who also crossed my path on Siesta Key, is still above ground and has lived in The Villages, Florida with wife Sharon for a dozen years.

And arranges a weekly golf outing with me at a different course so that I can try out as many of the 47 links as possible during my 3-month stay in The Villages with former State Desk reporter turned psychologist Paula Stone Tucker, who grew up in Cuyahoga Falls as a banker’s daughter.

There have been WAY too many obituaries for me to post on the BJ Alums blog, including blog founder Harry Liggett, who with Pat Englehart taught me, at age 38, what it was to be an outstanding editor during the glorious State Desk reign that brought Ol’ Blue one of its four Pulitzers, for the coverage of the 1970 Kent State killing of four students and wounding of nine others.

RIP, Don. Maybe you can get St. Peter to pay you for a “sure thing” trifecta.

Why ISIS surpasses Hitler & Kymer Rouge

Members of ISIS believe that they are the vanguard fighting a religious war, which Allah has determined will be won by the forces of true Islam.

This is the conclusion of a forthcoming book about ISIS by terrorism experts J.M. Berger and Jessica Stern who write that ISIS, like many "violent apocalyptic groups, tend to see themselves as participating in a cosmic war between good and evil, in which moral rules do not apply."

To read Peter Bergen’s chilling analysis of a brutal, savage campaign against anyone who is not a “true believer,” click on http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/16/opinion/bergen-isis-enemies/index.html

Leslie Gore passes away

Leslie Gore died today at the NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan, New York City, of lung cancer.

She was born Lesley Sue Goldstein in Brooklyn in 1946. The singer, songwriter, actress and activist’s hits included "It's My Party" and "You Don't Own Me," a feminist rallying cry.

Lesley Gore

She composed songs with her brother, Michael Gore, for the 1980 film “Fame” for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.

Her father, Leo Gore, was a wealthy manufacturer of children's clothes and swimwear. She was a junior at the Dwight School for Girls in nearby Englewood when "It's My Party" became a No. 1 hit. It sold more than one million copies.

Her record producer from 1963 to 1965 was Quincy Jones. Jones' dentist was Marvin Hamlisch's uncle, and Hamlisch asked his uncle to convey several songs to Jones. One was "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows."

Her lover for 33 years was Lois Sasson.

Her funeral services were scheduled for Feb. 19.

Ryan Lewis

New BJ Tribe writer

Ryan Lewis, who writes for Bleacher Report on the Internet, will be joining the Beacon Journal as Cleveland Indians beat writer.

Eric Poston, Kent State student and Harry Liggett’s nephew, provides additional information about Ryan Lewis:

“John - About the ABJ new Indians beat writer. "Wanted to let you know I graduated with Ryan Lewis at Green High School, Class of 2009. He attended Kent State and worked at The Suburbanite (same paper I do) for a period of time. “He covered high school sports for both the ABJ and PD for a period of time before landing this new job.”

Sheldon Ocker once covered the beat admirably for the BJ. So did Bob Nold.

Ol’ Blue: A fun time

The late New York Times columnist David Carr must be able to read my mind. In a 2014 commencement speech to the graduating class at the University of California at Berkeley School of Journalism, he said:

“Being a journalist, you get to leave, go talk to strangers, ask them anything, come back and type up their stories, edit the tape. Think of the people who go to work every day, sweating hatred for what they do. We skip to work. So much fun.”

During my 26 years at the Beacon Journal (1969-96), I ran to work every day because it was so exhilarating. 

And I got to cross paths with people like John Knight, Ben Maidenburg, Fran Murphey, Joan Rice, Harry Liggett, Jane Snow, marvelous Mark Dawidziak.

I still get warm thoughts about it every day.

Even though I’m enjoying the hell out of my nearly 19 years of retirement and traveling to 52 countries and 43 states and taking 11 cruises.

To read Carr’s commencement speech, which is far from the boring balderdash of most such events, click on http://thedesk.matthewkeys.net/2015/02/david-carr-berkeley-commencement-speech/

Sallot teaching students to tell digital stories

Jeff Sallot, former BJ reporter, is teaching media students at Carleton University School of Journalism and Communication in Ottawa how to be reporters in the digital age.

 

Jeff Sallot

The Kent State graduate assigns third-year students a neighborhood to cover. They hand in at least 20 photos and 2 minutes of audio and tell the story.

During his brief time at the Beacon-Journal (1969-71) Jeff had a key role in reporting on the 1970 death of 4 KSU students and the wounding of 9 others by the Ohio National Guard which led to one of the BJ’s four Pulitzer Prizes under the dynamic leadership of Pat Englehart.

Jeff went to the Toronto Star after leaving Ol’ Blue, where he met wife Rosemarie Boyle, also a journalist. Later, they both worked for the Toronto Globe and Mail for 32 years, including Jeff’s time at the Moscow bureau.

He retired from the Globe to join the Carleton faculty. Rosemarie is with an agency that promotes foreign trade which takes her to such places as Asia and Africa.

Jeff and Rosemarie have been married for four decades. They live in Ottawa, Rosemarie’s hometown. They have two children. Jeff has another child from a previous marriage. 

Kidney transplant for Harry’s son Tom

Tom Liggett, BJ Alums founder Harry Liggett’s son, had a kidney transplant today.

Pray that his body accepts it.

Bob Liggett is Tom’s brother and Harry and Helen’s son.

Tom is Community Pregnancy Center director of development and a graduate of Hoban High and the University of Akron. He is married to Susan and lives in Akron.