The participants are protesting the recent attack on collective bargaining rights detailed in the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill.

Veda Shook, the AFA’s International President said in the organization’s press release:

“The FAA reauthorization should be focused on addressing the pressing safety issues that will ensure that the U.S. aviation system remains the safest in the world. Instead, Congress has used this process to gratuitously attack American workers in order to satisfy corporate executives. This controversial labor provision is nothing less than an attack by the 1% against the 99%.We saw it in Wisconsin and Ohio, now we see it for airline and rail workers who are simply seeking the benefits of collective bargaining or fighting to hang on to collective bargaining rights.”

House Republicans and Senate officials have proposed major changes to the Railway Labor Act, one of the nation’s first labor laws, through a secret deal. Congress is hoping to require the approval of at least 50 percent of an employee group before a union representation election is held.

The RLA has not been changed without the agreement of both employer and employee representatives in nearly eight decades.

If these proposed changes are instituted, Congress may undermine a worker’s choice to have union representation, as employers could have more power to cancel union representation.

The arrest occurred at 3AM on Jan. 12 in Culver City, Calif., the gossip site reports. After stopping the rocker for an undisclosed traffic violation, police apparently noticed signs of intoxication and found Scantlin to be in possession of powder and pills.

Despite his tax woes, Scantlin was able to post $10,000 bail and head home a few hours after being booked. Unfortunately, me may have gone home to an empty house, as back in November, he filed for divorce from his wife, model Jessica Nicole Scantlin.

Here’s hoping the Mudd main man emerges from the muck and turns his year around.

Douglas’s battle to recover from the stroke and his reexamination of his Jewish faith are the subject of his sixth book, Climbing the Mountain: My Search for Meaning, out this month. The still-vigorous actor, who lives in an art-filled, two-bedroom house in Beverly Hills with his second wife, Anne, 78, mother of their sons Peter, 41, and Eric, 39 (his older sons Michael, who turns 53 on Sept. 25, and Joel, 50, are by his first wife, Diana Dill), sat down in his living room one recent morning to describe his ordeal to L.A. deputy bureau chief Todd Gold.

IN JANUARY 1996 I HAD AN OPERATION ON MY BACK TO relieve tremendous crippling pain, which was caused by being in a helicopter accent five years earlier. I had put off the operation until the pain was unbearable. I didn’t want to feel sorry for myself. Two young people were killed in the crash, and all I had was back pain. But I finally decided to go ahead with it.

A couple of weeks after the operation, the stroke happened. I was at home, and after I walked down to the corner by myself for the first time, my wife said, “You’re doing so well, I want you to celebrate.” So the next day she had her manicurist Rose come over and give me the full treatment. As Rose worked on me, I thought, “Boy, if the guys in Amsterdam, N.Y., where I grew up, could see me now. I’m a movie star having a manicure!”

Then I had the strangest sensation. Not painful. Not paralyzing. Just strange. It was like a buzzing along my face and down my right cheek. I started to tell Rose about it, and apparently nothing came out. But I saw Rose’s startled, concerned reaction. She’s a trained nurse, and she sensed exactly what was happening. Rose called Concha, one of our housekeepers, who ran into the living room and started to slap me. She thought it would help. I tried to say, “Please, Concha, that doesn’t help.” But what came out was blabber.

They managed to reach my wife, who was visiting Barbara Sinatra because Barbara had fallen down some stairs and hurt her back. Anne hurried back and called my doctor Richard Gold, who told her to put me in the car, rather than wait for an ambulance, and drive me to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center as fast as possible since immediate medical treatment is crucial following a stroke. Dr. Gold was there when we arrived, and he said, “Kirk, I’m so happy to see you walking down the hallway on your own and without a limp.” Then he asked me to show him my teeth. I tried. Only one part of my mouth went up. The right side didn’t move. I couldn’t feel that. I didn’t know what was happening or what wasn’t. But he said that I’d suffered what he described as a mild stroke. Hah! Mild to everyone but me.

In the hospital my wife took over, asking all the questions I couldn’t. I heard the doctor tell her that the stroke might have been caused by a burst blood vessel or perhaps a tiny blood clot from the back operation that traveled to my brain. Who knows?

I don’t remember everything the doctors did to me right away, but I know I was a terrible patient. I hate hospitals. I think people get sick in hospitals. I become like a temperamental child. So after four days they let me go home. In all honesty, I think they wanted to get rid of me.

At home, where I seemed to be overrun by doctors and therapists, I started working every day with a speech therapist, and it was extremely hard. I started by learning how to pronounce letters, and then I graduated to words. I still have a problem with 5 ‘s. Save. Sit. Start. Stop. Normally our tongues dance when we talk. Mine only waltzes. I was once in an Italian restaurant, and I couldn’t say, “Spaghetti.” About six months later I went back and kept saying, “Spaghetti! Spaghetti!” I was so delighted.

I’m a cocky guy, and after the stroke I thought I’d bounce back quickly. “In three months,” I told myself, “I’ll be back to normal.” I just assumed I’d work hard, and I’d see the results. But it didn’t happen that way. I must admit I’m not as brave as I am in the movies. I’m human, and like many people after a stroke, I faced severe depression. That was the worst. I cried, and I didn’t want to do anything. I just wanted to get in bed and divorce myself from everything. I wanted to give up and say, “The hell with it.” For 50 years I was an actor who expressed himself with speech, and suddenly I was cut off. So who was I now?

The stroke is not painful physically, but what it does to the psyche is terrible. Prior to the stroke I had been preparing a speech for the special Academy Award I was being given, but afterward I didn’t want to do it. I told Michael to accept for me. But he said, “The hell with you, Dad. You’re going to get that award if you have to crawl.” So I tried to practice a speech, but it was awful. My thoughts were fine, but my tongue wasn’t up to the task. I said, “I’ll go and just say thank you.”

On the night of the Oscars I arrived backstage about half an hour before I was scheduled to appear. My wife and four sons were already sitting in the audience. I sat in a chair off to the side in front of a monitor, where I could watch the show. I was startled by what I saw—me as a young man in Champion, in Spartacus, and kissing Lana Turner. When had I gotten so old? I never felt old. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder, a kiss on my cheek, and when I looked up, I saw it was Sharon Stone. I said to myself, “The old Kirk Douglas isn’t doing too badly.”

Steven Spielberg introduced me. For the first time since the stroke I was going to speak in front of people, and I was a wreck. But you know, when you’re a ham….Still, I was overwhelmed when everyone stood up
and applauded. I said to myself, “Now you have to say something more than thank you.” I saw my family sitting together, and I said to the audience, “They are proud of the old man. I am proud too—proud to be a part of Hollywood for 50 years. But this is for my wife, Anne—I love you.” Afterward, at home, my wife started to cry and said, “You made me ruin a $25 makeup job.” Now I’m glad I did that.

The stroke changed my perspective. I realized things can always be worse. I think of Christopher Reeve and my dear friend Burt Lancaster, who had a stroke and spent four years like a vegetable, unable to speak or move. After the helicopter crash, I had started studying the Torah, and I know that helped me a lot. Not that I became a religious nut, but through the Bible I realized that God always gives you a second chance. So many people in the Bible were sinners, but they overcame their sins to do something worthwhile, and that was encouraging to me.

One thing that has changed since the stroke is that people don’t know how to act around me. They yell, “How are you, Kirk?” But there’s nothing wrong with my hearing. Sometimes I’d want a glass of water, and my wife would jump to get it. But I’d get it myself. It’s too easy to let people serve you, but it’s more important to be selfsufficient. Otherwise you begin to act like you’re sick. And as my wife points out, I am not sick. I am just a man who has trouble pronouncing his s’s.

I remember the day last year when I asked my granddaughter Kelsey, who was then 3, if she could say “transcontinental.” She couldn’t. I’d left her in the dust. That was a big moment for me. Now I speak like 6-year-olds. The key ingredient for survival is a sense of humor. It took a while for mine to return, but you must be able to laugh at yourself. My sons were a great help because they didn’t treat me like I was going to die. In the hospital they gave me affection, and once I got out they told jokes. Laughter helps you relax.

When I spoke to Michael at first, he always made me repeat myself. “Dad, what did you say?” he asked. “Michael, don’t you speak English?” I said. Before the stroke we had been working on a movie, which would have been the first time we acted together, something I wanted to do badly. “Dad, you just keep working with your speech therapist,” he said. “And when you get better, we’ll do the movie.” But I said, “No, Michael, you work with my speech therapist, and when you talk like me, then we will do the movie.”

One of the most important by-products of the stroke is that it reasserted my faith in God. Since the stroke I’ve realized that I just took the miracle of speech for granted. What are the other advantages to having a stroke? You must speak slowly in order to be understood. That means you have to choose your words more carefully. You don’t go off the handle or get angry. Patience is another thing. I’ve always been an impatient guy, and this forced me to change. Today when I get frustrated, my wife says, “Calm down, Kirk, you’re all right. You’re just temporarily out of order.”

The stroke also brought my family closer together. I think they’ve always thought of me as this big, strong guy who could handle anything. A stroke? That was something that only happened to old guys. But now they had to face my mortality. As have I. People ask me, “Kirk, do you ever think of dying?” My God, of course I do. But I should have thought about that long ago. When you’re aware of death, life becomes sweeter.

Right now I am speaking better. But it takes a lot more energy and effort for me to speak. By 7 o’clock I might be having more trouble. Like any muscles that get used a lot, mine will be tired. I work with a speech therapist two or three times a week. I can say almost any word when it’s isolated. But when I try using it in a sentence, my tongue sometimes lags. For instance, I can say “perspicacity,” but if I wanted to use it in a sentence, I’d have to slow down while my thoughts continued at their normal pace. Then I would have to catch up to them.

But I am doing pretty good. Every morning I exercise for 20 minutes. For the past six months I have been playing golf again. The other day Michael said, “Gosh, Dad, you are hitting the ball farther than before.” Michael and I are still working on a movie we can do together, but I recently turned down another script. I think my role in life is to do more than just act. Since the helicopter crash I have been more active in helping other people. My wife and I have sold millions of dollars worth of paintings by Picasso, Braque and Dubuffet and used the money to build playgrounds and help schools. It’s very clear to me that you must help other people. According to the Torah, you have to love your neighbors as yourself, and in order to love yourself, you have to be a worthwhile person. My stroke was God’s way of saying, “Hey, Kirk, you’re not moving fast enough. You have things to do in this world.”

I heard that message very clearly. I am 80 years old, and I do not know how that happened. We race through life so rapidly that we don’t give ourselves the chance to take inventory. I tried to start with my autobiography, but most of that was retrospective. In my new book I look at who I am right now and what I will become. We take so much for granted. If I have learned anything from my stroke, it is this: We must be more grateful for all the little things in life—walking, talking, moving, loving. Don’t give up, and you have a chance.

When some people think plastic surgery, Kim Kardashian is one of the celebrities that immediately jumps to  mind.

Born on October 21st, 1980, Kim, on the surface at least, seems like one of those plastic surgery celebrities whose famous just for the media frenzy surrounding her mother. her stepfather and of course her sisters.

Kim along with her sisters Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian are the daughters of the late Robert Kardashian. Her mother is Kris Jenner (see Kris Jenner plastic surgery) who is married to former Olympic decathlete and gold medallist and no stranger to cosmetic surgery, Bruce Jenner.

An exotic blend of Armenian and Scottish heritage,  she possesses a unique look that she has used to her advantage becoming a model, a fashion fixture and later on an actress and a hostess.

She’s no stranger to controversy, given that she’s one of the celebrities out there with a famous sex tape, but she’s also been on several television shows hosted by E! Entertainment, most notably the Keeping Up With The Kardashians which has already spawned more spin-offs than you’d think it would.

Since she relies so heavily on her looks though, many are bound to ask whether Kim has gotten any cosmetic

Of course, it isn’t like plastic surgeons have stepped forward into the spotlight to tell all of this to reporters; part of their profession is supposed to be discretion and confidentiality after all.

But most fans, or just those who accuse Kim Kardashian of going under the knife, will use the tried and true method of comparing photographs from one year to a photograph in the past to point out how she’s physically changed as evidence of plastic surgery procedures.

Of course, it is important that you keep an open mind since if you’re sure something is there you’re going to end up seeing it even if no one else does.

First of all, the human body changes over time and even if a person is recognizable, they aren’t going to look like the same person they were even a few years ago.

2011 erupted in full-swing after a tumultuous 2010– a year that ended with the death of legendary singer Teena Marie, started with the devastating earthquake in Haiti and the BP oil spill, and included in between too many other highs and lows to recount.  So, it’s little surprise that 2011 has brought a lifetime of headlines–some good, some sad, and many memorable in more ways than one. For soul music lovers, the stories in the news have resonated far deeper as we process all that has passed through our consciousness this past year. Take a look at our list of the year in review and reflect with us on some of this year’s highlights that have stood out as being memorable reminders of how incredible 2011 has been.

R&B veteran Keith Sweat and the Mary Jane Girls are teaming up for a special tribute to the late Teena Marie at a Valentine’s Day, February 14 show, which Marie was tapped to headline before her untimely passing.

Centered at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, Marie’s band and The Whispers will also take part in the celebration.

In addition, Keith Sweat and The Whispers will also be part of a Mother’s Day tribute to the late star in Atlantic City, New Jersey on May 7th with veteran crooner Charlie Wilson joining the celebration.

Teena Marie died late December 2010 in her California home at 54. Visit Ticketmasters.com for more details.

Read more: http://www.singersroom.com/news/6779/Keith-Sweat-and-Company-to-Remember-Teena-Marie-With-V-Day-Tribute#ixzz1lR7eK1r5