British Airways released a statement explaining the rejection. They said that their package for cutting costs includes minor changes to flight crew numbers, saving them £62.5 million per year. Unite’s package included a 2.6% pay cut for this year and saved less money. The airline pointed out that their plan didn’t involve an earnings reduction for existing crew, which would be unfair for crew at Gatwick, where there haven’t been any changes in crew numbers made. They added that the proposal from the union will save significantly less.

Sources with Unite are accusing British Airways of failing to have good faith in negotiations, saying that the airline appears to take a step back every time the union takes a step forward. So now the union has until Monday to choose strike dates, as well as give the carrier a 7-day ahead of time notice. This means that the action may start as early as next Friday. Unite has already agreed that the action won’t occur over Easter break, but anyone that plans to travel before the end of the month is at risk of their plans being disrupted.

To help reduce the impact of the strike on its passengers, British Airways has trained at least 1,000 volunteer staff to take the place of striking cabin crew on long-haul flights. The carrier is also wet leasing 20 aircraft and crew to operate short-haul flights from Heathrow Airport.
From:Merchant News

However, the rest of the Top 12 were not so clear, and the four that went home were a little surprising.

Lilly Scott, for one thing. In a surprising twist, she went home. Was it due to her singing an extremely old song from Patsy Cline, instead of staying relevant as Simon had always told her she was?

“I don’t know,” Lilly says. “I thought I did really well. I thought I was appealing to a lot of people.” She says she put her heart into every song choice and every performance, but “I don’t know what American wants to hear. I don’t.”

The other girl to go home was Katelyn Epperly, which wasn’t that big of a surprise, leaving the top six girls to be:

1. Didi Benami
2. Siobhan Magnus
3. Paige Miles
4. Crystal Bowersox
5. Lacey Brown
6. Katie Stevens
More From:CMR

Leaders of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, called the Red Shirts because of their hallmark garb, have vowed to keep their “million-man march” protest nonviolent. Demonstrators started meeting around the country Friday and plan to converge on the Thai capital on Sunday.

The group’s last major protest in Bangkok last April deteriorated into rioting that saw two people killed, more than 120 people injured and buses burned on major thoroughfares. The army was called in to quash the unrest.

The Red Shirts include followers of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and other people who oppose the 2006 military coup that toppled him. They believe Abhisit came to power illegitimately with the connivance of the military and other parts of the traditional Thai ruling class who were fearful of Thaksin’s popularity while in office in 2001-2006.

Several schools planned to close Friday and again next week if circumstances warrant. Some two dozen foreign embassies have issued travel advisories, including the United States, which urged Americans to stay away from the protests where “violence cannot be ruled out.”

Some allies of the Red Shirts have openly boasted of armed retribution if the protests are suppressed. The government has advised against panic, while warning of possible sabotage by the Red Shirts. Viral e-mails have advised readers to stock up on food and fuel.

Government supporters claim the Red Shirts will dress up as police and soldiers to shoot demonstrators in order to create martyrs; Red Shirt leaders says provocateurs pretending to be protesters will incite violence to discredit their movement.
More From:The Associated Press

Initial reports stated that Haim died due to an accidental drug overdose. At the time of searching the apartment, there were no illegal drugs found, but several prescription medications including Valium, Vicodin and a muscle relaxant.

Corey Haim’s good friend and co-star in several projects on film and TV was Corey Feldman. The actor was scheduled for an interview on Larry King Live on CNN. In addition, Feldman lashed out at Hollywood and the media for building up stars, spitting them out and then poking fun at them. He cited websites like TMZ for doing damage to stars years after Hollywood has decided it no longer wants to market them.

The news of the pulmonary congestion and enlarged heart is just part of this story for now. Haim’s agent has also confirmed he knew of a pre-existing heart condition Haim told him about. His agent also believed that Haim was not doing any “serious pill-popping” and had been working with an addiction specialist. The Chief Coroner from Los Angeles County has noted that they have yet to give an official cause of death, as they are still awaiting the results of further tests.
From:Gather.com

Gary Michael Hilton killed Meredith Emerson January 1st 2008 and in return for leading the police to her body in the Georgia mountains, Hilton is currently in jail serving a life sentence. Meredith Emerson’s body was found nude and she had been decapitated by Hilton. It was a brutal violent crime.

However, Hustler Magazine requested use of the photos of Meredith Emerson’s body, but when Emerson’s family heard of the request, they started a movement to prevent brutal and gruesome crime scene photos from being publicly released, and on Thursday they got their wish with the creation of The Meredith Emerson Memorial Privacy Act.
More From:NowPublic

“The Lost Boys” star was discovered unresponsive at his mother’s California home on Wednesday and was pronounced dead upon arrival at a hospital in Burbank.

Feldman, who starred in a string of movies with Haim, remained close to his pal up until his sudden death, and admits he was living in a budget apartment with his mother in his final days, because he was so “broke” he couldn’t even afford a car.

Feldman tells Larry King, “Corey was living in the Oakwood Apartments with his mom, very broke, very destitute. It’s a month-to-month living. He doesn’t have anything. He didn’t even have a car.”

Haim filed for bankruptcy protection in 1997 after allegedly running up massive medical bills and owing more than $200,000 in state and federal taxes.
From:San Francisco Chronicle (blog)

More From:Buzzy Bloggers (blog)

For some odd and possibly twisted purpose, Hustler Magazine has requested the post-mortem and the crime scene photos of Meredith Emerson. Now I am sure it will not surprise you that the United States Authorities denied the request of Hustler magazine.

On February 25, Fred Rosen of the Hustler Magazine had requested the decapitated photos, claiming that he had a right to photos via the open records. Rosen filed this unusual request with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
More From:Gather.com

The Kansas Jayhawks were led by Sherron Collins who scored 19 points but the big story were the 18 rebounds grabbed by center Cole Aldrich for Kansas. Guard Xavier Henry helped the team with 13 points and six rebounds.

John Roberson put in 17 points and 8 assists in the losing effort by Texas Tech.

Number four seed Texas A&M beat number 12 seed Nebraska this afternoon by a score of 70-64. Donald Sloan scored 23 points with 3 rebounds.

Two more games are on tap with #2 Kansas State playing #7 Oklahoma State. KSU leads 51-26 at the half.

Number three Baylor plays against number 6 Texas at 9:30 PM.
(Media-Newswire.com)

Merlin Olsen’s death was tragic, he used to be one of the fearsome foursome, in the 60’s where we played for the Los Angeles rams, He was also a NBC star as Father Murphy, and a Hall of Famer, It is just too saddenned to have lost a great man in the industry, anyway for more details on this Merlin Olsen Cause of Death: Merlin Olsen Mesothelioma Symptoms, Check it out below, We will be sharing more info about this Mesothelioma through the online source list, Watch out for the tribute video for Merlin Olsen soon!
More From:Buzzy Bloggers (blog)