Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

If you’re a Verizon Wireless customer who was grandfathered in with an unlimited data plan after the company eliminated the option for new customers, enjoy it while it lasts — the company will be moving you to a tiered plan soon.

Speaking at the JP Morgan Technology, Media and Telecom conference on Wednesday, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo said customers with unlimited 3G data access will be required to switch to a data-share plan after transitioning to the company’s 4G LTE service.

“LTE is our anchor point for data share. So, as you come through an upgrade cycle and you upgrade in the future, you will have to go on to the data share plan,” Shammo said. “Everyone will be on [it]. A lot of our 3G base is on unlimited… [and] when they migrate off 3G they will have to go to data share.”

So when will that happen and how much will it cost? The data share plan is scheduled to launch in mid-summer, but pricing details have yet to be announced.

[Fierce Wireless]

Mani, flickr

In 2011, there were more racial or ethnic minorities born in the United States than white babies. This marks the first time in history that minorities make up the majority of births in the US.

Of the 4.1 million babies born last year, 50.4% were minorities, while 49.6% were white. A total of 1.99 million were white, while another 1.05 million are classified as Hispanic. The remaining are black, mixed race, Asian, Native American or Pacific Islander.

According to the latest census data, there are now 114.1 million minorities in the US, which comprises 36.6% of the country’s total population.

This landmark in minority births is coming at time in which Hispanic and Asian immigration is leveling off — if not going into a decline. Yet because the Hispanic population, in particular, trends young they are still having babies at higher rate than the older white population.

Demographers estimate that the entire US population will become ‘majority minority’ sometime between 2040 and 2050.

[Associated Press]

ABC

Is Jimmy Kimmel the new king of late night? Judging by last Thursday’s ratings coup, Kimmel may soon be worthy of the crown.

‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!‘ bested ‘The Tonight Show With Jay Leno‘ by 4% in the 18-49 demo, according to Deadline. Not too shabby considering Kimmel’s show comes on at midnight, a half-hour into Leno’s ‘Tonight Show’ which airs after the eleven o’clock news.

Kimmel’s victorious night didn’t end with Leno, however. ‘Late Night with David Letterman’ also felt the heat of rising competition, as Kimmel trounced Letterman by as much as 60% with adults 18-34 on May 7th and 9th and on the 11th, with a repeat. Ouch.

Kimmel also scored notable wins over late, late night competitors, beating out ‘The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson’ by 48% in adults 18-49 and putting ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon‘ in second place with the demo.

The numbers mark Kimmel’s first in-season win over Leno and his 7th straight win over Fallon. If Kimmel can keep it up, celebrities may have to reconsider whose couch they’ll want to be sitting on to talk-up their next big flick.

Source: ScreenCrush.com

sblackley, Flickr

Sunglasses don’t just make you look cool, they’re also good for your eyes. But a lot of parents don’t seem to know that rule also applies to their kids.

Research done by the Vision Council found that while three-quarters of adults regularly wear sunglasses, only about half make their kids wear them, too. And California ophthalmologist Paul Michelson says that should change.

“A substantial proportion of people still do not understand that UV exposure is harmful to the eyes as well as the skin,” he said. “Even [in] those who do understand, few understand it is the cumulative exposure that can be damaging.”

Among adults, the top three reasons given for not wearing sunglasses were that they forgot them at home, they break or lose them too often, and they don’t believe their eyes are at risk from sun exposure.

People with light-colored eyes are more susceptible to UV damage than people with brown eyes, but the risks for everyone include cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, and cancer of the eye, eyelid or surrounding skin.

[WebMD]

Makaristos, Flickr

The upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics marks 40 years since 11 Israeli athletes were killed by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

In commemoration, the Israeli government and two US Congressmen asked for a moment of silence at this summer’s event, only to have the International Olympic Committee reject the proposal.

Danny Ayalon, the deputy foreign minister of Israel, sent a letter requesting the minute of silence to Jacques Rogge, the president of the IOC, on behalf of two widows of the murdered athletes. In addition, representatives Eliot L. Engel and Nita M. Lowey, both Democrats from New York, sent a letter of their own to Rogge.

In rejecting the requests, Rogge said, “We strongly sympathize with the victims’ families and understand their lasting pain,” adding that the IOC “has officially paid tribute to the memory of the athletes on several occasions and will continue to do so in close coordination with the National Olympic Committee of Israel.”

Ayalon called the response “unacceptable” and said in a statement, “The terrorist murders of the Israeli athletes were not just an attack on people because of their nationality and religion; it was an attack on the Olympic Games and the international community. Thus it is necessary for the Olympic Games as a whole to commemorate this event in the open rather than only in a side event.”

[The New York Times]

philliecasablanca, flickr

Pop quiz: if one man orders a soy burger and another orders a steak, which guy do you think is more masculine?

If you said the steak-eater, you aren’t alone. A new study indicates people tend to think meat is far more macho than vegetarian choices.

Researchers conducted several experiments to study the metaphors people use about foods meat and vegetables, and found the participants not only used more masculine words when talking about meat, they perceived meat-eaters as more manly.

“To the strong, traditional, macho, bicep-flexing, All-American male, red meat is a strong, traditional, macho, bicep-flexing, all-American food,” the researchers wrote. “Soy is not. To eat it, they would have to give up a food they saw as strong and powerful like themselves for a food they saw as weak and wimpy.”

This means health experts who advocate eating less meat may have a tough sell with guys. The study authors say that addressing the metaphors that shape consumer attitudes would help, but something as simple as reshaping soy burgers to make them look more like traditional hamburgers or even putting grill marks on them may make reluctant men more likely to give them a try.

[LiveScience]

China Photos, Getty Images

At a school in China, hard work isn’t just rewarded with success — it’s rewarded with air conditioning, too.

Binhe Middle and High School in Shenzhen, China has 11 classes for 10th-graders, but only four of them — the honors classes — are air conditioned. Kids in the other classes have to sweat it out with only fans for comfort.

Students who do well on their high school entrance exams don’t just get a more comfortable classroom, they also get the most experienced and competent teachers. In exchange, those elite kids are expected to later enroll at one of the country’s universities.

A Binhe students said kids in the non-honors classes have offered to buy air conditioning units themselves and even pay for the electricity required to run them, but school authorities rebuffed their request, saying, “We may be put under investigation by education authorities if we allow such a practice.”

But the rationale behind the refusal seems to go deeper. One teacher said kids need to learn they can’t get whatever they want and that learning in a hot classroom will help them acquire the skills necessary to “overcome difficulties.”

Parents of some of those children are understandably upset, with one saying, “I think the school should treat all the students equally. Students in honors classes should not be given special treatment.”

[China Daily]

Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images

At the end of April, Honolulu County passed a ban that made Hawaii the first state in the nation to ban plastic bags at store checkouts statewide. Of the four counties in the state, three had previously passed bans and the Honolulu County decision officially made the ban statewide.

The Hawaii chapter of the Sierra Club has spent two years campaigning for a plastic bag ban. Robert Harris, director of the chapter said, “Passing the bans did take an effort — change always does — but people seemed to understand the need for such an effort.”

He believes that in the end it was easy to go statewide because Hawaii is a marine state. “Perhaps we are exposed more directly to the impacts of plastic pollution and the damage it does to our environment,” he said.

Harris also explained that the group had lobbied for state legislation, but that effort failed. The group used the exposure from it to petition the four counties to make their own bans which would then have an effect statewide.

The Honolulu County Council passed the final ban late last month, but mayor and county executive Peter Carlisle held back his support, feeling that he needed more input from the public because of enforcement and cost concerns. Last Thursday, Mayor Carlisle showed his full support by signing the ban and helping Hawaii earn its first-in-the-nation status.

Retailers have three years to comply with the county law that bans non-biodegradable plastic bags at checkout, as well as paper bags that are not at least 40 percent recycled. The ban will take full effect in July of 2015. You can find a list of other areas that have enacted bans on plastic bags at PlasticBagBanReport.com.

[MSNBC]

Bryan Bedder, Getty Images

Mary Richardson Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert Kennedy Jr., was found dead on Wednesday, and an autopsy has now revealed her cause of death: she died of asphyxiation due to hanging.

Police who went to Kennedy’s home in Bedford, NY on Wednesday afternoon to investigate a “possible unattended death” found the 52-year-old in a building on the grounds.

Mary was Robert Kennedy’s second wife. They married in 1994 and separated in 2010, and she’d struggled for years with alcohol and substance abuse problems. Toxicology tests are still pending and could take months to complete.

A statement released by Kerry Lawrence, her attorney, said, “We deeply regret the death of our beloved sister Mary, whose radiant and creative spirit will be sorely missed by those who loved her. Our heart goes out to her [four] children, who she loved without reservation.”

The death seems to add another chapter to the cursed Kennedy legacy. Robert Kennedy, Jr. is the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963. Robert’s father, Robert F. Kennedy, Sr., was shot and killed in 1968.

[The Los Angeles Times]

Supermunch, Flickr

One of the best ways to save money is cooking at home rather than dinning out.

In these times, are Americans choosing to do that?

According to a new poll from Harris Interactive — which suggests the economic recovery is still a long way from being over — more and more people are dining in.

The survey asked 2,451 adults if they agree with the statement “I find myself cooking more instead of going out in order to save money.” Seventy-one percent did agree, with 41 percent agreeing strongly. Among the 26 percent who didn’t agree with the statement, nine percent disagreed strongly.

Despite this move away from dining out, 63 percent of the poll’s respondents had still been to a fast food restaurant chain in the past month, and about half have dined at a local casual dining establishment.

[PR Newswire]

Twitter

There aren’t a lot of red-haired players in the NBA. That’s one of the reasons Patrick Gonzalez, who has red hair, is a fan of Matt Bonner, a ginger-headed back-up center for his hometown San Antonio Spurs.

So to pay homage to the sharp-shooting bigman, Gonzalez had a rather accurate image of his favorite player shaved into the back of his head.

Since hair is apparently a touchy subject at Woodlake Hills Middle School, his mom Rose Gonzalez actually went to the school to clear the Bonner-cut with the administration before Patrick showed up for class.

But despite this meeting, Patrick was told that he would have to get rid of his unique hair style or face suspension. According to school official Aubrey Chancellor, Rose Gonzalez may have met with the front office about her son’s hair, but permission was never actually granted.

So now it looks like Patrick will have to get rid of his tribute, which has been deemed a “distraction.” He says that he is “mad,” but will comply with the decision.

If anything good were to come out of this misunderstanding, it would be that it might draw more attention to Bonner, who last year posted a couple pretty clever parodies of basketball instructional videos on YouTube. Check them out below.

Source: TheFW.com

Wayne Wilson, Getty Images

There is some good news being reported about the state of young people in America.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, fewer American teens and young adults are smoking cigarettes than they were nearly a decade ago.

This new report consists of data collected each year between 2004 and 2010 as part of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Researchers interviewed nearly 158,000 people between the ages of 12 and 17 and roughly 159,000 men and women between the ages of 18 to 25.

• The number of children between the ages of 12 and 17 who smoked every day fell from 3.3% in 2004 to 1.9% in 2010.
• Young people ages 18 to 25 years old also reported decreased daily tobacco use – from 20.4% in 2004 to 15.8% in 2010.
• The ranks of young smokers between the ages of 12 and 17 who smoke five or fewer cigarettes a day grew from nearly 37% in 2004 to almost 43% in 2010.
• The largest group of daily smokers between the ages of 18 to 25 who smoked between six and 15 cigarettes a day slightly increased from about 41% in 2004 to roughly 44% in 2010.
• There was nearly a 3% decrease in young adults who smoked 26 or more cigarettes a day.

According to researchers, the downward trend in tobacco use could be the result of anti-smoking laws, tax increases, and tougher laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco to minors.

Researchers also add that while these findings may be encouraging, many kids are still picking up this dangerous habit.

[WebMD]

Bryan Bedder / Ethan Miller, Getty Images

Here’s a look at some notable birthdays being celebrated today:

George Strait
Age: 60
Occupation: Singer, Songwriter and Musician
Known For: A slew of country hits including ‘Fool Hearted Memory,’ ‘Ocean Front Property,’ ‘She’ll Leave You with a Smile’ and ‘You’ll Be There,’ dozens of industry awards, holding the record for the most No. 1 hits on the Billboard Country charts, and holding the record for most No. 1 albums, gold albums, and platinum albums in the history of country music

Tina Fey
Age: 42
Occupation: Actor, Writer and Comedic Genius
Known For: Her brilliant work as both a writer and performer on ‘Saturday Night Live’ and ’30 Rock,’ penning the screenplay for the movie ‘Mean Girls,’ her spot-on portrayal of Sarah Palin on ‘SNL,’ writing the hilarious bestseller ‘Bossypants,’ being the youngest-ever winner of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, and being an icon for smart, funny women everywhere

Joe Bonsall
Age: 64
Occupation: Singer and Author
Known For: Being one of the singers for the Oak Ridge Boys, which had country and crossover singles like ‘Elvira,’ ‘Bobbie Sue’ and ‘American Made,’ and writing books like ‘The Molly Books’ children’s series and ‘GI Joe and Lillie’

Chow Yun-fat
Age: 57
Occupation: Actor
Known For: His role as Li Mu-bai in ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,’ his Asian film collaborations with filmmaker John Woo in the heroic bloodshed genre films ‘A Better Tomorrow,’ ‘The Killer’ and ‘Hard Boiled,’ and voiceover work for the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’ and ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ video games

Jack Johnson
Age: 37
Occupation: Singer, Songwriter and Musician
Known For: His successful debut album, ‘Brushfire Fairytales,’ his work on surfing movies and soundtracks, being the organizer of the annual Kōkua Festival, and songs like ‘Better Together,’ ‘Flake’ and ‘You and Your Heart’

National Gallery of Art

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history:

1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French (More info)

1896 – The US Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that “separate but equal” is constitutional (More info)

1933 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority (More info)

1980 – Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupts after being dormant for 123 years (More info)

2004 – Randy Johnson, age 40, becomes the oldest pitcher to throw a perfect game (More info)

Tony Hart/Mix 108

Love can get messy sometimes. Divorces can get even messier. But, what often gets the messiest is the stuff left behind after the divorce that the remaining spouse must get rid of to move on. This Superior, WI woman seems to have found the best way, and a local radio station got all the photos.

Rather than posting adds for well-priced used items on Craigslist, the woman decided to have a “sale” in front of her home. The good news for interested shoppers was that everything was free. The bad news was that everything seemed to be somewhat destroyed, including a green GMC Yukon covered in vulgar graffiti indicating the former owner of the SUV to be a “cheater.” There was also a pile of charred remains of stuff, clearly the result of a small fire.

The “X-Husband Sale” stopped traffic on the woman’s street as passers-by paused to examine the items and photograph the result of the divorcee’s wrath. The traffic back-up prompted a visit from police, who spoke to someone in the home, but did nothing further with the mess on the front lawn.

Later, the SUV was gone, but the “sale” remained open. When asked, Superior Police Sergeant William Lear explained there is no law against spray painting a vehicle in your own yard. If there’s questionable language on the vehicle, he said, “Depends on the language, there’s a fine line there. If it’s creating a disturbance, if there’s threats, if it’s blocking traffic, we can tow it.”

According to court documents, the couple filed for divorce in July of 2011. A neighbor confirmed that the divorce became final on Tuesday and that set off the preparations for the “sale.” You can see more NSFW photos below. Is this a fitting revenge?

Tony Hart/Mix 108

Tony Hart/Mix 108

Tony Hart/Mix 108

Tony Hart/Mix 108

Tony Hart/Mix 108

Tony Hart/Mix 108

Tony Hart/Mix 108

Tony Hart/Mix 108

Source: TheFW.com

Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

If the money you make denotes you as the winner than Glenn Beck is pummeling Rush Limbaugh.

Forbes has released its Celebrity 100 list and it is a little surprising.

Beck now earns $80 million per year topping Tom Cruise, Donald Trump and Rush Limbaugh.

With GBTV at 300,000 subscribers, his news website The Blaze and of course his eponymous radio show heard on The New 940, Beck is everywhere and raking in a bit of cash at each stop.

Obviously the split from Fox News was quite lucrative.

Keith Olberman, you writing all this down?

For more see this source article.

Photo by Toby Canham/Getty Images

With the recent addition of Dennis Miller to our weekday lineup we knew it would be a simple matter of time before he hit a nail right on the head.

You can hear Dennis weekdays on The New 940 beginning at 11:06am.

You can also catch Dennis’ weekly segment on The O’Reilly Factor called ‘Miller Time’.  He usually brings plenty of bombast.

Amongst other things Miller called the Obama administration as the ‘Kardashian Presidency’ and says Obama is good at everything except ‘being president’.

For the video click here.

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Second only to the TSA’s groping, the ban on cell phone use while on an airplane seems a bit ludicrous.  If you’ve ever looked on jealously while a fellow traveler breaks the cell phone rule you know all too well there isn’t much to the dangers we’ve all heard about.

And now Virgin Airlines is leading the way, again.  They will soon be rolling out in-flight cell usage.

The New 940′s Jerry Doyle took on the subject during his show last night.  This is one of the great things about Doyle, he talks about the things that affect you and me, and these are often things the bigger shows eschew in favor of bombastic political news.

Here’s what Jerry had to say.

booleansplit, Flickr

When you’re buying sunscreen, do you look for words like ‘waterproof,’ ‘sweatproof’ and ‘sunblock?’ If so, don’t bother — they may not be as bulletproof as they seem.

Last year, the FDA mandated that sunscreen manufacturers had to stop using the above descriptions because no product is truly waterproof or sweatproof, and even the best sunscreens don’t completely block harmful rays. And although the ban was supposed to be in place this summer, makers now have until this winter to comply.

Products claiming to be ‘waterproof’ or ‘sweatproof’ will have to prove it with standard testing and state exactly how long a product will stay on the skin after being exposed to water or perspiration.

In addition, terms like ‘sunblock’ will be replaced with ‘broad spectrum’ as long as a product has an SPF rating of at least 15 and protects the user from both UVA rays (associated with skin cancer) and UVB rays (which can cause sunburn).

That said, sunscreens on the shelves are still effective and the FDA encourages their use, saying, “The ingredients in FDA-approved sunscreens marketed today have been used for many years, and FDA has no reason to believe these products are not safe.”

[Time]

Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

A Safeway employee in Northern California was rewarded for heroically coming to the rescue of a pregnant women being assaulted by her boyfriend inside the grocery store in a shocking way.

He was suspended by his bosses.

Ryan Young, who works as a meat clerk at the Del Rey Oaks Safeway, witnessed Quyen Van Tran pushing and kicking his girlfriend, who is six months pregnant. Young intervened, saying, “I told him to calm down and he was just irate.” Tran refused to stop, so Young decided to act the part of Good Samaritan by jumping in, as opposed to remaining a bystander.

In this case, the supermarket wasn’t so safe for the shopper or the employee.

Young said, “I saw no one was intervening in the situation and I just became afraid for her safety and also other customers’ safety. The guy was out of control and pretty much lost it in there.”

The local police chief said that Young’s intervention prevented the situation from escalating and that it could have been much worse for the victim. He also praised Young for doing the right thing.

Not so fast, though, according to his employer, who suspended him without pay since he violated company policy, which is to alert management or security when witnessing customer behavior such as this.

Young is not sure if and when he will be allowed to return to work. Ironically, his wife is five months pregnant and they have no income at this point.

Where’s the justice in that?

“It’s a tremendous amount of stress on me, my wife as well,” Young said. “And I don’t think anyone
should have to second-guess themselves or feel bad doing something that was right.”

[CBS 5]