Monthly Archives: September 2011
Woman Crashes Car Into Man’s House… Again
Woman Crashes Car Into Man’s House… Again – MSLSD
Two women on a shopping trip were rushed to a hospital after their car crashed into a house late Tuesday afternoon.
Sky 4 flew over the crash scene on Schang Road in South Park, where a tow truck was seen pulling the car away from the side of the house.
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Channel 4 Action News’ Ashlie Hardway reported that both victims were expected to recover. Police have not identified them.
Police told Hardway that the driver was turning around in a cul-de-sac, as she typically does, when she somehow lost control of the vehicle and veered off the road and over a wall into the house.
The passenger, Adrienne Mosi, said she and the driver, Nancy Wallace, have lunch together every week.
Wallace picks Mosi up and drops her off at her Schang Road home.
“We get back in the car, we go up the hill, she’s turning around and I wasn’t looking at what she was doing. I was looking to the side. All of a sudden I felt the car accelerate and I say, ‘Nancy!’ Then I saw the curtains in the bathroom of this house. I about died and so did she,” Mosi said.
Mike Stocke, who owns the house, told Hardway that the same woman has crashed a car into his home once before.
“First time it happened, my daughter’s car was parked right there,” Stocke said. “The same lady actually ran into the car and knocked it halfway off the wall.”
The crash damaged a bathroom, but Stocke has a second one that can be used, and he said he’s able to continue living in the house while repairs continue.
“I walked up and saw the car in my bathroom, basically,” Stocke said.
He added that he thinks it may be time for the woman to give up her driver’s license.
Officers said no one was inside and no water or gas lines were hit. Both women were taken to a hospital but are doing OK.
Police are still investigating and have not said whether any charges will be filed.
Ex-Judge Gets 17.5 Years In “Kids For Cash” Case
Ex-Judge Gets 17.5 Years In “Kids For Cash” Case – CBS News
A former chief county judge who took part in a massive kickback scheme involving for-profit juvenile detention centers was sentenced Friday to 17 1/2 years in prison.
Appearing in a federal courtroom in Scranton, former Luzerne County President Judge Michael Conahan, 59, apologized to the incarcerated youths, the legal community and the public.
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“The system is not corrupt,” he said. “I was corrupt.”
To the children sent to a pair of facilities from which he received kickbacks, Conahan offered a direct apology.
Conahan pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy last year. He and former Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr. were charged with taking bribes from the builder of a pair of juvenile detention centers and extorting cash from the facilities’ co-owner.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned about 4,000 juvenile convictions in the wake of the so-called “kids for cash” scandal.
Ciavarella was convicted of some of the charges at trial. He was sentenced last month to 28 years in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Houser acknowledged that, unlike Ciavarella, Conahan had cooperated with prosecutors. But he requested a substantial sentence anyway.
U.S. District Judge Edwin M. Kosik recommended Conahan be placed in a federal prison camp in Florida so he can be close to his family.
Conahan’s attorney called the sentence disappointing but said there would be no appeal.
Two Dozen Union Leaders To Receive Combined $56 Million Pensions
Two Dozen Union Leaders To Receive Combined $56 Million Pensions – Daily Caller
Nearly two-dozen labor leaders are slated to receive a combined $56 million in municipal pension funds during their lifetimes, according to the Chicago Tribune.
A 20-year-old law which changed Illinois’ pension code has left 23 retired union officials in a position to collect that large sum from two of the city of Chicago’s ailing pension funds.
These changes became law without any public debate among state legislators and without cost analysis.
Since the law bases pension payouts on labor leaders’ union salaries, instead of on the more modest salaries they received as city officials, their pensions average three times higher than what the typical city worker receives after retirement.
State legislators and city government officials are now refusing to take responsibility for the law, passed in 1991, leaving many questioning whom should be held accountable.
Experts tell the Tribune they have never heard of such a large perk for union leaders, noting the potential problems it could create for a city struggling to control pension costs. Chicago does not control salaries paid to leaders of municipal employees’ unions, the most important factor in determining pensions.
A decade ago, Chicago’s pension plans had ample funds. Today, in light of the economic recession, the need for huge, unanticipated payouts could burden taxpayers and dues-paying union workers alike.
The situation could also get worse: City workers who take leaves of absence to work full-time for unions have historically been able to remain in city pension funds if they so choose. The time they spend working at the union – while on leave from municipal duties – is then counted towards their city pensions.
Government Paid More Than $600 Million In Benefits To Dead People
Government Paid More Than $600 Million In Benefits To Dead People – The Blaze
The federal government has doled out more than $600 million in benefit payments to dead people over the past five years, a watchdog report says.
Such payments are meant for retired or disabled federal workers, but sometimes the checks keep going out even after the former employees pass away and the deaths are not reported, according to the report this week from the Office of Personnel Management’s inspector general, Patrick McFarland.
In one case, the son of a beneficiary continued receiving payments for 37 years after his father’s death in 1971. The payments – totaling more than $515,000 – were only discovered when the son died in 2008.
The government has been aware of the problem since a 2005 inspector general’s report revealed defects in the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. Yet the improper payments have continued, despite more than a half dozen attempts to develop a system that can figure out which beneficiaries are still alive and which are dead, the report said.
“It is time to stop, once and for all, this waste of taxpayer money,” it said.
Office of Personnel Management spokesman Edmund Byrnes said he could not immediately comment on the findings. But the report said OPM Director John Berry agrees that stopping the improper payments should be a priority.
There are about 2.5 million federal workers who receive over $60 billion in benefit payments from the program each year.
Federal officials have tried matching the fund‘s computer records with the Social Security Administration’s death records, checking tax records and improving the timeliness of death reporting.
OPM has also sampled its records of all recipients over 90 years old to confirm whether they are still alive. In 2009, there were more than 125,000 recipients identified as over 90 and about 3,400 over 100 years old.
Both the Obama administration and Congress have made it a higher priority to crack down on improper government payments.
Last year, government investigators found that more than 89,000 stimulus payments of $250 each from the massive economic recovery package went to people who were either dead or in prison.
Daily Benefactor News – Obama Administration: All Your Taste Buds Belong To Us
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Obama Administration: All Your Taste Buds Belong To Us – Gateway Pundit
Theyire not satisfied with controlling your health care, your light bulbs and your thermostat…
Now they want to control your taste buds, too.
CNS News reported:
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Ball sack Vilsack told members of the National Restaurant Association on Monday that Americans need to “adjust” their tastes so that they like the kind of food the government believes they should eat – and “we have to make sure that what we do is create the appropriate transition.”
“You know, as we deal with this issue of reducing sodium and sugar, it sounds simple to do, but you all know better than I do, it’s not as simple as it sounds,” said Vilsack.
“It’s going to take time for people’s taste to adjust and they will adjust over time, but it will take some time,” he said. “So, we have to make sure that what we do is create the appropriate transition.”
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*VIDEOS* Florida Fox News/Google GOP Debate – 09/22/11
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Part 9
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Part 11
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My reaction to last nights debate things that are really starting to bug me
First of all why in the Hell are we not talking about the ECONOMY more? Can then moderators stop trying to start fights between the candidates and start focusing more on the key issue facing the nation please?
Second, all I hear today is that Mitt Romney won, and that he sounded presidential. Please! He sounds like a politician, as in programmed. Nothing against Romney, I will gladly support him against President Zero, but have we not yet learned that “sounding presidential” matters little when it comes to being presidential?
Why is Ron Paul wasting our time? I mean besides to feed his overactive ego and to take time from candidates who actually might win the nomination? Get out Paul, please!
Why is John Huntsman there? To remind us what an arrogant ass looks and sounds like? Sorry, but this guy is a joke. Expect his next gig, after he stops pretending to run for president that is, to be an analyst on MSNBS or maybe CNN. He will be the token useful Idiot Republican who curries the favor of the Liberal media by running down the GOP as a bunch of yahoos.
Rick Perry, buddy, come on! You should be cleaning Mitt’s clock, step it up!
Michele Bachmann? Or is that Mike Huckaphoney in a dress, what a disappointment you are! You are acting like a spiteful politician with a personal axe to grind.
Newt Gingrich I love your answers, I do. I just wish you had character, and a chance in Hell at winning. But alas.
Herman Cain. That a man of his qualities has little chance to win is a tragic commentary on our political system.I hope the eventual nominee taps Cain for a cabinet position.
Rick Santorum? Why does he set off my douchebag meter? Is it his weasel like face? I cannot find fault with most of his answers or positions, but I just find something incredibly irritating about him. Perhaps he comes across as a bit too much of a Social Conservative, and that tends to aggravate my Libertarian side.
Another thing that bugs me is that Karl Rove is on Fox every what, five minutes sharing his “expertise”. Enough already.
Finally, he thing bugging me the most is that these debates are more about attacking the front-runner, or each others books than they are about allowing the candidates to share their plans for addressing the key issues. Ah, yes, that is what I am missing, substance! I loathe talking points, I want depth, substance, I want details about what these candidates will do about the issues facing America.
Why would Republicans want their babies to look like Rep. Waxman?
- Image via Wikipedia
I am just asking, because it seems that Waxman, AKA Nostrilsaurus Rex is saying they do
(The Hill) — House Democrats on Thursday evening warned that Republican attempts to rein in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations would lead directly to adverse health effects across America.
Members were debating H.R. 2401, which would create a commission to weight the impact of recent EPA rules and delay pending rules on mercury and air pollution. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said delaying these two pending rules in particular would lead to immediate adverse health consequences.
“Each year these rules will prevent tens of thousands of premature deaths, tens of thousands of heart attacks, and hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks,” he said on the House floor. “It will also prevent almost two million lost work days.
“If this legislation is enacted, these public health benefits will be lost, and more babies will be born with birth defects and learning disabilities,” he added.
Why, I am stunned, scare tactics from a Leftist Democrat? NO!
Yes, Alec Baldwin is still an abusive ass
The Right Scoop has details on the latest classless act by Alec Baldwin, and his ass hat followers on Twitter. He asked his minions to direct their angry tweets at Michelle Malkin because she dared disagree with Baldwin over the Troy Davis execution. The link has screenshots of the tweets, and, once more, we are treated to the vile face of Leftist rage and hatred!
For all of you who weren’t on twitter last night, Alec Baldwin decided to instruct all of his followers to tweet Michelle Malkin over the Troy Davis execution, calling her a “world class, crypto facist hater!”. And the onslaught of hate tweets began. I managed to capture a smattering, some of which Michelle retweeted for public record. I also posted a new link above, Tweeting Michelle Malkin, so you can see and the hate tweets Michelle will be getting in the coming days.
I posted a few for sampling, click to make them bigger
CONTENT WARNING as many of these tweets contain vulgar language:
Explosive Email Shows Anti-Palin Author McGinniss, Random House Likely Published Literary Hoax
The awful launch week for the over-hyped, expected bestseller The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin, by controversial author Joe McGinniss, just got worse. Much worse.
After a week of universally scathing pans from the reflexively anti-Palin establishment media, McGinniss now faces the fight of his literary life: the accusation that he seems to have knowingly submitted a book to his publisher, Crown/Random House, that was filled with unproved “tawdry gossip” and rumors that lacked “factual evidence.”
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In the email below, sent in January of 2011, McGinniss reveals that his manuscript, then under legal review at Crown/Random House, could not prove its most headline-grabbing allegations. And yet, many of these “salacious stories” that lacked “proof” (in McGinniss’s own words) ended up in the book, and on televisions everywhere during the author’s current media tour … without proper sourcing, and without any apparent new evidence to support them.
McGinniss’s panicked state is evidenced by the identity of the recipient to whom he sent his email of distress. Jesse Griffin was the author of an obscure, low-rent, and now-defunct anti-Palin blog that obsessed over Trig Palin’s maternity–claiming, without any evidence, that Sarah Palin was not Trig’s mother.
Was Random House aware that its prized author was making a desperate overtime bid to save face? And if so, why did it allow him to come forth with most of those tawdry accusations without proof or proper sourcing?
This would not be the first time McGinniss has found himself in trouble over accusations of unethical journalism. In 1987, McGinniss agreed to pay $325,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the convicted murderer who was the subject of McGinniss’s book Fatal Vision. He has also admitted to having surreptitiously distributed a competitor’s manuscript about Palin that was handed to him by his own publisher. The leak allegedly damaged the commercial viability of that book.
In 2003, Random House released a larger-than-life, massive bestseller by James Frey entitled A Million Little Pieces. Later, it was revealed that the book was a fantastical literary hoax that made its way past some of the highest-paid and most respected editors and lawyers in the literary world. Doubleday/Random House felt compelled to offer full refunds to those who had bought the book.
Has history repeated itself?
Mr. McGinniss has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
From: Joe McGinniss
To: Jesse Griffin
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2011 6:15 PM
Subject: I have to ask you for helpJesse–
Legal review of my manuscript is underway and here’s my problem: no one has ever offered documentation of any of the lurid stories about the Palins. Shailey Tripp is the latest example.
APD and Sarah have denied that Todd had any involvement with her. To my knowledge, no one has provided any evidence that he did. TheEnquirer cites AlaskaWTF, which in turn cites the Enquirer: what good is that? I’m also told that the Enquirer is preparing to back off this story and save face by denouncing Ms. Tripp as an unreliable source who promised documentation she couldn’t provide.
She may be mentally unstable and prone to fabrication, delusion, or both. Her joint may be called Blue Hands Massage (brrrrr!), but she’s no Monica Lewinsky with a blue dress with a semen stain, that’s for sure.
Do you believe that Todd paid her for sex? If so, why do you believe that, other than that you wish it were true?
A lurid, sensational, defamatory story about Todd, based only on the account of a woman charged with prostitution, who is no doubt desperate for money, and who sold her story to the Enquirer, is a gift from heaven for Sarah.
Jesse, you can ridicule Sarah for calling in to the execrable Bob & Mark, but the fact is that as far as this story goes, there’s no there there. And rumors about what might come in weeks ahead are not facts. In fact, they’re garbage.
I’ve neither seen nor heard anything that indicates that Ms. Tripp’s story has any basis in fact. None of the endless crap Patrick posted about her before getting the boot from palingates.com offers any substantiation.
And even you write frequently that you know things you can’t yet post, but that soon “all will be revealed.” This has been going on since I first became aware of your blog, but as far as I know you haven’t substantiated a single claim or provided verification for a single rumor that you’ve posted about Sarah’s personal life, or the personal lives of any Palin family members. Thus, she gets to denounce what she calls “lies.”
Neither from you, the Enquirer, AlaskaWTF, palingates.com or anyone else, have I seen a credible, identified source backing any of the salacious stories about the Palin family.
Thus–as Random House lawyers are already pointing out to me–nothing I can cite other than my own reporting rises above the level of tawdry gossip. The proof is always just around the corner, but that’s a corner nobody has been able to turn. Maybe Jeff Dunn has, in which case I’ll be the first to congratulate him. But frankly, at this point, I’m tired of it, and I’ve run out of time.
No one has ever provided factual evidence that:
a) Todd had sex with a hooker, or with anyone else outside his marriage.
b) Sarah had an affair with Brad Hanson, or anyone else.
c) Track was a druggie who enlisted in the army to avoid a jail term. Or that he vandalized Wasilla school buses.
d) Willow was involved in the vandalism of the empty house in Meadow Lakes. Or that Sarah rushed back from Hawaii to put the lid on that.
e) Trig is not Sarah’s natural born child.
f) Bristol was promiscuous as a high schooler and drank and used drugs, or became pregnant again after Tripp’s birth.
Jesse, you were going on and on about Bristol being pregnant while doing Dancing With The Stars. And, if I recall correctly, at the time of her brief glossy-magazine-payday “reunion” with Levi, you surmised that she was pregnant by Ben Barber, or at least by someone who wasn’t Levi. You’ve recently suggested she’s had an abortion, publishing photographs that show her chubby then and thin now. But doesn’t that seem a little “thin” to you, based on nothing besides magazine pictures?
So much has bubbled at the salacious rumor stage for more than two years, but no one has been able to take even one story further.
Jesse, if you can put me in touch with people who are willing and able to substantiate any of the above, now is the time to do so. Otherwise, I hope you won’t complain that there are no startling new revelations in my book. My publisher and I think it’s damning enough without airing the family’s dirty laundry, but because Sarah’s hypocrisy about her family is one of the things that galls me most, I’d like to be able to publish facts in regard to a) through f) above, but I emphasize facts.
Not malicious speculation or third-hand rumors relayed by those who hold a grudge.
For any or all of those who’ve told you they’ll speak out, but not yet, now is the time. My book represents the last best chance to put the truth about Sarah in front of the American people in a documented, verifiable way. But I need facts that I can rely on. I didn’t live this long and work this hard over so many decades to wind up as AlaskaWTF between hard covers.
as always, and looking forward to seeing you in spring or summer,
Joe
Update – Read: Caught: Random House Published Palin Smears After Lawyers Allegedly Told McGinniss No Proof Existed
Lawmakers Claim Justice Inspector Obstructed Probe Into ‘Fast And Furious’
Lawmakers Claim Justice Inspector Obstructed Probe Into ‘Fast And Furious’ – Fox News
The inspector general of the Department of Justice undermined and obstructed a congressional investigation by releasing secret tape recordings that corroborate allegations of misconduct in “Operation Fast and Furious,” according to a letter written by Rep. Darrell Issa and Sen. Charles Grassley.
The two lawmakers leading the probe into the Obama administration scandal claim Justice Inspector General Cynthia Schnedar compromised their investigators’ ability to get to the truth and potentially prosecute those responsible for selling thousands of weapons to the Mexican drug cartels.
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Schnedar failed to even listen to the recordings before handing them over to the actual targets of the investigation, the letter alleges.
“Each of these disclosures undermines our ability to assess the candor of witnesses in our investigation and thus obstructs it,” they wrote in a letter dated Tuesday. “Moreover, your decision to immediately disclose the recordings to those you are investigating creates at least the appearance, if not more, that your inquiry is not sufficiently objective and independent.
“It appears that you did not consider the significant harm that providing these recordings to the very individuals under investigation could cause to either our inquiry or your own. You did not consult with us about the recordings even though the congressional inquiry and reactions to it are discussed at length.”
The OIG argues that under discovery rules it is required to turn the tapes over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The tapes Issa and Grassley refer to were recorded by Andre Howard, owner of the Lone Wolf Trading Co., after he suspected the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was lying to him about the guns they recruited him to sell to buyers of the Sinaloa Cartel.
On two occasions Howard taped Hope MacAllister, the lead agent in the Fast and Furious case.
Dallas lawyer Larry Gaydos, who represents the Lone Wolf Trading Co., claims Howard was trying to get MacAllister to implicate herself and the ATF in the illegal gun-running scheme.
“He became very suspicious and in his own defense would tape key conversations with Ms. MacAllister and try to get her to make admissions about the truth of the matter,” said Dallas attorney Larry Gaydos. “Andre was trying to get her to admit that indeed they let guns go to Mexico.”
Howard has become a key witness in the congressional investigation of the Department of Justice and its alleged cover up of Operation Fast and Furious. The Justice Department has repeatedly said it did not allow guns – purchased under its direction and authority – to reach Mexico.
The facts in the case suggest otherwise, but the agency continues to deny it and refuses to turn over pertinent documents to Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Andre was acting under the direct supervision of the Department of Justice and ATF. And he thought he was making a difference and that these people were being arrested and there were going to be indictments and that there were going to be prosecutions,” Gaydos told Fox News exclusively on Tuesday.
“He is appalled at the position being taken by the Department of Justice and the lack of candor and the lack of cooperation with Congress. He wants the truth to come out for the American people and the Terry Family.”
Howard is not alone in his regret. Speaking in reaction to the tapes Tuesday was ATF agent and whistleblower Larry Alt, who has never spoken publicly about his opposition to the case and the retaliation he has suffered as a result of it.
“Agent Terry’s death brought just a tremendous amount of, I guess, regret and sorrow, disappointment, disgust to myself, to other members of the group. I can’t express enough – I’ve never had an opportunity to publicly express condolences to the Terry family,” Alt told Fox News. “I’m almost speechless when it comes to that.”
Alt stepped forward after hearing MacAllister disparage his wife and family on the tapes. He felt it was necessary to defend them, and his own reputation. A decorated soldier and police officer, an instructor at the ATF academy, Alt says he and fellow whistleblower John Dodson were transferred to dead-end jobs after standing up to Agent-in-Charge Bill Newell. The ATF in Phoenix and U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona then attempted to conceal the role they played in directing area gun dealers to sell weapons to buyers the agency knew were breaking the law.
“We were transferred from the group. We were placed in positions away from the investigation itself, denied access to the investigation,” said Alt. “I would view that as a measure of control and if you want to call it a cover up, that would be an accurate statement.”
Howard made the tapes in March 2011 after a meeting he and his attorneys held with federal officials. In that meeting, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley continued to insist the guns Lone Wolf sold were stopped and seized before reaching Mexico.
But ATF officials are quoted in a Washington Post article and the Spanish language daily La Opinion saying just the opposite – blaming Lone Wolf for “selling guns to the cartels” with no mention that Howard was operating under the federal government’s direction, encouragement and approval.
Hooray For Charlie! U.S. House Decides To Honor One Of Its Most Corrupt Members
House Leaders To Honor Rangel Nine Months After Censure – The Hill
It may be one of the more awkward honorary ceremonies in recent memory.
On Thursday, House leaders will pay tribute to Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), less than a year after the House formally censured the former chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
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Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will speak at a ceremony to unveil Rangel’s official portrait as chairman of the storied committee, which the longtime New York Democrat led from 2007 until March 2010, when party leaders pressured him to give up the post amid a growing ethics scandal.
In December, the House voted overwhelmingly, 333-79, to censure Rangel over rules violations that stemmed from unpaid taxes on a villa he owned in the Dominican Republic, undisclosed financial assets and the improper use of his office for fundraising.
The portrait itself was the subject of controversy. Just nine months into his term as chairman, Rangel asked the Federal Election Commission for permission to use campaign funds to pay for the portrait, which his lawyer said would cost more than $64,000.
When pressed about the pricey picture, Rangel joked to reporters at the time that he would have preferred a mural.
The FEC confirmed that Rangel could bill the expense to his campaign, which records show he did in 2008, according to the Sunlight Foundation.
The ceremony on Thursday will be a particular honor for Rangel, a decorated combat veteran who was the first African American to lead the Ways and Means Committee. “As I walk around the Capitol,” he said in 2007, “the only black folks I see are slaves holding the goddamn horses.”
Rangel told The Hill on Wednesday that he was looking forward to the ceremony, which will be followed by a private reception.
“I don’t think I have to share how pleased I am that we’re moving forward. What happened last year is last year,” Rangel said.
In addition to Boehner, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand (D), and the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), will speak at the event. The current Ways and Means chairman, Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), will moderate.
High School Punishes Student For Saying Homosexuality Is Wrong
High School Punishes Student For Saying Homosexuality Is Wrong – The Blaze
Dakota Ary, an honors student at Western Hills High School in Fort Worth, Texas, was in for a surprise after being sent to the principal’s office and punished for sharing his opinion.
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After telling another student that he believes homosexuality is wrong, Dakota was reprimanded and given in-school suspension. The incident purportedly unfolded during a German class at the school. He explains:
“We were talking about religions in Germany. I said, ‘I’m a Christian. I think being a homosexual is wrong.
It wasn’t directed to anyone except my friend who was sitting behind me. I guess [the teacher] heard me. He started yelling. He told me he was going to write me an infraction and send me to the office.”
Following the incident his mother, Holly Pope, received a call from an assistant principal at the school informing her of the punishment. In an interview with Fox News Radio, she says was “absolutely stunned“:
“Dakota is a very well-grounded 14-year-old. He’s been in church his whole life and he’s been taught to stand up for what he believes.
He was stating an opinion. He has a right to do that. They punished him for it.”
After hearing the student’s explanation, the assistant principal reduced the punishment from two days to one, but Dakota and his mother aren’t satisfied, as they believe his free speech has been infringed upon.
While the district isn’t speaking out about the incident, on Wednesday, Dakota, his mother and attorney Matt Krause met with the school’s principal. Pope hopes that the school will remove the disciplinary blemish from the child’s record, while pledging that there won’t be any further retaliation.
In commenting on the incident, Krause said, “Students don’t lose their first amendment rights just because they go in the schoolhouse door.”
Even if the issue is dismissed, Dakota will still be in the same classroom, with the same teacher – a concern that the family will still have to contend with should he opt to continue taking German.
Daily Benefactor News – Another Nightmarish Day: Economic Gloom Incites Dow’s Worst 2-Day Plunge Since ’08
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Another Nightmarish Day: Economic Gloom Incites Dow’s Worst 2-Day Plunge Since ’08 – Fox Business
The Fed’s gloomy economic outlook, coupled with apprehension that little can be done to keep the global economy from skidding into another recession, sent market participants ditching risky assets and fleeing into Treasuries in the worst two-day plunge since the financial crisis in 2008.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 391 points, or 3.5%, to 10,734, the S&P 500 fell 37.2 points, or 3.2%, to 1,1230 and the Nasdaq Composite plunged 82.5 points, or 3.3%, 2,456. The FOX 50 shed 24.8 points to 826.
The selloff was broad: more than a quarter of S&P 500 components touched 52-week lows. Volatility, as measured by the VIX, spiked 11%. In a sign of the conviction of the selling, volume was at the highest level since early August.
With global markets and U.S. equities in selloff mode, Treasury prices rallied, shoving yields down. The yield on the 10-year Treasury sunk to 1.726% from 1.868% – briefly touching a record low multiple times during the session.
Overall, the blue chips have shed close to 700 points, or 6.1% in two trading days. The broader indexes have performed poorly as well: the S&P 500 has shaved 6.2% and the Nasdaq has lost 6%.
While every major sector was down, materials and energy stocks took the biggest beating. Mining giant Freeport-McMoRan Copper (FCX: 32.14, -3.45, -9.69%) was recently nearly 9.7% to the downside, while exploration-technology firm Schlumberger (SLB: 61.22, -3.93, -6.03%) shed more than 6%.
The Federal Reserve moved to lengthen the maturity of its balance sheet, an indirect bid to stimulate the economy, at its meeting that concluded on Wednesday as was widely anticipated. The $400 billion scope of the “twist” from short-term to longer-term Treasuries was, however, modestly broader than many economists had been anticipating, according to a research note from Goldman Sachs.
However, the Dow plunged 284 points in less than two hours after the decision that was dubbed “Operation Twist” was announced, in a sign that many market participants are wary that the central bank won’t be able to reinvigorate a stalling economy.
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Ed’s NFL Week 3 Picks – 2011
New England Patriots @ Buffalo Bills – Patriots
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Carolina Panthers – Panthers
San Francisco 49ers @ Cincinnati Bengals – Bengals
Miami Dolphins @ Cleveland Browns – Browns
Detroit Lions @ Minnesota Vikings – Lions
Houston Texans @ New Orleans Saints – Saints
New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles – Eagles
Denver Broncos @ Tennessee Titans – Titans
New York Jets @ Oakland Raiders – Jets
Kansas City Chiefs @ San Diego Chargers – Chargers
Baltimore Ravens @ St. Louis Rams – Ravens
Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears – Packers
Arizona Cardinals @ Seattle Seahawks – Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Falcons
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Indianapolis Colts – Steelers
Washington Redskins @ Dallas Cowboys – Redskins
.
——— Week 2 Picks ——— 13 Wins – 3 Losses ———
Oakland Raiders @ Buffalo Bills – Bills
Green Bay Packers @ Carolina Panthers – Packers
Kansas City Chiefs @ Detroit Lions – Lions
Cleveland Browns @ Indianapolis Colts – Browns
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Minnesota Vikings – Vikings
Chicago Bears @ New Orleans Saints – Saints
Jacksonville Jaguars @ New York Jets – Jets
Seattle Seahawks @ Pittsburgh Steelers – Steelers
Baltimore Ravens @ Tennessee Titans – Ravens
Arizona Cardinals @ Washington Redskins – Redskins
Dallas Cowboys @ San Francisco 49ers – Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals @ Denver Broncos – Broncos
Houston Texans @ Miami Dolphins – Texans
San Diego Chargers @ New England Patriots – Patriots
Philadelphia Eagles @ Atlanta Falcons – Eagles
St. Louis Rams @ New York Giants – Giants
.
——— Week 1 Picks ——— 10 Wins – 6 Losses ———
New Orleans Saints @ Green Bay Packers – Packers
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Baltimore Ravens – Steelers
Atlanta Falcons @ Chicago Bears – Falcons
Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland Browns – Browns
Indianapolis Colts @ Houston Texans – Texans
Tennessee Titans @ Jacksonville Jaguars – Jaguars
Buffalo Bills @ Kansas City Chiefs – Chiefs
Philadelphia Eagles @ St. Louis Rams – Eagles
Detroit Lions @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Lions
Carolina Panthers @ Arizona Cardinals – Cardinals
Minnesota Vikings @ San Diego Chargers – Chargers
Seattle Seahawks @ San Francisco 49ers – 49ers
New York Giants @ Washington Redskins – Giants
Dallas Cowboys @ New York Jets – Jets
New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins – Patriots
Oakland Raiders @ Denver Broncos – Broncos
.
DaleyGator DaleyBabe Salma Hayek
I featured Monica Bellucci a couple of days ago and remarked that she was an incredible beauty. Salma Hayek is another woman who takes beautiful to new heights
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darcprynce
Dave C
