House Republicans Introduce Resolution to Impeach Attorney General Eric Holder

About freaking time:

A group of congressional Republicans introduced a resolution Thursday to call for the impeachment of Attorney General Eric Holder, alleging Holder had committed “high crimes and misdemeanors” during his tenure as head of the Justice Department.

The resolution was introduced by Rep. Pete Olson, R-Texas, who claims Holder has committed “the offenses of lying to Congress, refusing to comply with a subpoena, and failing to fulfill his oath of office.”

Olson cites Holder’s unwillingness to cooperate during the investigation into the botched Operation “Fast and Furious, his refusal to prosecute those involved IRS targeting of conservative groups, his failure to enforce laws including the Defense of Marriage Act, and his “false testimony” about the DOJ’s monitoring of Fox News journalist James Rosen as articles that are grounds for impeachment.

“For nearly five years, Attorney General Holder has systematically deceived Congress and destroyed the credibility of the Justice Department in the eyes of the American people,” Olson said in a statement.

Olson was joined by 19 other Republican representatives in the resolution.

One House Democrat spoke out against the resolution before it was introduced Thursday, calling it “the most fundamental abuse of the impeachment power.”

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a former federal prosecutor who led the Senate in the impeachment of a federal judge in 2010, said the articles of impeachment in the resolution are simply a list of “debunked conspiracy theories.”

RELATED:  AG Holder asks for appeal in Fast and Furious case holding him in contempt

Al Gore Compares Faux Global Warming To Slavery and Liberals Say Nothing, But When Sarah Palin Does It Resident MSNBC Scumbag Martin Bashir Says Someone Should Sh*t in Palin’s Mouth

First of all, I'm not condoning anyone comparing anything to slavery, one of, if not the darkest time in America's history. Yet, the idea that a lying, liberal blowhard like Al Gore can get away comparing faux global warming to slavery, while a scumbag like Martin Bashir goes after Sarah Palin for doing the same damn thing, just reeks of typical liberal hypocrisy:

Mediaite.com:

Former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) punched her way back into the news this week by invoking slavery in remarks about American public debt, then doubling down on the remarks in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. On Friday afternoon’s Martin Bashir program on MSNBC, host Martin Bashir delivered a scathing attack on Palin, while attempting to contextualize the horror of slavery for her by detailing some of the cruelty recorded in the diary of Thomas Thistlewood, a British overseer at a Jamaican sugar plantation. Bashir concluded his commentary by suggesting Palin is deserving of the same treatment.

In his “Clear the Air” segment, Bashir lit into Palin straight away, referring to her as America’s “resident dunce” and characterizing her remarks as “scraping the barrel of her long-deceased mind, and using her all-time favorite analogy in an attempt to sound intelligent about the national debt.”

He then played a clip of Palin’s comments from last weekend, in which she told a crowd at Iowa’s Faith and Freedom Coalition event, “Our free stuff today is being paid for by taking money from our children, and borrowing from China. When that note comes due — and this isn’t racist, so try it. Try it anyway. This isn’t racist. But it’s going to be like slavery when that note is due.”

“It will be like slavery,” Bashir repeated. “Given her well-established reputation as a world class idiot, it’s hardly surprising that she should choose to mention slavery in a way that is abominable to anyone who knows anything about its barbaric history.”

“So here’s an example,” Bashir continued. “One of the most comprehensive first-person accounts of slavery comes from the personal diary of a man called Thomas Thistlewood, who kept copious notes for 39 years. Thistlewood was the son of a tenant farmer, who arrived on the island of Jamaica in April 1750, and assumed the position of overseer at a major plantation.”

“What is most shocking about Thistlewood’s diary is not simply the fact that he assumes the right to own and possess other human beings, but is the sheer cruelty and brutality of his regime,” Bashir added. “In 1756, he records that a slave named Darby ‘catched eating kanes had him well flogged and pickled, then made Hector, another slave, s-h-i-t in his mouth.’”

“This became known as ‘Darby’s Dose,’ a punishment invented by Thistlewood that spoke only of inhumanity. And he mentions a similar incident in 1756, his time in relation to a man he refers to as Punch. ‘Flogged punch well, and then washed and rubbed salt pickle, lime juice and bird pepper, made Negro Joe piss in his eyes and mouth,’” Bashir recited.

“I could go on, but you get the point,” Bashir said, concluding “When Mrs. Palin invokes slavery, she doesn’t just prove her rank ignorance. She confirms if anyone truly qualified for a dose of discipline from Thomas Thistlewood, she would be the outstanding candidate.”

RELATED:  Al Gore likens global warming deniers to slavery, apartheid perpetrators

Mike Pantelides, Just Elected Republican Mayor of Annapolis, Waits To See If Democrat-run City Council Will Move to Strip Him of Power

FOXNews.com:

Days after a Republican was elected mayor of Annapolis, City Council members say they will revisit legislation that would strip the mayor's office of much of its power.

Democratic Alderman Ross Arnett of Ward 8 tells The Capital he will introduce a charter amendment to move Annapolis to a council-manager style of government. The city manager would report directly to the City Council, not the mayor.

Under Arnett's legislation, the mayor's post would be largely ceremonial. The mayor would retain a single vote on the council. Arnett says the change would stabilize the city's management.

If the measure is approved, it would mean the Democratic-dominated council would be removing the powers of the first Republican mayor elected since 1997.

Last week, Republican Mike Pantelides defeated Democratic incumbent Josh Cohen.

RELATED: Annapolis Mayor Mike Pantelides May See Power Stripped By Democratic Council

John Boehner Calls LGBT Employment Non-Discrimination Act ‘Unnecessary’

Good job by our Speaker:

Before President Barack Obama delivered his announcement on administrative fixes to the Affordable Care Act, House Speaker John Boehner held a press conference of his own. Beyond expressing his own doubts about the administration’s ability to improve Obamacare, Boehner made news by addressing the Employee Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which passed in the Senate last week but will need to pass in the House in order to become law.

“I am opposed to discrimination of any kind–in the workplace and any place else,” Boehner told reporters. But, he continued, “I think this legislation–that I have dealt with as chairman of the Education Workforce Committee long before I was back in the leadership–is unnecessary and would provide a basis for frivolous lawsuits. People are already protected in the workplace. I am opposed to continuing this.” 

Boehner previously expressed his opposition to the bill through his spokesman, but this was the first time he spoke out publicly against it.

“Listen, I understand people have different opinions on this issue, and I respect those opinions,” Boehner added. “But as someone who has worked in the employment law area for all of my years in the statehouse and all of my years here, I see no basis or no need for this.”

While Republican opponents of the bill have claimed that it’s redundant, as the law stands now, there are 29 states where someone can be fired because of their sexual orientation without any legal protections. ENDA would make that practice illegal.

RELATED:  Hatch was wrong to support ENDA

Washington Burger King Only Hires Mexicans

Infowars.com:

A huge sign outside a Burger King fast food restaurant in Ephrata, Washington is causing outrage because of its racist tone. The billboard reads, “Now Hiring Must Be Mexican.”

The image was posted on KFFM 1073′s website, a radio station based in Yakima, Washington, alongside a poll which asked,”I’m not exactly sure of the reasoning. Maybe none of the current staff can speak español or perhaps they need to fulfill their EEO report, I’m not exactly sure. What do you think? Do you find this sign offensive or are you okay with their honesty.”

82 per cent of the respondents to the poll say that they find the sign offensive.

It’s possible that the managers of the restaurant meant to advertise for a bilingual or Spanish-speaking employee, but their choice of words is clearly discriminatory.

The sign has also prompted outrage on the fast food giant’s official Facebook page, with some people calling for a lawsuit and others demanding that the chain be boycotted.

“Tell all of Burger King to take their company to Mexico and abide by legal hiring practices here in the good ole USA – This is NOT MEXICO,” writes Mark Berreth.

RELATED:  Boehner dashes hopes of immigration talks

New York Times’ Obama Cheerleading Harms The Nation

NYPost.com:

Poor Barack Obama. Ending his fifth year as the world’s most powerful man, he is running out of scapegoats and fairy tales. Blaming George W. Bush has lost its punch, and the ObamaCare debacle is shredding the myths he is competent and honest.

Still, before he rides off into that sunset of self-pity and low poll ratings, he ought to invite his remaining friends over for a heart-to-heart. That way he can tell The New York Times that its fanatical support does him no favors.

Instead, it feeds his arrogance and reinforces his belief that he can solve any problem with another speech. The unflattering truth doesn’t stand a chance — ­until it is too late.

Not that the president would admit any of that, of course, but the Obama Protection Racket, led by the Times, cuts both ways. It is a key reason he has defied political gravity for so long, and also why he is now in deep trouble. As watchdogs became lapdogs, the presidential bubble grew impenetrable, isolating him from ordinary Americans and the trickle-down pain of his policies.

From the broadcast networks to MSNBC and most large papers, Obama got the benefit of every doubt. The double standards were a daily disgrace so routine, they mostly provoked a shrug instead of outrage.

The ObamaCare debacle is the exception that proves the rule. Wall-to-wall complaints are forcing the media to report that the law’s Web site is a lemon and that its rules are causing millions of people to lose insurance plans they liked.

The mainstream media is acting only because the story is too big to ignore. Had it been mildly skeptical sooner, it could have exposed the law’s destructive rules and prevented the disaster.

Yet the Times, especially its editorial page, remains his most devoted cheerleader. The latest example is embarrassing enough to make a Gray Lady blush.

After the president’s repeated promise that “If you like your health-care plan, you can keep it” was proven false, the editorial page tried to clean up his mess. On Nov. 2, it charged that Republicans were stoking “consumer fears and confusion” by highlighting reports of people losing insurance.

Then came the coverup: “Mr. Obama clearly misspoke” when he made those promises, the editorial said, before dismissing the problems as an “overblown controversy.”

The “misspoke” defense set off a firestorm, and even the paper’s gentle public editor suggested it was too kind. Naturally, the editors defended their decision not to accuse the president of an outright lie.

Yet even Obama concluded he had to apologize. His recognition of the uproar will result in changes, if only because Senate Democrats are running for their lives.

The episode graphically illustrates how the Times has harmed the nation by reflexively protecting Obama, facts be damned.

Instead of just expressing its own liberal views, the editorial page serves as the propaganda arm of the administration, the Jay Carney of print media. Its daily drumbeat of shrill partisanship leaves it indistinguishable from Dem party hacks who spend their waking hours demonizing Republicans.

RELATED:  Ed Schultz: Why is the mainstream media rooting so hard for ObamaCare to fail?

"Adriana", Face of Obamacare, Never Signed Up For Obamacare

ABCNews.com:

The smiling woman who was once the face of the Affordable Care Act's website has come out of the shadows to stand up to the "cyberbullying" she says she suffered after the law's flawed kickoff. 

Speaking exclusively to ABC News, Adriana, who asked that only her first name be used, said she was speaking out now to defend herself after weeks of enduring online lampooning. 

"They have nothing else to do but hide behind the computer. They're cyberbullying," Adriana told ABC News' Amy Robach.

"I'm here to stand up for myself and defend myself and let people know the truth," she said. 

On Oct. 1, 2013, when the ACA's website launched to enroll Americans in health insurance through federally run exchanges, it was Adriana's face that greeted them. 

Dubbed the "enigmatic Mona Lisa of health care," her face was soon mocked, Photoshoped, altered. She became the subject of late-night jokes, partisan hatred and intense speculation. 

The saga of the photo started innocuously enough. Adriana responded to an email from someone at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency responsible for the Affordable Care Act's rollout, about having photos of her and her family taken for free in exchange for allowing the photos to be used to market the new health care law. She was never paid. 

She learned over the summer that her photo would be on healthcare.gov's main page, but she didn't realize it would become so closely associated with the problems of the glitchy website. 

"I mean, I don't know why people should hate me because it's just a photo. I didn't design the website. I didn't make it fail, so I don't think they should have any reasons to hate me," Adriana told ABC News. 

Speculation swirled that Adriana might not be a legal resident of the United States, and therefore not even eligible for the health care exchanges. Adriana said she is a wife and mother who lives in Maryland with her 21-month-old son and husband of six and a half years. Her husband is a U.S. citizen, as is his her son.

Adriana, who is Colombian, said she has lived legally in the U.S. for more than six years, is currently a permanent resident and is applying for citizenship. 

Though she is eligible for healthcare through the ACA, Adriana says she hasn't signed up for it, and is neither in favor nor against it. 

RELATED:  Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley poke fun at HealthCare.gov at CMA Awards

Panic: Infighting Starts as Obamacare Supporters Beg Democrats Not To Go Full Landrieu

RollCall.com:

A broken promise, plunging poll ratings and the disastrous start for HealthCare.gov have rattled President Barack Obama’s party, and the impatient rank and file want solutions, not just an apology, from the commander in chief.

“There’s a brewing revolt among Democrats,” said one member of the House Democratic Caucus who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to describe the scene at Wednesday’s closed-door meeting, where members vented their frustration at White House officials for the rocky rollout of the Affordable Care Act.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney insisted Wednesday that the administration remains on track to fix the troubled website by the end of the month, and he said Obama would decide “sooner rather than later” how to ease the burden on the millions of Americans whose health insurance policies have been canceled in spite of his oft-repeated promise that “if you like your plan, you can keep it.”

But Obama’s fellow Democrats have started to lose faith, and time is of the essence: The House will vote Friday on a GOP bill that would allow insurance companies to revive scrapped health insurance policies. Unless Democrats are certain that a remedy is on the way, many will be inclined to vote “yes.”

Even progressive Democrats and staunch allies of leadership had strong words for the White House officials dispatched to meet with House Democrats on Wednesday morning, according to sources in the room — and the White House is sure to hear another dose of angst Thursday, when aides meet with Senate Democrats.

“We’ve got a problem, and we gotta fix it, and we’re looking for what the White House response is gonna be,” said Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., who still hasn’t decided how he will vote on the bill sponsored by Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich.

“I think in diplomatic terms we had a frank discussion,” said Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif. “I think there was a lot of frustration and, in some cases, anger vented towards the White House for their continued ham-fisted approach. It’s not just their credibility that’s on the line, but it’s our credibility.”

“Why can’t we call people who know how to do these things, who do it for corporate America, and say, ‘We have a website, fix it?’” asked Rep. José E. Serrano, D-N.Y. “Maybe I’m being simplistic, but can’t we call Bill Gates up and say, ‘Take care of this?’ Or go to a college dorm and say, ‘You guys, you invented Yahoo, can you take care of this?’”

And that Nov. 30 deadline? 

“Don’t come here telling us it will be fixed by Nov. 30,” Serrano said.

Many Democrats had kept their concerns about the health care law to themselves because they were promised that the political price of passing a piece of monumentally controversial legislation would be worth it in the end. No more.

Rep. James P. Moran, D-Va., said it’s not clear whether the White House is up to the “heavy lifting” required to bring the law to fruition and have it function the way its advocates intended.

“Nancy had to push this through,” Moran said, referring to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who shepherded the health care law to passage in March 2010 as speaker. “There was a long period where I know our leadership felt that the White House could have been promoting this better and also clarifying what they meant to a better extent that they did. And while we can do the lifting of the legislation, they have to do the heavy lifting of the implementation. That’s their job.”

But expressing exasperation and taking legislative action against Democratic leadership and the White House — both contingents oppose the Upton bill as another Republican attempt to undermine Obamacare — are two separate things, and that is requiring House Democrats to do some soul-searching.

“On the one hand, I am concerned that by voting for it, it undermines the basic reforms we worked so hard to get in the ACA,” said Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, D-Va., who said he was “wrestling” with how he would vote on Friday. “And I have to weigh that concern against ‘but you promised.’”

RELATED: First Official Obamacare Enrollment Numbers Released by Administration

Bill Clinton Says Barack Obama Should Keep His Promise About People Keeping Their Health Plans

Mediaite.com:

President Bill Clinton admonished President Barack Obama on Tuesday in an interview with Ozymandias over the number of people losing their health insurance plans who were assured that they could keep them if they were happy with that coverage. He advised the president to keep his promise which would probably require seeking administrative fixes to the law’s strict grandfathering regulations.

Clinton said that low-income young people in particular are the most adversely affected by the fact that many plans purchased on the individual insurance market are being cancelled. 

Clinton cited one person he spoke with recently who told him that the new plan he received as a result of the Affordable Care Act was cheaper when he needed health care, but he still balked at the idea of having to pay for expensive coverage he did not feel he required. 

“So I personally believe, even if it takes a change to the law, the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they got,” Clinton said. 

RELATED:  Rand Paul: Benghazi Should ‘Preclude Hillary Clinton From Ever Holding High Office Again’

Idiot Black Liberal W. Kamau Bell Celebrates "Transgender Awareness Week"

Black unemployment remains double that of the national rate. Black teenage unemployment rate is approaching 50%. Crime, drugs, poverty, teenage motherhood and lack of education (esp. amongst black males) remain as huge problems in the urban, black community...and has gotten much worse since a half-black President made it into office 5 years ago. And yet, this fool, an obvious puppet for Godless, white, social liberals, is concerned about a confused white boy having the "right" to use the girls bathroom:

After Totally Biased host W. Kamau Bell saw how Fox & Friends covered a recent story about transgender rights, he decided to celebrate Transgender Awareness Week by teaching the show a lesson on what it means to be one sex but identify as a different gender. So, for the Fox hosts’ benefit, he presented a new segment called “Human Sexuality: 1-0-Huh?” 

“Because this story’s about denying people’s rights, Fox & Friends wanted to weigh in,” Bell said, before playing a clip of former host Gretchen Carlson wondering if kids will pretend to be “transgender for the moment” just to use a different bathroom at school. “Sure, like when I watch Fox & Friends and I become an idiot for an hour,” Bell said. 

The host proceeded to use imagery of bananas and peaches to explain that some people are both with penises, others are both with vaginas and and some could be born with a combination of both. “All that determines your sex,” he said. “Male, female or peach-nana.” 

RELATED:  Transgender rights make Fox News hosts really, really mad!

Dave Wilson, White Candidate Who Pretended to Be Black to CNN: Only ‘Liberal News Media’ Feels Deceived

The more you find out about this guy, the more you gotta love him. When it comes to voting Black people in this country are such a non-thinking, monolithic group, in this case, they deserve to duped:

Dave Wilson, a Texas Republican who beat a 24-year Democratic incumbent last week by implying strongly in his campaign literature that he was black, appeared on CNN’s New Day on Tuesday morning where anchor Chris Cuomo grilled him over his “campaign of evasion” and deception.


“I wanted to run this campaign on the issues, not my skin color,” Wilson said when asked why he didn’t put his image on campaign literature. “Because it was an African-American district, I didn’t feel like putting my picture on any of those brochures would get me any votes.”

When asked if he was being deceptive, Wilson replied that he was using targeting marketing practices. “You can’t sell maternity clothes to a bunch of men,” he added. 

“Shouldn’t the voter know who you really are?” Cuomo asked. 

Wilson replied that he had appeared at a number of public events and his campaign’s YouTube page features him speaking to local voters. Wilson added that his opponent circulated images of him with “inflammatory, racist” comments which were designed to inform voters of his background. 

“Didn’t you kind of stain your own victory here?” Cuomo probed. “You wound up winning the race anyway. Don’t you wish you would have done it in a way that wouldn’t call into the legitimacy question?”

“I think people in that district are not getting enough credit in their intelligence and who they’re voting for,” Wilson replied. He said that voters were making a statement about their incumbent when they elected him. 

Cuomo pressed Wilson to concede he was attempting to mislead voters with a “ploy” to suggest he was endorsed by a popular black Congressman from the area when he was not. Wilson conceded that this tactic was a ploy, but he didn’t appeal to that before he was attacked by his opponent in a “racist” manner. 

Cuomo asked again if Wilson would admit that he wanted to “cloud the judgment” of voters about his race.

Wilson refused to admit to this charge. “I wanted to focus that race on issues,” he said. 

“Doesn’t it all add up to a little bit of a campaign of evasion, to be honest?” Cuomo asked. 

“I live in that district,” Wilson replied with a laugh. “The people that said they’re deceived is my opponent, Bruce Austin, and the liberal news media.”

RELATED: David Wilson: No deception, just ‘sales job’

ObamaCare’s Marriage Penalty: Cohabitating Couples Will Pay Less For Healthcare Than Married Couples

LifesiteNews.com:

Would you pay $10,000 a year to stay married to your spouse? Some American couples are being faced with exactly that decision as they consider their health insurance options under ObamaCare.

One of the most controversial provisions of ObamaCare is that it requires all Americans to purchase health insurance, whether they want it or not, or face hefty fines. To facilitate enrollment, the government has set up health care “exchanges” in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., where people can compare and purchase insurance plans. The government has promised subsidies to help those who cannot afford the higher premiums, but the way the subsidies are calculated mean they could pay up to $10,000 more per year.

The marriage penalty is a result of the way the government calculates poverty. While the poverty line for a single person’s income is $11,490 per year or less, a married couple is considered above the poverty line if their combined income exceeds $15,510. People are eligible for subsidies under ObamaCare if they make up to four times more than the federal poverty limit – $45,960 for a single person, or $62,040 for a married couple. But unmarried couples living together will have their incomes assessed separately – meaning that as long as each of them makes less than the individual cutoff, they can remain eligible for subsidies while bringing in a joint income of up to $91,920.

In 2010, the Heritage Foundation warned of this hidden marriage penalty in a report criticizing the ObamaCare bill for its “profound anti-marriage bias.” They also pointed out that focusing on the yearly penalty misses the bigger picture: the penalty is assessed over and over again throughout the couple’s life, meaning the real cost of marriage is much, much higher.

According to the group’s calculations, a married couple who remained married throughout their lives might pay more than $200,000 in penalties under ObamaCare.

“Most people feel that marriage is a healthful institution that society should encourage and strengthen,” wrote Robert Rector, the report’s author. “Inexplicably, [ObamaCare] takes the opposite approach. At nearly all age and income levels, the bill profoundly discriminates against married couples, providing far less support to a husband and wife than to a cohabiting couple with the same income.”

RELATED:  NY Daily News Editorial Attacks America’s ‘Immaturity’ for Showing Anger Over Obamacare’s Lies

Colorado High School Tells Girls That They Should Avoid Restroom If They’re Bothered by Transgender Boy in the Stalls

LifesiteNews.com:

New details have emerged in the case of a ‘transgender’ boy accused of sexually harassing girls in the women’s restroom of a Colorado high school. While school officials initially denied any harassment took place, new details reported by the Pueblo Chieftain indicate that there may be more truth to the girls’ claims than administrators are willing to admit.

Florence High School was plunged into controversy in October after a male student who says he is “transgender” was permitted to use the girls’ restroom facilities. The boy was subsequently accused of harassment – a claim that has been denied by the school.

On October 10, Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) wrote a letter of warning to Florence High School on behalf of an undisclosed number of female students and their families who have alleged harassment.

“This is a nightmare scenario for the teenage girls—some of them freshmen—and their parents at this school,” PJI attorney Matthew McReynolds said in a statement. “This is exactly the kind of horror story we have been warning would accompany the push for radical transgender rights in schools, and it is the type of situation that LGBT activists have been insisting would not happen.”

Last month, school superintendent Rhonda Vendetti denied any harassment had taken place, telling the Transadvocate, “Nothing has actually been verified.”

“This is one parent basically bringing their viewpoint about this situation to the media because they weren’t getting the responses that they hoped they would get from the district, from parents of students at the high school, or from the board and myself,” Vendetti claimed at the time. “We do have a transgender student at the high school and [he] has been using the women’s restroom, [but] there has not been an incident of harassment or anything that would cause any additional concern.”

But according to a report in the Chieftain, the school called police to investigate the possible harassment.
However, they did so only after warning the girls that they could face hate crimes charges for speaking out against the transgender boy.

“[School officials] have…thrown around the notion that hate crimes could be charged against students just for talking about this,” PJI’s McReynolds told National Review last month. He said that the school had warned the girls that state law was on the boy's side – in 2008, Colorado passed a sweeping anti-discrimination law which banned all discrimination based on “sexual orientation.”

When administrators summoned local police to the school to take statements from the girls, they refused to talk, leading investigators to close the criminal investigation.

“The case is closed because the detective has no collaboration of evidence or statements from the victims,” police chief Mike DeLaurentis told the Chieftain. “Pending any other victim coming forward, we cannot even confirm any of these allegations.”

Although most school harassment cases are civil, not criminal matters, the school is pointing to the closure of the criminal case as evidence the bathroom harassment never happened.

But the girls themselves never said they wanted to press charges, only that they wanted the boy to stay out of the girls’ restroom.

“As far as harassment is concerned, the presence of a biologically teenage boy in a girl’s bathroom or locker room is inherently harassing,” McReynolds told the Chieftain. “Some comments were made by [the boy] while in the restroom that were directed toward clothing and appearance and that could be considered harassing.”

School administrators have submitted a report of their findings in the case to PJI, along with a proposal that the girls stay out of the women’s restrooms if the boy’s presence bothers them – a proposal McReynolds says is unacceptable.

“What the school officials have told the girls is that in order to maintain their privacy they can use a single restroom at the office which is not always available and is some distance from a lot of classes,” McReynolds told the Chieftain. “We don’t believe this is reasonable accommodation because the other student has full accesses . We think that is backwards.”

McReynolds says he plans to appeal the decision to the school board.

RELATED:  The Growing Battle Over Transgender Student Rights in California

FDNY Refuses to Fire Female Firefighter Who Failed Fitness Test 5 Times

Townhall.com:

On May 17, 285 people graduated from the FDNY's Randall's Island training academy. Of those, 284 were capable of running a mile and a half in 12 minutes. Wendy Tapia, one of the five females to graduate from the academy, was not. 

The graduating class was billed as the "most diverse" class ever, according to the New York Post.

Despite being given an unprecedented five chances to run a mile and a half in under 12 minutes and failing each time, Tapia is still employed by the FDNY thanks to an organized effort by United Women Firefighters. The group reportedly intervened to protest her firing. 

Normally, a person who fails any portion of the fitness test is not allowed to graduate from the training academy and is forced to repeat the course the following year. Tapia claimed that a "foot injury" was the reason why she was unable to pass the test, and was placed on medical leave to recover. Following her return from medical leave, she began doing "light duty" at the FDNY headquarters. She has not yet actually worked at the firehouse she was assigned to following graduation. 

Tapia's colleagues, both male and female, are furious with how the FDNY has continued to coddle her despite being unable to complete required tests.

“We have to do our job in all types of situations,” she said. “If I go to a fire, what am going to do — tell the guys I’m staying out by the ­engine because I’m not feeling so good? It’s 100 percent unheard of.”

She said FDNY brass, under pressure from a court order to hire more minorities, “want their numbers — that’s all it is.”

But that does female firefighters no favors, she added.

“It’s making us look bad. It’s undermining ­everything we’ve strived for and achieved of our own accord,” she said.

Tapia's female colleague makes a good point. The job of a firefighter is to put out fires and to rescue people trapped in them. I am fairly certain that nobody being rescued from a fire has stopped to question the race, gender, or ethnicity of the fireman doing the rescuing. The FDNY's treatment of Tapia is unacceptable, and it is pretty clear that she's run out of chances to pass the test. 

RELATED:  FDNY Diversity Recruitment Prompts Protests From White Firefighters

Federal Appeals Court Blocks Obamacare's Contraception Mandate

SacBee.com:

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a pro-life legal organization that focuses on constitutional law, said a decision by a federal appeals court that clears the way for the ObamaCare HHS Mandate to be put on hold represents a "significant victory for protecting the religious beliefs of individuals and corporations." The opinion, posted here, comes in the case of Korte v. Sebelius.

In a 2-1 decision issued Friday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the court reversed the federal district court's denial of a motion for a preliminary injunction and remanded the case for the district court to enter the preliminary injunction.  At the same time, the court upheld the rights of both individuals and companies to challenge the ObamaCare HHS Mandate – the first decision of its kind in the ongoing HHS Mandate litigation.

"This is a significant victory for protecting the religious beliefs of individuals and corporations," said Edward White, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ who represents the Illinois company. "It is also important to note that the appeals court determined that the HHS Mandate should not move forward against our clients while this issue is being litigated. It has been our position from the beginning that the HHS Mandate violates America's longstanding history of protecting conscience rights. The Mandate is unlawfully compelling employers such as our clients to do the following: abandon their faith to comply with the law, or follow their faith and pay significant annual penalties to the federal government. The decision by the appeals court is encouraging as this issue heads to the Supreme Court." 

The ACLJ represents Korte & Luitjohan Contractors, Inc., a family owned, full-service construction contractor serving Central and Southern Illinois for over 50 years. The company is located in Highland, Illinois and has about 90 full time employees. The company provides a group health insurance plan for only its non-union employees, which number about 20. Cyril B. Korte and Jane E. Korte own a controlling interest in the company and contend the HHS mandate violates their Catholic faith. The ACLJ filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the individuals and company in October 2012 and that is posted here.

In the appeals court decision issued Friday, the majority concluded: "We hold that the plaintiffs – the business owners and their companies – may challenge the mandate. We further hold that compelling them to cover these services substantially burdens their religious exercise rights. Under RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act) the government must justify the burden under the standard of strict scrutiny. So far it has not done so, and we doubt that it can. Because the RFRA claims are very likely to succeed and the balance of harms favors protecting the religious-liberty rights of the plaintiffs, we reverse and remand with instructions to enter preliminary injunctions."

This decision comes just days after the ACLJ filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, posted here, in the case of Gilardi v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The ACLJ urged the high court to overturn an appeals court decision that refused to permit companies and corporations from bringing religious liberty claims in challenging the Mandate.

To date, 40 for-profit business owners have filed legal challenges to the Mandate. The ACLJ has filed 7 cases in federal court including the Korte case.

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Miley Cyrus Smokes Weed Onstage At MTV Europe Music Awards

NYPost.com:

Just when you thought Miley couldn’t possibly have any more stunts up her sleeve, she pulls a blunt out of her purse.

Last night at the MTV EMAs in Amsterdam, Netherlands, the 20-year-old one-woman wrecking ball stunned the crowd and the viewing audience of millions by celebrating her “Best Video” award by taking out a joint from her purse and lighting up. 

The gesture was a nod to marijuana’s semi-legal status in the host country (possession of small amounts does not lead to arrest), but the act was nevertheless too hot to handle for MTV America who edited the entire sequence out of their delayed telecast.

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Politiks As Usual: In The News 11/10/13

 

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