Corey Curtis, 44, is a Wisconsin man who is the subject of a novel court order. Racine County Circuit Court Judge Tim Boyle ordered Curtis to stop having children after he sired nine children and is already $100,000 in arrears for child support. Six different women had children with Curtis who said that he will now agree to stop producing children.
Continue reading “Wisconsin Court Orders Father Of Nine Children To Stop Procreating”
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Have you heard about the Campaign to Fix the Debt? It sounds like an initiative that our country needs at this time. Mark MacKenzie, president of the New Hampshire AFL-CIO, said the campaign “presents itself as a grassroots, bipartisan organization that is committed to lowering our debt. It sounds good, especially in today’s environment of extreme partisanship and political maneuvering.” Mackenzie warns, however, that Fix the Debt’s “major contribution to the conversation over the fiscal cliff is that while the George W. Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations should be off the table, Americans’ retirement security and health care most definitely should [not] be.”
The Institute for Policy Studies claims that the Fix the Debt initiative is driven by business and is actually using the fear of going over the fiscal cliff “as a cover for tax-code changes that would damage our economy.” The institute found that Fix the Debt “has raised $60 million and recruited more than 80 CEOs of America’s most powerful corporations to lobby for a debt deal that would reduce corporate taxes and shift costs onto the poor and elderly.”
Scott Klinger, co-author of a report produced by the institute titled The CEO Campaign to “Fix” the Debt said, “The ‘Fix the Debt’ CEOs are trying to pass themselves off as noble leaders who are willing to compromise in order to save America from financial ruin. In reality, the campaign is a Trojan horse concealing massive corporate tax breaks that would make our debt situation much worse.”
By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Two adopted Ethiopian twins are reaping the benefits of cochlear implants provided by their American adopted parents. Separated and abandoned in war-torn Ethiopia, the twins’ future looked bleak especially in view of their inability to hear or speak. Chris and Al Shasteen adopted the pair and added them to their large family. Ruby and Kate underwent the procedures at Oklahoma City Community Hospital. Their remarkable transformation is caught on video. Careful what you wish for these two look like they have a lot to say! Angels among us, indeed.
Kudos: Nal
~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Submitted by: Mike Spindell
A young man named Blake Page resigned from West Point this week with five months left to go until graduation. This will no doubt be a life changing event for him and could potentially have drastic consequences. His reason for resigning was his belief that there was a pervasive influence of religious proselytizing at this famed military academy. He and other non-religious cadets are retaliated against for their beliefs and for their refusal to go along with a program that makes Christian Faith the standard for success and for receiving privileges.
He wrote an article for the Huffington Post which I will discuss and link to below. First though I want to add my own thoughts on this because I think this young man is credible and because his charges regarding West Point are not the first complaint of intolerance towards non-religious cadets at a U.S. Armed forces Academy. The U.S. Air force Academy is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is said that this community of 416,000 people can be considered the nexus of Evangelical Christianity in the United States, if not the world.
“Although houses of worship of almost every major world religion can be found in the city, Colorado Springs has in particular attracted a large influx of Evangelical Christians and Christian organizations in recent years. At one time Colorado Springs was counted to be the national headquarters for 81 different religious organizations, earning the city the tongue-in-cheek nickname “the Evangelical Vatican“[57] and “The Christian Mecca”.
Religious groups with regional or international headquarters in Colorado Springs include: the Association of Christian Schools International, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Compassion International, Every Home for Christ, Focus on the Family, HCJB, the International Bible Society, The Navigators, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs, WAY-FM Media Group, Andrew Wommack Ministries, and Young Life.”
In addition to the Air Force Academy there is Fort Carson and two air force bases located in the City. Twenty percent of this County’s employees work for these facilities. Besides this large military presence: “Colorado Springs is home to the United States Olympic Training Center and the headquarters of the United States Olympic Committee. In addition, a number [15] of United States national federations for individual Olympic sports have their headquarters in Colorado Springs” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Springs,_Colorado#Religious_institutions
Call me paranoid perhaps, but I think that it is no coincidence that this small city, but sixty miles from Denver, at the base of Pikes Peak, has drawn such a large influx of Evangelical Christians and their national organizations. I think it is potentially an ominous sign and I’ll explain my thoughts and feelings. Continue reading “West Point and Religion”
The Supreme Court has accepted two cases that deal with the issue of same-sex marriage. One of the cases is that of Edie Windsor (left) challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) — a law supported and signed by former President Bill Clinton to bar federal recognition of same-sex marriage. On October 18, 2012, the Second Circuit struck down DOMA in Windsor v. United States. Also accepted is Hollingsworth v. Perry dealing with “Proposition 8″ in California.
I will be discussing the cases tonight on Ed Schultz on MSNBC around 8:50 pm.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Grants Review Of Two Historic Same-Sex Marriage Cases”
George Zimmerman appears not to be content with being on the criminal docket alone. He is now a civil litigant in a lawsuit filed against NBC Universal Media for an editing error that portrayed him as a racist in coverage of the killing of Florida teen Trayvon Martin. The very first line of the complaint starts out with an accusation of unethical sensationalism” ““NBC saw the death of Trayvon Martin not as a tragedy but as an opportunity to increase ratings, and so to set about the myth that George Zimmerman was a racist and predatory villain.”
Continue reading “Zimmerman Sues NBC Over Alleged Misrepresentation Of Police Tape”
There is an interesting ruling out of Mobile, Alabama where former child sex crimes prosecutor, Steve Giardini, was charged with solicitation of a minor over the computer. Special Judge Gaines McCorquodale dismissed the charge on a key missing element under the statute: an actual victim. Since Giardini was speaking with an undercover officer posing as a 15-year-old girl, McCorquodale ruled that there was no victim as required under the language of the statute for child enticement. Essentially, no child, no enticement, no charge.
During the campaign, many people expressed outrage over Mitt Romney’s statement concerning the fact that almost fifty percent of the public do not pay pay income taxes. I well understood the anger, but I am a bit surprised that a video by the California Federation of Teachers has not produced the same outrage over its unfairness and frankly crudeness. The video shows a wealthy person urinating on the poor as part of a “Tax the Rich: An Animated Fairy Tale.” I readily admit that I am in the minority on our blog in opposing some of the tax increase proposals in this country and abroad as economically unwise. However, the demonization of the wealthy in this country has gone a bit far when a video of this kind is released by a major organization.
Continue reading “Teacher’s Union Releases Video Of Rich Urinating On The Poor [UPDATED]”
Detroit Councilwoman JoAnn Watson is nothing if not direct. Watson is quoted this week as demanding a “quid pro quo” from President Obama — a bailout for the ballots used to reelect him. We have run a long serious of stories of the meltdown in Detroit — one of the worst run cities in the nation and a city council that often seemed to have more members either in jail or under criminal investigation. Now the council seems to be looking for a bailout and Watson is reportedly telling Obama to pony up.
We have been following a growing trend of alleged unjustified shootings of pet dogs by police officers. We can now add a case out of Chicago where a 7-month-old miniature bull terrier, called “The Colonel” by neighbors, was shot by a police officer. A lawsuit names Officer Brandon Pettigrew as the cop who twice shot The Colonel, which weighs less than 30 pounds. According to witnesses, the officer then calmly returned to writing the ticket and handed it to the distraught owner. The police returned three days later, according to media reports, and asked why the owners were speaking to the media . . . and proceeded to give them a ticket for having a dog off a leash.
Jennifer Phillips, 46, picked a curious scene to allegedly threaten the life of South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. First, Haley was appearing to discuss bullying and the need to stop such behavior. Second, Phillips was a volunteer Santa’s helper at the Santa’s workshop event. Phillips allegedly told a third party upon learning of Haley’s visit that “I’m going to smuggle a gun in and kill this Governor.”
The gruesome death of Ki-Suck Han at the Times Square Station has again raised the question of the “no duty to rescue” rule. In this case, Han, 58, was pushed by a man on to the tracks and struggled to climb out of the way of the approaching train on a platform with people who simply watched and one, a journalistic photographer, snapped pictures.
One hour ago, our blog passed the 14,000,000 viewer. The fact that we only recently passed the 13,000,000 viewer mark reflects the impressive growth of this blog. Congratulations everyone. Now if we could only get .000001 of those viewers to vote for us on the ABA blog competition we could crush the competition! If you (are any distant relative, incompetent ward, or pet) has not voted, you can vote here and cast your vote today!
Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio has forced a construction crew to stop working after workers put up a warning sign reading “Men Working.” According to the report below, the college declared that the sign was “sexist and non-inclusive” and had to be removed before any further work resumed.
Continue reading “Ohio College Stops Construction Work Due To Use Of “Men Working” Sign”
U.S. District Court Judge William Shubb has issued a temporary injunction to block enforcement of California’s ban on licensed psychotherapists treating gay minors to change their sexual orientation. Such conversion or reparative therapy was declared scientifically unsupported and potentially harmful. When enacted, some of us raised concerns under the first amendment. Shubb found those concerns to be critical in imposing the injunction.
Continue reading “Federal Judge Enjoins California’s Conversion Therapy Ban”