next....

[DrLeftover]

Mar 26

In New York City, the largest school system in the U.S. with 1.1 million pupils, the study notes that many of the charter schools created over the last dozen years are among the least diverse of all, with less than 1 percent white enrollment at 73 percent of charter schools.

"To create a whole new system that's even worse than what you've got really takes some effort," said Gary Orfield, co-director of the Civil Rights Project and an author of the report.

...
"In the 30 years I have been researching schools, New York state has consistently been one of the most segregated states in the nation - no Southern state comes close to New York," Orfield said.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCHOOL_SEGREGATION_NY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-03-26-12-18-45

 

[DrLeftover]

15 April


Ron Paul's nonprofit Campaign for Liberty will fight the Internal Revenue Service's demand that it reveal its donor list to the agency, despite having already been fined for refusing to do so.

"There is no legitimate reason for the IRS to know who donates to Campaign for Liberty," Megan Stiles, the communications director at Campaign for Liberty, told the Washington Examiner in an email on Tuesday. "We believe the First Amendment is on our side as evidenced by cases such as NAACP v. Alabama and International Union UAW v. National Right to Work. Many 501(c)(4) organizations protect the privacy of their donors in the very same way as Campaign for Liberty. For some reason the IRS has now chosen to single out Campaign for Liberty for special attention. We plan to fight this all the way."

Ron Paul suggested that the group will refuse to pay the IRS fine in an fundraising email to supporters about the agency's request for information.

"Paying this outrageous extortionist fine — just to exercise our rights as American citizens to petition our government — may even be cheaper in the short run," he wrote. "But it’ll just embolden an alphabet soup of other federal agencies to come after us." Paul's email said that the rule requiring that 501(c)(4)s list their donors is "rarely enforced."

http://washingtonexaminer.com/ron-paul-group-to-defy-irs/article/2547261

 

[DrLeftover]

Fake Peoria mayor Twitter account prompts real raid of West Bluff house

Apr 17, 2014 at 1:07 PM

PEORIA — Police searched a West Bluff house Tuesday and seized phones and computers in an effort to unmask the author of a parody Twitter account that purported to be Mayor Jim Ardis.

The account — known as @Peoriamayor on the popular social media service that limits entries to 140 characters — already had been suspended for several weeks when up to seven plainclothes police officers executed a search warrant about 5:20 p.m. at 1220 N. University St.

Three people at the home were taken to the Peoria Police Department for questioning. Two other residents were picked up at their places of employment and taken to the station, as well.
...

The content of tweets, or entries on the account, ranged from ambiguous to offensive, with repeat references to sex and drugs — and comparisons of Ardis to Toronto Mayor Rob Ford as Ford’s drug use while in office became public.

By about March 10, the bio of the Twitter account was changed to indicate it was a parody account.

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20140416/NEWS/140419123/?tag=1

 

[DrLeftover]

And now the media moves on to....

The Drinking Age Is Past Its Prime

April 23, 2014
The age-21 rule sets the U.S. apart from all advanced Western nations, and it has pushed kids toward pills and other antisocial behavior

The National Minimum Drinking Age Act, passed by Congress 30 years ago this July, is a gross violation of civil liberties and must be repealed. It is absurd and unjust that young Americans can vote, marry, enter contracts and serve in the military at 18 but cannot buy an alcoholic drink in a bar or restaurant. The age-21 rule sets the U.S. apart from all advanced Western nations and lumps it with small or repressive countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Indonesia, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Congress was stampeded into this puritanical law by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, who with all good intentions were wrongly intruding into an area of personal choice exactly as did the hymn-singing 19th century temperance crusaders, typified by Carrie Nation smashing beer barrels with her hatchet. Temperance fanaticism eventually triumphed and gave us 14 years of Prohibition. That in turn spawned the crime syndicates for booze smuggling, laying the groundwork for today’s global drug trade. Thanks a lot, Carrie!

Now that marijuana regulations have been liberalized in Colorado, it’s time to strike down this dictatorial national law. ...

http://time.com/72546/drinking-age-alcohol-repeal/

 

[Evil Eye]

To be fair, your minimum drinking age is a tad high. Seems to me like raising the minimum driving age could've prevented some stupid people from being behind the wheel as well, though.

As a counter I'd like to point out that this "advanced Western nation" recently raised its drinking age.

 

[DrLeftover]

With pressure mounting to avert a transportation funding crisis this summer, the Obama administration Tuesday opened the door for states to collect tolls on interstate highways to raise revenue for roadway repairs.

The proposal, contained in a four-year, $302 billion White House transportation bill, would reverse a long-standing federal prohibition on most interstate tolling.

With transportation funding in jeopardy, money to repair deficient bridges may not be there.

Though some older segments of the network — notably the Pennsylvania and New Jersey turnpikes and Interstate 95 in Maryland and Interstate 495 in Virginia — are toll roads, most of the 46,876-mile system has been toll-free.

“We believe that this is an area where the states have to make their own decisions,” said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “We want to open the aperture, if you will, to allow more states to choose to make broader use of tolling, to have that option available.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/white-house-opens-door-to-tolls-on-interstate-highways-removing-long-standing-prohibition/2014/04/29/5d2b9f30-cfac-11e3-b812-0c92213941f4_story.html

 

[DrLeftover]

Dept of Agriculture Orders Submachine Guns with 30 Round Magazines

15 May

A May 7th solicitation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture seeks "the commercial acquisition of submachine guns [in] .40 Cal. S&W."

According to the solicitation, the Dept. of Agriculture wants the guns to have an "ambidextrous safety, semiautomatic or 2 round [bursts] trigger group, Tritium night sights front and rear, rails for attachment of flashlight (front under fore group) and scope (top rear), stock collapsible or folding," and a "30 rd. capacity" magazine.

They also want the submachine guns to have a "sling," be "lightweight," and have an "oversized trigger guard for gloved operation."

The solicitation directs "all responsible and/or interested sources...[to] submit their company name, point of contact, and telephone." Companies that submit information in a "timely" fashion "shall be considered by the agency for contact to determine weapon suitability."

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/05/14/Dept-Of-Agriculture-Orders-Submachine-Guns-With-30-Round-Magazines

 

[DrLeftover]

another one coming...

The Transgender Tipping Point

In the beaux-arts lobby of the Nourse Theater in San Francisco, men in deep V-necks and necklaces walk by women with crew cuts and plaid shirts buttoned to the top. Boys carrying pink backpacks kiss on the lips, while long-haired ladies whose sequined tank tops expose broad shoulders snap selfies. About 1,100 people, many gleefully defying gender stereotypes, eventually pack the auditorium to hear the story of an unlikely icon. “I stand before you this evening,” Laverne Cox, who stars in the Netflix drama Orange Is the New Black, tells the crowd, “a proud, African-American transgender woman.”

http://time.com/135480/transgender-tipping-point/

 

[DrLeftover]

12 June

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is welcoming members of Congress and their senior staff to tour a temporary shelter being used to house illegal immigrant children — but the invite comes with a list of rules, including a suggestion that members leave their cellphones in their vehicles.

The 40-minute tour will take place Friday at the Ventura County Naval Base in Oxnard, Calif., according to the email invitation, obtained by The Daily Caller.

The tours are meant to give members and staffers an inside look at how temporary facilities are being used to house illegal immigrant children who came to the U.S. without their parents. The minors, who hail mostly from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, are being called “Unaccompanied Children,” or UACs.

Sent to members of Congress and staff by Rose Hacking, of the office of the assistant secretary of legislation at HHS, the invitation comes with the following commands:

No recording devices will be allowed (We may ask you to leave your cellphone in our vehicle)
No questions will be allowed during the tour, but questions will be addressed later
No interacting with staff and children at the shelter
We will provide photos of the facility after the tour

http://dailycaller.com/2014/06/12/child-immigrant-facility-dog-and-pony-show-invite-comes-with-tons-of-rules/

 

[DrLeftover]

THIS is a State University:

3 July

Female Arizona State University students can receive extra credit for defying social norms and refusing to shave for 10 weeks during the semester.

Women and Gender Studies Professor Breanne Fahs, encourages her female students to cease shaving their underarms and legs during the semester and document their experiences in a journal.

"One guy did his shaving with a buck knife."

Student Stephanie Robinson said it was a “life changing experience.”

“Many of my friends didn’t want to work out next to me or hear about the assignment, and my mother was distraught at the idea that I would be getting married in a white dress with armpit hair,” Robinson told ASU news.

Men are also allowed to receive extra credit, as long as they shave their bodies from the neck down.

http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=5735

 

[DrLeftover]

14 July

The Sudan Council of Churches has criticised the authorities for banning the construction of new churches.

Over the weekend, a Sudanese government minister said there were already enough churches to provide for Christians.

The council's secretary-general told the BBC the announcement came after a church was demolished near the capital, Khartoum, this month by town planners.

Sudan is majority Muslim, but officially guarantees freedom of religion.

Following the secession of South Sudan in July 2011, many of Sudan's Christian inhabitants moved to the South.

Shalil Abdullah, a minister of Guidance and Endowments, was quoted as saying on Saturday that the remaining churches were enough for those Christians who stayed in Sudan.

But Rev Kori El Ramli, the secretary-general of the Sudan Council of Churches, said he was surprised by the move as church leaders had always had a good relationship with the authorities.

"We are growing, we need more churches," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28291001

 

[DrLeftover]

22 July

Snoop Dogg — or is it Lion? Hard to keep up — says he smoked weed in a White House bathroom.

Snoop hosted Jimmy Kimmel as a guest on his Internet talk show (I use that term loosely) “Double G News Network,” and told Kimmel about the time he smoked weed in the White House.

“In the bathroom, in the bathroom,” Snoop explained, “Not in the White House, but in the bathroom.”

Videos:
http://dailycaller.com/2014/07/22/snoop-dogg-got-really-high-at-the-white-house-video/#ixzz38Ee31WyO

 

[DrLeftover]

A House-Senate agreement on how to reform the broken Department of Veterans Affairs will let the VA hand out up to $360 million in bonuses to its employees each year, even though the House voted just weeks ago to strip all VA bonuses through 2016.

The compromise bill announced Monday by the chairmen of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees says VA bonuses will be capped at $360 million annually for the next ten years. But that cap is just 10 percent below the $400 million in bonuses the VA has distributed in recent fiscal years, and will allow up to $3.6 billion in bonuses to be awarded over the next decade.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/07/29/va-officials-will-get-millions-of-dollars-in-bonuses-under-house-senate-agreement/

 

[DrLeftover]

Aug. 6, 2014

Federal law bans sweets at school bake sales

ATLANTA —

The Georgia State School superintendent is pushing back against a new federal requirement that bans sweets and “goodies” from being sold at school fundraising events, like bake sales.

The new federal restrictions only apply to on-campus bake sales and fundraisers held during school hours that sell highly fatty, or caloric sweets. It is part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s push for fitness and healthy classrooms.

“We don’t have enough teachers in our classrooms and now we are expected to hire some type of food police to monitor, whether we are having bake sales or not. That is just asinine,” said Dr. John Barge, Georgia State School superintendent.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/federal-law-bans-school-bake-sales-featuring-sweet/ngxCG/

 

[DrLeftover]

27 August 2014

Polygamy effectively decriminalized in Utah as judge strikes down ban in victory for husband and his FOUR wives who appear in TV show ‘Sister Wives’

Judge rules banning cohabitation violated religious freedom of the Browns
Kody Brown and his four wives appear in the TLC reality show 'Sister Wives'
Family sued the state after they were threatened with prosecution
Utah Attorney General's office say they intend to review the ruling
Browns are yet to decide if they will move back to Utah from where they fled

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2736287/Final-ruling-issued-against-polygamy-ban.html

 

[DrLeftover]

"We live in a nanny state...."

New licensing laws mean competitors in the Pewsey Carnival wheelbarrow race will be sober for the first time in 33 years.

Organisers of the annual three-legged 'wine race' and 'wheelberro' races at the Wiltshere festival have brought in the unpopular change this year to comply with the 2003 Licensing Act preventing 'drinking alcohol at speed'.

This weekend, anyone who wants to race in either event will have to drink non-alcoholic beverages at each of the designated stops around the village.

There will be a second non-competitive race, starting five minutes later, for entrants who want to drink booze and make their way around the stops at a leisurely pace.

Organiser David Major told the Gazette and Herald: "It's been a bit of a nightmare but we'll just have to see how things go.

"We won't know how it will affect entries until the day, but people have been talking about it, so hopefully everyone will still get into the spirit of things."

Jerry Kunkler, landlord of the Moonrakers pub, one of the stops on the race route, added: "It's a bit of a strange one, but it's all to do with health and safety which I don't always agree with.

"We live in a nanny state and it's the minority that the rules are in place for and the majority are the ones that have to pay.

"The Wheelberro race has been going for 33 years and we've only had one person fall out of a wheelbarrow which isn't bad going."

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/drink_laws_spoil_festival_454112

 

[DrLeftover]

6 Sept

CRAIGSVILLE -- An 11-year-old Stuarts Draft Elementary School student has collected petition signatures and officially asked the county school board to allow elementary students to use Chapstick.

Stuarts Draft fifth-grader Grace Karaffa appeared before the school board Thursday night, saying she had requested the substance while on the playground after suffering chapped lips.

"I was told I couldn't use it. Then later that day they (lips) started to bleed so I asked for Chapstick again and I was told that it was against the school policy for elementary kids to have Chapstick,'' Grace said.

http://www.dailyprogress.com/newsvirginian/student-s-chapped-lips-lead-to-policy-change-request/article_53d70a02-353f-11e4-877f-0017a43b2370.html

 

[DrLeftover]

The University of New Mexico has launched its first-ever “Sex Week” observance this week with a controversial agenda that includes workshops such as “How to be a Gentleman and Still Get Laid,” “Negotiating Successful Threesomes,” “O-Face Oral” and “BJs and Beyond” – seminars that have prompted concern from some conservative students on campus.

“It’s gross … and offensive,” said 21-year-old junior Sade Patterson in an interview Monday with The College Fix. Patterson is vice president of Students for Life UNM, and she and her group recently penned letters voicing concern about the events to the dean of students and the campus newspaper.

“There is nothing wrong with telling students how to prevent diseases and unplanned pregnancy, because it’s better if they are prepared … but these events are not displaying a concern for students’ well being. I see it as a way to push the concept of free and non-consequential sex on students, just have sex with whoever you want to and there is not going to be any consequences – have a threesome.”

But Reid Mihalko, the sex educator slated to lead many of the presentations, said in an email to The College Fix that his workshops are helpful and college-age appropriate.

http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/19535/

 

[DrLeftover]

They look like a new boy band... but it's the world's first THREE-WAY same-sex marriage: Gay Thai men tie the knot in 'fairytale ceremony'

Three men have tied the knot in world's first three-way same-sex marriage
Gay Thai men Joke, Bell and Art took the plunge on Valentine's Day
The trio wed under Buddhist law due to Thailand's marriage restrictions
Bell said: 'We believe many people do understand and accept our choice'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2972542/They-look-like-new-boy-band-s-world-s-THREE-WAY-sex-marriage-Gay-Thai-men-tie-knot-fairytale-ceremony.html