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Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 01, 2015 3 Comments
FrackNation director Phelim McAleer released a short film Wednesday ahead of Josh Fox's new film, GASWORK. Known for his film, Gasland, GASWORK is a short, fictional film that supposedly, “investigates the dangerous working conditions in the oil and gas fields.” McAleer's short is here:

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 24, 2015 12 Comments
Gallup released an interesting poll this week showing that nearly half of all Americans view government as "an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens."  Interestingly, this is "similar to what was found in previous surveys conducted over the last five years"; however, "when this question was first asked in 2003, less than a third of Americans held this attitude." Gallup reports:
The latest results are from Gallup's Sept. 9-13 Governance poll. The lower percentage of Americans agreeing in 2003 that the federal government posed an immediate threat likely reflected the more positive attitudes about government evident after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The percentage gradually increased to 44% by 2006, and then reached the 46% to 49% range in four surveys conducted since 2010. The remarkable finding about these attitudes is how much they reflect apparent antipathy toward the party controlling the White House, rather than being a purely fundamental or fixed philosophical attitude about government.
It's no accident, for example, that when Democrats start and/or renew pushes for gun control, gun and ammo sales skyrocket. Of course, this isn't just about gun control; it encompasses everything from government surveillance to over-regulation to fundamental First Amendment rights.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on September 22, 2015 4 Comments
As the United States is preparing for the visit of Pope Francis, security efforts are focused on a potential terror plot:
On the eve of Pope Francis' historic first visit to the United States, law enforcement officials are concerned terrorists could disguise themselves as police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians to carry out attacks, according to a report from NBC News Monday. A memo titled "First Responder Impersonators: The New Terrorist Threat," from the Pennsylvania State Police's Criminal Intelligence Center and sent to law enforcement, warned that terrorists could falsely identify themselves as first responders to enter secure areas and carry out attacks. "The impersonators' main goals are to further their attack plan and do harm to unsuspecting citizens as well as members of the emergency services community," the memo read, according to NBC News.
This contrasts to a security incident that occurred in 2013, during the papal visit to Brazil:

Posted by Amy Miller on September 12, 2015 40 Comments
On Friday night, Donald Trump joined the "Tonight Show's" Jimmy Fallon for a little late night...reflecting...on what it means to be The Donald. Literally. Reflecting. Trump interviewed a "mirror image" of himself as played by Jimmy Fallon---who did a decent job at the impersonation. Watch:

Posted by Amy Miller on September 08, 2015 2 Comments
Late last month, Virginia reporter Alison Parker and her cameraman Adam Ward were murdered on-air by a disgruntled former coworker. They woman they were interviewing, local chamber of commerce executive Vicki Gardner, was also shot---but miraculously, was able to walk to the ambulance, and made it to the hospital and through an intense operation. Vicki's doctors were cautiously optimistic in the wake of the attack, and kept a close watch for infection. (The bullet came "within centimeters" of taking her life.) But, she pulled through, and yesterday, Vicki Gardner was released from the hospital. From Vicki's Recovery Page:
Good News! Vicki’s Home! Vicki has been released from Carilion Memorial Hospital. We are thrilled to have her home but she does face a long recuperation time to be back at 100%. Vicki wants to thank all of you for your support and prayers and for respecting her privacy as she continues her journey back to full health. She will make a statement to the media as soon as she has had time to rest up and adjust to her new routine.
In the wake of the shootings, Gardner's condition became a sub-story, buried beneath ledes about mental illness, gun control, and racism. It shouldn't have been that way; but the media, as it often does, saw an opportunity to tout an agenda (or, three or four) and did so with gusto.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 05, 2015 40 Comments
On Tuesday, a police officer was denied service at a Florida Arby's.  Peter Burke reports:
According to an offense report filled out by the officer, identified as Sgt. Jennifer Martin, the officer ordered her food in the drive-through of the restaurant and drove to the window to pay. Martin claims that the clerk, Kenneth Davenport, took her credit card. She said the restaurant's manager, Angel Mirabal, then approached the window and said, "He doesn't want to serve you because you are a police officer." The officer said she told Mirabal that she was uncomfortable and "wasn't certain I wanted to dine at the restaurant." According to the report, Mirabal assured Martin that everything was OK, handed her the food and laughed while telling her that Davenport was allowed to refuse her service. Martin said that she went inside the restaurant, and Mirabal provided her with a refund and his contact information. She said Davenport refused to give her his contact information.
Following this incident at Arby's, the outrage was such that police wives protested outside the Arby's where the incident occurred, and the head of the Broward County Police Benevolent Association, Jeff Marano, called for a nationwide boycott of Arby's.  Arby's responded by issuing an apology and promising to investigate the matter to determine if disciplinary action was warranted.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 02, 2015 35 Comments
New York University is expanding, and a coalition of groups are opposing the expansion. Some due to community concerns, some due to concerns over the cost of NYU tuition, room and board. The protest was descibed in NYU Local:
Yesterday, a rally organized by Faculty Against the Sexton Plan (FASP) drew a crowd of over 200 people in Washington Square Park to protest the NYU 2031 expansion plan. The rally featured voices not only from FASP, but also support from the Student & Labor Action Movement, NYU Divest, the Roosevelt Institute, New York State United Teachers, Students for Justice in Palestine, Long Island University, Cooper Union, and a variety of other students and community members. The event also featured a performance by the theatrical percussion group STOMP.
After the airing of grievances, NYU Local noted:
Several NYU students shared personal narratives relating the burden of NYU’s financial obligations. These stories related how the high cost of NYU’s tuition has robbed students of normalcy. One student, wearing a mask and identifying herself only as “Mandy,” described how she was forced into prostitution to pay her rent and tuition bills.
See the Featured Image. The Observer further described:

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on August 30, 2015 16 Comments
This weekend, Glenn Beck is leading his annual "Restoring" rally.  This year's focus is "Restoring Unity," and to that end, he organized an #AllLivesMatter march in Birmingham, Alabama. Greg Garrison reports:
Led by conservative activist and talk show host Glenn Beck, more than 20,000 people chanting "All Lives Matter" marched the historic civil rights route from Kelly Ingram Park to Birmingham City Hall this morning. "It's about taking our church out in the streets," Beck said. He said marchers came from as far away as China, Dubai and the Netherlands. Actor Chuck Norris, a conservative activist known for his martial arts, action movies and TV show "Walker, Texas Ranger," marched about two rows behind Beck. Alveda King, a niece of civil rights activist the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., marched in the front row. Bishop Jim Lowe, pastor of the predominantly black Guiding Light Church in Birmingham, co-organized the march with Beck and marched with him at the front. As a child, Lowe attended Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, where the march started, a headquarters church for the civil rights movement in Birmingham. Lowe and his sisters were in the church when a KKK bomb blew up the church and killed four little girls on Sept. 15, 1963. "Love is the answer," Lowe said as he marched. "God is the answer." Some Birmingham police officers said the crowd could have been as large as 25,000 to 30,000. It may have been the largest march in Birmingham since the civil rights marches of 1963.
Watch:

Posted by Amy Miller on August 29, 2015 2 Comments
This week was a terrible week in news: We dove even deeper into the depravity of the pro-choice movement. We watched the factions of the conservative movement turn on each other. We were forced to contemplate "President Biden." We found out that Hillary Clinton's minions might be violating election laws...all in the name of making sure their opponents don't vote. Hillary Clinton...she keeps showing up...spit in the faces of those seeking the truth about her emails. We watched two young news pros die on live TV... ...and then we learned that their murders were motivated by hatred. As bloggers and activists, we aren't isolated. We choose to expose ourselves to the best and worst that the world has to offer; but...good grief...this week. It's time for a palette cleanser in the form of a comedian taking PC culture to the cleaners. It's a laugh-or-cry subject, but why let that get us down? Just do it:

Posted by Amy Miller on August 24, 2015 16 Comments
Let's start the week off right with a topic I think we can all agree on: the Westboro Baptist church protesters are monsters. If I've lost you with that one, just click away; this isn't the blog for you. The so-called congregation of the Fred Phelps-led Westboro Baptist Church is notorious for their hate-fueled protests against everything from gay marriage, to military funerals, to the entirety of Silicon Valley. God hates fags---and their smartphones, or something. As it turns out, God also hates Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters. (I, too, was expecting Him to come out against Nickelback, but the Lord works in mysterious ways. Who are we to question?) Westboro turned out to protest the Foo Fighters' Friday night gig in Kansas City, and ended up getting Rick-Rolled* by a pickup full of sign-waving Foo. Watch:

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on August 23, 2015 129 Comments
The progressive war on faith isn't limited to the condemnation of bakers who stand for their religious principles; indeed, that's a relatively new development.  Before bakers, high schools were (and still are) the target of these attacks on faith in America.  From Texas cheerleaders banned from using Bible verses on their banners to schools banning Christian clubs to schools banning religious Christmas music at "winter"—or sometimes "holiday"—concerts, we repeatedly see this war on faith play out across the nation. One such incident occurred in Brandon, Mississippi, where the high school band was benched and unable to play their half-time show for a Friday night football game because it had been banned from playing the hymn, "How Great Thou Art." Todd Starnes reports:
There was no halftime show under the Friday night lights at Mississippi’s Brandon High School — the marching band had been benched.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on August 22, 2015 12 Comments
Yesterday, Ted Cruz was keynote speaker of the Iowa Rally for Religious Liberty, and while some news outlets are portraying the event as an "evangelical" pitch to the "religious right," Cruz explains that there is a war on faith in America. CNN reports:

Cruz spoke about his experience defending freedom of religion at the Supreme Court and what he said were the threats facing religious liberty.

"These threats have been growing, they have been growing for decades but never have the threats been greater to religious liberty than they are right here and now today," he said.

"These threats are not imagined, they're not made up. These are real people leading real lives who found themselves facing persecution simply for living out their faith. There is a war on faith in America today."

Audience members frequently murmured "Amen" as Cruz spoke.

The event featured guest speakers who had faced consequences of upholding their religious beliefs, from losing a job to vandalism to losing a business.

"They didn't ask for confrontation and the government came to them and said, 'Choose between faith and obedience to government power,' and they said, 'I follow a higher power and that is God almighty,'" Cruz said.

Watch Cruz's keynote speech at the Rally for Religious Liberty:

Posted by Amy Miller on August 22, 2015 30 Comments
Welcome to the flashback sequence no one asked for: it's time to talk about Chick-fil-A again. The fast food chain's reputation as a supporter of traditional marriage has drawn another series of boycott threats, this time from the Denver city council. The council is currently debating whether or not to sign a contract with the restaurant for a spot at Denver International Airport. From the Denver Post:
Councilman Paul Lopez called opposition to the chain at DIA "really, truly a moral issue on the city." His position comes despite ardent assurances from the concessionaires — who have operated other DIA restaurants — that strict nondiscrimination policies will include protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Posted by Amy Miller on August 19, 2015 9 Comments
Put on your trollin' pants, people---it's time to sit down the federal government for an annual review. The federal government has partnered with online review service Yelp to set up official government agency profiles that Americans can drop in on to leave a tip, a review, or a (one star? probably) rating. A message from Yelp's official blog touts this as the government's next big foray into social media:
It’s clear Washington is eager to engage with people directly through social media. Earlier this year a group of 46 lawmakers called for the creation of a “Yelp for Government” in order to boost transparency and accountability, and Representative Ron Kind reiterated this call in a letter to the General Services Administration (GSA). Luckily for them, there’s no need to create a new platform now that government agencies can engage directly on Yelp. As this agreement is fully implemented in the weeks and months ahead, we’re excited to help the federal government more directly interact with and respond to the needs of citizens and to further empower the millions of Americans who use Yelp every day.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on August 17, 2015 19 Comments
International support for blasphemy laws has been growing in recent years with Muslims pushing for them in Europe and Obama seemingly advocating for them at the U. N. In Quebec, a bill has been introduced that will target those who "write against the Islamic religion." Robert Spencer reports, initially quoting from The National Post:
“Bill 59 assigns new powers to the Quebec Human Rights Commission (QHRC) to combat hate speech, as well as a variety of other provisions meant to protect against extremism, by censoring speech that promotes ‘fear of the other.’ Ominously, the bill would allow the QHRC to pursue websites that in its estimation describe and denounce Islamism….Jacques Frémont, the commission’s president, explained that he planned to use the requested powers to sue those critical of certain ideas, ‘people who would write against … the Islamic religion … on a website or on a Facebook page.'”

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on August 16, 2015 20 Comments
While small acts of kindness from citizens can touch the lives of police officers many miles away, police officers across the country increasingly face public aggression, disrespect, and violence.  In the wake of Ferguson and the execution of police officers in NYC and across America,  America's police face an untenable situation as they attempt to do their jobs. Watch this report on police under attack: The recent attention has brought with it a heightened awareness among police officers . . . and hesitation.  An Alabama police detective, saying that he was concerned about media attention, was pistol-whipped with his own gun last week.  CNN Wire reports:
An Alabama police detective is pistol whipped with his own gun. He says the coverage of deadly police shootings across America is partly to blame.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on August 02, 2015 15 Comments
While most toddlers celebrate turning two with animated character-themed parties, some are more interested in personal injury lawyers. "Planning out Grayson’s second birthday party, Ms. Dobra chose a different theme, one that reflected her little boy’s most passionate interest: New Orleans personal injury lawyer Morris Bart," writes the Wall Street Journal. According to the WSJ:
Mr. Bart is a familiar face in Louisiana thanks to his ubiquitous TV ads and a firm motto that would make Saul Goodman proud: “One Call, That’s All!” Maybe it has to do with the flashing lights and music featured in the spots, but Grayson can’t stop watching his ads, said Ms. Dobra, a nurse from Prairieville, La. “He’s always been very drawn to Morris Bart commercials,” she told Law Blog. “He used to watch ABC and color videos, and he used to love those. But now he wants to watch Morris Bart commercials.” When they’re not on TV, he watches them on YouTube.
Inside Edition explains:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on August 02, 2015 44 Comments
As the Internet Mob rages against the American dentist who killed the famed lion, Cecil, there is a new potential target for its ire: The hunter's "glamourous" wife.
Tonette Palmer was formerly the vice president of a family-run import and export company although recent employment records list her as secretary for a Minneapolis real estate developer. The mother-of-two seemingly shares her husband's zeal for killing wildlife, with public records revealing that she has held as many as seven sport licenses entitling her to fish in Florida and hunt in Alaska. Her husband's numerous kills - all by bow and arrow - include a moose, a buffalo, a polar bear and a mountain lion. Their two homes are thought to be crammed with stuffed heads and mementos from his safari slaughter spree, with more items stored in his personal office at his dental surgery in Bloomington, Minnesota.
Egads! How dare this woman have hunting licenses! The piece goes on to reveal that the dentist, Walter Palmer, and his wife enjoy $1 million home filled with hunting trophies. Based on this article, the media seems to be expanding its net of outrage to include Palmer's children, too, as it describes the marriage of his daughter. Fueling the fire of environmental justice outrage that is now consuming Palmer and those close to him, the report is essentially nothing more than a caricature of a rich, selfish family completely devoid of compassion for nature.
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