Umm....doesn't he have anything else to do?

I mean, sure POTUS can read books, but is there nothing better for him to do than pitch movie ideas? Has he already given up on 2012, and is looking for a new job as movie producer? To be fair, I suppose Hollywood does love him enough, that he would be able to greenlight anything he wants....until Harvey Weinstein says no... Either way, it just seems really tacky that he's pitching novel ideas for movie scripts while being POTUS. Read the original here.

Harvey Weinstein passes on movie pitch from Obama
2:57 p.m. CST, March 7, 2012
Peter Voskamp

Reuters
WASHINGTON, March 7 (TheWrap.com) - If you've ever had a pitch turned down by Harvey Weinstein

, you're now in some fine company. The Weinstein Co. chief disclosed thatPresident Obama

recently sent him a film idea -- which he passed on.

"The President sent me a book the other day and said 'Why don't you make this into a movie?'" Weinstein said. "I can't tell you. It was a spy novel."

But Weinstein demurred.

"I sent him an email back saying he was the most over qualified book scout I've ever had," he told the Times of London.

Weinstein is a deep-pocketed supporter of President Obama and theDemocratic Party, and recently co-hosted fundraising events for the president in New York and Los Angeles.

The Weinstein Co. said it had no comment on the pitch.

As if getting a movie pitch from President Obama wasn't enough, Harvey Weinstein on Wednesday was made a member of the French Legion of Honor.

In ceremony held in Paris, French PresidentNicolas Sarkozy honored the 59-year-old producer of "The Artist" for his contribution to cinema by making him a member of the French Legion of Honor.

"I am honored and humbled by this recognition from President Sarkozy and the people ofFrance. All my life, I have loved and been inspired by French cinema, and as a studio head it has been my pride and joy to have the ability to bring movies to audiences around the world," Weinstein said in a statement before the ceremony.

"I am still the young boy who walked to the cinema in Flushing, New York to see films by the greats - Lelouch, Godard, Renoir and my personal favorite, François Truffaut. They inspired me and led me to the place I am in today. I hope to continue my friendship with France and its filmmakers for many years to come."

"I'm not from around here" as a criminal defense?

What the hell? Culture shock as a criminal defense? Any bets as to when the defense "She was asking for it" is openly submitted in court? Way to go Australia, this moved you more than a few notches down on my list of sweet countries. Can the prosecution enter an argument of "he's a misogynistic douchebag"? And should he have gotten the book thrown at him for the, I don't know how the Aussies may label a sexual assault on a 13 year old, but I call it child molestation....Read the original here.



Here's the news broadcast from Australia:

Muslim Man Gets Sexual Assault Sentence Reduced Because Of 'Culture Shock'
posted by American Thinker

The old argument that "she was asking for it" has resurfaced in multicultural guise. Where are all the feminists? This shocking report from Melbourne, Australia tells the tale of a Libyan student recently arrived in Australia as a scholarship student, who sexually attacked 6 women, and a 13 year old girl a month after arriving in Australia.

The judge found that his sentence should be reduced because he was unable to cope with the way Australian women dress. Obviously, the implication is that Australian women should don abayas and burkas, if they want to avoid being attacked, because Muslim men just can't control themselves.

Creeping dhimmitude, indeed.

What color is your shirt? It might make you a racist

Also, this headline seems misleading.  It's not the students who are claiming white supremacy, it's the school that is claiming that the students might be claiming it.Read the original here.

Soquel Students Suspended For White Supremacy Claims
SOQUEL, Calif. - Students banned from a Central Coast school for wearing a white t-shirt.

On Wednesday, Soquel High School suspended at least two students. The students say it's because of allegations, they're part of a white supremacist group.

"All the girls wore pink, all the sports guys wore tank tops," says Soquel High Senior Mikey Donnelly. "We were all going to wear white so that was the plan. Just wear white t-shirts to identify ourselves and look back and say that was our group of friends right there."

Soquel High Senior Mikey Donnelly wore a white t-shirt for his senior class photo Tuesday. About 10 of his friends did the same. That decision may seem harmless. But Soquel High suspended Donnelly for three days because of it.

Donnelly said the school told him people were offended and intimidated by his group, claiming they're a white supremacist gang.

"I do think this is BS," says Donnelly. "I'm not a white supremacist in any way shape or form. If I did say white power, I would probably say it just as much as I say black power."

He's not the only one upset.

"I feel disrespected," says Soquel High Senior David Mine.

Mine also wore a white t-shirt and was also suspended. He's missing out on finals and that could jeopardize his graduation.

"I'm Asian," says Mine. "I don't see how I can be a white supremacist. I'm against it completely."

Soquel High Principal Ken Lawrence-Emanuel was very tight-lipped about it, saying students' punishments are confidential. But told me the school got several complaints about a white pride group on campus.

"Safety is always first at Soquel High," says Lawrence-Emanuel. "We want to make sure we do everything we can to keep people from feeling and being safe on campus."

But, the students don't agree and are ready to fight it.

"It's a pretty bad feeling to be labeled something you're not," says Donnelly.

Donnelly said nobody's ever accused him of being a white supremacist before and plans on appealing the schools decision. He'll even take it to court if he needs to.

Submitted by Azenith Smith, Central Coast News

I have no words....

Read the original here....because I can't make this up.

Parents Keep Child's Gender Secret
JAYME POISSON/TORONTO STAR
STAFF REPORTER

“So it’s a boy, right?” a neighbour calls out as Kathy Witterick walks by, her four month old baby, Storm, strapped to her chest in a carrier.

See more family photos. [2]

Each week the woman asks the same question about the baby with the squishy cheeks and feathery blond hair.

Witterick smiles, opens her arms wide, comments on the sunny spring day, and keeps walking.

She’s used to it. The neighbours know Witterick and her husband, David Stocker, are raising a genderless baby. But they don’t pretend to understand it.

While there’s nothing ambiguous about Storm’s genitalia, they aren’t telling anyone whether their third child is a boy or a girl.

The only people who know are Storm’s brothers, Jazz, 5, and Kio, 2, a close family friend and the two midwives who helped deliver the baby in a birthing pool at their Toronto home on New Year’s Day.

“When the baby comes out, even the people who love you the most and know you so intimately, the first question they ask is, ‘Is it a girl or a boy?’” says Witterick, bouncing Storm, dressed in a red-fleece jumper, on her lap at the kitchen table.

“If you really want to get to know someone, you don’t ask what’s between their legs,” says Stocker.

When Storm was born, the couple sent an email to friends and family: “We've decided not to share Storm's sex for now — a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm's lifetime (a more progressive place? ...).”

Their announcement was met with stony silence. Then the deluge of criticisms began. Not just about Storm, but about how they were parenting their other two children.

The grandparents were supportive, but resented explaining the gender-free baby to friends and co-workers. They worried the children would be ridiculed. Friends said they were imposing their political and ideological values on a newborn. Most of all, people said they were setting their kids up for a life of bullying in a world that can be cruel to outsiders.

Witterick and Stocker believe they are giving their children the freedom to choose who they want to be, unconstrained by social norms about males and females. Some say their choice is alienating.

In an age where helicopter parents hover nervously over their kids micromanaging their lives, and tiger moms ferociously push their progeny to get into Harvard, Stocker, 39, and Witterick, 38, believe kids can make meaningful decisions for themselves from a very early age.

“What we noticed is that parents make so many choices for their children. It’s obnoxious,” says Stocker.

Jazz and Kio have picked out their own clothes in the boys and girls sections of stores since they were 18 months old. Just this week, Jazz unearthed a pink dress at Value Village, which he loves because it “really poofs out at the bottom. It feels so nice.” The boys decide whether to cut their hair or let it grow.

Like all mothers and fathers, Witterick and Stocker struggle with parenting decisions. The boys are encouraged to challenge how they’re expected to look and act based on their sex.

“We thought that if we delayed sharing that information, in this case hopefully, we might knock off a couple million of those messages by the time that Storm decides Storm would like to share,” says Witterick.

They don’t want to isolate their kids from the world, but, when it’s meaningful, talk about gender.

This past winter, the family took a vacation to Cuba with Witterick’s parents. Since they weren’t fluent in Spanish, they flipped a coin at the airport to decide what to tell people. It landed on heads, so for the next week, everyone who asked was told Storm was a boy. The language changed immediately. “What a big, strong boy,” people said.

The moment a child’s sex is announced, so begins the parade of pink and barrage of blue. Tutus and toy trucks aren’t far behind. The couple says it only intensifies with age.

“In fact, in not telling the gender of my precious baby, I am saying to the world, ‘Please can you just let Storm discover for him/herself what s (he) wants to be?!.” Witterick writes in an email.

Stocker teaches at City View Alternative, a tiny school west of Dufferin Grove Park, with four teachers and about 60 Grade 7 and 8 students whose lessons are framed by social-justice issues around class, race and gender.

When Kio was a baby, the family travelled through the mountains of Mexico, speaking with the Zapatistas, a revolutionary group who shun mainstream politics as corrupt and demand greater indigenous rights. In 1994, about 150 people died in violent clashes with the Mexican military, but the leftist movement has been largely peaceful since.

Last year, they spent two weeks in Cuba, living with local families and learning about the revolution. Witterick has worked in violence prevention, giving workshops to teachers. These days, she volunteers, offering breastfeeding support. At the moment, she is a full-time mom.

Both come from liberal families. Stocker grew up listening to Free to Be ... You and Me, a 1972 record with a central message of gender neutrality. Witterick remembers her brother mucking around with gender as a teen in the ’80s, wearing lipstick and carrying handbags like David Bowie and Mick Jagger.

The family lives in a cream-coloured two-storey brick home in the city’s Junction Triangle neighbourhood. Their front porch is crammed with bicycles, including Kio’s pink and purple tricycle. Inside, it’s organized clutter. The children's arts and crafts projects are stacked in the bookcases, maps hang on the walls and furniture is well-used and of a certain vintage.

Upstairs they co-sleep curled up on two mattresses pushed together on the floor of the master bedroom, under a heap of mismatched pillows and blankets. During the day, the kids build forts with the pillows and pretend to walk a tightrope between the mattresses.

On a recent Tuesday, the boys finish making paper animal puppets and a handmade sign to celebrate their dad’s birthday. “I love to do laundry with dad,” reads one message. They nuzzle Storm, splayed out on the floor. The baby squeals with delight.

Witterick practices unschooling, an offshoot of home-schooling centred on the belief that learning should be driven by a child’s curiosity. There are no report cards, no textbooks and no tests. For unschoolers, learning is about exploring and asking questions, “not something that happens by rote from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays in a building with a group of same-age people, planned, implemented and assessed by someone else,” says Witterick. The fringe movement is growing. An unschooling conference in Toronto drew dozens of families last fall.

The kids have a lot of say in how their day unfolds. They decide if they want to squish through the mud, chase garter snakes in the park or bake cupcakes.

Jazz — soft-spoken, with a slight frame and curious brown eyes — keeps his hair long, preferring to wear it in three braids, two in the front and one in the back, even though both his parents have close-cropped hair. His favourite colour is pink, although his parents don’t own a piece of pink clothing between them. He loves to paint his fingernails and wears a sparkly pink stud in one ear, despite the fact his parents wear no nail polish or jewelry.

Kio keeps his curly blond hair just below his chin. The 2-year-old loves purple, although he’s happiest in any kind of pyjama pants.

“As a result, Jazz and now Kio are almost exclusively assumed to be girls,” says Stocker, adding he and Witterick don’t out them. It’s the boys’ choice whether they want to offer a correction.

On a recent trip to High Park, Jazz, wearing pink shorts, patterned pink socks and brightly coloured elastics on his braids, runs and skips across the street.

“That’s a princess!” says a smiling crossing guard, ushering the little boy along. “And that’s a princess, too,” she says again, pointing at Kio with her big red sign.

Jazz doesn’t mind. One of his favourite books is 10,000 Dresses, the story of a boy who loves to dress up. But he doesn’t like being called a girl. Recently, he asked his mom to write a note on his application to the High Park Nature Centre because he likes the group leaders and wants them to know he’s a boy.

Jazz was old enough for school last September, but chose to stay home. “When we would go and visit programs, people — children and adults — would immediately react with Jazz over his gender,” says Witterick, adding the conversation would gravitate to his choice of pink or his hairstyle.

That’s mostly why he doesn’t want to go to school. When asked if it upsets him, he nods, but doesn’t say more.

Instead he grabs a handmade portfolio filled with his drawings and poems. In its pages is a booklet written under his pseudonym, the “Gender Explorer.” In purple and pink lettering, adorned with butterflies, it reads: “Help girls do boy things. Help boys do girl things. Let your kid be whoever they are!”

Storm was named after whipped winds and dark rain clouds, because they are beautiful and transformative.

“When I was pregnant, it was really this intense time around Jazz having experiences with gender and I was feeling like I needed some good parenting skills to support him through that,” says Witterick.

It began as a offhand remark. “Hey, what if we just didn’t tell?” And then Stocker found a book in his school library called X: A Fabulous Child’s Story by Lois Gould. The book, published in 1978, is about raising not a boy or a girl, but X. There’s a happy ending here. Little X — who loved to play football and weave baskets — faces the taunting head on, proving that X is the most well-adjusted child ever examined by “an impartial team of Xperts.”

“It became so compelling it was almost like, How could we not?” says Witterick.

There are days when their decisions are tiring, shackling even. “We spend more time than we should providing explanations for why we do things this way,” says Witterick. “I regret that (Jazz) has to discuss his gender before people ask him meaningful questions about what he does and sees in this world, but I don't think I am responsible for that — the culture that narrowly defines what he should do, wear and look like is.”

Longtime friend Ayal Dinner, 35, a father two young boys, was surprised to hear the couple’s announcement when Storm was born, but is supportive.

“I think it’s amazing that they’re willing to take on challenging people in this way,” says Dinner. “While they are political and ideological about these things, they’re also really thinking about what it means and struggling with it as they go along.”

Dinner understands why people may find it extreme. “Although I can see the criticism of ‘This is going to be hard on my kid,’ it’s great to say, ‘I love my kid for whoever they are.’”

On a recent trip to Hamilton, Jazz was out of earshot when family friend Denise Hansen overheard two little girls at the park say they didn’t want to play with a “girl-boy.” Then, there was the time a saleswoman at a second-hand shop refused to sell him a pink feather boa. “Surely you won't buy it for him — he's a boy!” said the woman. Shocked, and not wanting to upset Jazz, Witterick left the store.

Parents talk about the moment they realize they would throw themselves in front of a speeding truck to save their child from harm, yet battle the instinct to overprotect. They want to encourage independence. They hope people won’t be mean. They pray they aren’t bullied. No parent would ever wish that for their child.

On a night after she watched her husband of 11 years and the boys play with sparklers after dark, Witterick, in a reflective mood, writes to say we are all mocked at some point for the way we look, the way we dress and the way we think.

“When faced with inevitable judgment by others, which child stands tall (and sticks up for others) — the one facing teasing despite desperately trying to fit in, or the one with a strong sense of self and at least two 'go-to' adults who love them unconditionally? Well, I guess you know which one we choose.”

Diane Ehrensaft is a California-based psychologist and mother of Jesse, a “girlyboy” who turned his trucks into cradles and preferred porcelain dolls over soldiers when he was a child. Her newly published book, Gender Born, Gender Made, is a guide for parents of nonconforming kids.

She believes parents should support gender-creative children, which includes the transgendered, who feel born in the wrong bodies, and gender hybrids, who feel they are part girl and part boy. Then there are gender “smoothies,” who have a blended sense of gender that is purely “them.”

Ehrensaft believes there is something innate about gender, and points to the ’70s, when parents experimented by giving dolls to boys and trucks to girls.

“It only worked up to a certain extent. Some girls never played with the trucks, some boys weren’t interested in ballet ... It was a humbling experiment for us because we learned we don’t have the control that we thought we did.”

But she worries by not divulging Storm’s sex, the parents are denying the child a way to position himself or herself in a world where you are either male, female or in between. In effect they have created another category: Other than other. And that could marginalize the child.

“I believe that it puts restrictions on this particular baby so that in this culture this baby will be a singular person who is not being given an opportunity to find their true gender self, based on also what’s inside them.”

Ehrensaft gets the “What the heck?!” reaction people may have when they hear about Storm. “I think it probably makes people feel played with to have that information withheld from them.”

While she accepts and supports Jazz’s freedom “to be who he is,” she’s concerned about asking two small boys to keep a secret about the baby of the family. “For very young children, just in their brains, they’re not ready to do the kind of sophisticated discernment we do about when a secret is necessary.”

Jazz says it’s not difficult. He usually just calls the baby Storm.

Dr. Ken Zucker, considered a world expert on gender identity and head of the gender identity service for children at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, calls this a “social experiment of nurture.” The broader question, he says, is how much influence parents have on their kids. If Ehrensaft leans toward nature, Zucker puts more emphasis on nurture. Even when parents don’t make a choice, that’s still a choice, and one that can impact the children.

When asked what psychological harm, if any, could come from keeping the sex of a child secret, Zucker said: “One will find out.”

The couple plan to keep Storm’s sex a secret as long as Storm, Kio and Jazz are comfortable with it. In the meantime, philosophy and reality continue to collide.

Out with the kids all day, Witterick doesn’t have the time or the will to hide in a closet every time she changes Storm’s diaper. “If (people) want to peek, that’s their journey,” she says.

There are questions about which bathroom Storm will use, but that is a couple of years off. Then there is the “tyranny of pronouns,” as they call it. They considered referring to Storm as “Z”. Witterick now calls the baby she, imagining the “s” in brackets.

For the moment, it feels right.

“Everyone keeps asking us, ‘When will this end?’” says Witterick. “And we always turn the question back. Yeah, when will this end? When will we live in a world where people can make choices to be whoever they are?”

jpoisson@thestar.ca[3]

References
^ Comments on this story (www.parentcentral.ca)
^ See more family photos. (photogallery.thestar.com)
^ jpoisson@thestar.ca (www.parentcentral.ca)

Teachers that don't deserve to have their job

And seriously, what's the logic path here. What could this teacher have possibly been thinking? Gotta love that she was suspended, but with pay. Read the original here.

Waco Teacher Arrested After Student Attacked For Racial Slurs - KXXV-TV News Channel 25

by John Cuoco

WACO- A Waco teacher got locked up after allegedly looking the other way while her class attacked another student following some racial slurs.

Roberta Buck, 58, was a teacher at Cesar Chavez Middle school. She was arrested for endangering one of her students.

According to arrest warrant, Buck didn't allow her class to watch to watch a movie after one of her students complained about the film.

Waco ISD police said Buck had a private conversation, outside the classroom, with the student about the movie.

It was there that the student told Buck that he didn't like African Americans, but he referred to them using the "N-word" or something similar.

Buck then reportedly went back relayed that information to her predominantly African American class (78.26%).

"She did not physically cause harm to the student, but from the arrest affidavit you can see what she said lead to the student being struck by other students and that's totally unacceptable," Waco ISD spokesman Dale Caffey said.

The warrant goes on to say that Buck gave the class permission to hit the student who made the comment.

That's exactly what his classmates reportedly did in the hallway after class. Buck supposedly didn't stop her students from hitting the teen in head, back and shoulders. All while he covered his head and tried to protect himself.

"From this schools stand point and WISD's stand point this is an incident that could have been avoided," Caffey explained. "Unfortunately, we had a teacher who made a bad mistake and she's going to pay for that now and we are going to pay for that now too."

Buck was booked into jail Thursday on a charge of endangering a child. She's already been released on $1,000 bond.

She Has also been suspended with pay by the district and News Channel 25 was told it's unlikely she'll be brought back next year.

Hippies do their hippie thing

Read the original here.

Nobel Laureates In Stockholm Climate 'Trial'

Published: 17 May 11 13:52 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation[1]
Updated: 17 May 11 16:18 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/33826/20110517/

Around 20 Nobel[2] prize winners will preside over a mock courtroom in Stockholm on Tuesday, with the Planet Earth and humanity on opposing sides of the case, as part of a symposium to highlight global sustainability.


"It's a civil court case to see whether we've breached our relations" with the planet, "and to see how to restore that relationship," symposium chair Johan Rockström told reporters at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

The "trial" will be one of the sessions at the third biennial Nobel laureate symposium on global sustainability -- a three-day event that opened in the Swedish capital Tuesday.

In addition to the Nobel laureates, leading scientists and environmental research group heads were on site to draft a Stockholm Memorandum on the findings of the meeting, which will be presented Wednesday to the United High-level Panel on Global Sustainability.

Rockström explained that one of the sessions had been shaped as a trial since "we've come to the point where just another meeting with another dialogue would fail to have an impact (and to clearly) communicate ... the possibilities and challenges we are facing."

"History will in any case judge us," Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren told reporters, explaining the "trial" was actually about humanity judging itself with future generations in mind.

Mario Molina of Mexico, the winner of the 1995 Nobel Chemistry Prize who is a science and technology advisor to US President Barack Obama[3], told the news
conference he hoped rationality, common sense and wisdom would strengthen the
planet's case in the "symbolic" trial.

At the conference's inaugural speech, Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria stressed the urgency of acting to make the world a better place.

"Mankind faces tremendous challenges if we are to hand our future generations a healthier mother earth, ... a planet more sustainable than it was when we received it from our parents," the princess said in a speech inaugurating the symposium.

"I see no better persons than Nobel laureates to carry this message to the world," she told the delegates.

The princess and delegates were welcomed at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences by a tiny group of protesters.

"Manmade climate change is an unproven, unscientific political ideal... If we implement what these people are saying, billions of people are going to die of poverty," said protestor Hussein Askary

The Stockholm Memorandum will be considered by the UN panel, which was appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon[4] and includes South Africa's
President Jacob Zuma and his Finnish counterpart Tarja Halonen and has been
tasked with putting together a "new vision" on sustainable growth.

The panel will draw up a report with suggestions before the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 2012.

References
^ translation (www.thelocal.se)
^ Nobel (www.thelocal.se)
^ Barack Obama (www.thelocal.se)
^ Ban Ki-moon (www.thelocal.se)

How to demean your dog

read the original here.

Calling animals 'pets' is insulting, academics claim
Animal lovers should stop calling their furry or feathered friends “pets” because the term is insulting, leading academics claim.

By John Bingham 8:30AM BST 28 Apr 2011

Domestic dogs, cats, hamsters or budgerigars should be rebranded as “companion animals” while owners should be known as “human carers”, they insist.

Even terms such as wildlife are dismissed as insulting to the animals concerned – who should instead be known as “free-living”, the academics including an Oxford professor suggest.

The call comes from the editors of then Journal of Animal Ethics, a new academic publication devoted to the issue.

It is edited by the Revd Professor Andrew Linzey, a theologian and director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, who once received an honorary degree from the Archbishop of Canterbury for his work promoting the rights of “God’s sentient creatures”.

In its first editorial, the journal – jointly published by Prof Linzey’s centre and the University of Illinois in the US – condemns the use of terms such as ”critters” and “beasts”.

It argues that “derogatory” language about animals can affect the way that they are treated.

“Despite its prevalence, ‘pets’ is surely a derogatory term both of the animals concerned and their human carers,” the editorial claims.

“Again the word ‘owners’, whilst technically correct in law, harks back to a previous age when animals were regarded as just that: property, machines or things to use without moral constraint.”

It goes on: “We invite authors to use the words ‘free-living’, ‘free-ranging’ or ‘free-roaming’ rather than ‘wild animals’

“For most, ‘wildness’ is synonymous with uncivilised, unrestrained, barbarous existence.

“There is an obvious prejudgment here that should be avoided.”

Prof Linzey and his co-editor Professor Priscilla Cohn, of Penn State University in the US, also hope to see some of the more colourful terms in the English language stamped out.

Phrases such as “sly as a fox, “eat like a pig” or “drunk as a skunk” are all unfair to animals, they claim.

“We shall not be able to think clearly unless we discipline ourselves to use less than partial adjectives in our exploration of animals and our moral relations with them," they say.

I'm not even following their logic....

You're never more wasteful, than when it's not your money. Also, how well does a 28% job placement success rate, compare against other job placement organizations?  Read the original here.

Job Center Blasted For Giving Capes To Unemployed

ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida officials are investigating an unemployment agency that spent public money to give 6,000 superhero capes to the jobless.

Workforce Central Florida spent more than $14,000 on the red capes as part of its "Cape-A-Bility Challenge" public relations campaign. The campaign featured a cartoon character, "Dr. Evil Unemployment," who needs to be vanquished.

Florida's unemployment agency director asked Monday for an investigation of the regional operation's spending after the Orlando Sentinel published a story about the program. State director Cynthia Lorenzo said the spending appeared to be "insensitive and wasteful."

Workforce Central Florida Director Gary J. Earl defends the program, saying it is part of a greater effort to connect with the community. The agency says it served 210,000 people during its last fiscal year, placing nearly 59,000 in jobs.

Those pointy teeth you grow? Yeah, they're called canines, guess what they're for...

Read the original here.

French Vegans In Dock Over Baby's Death

Two vegans who fed their 11-month-old daughter only mother's milk[1] went on trial in northern France[2]on Tuesday charged with neglect after their baby died suffering from vitamin deficiency.[3]

Sergine and Joel Le Moaligou,[4] whose vegan diet forbids consuming any animal product including eggs and cow's milk, called the emergency services[5] in March 2008 after becoming worried about their baby Louise's listlessness.

When the ambulance arrived at their home in Saint-Maulvis,[6] a small village 150 kilometres (90 miles) north of Paris,[7] the baby was already dead.

The ambulance workers called the police because the child was pale and thin, weighing 5.7 kilos (12.5 pounds) compared to an average eight kilos for her age.

The baby had only been fed on the milk of her mother, who was aged 37 at the time.

An autopsy showed that Louise was suffering from a vitamin A and B12 deficiency which experts say increases a child's sensitivity to infection and can be due to an unbalanced diet.

"The problem of vitamin B12 deficiency could be linked to the mother's diet," said Anne-Laure Sandretto,[8] deputy prosecutor in the city of Amiens[9] where the trial is taking place.

The couple has been charged with "neglect or food deprivation followed by death" and face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Copyright AFP 2008, AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium

References
^ mother's milk (topics.breitbart.com)
^ France (topics.breitbart.com)
^ vitamin deficiency. (topics.breitbart.com)
^ Joel Le Moaligou, (topics.breitbart.com)
^ emergency services (topics.breitbart.com)
^ Saint-Maulvis, (topics.breitbart.com)
^ Paris, (topics.breitbart.com)
^ Anne-Laure Sandretto, (topics.breitbart.com)
^ Amiens (topics.breitbart.com)

Parent Sues Preschool Over Child's Education

Stories like this make me so glad we don't live in New York.

Read the original story here.

A mad-as-heck Manhattan mom says her daughter's Ivy League dreams have been all but dashed -- and she's only 4 years old.

Nicole Imprescia is suing the $19,000-a-year York Avenue Preschool, saying her daughter, Lucia, was forced to spend too much time with lesser-minded 2- and 3-year-olds when she should have been focusing on test preparation to get into an elite elementary school.

The suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, notes that "getting a child into the Ivy League starts in nursery school" and says the Upper East Side school promised Imprescia it would "prepare her daughter for the ERB, an exam required for admission into nearly all the elite private elementary schools."

But "it became obvious [those] promises were a complete fraud," the suit says. "Indeed, the school proved not to be a school at all but just one big playroom."

The miffed mom yanked her daughter after just three weeks -- but the school is refusing to refund the $19,000 she had to pay up front, said her lawyer, Mathew Paulose.

"What are they keeping the $19,000 for when the child was in school for under a month?" Paulose said. "It's ridiculous."

The school's lawyer, Bill Wachtel, said that his client was "surprised and disappointed" that Imprescia gave up her highly sought-after slot but that there is a no-refund policy.

The suit claims: "Studies have shown entry into a good nursery school guarantees more income than entry into an average school."

Imprescia's suit said the school boasted of having an age-appropriate curriculum and a "high success rate in getting its students into high-caliber Manhattan elementary schools, both public and private."

Imprescia said she soon realized she'd gotten schooled.

"Plaintiff's daughter, as well as the sons and daughters of the other parents, were dumped amongst each other, notwithstanding their age differences," the suit says.

Also, at age 4, the school was "still teaching plaintiff's daughter about shapes and colors," the suit says. "In other words, there was no 'curriculum designed for a specific age group' also as promised," the suit says.

White House party-crasher booted from 'Celebrity Rehab'

Read the original story here.

(CNN) -- Reality show star and White House party-crasher Michaele Salahi has been asked to leave the television show "Celebrity Rehab" because she does not have an addiction, VH1 said in a statement.

Salahi's manager shot back, saying the network knew that all along. 

Salahi and her husband made news in November 2009 after attending President Barack Obama's first state dinner without an invitation.

VH1 said Tuesday it has canceled her appearance on the show, which chronicles celebrities undergoing treatment for alcohol and drug addictions.

"The treatment program that 'Celebrity Rehab' documents is intended for individuals with serious substance abuse and addiction issues," VH1 said in a statement Tuesday night. 

"Prior to the taping of the current season, producers were advised that Michaele Salahi met the criteria to be treated in this setting. However, professional assessments spanning from that time to the present, found that she did not meet such criteria."

However, the show knew that in advance, according to Gina Rodriguez, her manager.

"That is the excuse they used. But they knew what it was when they cast her," Rodriguez said.

The Virginia couple slipped through White House security and shook hands with Obama, and had their pictures taken with Vice President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Salahi has also appeared on "Real Housewives of DC."

IL Attorney General gains a new supporter

Here's someone who probably wishes IL Attorney General Lisa Madigan got her way across the country... Then he would know who to rob and who to leave alone.
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http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/portland/911-calls
"I Just Broke Into A House And The Owner Came Home," Intruder Tells 911 Operator

After breaking into an Oregon residence last night, Timothy Chapek, 24, barricaded himself in a bathroom after the owner unexpectedly arrived home. Chapek, you see, was worried that Hilary Mackenzie might be armed (or that her barking German Shepherds could prove problematic).
So he called 911 seeking help. “I just broke into a house and the owner came home,” Chapek told a police operator. “You broke into a house?” the surprised operator responded. “I think she’s got guns,” Chapek added.
Simultaneously, Mackenzie called police to report that there was an intruder in her Portland home (she told an operator that Chapek had reported he was taking a shower). The pair’s dueling 911 calls can be listened to here:


According to a Portland Police Bureau report^[1], Chapek told cops he was “taking a shower, nothing more.” Mackenzie reported that none of her belongings were out of place and that Chapek had “earlier made some utterance…that ‘Mexicans’ had kidnapped him and put him in the bathroom.”
Chapek, pictured in the above mug shot, was arrested and charged with criminal trespass.

References

1. ^{^} Portland Police Bureau report (i.cdn.turner.com)

Mom uses 10-year-old daughter as designated driver

Read the original story here.

A South Florida mom had the general idea when she decided her boyfriend was a little too tipsy to drive, but her choice for a designated driver will likely land her in jail. 

Audrey Willoughby, 33, pleaded no contest Monday to child abuse charges after she allegedly let her 10-year-old daughter drive mommy home after a few too many beers, TCPalm.com reported.

The little girl rammed three vehicles and a house during the May crash course in designated driving.

Willoughby won't get more than 18 months in prison under the plea agreement.

According to police, Willoughby and a friend, Michael Ray Green, were giving the little girl driving lessons in Fort Pierce.

Green had a couple of beers and decided it might be best if the little girl drove the group home. Willoughby approved of the not-so-well-thought-out idea, handed her daughter the keys and jumped in the back seat with the girl's 8-year-old brother.

No sooner than the 10-year old pulled out into traffic did she start crashing into cars. In a panic, the preteen hit the accelerator instead of the brakes and drove the Toyota Corolla into a house.

No one was injured in the crash.

Overheard locker tot outrage

The Herald Sun Reports:

Virgin Blue has sacked a male flight attendant and offered an angry mother free flights after her toddler was put in an overhead locker.

Natalie Williamson claims she, her 17-month-old son, Riley, and her now estranged husband were on a Virgin flight from Fiji to Sydney, when the flight attendant picked up Riley, placed him in the locker and closed the latch.

Virgin has admitted an incident did take place, but claims Ms Williamson's husband was playing a peek-a-boo game with Riley involving the overhead compartment when the flight attendant joined in.

"We conducted a thorough investigation of the incident and the staff member involved was subsequently terminated," a Virgin spokeswoman said.

The airline offered Ms Williamson three free flights, but the mother has said she is too shaken by the mid-air experience to redeem them.

"My husband, Shayne, was standing one metre behind my son, Riley, when the air steward picked him up and placed him in the overhead compartment," she said.

"I stood up and there were people laughing and then I said 'Get my son out of there now'," she told the Sunday Herald Sun.

"I was devastated. I was absolutely devastated.

"I was crying. My husband was in shock. For days on end I was crying."

Ms Williamson said Riley was locked in the compartment for up to 10 seconds in complete darkness.

"The manager on board came up to me later and said: 'I need you to complain, I need you to do something. Write or ring. Do whatever you can'," she said.

Ms Williamson said Riley, now 20 months, had seen various specialists since the incident after suffering from anxiety and withdrawal.

"He won't leave my sight now. He sleeps with me. If I'm not in the same room as him, he will scream and yell 'Mum, mum, mum'," she said.

Virgin said they took the incident seriously and had dismissed the flight attendant.

"The safety of our guests is our top priority and we do not tolerate any breaches of this," a spokeswoman said.

"We have expressed our sincere apologies to the guest and have provided them with a credit for the full amount of the two return flights."