What Happened to Raniya Wright?

R.I.P. Raniya Wright

              Mother of Raniya Wright cites the school for failure to protect her daughter

The story of Raniya Wright is heartbreaking.  What's heartbreaking is that she was bullied by her fellow student and that the school didn't do anything to discipline the girl who perpetually bullied and abused Miss Raniya.  She would've been alive had the school intervened and disciplined the girl soon.


Investigators said Raniya Wright passed away on March 27 after being hurt in a fight at Forest Hills Elementary School two days earlier.

The fight was in the fifth grader’s classroom and the school district said the other person involved has been suspended indefinitely.

South Carolina Sen. Margie Bright Matthews spoke about the incident at the State House Tuesday, claiming the fight lasted less than a minute and involved pushing and slinging of arms. Matthews said both girls appeared okay when they were removed from class and taken to the principal’s office. 
It was in the principal’s office where Raniya complained of a headache, threw up, and then lost consciousness, Matthews said.

Raniya’s funeral was held at Saint Center Ministries on Wednesday. 
Wright's casket arrived in a horse-drawn carriage.

Inside the church, every corner, every balcony, every pew, and every inch of standing room was filled as mourners prepared to say goodbye.

A church elder spoke about the young girl, saying Raniya's "radiant smile was as bright as the sun."

The child's great grandmother spoke also, speaking of Raniya's love of church, her desire to be an usher, and called her a “natural helper and leader."

Raniya's fourth grade teacher also spoke, adding an important message: "We are all guests in each other’s stories. Make sure to make the chapters count."

Forest Hills Elementary students who attended the funeral were granted excused absences from school.

Forest Hills Elementary said they will also host a Remembrance Day for Raniya on Friday. Students are encouraged to wear pink or purple, Raniya’s favorite colors, participate in a moment of silence, and create poster cards for Raniya’s family.

Bullying is a big problem in nation's schools and school administrators ignore the issue, basically swept it under the rug.  Black children are increasingly the victims of bullying by school peers.  This is sad as Black children already faced myriad problems in school including harassment, insensitive teachers and school administrators,  inadequate educational materials affluent non-Black schools take for granted, etc.  

May Raniya rests in peace.

     

DeVos Got School'd!

Education chief got blocked at the door. Betsy DeVos got a shout down by protesters.

The Department of Education secretary Betsy DeVos was blocked from entering a public school in Washington, DC. A small group of protesters got in her face and gave her a shout down.

DeVos who was confirmed on a 50-50 vote with vice fuhrer Mike Pence giving the tie-breaker vote.

DeVos, a wealthy Republican contributor to campaigns is accused of buying her way into the government. Her husband is the former CEO and current emiris of Amway.

Amway is a company known for entrapping people in a pyramid scheme. It's based in Grand Rapids.

Teacher unions and public school advocates believe that DeVos could take funding from schools and place it into "religious" based education facilities.

Her nomination and confirmation sparked fury among progressives and some conservatives. Some conservatives such as the turd flipper Michelle Malkin call the decision to nominate her a perfect example of Trump failing his promise to "drain the swamp."

DeVos was ridiculed for recently saying that guns in schools might be necessary to ward off grizzly bear attacks. Critics believe that she is freaking clueless when it comes to public schools. Her own children do not attend public school.

She shrugged off the protesters and eventually went into the building a few minutes later.

"I respect peaceful protest, and I will not be deterred in executing the vital mission of the Department of Education," said DeVos. "No school door in America will be blocked from those seeking to help our nation's school children."


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ITT Technical Institute Closes Up Shop!

The end of  ITT Tech. 

The college world is rocked by the federal government's sanctions of one of the oldest for-profit trade schools. The ITT Technical Institute is closing all its locations including the one in my community of Dayton, Ohio.

With approximately 130 campuses in 38 states of the United States, this bit of news hurts the people who enrolled for this session. In August, the company was barred from enrolling new students who use government loans and has chosen to cease enrolling any new students at all.

ITT Tech announced that it was immediately ceasing operations and closing all of its campuses.

In 2014, Time magazine ranked ITT Technical Institute No. 2 on its list of "The 5 Colleges That Leave the Most Students Crippled By Debt". Among ITT Tech graduates with loans due in 2011, 22% had defaulted by 2014. According to the Time magazine report, ITT Tech's default rate ranked second; the for-profit University of Phoenix had a lower default rate by percentage (19% at Phoenix versus ITT Tech's 22%), but the total number of students in default from Phoenix was much higher (45,123 Phoenix students versus 11,260 ITT Tech students).

According to the College Scorecard, as of March 2016, 39% of ITT Tech graduates are paying off their debt, compared to the national average of 66% among all schools nationwide.

This percentage represents the number of graduates who were able to repay at least $1 in student loan debt in the three years after their graduation.

The U.S. Department of Education banned ITT Tech from enrolling students who receive federal aid and at the same time doubled the surety funds that ITT Tech was required to have, and to produce those funds within 30 days. Stock markets reacted with a punishing 35% drop which triggered a halt in trading, raising concerns about whether ITT Educational would be able to survive this latest decision

Carousel Beauty College also shut its doors in the Dayton, Ohio area. The five locations are gone.

This came without any warning as well. Many students attending the Dayton-based hair school are without a place.

The for-profit schools are on the way out.

Black Women Are Leading In Education!

I happened to pick up a story from Addicting Info. This website that I frequently go had a story that made me smile. The negative images of Black women are being spread around the internet by conservative and racial agitators.

Addicting Info got word hat the National Center for Education Statistics has a report online about the futures of Black women achieving the dream.

“From 1999–2000 to 2009–10, the percentage of degrees earned by females remained between approximately 60 and 62 percent for associate’s degrees and between 57 and 58 percent for bachelor’s degrees. In contrast, the percentages of both master’s and doctor’s degrees earned by females increased from 1999–2000 to 2009–10. Within each racial/ethnic group, women earned the majority of degrees at all levels in 2009–10. For example, among U.S. residents, Black females earned 68 percent of associate’s degrees, 66 percent of bachelor’s degrees, 71 percent of master’s degrees, and 65 percent of all doctor’s degrees awarded to Black students.”

Black women are unappreciated and underprivileged. They are often looked upon as "unwed mothers", "welfare queens", "monkeys" and "bitches".

This comes as no surprise. Usually conservatives attack Black women who are powerful.

First Lady Michelle Obama is one of the most frequent targets of ridicule of conservatives. Mrs. Obama is a highly educated Black woman.

Krystal Lake, a well educated women was reprimanded for wearing a political hat at Home Depot. She got death threats and calls for a cannon firing after she spoke her mind about Donald Trump.

In my last posting, a satirist drew an offensive caricature of Mrs. Obama looking like a man with a bulge and broad shoulders next to the bubbly smiling Melania Trump. The satirist drew Trump in a negative fashion as well. Instead of calling her a business executive, he basically labeled her a trophy wife and bimbo.

Beyonce is a passionate activist and successful pop singer. She often reacts like most Americans to issues that face Black citizens. She made a video that reacted to the rage Black America has against a system that often is against them. To conservatives, they attack her for being anti-cop, a bad role model and talentless.

And of course, Romeo Rose, the loser who wants women to love him. He would degrade Black women as primates and said their lips look like rubber bands.

The conservatives and those in the Republican Party delegitimize people they don't like. They impose the fear and distrust towards others. Black women in power such as Baltimore city prosecutor Marilyn Mosby are often ridiculed as "cop-killers" and not professionals who are entitled to charge individuals for criminal acts.

Matter of fact, a young Black woman who wore an anti-Trump hat got attacked by trolls on social media. The Home Depot worker wore a "America was never great" hat to protest Donald Trump's ignorance and the conservatives went ape shit on her. Krystal Lake of Staten Island got death threats and calls for her cannon firing after she posted it on social media.

Black women are often look passed for jobs and education. Black women make less than White men and women combined.

Again, I can't stand Republicans! I don't like the Democrats either. Conservatives are racists and they don't hide the fact they are. Liberals are racists who pretend to be your friends and pretend to acted concerned when the issue becomes a matter of media attention.

Neither party cares about the needs of women of color.

Paul Prudhomme Passed Away!

The soul of New Orleans Cajun cuisine passed away Thursday.

The Cajun King has passed away today according to CNN.

Louisiana Chef Paul Prudhomme, credited with helping popularize Cajun and Creole cuisine, died Thursday, according to K-Paul's, the New Orleans restaurant he owned.

Prudhomme, who was 75, died in New Orleans after a brief illness, the restaurant said.

"Paul was the one who not only put Louisiana food, our food, Cajun and Creole food, on the map, but he was also the one who started the American food revolution that flourishes today," Poppy Tooker, host of the "Louisiana Eats!" radio show, told CNN.

His 1975 appointment as executive chef at the upscale New Orleans restaurant Commander's Palace helped break the assumption that a fine-dining restaurant had to have a French chef, Tooker said.

His upbringing as one of 13 children born to Louisiana sharecroppers also helped shape an approach to cooking that favored fresh, local ingredients and grew into the wildly popular farm-to-table movement of recent years, Tooker said.

Prudhomme was one of the nation's first celebrity chefs, and his restaurants attracted huge crowds and widespread acclaim. He hosted several cooking shows and authored nine cookbooks, some of them bestsellers.

His recipe for blackened redfish, first served at K-Paul's, became so popular state fisheries officials had to impose limits to save the species from overfishing, Tooker said. He also created and marketed a successful line of seasonings sold in groceries nationwide.

New Orleans Times-Picayune food editor Judy Walker called Prudhomme a "legend" who "changed New Orleans food forever."

Commander's Palace, the well-regarded New Orleans restaurant where Prudhomme was executive chef before opening K-Paul's in 1979, tweeted that its staff was saddened by the news.

"He was well loved," the restaurant said.

Paul Prudhomme made New Orleans cuisine so freaking good. World News Today send our condolences to the family of Paul Prudhomme.

The End Of Saturday Morning Cartoons!

Saturday morning cartoons are now extinct.

When the 2014 - 2015 United States television broadcast schedule comes forth you'll start noticing that the Saturday morning programming will be missing a theme of theirs. They will be no cartoons on all the broadcast networks.

As of October, the CW Network will no longer carry the Vortexx cartoon block. They will team up with the Litton Entertainment to run a 5 hour block of reality television for teens and families.

This ends an era of television.

Since the 1960s Saturday morning cartoon blocks were a part of the young child's experience with fantasy and a sense of entertainment. Now these very same children became adults who believe their children or grandchildren are either too fat or too exposed to the negative effects of those very cartoons they've grown up on.

Now if you're a family who can't afford the 3,000 cable channels, your family will wake up to hour blocks of local or national news programs, paid programs and the Litton programs. If you're like me, you just sleep through the mornings and hopefully wake up in the afternoon.

Cause nowadays television programs really suck. They really let the ball drop on television. So instead of paying the millions of dollars for a full season of a television program, they'll purchase the Litton programming to at least meet that quota. Litton Entertainment follows the E/I mandates. So it's likely an educational program at best.

It offers programs that are considered instructional. Basically you're in school on Saturday with those boring blocks of reality television or news programs.

Time to go outside, if it's safe. But nowadays you don't know if Petey Pervert is lurking in your neighborhood. You might even meet Mr. NRA or Lil' Thug when you head outside.

ABC was the first to go forth with reality based Saturday morning programs. Then came Fox, CBS and now the CW. NBC already cancelled their children's program blocks more than once. So it wouldn't matter what they put on.

Don't worry Nickelodeon, The Disney Channel and Cartoon Network are there (for now). But obviously the cartoons have went down in quality too. I mean Spongebob Squarepants, Phineas and Ferb, Adventure Time and Clarence are adult themed. The families who allow their children to watch the programs aren't grasping on the programming content.

Besides these networks are slowly phasing out their classic programs and putting on more garbage masquerading as cartoons or budgeting teen based sitcoms. Soon you'll find news programs on these networks as well. They've already gotten rid of the Ronald McDonald, Kellogg's and General Mills brands.

You might have to shelve out some dollars to find it on Netflix, Hulu or YouTube. Or you might have to find that internet nerd who puts that on a torrent online. You may have to find that website where you can see the programs you've grown up as a child.

Sigh!

This is why I call it the junk food media. They have nothing on and its objective is to get people riled up.

Surely you hear it on the airwaves through talk radio and cable news. But now it's on your children's television programs as well.

Liitton Entertainment is an American media and production company based in Charleston, South Carolina, with four additional offices. Many of Litton's programs comply with federally mandated educational and informational requirements.



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The Return Of Reading Rainbow!

Reading Rainbow is in the works for a grand return.

LaVar Burton has motivated childhood memories with his program Reading Rainbow. His show told American youth the gifts of reading a book. You don't have to take his word for it! I mean it was one of the best shows in American media.

It's been awhile since the show been off the air, but thanks to Kickstarter, Reading Rainbow is back in business.

You remember the song?



Reading Rainbow is an American children's television series that aired on PBS from June 6, 1983, until November 10, 2006, that encouraged children to read. In 2012 an iPad and Kindle Fire educational interactive book reading and video field trip application was launched bearing the name of the program.

The public television series garnered over 200 broadcast awards, including a Peabody Award and 26 Emmy Awards, 11 of which were in the "Outstanding Children's Series" category. The series was created under the leadership of Cecily Truett Lancit and Larry Lancit, at Lancit Media Productions in New York. The concept of a reading series for children originated with Twila Liggett, Ph.D., and Paul Schupbach (director), of the Great Plains National Instructional Television Library at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln; and Tony Buttino, of WNED-TV Buffalo, New York. The original team included Lynne Brenner Ganek, Ellen Schecter, and host LeVar Burton.

Even Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane (who had Burton as a guest on the show) chipped in a ton of money to bring back the program.

Reading Rainbow App was released for the iPad and, within 36 hours, became the #1 most-downloaded educational app in the iTunes App Store.

Built from the ground up by LeVar Burton and his company, RRKIDZ, the app allows children to read unlimited books, explore video field trips starring Burton, and earn rewards for reading.

The week of June 11, 2013, Reading Rainbow celebrated its 30th anniversary.

Brown V. Board Of Education: 60 Years Later!

Future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall celebrates with Oliver Brown in the landmark decision of Brown v. Board of Education. This decision would ban discrimination in public schools and make segregation illegal.

Still a long way to go. But in America, you can now be in a diversified school. If it wasn't for the landmark decision of Brown v. Board of Education, the American schools would still be segregated.

The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation, insofar as it applied to public education. Handed down on May 17, 1954, the Warren Court's unanimous (9–0) decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." As a result, de jure racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This ruling paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the civil rights movement.

60 years after Brown vs. Board of Education, many schools still segregated http://t.co/9sz59VkPfn
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) May 17, 2014

Again, we here at Journal de la Reyna celebrate in diversity and equal rights for all.

POTUS Honors 60th Anniversary Of Brown Vs. Board Of Education: ‘We Recommit Ourselves To The Long Struggle’ http://t.co/MohfQnwlQZ
— Hello Beautiful (@HelloBeautiful) May 17, 2014

Ohio Teacher Tells Black Student He's Not Cut Out To Be President!

I guess some right wing teacher will have a longer Winter break. After the junk food media reported on him saying some stupid things to a Black student about the president, one may think his days are numbered at a local suburban school.

Gil Voigt is a Fairfield, Ohio teacher who got in some real trouble. He told one of his Black students that Barack Obama, the first Black president will be the only one the country will see. He now sees his future as an educator on the line after making that inflammatory comment.


Voigt allegedly told the student that he couldn't become President because America doesn't need another black person in the White House. “We do not need another black president,” Voigt said, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Now I know that educators are supposed to help motivate students prepare for the future. They want to encourage young minds to achieve success. I mean the first Black man to become president is historical. It opens the doors for a woman or a person of color to be the next president.

Barack Obama achieved his goals of winning two landslide elections, appointing the first Latina to be a Supreme Court justice, has the credit ordering the military to kill the world's most wanted terrorist and managed to fix the economy. And despite having one of the country's least productive Congress, Barack Obama continues to move forward.

Fairfield Freshman School teacher has been suspended without pay and faces the prospect of dismissal after allegedly making racially insensitive statements to a student earlier this month.

Monday, the Fairfield Board of Education suspended science teacher Gil Voigt. He has 10 days to request a hearing before the school board or a referee.

The incident occurred on Dec. 3, with several other students present, according to a report from Assistant Superintendent Roger Martin, who conducted a disciplinary hearing on the matter.

It isn’t the first time the 14-year Fairfield teacher has been disciplined. He received a verbal warning for making an inappropriate racial comment in 2008. That year he also received a verbal warning for improper use of school technology.

Last year he received a verbal warning after allegedly calling a student “stupid” and belittling him. He received a written warning last month for failure to use the adopted curriculum.

“This is a rare occurrence. This is the first time I’ve faced it since being named assistant superintendent (in 2011),” Martin said.

In his report, Martin said he believed four students were interviewed who corroborated the student Voigt was speaking to.

Following a complaint by the student’s parents, the teen was removed from Voigt’s class, Martin said.

“We intend to uphold board policies and to hold teachers accountable for the essential functions of the teacher job description,” Martin said.

The racist right rather see young Blacks in the iron college. Hell they think that most of them are playing the knockout game!

Voigt is accused of violating board policies related to staff ethics, staff-student relations and harassment.

Voigt was not present at the meeting and could not be reached on Monday for comment.

According to the report, Voigt said his statement was misquoted by the student, who he said was not a very good student and was troublesome in class.


Voigt has been a Fairfield teacher since 2000. Before that he taught seven years in North Carolina, two years in Florida and six years in the Cincinnati Public Schools. 

While many conservatives were upset that President Barack Obama trounced perennial loser Mitt Romney, the hangover was expected. This is the umpteenth time we've heard about an anti-Obama politico or educator taking their disgust of the first Black president in the public sector.

I promise you that if we get a Republican majority in the Congress, you'll expect more of this nonsense. 

This educator is the reasons why liberals call conservatives the racist, stupid and utterly condescending individuals they've been painted out to be.

Thanks to the Cincinnati Enquirer and Addicting Info for the story.

I've often check Public Shaming, Addicting Info, The Hinterland Post,  and The Raw Story for my rational fix of politics . Sometimes when you look at these stories, I kind of shake my head in disgust. I really hate how our country achieve so much and yet still have this nonsense going around.

Famed YouTube comedian ELawshea nails it!

Conservatives Mount War On Republicans!

Tear jerker. Boehner takes a stand against the conservatives. He'll recant his attack shortly.

They can't even support their own freaking budget deal because a Democrat had input in it.

Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) have compromised on a budget deal that will reduce spending and raise revenue. It will starve off another potential government shutdown.

Now our friends in the conservative junk food media are launching a preemptive strike against the bill and it forced a rebuke from House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH).

Republicans are grumbling that the compromise doesn't go far enough. Democrats are grumbling that the compromise will leave out important pieces to helping people get back to work.

Long-term unemployment benefits are a key priority for the Democrats and they are hoping that changes to that could help get the bill passed.

Conservative groups like Heritage Action, the Club for Growth and FreedomWorks bucked the notion of any compromise. They believe it's giving President Barack Obama a victory. They want no victories for the president.

Boehner assailed conservative groups Thursday for opposing the latest budget deal, saying they had crossed a line and lost their credibility.

"This budget agreement takes giant steps in the right direction," Boehner said at a press conference. "But when groups come out and criticize something they've never seen, you begin to wonder just how credible those actions are."

Boehner has been reticent in the past to criticize conservative outside groups, such as Heritage Action and Club for Growth. Some of the groups have had a considerable influence on the tea party faction among House Republicans, and were the rallying force behind the effort to either defund Obamacare or shut down the federal government.

For the first time, Boehner acknowledged that these groups pushed Republicans into an unsuccessful strategy that he didn't favor. He expressed particular outrage that one of the groups later said it knew the shutdown strategy wasn't going to work.

"Are you kidding me?" Boehner shouted.

"Frankly I think they're misleading their followers. I think they're pushing our members in places they don't want to be," he added. "And frankly I just think they've lost all credibility."

Former vice presidential nominee Congressman Paul Rayn (R-WI) and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) worked out a deal. Will the deal go through despite criticism from the extremists?

Boehner showed his first signs of true frustration Wednesday, when he slammed the groups for coming out against the budget deal before they had seen it and accused them of "using" his members. Heritage Action and Americans for Prosperity stated their opposition to the Murray-Ryan budget deal before it was even announced, while Club for Growth urged members to vote against it moments after the deal was made public.

"Yesterday when the criticism was coming, frankly I thought it was my job and my obligation to stand up for conservatives here in the Congress who want more deficit reduction, stand up for the work that Chairman Ryan did," Boehner said.

The deal brokered by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WS) and Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) offers modest relief to the federal budget cuts known as sequestration, by raising spending levels slightly from $967 billion to $1.014 trillion over the next two years. The framework produces savings and non-tax revenue totaling $85 billion, $20 billion to $23 billion of which would be devoted to deficit reduction.

Asked if he was officially saying "no" to the tea party, Boehner emphasized the deficit reduction achieved under the budget deal and said there was no reason to oppose it.

"I came here to cut the size of government," he said. "That's exactly what this bill does, and why conservatives wouldn't vote for this or criticize the bill is beyond any recognition I could come up with."

Boehner also defended his own commitment to conservative principles, which has repeatedly come under fire. This criticism has at times threatened his speakership when he has attempted to negotiate with President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats.

"I say what I mean and I mean what I say," he said. "I'm as conservative as anybody around this place."

Despite the notable shift in his tone, Boehner denied that he was turning a new leaf in his approach toward the tea party.

"I don't really think that I've said anything new or anything different than what I've felt and what I've said in the past," he said. "It just comes to a point when some people step over the line."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) praised Boehner for standing up to conservative groups attacking the budget deal.

"I think it was a breath of fresh air as far as I'm concerned," Reid said at a press conference later Thursday.

"Why are they doing this?" Reid said of the outside groups. "What is this supposed to accomplish? It is showing the American people why the [Senate] rules had to be changed."

Pope Francis: Catholics Need To Stop Being Bigots!

The Pope is an O.G.

The Catholic Church nominated a progressive pope.

The pope has rattled the Catholic church over his apparent dismissal of the religious right. The pope made references to the changing demographics and told the church it's time for a change.

The religious right have been against gay marriage, abortions and contraception for women.

Francis has spoken and the world is listening.

He told the religious right to pipe down and get over their obsession with trying to scorn those who aren't followers of the faith.

He acknowledge that even though the Catholic Church isn't keen on abortions, gay marriage and contraception, he warned that the younger generation aren't supporting the old ways.  He's not a huge fan of these issues but he's telling the faithful to accept thy.

He wants to put the Catholic Church in the present day.

Throughout his life, both as an individual and a religious leader, Francis has been noted for his humility, his concern for the poor, and his commitment to dialogue as a way to build bridges between people of all backgrounds, beliefs, and faiths.

The New York Times report that six months into his papacy, Pope Francis sent shock waves through the Roman Catholic church on Thursday with the publication of his remarks that the church had grown “obsessed” with abortion, gay marriage and contraception, and that he had chosen not to talk about those issues despite recriminations from critics.

His surprising comments came in a lengthy interview in which he criticized the church for putting dogma before love, and for prioritizing moral doctrines over serving the poor and marginalized. He articulated his vision of an inclusive church, a “home for all” — which is a striking contrast with his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, the doctrinal defender who envisioned a smaller, purer church.

Francis told the interviewer, a fellow Jesuit: “It is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time. The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent. The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently.

“We have to find a new balance,” the pope continued, “otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.”

The pope’s interview did not change church doctrine or policies, but it instantly changed its tone. His words evoked gratitude and hope from many liberal Catholics who had felt left out in the cold during the papacies of Benedict and his predecessor, John Paul II, which together lasted 35 years. Some lapsed Catholics suggested on social media a return to the church, and leaders of gay rights and gay Catholic groups called on bishops to abandon their fight against gay marriage.

But it left conservative and traditionalist Catholics, and those who have devoted themselves to the struggles against abortion, gay marriage and artificial contraception, on the defensive, though some cast it as nothing new.

“Nobody should try to use the words of the pope to minimize the urgent need to preach and teach about abortion,” said the Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, who said he spoke Thursday about the “priority of the abortion issue” at a Vatican conference.

I'm not truly a religious type of person, but from what's being said today, makes me think that the church isn't that bad. But you know it's just words, not actions.

Pope Francis will have detractors and criticism. It comes with the territory, but it's a start for the Catholic Church to move in the future and not on the rigid past.

Read more of Pope Francis statements in the New York Times by clicking here.

Unholy Fire: Catholic Church Unlawfully Terminated Pregnant Woman!

American mom sues the Catholic church after she was fired from her teaching position. Christa Dias went to federal court to buck the notion that being unmarried and pregnant isn't grounds for termination.

In my community there's a story that's picked up a lot of attention. A woman sued the Archdiocese of Cincinnati for unlawful termination. The woman was from the area at the time and was teaching at some of the local Catholic schools.

She had gotten pregnant through artificial insemination and was not married. I guess in the Roman Catholic church, you have to be in tone with their values in order to get a position there. She was outed as a lesbian by the junk food media. The teacher feared that she would lose her job if her bosses would find out about her relationship with a woman.

The United States Federal Courts found that the Catholic church was in the wrong when they fired the woman and she was awarded a lump sum of nearly $200,000 for damages.

The Dayton Daily News and Associated Press reports that the Catholic school teacher who was fired after she became pregnant through artificial insemination was awarded Monday after winning her anti-discrimination lawsuit against an Ohio archdiocese.

A federal jury found that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati discriminated against Christa Dias by firing her in October 2010.

Dias, who taught computer classes, declined to comment immediately after the verdict but said later in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that she was "very happy and relieved."

The jury said the archdiocese should pay a total of $71,000 for back pay and compensatory damages and $100,000 in punitive damages. Dias had sued the archdiocese and two of its schools; the jury didn't find the schools liable for damages.

Dias' attorney, Robert Klingler, had argued she was fired simply because she was pregnant and unmarried, a dismissal he said violated state and federal law. He had suggested damages as high as $637,000, but Dias said she was satisfied with the jury's award.

"It was never about the money," she said. "They should have followed the law and they didn't."

Steven Goodin, the attorney for the archdiocese and the schools, had argued Dias was fired for violating her contract, which he said required her to comply with the philosophies and teachings of the Catholic church.

The church considers artificial insemination immoral and a violation of church doctrine.

"We gave always argued that this case was about a contract violation and should never have been allowed to come to trial," Goodin said after the verdict.

He said that while he was disappointed in the finding against the archdiocese, he was relieved the schools were not held liable, saying that would have proven a financial hardship for them.

Archdiocese spokesman Dan Andriacco said after court that for the archdiocese, it was always "a matter of principle" and about "an employee who broke a contract she signed."

Dias, who is not Catholic, testified she didn't know artificial insemination violated church doctrine or her employment pact. She said she thought the contract clause about abiding by church teachings meant she should be a Christian and follow the Bible.

The case, viewed as a barometer on the degree to which religious organizations can regulate employees' lives, is the second lawsuit filed in the last two years against the archdiocese over the firing of an unmarried pregnant teacher.

The archdiocese had argued prior to trial that Dias was a ministerial employee and that the Supreme Court has said religious groups can dismiss those employees without government interference. But Klingler insisted Dias had no such duties, and the court found that she was not a ministerial employee.

Klingler said the case shows jurors are willing to apply the law "even to churches and religious organizations when non-ministerial employees are discriminated against."

Goodin said he thinks the verdict could result in churches and religious organizations making their contracts "lock in" employees so specifically that it could be "hard to bring these types of lawsuits in the future."

While Goodin said a decision would be made later on whether to appeal, legal experts believe it will definitely end up in an appeals court.

Issues they believe could be raised include how to define a ministerial employee and how to resolve the conflict between religious employers' rights versus the rights of women seeking to reproduce.

Dias also has claimed that the church policies are not enforced equally against men and women.
Goodin argued that Dias, who is gay, never intended to abide by her contract. She kept her sexual orientation a secret because she knew that homosexual acts also would violate that contract, he said.

Neither Dias nor the archdiocese claim she was fired because she is gay, and the judge told jurors that they could not consider sexual orientation in determining motivating factors for the firing.

Dias, formerly from suburban Cincinnati, now lives in Atlanta with her partner and their 2-year-old daughter.

Dias said she pursued the lawsuit "for the sake of other women" who might find themselves in a similar situation. She also said she filed it for "my daughter's sake, so she knows it's important to stand up for what's right."

The Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati. 

As this issue brings to light about the decline in religion, I want to give my honest opinion of this.

I am straight man and I endorse the rights of the LGBT community. I am considered agnostic on most religious themes. I do believe in the existence of Jesus Christ but I don't believe spiritual forces or reincarnation of the Lord. I don't believe in the religious themes that give the notion that we're in two parallels of heaven and hell.

I don't have no problems with those who believe in religion. They deserve the right to practice in religion.

But I don't believe in that crap about how it's fair to discriminate because of race, gender, sexuality, nationality, disability, religion, economic or social standings.

The issue of gay marriage doesn't bother me. They are not hurting anyone. They should live their lives in peace and harmony without the United States government interfering. Conservatives are narrow minded individuals. They want the government out of your lives but when it comes to a woman's right to choice or a gay person, they want impose laws that discriminate or punish.

Understanding that the national polls are trending in the favor of those in the LGBT community. Many young voters support marriage equality. The old traditions of shunning people from positions because of sexuality are coming to an end.

The Boy Scouts of America have announced a step forward by allowing members who are gay. Still there's a ban on gay Boy Scout leaders and head figures though. That's still a work in progress.

Since President Barack Obama came out in favor of gay marriage, many young voters approved of the decision and turnout in droves to help the president win reelection.

Many people are slowly embracing the possibility of gay marriage in America. The Supreme Court will rule on the Proposition 8 and Defense of Marriage Act at the end of the month, and these decisions will greatly impact the progress made by those who want to love.

The Republicans are slowly deviating from the issue. So far, they're facing a gauntlet of criticism from the young generation of Republicans. They're telling the old guard and Tea Party figures that it's time to move away from it.

The Religious Right isn't as powerful as they were in the 1990s. They've nominated perennial loser Mitt Romney over washed up politico Rick Santorum. Both men were equally flawed and they didn't want to tackle the gay rights issue.

Santorum was more in tone to the Republican beliefs and yet he didn't win the Republican nomination.

Look, if you're still having trouble trying to adjust to the LGBT community, that's you. But you best beware that they're more powerful than you thought.

Since the days of Matthew Shepard to Tyler Clementi, many Americans are starting to realize that it could be one of our family members. It never affect me until I realized that I have family members and friends who are gay. It hits close to home and I must understand that they're human too.

Why should I treat them different?

Suicide of gay teenagers are high. Many American families are being discriminated because the parents are either two men or two women.

I understand the road is far for my friends who are gay. But still the accomplishments made today assure that the fight continues on for equality.

Mitt Romney To Big Bird: You're Fired!

The controversy about Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo will be covered. You have to click on this link here.

Conservatives are rejoicing after the first presidential debate. Republican nominee Mitt Romney has won the debate, and conservatives are feeling the bounce back! The bounce back has Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity declaring that Mitt Romney's getting his groove back!

These foolish conservatives ignored the feisty Mitt Romney interrupting moderator Jim Lehrer and President Barack Obama. Even more the fact that the Republican nominee had went forth boldly acknowledge that he's willing to cut PBS (through severing ties with Corporation for Public Broadcasting). And to top off his plans to cancel out PBS, he's a fan of Sesame Street star Big Bird.

"I'm sorry Jim. I'm gonna stop the subsidy to PBS. I'm gonna stop other things," Romney said. "I like PBS, I like Big Bird, I actually like you too."

"But I'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for."

Well those comments lit up Twitter and yes it's became viral.

USA Today reports that 30 minutes into the verbal contest between President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, the former governor explained that he would cut what he considers non-essential items in the budget, including cuts to PBS, which employs debate moderator Jim Lehrer.

The Daily Mail reports the official Sesame Street Twitter account revealed that the giant yellow avian was unaware of his political role.


The show's creators sent out a tweet purportedly from Big Bird saying: "My bed time is usually 7.45, but I was really tired yesterday and fell asleep at 7! Did I miss anything last night?"

Moments later, a more serious tweet appeared distancing the show from partisan politics.

"We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization,' the message read. 'We do not comment on campaigns, but we’re happy we can all agree that everyone likes Big Bird!'"


Minutes after the Republican candidate made his remarks, a Twitter account with the handle @BIGBIRD was created. The first tweet was "WTF Mitt Romney... :("

Later, the account wrote: "Yo Mitt Romney, Sesame Street is brought to you today by the letters F & U! #debates #SupportBigBird."

Moments later, a photo began circulating on Twitter of a forlorn-looking Big Bird holding a cardboard sign that reads "will work for food."

In less than an hour, thousands of Twitter comments about Romney's Big Bird remark poured in -- most of them sympathetic of the ubiquitous childhood stable.

"Tonight's debate winner: Big Bird," one Twitter user wrote.


The Los Angeles Times tweeted: "Mitt Romney loves Big Bird, will kill funding for him anyway."

Another user said: "Children around the world traumatized about Romney promising to kill Big Bird."

Public broadcasting funding, including PBS and NPR, has long been in the sights of conservatives.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting receives about $450 million from Congress each year. About $280 million goes to PBS and the local stations.

Federal funding makes up about 12 per cent of the PBS budget.

Supporters were quick to point out that the figure amounts to 0.007 percent of the federal budget - about 80 cents per American.

Romney promised he wouldn't 'kill Big Bird' while he was campaigning in Iowa last year, but still pledged to cut PBS funding.

"Big Bird is going to have advertisements, all right?" he said. "And we're going to have endowments for the arts and humanities, but they're going to be paid for by private charity, not by taxpayers."

Gabrielle Union teams up with Bounty to clean up public schools

With actress Gabrielle Union as it's spokeperson Procter & Gamble’s Bounty brand, in partnership with HandsOn Network and the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation has announced the “Make a Clean Difference” program which will unite more than 1000 volunteers to transform the learning environments of 30 public schools in 10 cities across the country.

Read more here: http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/blacknewsblackviews.html

I don't speak white.

Hi this is George Cook and I wanted to share with everyone this article I read by Taylor Trammell. She is a senior in High school at Detroits Mumford High School. The article deals with how it feels to be told that you "speak white" and what this one remarkable young lady has gone through.

Read the article here: http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/blacknewsblackviews.html