US: Utah language school fires blogger for writing about ‘homophones’

A social-media strategist at a Utah language learning center claims to have been fired for a blog post about homophones, due to concerns that it would lead the school to be associated with homosexuality.

According to The Salt Lake Tribune, Tim Torkildson was fired from his job at the Nomen Global Language Center in Provo, Utah, for writing a blog post on the Center’s website about homophones.

A cached version of the post, which has now been deleted, starts by explaining: “In English a homophone is a word that has several different meanings and spellings, but always sounds the same.” It then lists a handful of examples starting with the letter A.

Writing in a post on his own blog, Torkildson described the conversation between himself and his former boss, Clarke Woodger, during which he was let go.

According to Torkildson, Woodger told him: “I’m letting you go because I can’t trust you. This blog about homophones was the last straw. Now our school is going to be associated with homosexuality.”

He added: “We don’t teach this kind of advanced stuff to our students, and it’s extremely inappropriate.”

Woodger offered Torkildson “a good reference” for his next job, but reportedly said: “I would advise you to try something clerical, where you’ll be closely supervised and have immediate goals at all times. That’s the only kind of job you’ll ever succeed at.”

According to The Salt Lake Tribune, Woodger claims he fired Torkildson because he would “go off on tangents” in his blog posts.

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Proposed GOP Lawsuit Against Obama Backfires, Helps Democrats Raise Millions

WASHINGTON -- The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised $1 million in a single day on Monday, chairman Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) said. The fundraising juggernaut was driven by Democratic opposition to a lawsuit House Republicans intend to file against President Barack Obama related to the enforcement of certain Obamacare provisions.

"Since the announcement of the lawsuit, we've raised more than $7.6 million," Israel said at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. The committee has received more than 160,000 donations, Israel said, and the average donation amount is $19.

On Monday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) published an op-ed defending the GOP lawsuit plan. Obama "has overstepped his constitutional authority," Boehner wrote, by twice extending the Affordable Care Act's deadline for large employers to provide health coverage for their workers.

For Israel and the Democrats, the most important number, however, may be 74,000 -- the number of first-time contributors to the committee in recent weeks. Israel confirmed what many on Capitol Hill suspected: The prospect of legal action by the GOP against the president is a powerful tool for mobilizing Democratic campaign donors, who strongly oppose the lawsuit.

Prominent Democrats have also successfully woven together the Obamacare lawsuit with a rumored House GOP plan to file impeachment proceedings against the president. The latter is a prospect that numerous top Republicans have rejected, and that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Tuesday was a baseless "scam started by Democrats at the White House." Nonetheless, incoming House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) during an appearance on "Fox News Sunday" refused to rule out possible impeachment proceedings.

As long as the specter of impeachment hangs over the Capitol, Democrats probably will continue to capitalize on the widespread public opposition to impeachment.

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Mother of slain Mexican teen sues ‘brazen and lawless’ Border Patrol agents

 

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By David Schwartz

PHOENIX (Reuters) – Lawyers for the mother of a Mexican teenager fatally shot by U.S. border police filed a U.S. federal civil rights lawsuit on Tuesday, calling the killing “brazen and lawless” and the latest example of agents using excessive force.

The lawsuit says unnamed U.S. Border Patrol agents violated the constitutional rights of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, who was 16 years old when he died in the cross-border shooting from Arizona into Nogales, Mexico, in October 2012.

An autopsy by Mexican authorities found the teen was shot seven times from behind.

“I want to know who assassinated my son and why?” Araceli Rodriguez, the slain boy’s mother, said in a statement released by her attorney. “I want to know why they have not been brought to justice. Isn’t that why there are laws?”

The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Tucson by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and others seeks unspecified damages against an undetermined number of agents. It also seeks a jury trial.

A border patrol spokesman said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

The border patrol has said agents were responding to reports of drug trafficking on Oct. 10, 2012, when they opened fire on a group that began throwing rocks at them from across the border on Mexican territory.

The incident was condemned by the Mexican government.

News reports showed Elena Rodriguez’s apparently lifeless body lying face down on a sidewalk just a few yards south of the steel border fence.

The lawsuit said he had been “peacefully walking down the street by himself” when he was killed.

“He was not committing a crime, nor was he throwing rocks, using a weapon, or in any way threatening U.S. Border Patrol agents or anyone else,” it said.

The complaint said the shooting was the latest in a string of “unjustified deadly shootings and physical abuses along the U.S.-Mexico border over the past several years.”

Attorney Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s immigrants’ rights project and a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the case has broader legal implications, such as the whether the court will allow a lawsuit for a killing on Mexican soil.

Border Patrol agents have been criticized for allegedly being too quick to open fire after a number of agent-involved shootings on the frontier in recent years.

In March, the border patrol directed its agents to try to take cover, or to move away, when confronted by rock throwers, rather than immediately firing.

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Rachel Maddow - Democrats lawsuit amendments embarrass GOP

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Morning Jew Ep. 43: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, George Zimmerman's Brother, Deval Patrick

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Washington Republican ‘Representative Beefcake’ resigns over vote fraud

State officials in Washington are trying to determine whether a now-former state Representative owes them any of the money he earned as a state lawmaker.

According to the Greenfield Reporter, state Rep. Mike Hope (R) — a former b-movie actor who bills himself as “Representative Beefcake” because of his ripped physique — stepped down after it was revealed that he was registered to vote in both Ohio and Washington.

Hope, who had previously announced that he would not be running for reelection after his third term, had intended to settle in Ohio and registered to vote there in 2013. The lawmaker, who represents the 44th Legislative District does not have a home in his Washington district, living with his brother in Snohomish.

According to the Heraldnet, Democratic activist Mark Hintz, contacted the office of Barbara Baker, chief clerk of the House of Representatives, about Hope’s dual voting registration.

State law requires an elected official to remain a registered voter in the district in which they serve. If they are not a registered voter, they must be immediately removed from office.

Now officials are looking into whether Hope must reimburse that state for his earnings as a legislator.

“I think we did get duped by him and should have to pay it back,” Hintz, who is chairman of the 44th Legislative District Democrats, said. “He sold his house, registered in Ohio and continued to take taxpayers’ money to represent people in Washington while living in Ohio. That’s unconscionable.”

In a letter to Gov. Jay Inslee, Hope wrote, “It has been an honor to serve in the Washington State House of Representatives. It has also been an honor to serve during your term. However, I can no longer serve the remainder of my legislative term.”

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