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RandySF's JournalAshton Kutcher vs. Wal-Mart: Epic Twitter clash rages over poverty wages
Celebrity actor/producer Ashton Kutcher and retail giant Wal-Mart had a spirited Twitter debate Tuesday over Wal-Mart workers’ wages.
Kutcher (@aplusk) kicked off the dust-up by tweeting about the news that an Ohio Wal-Mart took up an employee-to-employee food charity collection “so Associates in Need can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner.” He wrote, “Walmart is your profit margin so important you can’t Pay Your Employees enough to be above the poverty line?”
Fourteen minutes later, the company’s @WalmartNewsroom account, echoing its replies to others on the topic, tweeted back at Kutcher, “It’s unfortunate that an act of human kindness has been taken so out of context. We’re proud of our associates in Canton.” After 10 minutes, Kutcher shot back, “you should be proud of your associates but I’m not sure if they should be proud of you.”
Wal-Mart then offered Kutcher a video on “Opportunity and Benefits at Walmart,” saying, “We know you believe in opportunity like we do & we’d love to talk to you more about it.”
http://www.salon.com/2013/11/20/ashton_kutcher_vs_wal_mart_epic_twitter_clash_rages_over_poverty_wages/
Harvard Journal Essay Argues Jews Suffer Because They 'Killed Jesus'
An essay published Wednesday on the website of the Harvard Ichthus, a campus "journal of Christian thought," argued "the Jews were marked out for destruction when they killed Jesus."
Entitled "Why us?," the essay was identified as having been written by "aJew" and said all the suffering the Jewish people have faced since the destruction of Jerusalem's Second Temple in approximately 70 A.D. came from God and was "just."
"We, the Jews, rejected God and hung Him up on a cross to die, and thus we richly deserved all of the punishments that were heaped on our heads over the last 2000 years," the essay said.
The anonymous writer went on to argue Jews can rid themselves of this "curse" by being baptized as Christians.
"Although such is the severity of God, the kindness of God is wonderful (Rom 11:22): in that me, a Jew, a children of Jews, and an utter sinner, can repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and the curse on me is forgotten," said the essay. "Rather than being at war with God (having killed Him), I have peace with God through Jesus Christ."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/harvard-christian-magazine-essay-jews-killed-jesus
Walmart executive says employees are excited to work on Thanksgiving
There are steps some companies are taking to soften the blow for employees working on the holidays.
With Walmart stores opening at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, workers will be eligible to receive holiday pay, which is pay equivalent to the average of the number of hours worked for the previous two weeks, in addition to their typical wages. They also will receive a 25 percent discount on items they purchase. The company will also feed them Thanksgiving dinner at work.
The company explains that most Walmart stores are open 24 hours, 7 days a week, so they have been open on Thanksgiving for years.
"Walmart associates are really excited to work that day," said Duncan Mac Naughton, executive vice president, chief merchandising and marketing officer for Walmart U.S. on a conference call on Thursday to discuss the company's holiday plans. "It's a pretty high energy day for associates as well."
http://gma.yahoo.com/staples-medieval-times-workers-opening-thanksgiving-day-crosses-111241325--abc-news-money.html
Florida cops told woman she would be ‘made miserable’ if she pursued rape charges against athlete.
Police in football-mad Tallahassee, Florida, told a woman who accused Florida State’s quarterback of sexual assault that her life would “be made miserable” if she pursued charges against the star player.
An attorney for the woman and her family released a statement Wednesday about the detective’s comments in connection with the investigation of Heisman Trophy candidate Jameis Winston.
“When the attorney contacted Detective (Scott) Angulo immediately after Winston was identified, Detective Angulo told the attorney that Tallahassee was a big football town and the victim needs to think long and hard before proceeding against him because she will be raked over the coals and her life will be made miserable,” the family said.
The 19-year-old Winston has not been charged with a crime and his attorney has denied any wrongdoing by the player.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/21/cops-told-woman-her-life-would-be-made-miserable-if-she-pursued-rape-charges-against-florida-state-star-attorney-says/
Mary Cheney Isn't Supporting Sister Liz for Senate
In her latest public statement, Mary Cheney tells Politico Magazine that she is "not working, not contributing, and not voting for" her sister Liz Cheney in Wyoming.
It isn't that Mary Cheney is rooting for the Senate bid to fail. But “I’m not supporting Liz’s candidacy,” she told the magazine via email.
Mary Cheney is an experienced political operative, having helped her father, Dick Cheney, run for vice president. She's not sat quietly on the sidelines, though, as Liz Cheney announced her opposition to same-sex marriage in August. Instead, she and her wife have made a series of public condemnations.
Her first response came via Facebook. "For the record, I love my sister, but she is dead wrong on the issue of marriage," Mary Cheney wrote in August after Liz Cheney issued a statement to clarify that she's "not pro-gay marriage." The candidate was responding to push polling that suggested she'd promoted marriage equality.
http://www.advocate.com/politics/election/2013/11/21/mary-cheney-isnt-supporting-sister-liz-senate
Will S.F. mayor become ambassador to China?
Maybe it was just coincidence, but the timing of U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke's announcement Wednesday that he would resign early next year has only fueled rumors that Mayor Ed Lee could be Locke's replacement.
Locke's decision, announced by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, came as Lee was on an official visit to China, his second in as many months.
Rumors have been circulating at San Francisco City Hall since at least September that Lee, the city's first Chinese American mayor, is a candidate to become the next ambassador to China.
That would set off political dominoes here and be quite a coup for Lee, a career bureaucrat and political novice when he was reluctantly appointed interim mayor in January 2011. Lee had promised to serve as a placeholder, but then reversed himself and won a four-year term later that year. He has proved to be an affable, generally popular, low-key mayor, prone to occasional public speaking gaffes.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Will-S-F-mayor-become-ambassador-to-China-4997557.php
Air Force Academy has `ex-gay` cure advocate overseeing cadet counseling
The US Air Force Academy hired a man to run their counseling program for young cadets who, for the past two decades, has devoted his entire professional career to the cause of “curing homosexuality,” and who claims that he himself has been “cured” of the “addiction.”
The news of “ex-gay” activist Dr. Mike Rosebush running the academy’s counseling program comes on the heels of growing concerns as to whether the academy is serious about becoming a welcoming place for gay cadets in the post-”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” era.
Rosebush is the chief of Character and Leadership Coaching at the US Air Force Academy, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, putting him in charge of a team of counselors.
Rosebush’s primary counseling experience before coming to the academy was in supposedly “curing” homosexuality and other “sexual addictions” since 1995. Before that time, he was in the Air Force and also taught at the Academy. His resume reads like a veritable who’s-who of anti-gay hate and pseudo-science.
http://americablog.com/2013/11/air-force-academy-ex-gay-cure-advocate-overseeing-cadet-counseling.html
Trey Radel, Busted On Cocaine Charge, Voted For Drug Testing Food Stamp Recipients
WASHINGTON -- In September, Rep. Trey Radel voted for Republican legislation that would allow states to make food stamp recipients pee in cups to prove they're not on drugs. In October, police busted the Florida Republican on a charge of cocaine possession.
“It’s really interesting it came on the heels of Republicans voting on everyone who had access to food stamps get drug tested," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told BuzzFeed Tuesday. "It’s like, what?”
The House over the summer approved an amendment by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) that would let states drug test people on food stamps. The amendment passed by voice vote, meaning members' individual yeas and nays were not recorded. Radel later voted in favor of a broader food stamps bill that included Hudson's measure.
In support of his drug testing legislation, Hudson cited the many state legislatures around the country that had considered similar requirements for other means-tested programs in recent years.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/19/trey-radel-drug-testing_n_4305348.html
"If you take birth control, your mother probably hates you."
Stenzel is a lecturer who, according to her bio, "provide[s] a structured and unambiguous message of abstinence that will mobilize and empower adolescents to make responsible choices" and claims to speak in-person to about 500,000 young people annually. She makes about $4,000 to $6,000 per appearance and has an extensive line of DVDs. She was also consulted for President George W. Bush's abstinence programs. This April, at George Washington High School in Charleston, West Virginia, a public school, she allegedly made some female students cry by "slut-shaming" them. According to the Charleston Gazette, she said, "If you take birth control, your mother probably hates you" and claimed she could tell which teenagers are promiscuous by looking at them. Stenzel told LifeSiteNews that she never said those things, but acknowledged that her presentation was "a little tough." In her YouTube videos, Stenzel tells students that sex is worse for girls (because they "are much easier to infect and easier to damage"
. She also asserts that the HPV vaccine "only works on virgins," and that chlamydia—even when treated—is likely to make women infertile, with a 25 percent chance of infertility the first time it's contracted and a 50 percent chance the second time. Her HPV claim is 100 percent false, and her chlamydia statement is mostly false. (Of women with chlamydia who go untreated, about 10 percent will develop pelvic inflammatory disease, which in some cases may cause infertility.)
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/11/abstinence-speakers-public-schools-lookadoo
Fox News guest: Mary Cheney should respect Liz’s rights and keep ‘gay agenda’ in the bedroom
On Monday, Fox News host Gretchen Carlson noted that former Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, had released a statement saying they had dealt with the situation “privately for many years” and called for compassion.
“That’s exactly where it should stay, it should stay private,” conservative radio host Lars Larson agreed. “And what I find disturbing about this, I have friends of 40 years who are gay. I don’t care. What they do in their own bedroom is their business. When you bring something to the public sphere and demand that government acknowledge, sanction and endorse gay marriage then there are going to differences.”
“I think it’s sad that Liz Cheney’s sister has chosen to make this a public fight to damage her sister’s political ambitions,” he continued. “And to do it in a way that doesn’t respect Liz Cheney’s personal beliefs or personal values.”
“We hear a lot about personal values from the left. And yet it sounds like as far as the gay agenda goes, it’s take no prisoners and yes is the only answer. And if you don’t agree, we’ll do everything we can to hurt you.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/18/fox-news-guest-mary-cheney-should-respect-lizs-rights-and-keep-gay-agenda-in-the-bedroom/
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