Dyer County, TN High School Student Kendra Turner Suspended For Saying ‘Bless You’ After Classmate Sneezed

To the IDIOT teacher that would be so offended by a student saying bless you … Bless your heart.

So much for the Bible belt … Kendra Turner, a  Dyer County High School senior was suspended for saying “bless you” after a fellow classmate sneezed. HUH? Mind you the high school student did not even say God bless you, just bless you. But for this she was told to go to the school administrator and then served the rest of the class period with in-school suspension. According to reports, bless you is on a list of words that this teacher does not allow in her class that include: stupid, dumb, boring, stuff, i don’t know, other peer expressions, bless you, hang out and my bad. I am guess they don’t teach the US Constitution at Dyer County high School and namely the First Amendment. In this day and age where we yearn for our youth to be responsible and kind to one another and battle school bullying, this is the crime that gets a student suspension? Really, why stop there … had she said God bless you would that have meant being expelled?

KUDOS to Kendra Turner for standing up for her rights.

Action News 5 – Memphis, Tennessee

A young girl, who claims she was standing up for her religious beliefs in the classroom, was suspended after breaking a class rule of saying “bless you” after a classmate sneezed.

When Dyer County High School senior Kendra Turner said bless you to her classmate, she says her teacher told her that was for church.

“She said that we’re not going to have godly speaking in her class and that’s when I said we have a Constitutional right,” said Turner.

Turner said when she defended her actions, she was told to see an administrator. She said she finished the class period in in-school suspension.

Students sent WMC a photo of the teacher’s white board that lists ‘bless you’ and other expressions that are banned as part of class rules.

Pretty amazing how this high school senior is a bigger individual than her teacher. I guess God will do that.  Kendra Turner said she doesn’t want trouble for her teacher but says she’ll stand up for her faith … “It’s alright to defend God and it’s our constitutional right because we have a freedom of religion and freedom of speech.”

Here is my note to the teacher that would some how think that bless you and stupid would ever be included in the same list. As I was hanging out I came across a teacher that was outraged that a student said bless you.  This educator might be the most stupid and closed minded individual ever that would some how be so dumb that words like boring and stuff would be used in the same sentence as bless you. I guess if I said this in class it would get me suspended or expelled, sorry, my bad!

HHS & HealthCare.gov Official Marilyn Tavenner: “Please Delete this Email” … More from the Most Transparent WH Administration EVER!

YUP, NOT A SMIDGEN OF CORRUPTION … And now for something completely different, the Obama administration deleting emails.

From Sharyl Attkisson comes the latest example of not a smidgen of corruption from the Obama administration.  Attkinsson reports that an email obtained by Congress shows the top official for Healthcare.gov at CMS  under the Department of HHS, Marilyn Tavenner, instructed the agency’s top spokesman to “Please delete this email.” It would appear other than golf, the Obama administrations greatest past time is deleting emails and keeping the truth from the American people. Transparency, eh?

Marilyn Tavenner – It all depend on how you interpret “delete this email”

An email obtained by Congress shows the top official for Healthcare.gov at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under the Department of Health and Human Services, Marilyn Tavenner, instructed the agency’s top spokesman to “Please delete this email.”

The instruction appears significant for several reasons: First, the email to be deleted included an exchange between key White House officials and CMS  officials. Second, the email was dated October 5, 2013, five days into the disastrous launch of HealthCare.gov. Third, federal law requires federal officials to retain copies of –not delete– email exchanges. And fourth, the document to be deleted is covered under Congressional subpoena as well as longstanding Freedom of Information requests made by members of the media (including me).

In a letter today, House Energy and Commerce leaders asked Tavenner to explain why she asked her colleague to delete the email, and the letter questions whether there are other instances in which she instructed HHS staff to delete emails. The letter also asks for more details regarding Congressional subpoenaed documents, including Tavenner emails, that CMS recently said might be permanently lost; and it requests an explanation as to why redactions are made in some documents provided to Congress so far.

Tavernier Email Trail

Happy Birthday … Smokey Bear Turns 70 Years Old, “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires.”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SMOKEY THE BEAR TURNED 70 ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 8, 2014.

Wow, hard to believe that Smokey the Bear turned 70. Smokey the Bear is probably one of the best and enduring PSA’s put out by the government and the US Department of Forestry. Over the decades Smokey the Bear has had makeovers. Personally, I like the 50′s and 60′s Smokey. What is most interesting is that Smokey’s PSA’s were not originally from the Forestry department, but from the “Wartime Ad Council” instead. Smokey’s job was to warn Americans of the danger of forest fires, not those set by Americans,  but by the Japanese. During World War II, Japan launched fire bombing balloons into the jet stream hoping to destroy American natural resources.

Remember … Only You!

Happy birthday, Smokey Bear! Forest firefighting symbol turns 70.

The Forest Service unveiled Smokey Bear as a symbol for fire prevention on Aug. 9, 1944. Tidwell said the country averaged about 160,000 wildfires annually in 1944, compared with 60,000 today, a decline he attributes to the Smokey Bear campaign.

Up to 90 percent of U.S. wildfires are caused by humans, according to the National Park Service.

Tidwell said today’s wildfires tend to be larger due to drier, hotter weather. With more people living near forested areas, Smokey’s message is more relevant than ever, he said.

Smokey The Bear Song – 1952

CBS NEWS:

He goes to work in blue jeans and utters only one sentence, but his message is loud and clear – “Only you can prevent wildfires.”

Smokey Bear just turned 70 years old, and his image is getting a reboot, reports CBS News’ Ben Tracy.

“Smokey has had a little work done. His costume has been updated… He’s got a fresh new look,” said Peggy Conlon, president of the Advertising Council, the organization that has overseen Smokey’s iconic image from the beginning.

“Ninety-four percent of Americans recognize Smokey Bear,” she said. “He’s really survived generations. And he’s beloved and everybody remembers his phrase.”

Smokey was created in 1944, one of the first campaigns from the newly created “Wartime Ad Council.” The same folks also coined the phrase, “loose lips sink ships.”

Smokey’s job was to warn Americans of the danger of forest fires — not those set by Americans — but by the Japanese. During World War II, Japan launched fire bombing balloons into the jet stream hoping to destroy American natural resources.

Random Robbery or Hate Crime: 60 Year Old Brooklyn Orthodox Rabbi Joseph Raksin Gunned Down & Murdered While Walking to Bais Menachem Synagogue Saturday Morning in Northeast Miami-Dade, FL

Random robbery gone wrong or Hate Crime?

Joseph Raksin, a 60 year old rabbi from Brooklyn, NY who was visiting family, was gunned down and murdered as he was walking to a Northeast Miami-Dade synagogue at about 9 am Saturday for Temple services. The two young, black teen males fled the crime scene and are currently being sought by police. The shooting victim was airlifted to the Ryder Trauma Center, where he later died from his wounds. Police stated that Raksin was walking eastbound on Northeast 175th Street and Eighth Court when he was confronted by two young men and gunned down after an altercation in what was most likely a random robbery attempt.

A 60-year-old Orthodox rabbi from Brooklyn on his way to a Northeast Miami-Dade synagogue was gunned down Saturday morning during a likely random robbery attempt, according to Miami-Dade police and local Jewish community leaders.

The shooting victim, Joseph Raksin, was walking eastbound on Northeast 175th Street and Eighth Court at about 9 a.m. when he was confronted by two young men. Following an altercation, Raksin was shot by one of the men, police said.

The authorities were quick to call this a random act of violence as Miami-Dade police spokeswoman Elena Hernandez in a statement,“At this time there is no indication of this being a hate crime.” However, that is not what is being said from Yona Lunger, a local Jewish community activist and member of the Shmira Patrol, a neighborhood watch group. According to accounts, Lunger  spoke to one witness who told him, that contrary to what Miami-Dade police reported, Raksin had no altercation with the two young men. Raskin was shot immediately after the two approached him on Northeast 175th Street. Also, The shocking crime took place in broad daylight was just a few blocks away from Torah V’Emunah, an Orthodox synagogue where swastikas were spray painted last month. Coincidence?

Raksin was on his way to Bais Menachem, 1005 NE 172nd Ter., when he was shot, said Lunger, who spoke to one witness who told him that — contrary to what Miami-Dade police reported — Raksin had no altercation with the two young men. He said the witness, whom he did not identify, told him that Raksin was shot immediately after the two approached him on Northeast 175th Street.

Another local Jewish community leader, Brian Siegal, director of the American Jewish Committee’s Miami and Broward Regional Office, said he believes Raksin’s shooting may be connected to the recent act of vandalism at the nearby Torah V’Emunah, an Orthodox synagogue, 1000 NE 174th St.

UPDATE I: $50,000 Reward Offered for Capture of of Two Suspects in Murder of Rabbi  Joseph Raksin.

Two points to ponder with this story as to whether it was or was not a hate crime. First, other than the VIDEO from NBC News 6 above, no where is it referenced that the two murder suspects were two black teens. Also, just curious, would the police have been so quick to discount this as a hate crime if the murder victim was a religious leader with the name of Abdul or Mohammed? But of course that is the double standard we with in this politically correct world.

Coroner Rules Former White House Press Secretary James Brady’s Death a Homicide

Things that make you go hmm …

A coroner has ruled that the death of  James Baker, former White House Press Secretary under President Ronald Reagan, was a homicide. Hmm, I must admit like at Hot Air, I was a bit surprised to read the headline when it came across. I thought to myself, was he poisoned. How could 73 year old James Baker’s death have been a homicide? I did not remember reading anything of the sort when he died August 4, 2014 in in Obit. And now for something a little different. Brady’s death has been ruled a homicide 33 years after he was wounded in an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan at the hands of John W. Hinckley Jr.

The death this week of James S. Brady, the former White House press secretary, has been ruled a homicide 33 years after he was wounded in an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, police department officials here said Friday.

Officials said the ruling was made by the medical examiner in Northern Virginia, where Mr. Brady died Monday at 73. The medical examiner’s office would not comment on the cause and manner of Mr. Brady’s death.

“We did do an autopsy on Mr. Brady, and that autopsy is complete,” a spokeswoman said.

Gail Hoffman, a spokeswoman for the Brady family, said the ruling should really “be no surprise to anybody.”

“Jim had been long suffering severe health consequences since the shooting,” she said, adding that the family had not received official word of the ruling from either the medical examiner’s office or the police.

The question that arises is whether f John W. Hinckley Jr. can be tried for the murder of James Brady. Sorry to say, the answer is most probably no. However, hopefully this will allow for the nut job John W. Hinckley Jr. to forever stay in a mental institution until the day he dies.

As Eugene Volokh writes in the WAPO, “Could the shooter, John Hinckley Jr., be tried for murdering Brady, even though he has already been tried for attempting to kill Brady, and found not guilty by reason of insanity? The answer is no, likely for two different reasons.” He brings up the year-and-a-day rule, Double jeopardy and collateral estoppel.  Please read Volokh’s reasoning and the many cited examples of case law.