After Agonizing Deaths, Parents Move to Toughen Hazing Laws

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Tim Piazza and Marquise Braham told their parents they just wanted to make some new friends by joining fraternities while away at college.

Neither got much of a chance: They died before their 20th birthdays, after brutal fraternity hazing rituals.

Now their parents are launching a nationwide anti-hazing campaign, and after too many similar deaths, national leaders of fraternities and sororities are joining them.

“I know it might seem strange to some people that families who lost their children to fraternity hazing are now working with fraternities and sororities to eradicate hazing,” Piazza’s father, Jim, said by phone Sunday from New York, where he, Braham’s father, and other parents were preparing for a series of Monday morning TV appearances to announce their campaign.

“But,” added Piazza, “we will do anything that we can to save a life and to prevent another shattered family.”

His 19-year-old son died an agonizing death last year after he was ordered to binge-drink 80-proof vodka until he became so intoxicated that he fell repeatedly, including down a flight of stairs, and was left to writhe in pain for hours before medical help was summoned.

More than two dozen members of Piazza’s Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Pennsylvania State University were arrested, but all felony charges, including manslaughter, were eventually dropped. Three people have since pleaded guilty to misdemeanors.

“Currently the system — and that’s the police, the district attorneys, the judges — they seem to view hazing as it’s kind of like kids’ stuff,” said Rich Braham, whose 18-year-old son committed suicide in 2014 after a brutal bout of hazing that he’d complained about to school officials.

These fathers say they were delighted when, after reaching out to the North American Interfraternity Conference, they found an ally in its president and CEO, Judson Horras, who also brought aboard his National Panhellenic Conference counterpart, Carole Jones.

Their organizations together represent nearly 100 fraternities and sororities nationwide.

One of the first orders of business for this new coalition, Horras says, is to press legislatures in all 50 states to toughen anti-hazing laws. They want lawmakers to make it a felony to force a student to consume alcohol during an initiation.

While some legislatures have been slow to toughen such laws in the past, Horras says he’s confident Greek organizations can sway them.

“Keep in mind fraternities and sororities have 9.1 million students and alumni as members,” Horras said. “That’s part of the network we’re building now to make this happen across North America.”

His organizing is also confronting the booze issue itself. By this time next year, he said, hard liquor of 15-proof or more will be banned from all IFC frat houses.

The new coalition also plans to have parents like Piazza and Braham speak to as many as 25,000 college students this academic year about the dangers of hazing, and to have members of Greek societies themselves speak to high school and middle school students.

“We realize that it takes many years to change a culture and we’re committed to the long haul,” said Piazza. “We’re not going away. We’ll be here next year, the year after, the year after that.” (Read more from “After Agonizing Deaths, Parents Move to Toughen Hazing Laws” HERE)

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Rep. Maxine Waters Talks About Threatening Trump Supporters ‘All the Time’

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Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) recently joked about her now-infamous comments to her supporters earlier this year urging them to harass Trump supporters in public. Over the weekend, she joked that she threatens Trump’s constituents and supporters “all the time” but wasn’t doing it “that time.”

“I said, if you see them anywhere, if you see them in a restaurant, if you see them in a department store, even at a gasoline station, just tell them, you’re not welcome here or anywhere,” she said, recapping the controversial remarks she made in June.

“And of course the lying president said that I had threatened all of his constituents. I did not threaten his constituents and supporters. I do that all the time, but I didn’t do that that time,” she quipped to laughs from the crowd at the Stonewall Young Democratic Club awards event.

. . .

Waters also noted that she is unfazed by the many Democrats who are discouraging impeachment talk ahead of the midterm elections.

“They say, ‘Maxine, please don’t say impeachment any more,” she said. “And when they say that, I say impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment.” (Read more from “Rep. Maxine Waters Talks About Threatening Trump Supporters ‘All the Time'” HERE)

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Maxine Waters Vows to ‘Get’ Pence Once Trump Impeached

By Washington Times. Rep. Maxine Waters promised a crowd of young Democrats over the weekend that she would go after Vice President Mike Pence once President Trump is removed from office.

The California congresswoman accepted a lifetime achievement award from the Stonewall Young Democrats on Saturday in Los Angeles, telling the enthusiastic crowd that Mr. Trump threatened Americans’ way of life and deserved to be impeached.

“I’m gonna get him,” Ms. Waters said, according to a video published by progressive activist and attendee Edward Garren. “I’m in this fight and I’m not gonna move.

“And, as you know, there’s a difference in how some of our leadership talk about how we should handle all of this,” she continued. “They say, ‘Maxine, please don’t say impeachment anymore. ‘And when they say that, I say, ‘Impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment.’” (Read more from “Maxine Waters Vows to ‘Get’ Pence Once Trump Impeached” HERE)

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Federal Appeals Court Rules in Favor of State Abortion Restrictions

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By Townhall. The 8th circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a 2017 court ruling that would block reasonable restrictions on abortion clinics. The federal appeals court ruled that abortion clinics need to be surgically licensed, equipped with the same equipment as a hospital’s surgical wing, and the doctors performing abortions must have medical privileges with a local hospital.

This decision comes out of a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider; the organization argued that the restrictions, which were proposed to ensure high health standards were met in abortion clinics and that the health of women obtaining abortions was protected.

(Read more from “Federal Appeals Court Rules in Favor of State Abortion Restrictions” HERE)

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Federal Judges Allow Missouri to Enforce Abortion Rules

By AP. Federal appeals court judges have ruled to lift a preliminary injunction that blocked Missouri from enforcing some abortion restrictions.

Planned Parenthood says the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ Monday ruling could end abortions at the Columbia clinic in weeks. That could leave a St. Louis Planned Parenthood site as the only abortion clinic in the state.

Planned Parenthood Great Plains General Counsel Emily Wales says there’s at least a two-week delay for the ruling to take effect. (Read more from “Federal Judges Allow Missouri to Enforce Abortion Rules” HERE)

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Lawmakers Call on Trump to Declare Federal Emergency Ahead of Hurricane Florence

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Senators and Congressmen from Virginia urged President Trump Monday to declare a federal emergency before Hurricane Florence makes landfall later this week. The congressional delegation wrote in support of Gov. Ralph Northam’s request that a federal emergency be declared.

“A federal emergency declaration would ensure the full availability of federal resources to support the Commonwealth’s efforts to guarantee public safety and rapid recovery from the direct and indirect effects of Hurricane Florence,” they wrote. “Thank you for your consideration of Governor Northam’s request. We look forward to working with you, FEMA, and other relevant federal agencies to ensure that the Commonwealth of Virginia has the resources available to ensure the safety of our constituents.”

Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, along with Reps. Rob Wittman (R), Scott Taylor (R), Bobby Scott (D), A. Donald McEachin (D), Tom Garrett (R), Bob Goodlatte (R), Dave Brat (R), Don Beyer (D), Morgan Griffith (R), Barbara Comstock (R), and Gerry Connolly (D) all signed the letter.

The hurricane has already prompted mandatory evacuation orders in the Carolinas and Virginia. Florence was upgraded twice Monday to a Category 4. It has the potential to become a Category 5 storm, the National Hurricane Center says, and it is expected to make landfall in North or South Carolina by Thursday.

The evacuations in Virginia will begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday for about 245,000 residents in part of Hampton Roads and the Eastern Shore area.

(Read more from “Lawmakers Call on Trump to Declare Federal Emergency Ahead of Hurricane Florence” HERE)

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Collusion: New Texts Show FBI Officials Had Media Leak Strategy to Hurt Trump During Russia Probe

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Well, well, well—what do we have here; FBI officials discussing a media leak strategy during the Trump-Russia investigation, specifically when key developments are about to be revealed to the public. The new batch of texts was released by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), where disgraced former FBI Agent Peter Strzok and lawyer Lisa Page communicate about a possible media leak strategy between FBI and DOJ officials between April 10 and 12 of 2017. The Daily Caller has more:

“Our review of these new documents raises grave concerns regarding an apparent systemic culture of media leaking by high-ranking officials at the FBI and DOJ related to ongoing investigations,” Meadows wrote to U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in the letter, which was obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation and first reported by Sara Carter. . .

In the first message, Strzok, who then served as deputy chief of the FBI’s counterintelligence division, wrote to Page that: “I had literally just gone to find this phone to tell you I want to talk to you about media leak strategy with DOJ before you go.”

Strzok was at that time the lead investigator on the FBI’s probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government. He joined the special counsel’s investigation after it was formed in May 2017. He was removed from the investigation in July 2017 after the discovery of anti-Trump text messages that he exchanged with Lisa Page. He was fired from the FBI on Aug. 10.

In one Aug. 8, 2016, message, Strzok told Page that President Donald Trump would never become president, because “We’ll stop it.”

(Read more from “Collusion: New Texts Show FBI Officials Had Media Leak Strategy to Hurt Trump During Russia Probe” HERE)

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Just Stand: While Nike Gives America the Finger, One Veteran-Run Company Is Producing Anti-Kaepernick Gear

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Former National Football League player Colin Kaepernick is back in the spotlight. The ex-San Francisco 49ers QB is now the face of Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ campaign. Kaepernick is one of the faces of those who refuse to stand and honor the flag and our anthem on the sideline two years ago. It’s controversial. That was the intent, to give the middle finger to hard-working, American patriots. It was a shot across the bow of Trump’s America, rural America, conservatives, and those who support our troops, those who have died defending the flag, and law enforcement. That’s pretty much everyone. The ad deals with sacrifice, which has some veterans not taking too kindly to the impression this whole campaign is taking; this also comes at a time where the brand lost billions in market share and suffered a huge double-digit drop in favorability. There were no gains among key demographics with bringing anti-cop Kaepernick into the fold.

It’s infuriating. At the same time, it’s a free country. And while Nike lost billions, they won’t be hurt. We can still hurl our anger towards them though, but one veteran decided to launch a counteroffensive against the social justice warrior ethos that’s beginning to infest American business.

Army Captain (ret.) Tyler Merritt is the CEO of Nine Line Apparel. And they’ve already sold tens of thousands of gear from their ‘Just Stand’ line. One post featured Mark “Oz” Geist, a former U.S. Marine who was part of the Benghazi compound security team, was featured wearing their t-shirt, while carrying an AR-15. He’s an American hero. Period. Four Americans died during that tragic terror attack, which included Ambassador Chris Stevens. It remains a source of controversy from the days of the Obama administration six years ago, which swore that al-Qaeda was on the run.

Nike took a stand. “This is ours,” said Merritt in a statement. “They will never understand what it’s like to lose a friend overseas, carry him back home with an American flag draped over his casket, and hand that flag over to his wife and children. Taking a knee during the National Anthem is a sign of disrespect to all those throughout our country’s history who have paid the ultimate sacrifice to secure the blessings of freedom.” (Read more from “Just Stand: While Nike Gives America the Finger, One Veteran-Run Company Is Producing Anti-Kaepernick Gear” HERE)

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Widow of Fallen Officer Pens Open Letter to Nike on Kaepernick Campaign — It’s a Must-Read

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A police officer’s widow penned an open letter to Nike that’s gone viral, telling her raw, personal story and expressing her disgust with the new Colin Kaepernick ad campaign.

Sherry Graham-Potter is the surviving spouse of Pima County, Ariz., Sheriff’s Deputy Tim Graham. In 2005, Deputy Graham was struck and killed by an oncoming vehicle as he grappled with an emotionally disturbed man on a highway.

Graham-Potter’s letter to Nike tells the story of how she worked through her grief, how a Nike cap came to be a symbol of the “strength and the sacrifice” of a loving husband who gave his life in the line of duty, and how Nike’s decision to make a cop-hating man who hasn’t sacrificed anything the face of their brand is “terribly, terribly wrong.”

Here’s the letter:

Dear Nike,

I want to have a conversation about this hat. It’s over 13 years old. I don’t remember when I bought it exactly, I don’t remember where I bought it. But what I do remember is why I wore it.

On August 10, 2005, I was a newlywed with two young sons. My husband Tim and I had toasted our one month anniversary the night before, and I was enjoying a rare evening to myself, catching up on reading and relishing the quiet. Until there was a knock on my door. I had no way of knowing that the small act of turning a knob was about to shatter my life into a million pieces. I sat numb and in sheer disbelief as I was told that my husband, while in a foot pursuit and subsequent struggle with a suspect that ended up in the road, had been struck and killed by an oncoming vehicle. He took his last breath lying in the middle of the street. What I lost in that moment is indescribable. I had to watch his mother be dealt the most agonizing blow a parent can face, and I couldn’t comfort her because I was in my own hell. I had to find a way to gut my own children in the gentlest way possible, and tell them that this man they had come to love, who they looked up to, who cared for them as his own, would never walk through our door again.

I don’t know if you’ve ever attended a police funeral, but watching grown men who’ve seen the absolute worst things a civilian can imagine, break down and sob over the casket of their brother is an image that never leaves you. The bagpipes haunt my dreams to this day, but it was the faces of my children, the innocence that abandoned them at such a tender age that brought me to my knees.

I had no choice but to move on. We trudged zombie-like through our days for weeks and weeks on end. I never left the house except to drive the boys to school, or buy food we barely touched. I realized that I had to do something. I had to move my body or I was going to crawl out of my own skin. So I put on the only cap I had and I went for a run. It was short, it hurt and it was ugly. But I felt, just for those few moments on that road, like a normal person. So I kept doing it. I put that hat on and I ran every day. Sometimes I had to stop and sit down because I was sobbing so hard. Sometimes I was so angry I ran until I thought I my heart would stop, sometimes I would just scream over and over again, but it still felt better than doing nothing.

That black cap became a symbol to me, it is sweat stained and it’s shape is gone, the buckle in the back barely closes; but that hat represents my family’s rise from the ashes. It stands for the strength and the sacrifice we made loving a man who had a job that we all knew could end his life, every time he walked out that door. And it did. And I accept that.

I still wear this hat, I wore it on my run this morning.
And then I heard about your new ad campaign.

Colin Kapernick has the absolute right to protest anything he damn well pleases. I don’t dispute that for one second. My father, my husband and many, many friends have all served this country and were willing to fight for his right to kneel.
But that right goes both ways. I also have a right to express my disgust at your decision to portray him as some kind of hero. What, exactly has Colin Kapernick sacrificed? His multi million dollar paycheck…? Nope, you already gave him one of those. His reputation? No, he’s been fawned over by celebrities and media alike. Funny, Tim Tebow was never called courageous when he knelt.
This man, whose contempt for law enforcement fits him like a…sock, has promoted an agenda that has been proven false time and time again, in study after study. But facts don’t seem to matter anymore. This man has thrown his support behind divisive anti-police groups, and donated money directly to a fugitive from justice who escaped prison after killing a police officer. I question the judgement of anyone who would put someone this controversial and divisive at the head of an advertising campaign, but it isn’t my company to run.

I don’t know if I’ll have he heart to ever get rid of this cap, but I will tell you this, I’ll never purchase another Nike product as long as I live. You got this one wrong Nike, terribly, terribly wrong.

Sherry Graham-Potter, surviving spouse of Deputy Tim Graham

Graham-Potter is the vice president of recruitment at the Arizona chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.), an organization that supports the family members and friends of police officers killed in the line of duty and helps them cope with their tragic loss. (For more from the author of “Widow of Fallen Officer Pens Open Letter to Nike on Kaepernick Campaign — It’s a Must-Read” please click HERE)

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Losers: The Left Just Had Another Kavanaugh Outrage Bomb Explode in Their Face

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So, do Democrats really like having bombs explode in their faces because they’re getting worse. The Left’s resistance movement against the Supreme Court nomination of the highly qualified, and soon-to-be associate justice, Brett Kavanaugh has been lackluster. It wasn’t until this weekend that Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) planned to execute a blitz in the opening moments of today’s confirmation hearing. Yet, Democrats interrupted the proceedings 63 times to put forward a trash motion to delay the hearing until they can read all these documents…only to circle back and declare what we already know: they’re not supporting his nomination. It’s all an effort to put this nomination fight off until after the midterms, where Democrats think their position on the Hill will be better. But before we even get to all of that, we need to talk about this piece of idiocy that occurred. Apparently, another reason to derail the Kavanaugh nomination is because the woman sitting behind Judge Kavanagh at today’s hearings was supposedly giving a white power sign.

Oh, here we go. You can hear it now. It’s the outrage engine revving up. The woman’s name is Zina Gelman Bash. She’s also pictured with Kavanaugh in the featured photo above. She’s wearing the black dress. She’s supposedly throwing an A-Okay sign, which seen as a white power sign among whacko lefty circles. Just so we’re clear. That’s fake news. The anti-Defamation League said the sign is not one that espouses or promotes white power. Also, she’s a White House lawyer, her mother is Mexican-American, and her grandparents escaped the Nazi death camps. This is what happens when you’re liberal, stupid, and go off half-cocked on social media. You end up getting smashed in the face with the rake you just stepped on. (Read more from “Losers: The Left Just Had Another Kavanaugh Outrage Bomb Explode in Their Face” HERE)

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Watch: D.C. Cop Schools Lefty Protestor Trying to Expel Conservative From Anti-Kavanaugh Rally

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Turning Points USA was at an anti-Brett Kavanaugh rally this week. Its founder and leader Charlie Kirk did what he does best: owning liberals. Kavanaugh is a federal judge nominated to fill the vacancy left by the now-retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. It will give conservatives a solid 5-4 majority. It’s because of this that this nomination has garnered significant liberal opposition, with absurd talking points spewed by the Left. You’d think Kavanagh feeds on dead babies with how they’re painting him. In reality, he’s a solid conservative, mainstream, and a SCOTUS nominee with impeccable legal credentials. He’s eminently qualified to be the next jurist on the high court.

Turning Points did a video of Kirk walking around an anti-Kavanaugh rally, which was a sad display of willful ignorance. Kavanaugh has the votes to be confirmed. He will be confirmed when his nomination is voted out of committee—and the liberal hysteria will start all over again, especially with the GOP’s ace blocking of Obama nominee Merrick Garland. Besides Hillary Clinton losing 2016, the SCOTUS fight is another source of sour grapes for these people.

Kirk tries to talk to as many attendees as possible. Being on Fox News, he’s recognized by some, though he’s also not shy to hide his conservatism. Organizers for the rally warned attendees not to talk with him. One organizer tried to boot him from the area, even calling the Capitol Police. When they arrived, they simply told the woman that her right to free speech doesn’t trump his right; Kirk thanks the officer in the video.

Protesters have disrupted the Kavanaugh hearings with their antics; over 70 were arrested on Tuesday alone. They’re delusional. In the video, one speaker suggests their protests are making Kavanaugh mad. Nothing could be further from the truth.

(Read more from “Watch: D.C. Cop Schools Lefty Protestor Trying to Expel Conservative From Anti-Kavanaugh Rally” HERE)

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Miss America Contestant Uses Interview to Slam Trump

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By CBS News. A contestant in the Miss America pageant says President Trump “has caused a lot of division” in the nation. Madeline Collins, Miss West Virginia, was asked an onstage question Friday night about what she feels is the most serious issue facing the nation.

“Donald Trump is the biggest issue our country faces,” she said. “Unfortunately he has caused a lot of division in our country.”

The interview responses were limited to 20 seconds and Collins did not go into additional detail. The Miss America Organization rejected a request from The Associated Press to make Collins available for an interview after Friday night’s competition had ended.

She did not win the interview contest. That honor went to Miss Massachusetts Gabriela Taveras, whose question dealt with how Americans traveling abroad should interact with people in other countries. She said it is important to let people in other nations know that, “We as Americans are supporting them and that we are there to help them.”

The onstage interview replaced the swimsuit competition in this year’s pageant, a change that has created controversy among those who feel the pageant needed to be modernized, and those who feel an integral part of the pageant is being sacrificed. (Read more from “Miss America Contestant Uses Interview to Slam Trump” HERE)

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Miss America Contestant Calls President Trump the ‘Biggest Issue Facing Our Country Today’

By The Washington Post. Things are getting political at the Miss America pageant.

When asked on Friday, the final night of the preliminary competition, what she believed was the most serious issue facing the nation, Madeline Collins, Miss West Virginia, name-checked the leader of the free world. . .

Ultimately, Collins lost the interview portion of the contest to Miss Massachusetts, Gabriela Taveras, who fielded a question about how Americans traveling abroad should interact with foreigners. We should let them know that “we as Americans are supporting them and that we are there to help them,” she suggested, according to the Associated Press. (Read more from “Miss America Contestant Calls President Trump the ‘Biggest Issue Facing Our Country Today’” HERE)

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