Here’s What the Card That Caused Steve Harvey’s Epic ‘Miss Universe’ Blunder Looked Like

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Western Journalism reported Monday on emcee Steve Harvey’s blunder during Sunday’s Miss Universe pageant. The incident occurred when Harvey misspoke and announced Miss Colombia as the winner of the pageant when, in fact, it was Miss Philippines who earned the title.

Former pageant owner Donald Trump, who was quick to mention that he made a lot of money off of the sale of the pageant, tweeted out a response that it would have never happened had he still been the owner of the pageant . . .

To his credit, Harvey was very apologetic, but the damage was done. It is unclear whether there will be any lawsuits for damages as a result of announcing the wrong winner of the pageant. Harvey took full responsibility for his actions and reminded everyone not to “take it out on the ladies.” Western Journalism is now getting a look at the cue card from which Harvey was reading when he made the mistake.

(Read more from “Here’s What the Card That Caused Steve Harvey’s Epic ‘Miss Universe’ Blunder Looked Like” HERE)

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Judge Orders Pro-Lifers to Promote Abortion

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A federal judge in California has ordered pro-life and faith-based pregnancy centers to promote abortion, because “the public interest would be served.”

But the ruling from U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White is a long way from the end of the conflict. Several parallel cases in other jurisdictions challenge the constitutionality of the state demand that pro-life centers post a sign promoting the state’s abortion services.

The pro-life care centers sued, arguing the Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care and Transparency Act was a blatant violation of the constitutional principle that government cannot force individuals to convey government-mandated speech.

White determined, nevertheless, that “the public interest would be served by denying the stay pending appeal and allow the development of government policies generated through legislation or regulations developed through presumptively reasoned democratic processes” . . .

Focusing on its aim of recognizing “human life from the moment of conception and to minister in the name of Jesus Christ to women and men facing unplanned pregnancies,” the care centers said the mandated state notice “is inconsistent with their religious commitments as they believe that ‘abortion is wrong and have never referred, nor would they refer, a client to have an abortion.’” (Read more from “Judge Orders Pro-Lifers to Promote Abortion” HERE)

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Baby Jesus, ‘Merry Christmas’ Banner Removed from VA Hospital

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Photo Credit: KENS5 A manger and a banner reading “Merry Christmas” were removed from a public area of a VA hospital in Texas after someone complained about “overly religious and offensive” decorations . . .

Holloway said she had been putting up decorations at the Audi Murphy VA Hospital for 33 years – without any problems. This year, her yuletide banner turned out to be problematic.

“They literally took pieces from the middle of a whole train set, because the middle said ‘Merry Christmas,’” helper Grace Martinez told the television station.

The South Texas Veterans Health Care System admits they removed not only Holloway’s “Merry Christmas” banner, but also a manger along with a “specific scripture decoration.”

“During the removal of a manger and specific scripture decoration, a Merry Christmas decoration was accidentally removed and damaged,” read a statement from the VA to Fox News. “The remaining decorations were removed by the decoration donor and her representatives.” (Read more from “Baby Jesus, ‘Merry Christmas’ Banner Removed from VA Hospital” HERE)

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Nursing Home Workers Posting Abusive Photos of Elderly on Social Media

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Nursing home workers across the country are posting embarrassing and dehumanizing photos of elderly residents on social media networks such as Snapchat, violating their privacy, dignity and, sometimes, the law.

ProPublica has identified 35 instances since 2012 in which workers at nursing homes and assisted-living centers have surreptitiously shared photos or videos of residents, some of whom were partially or completely naked. At least 16 cases involved Snapchat, a social media service in which photos appear for a few seconds and then disappear with no lasting record.

Some have led to criminal charges, including a case filed earlier this month in California against a nursing assistant. Most have not, even though posting patients’ photos without their permission may violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the federal patient privacy law that carries civil and criminal penalties.

The incidents illustrate the emerging threat that social media poses to patient privacy and, at the same time, its powerful potential for capturing transgressions that previously might have gone unrecorded. Abusive treatment is not new at nursing homes. Workers have been accused of sexually assaulting residents, sedating them with antipsychotic drugs and failing to change urine-soaked bedsheets. But the posting of explicit photos is a new type of mistreatment — one that sometimes leaves its own digital trail.

In February 2014, a nursing assistant at Prestige Post-Acute and Rehab Center in Centralia, Wash., sent a co-worker a Snapchat video of a resident sitting on a bedside portable toilet with her pants below her knees while laughing and singing. (Read more from “Nursing Home Workers Posting Abusive Photos of Elderly on Social Media” HERE)

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Jimmy Carter Just Delivered Tragic News About His Family

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Just hours after his 28-year-old grandson died, a shaken former President Jimmy Carter broke the news to his Plains, Georgia, church and then taught Sunday School according to the church’s minister.

The grandson, Jeremy Carter, had not been feeling well and laid down to take a nap Saturday, Maranatha Baptist Church Rev. Jeremy Shoulta told CNN.

The younger Carter’s heart stopped, the minister said, and the family tried CPR and rushed him to a hospital.

“They were trying to keep his heart going and eventually, later in the night or the wee hours of (Sunday) morning, his heart stopped,” Shoulta said.

Despite the tragic loss, the former President taught Sunday school as he has for many years, Shoulta said. (Read more from “Jimmy Carter Just Delivered Tragic News About His Family” HERE)

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Miss Puerto Rico Suspended After Speaking out Against Muslims

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Miss Puerto Rico Destiny Velez has been suspended indefinitely from Miss America competition after she fired off a series of anti-Muslim tweets in response to the “We Are All Muslim” protests led by director Michael Moore.

The 20-year-old Velez directed her angry tweets at the film director — who created a buzz last week when he held up a sign reading “We Are All Muslim” outside of Trump Tower and shared an open letter online claiming that, unlike Trump, “we are not a country of angry white guys” . . .

Velez’s remarks prompted the Miss Puerto Rico Organization to issue a statement calling her comments a poor representation of “the integrity and esteem of our program.”

“Miss Velez’s actions were in contradiction to the organization, and therefore as a consequence of her actions, she has been suspended indefinitely,” the statement read. “The Miss Puerto Rico Organization will not tolerate any actions or behavior contrary to the Miss Puerto Rico Organization.” (Read more from “Miss Puerto Rico Suspended After Speaking out Against Muslims” HERE)

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Outrage as Students Are Forced to Sing ‘Allah Akbar’ at Holiday Concert

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By Todd Starnes. Nothing says Merry Christmas like a Ramadan song – at least in Blaine, Minnesota.

There was a big controversy after Thursday’s holiday concert at the local high school – when the teenagers belted out a praise song to Allah . . .

Television station WCCO first reported on the holiday dustup – quoting several moms and dads who were not all that happy their children were singing about the glories of Islam.

Check out some of the lyrics of “Eid un Sa’ Eid – Zain Bhika”:

“Ramadan has come and gone/Eid has dawned up us/Thank you Allah for this blessed day/This is a time of happiness, a time of joy/Thank you Allah for this blessed day.” (Read more from “Outrage as Students Are Forced to Sing ‘Allah Akbar’ at Holiday Concert” HERE)


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Parents Question Choice to Sing ‘Allahu Akbar’ at Holiday Concert

By John Lauritsen. Some parents in the Anoka-Hennepin School District are questioning a choir teacher’s decision to use a song about Ramadan performed in Arabic at a holiday concert.

At Thursday night’s concert at Blaine High School, one of the songs students will be singing includes Arabic words, including the phrase “Allahu Akbar,” which means “God is great.”

Christian and Jewish songs will be performed as well, but the Ramadan song is getting all the attention.

It started with a post on Facebook. A parent of a ninth-grade Blaine choir student posted the lyrics to the song the choir has been practicing. When others learned students would be singing the song on Thursday, the comments took a turn.

One person posted, “No child should be forced to sing a song about the Muslims and the religion of hatred.” (Read more from “Parents Question Choice to Sing ‘Allahu Akbar’ at Holiday Concert” HERE)

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All Schools Close in Augusta County, Virginia, over Islam Homework

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Photo Credit: CNN After a teacher at a Virginia school handed out a standard homework assignment on Islam, such an angry backlash flooded in that it prompted officials to close every single school in the county as a safety precaution.

“While there has been no specific threat of harm to students, schools and school offices will be closed Friday, December 18, 2015,” Augusta County Schools said. Extracurricular activities were shut down Thursday afternoon . . .

When the world geography class at Riverheads High School in Staunton rolled around to the subject of major world religions, homework on Islam asked students to copy religious calligraphy.

It read:

“Here is the shahada, the Islamic statement of faith, written in Arabic. In the space below, try copying it by hand. This should give you an idea of the artistic complexity of calligraphy.”

(Read more from “All Schools Close in Augusta County, Virginia, over Islam Homework” HERE)

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TV Star Fires Back at Bernie Sander’s Plan for College for All Americans

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TV personality Mike Rowe has a large following on social media. He has almost 3 million Facebook fans. So, when he speaks a lot of people hear what he has to say.

Rowe wasn’t very pleased with Bernie Sanders tweet about sending people to college being cheaper than sending them to jail. Over 100,000 people like his post questioning whether a college education is the best past for most people. He is perplexed by the thought of an elected official comparing the inflated cost of a college degree diploma with the hyper-inflated cost of incarceration.

At the end of the day, providing a path to go to college is a helluva lot cheaper than putting people on a path to jail.

Posted by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders on Sunday, December 13, 2015

This is Mike Rowe’s response on Facebook. It has been shared nearly 60,000 times . . .

I wonder sometimes, if the best way to question the increasingly dangerous idea that a college education is the best path for the most people, is to stop fighting the sentiment directly, and simply shine a light on the knuckleheads who continue to perpetuate this nonsense. This latest tweet from Bernie Sanders is a prime example. In less than 140 characters, he’s managed to imply that a path to prison is the most likely alternative to a path to college. Pardon my acronym, but…WTF!?

Historically, universities have promoted themselves at the expense of many other forms of “alternative education.” The implicit suggestion, reinforced daily by a generation of well-intended guidance counselors and misguided parents, is always the same – get yourself a four-year degree, or accept one of the many “vocational consolation prizes” that result from all other forms of “lesser knowledge.”

(Read more from “TV Star Fires Back at Bernie Sander’s Plan for College for All Americans” HERE)

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Planned Parenthood Unscathed in Spending Bill

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Planned Parenthood is praising Democrats in Congress after the spending bill released early Wednesday morning spared the organization from cuts.

As expected, the spending bill does not defund Planned Parenthood, a clear deal-breaker for Democrats, but the absence of spending cuts is still noteworthy given the intensity of the push to defund the group earlier this year.

Planned Parenthood Vice President Dana Singiser praised congressional Democrats on Wednesday for “holding the line against these harmful policy riders and cuts to key women’s health programs.”

“Extreme members of Congress spent an entire year targeting access to reproductive health care at every opportunity — even threatening to shut down the government,” she added. “Today’s budget bill maintains access to critical preventive health services and lacks these harmful attacks on women’s health care — at home and abroad.”

After pushing for complete defunding of Planned Parenthood ahead of the Oct. 1 funding deadline, the conservative House Freedom Caucus scaled back its demands to a call for compromise language that would give states the ability to choose to defund the group. (Read more from “Planned Parenthood Unscathed in Spending Bill” HERE)

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