July 2, 2014

Real-time wind map of Tropical Storm Arthur:

http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-71.97,28.34,2133

So cool!

July 2, 2014

SCDEW finds that Latta, SC Sheriff Crystal Moore was fired without cause.

SCDEW finds Moore was fired without cause

LATTA, S.C. — Monday was a good day for Latta Police Chief Crystal Moore.

Not only did she return to work after two and a half months of uncertainty, but she also learned the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce approved her appeal, finding she was discharged without cause connected to her employment and meaning she is eligible for back payment of benefits.

“I feel like another wrong has been made right,” Moore said during an interview in her office Tuesday. “What happened was unfair. I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong, and I’ve always prided myself on doing what was right and fair. But this lets me know it’s all been worth it. It restores your faith.” Latta Mayor Earl Bullard fired Moore on April 15 after she refused to sign seven reprimands without speaking to an attorney first.

The reprimands alleged, among other things, that Moore broke a recently adopted town policy that prohibited town employees from speaking to media outlets about public situations or controversy, that she questioned the mayor’s authority, that she failed to maintain order at three town council meetings and that she failed to report to Bullard over a jurisdictional issue with a Dillon County deputy. Soon after Moore was fired, a recorded telephone conversation emerged during which Bullard made it clear he did not approve of Moore’s lifestyle. Moore is gay.

Moore filed a grievance with the town, but a grievance committee made up of town employees was unable to come to a decision on whether the reprimands were valid. The only conclusion was that Moore was not fired because she was gay, a matter that wasn’t even addressed in her grievance.
But after a four-hour hearing on the matter during which each side presented three witnesses, the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce concluded Moore was not at fault for her firing.
“The claimant is not responsible for her separation,” administrative hearing officer Timothy J. Plunkett wrote. “The record establishes that the claimant’s conduct was not insubordinate and was carried out in accordance with her obligations as a law enforcement official. The seven disciplinary write-ups were based on false accusations and were designed to provoke a confrontation with the claimant. In this context, it was not unreasonable for the claimant to request the opportunity to consult with an attorney before answering the employer’s allegations. Therefore, the claimant was not discharged for misconduct connected with her employment.”

Moore said she hopes the department’s findings will allow her to collect backpay and clear her performance record with the town, which was spotless before Bullard’s seven reprimands.
The Morning News has made repeated attempts to talk with Bullard about the situation, but he has declined comment.
http://www.scnow.com/news/article_13a4c868-017b-11e4-98bc-0017a43b2370.html

Do Jeebus! I know Arthur is going to hit us. A state agency did something right.
Good for them!
In addition, the Latta City Council requested that the SC Law Enforcement Division(SLED) investigate City Hall. Looking at you Bullard. Apparently there have been some shenanigans of some kind going on there. The information is vague at this point.

July 1, 2014

Countries where 'the pill is free':

<snip>
Using data from Harvard University's Center for Population and Development Studies, Slate put together a map of where almost every country in the world stood on public provision of oral contraceptives. They divided the world into three categories: "the pill is free" (blue), "partial subsidy" (purple), and "no subsidy" (orange). Here's how the globe looks, adjusted for today's ruling:


One thing that's interesting here is the total lack of consistency. North America is the only continent where the pill is free or subsidized everywhere. In Western Europe, most countries offer a full or partial subsidy for the pill, but Spain and Ireland - two countries with strong Catholic roots - offer none. Neither does much of former-Soviet Eastern Europe. In the Middle East, maybe unsurprisingly, Saudi Arabia does not offer subsidies for the pill - but Iran makes it free. Norway doesn't subsidize the pill, but Sweden does. This suggests there's no clear consensus, regionally, about the state's proper role in providing birth control.

Inside countries, there are some interesting patterns. J.M. Ian Salas, an economist at the Harvard center Slate's data came from, wrote up the results of several recent papers on birth control subsidies around the world. Here's what he found:

1-Despite a financial crisis and a sharp increase in contraceptive prices between 1998 and 2008, Indonesian birth control use rates remained stable. The government-run National Family Planning Institute, set up in 1968, distributes contraceptives and provides family-planning counseling.

2-Comparative studies of six African countries found that the abortion rate increased when access to contraceptives, provided by non-governmental organizations, decreased in the countries that most depended on NGOs to subsidize contraception.

3-Poor Filipino women were significantly more likely to have an unplanned birth after even a temporary disruption in free access to contraceptives.
<snip>
More:
http://bit.ly/1oiXfWk

SCOTUS-MEH!

June 30, 2014

It's really SCROTUS not SCOTUS:

@GreatDismal:
SCROTUS Supreme Court (Religious) Of The United States

Word!

June 30, 2014

Posting 3 happy pics to provide a break. I could seriously blow a gasket. SCOTUS-MEH!

Pals


Look what I did


Gots to get over this mountain

June 30, 2014

Time to really boycott some companies.

Starting with Hobby Lobby.

June 30, 2014

Lizz Winstead: This is what happened to me when there was no buffer zone at an abortion clinic:

The violence at clinics started in the late 1970’s. I was in my teens and I paid attention as in 1979, at 17 years old, I got pregnant. The journey that led me to my abortion choice is here:
http://vimeo.com/7548216

I went alone, I had no support, and the first time I could have real feelings about my choice in front of someone was at the clinic. I could speak freely, and without judgment.

I was professionally counseled; I was asked questions that did not have an agenda attached, it was only to evaluate my decision. It reaffirmed what I knew about myself, not as I had experienced days before at a Crisis Pregnancy center, what a stranger tried to impose upon me. I felt safe, I felt heard and – as I say almost every time I have written about this subject – I felt relief.

I made a promise to myself that I would always be there to advocate in anyway I could. And when the violence at abortion clinics started escalating in the 1980’s, I tried to help.

Doctors were being gunned down at their clinics and in their homes. Their children were followed to school, taunted by dangerous pied vipers shouting, “Your mommy (or daddy) is a murderer.”

There wasn’t organized clinic escorting yet so some activists would do things like stay overnight to protect clinic entrances before the most rabid of the protesters arrived. These people would do ANYTHING to gain access and even chain themselves to the clinic door, disrupting women’s access to health care for the day.

There often was swarming between camps and chaotic pushing and shouting. We were without training so we made up rules as we went along. First rule we learned quickly was always wear thick jeans. No matter how hot it is.

Why?
<snip>
Read the horrifying rest:
http://bluenationreview.com/hey-scotus-right-get-stabbed-anti-abortion-protester/

An article about what abortion clinics can still do to protect themselves:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/06/29/abortion-clinics-are-not-defenseless-but-there-is-reason-for-caution/

The plaintiffs presented a 'kindly', elderly grandmother as the face of 'counseling' that people outside clinics do. The reality is far different.

SCOTUS seems to believe that clinic violence has is no longer a factor.(see the article above) They need to live in the real world. This is the same attitude that they had about voting rights. They seem to think that voters are no longer impeded.

Per ABC, one clinic had more than 200 people volunteer to be escorts after the ruling.

If you volunteer to be an escort, you have to be ready for anything. The loons will be out. Winstead spells out some of their nasty tactics. It won't just be locking arms.
You will literally have to fight and learn tactics that won't get you arrested. That might mean surreptitious self-defense. If they aren't seen attacking, you can't be seen forcefully defending yourself.

June 30, 2014

Former Auburn TE Phil Lutzenkirchen died Sunday. He will be missed by many who didn't know him. Why?

<snip>
Those around the Auburn program knew best what kind of truly special person he was. Like the time in 2010 when he attended the prom at his alma mater Lassiter High in Marietta, Ga., with a young woman with Down syndrome.
<snip>
I can't say I knew Lutzenkirchen well. I think I interviewed him a few times over the years. But his heart and spirit had an impact on me, too. Last month, he and I traded about a dozen direct messages over Twitter. The exchange started after I praised him in a tweet for some of the comments he made in support of former Mizzou star Michael Sam during the NFL draft. Lutzenkirchen, a Christian who worked with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, also had begun sparring with some fans, including many of his alma mater, who didn't approve of Sam. These were some of the tweets from Lutzenkirchen's timeline that day:

@Phil Lutzenkirchen
That was a moment America will never forget @MikeSamFootball Uncomfortable for some but changing. #bestofluck brother

@Phil Lutzenkirchen
If someone is in love with a person let him be in love. He doesn't judge you for loving a straight, cute, gay, fat, ugly, sexy, person.
Please read the rest:
http://msn.foxsports.com/college-football/story/auburn-philip-lutzenkirchen-car-accident-legacy-of-kindness-compassion-062914

RIP Phil Lutzenkirchen!
You could have remained on the sidelines and not said a thing. You stepped up at a crucial moment in a very conservative area. I will always wonder what you could have accomplished.

June 27, 2014

Watching over me:

Moonpie is on the left and Tater is on the right.

When I go outside, Moonpie and Tater used to watch intently as I left. I had to be careful that they didn't slip out. Yesterday I noticed them peering through the blinds at me as I was getting in my car. (Mousie used to appear when I returned from a trip.)

I don't know if they want to see what I'm doing or they want to make sure I am coming back. I also have to close the door to the bathroom because Tater is intent on jumping in the tub. They cry until I come out.

(Scat passed a month ago today. At times it feels like years, and at other times it feels like it just happened. Sigh......)

June 27, 2014

A moment in the NBA draft that you should see:

Last I heard, he is going to be an assistant coach at Baylor or in some position. At any rate, he will stay there in some capacity. That won't make up or having your dreams crushed after years of work, but it's a familiar place to regain his footing.
He is also blind in one eye.

Flo Hyman, a world-class volleyball player, died suddenly from this condition.