A Walmart employee asked a North Carolina woman breastfeeding her newborn in a store bathroom to move into a toilet stall. A representative from the retailer confirmed the employee made the demand, telling WBTW-TV the request was illegal and also violated company policy.

Kelly Messing said she was feeding her 2-week-old baby with a cover-up when the employee came into the bathroom and asked her to move to a more private location, saying she was making other customers uncomfortable.

“She stood there waiting for me to get up, so I had to sit in a stall feeding my baby,” Messing said in a Facebook post about the incident.

More than a dozen other breastfeeding mothers, organized by the national Best for Babes group, went Sunday to the Jacksonville store to protest the Walmart employee’s actions.

This store did not follow our policy in this situation and we absolutely apologize to our customer for her experience,” said Kayla Whaling, a Walmart spokeswoman. “We’re not sure exactly who did not follow our policy but we do not condone this and we have restated our policy to all associates at this retail store.”

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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/29/nc-moms-hold-nurse-in-at-walmart-after-woman-ordered-to-breastfeed-in-a-toilet-stall/

Source: Reuters

By Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday dismissed a long-shot challenge to the Obamacare health law brought by an Iowa artist.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected claims made by Matt Sissel, who was backed by the Pacific Legal Foundation, a conservative legal group.

Sissel claimed, among other things, that the 2010 law violated a provision of the U.S. Constitution that says any revenue-raising legislation must originate in the House of Representatives, not in the Senate, as Obamacare did.

In Tuesday’s ruling, the appeals court upheld a lower court decision that dismissed the case.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/29/u-s-appeals-court-throws-out-iowa-artists-obamacare-challenge/

Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX) suggested on Tuesday that the president of the United States was “extremely prejudiced” because he was deporting Mexicans, while allowing child refugees who were fleeing violence in Central America to stay.

In an interview with Newsmax TV host J.D. Hayworth, Gohmert said that President Barack Obama’s plan to allow Honduran children a way into the U.S. without having to make the dangerous journey through Mexico was proof that he was trying to change the country.

“I mean, holy smokes, this guy truly is fundamentally transforming America,” the Texas Republican opined. “But not into anything the Founders ever dreamed. These are people who are being given amnesty, who will eventually be able to vote if they’re not already, who have no idea what it takes to maintain a Republic if you can keep it, madam (sic).”

“And if you want to say, look at where these folks came from, we’ve got to give them amnesty, we’ve got to help them,” Gohmert continued. “Listen, there are are so many children around the world that are worse off than those in Central America, and how unfair is it to the Mexicans?”

“I don’t know why this president is so extremely prejudiced against Mexicans. They say, if you’re from Mexico, we’ll turn you right around and send your right back. But if you’re from Central America, ‘No, come on, we’ll send you all over the United States.’”

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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/29/what-louie-gohmert-says-obama-is-a-bigot-for-deporting-mexicans-instead-of-child-refugees/

Source: TPM

By DYLAN SCOTT Published JULY 29, 2014, 12:35 PM EDT

A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that a Florida law that discourages physicians from asking patients about guns is constitutional, despite doctor warnings that such questions are vital to their work.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court decision that invalidated the 2011 law, advocated by guns rights groups. The law says that "unless information is relevant to patient's medical care or safety or safety of others, inquiries regarding firearm ownership or possession should not be made." It allows for disciplinary action against doctors who violate it.

"We find that the Act is a legitimate regulation of professional conduct," the appeals court wrote in its 2-1 decision. "The Act simply codifies that good medical care does not require inquiry or record-keeping regarding firearms when unnecessary to a patient’s care."

"It is not a physician's business whether his or her patient chooses to exercise their fundamental, individual right to own a firearm," Chris Cox, president of the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action, said in a statement praising the decision.

-snip-

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/florida-law-doctors-ask-patients-about-guns-appeals-court

Source: TPM

By CAITLIN MACNEAL Published JULY 29, 2014, 1:17 PM EDT

The president of conservative pro-family group Faith2Action last weekend announced the pre-launch of ReaganBook, a social networking site described as "the Facebook for patriots," according to Right Wing Watch.

Faith2Action President Janet Porter told attendees at the Ohio Liberty Coalition's "Reload 4 Liberty" event that Facebook has been censoring people like anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera.

Porter lamented that "while tomorrow Facebook employees are gathering to go march at the gay pride parade in San Francisco," they are censoring people with "unpopular opinions."

She then described ReaganBook as a social network that tears down walls like President Reagan. “We’re tearing down walls of tyranny and censorship," she said.

-snip-

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/reaganbook-facebook-for-patriots

By SAHIL KAPUR Published JULY 29, 2014, 1:04 PM EDT

The White House fired back at Speaker John Boehner on Tuesday after the Republican told reporters that talk of impeachment is a "scam" by Democrats to raise money and gin up their base.

"Well if that's the case then I suspect that there may be members of the Republican conference that didn't receive the memo," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters at his daily briefing, proceeding to rattle off a list of Republicans who have floated impeachment.

"We've seen comments in recent months from Congressman Steve King from Iowa, Congressman Ted Yoho from Florida, Congressman Lou Barletta from Pennsylvania, the distinguished Congressman Steve Stockman from Texas; his fellow Texan Blake Farenthold has raised this prospect. We've even seen Kerry Bentivolio from Michigan call this a dream come true. I think that was about 9 or 10 months ago," Earnest said. "So that's an indication that if the case then maybe the Speaker should direct that attention and that message to members of his own conference."

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/white-house-boehner-impeachment-scam

Dean Obeidallah

The former half-term governor has started her own subscription-based Internet TV network. If nothing else, it is should provide a lot of unintentional hilarity.

You really can’t ask for a better way to start your week than with seeing the headline “Sarah Palin launches her own Internet TV channel”. It’s like Christmas came early—or maybe Palin timed the announcement to coincide with the end of Ramadan and this is her Eid present to Muslims.

In any event, on Sunday Palin unveiled her subscription-based Internet TV network, “The Sarah Palin Channel.” It costs $9.95 a month, which means that people earning the hourly minimum wage of $7.25—which Palin opposes raising—will have to work two extra hours a month to afford it.

I know what you are thinking: I love Sarah Palin, but is her network really worth that money? Well, let me give you a little tour of the Palin Channel so you can decide.

Palin then goes on to offer conservatives so much red meat that the network should come with a health warning. We see images of Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson, the guy who likened gays to criminals and people who rape animals. There’s Franklin Graham, who told us that Islam is a “very evil and wicked religion.” And we also see news stories the website will offer, focusing on one in particular: “The case for Obama’s impeachment.”

Her promo video—which looks like an SNL parody—lets us know right from the top that this “is a news channel that’s a lot more than news, it’s a community.” It appears that Palin has now become a community organizer—just like President Obama was. I guess he inspired her.

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/29/palin-tv-will-be-comedy-central.html

Palin was one of the biggest TV personalities of the decade. What went wrong?

DANIEL D'ADDARIO

Credit where it’s due: Sarah Palin, who has just announced the launch of her subscription-based online video channel, is one of the most skilled, and resilient, TV stars of the past decade.

After her resignation as governor of Alaska in 2009, Palin pivoted seamlessly to television, where she served in an official capacity as a Fox News contributor and in an unofficial capacity as a shameless entertainer ready to take any gig; she showed up in the audience of “Dancing With the Stars” week after week as her daughter competed, and guest-hosted “Today.” She had her own reality show on TLC, too. But no matter how promiscuously she touted her on-air persona, her particular brand of charisma proved a little too spiky to really work in established TV contexts.

Her difficulties with Fox News have been widely reported. But across the dial, Palin never quite fit in. Brought in to boost “Today’s” ratings for a day, Palin couldn’t resist bringing up how she thought “Game Change” was based on lies about her — a little too bilious a subject for a morning show. Working on reality TV, Palin basically ignored the vintage-sitcom family-reality-show template (one that’s run from “The Osbournes” to “Duck Dynasty”). Everyone involved was so focused on projecting a postcard image of brave, hardy Alaskan pioneers that they forgot that actual events need to happen in order for television to be interesting. And Palin basically haunted “Dancing With the Stars,” not only appearing in the audience but also making cameos in the lyrics, as several of the dance numbers young Bristol performed referring to a conservative mother (“You Can’t Hurry Love,” “Mama Told Me [Not to Come]“). Palin’s daughter was an amiable blank, reflecting the light and heat generated by her mother rather than generating any of her own. This wasn’t the way the show was meant to work — the contestants, generally, are supposed to be charismatic on their own.

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http://www.salon.com/2014/07/28/sarah_palins_new_tv_network_shows_just_how_far_her_star_has_fallen/

There is a serious agenda behind the paranoia -- and a vision of reality that is truly scary

EDWIN LYNGAR

If you only consumed the Fox News Network or books penned by Fox “journalists,” you could be forgiven for believing that the streets of America run red with the blood of Christian martyrs or that Bibles are being burned in the streets of San Francisco by marauding atheists. The claims of religious persecution are laughable even on cursory examination, but this slice of American self-delusion can no longer be ignored. The manufactured war on Christians provides cover for fundamentalist to perpetrate actual discrimination, against gay people, religious minorities and women. With the latest decision from the Supreme Court creating religious rights for billon-dollar corporations like Hobby Lobby, this wholesale nonsense has gone beyond anyone’s capacity to ignore.

To understand the rise of the Christian victim myth, one must trace it to the source: Fox News and especially its affiliated radio and book empire. Even among the intellectually atrophied, there are a few who stand out for being worse than the rest. At Fox News, I would argue it’s the trifecta of Mike Huckabee, Sean Hannity and my personal favorite (and the main subject of this post), Todd Starnes. To understand the creation of the religious victimization myth, I thoroughly examined Starnes’ latest polemic: “God Less America: Real Stories From the Front Lines of the Attack on Traditional Values.” Forwarded by Huckabee and promoted by Hannity, this Fox News corporate product captures everything that is wrong, untrue and stupid about this ongoing narrative.

I have spent more hours than I want to admit trying to understand Todd Starnes as a fellow human being. Like me, Starnes is an obese, white man, and we probably share pants sizes and a love of fried foods. Where we differ is that Starnes has spent his entire life dedicated to Southern Baptists, a group that has only recently recovered from its hatred of dancing and interracial marriage. He is a marginal member of the Fox News brand, but is a constant source of misinformation and social discord, regularly featured on Fox radio and the Fox News website.

Starnes might dismiss my criticism with his favorite insult of “elitist,” but that can’t stick to me. I’m a former military enlisted man, was a libertarian for years and have been clawing my own way out of the pit of angry, white America for decades. My own upbringing should make me love Starnes: undereducated, white, rural, gun-toting and fat. Todd and I could be brothers, except that every word that he writes or utters makes me almost ill. In that way, I’ll label his book a “Nauseātus Magnum Opus.” My fascination about Starnes comes from how close I came to accepting his vision of reality.

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http://www.salon.com/2014/07/29/fox_news_war_on_christianity_how_right_wing_hacks_created_a_sect_of_victims/

By SAHIL KAPUR Published JULY 28, 2014, 5:09 PM EDT

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said on Monday that his office would stop defending the state's gay marriage ban in court after an appeals court struck down a similar ban on same sex marriage in Virginia.

"Our attorneys have vigorously defended North Carolina's marriage law, which is their job," Cooper, a Democrat, told reporters. "Today we know our law almost surely will be overturned as well. Simply put, it's time to stop making arguments we will lose, and instead move forward knowing that the ultimate resolution will likely come from the United States Supreme Court."

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Virginia's ban on gay marriage violates the Constitution's equal protection clause. The ruling itself — which doesn't take effect just yet — only applies to Virginia, but the circuit decision sets a strong precedent for gay marriage in courts in North Carolina and the multiple other states it covers.

"[The ruling] does predict that our law will be struck down," Cooper said, arguing that continuing to defend the gay marriage ban in court would be "futile" because "judges in North Carolina are bound by the opinion."

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/north-carolina-roy-cooper-ag-marriage