Mexican Drug Lord Posts Pictures to Social Media (36 pics)

A Mexican drug lord posted his pictures on Instagram and Twitter to show how cool and lavish his lifestyle was. Unfortunately social media is for everyone to see, including the authorities, and the Mexican Police were able to catch the drug lord and put him behind bars.

LSU students say school’s ‘Tigers’ mascot is a symbol of racism and ‘white privilege’

A Change.org petition started by a student at Louisiana State University insists the school’s mascot, a tiger, is a racist symbol from the days of the Confederacy and demands that the school change the mascot in order to avoid offending black students.

“Louisiana State University named their mascot the Tigers, and they named it during the height of Jim Crow South. This was a time when black men feared for their lives, and were treated as sub human,” the petition’s author wrote. “This symbol is the most prevalent confederate symbol in the United States.”

The petition then goes on to explain that the white men who chose the confederate symbol were known at the time for their violent and racist nature.

“These powerful white males choose the Tiger [sic] as a symbol to honor a confederate regiment called Louisiana’s Tigers,” it says. “They were known for their propensity for violence on and off the battle field. They were just as violent to the black slaves they owned, and later even more violent once those slaves were set free.

“It is incredibly insulting for any African American to have to attend a school that honors confederate militantism. It is already hard enough to be black at LSU, and these symbols must be changed,” the petition says before addressing the issue of white privilege.

The petition also objects to the live “Mike the Tiger” mascot which is kept on campus in a state-of-the-art $3 million habitat that is among the largest and most well-equipped tiger habitats in the world.

“It’s also cruel to cage a wild animal for the amusement of privileged white people. They’ve never been in a cage,” the petition read, although LSU is far from the only university to cage their live animal mascot.

The petition, which is seeking 500 signatures, had 453 supporters as of Thursday morning, many leaving their own encouraging and supportive comments.

“For years we suffered subtle slights, but soon we will be the majority. It will be up to us to shape our state in our image, not in the image of our former captors,” said one supporter. “Wake up black people. Our time has come.”

Another supporter agreed. “Get rid of anything to do with white male power. They’re [sic] day is up. Time for us ppl [sic] of color to rule them!”

But not everyone sharing the petition was in support of the proposed mascot change.

“The author of this petition (an alleged college student forced to attend the flagship university of Louisiana) didn’t even bother to check Wikipedia for basic facts,” said one commenter. “The Louisiana Tigers were not slave owners. They were the poorest Irish immigrants who performed such backbreaking and dangerous manual labor that the slave owners of the time didn’t even want their slaves to do it because their lives were considered more valuable.”

“I am so sick of people getting their feelings hurt over our history and the past! Grow up, get a job, and support our Country instead of trying to tear it down! My LSU Tiger decor will expand for sure now,” said another dissenter.

(h/t: Campus Reform)

Working Mom Rewrites Daughter's 'Outdated' Homework That Scolds Women Who Work

Like most families who live in expensive areas of the country, Lynne Polvino and her husband, from Queens, New York, both work and coordinate their schedules as much as they can to look after their two children. This isn't uncommon, with the Pew Research Center finding that in 46 percent of families, both parents have a full time job, up from 31 percent in 1970. 

So when her 6-year-old daughter came home with an assignment called "Back to Work," that began "Lisa was not happy. Her mother was back at work," Polvino decided to rewrite the "outdated" homework to better reflect the modern world. 


The original assignment asked children to pull words from a pool to fill in missing segments from a story about a girl called Lisa. The story starts on a morning, with Lisa upset because her mother was going back to work.  

"The morning was terrible," the assignment reads. "Lisa had to get to school on time. Her father had to get to work on time. And now, her mother was in a rush, too." 

Lisa's father has to make her breakfast, which was "not too good." When Lisa gets to school, she wonders: "'what time Mommy will come home. I will be lonely at home.'" The story ends on a higher —if unrealistic— note when Lisa's mother leaves work early so they can be together. 

Polvino told Today that she rewrote the assignment "to reflect the kind of world I want to live in, the kind of world I want my kids to live in when they’re old enough to have jobs and families." Her version reads: 

"Lisa was happy. Her mother was back at work."

"Before Lisa was born, her mother worked in a big office. Because it valued her important contributions to the workplace, her employer offered nearly a year of paid maternity leave and flex time upon her return."

"The morning was wonderful. Lisa had to get to school on time. Her mother had to get to work on time. Her father was home on his paid paternity leave, caring for Lisa's younger brother and contributing equally to the running of the household. No one was in a rush because dad had things firmly under control."

"Lisa's father made breakfast. It was very good. And he had Lisa wash the dishes because all functional humans should learn how to clean up after themselves and help others."

"Lisa liked her day at school. She enjoyed play-based learning and small student-to-teacher ratio in her state-of-the-art public school classroom. Her teachers were well paid and happy. On the way home, she thought about it: "I wonder if I will become an engineer like Mommy when I grow up, or a teacher, or something else. I can do anything!"

When Lisa arrived home, there was her mother, Lisa had spent the afternoon at her free federally-funded after school enrichment program, where they offer Lego robotics and painting, and now her whole family was home together. Lisa was glad she was growing up in a society free of gender bias and misogyny. 

"Lisa feels fine now."

Polvino explained her reasoning for sharing the rewrite on Facebook:

“It just pushed so many buttons for me, and with each sentence it managed to get worse! My shock and dismay quickly turned to outrage. I mean, what decade are we in, anyway? In this day and age, we’re going to tell kids that mothers working outside the home makes their children and families unhappy? That fathers don’t normally do things like cook and wash the dishes?” 

She went on to explain that while she has an amazing boss, many women don't have the support that she did and find it even harder to balance work and children.

"I have a very supportive boss, but still, I’ve had so many moments where I’ve felt that I wasn’t doing either thing — work or motherhood — very well. There’s not nearly enough support out there for working moms: inadequate maternity and paternity leave policies, the lack of affordable childcare, and all the subtle and not-so-subtle messages we hear — even in our children’s homework! — telling us that we should be at home taking care of the kids and managing the household make it hard to not feel guilty, to not question ourselves." 

Polvino rewrote the story "to reflect the kind of world I want to live in, the kind of world I want my kids to live in when they’re old enough to have jobs and families.” 

And it seems to have worked. Polvino didn't send the rewrite to her daughter's teacher, but did send an email expressing her concerns. The teacher agreed, and said homework would be review more carefully in the future. 

What do you think of this rewrite?  

City bans family from farmers market because they won’t host same-sex weddings at their orchard

Michigan farmers Steve and Bridget Tennes have been blocked from participating in an East Lansing farmers market because they do not host same-sex weddings at their orchard. 

For the past six years, one Michigan family has shared their organic fruit at a local farmers market, but now their religious beliefs are standing in the way of that tradition.

The kerfuffle between Steve Tennes, who owns a 120-acre orchard in Charlotte, Michigan, and the city officials in East Lansing — which is more than 20 miles away — began when he expressed his views on gay marriage in a Facebook post last year.

Following the initial Facebook post, which was published in response to a lesbian woman interested in hosting her wedding at Tennes’ orchard, Country Mill, the Michigan farmer received a warning from an East Lansing official that if he tried selling fruit at the city’s farmers market, it could incite protests.

But when Tennes — along with his wife Bridget and their children — gathered at the market last summer to sell their organic apples, peaches, and cherries, no protesters showed up.

Regardless, East Lansing officials decided to ban the Tennes family from participating in this year’s farmers market, which resumes Sunday, citing the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance that covers sexual orientation, The Daily Signal reported.

In 1972, East Lansing became the first community in the U.S. to enact an anti-discrimination ordinance that provided protections for the LGBT community. It blocked the city from discriminating based on sexual orientation in its employment, housing, public accommodations, and services.

So now, the Tennes family is suing East Lansing for religious discrimination. The Alliance Defending Freedom is representing the family farmers.

Tennes, a Marine veteran and the spouse of an Army veteran, told The Daily Signal that their decision to file a lawsuit is consistent with their philosophy of defending freedom.

“My wife Bridget and I volunteered to serve our country in the military to protect freedom,” Tennes said, “and that is why we feel we have to fight for freedom now, whether it’s Muslims’, Jews’, or Christians’ right to believe and live out those beliefs.

“The government shouldn’t be treating some people worse than others because they have different thoughts and ideas,” he said.

All of this started in 2014, when two lesbian women sought to book Country Mill for their wedding ceremony, but the Tennes family turned them down.

According to a legal complaint about the ordeal, Tennes said he had a “civil” conversation with the two women, explaining why he doesn’t host same-sex weddings at his orchard. He even recommended other venues that would be willing to host their ceremony.

The two women were married in 2015 at another orchard, and in August, one of the women published a Facebook post discouraging people from doing business with Country Mill, according to The Daily Signal.

In response, Tennes announced on the Country Mill Facebook page that his orchard would no longer host any weddings.

Then in December, Tennes announced Country Mill would resume hosting weddings, but he made clear it would be only for unions between “one man and one woman.”

He wrote:

This past fall, our family farm stopped booking future wedding ceremonies at our orchard until we could devote the appropriate time to review our policies and how we respectfully communicate and express our beliefs. The Country Mill engages in expressing its purpose and beliefs through the operation of its business and it intentionally communicates messages that promote its owners’ beliefs and declines to communicate messages that violate those beliefs.

The Country Mill family and its staff have and will continue to participate in hosting the ceremonies held at our orchard. It remains our deeply held religious belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman and Country Mill has the First Amendment Right to express and act upon its beliefs. For this reason, Country Mill reserves the right to deny a request for services that would require it to communicate, engage in, or host expression that violates the owners’ sincerely held religious beliefs and conscience.

Furthermore, it remains our religious belief that all people should be treated with respect and dignity regardless of their beliefs or background. We appreciate the tolerance offered to us specifically regarding our participation in hosting wedding ceremonies at our family farm.

It was this December posting that sparked East Lansing’s decision to block Country Mill from participating in the farmers market this year.

In March, after filing an application to participate in the market, Tennes received a letter from East Lansing officials, telling him he had been rejected as a vendor because “Country Mill’s general business practices do not comply with East Lansing’s civil rights ordinances and public policy against discrimination.”

East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows told the Lansing State Journal that the decision to block Tennes’ orchard had nothing to do with the family’s religious beliefs but was instead related to the farm’s “business decision” not to host same-sex weddings.

“This is about them operating a business that discriminates against LGBT individuals, and that’s a whole different issue,“ the mayor said.

Kate Anderson, legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, argued lawmakers in East Lansing are “setting a standard” of religious discrimination.

“East Lansing is setting a standard that you cannot participate in our public venues and you cannot participate in our marketplace,” she said. “We can hurt your livelihood if you don’t ascribe to a belief that we agree with.”

This isn’t the first time a person’s religious beliefs have impacted his professional life.

In February, a Christian florist from Washington state who declined to make arrangements for same-sex weddings decided to take her case to the U.S. Supreme Court after the Washington Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that she violated anti-discrimination laws.

And last month, a Christian staffer at a public school in Maine filed a religious discrimination lawsuit after administrators reportedly threatened to fire her for privately telling a co-worker she would pray for him.

Pro-life 'born again Christian' Madeleine Runkles, pregnant at 18, defends herself after graduation ceremony ban

The 18-year old pregnant student banned by a conservative Christian school from taking part in its graduation ceremony for having pre-marital sex has written a lengthy defence of her position in the Washington Post.

Heritage Academy in Maryland drew a storm of protest including from pro-life groups when it refused to allow Madeleine Runkles, to walk in the graduation procession.

Now, Runkles has defended herself in the newspaper, saying: 'I'm only 18 years old, and I'm about to have a baby boy in the fall as a result of my deliberate failure to adhere to a pledge of chastity I signed at my school...My Christian faith is...extremely important to me, so I involved myself at my church working in the nursery, helping out with Vacation Bible School and helping my mom with meals for church bus drivers on Sunday mornings.'

Runkles outlined how she considered having an abortion but realised she 'couldn't go through' with it because of her faith. 'I am a born-again Christian, one who made a mistake with a very visible consequence,' she wrote. 'Even though I grew up knowing abortion was wrong, I also knew that it would make things easier for me — no one would know what I had done, and I could get on with my life. I had seen women being forgiven who admitted to having abortions, while women who kept their babies seemed to be harder to forgive. But the more I thought about abortion, the more I knew I couldn't go through with it. In my view, abortion is taking a life. And I couldn't do that.'

She described telling her understanding parents that she was pregnant before being unexpectedly barred from attending the college or taking part in its graduation ceremony.

'I broke down in a grocery store parking lot with my mom, and I cried as I told her the truth. She looked at me and said: "I'm not mad at you, I'm not upset with you. You're gonna be fine, and we're gonna make it through this." I still had to work up the courage to tell my dad, but when I finally did — the day I received my acceptance letter to Bob Jones — he reacted just like my mom: "It's going to be okay, sweetie," he said, "God is in this somewhere, we just need to find where He is in all of this."

'Unfortunately, my school didn't feel the same way...I wouldn't be allowed on campus until after the baby was born. I would be allowed to receive my diploma, but I would have to take all my classes at home, and wouldn't be allowed to walk at graduation.'

Runkles went on to make a Christian case against her college's position. 'When girls like me who go to pro-life schools make a brave pro-life decision, we shouldn't be hidden away in shame,' she wrote. 'The sin that got us into this situation is not worth celebrating, but after confession and forgiveness take place, we should be supported and treated like any other student. What we are going through is tough enough. Having to deal with the added shame of being treated like an outcast is nothing that any girl should have to go through.'

She described the aggressive reaction she received as a result of the publicity surrounding the case, which 'many' feared would damage the college's reputation.

'Many of the people in my town and at my school who had supported me and my family have turned on us since I went public, feeling that all the scrutiny was hurting Heritage Academy's reputation. We started getting nasty emails, angry posts on social media and rude remarks in person. People who had been supportive before are now telling me to shut up, suck it up and grow up. Because of the volume of anger from the community, my parents have decided to keep my brother and me at home for the rest of the school year.'

She concluded: 'I want other girls in my position to know you don't have to give in to pressure or fear of judgment...My school could have made an example of how to treat a student who made a mistake, owned up to it, accepted the consequences, and is now being supported in her decision to choose life. But they didn't. It is my hope that the next Christian school will make the right decision when the time comes.'

Teen shot dead after allegedly pointing gun at off-duty customs agent — but lawyer calls it a murder

Darius Smith, 15, was fatally shot by an off-duty customs agent in southern California last week after Smith allegedly attacked and pointed a gun at the agent. But the attorney for Smith's family says it was a murder.

A 15-year-old boy was fatally shot by an off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent after the teen allegedly attacked the agent on a southern California sidewalk and then pointed a gun at him and demanded his property, authorities told KABC-TV.

The fatally shot teen, identified as Darius Smith, was with a pair of 14-year-old accomplices when they allegedly attacked the agent from behind just after 8 p.m. Friday in Arcadia, authorities told the station.

The agent said he had exited a train — and so did the teens, law enforcement officials told KCBS-TV.

At a street corner, one of the teens allegedly came at the agent from behind while one struck him in the head and another pointed a gun at him and demanded his property, officials told KABC.

“The victim thought the subjects were going to rob and shoot him so he retrieved his department-issued handgun,” Caroline Rodriguez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy told the station. “The victim shot at the subjects in an effort to defend himself.”

The teen with the gun and one of his accomplices were hit by the agent’s gunfire, investigators told KABC. Arcadia police recovered a handgun at the scene that Smith allegedly held, deputies said in a statement to the station.

Smith was pronounced dead at a hospital Saturday morning, the sheriff’s department told KABC.

But the lawyer for Smith’s family said the teen was murdered.

“Darius Smith was executed,” attorney Lee Merritt told KABC in a follow-up story. “He was not in the midst of a robbery. He was shot twice in the legs first. [He fell] and his shooter got over him and shot him three times in the chest. That’s a murder. That’s not subduing the robbery.”

Smith’s family wants the agent to face criminal charges, KABC reported, adding that Merritt and members of Black Lives Matter said young black men often are falsely portrayed as criminals — and that Smith was anything but.

Jasmine Abdullah of Black Lives Matter told the station that Smith was “a child of God, he was a good kid, he was an aspiring football player and we’re asking that justice be served.”

The second suspect in the incident remained hospitalized with gunshot wounds that weren’t life-threatening. The third teen fled on foot unharmed but was later found at a nearby home, taken into custody and booked at a juvenile facility on suspicion of robbery, the station said.

The two teens still face robbery charges, but Smith’s family and their attorney said those charges should be dropped.

“Them boys didn’t do that,” Smith’s mother Reshawna Myricks told KCBS. “They aren’t those type of boys to do that.”

The gun found at the scene turned out to be a replica, KCBS reported.

The agent — whose name wasn’t released — suffered facial bruises in the incident but required no medical attention, KABC said.