Indiana elementary school student isolated from other children due to his lack of faith in God.

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

A lawsuit recently filed against a teacher at Forest Park Elementary School in Indiana alleged that a 7-year-old student was “banished” from sitting with other students at lunch after he revealed that he did not believe in God. 

According to the lawsuit obtained by The Washington Post, second grade teacher Michelle Myer interrogated the student, who was identified with the initials A.B., about his religious beliefs after he told his classmates on the playground that he did not go to church because he did not believe in God. 

As a result, the child was ordered to sit by himself during lunch for a three-day period. 

“The defendant’s actions caused great distress to A.B. and resulted in the child being ostracized by his peers past the three-day ‘banishment.'” 

“Ms. Meyer asked A.B. if he had told the girl that he did not believe in God and A.B. said he had and asked what he had done wrong,” the lawsuit explained. “Ms. Meyer asked A.B. if he went to church, whether his family went to church, and whether his mother knew how he felt about God… She also asked A.B. if he believed that maybe God exists.” 

Several days later, Meyer sent A.B. to talk to another adult at the school, who “reinforced his feeling that he had done something very wrong,” the lawsuit said. 

“On the day of the incident and for an additional two days thereafter, Ms. Meyer required that A.B. sit by himself during lunch and told him he should not talk to the other students and stated that this was because he had offended them. This served to reinforce A.B.’s feeling that he had committed some transgression that justified his exclusion.”

Of course this resulted in the child forming negative feelings about school and growing anxious about attending, as he felt both the teachers and children hated him. 

This story really hits me where I live since I went through a similar situation when I was about seven years old as well.

In my case I was ostracized by the other kids, and felt isolated and unwelcome for most of that year.

The next year I learned to keep my opinions to myself.

As you can see that did not last. 

Of course this is just one of the consequences facing those of us who use logic and critical thinking skills to navigate life, instead of relying on the comfort of ancient superstitions.

Vladimir Putin gets his feelings hurt during G20 summit and suddenly decides he needs to catch up on his sleep.

Source

Courtesy of Slate:  

If last week Vladimir Putin was 99 percent sure that the West was out to get him, he now knows it with complete certainty. Over the weekend, Western leaders at the G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, did their utmost to criticize and ostracize the Russian president over his actions in Ukraine. Fed up, the leader of the world’s ninth largest economy skipped breakfast on Sunday to fly home early. 

Even before the summit, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott had vowed to “shirt-front” Putin (i.e., tackle him according to the practice of Australian rules football) over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper reluctantly shook Putin’s hand, telling him “to get out of Ukraine.” And President Obama, in a speech to students at the University of Queensland, mentioned the global threats of Ebola and “Russian aggression” in the same sentence. 

“Attack on Putin at G20 Summit” was a headline in the Moscow tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets. The newspaper described a “psychological attack” on Putin that began by assigning him to the ageing Hilton Brisbane, hardly worth its four stars, according to Russian diplomatic sources. When Putin arrived, backed up by four warships from Russia’s Pacific fleet, other participants avoided talking to him at public events and largely left him on his own. For the summit’s family photo, Putin was placed on the far edge, next to South African President Jacob Zuma, Moskovsky Komsomolets sniffed.

After this Putin claimed that he needed to get "at least four or five hours of sleep" before returning home, and left on his private jet to start the 18 hour journey back to Moscow.

This is essentially how you deal with bullies on the playground. You keep them out of your games, you let them sit alone at the lunch table, and you mock and snicker about them behind their backs.  Until they take their toys and run home to their mommies.

So much for that macho image.

And remember this was the same Vladimir Putin who received heaps of praise from Republicans earlier this year, and who one Fox News host claimed she wanted to head the United States for a couple of days in order to deal with ISIS.

And wasn't it our own back porch Russia peeping Tina, who claimed that she had more respect for Putin than our President as well?

Oh yes she did!

He harkens back to the era of the czars, and he wants that Russian empire to grow again.

And when she compared Obama to Putin?  

"Well yes, especially under the Commander-in-Chief that we have today, because Obama's...the perception of him, and his potency...across the world is one of such weakness, you know and I...lookit people are looking at Putin as one who wrestles bears and drills for oil. They look at our President as one who wears mom jeans and equivocates and bloviates."

Of course it was OUR President who was honored by the other attendees, gave a very well received speech at the University of Queensland, and who got a commitment from the  Chinese government to curb carbon emissions for the first time in history.  

Not bad for a non-bear wrestling equivocator in mom jeans, right?

Is Sarah Palin persona non grata with the folks at Fox?

That is a picture of Greta Van Susteren fishing in Alaska.

You may not have recognized her without a Palin milling around her attempting to get attention.

This is Franklin Graham, who Greta is hanging out with here in the Last Frontier.

Notice anything missing?

Now. remember this from a few days ago?

That is Fox News very own bill O'Reilly who was, and may still be, up here as well.

Now that is two Fox News personalities, including Palin's favorite interviewer Greta Van Susteren, and Franklin Graham, Palin's all time FAVORTIE evangelist, and nary a Palin in sight. WTF?

How is it possible that Palin has not been pimping their visit on her Facebook page?

How is it possible that she is not cozying up to Graham right along with Greta for some of that evangelical cred she is always fishing for?

And how is it that Greta has not announced an upcoming interview with the half term governor and former teabagger queen?

I mean we KNEW that the relations between Palin and Fox were somewhat strained, but this appears to be a whole new level of Fuck Off!

I mean sure there MIGHT be something in the works that we just don't know about, but how unlikely does that seem? Especially since Greta has already been here for three days.

You know it almost seems as if Greta and O'Reilly came up specifically to make the point that Palin is no longer allowed at the cool kids table.

But hey don't forget, she DID get to make a cake for an octogenarian race car driver. So you know, she has THAT going for her.

(Pictures courtesy of Gretawire.)

Illinois Republicans scatter like cockroaches for fear of being seen with Sarah Palin.

"Dammit don't you know I matter?  Now come to my fundraiser so that the people can see how important I am!"

From the Daily Herald:

While former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin hopes to rake in big cash for the Illinois Republican Party during her visit this month, top GOP candidates are not lining up to join her in the spotlight.

Republicans heading the state party's ticket, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk for Senate and state Sen. Bill Brady for governor, don't plan to be at the fundraiser on May 12 in Rosemont.

The GOP's top suburban congressional hopefuls, Randy Hultgren of Winfield Township and Bob Dold of Kenilworth, aren't showing up either. Nor will suburban area GOP state senators like John Millner of Carol Stream and Dan Duffy of Lake Barrington.

So for all of Palin's star power as a former vice presidential candidate whose autobiography recently dominated the best-seller charts, many Republicans running for office in Illinois are not jumping up to meet her.

"They don't want to take the risk, but I'm sure they will take the money," surmises Paul Green, a veteran political professor with Roosevelt University.

A photo with Palin could prove damaging to some Republicans running in suburban districts that have been trending more and more Democratic in recent elections, Green says.

I wonder which is more damaging to a Republican candidate? 

A picture with the man the Teabaggers love to hate, President Barack Obama? (See Charlie Crist)  Or a picture with "Trashilla from Wasilla"?

Somebody should try and experiment.  They should put all of the Republicans in a big room with only two exits.  At one exit they could place President Obama, and at the other Sarah Palin.

Who wants to bet that the majority of them would either just stay in the room and starve to death or leap out of a window to escape?