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A gay and lesbian-themed graphic novel on an elite university reading list for some incoming college freshmen is generating pushback among Christian students who feel the material is “pornographic.” “Fun Home,” a best-selling story that features a girl coming out as a lesbian and discovering her father was gay, is among several books selected by Duke University “to give incoming students a shared intellectual experience with other members of their class.” Instead, the racy reading material -- which is recommended, but not required -- seems to have stirred up controversy.

When is it outrageous to amend the Constitution? Donald Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination, wants to overturn the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship. Whether out of panic or sincerity, a number of other Republican candidates have joined the bandwagon. This is probably good politics for the GOP nomination and almost certainly bad politics for the general election. I am inclined against the idea as a matter of public policy, because the costs would outweigh the benefits. But I am far from convinced it is something to be outraged about. It's funny: On countless public policy...

(PHOTO-AT-LINK)Donald Trump went to Mobile, Ala., over the weekend, and thousands of people came to hear the Republican frontrunner speak. But the most important thing thing that came out of Trump's appearance was obviously the photo above, taken by Mark Wallheiser, who should immediately be awarded a Pulitzer prize for it. Let's break down this amazing photo person by person. The woman in the pink tank top, holding a baby The look on her face has already launched an Internet phenomenon. Witness this: Thank you, whoever made this pic.twitter.com/NmUCBKAgSD — Akin Unver (@AkinUnver) August 23, 2015 Amazing. Creepy. Creepily amazing....

Columnist George Will points out that Apple’s openly gay CEO, Tim Cook, “…thinks Indiana is a terrible place. (But) He opened marketing and retail operations in Saudi Arabia two months before a man was sentenced to 450 lashes for being gay.” Will was commenting on Cook’s recent Washington Post op-ed protesting Indiana’s new, now amended, Religious Freedom Restoration Act and similar initiatives around the country. World Magazine reports that Cook has recently been in the United Arab Emirates negotiating on behalf of Apple, where homosexuality is against the law and the penalty is death. Cook’s duplicity is not just in...

After five days of ballot counting, it’s official – neither of the two openly homosexual Republican candidates for U.S. House won their races last Tuesday. They lost despite strong public backing from Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-OH, and other high-profile GOP leaders, who aggressively promoted the two men as part of their “Young Guns” recruitment program after concluding in a post-2012 election report that the party’s position against same-sex “marriage” was hurting them with millennial voters. In Massachusetts, former state senator Richard Tisei was defeated by 14 percentage points by Democrat Seth Moulton, a former Marine and combat...

The Iowa Steak Fry spent more than $50,000 flying Bill and Hillary Clinton to the Democratic event outside Des Moines in September honoring retiring Sen. Tom Harkin. (Excerpt only.)

Warren Buffett is trying to salvage his liberal credentials in the wake of his latest tax avoidance scheme. The Oracle of Omaha became BFF’s with Obama & Company during the President’s reelection campaign when he expressed support for Obama’s tax-and-spend agenda. In an effort to be among the 1 percenters who supported taxing the 1 percenters, Buffett touted the virtues of forking more money over to the Internal Revenue Service…And then the Burger King/ Tim Hortons deal happened. In the wake of news about companies using “tax inversion” deals to escape the highest corporate tax rate in the world (ours),...

The powerful reaction to Ray Rice’s elevator assault against his then-fiancé raises an awkward question for the media and feminist groups. Where were they when news came out that Juanita Broderick was assaulted by Bill Clinton, and advised to “put some ice on it.”? The list of women abused by Clinton is long, and includes Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, and the young star-struck intern Monica Lewinsky. Yet Bill Clinton remains a revered figure in Democrat circles, just yesterday lionized in Iowa as his wife made a “will I or won’t I?” appearance at a political event.

Tens of thousands of members of Iraqi religious minority groups are dying of heat and thirst on Mount Sinjar, human rights groups say, after death threats from Islamic State - formerly Isis Tens of thousands of members of Iraqi religious minority groups driven from their homes for fear of the jihadist group Islamic State are dying of thirst and heat on a desert mountainside in the north of the country, according to the United Nations and human rights groups. Some 40 children have already died from the heat and dehydration, the UN children’s organisation Unicef says, while upwards of 40,000...

div class="article_body top">Isn’t it amazing how people can make a career decrying poverty and end up collecting big bucks from taxpayers for not much work? Consider the case of University of North Carolina Law School Professor Gene Nichol, who teaches one course per semester, and pulls down almost $213,000 per year in that state-funded school, as professor and head of the school’s Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity.Add in his wife, also on the UC payroll ay the medical school and Health Care System, and this fun couple pulls down over 600k per year. The College Fix has the goods...

Reacting to news of Sudan re-arresting Meriam Ibrahim, the young mother who was sentenced to death for converting to Christianity, Sen Ted Cruz tells Fox News "This isn't a partisan issue"

Former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal is under fire for mocking a disabled fan’s selfie. The retired athlete posted a picture on Instagram of his own contorted face next to Jahmel Binion’s selfie. FOX 2 reports the post, captioned “Smile today,” earned more than 14,000 likes, with former University of Michigan athlete Trey Burke and rapper Waka Flocka Flame joining in on the teasing. The post has been deleted. But for Binion, the damage has been done.Modal Trigger In a now-deleted post on Instagram, Shaquille O’Neal made fun of a disabled fan’s selfie. With missing teeth and abnormal hair growth caused...

Let's pretend you're a screenwriter assigned to develop a character to run for Congress in California in 2014. You need a compelling story, so you make him an orphan at 13 – wait, even better his dad leaves the family two weeks before his mother died – and then social services splits up his brothers and sisters leaving him alone in the world. Despite those challenges he perseveres, putting himself through a top-tier college and then building and selling two multimillion-dollar companies. Thus financially secure, he decides to dedicate himself to public service and runs for City Council. n his...

A teen said he was cyberbullied for wearing an “I Love Fossil Fuels” shirt on Earth Day. John Digiacobbe said he loves fossil fuels because they’ve been around for millions of years and provide for more than 80 percent of energy. Some of his classmates, however, don’t seem to share that view. Digiacobbe said wearing the shirt prompted comments at school and a “firestorm of negative tweets.” …

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not consistently disclose health risks to human test subjects it used to study the risks of pollutants, sometimes keeping information about cancer possibilities from participants, the agency’s internal watchdog said Wednesday. The EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that the agency obtained the proper approvals from participants before exposing them to airborne exhaust and diesel pollutants, including particulate matter, in 2010 and 2011. However, the consent forms were inconsistent in their disclosures and did not warn of potential long-term risks of exposure to the gases. “This was because they only planned to perform...

Can banning one school-yard word really change the world? Sheryl Sandberg says yes. Sandberg -- the chief operating officer of Facebook and author of the best-selling book "Lean In" -- is spearheading the launch of a campaign today to ban the word "bossy," arguing the negative put-down stops girls from pursuing leadership roles. "We know that by middle school, more boys than girls want to lead," Sandberg said, "and if you ask girls why they don't want to lead, whether it's the school project all the way on to running for office, they don't want to be called bossy, and...

https://my.barackobama.com/page/s/organizing-for-action-hq-internship---chicagoHQ Internship Opportunity: OFA is now accepting applications for full-time and part-time HQ Interns for the Spring 2014 and Summer 2014 HQ Internship Programs in Chicago, IL. HQ Interns will have the unique opportunity to work closely with staff in advancing the President’s agenda. Departmental placements available include Grassroots Organizing, Training, Issue Campaigns, Digital, Press and Finance. Please include your departmental placement preferences in your cover letter. Accepted HQ Interns will be paired with departments based on their stated interest, qualifications and availability. This is a 14-week, unpaid internship program.Please note that our Washington, D.C. location is not our primary...

Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog I dare liberals to buy a McDonald’s franchise, and pay the workers $15 an hour Liberals are always talking about how easy it would be for McDonald’s to pay its workers $15 an hour.However, so far, no liberal has actually bought a McDonald’s franchise and paid those wages.So, I dare liberals to prove that it’s as easy as they claim it is. I dare liberals to buy a McDonald’s franchise, and pay the workers $15 an hour.

Organic farmer Don Kretschmann walked around his picturesque but ancient barn and stepped up to a rustic barrel root crop washer. It's a simple machine, he said, consisting of long, wooden planks that form a cylinder, which he uses to clean freshly harvested produce on his Beaver County farm. Soil-covered carrots and potatoes go in one end, the cylinder rotates, water sprays in and clean vegetables emerge. “But who knows if I'll be allowed to keep using it?” said Kretschmann, who has farmed about 15 acres since he and his wife, Becky, bought the land in 1978. “Or this barn,...

The trouble started the night Jeff, one of the guys I drink and talk about God with, announced that he’d been summoned to court for the Zimmerman trial jury pool. We’d kept politics out of our Wednesday night meetings, which are held on my back porch, the six of us seated at an old dining room table propped next to my broken hot tub (Florida short-sale homes come standard with broken hot tubs). Instead of Bible Study, we call it our Tavern Ministry, and while we were often drunk halfway through, a churchlike decorum had always held sway. Once the...