Another reason to condemn Hobby Lobby

From Raw Story

A Mississippi woman said she was fired three years ago from her job at Hobby Lobby after applying for medical leave to deliver her baby.

Felicia Allen began working in 2010 as a part-time cashier at the Flowood arts-and-crafts store, which is owned by an evangelical family that recently won a U.S. Supreme Court case allowing them a religious exemption to mandatory birth control coverage for employees under the Affordable Care Act.

Shortly after starting her job, Allen learned she was four months pregnant with her third child.
Because she had not been working for very long, Allen did not qualify for leave under the federal Family Medical Leave Act, but she said a supervisor initially indicated she could take unpaid time off to have her baby.

But Allen, now 32, said her supervisor told her shortly before her baby was born that she would be terminated for taking time off but could reapply for her job later on.

“I was like, I can’t get fired,” Allen told RH Reality Check. “She can’t terminate me because I have to go have my child. I started asking everybody on the job, ‘Can they do this?’ And even the assistant manager who had just got hired [said,] ‘No, that’s not right.’”

Allen said she tried to come back to work three weeks after her baby was born, but she was turned down.

“They didn’t even want me to come back after having my baby, to provide for it,” she said.
Allen said Hobby Lobby’s corporate office gave a false version of events when she applied for unemployment benefits, claiming she had chosen not to take a personal leave to deliver her child.
She eventually won her claim for unemployment benefits, but she sued Hobby Lobby in 2012 for discrimination.

But her suit was quickly dropped because Allen – like most Hobby Lobby employees – had signed an agreement requiring her to resolve any legal disputes through arbitration, rather than the courts.

A legal expert told RH Reality Check that arbitration is much cheaper and more swiftly resolved than litigation, but the process greatly favors corporations over workers and is less public than a court case.

“I think it’s an interesting confluence here with Hobby Lobby being in the news with that big case, but if that were an employment case where an employee wanted to make a claim, we would never see that case at the Supreme Court because it would be stayed in arbitration,” said Alex Colvin, a professor of conflict resolution at Cornell University.

“So, ironically, Hobby Lobby gets to go to the Supreme Court because they want to challenge this, but their own employees don’t get to go to court,” Colvin said.

Hobby Lobby declined comment on Allen’s claims, and RH Reality Check found no pattern of employee discrimination in existing federal court records on the company.

But Hobby Lobby is unusual in its allowance for Christian-influenced arbitration overseen by either the American Arbitration Association (AAA) or the Institute for Christian Conciliation (ICC).

While the secular AAA is the largest dispute-resolution provider in the U.S., ICC is operated by Peacemaker Ministries – which teaches that Christians may not sue other Christians but must instead resolve disputes within the church.

Allen, who now has four children and works for Xerox, said she was never made aware that any type of arbitration was available to her.

“How can you be Christian and lie about something to hinder your employee or don’t want them to come back after they’ve had their baby?” Allen said. “Or you’re taking up for your manager knowing that they had done the wrong thing. I feel like that’s not being Christian at all. That’s why I don’t even shop there anymore. I used to shop at that store all the time.”

Just when I thought I couldn't hate Hobby Lobby any more.

Speaking of the Duggars and Bill Gothard

Michelle Duggar and her husband Jim Bob are expecting their 21^th child, the couple revealed exclusively to TODAY.

"We are so excited," Michelle Duggar told TODAY Moms before the broadcast. Now three and a half months pregnant, the mom of 19 says she was actually surprised to discover that she's expecting again at 47.
"I was not thinking that God would give us another one, and we are just so grateful."

Michelle's couple of pregnancies were controversial, as baby #19 Josie was several months premature, which set off debate as to whether having so many children is healthy.

In November of 2011 Michelle announced she was pregnant again, only to miscarry a month later.  The family had a memorial service for baby Jubilee.

The super-sized family stars in its own reality TV show, “19 Kids and Counting,” on TLC (guess they will have to update the title!).

APRIL FOOL!

Anna Duggar is pregnant for a third time

Anna is married to Josh Duggar of 19 kids and counting.

The woman next to Anna is her sister Priscilla who is married to David Waller a pecan thief.

Priscilla is due in March.

Would somebody spay and neuter these people?  Thanks.

Chuck Heath Jr is just like his mama, sisters, nephew,and niece

According to Alaska Court Records Chucky Jr's divorce from Karen Heath became final May 17, 2011.

Chuck's new baby girl Sophia was born in November 2011.  His second wife's name is Abby.  Chuck and Abby were married July 30, 2011

Not only Chuck and his bride were in the family way before marriage,  he couldn't even wait until after his first marriage was dissolved to impregnate her.

Way to go Chucky!

Bristol Palin should be thanking President Obama and the Democrats for the reduction in abortions

From Brancy's blog

When I got pregnant, I was only 17 and pretty scared. In other words, I feel compassion for people who are experiencing unplanned pregnancies and who are dealing with issues they’ve never had to consider. I wrote about the moment I realized I was pregnant in my book “Not Afraid of Life:”

Of course, you know the rest of the story. I know I did the right thing in having Tripp, and it looks like many other people are deciding to have their babies too!

On Wednesday, the CDC announced that abortion rates have decline 5%. What a wonderful development – it was a great thing to find out during Thanksgiving Week!

How convenient of you Bristol to leave out the part that the CDC credits sex education and access to birth control as the reason for the abortion rates going down.  I for one am glad too the abortion rates are going down.  Abortions go down when there is a pro-choice presidential administration.  President Obama respects a women's right to choose and wants women to have access to birth control so they will not have to have an abortion.

He also agrees abstinence only education does not work, which leads to more abortions.  If anything President Obama is one of the most pro-life presidents I have ever seen.

Speaking of abstinence, you and your family have no right to talk about it.

Chuckles and Sally were in the family way before marriage

Sarah and Todd were in the family way before marriage

You had Tripp out of wedlock

Molly and Mike were in the family way before marriage

Track and Britta were in the family way before marriage

Willow has had at least one pregnancy scare

Chuckles Jr's divorce was finalized in May 2011 then him and his new wife had a baby November 2011. Just learned about that on IM.

Bristol you have been underneath more men than a toilet in a public restroom.  Let's see the count:

Johnny Chandler

Dylan Klovig

Levi Johnston

Ben Barber

Kyle Massey

Gino Paoletti

Joey Junker

So shut the fuck up!

Levi is gonna be a daddy again

I have mixed feelings on this one. While I'm happy for Levi and Sunny I hope he can support this baby. From what I've read and heard Levi doesn't have a job and is being sued by Citibank. Probably because of the Palin influence. Remember Mike Wooten and Troopergate?

Levi and Sunny are still young. I sincerely hope things work out for them and maybe it will. Sunny is a MAJOR improvement over Media Whore Jr. Bristol. And she is prettier too. And does not have the family drama the Palins have.

I also hope Levi and Sunny get married before the baby is born. Would be nice to have a legitimate child born in Wasilla. It would have even been better if they got married then pregnant. Doesn't anyone in Wasilla practice safe sex? I don't care if they have pre-marital sex just use birth control!

At least Levi and Sunny didn't conceive their baby while drunk on wine coolers and screwing in a tent.

Back to Babygate

On Christmas Eve I attended church services at the church I belong to. During the service we have a segment called Joys and Concerns. One of the concerns the pastor brought up was a woman in the community who had given birth a month early during the week (Dec 21 or 23, can't remember which date). Mother was fine but the baby had to be airlifted to a hospital in another city that had a neo-natal unit due to his body temperature being low. It was not life threatening but cause for concern. This baby DOES NOT have Down Syndrome and is healthy in every other respect except for the body temperature.

The hospital this baby was born in is similar to Mat-Su Regional Hospital where Trig was supposedly born in size and services it provides.

Which brings us to the question, if this baby had to go the neo-natal unit because of his temperature being too low, shouldn't the same have been done for Trig, who was also at least a month early, has Down Syndrome, at risk for jaundice and possible heart problems. I'm sure the baby will not be allowed to go to work with it's mother after three days, like Trig was.

Michelle Duggar miscarries

From ABC Blogs

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar were preparing to welcome their 20th child in April when a routine doctor’s appointment revealed that Michelle had miscarried during the second trimester.

“I feel like my heart broke, telling my children,” Michelle Duggar, 45, told People magazine today. “They have all been so excited about this baby and looking forward to April coming around and having a new little one in our arms. That was the most difficult. The Lord is the giver of life and he can choose when that life is ready to go on and be with Him.”

Duggar and her family currently star in the TLC show, “19 Kids and Counting.”

The family had planned to name the child and after finding out its sex.

Jim Bob Duggar told The Associated Press that his wife is “resting comfortably at home and asked for privacy.”

This is not the first time the couple has experienced a challenging pregnancy.

Michelle Duggar miscarried what would have been the couple’s second child, People reported.

In 2009, the couple welcomed their 19th child, Josie, who was born 15 weeks early through c-section because Michelle Duggar suffered from preeclampsia.


I'm very sorry about this and my thoughts and prayers go out to Michelle and Jim Bob but maybe this is a sign from God that it's time to give up having kids. I don't mean to be nasty but she should have learned her lesson after almost losing her life as well as her daughter's
during the last pregnancy.

I do not think God intended for women to have 20 children. That is why he created MENOPAUSE.

Anna Duggar and Sarah Palin's pregnancies

If you are familiar with the show 19 Kids and Counting you know it is about a Christian couple who does not believe in birth control and lets God decide how many children they will have. Anyway Anna Duggar is married to Josh who is the oldest son of Jim Bob and Michelle who have 19 kids and want to have more. Recently Anna and Josh had their second child, a boy. This episode of 19 kids chronicles the birth of the new baby Michael James Duggar. Late in the pregnancy (three weeks before the due date) Anna and Josh go to New York for a book signing (sound familiar?) Why do fundamentalist Christians think it's OK to travel that late in pregnancy? Granted Anna and Josh had a backup plan in case they needed to get her to the hospital. At least we know Anna gave birth to her kids.

Update-Bristol Palin made at least a quarter of a million dollars just for lying on her back and spreading her legs to every Tom, Dick, and Harry (or in her case, every Levi, Johnny, and Ben)

From Think Progress

In 2009, Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol joined a teen pregnancy prevention nonprofit called the Candie’s Foundation. Today, the Associated Press reported that the Candie’s Foundation released its 2009 tax information, revealing that Bristol was paid a salary of $262,500. But a closer examination of the tax form by ThinkProgress shows that the group disbursed only $35,000 in grants to actual teen pregnancy health and counseling clinics: $25,000 to the Mt. Sinai Adolescent Health Center and $10,000 to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. View a screenshot of Bristol’s exorbitant salary below:






View a screenshot of the Candie’s Foundation charitable disbursements below:

Thus, the nonprofit paid Bristol over seven times what it paid to teen pregnancy prevention groups. In addition, the Candie’s Foundation spent $165,000 on advertising, including this spot with Bristol and “The Situation” of MTV’s Jersey Shore:



Notably, Bristol’s Candie’s Foundation group is run by Neil Cole, an executive at the teenage clothing company Iconix Brand Group. Many critics have pointed out that the Candie’s Foundation appears to be geared towards improving the public image of Cole’s company rather than reducing teen pregnancy.

I'LL SAY IT AGAIN, BRISTOL PALIN IS NO ROLE MODEL. EVEN THE SITUATION IS A BETTER ROLE MODEL THAN HER. IF SHE REALLY WANTED TO BE A ROLE MODEL SHE WOULD GO BACK TO SCHOOL, GET A JOB, RAISE TRIPP RIGHT AND WORK HER ASS OFF, BUT SINCE SHE IS A PALIN SHE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT HARD WORK. I HAVE AN ASSOCIATES DEGREE AND SHE MAKES ALMOST 10 TIMES WHAT I DO, AND SHE DIDN'T EVEN GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL, SURE THERE ARE PICS OF HER IN A GRADUATION GOWN, BUT THEY COULD BE PHOTOSHOPPED. AND LEVI DESERVES A CUT OF HER EARNING, AFTER ALL HE WAS THE SPERM DONOR, ALLEGEDLY.

I AM ALSO TIPPING THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE SO THEY KNOW SHE MADE AT LEAST $262,000 IN 2009.

Update-the Candies Foundation released a statement regarding Bristol.

For ten years, The Candie's Foundation has been working to prevent teen pregnancy by producing and funding celebrity-driven print, television, radio and online public service announcements. Ms. Palin was compensated for her work with the foundation, which included appearing in video and print PSAs, two town hall meetings, and numerous media interviews.

The message of the foundation about teen pregnancy prevention has generated more than ONE BILLION media impressions – tremendous reach for any teen pregnancy prevention campaign. We know that Ms. Palin's work has had a positive effect on teens. In a recent independent national survey of 1,000 teens that compared a Bristol Palin PSA with those of nother national teen pregnancy organization that use non-famous teens, more than twice as many teens (57% vs. 27%) said Bristol's PSA "got my attention", three times as many (41% vs. 11%) said it was "powerful", and more than twice as many (38% vs. 16%) said it was "memorable".

Bristol Palin is one of dozens of celebrities who has worked with the foundation. She has been a courageous and powerful partner to the foundation as we attempt to discourage teen pregnancy.

Research backs up Bristol Palin efforts: PSA has positive effects on teens pregnancy prevention behavior.

More information from the Associated Press:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Bristol Palin was well worth the $332,500 she was paid to be an ambassador for a foundation aiming to prevent teen pregnancy, the organization's founder said Wednesday.

In her 2009 debut with The Candies Foundation, the unwed mother and daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was paid $262,500 for 15 to 20 days of work, and another $70,000 for a less amount of work last year.

The money spent has been "an amazing investment," according to foundation founder Neil Cole.

The fact that the 20-year-old Bristol Palin was a teen mother herself shows the problem is a national epidemic, not one limited to inner cities or minorities, Cole said.

Her work advocating abstinence through public service announcements, media interviews and TV and radio spots amounts to more than a billion impressions on people, he said, citing a study conducted by the foundation.

"Someone said in our organization today, Bristol's the gift that keeps on giving," he said.
Palin family attorney John Tiemessen did not immediately return requests for comment Wednesday.

Bristol Palin was 18 when she took the job with the New York-based foundation in 2009, months after giving birth to son, Tripp. She and the boy's father, Levi Johnston, are no longer together.

Her pregnancy was announced days after Sen. John McCain picked her mother to be his Republican vice presidential running mate in 2008.

Bristol Palin told The Associated Press last year she "wasn't prepared at all" for the dramatic changes in her life since giving birth in December 2008.

"It changes literally every aspect of your life, and if girls realized how hard it was to be a teen mom, they would think twice about having sex without the proper education and proper knowledge," she said.

Palin is no longer on the payroll, but she remains a friend of the organization, Cole said.

"She has done incredible work," he said. "She's been bold enough — yes she's been paid for her work — but she's bold enough to get in and talk about it."

Public service announcements by Palin and another celebrity, Jenny McCarthy, are far more effective than those featuring non-celebrities, according to a survey of 1,000 teens commissioned in January by the foundation.

A third of respondents said Palin's message made them consider the consequences of teen pregnancy, compared with 16 percent for non-celebrities. Among those surveyed, 57 percent said Palin got their attention and 41 percent called her message powerful, compared with no more than 28 percent and 11 percent, respectively, for non-celebrities.

The Candie's Foundation is a division of the apparel brand Candie's. Cole said there were 1 million teen pregnancies a year when the foundation first started in 2001, compared with the current rate of 750,000 annually.

Bloggers have criticized the organization for paying Palin more than seven times the $35,000 in grants it issued in 2009 to two organizations that tax documents called "public charities providing services to teenagers at risk." Cole said there is no basis for that criticism.
"That's not what we do for a living," he said. "What we do for a living is create awareness."

So Bristol is no longer on the payroll?  Does that mean she really was pregnant and having sex in 2010?  She is nothing more than a grifting whore.