Nowhere To Go?

Monday, December 19, 2005

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Diverse Celebration?

The annual Chula Vista holiday celebration showcased an abundance of diversity this year: There was a Christmas tree lighting, Hawaiian prayer dancers, and Christmas songs, including "Little Drummer Boy" and a local rabbi lit a menorah. But one group was left out of the festivities. The "Jesus Christ Dancers" — a Christian hip-hop dance troupe composed of adolescent girls — were barred from performing because of the religious message they conveyed.

The dancer's shirts had the words "Jesus Christ" and a large silver cross across the front. The dance group's leaders have yet to file suit against the city but have sought legal counsel. A lawyer for the girls says of the event, "The only person who wasn't invited was Jesus."

PC Burgers?

A North Carolina woman has filed a formal complaint with the McDonald's corporate office in Atlanta because she says a holiday message posted at a franchise in Raleigh is offensive. The greeting reads, "Merry Christmas, Jesus is the Reason for the Season." The woman, who is Jewish, has asked the fast-food chain to change the sign to the politically correct “Happy Holidays.”

Related

McDonald's has refused to take down the sign, and managers say it's actually been good for business, with many church groups showing up for a Big Mac because of it.

Nowhere To Go

For most people entering a public restroom is a simple choice: it's either the men's room or the ladies' room. But people in Brazil may soon have another option. The city council in Nova Iguacu has passed a bill that, if accepted by the mayor, would require night clubs, shopping malls, movie theaters and large restaurants to provide a third restroom for transvestites.

A city councilman proposed the idea of "alternative restrooms" after dozens of transvestites attended a local samba show where both male and female patron's felt uncomfortable sharing bathroom facilities with them. Gay groups say this would be a victory for transvestites, who often avoid going to public places because there's always confusion about which bathroom to use.

Surprise for Evans

In a recent trip to Russia former Commerce secretary Don Evans was surprised by an unexpected business proposition from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Rumors have recently swirled about the future of Evans' career, but now there's word that Evans is seriously considering the proposal from Putin to serve as board chairman at Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft.

— FOX News' Aaron Bruns contributed to this report

See Political Grapevine Archive

ADVERTISEMENT

FOX NEWS VIDEOS



uASK|uREPORT

INTERVIEW

Blog Postings


  • Lies, spies and .summits
    Seven Democratic members of the Intelligence Committee wrote CIA director Leon Panetta a letter to ask him to “publicly correct” a statement he made saying that it is not ” the policy or practice of the agency to mislead Congress.” The Democrats say Panetta told Congress that senior CIA officials concealed actions and misled lawmakers [...]

    read post
  • Stimulus the sequel, public option, Palin 2012??, and .the direction of media coverage
    In an interview with Fox News, President Obama said a second stimuluscould still be an option—Major Garrett sat down with the President today in Moscow. President Obama said that he was aware that given the economic crisis recovery would prove to be difficult no matter what, but that unemployment was nearing 10% and he was [...]

    read post
  • Agreements, protests turned deadly andcomedian turned politican (finally)
    President Obama met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today in Moscow and both menpledged they were on a path to “reset” ties between the United States and Russia. The two leaders signed a statement to reduceeach country’snuclear arsenals. President Obama and President Medvedev held a joint news conference in which Medvedev said his talks with [...]

    read post
twitter
ADVERTISEMENT