What Has Put Nancy Pelosi on the Opposite Side of The Salvation Army?

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

English Only

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is trying to kill an amendment that would shield from lawsuits — employers who require their workers to speak English.

The Wall Street Journal reports one of those employers being targeted by an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit is The Salvation Army — which gives employees one year to learn English. The amendment to protect The Salvation Army and other businesses has passed both the House and Senate. But Pelosi promised to get rid of it after the House Hispanic Caucus threatened to kill a larger tax bill over the issue.

The sponsor of the amendment — Tennessee Republican Senator Lamar Alexander — told the Senate Thursday — "I cannot imagine that the framers of the 1964 Civil Rights Act intended to say that it's discrimination for a shoe shop owner to say to his or her employee, 'I want you to be able to speak America's common language on the job.'"

Got Milk?

Animal rights activist Heather Mills is urging people to drink rat's milk to save the planet. The Evening Standard says Mills gave what it called a rant in London's Hyde Park — to promote a new billboard ad campaign touting vegetarianism. She suggested there are better alternatives to drinking cow's milk — "Why don't we drink rat's milk or cat's milk or dog's milk?"

And she added — "The startling truth is that animals farmed for meat and dairy are now one of the greatest threats to the planet."

By the way the story notes that Mills arrived at the event — in a gas-guzzling Mercedes four-by-four.

Fearless Leader

If you have ever wondered about the inspiration for those exotic publicity stunts from PETA — the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — here are some facts about its president and co-founder Ingrid Newkirk.

An HBO documentary on Newkirk and PETA reveals she is a pragmatic loner who avoids romantic relationships — and was sterilized while in her 20's over the belief that having children was selfish — given all the orphans in the world.

The documentary says Newkirk's will orders that her body parts be barbecued after she dies in order to remind people what it is like to roast animal flesh.

Cyber Terror

During the late nineties media reports profiled an organization called Electronic Disturbance Theater that staged cyber attacks on the Pentagon, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and other targets. It was called "hacktivism" — and two of the group's leaders were Ricardo Dominguez and Brett Stalbaum.

Now The Wall Street Journal reports the men not only were not punished — they have obtained tenured positions at the University of California at San Diego. Dominguez is an assistant professor teaching new media art, performance art, hacktivism, artivism and nanoculture. Stalbaum is what's called "a lecturer with security of employment" — teaching new media environmental performance art.

— FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.