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Bullied 14-Year Old Called “Gay, Girly, Fag” Commits Suicide

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Fourteen-year old Pennsylvania high school freshman Brandon Bitner wrote a suicide note, left home around 2:00 AM Friday morning, walked thirteen miles, then, threw himself into highway traffic, killing himself. A friend says, “It was because of bullying. It was not about race, or gender, but they bullied him for his sexual preferences and the way he dressed. Which they wrongly accused him of.”

Via The Daily Item:

“His death came just days after an anti-bullying assembly at the high school, which, according to district Superintendent Wesley Knapp, was not held in response to any specific problems at the school, but because it is an issue Principal Cynthia Hutchinson has always felt strongly about.

“After the assembly, according to student Briana Boyer in another letter to The Daily Item, “No one took it seriously, and joked around about it.”

“He was very talented,” said sophomore Alley Sharp, of Middleburg, as she remembered an “Evanascence” song he played on his violin at a middle school talent show, wowing the crowd.

“Anyone in our school who looks different is tortured,” said sophomore Emily Beall-Ellersieck, of Middleburg, who said Bitner had “changed” around the eighth grade.

Bullying is a problem at the school, she said, and “It needs to be dealt with.”

Bitner’s friends have created a memorium page, on which they write,

“Brandon left a suicide note at his home and several audio recordings for his closest friends. His note was not full of resentment and hate, but of love and hope. Brandon explained in the note that he was constantly bullied at Midd West High School in Middleburg, PA, where he was a freshman. Bullies called Brandon gay, girly, fag, and geek. He stated in the note that a humiliating event in school this past week was the “straw that broke the camel’s back.”

“In the first part of the note, Brandon made it clear that he does not want this outcome for anyone else in the world. He said he wants his family and friends to fight to bring awareness to the bullying issues in today’s society. He told his friends in the audio recording and in the note that he wants them to have fulfilled lives and the strength to follow their dreams. It is now up to us, the members of this society, to explore bullying further and start a strong, solid movement to prevent bullying and suicide.”

They add, “Brandon was intelligent, caring, passionate, and hilarious. He was quiet but he always caught you unexpectedly with a great comeback or one liner. He was insightful and read people well. His sensitive nature made it easy to get along with him. He accepted everybody – it didn’t matter if they were white, black, gay, straight, skinny, or fat.

“He enjoyed spending time with his family and friends. Whenever his mom had a nice dinner or gathering for her friends, he always helped and interacted with the group. Brandon and his sister Crystal always goofed around and had fun together. He always looked forward to summer vacation with his grandparents and was fortunate enough to visit a lot of the United States.”

There’s a Flickr page of photos of Brandon, and a Facebook page.

It’s important to remember there have been many anti-gay bullying suicides. Take a look at “September’s Anti-Gay Bullying Suicides – There Were A Lot More Than 5,” and “Gay Teen Suicide Epidemic — Missing In Action: The Surgeon General And The CDC.”


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‘Insanely Broad’: Bill Would Authorize an ‘Open-Ended’ Trump Narco-Terror War

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Draft legislation is reportedly circulating at the White House and on Capitol Hill that would codify into law actions similar to those that President Donald Trump has already taken against what his administration claims were narco-terrorists aboard drug-smuggling boats bound for the United States. The measure would grant the Commander in Chief broad authority to wage war against any entity — including foreign governments — suspected of ties to “narco-terrorism.”

The New York Times reports the legislation “would hand President Trump sweeping power to wage war against drug cartels he deems to be ‘terrorists,’ as well as against any nation he says has harbored or aided them, according to people familiar with the matter.”

The legislation has set off alarm bells inside some parts of the White House and Congress.

Some legal experts have deemed Trump’s use of the military to attack two vessels illegal, but the administration says the U.S. Constitution allows the President to take such actions.

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The bill would “raise the question of whether Congress was effectively giving Mr. Trump the authority to wage a regime-change war in Venezuela.”

Harvard Law School Professor Jack Goldsmith, a former Bush DOJ official, told the Times the legislation is “insanely broad.”

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“This is an open-ended war authorization against an untold number of countries, organizations and persons that the president could deem within its scope,” Professor Goldsmith said. He also noted it could violate international law.

Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that the “White House has depicted [drug] smugglers as terrorists similar to members of al Qaeda and Islamic State who should be neutralized by military force.”

“Trump, who campaigned on avoiding foreign wars, is framing the campaign as homeland defense rather than another open-ended overseas conflict,” the paper reported.

Also this week, President Trump announced that he is designating Antifa a “major terrorist organization.”

Some experts say he lacks the authority to do so and will struggle to enforce such a move—while others warn it could give him sweeping license to target groups or individuals he disfavors.

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‘Massive Shift’: FCC Chair Says Local TV Will ‘Decide What the American People Think’

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Explaining the “massive shift” he intends to impose on the focus of the Federal Communications Commission, Chairman Brendan Carr announced that he will take America back to the era when local television stations shaped what the American people “think.”

“So again,” Carr told Fox News on Thursday, “we’re going back to that era when local TV stations, judging the public interest, get to decide what the American people think.”

“And again, we’re constraining the power through those actions of Disney, of Comcast. And I think the American public can be much better off. But, yeah, I don’t think this is the last shoe to drop,” he said, appearing to refer to the suspension of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel.

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“This is a massive shift that’s taking place in the media ecosystem, and I think the consequences are going to  continue to flow,” he declared.

On Thursday, speaking aboard Air Force One, President Donald Trump wrongly suggested that broadcast networks, licensed by the FCC, are “not allowed” to criticize him.

“When you have a network and you have evening shows and all they do is hit Trump, that’s all they do — if you go back, I guess they haven’t had a conservative one in years, or something — when you go back and take a look, all they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that,” Trump said.

Carr is one of the authors of The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. President Donald Trump praised Carr as “a warrior for Free Speech,” CBS News reported last year.

There are few “local” television stations left in the U.S., in the sense that nearly all are owned by several major broadcast conglomerates, including Nexstar Media Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Gray Television, Tegna, Hearst, and Scripps.

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Image via Reuters

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Trump Labels Flag Burning, Organized Protests ‘Incitement to Riot’

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President Donald Trump, explaining his controversial decision to attempt to label Antifa a terrorist organization, said burning the American flag is an “incitement to riot,” as are organized protests — which he claimed lead to “death.”

“They have signs and they’re all professionally made,” Trump told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum on Thursday, apparently referring to those suspected of celebrating the murder of Charlie Kirk, NBC News reported. “Real protesters make them in their basement.”

After suggesting without offering any evidence that philanthropist George Soros might be behind organized protests, Trump declared, “it’s incitement to riot. That’s a criminal act. And people are dying because of it. So it’s really, you know, it’s death.”

Speaking about his executive order to designate Antifa — which is not an organized group and it does it have leaders — a terrorist group, Trump said, “They are.”

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Asked, “do you believe that there is a vast terrorist movement in the United States that people need to be aware of, and is it responsible for Charlie Kirk’s killing, for the attempts on your life, for these CEOs that we saw in New York City?” Trump replied, “You never know, and we’ll find out, maybe.”

“But in the meantime, we’re gonna do a big thing with respect to Antifa. It’s a sick group, a very, very sick group.”

“They love burning the American flag. I think it’s terrible that they burn the American flag. And we’re saying it incites riots, and therefore, you go to jail for one year, if you burn the American flag.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that it is not illegal to burn the American flag, it is a protected form of free speech.

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