Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Around The Nation

California Trans equality law repeal referendum petitions undergo scrutiny
By Brody Levesque | SACRAMENTO -- Petitions gathered by opponents of California's recently signed Trans friendly School Success and Opportunity Act calling for its repeal, are trending an authentication percentage below that required to be certified to appear on California's general elections ballot next November 2014.
On Friday, that percentage was reported at 76.7%, which according to a spokesperson for Equality California, means that the referendum initiative would fail.
California law provides that in the authentication process, if the statewide random sample total projects more than 110% of the required amount of signatures, then the referendum would qualify for the ballot.
But, if the statewide total is less than 95% of the required amount of signatures, the referendum would fail to qualify for the ballot.
The opponents led by the Privacy for All Students Coalition, submitted 613,120 signatures from a majority of state counties in favor of overturning the law last Thursday, a number that exceeded the minimum number of 504,760 required by state law.
The process now ongoing said the Secretary of State's chief spokesperson, Nichole Winger, is that the Secretary of State has directed the local elections boards to begin a random sample verification of signatures. Each of them then have 30 working days to complete a random sample of 3% or 500 signatures, whichever is greater, and report their results to the Secretary of State.
The random samples are compared and authenticated against the rolls of registered voters in each jurisdiction. The deadline for the Secretary of State to complete the random sample validation process is January 8.
Once on the ballot, the law is repealed if voters cast more no votes than yes votes on the referendum in question.
Historically in the past 100 years since the inception of the ballot referendum process, only 49 measures/petitions have passed the standards required.
Between 1912 and November 2013 a total of 79 referenda were titled and summarized for circulation.

  • A Total of 27 referenda (34.18%) failed to qualify for the ballot.
  • A Total of 3 referenda (3.8%) are pending qualification as of November 2013.
  • A Total of 49 referenda (62.03%) qualified for the ballot.

  • Of the 48 which qualified and have been voted on, 20 referenda (41.67%) were approved by the voters. A total of 28 referenda (58.33%) were rejected by the voters.
    Winger told LGBTQ Nation that the Secretary of State's office updates the data on its website as the each county reports its results.

    New Jersey
    Waitress who claimed she was gypped out of a tip is allegedly a liar according to friends & coworkers
    BRIDGEWATER -- The waitress now accused of making up a story about being denied a tip at the New Jersey restaurant she works at, due to her sexual orientation, has a reputation for lying, former colleagues and friends said.
    Dayna Morales, 22, of Bedminster, N.J., told WNBC in New York last week that a family at the Gallop Asian Bistro in Bridgewater, N.J., where she is employed had stiffed her out of a tip on a nearly $100 bill because she was lesbian. 
    Morales, said that on Nov. 13, she received an offensive note scrawled on the customer’s check in lieu of a tip. The message said: “I’m sorry but I cannot tip because I don’t agree with your lifestyle and how you live your life.”
    On Monday, a New Jersey couple came forward to dispute her story, telling WNBC that Morales’ story is a scam.
    The couple, who asked to remain anonymous, contacted the WNBC after the story went viral and produced their receipt that was printed at the same time, on the same date, for the same amount, except with an $18 tip. They also produced a copy of a credit card bill supporting their claim they were charged for the meal plus the tip, a total of $111.55. The couple said they believe their receipt was used for a hoax.
    “The restaurant profits from this, obviously Dayna’s profiting from this,” said the husband. “It’s fraud. It’s a scam.”
    When confronted by WNBC about the receipt, Morales reportedly said, “It’s not my handwriting. I don’t know.”
    The story became more convoluted Wednesday when friends and coworkers of Morales spoke with the local Journal News, telling the paper that the 22-year-old is something of a pathological liar whose most recent alleged fabrication is just the latest in a long list of serious lies. 
    The Journal reported that Morales has been caught in multiple deceptive tales, telling co-workers she shaved her head because she had brain cancer and later telling them it was her friend who had brain cancer, her colleagues and friends said. 
    They said she also told co-workers at a day care center where she once worked that Superstorm Sandy severely damaged her home in Stony Point, and sent a boat into her living room. Concerned co-workers dropped by her home and found only minor damage to the carpet by her front door and no sign of a boat, they said. 
    The most egregious fabrication according to the paper was the story that she was a former Marine who was sent to Afghanistan and that everyone in her platoon died in an explosion except her.  Apparently this was untrue. 
    She also claimed this as a reason for time off from her employer, claiming that the explosion left her with back injuries that required surgery and a couple of months to recover. According to friends, during her time off, Morales had posted photos of herself on Facebook enjoying a trip to Florida with a girlfriend.
    A spokesman for the Marines, Major Shawn Haney, said in an email that Morales had served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve from July 13, 2009, to May 21, 2013 at the rank of Lance Corporal, E-3, as an administrative specialist. She was assigned to the Marine Air Group 49, 4th Marine Air Wing out of Newburgh, New York, located north of New York City, and deployed from April to June 2012 to Romania as part of the Black Sea Rotational Force 11.
    “There is no indication of combat service in Iraq or Afghanistan,” he said adding, “While (Morales) did not fulfill her reserve obligation, per the Privacy Act, administrative actions are not releasable. The same applies to character of service and type of discharge.”
    The Gallop Asian Bistro's general manager told New York City area media outlets Tuesday that the restaurant would not comment until they finish their internal investigation. Manager Byron Lapola added that Morales was “currently not on the schedule” to work.

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