At least for the moment, as a judge rules that schools can't censor student speech merely because they are uncomfortable with its content.

A school district violated a fourth-grader's constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection by refusing to allow her to distribute "personal statement" fliers carrying a religious message, a federal judge has ruled.

The Liverpool Central School District in upstate New York based its restrictions on "fear or apprehension of disturbance, which is not enough to overcome the right to freedom of expression," Chief U.S. District Judge Norman Mordue wrote in a 46-page decision Friday.

"School officials had no right to silence Michaela's personal Christian testimony," attorney Mat Staver said Monday.

Staver is executive director of Liberty Counsel, the Orlando, Fla.-based conservative legal group that represented Michaela Bloodgood and her mother, Nicole.

Liverpool school district lawyer Frank Miller said the school district was studying the decision and "reviewing its options."

According to the family's 2004 lawsuit, Nicole Bloodgood tried three times to get permission for Michaela to pass out the homemade fliers to other students at Nate Perry Elementary School. The flier, about the size of a greeting card, started out: "Hi! My name is Michaela and I would like to tell you about my life and how Jesus Christ gave me a new one."

Bloodgood's requests to school officials said that her daughter, now a sixth-grader, would hand them out only during "non-instructional time," such as on the bus, before school, lunch, recess and after school.

The lawsuit noted that Michaela had received literature from other students at school, including materials for a YMCA basketball camp, a Syracuse Children's Theater promotion and Camp Fire USA's summer camps.

Clearly, the problem was the content of the speech.

And interestingly enough, this case shows that there is still serious division among the appellate circuits on how much freedom students have to speak in a school setting. Some circuits, notably the Ninth, have been willing to allow schools to ban Christian religious speech simply because it might make religious and sexual minorities feel uncomfortable. This issue will, sooner or later, need to be resolved by the Supreme Court.

Posted by: Greg at 10:08 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 365 words, total size 2 kb.

Hey, musicians! This is your chance to promote yourself on the web -- and make some money doing it. Music.com Musicians Wanted NOW!

Here's how it works -- you put your music on Music.com. You can set your price for whole songs, ringtones, or whatever -- and receive up to 81% of the money your music makes, a pretty fair deal compared to what other sites offer.

And best of all, you might just get yourself selected for advance marketing or special promos, based upon how well your music does. It is an excellent opportunity for you.

Posted by: Greg at 10:01 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 99 words, total size 1 kb.

Just in time for Passover, an article from the New York Times calling the whole story of the Exodus into question.

On the eve of Passover, the Jewish holiday that celebrates the story of Moses leading the Israelites through this wilderness out of slavery, EgyptÂ’s chief archaeologist took a bus full of journalists into the North Sinai to showcase his agencyÂ’s latest discovery.

It didn’t look like much — some ancient buried walls of a military fort and a few pieces of volcanic lava. The archaeologist, Dr. Zahi Hawass, often promotes mummies and tombs and pharaonic antiquities that command international attention and high ticket prices. But this bleak landscape, broken only by electric pylons, excited him because it provided physical evidence of stories told in hieroglyphics. It was proof of accounts from antiquity.

That prompted a reporter to ask about the Exodus, and if the new evidence was linked in any way to the story of Passover. The archaeological discoveries roughly coincided with the timing of the IsraelitesÂ’ biblical flight from Egypt and the 40 years of wandering the desert in search of the Promised Land.

“Really, it’s a myth,” Dr. Hawass said of the story of the Exodus, as he stood at the foot of a wall built during what is called the New Kingdom.

Later on, they get in a dig about the lack of evidence of Jesus being in Egypt as a child (though why an obscure Jewish family would have been noted at the time is pretty obvious).

Personally, I have some qquestions about the Exodus story as handed down to us -- but don't doubt it is historically based on some smaller scale -- sort of the "George Washington and the cherry tree" effect. And since i am not a biblical literalist, that does not trouble me at all.

But I do have a question -- will there the NY Times be running articles debunking the Koran or raising questions about Muhammad during Ramadan this year? Or do they know that the response from Jews and Christians to such articles is more sedate than those of Muslims to attempts to call their faith into question?

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson's Website, The Random Yak, Adam's Blog, basil's blog, Leaning Straight Up, The Amboy Times, Conservative Cat, Pursuing Holiness, LaTogaStrappata®, Rightlinx, third world county, The World According to Carl, Pirate's Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Planck's Constant, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, Dumb Ox Daily News, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Posted by: Greg at 10:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 429 words, total size 4 kb.

In this day and age, you need an antivirus program any time you go on the web. There is just too much junk out there, from viruses to malware to cookies, and hosts of other stuff you don't want on your system. That's why this site, with its offer of free Antivirus protection is one you need to look at. I mean, you can get Norton Antivirus for free! And after all, Norton Antivirus gets some of the best reviews among all the antivirus programs out there.

Not only that, but you can also download up to 12 other great software programs from Google -- all for free.

Paid Endorsement.

Posted by: Greg at 09:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 112 words, total size 1 kb.

Well, maybe he'll out-poll Ron Paul, but I don't even know about that.

Criticizing other GOP candidates as weak in their efforts to stop illegal immigration, Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo announced Monday he would seek the Republican presidential nomination.

"The political elite in Washington have chosen to ignore this phenomenon," he said.

I'm not happy with any candidate's position on immigration, but I think that a one-trick pony like Tancredo does nothing to advance the debate by entering the race -- and can do much more harm, both by draining support away from the candidates who are better on the issue and by endangering his Congressional seat.

Withdraw, Ton.

Posted by: Greg at 09:36 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 119 words, total size 1 kb.

I enjoy a little bit of gambling every now and then -- either horses or slots, mostly. The main reason I don't do anything else is that I've never really been able to take the time (or spend the cash) to learn. Man, would I love to do this.

Executive Gaming Monthly offers a casino game of the month club! You can get a real casino game set up in your home, with the opportunity to play and learn.

You can get a setup for any number of casino games. Play blackjack in your home, just like in Vegas. Or get your very own roulette wheel! Maybe even get set up for craps! Imagine the possibilities -- those would be my first three months worth of games.

Paid Endorsement.

Posted by: Greg at 06:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 132 words, total size 1 kb.

A big tip of the hat to Don Surber for noting a little bit of absurdity from the KOSsacks.

Ordinarily I let lying blogs sleep, but this post at the Daily Kos was too insipid to ignore: “Partying Down with Bush in His Radio Address” by Susan G:

If the President of the United States goes on a stark raving mad lunatic partisan word salad spree in a purportedly non-partisan venue in which he is — at least on paper — supposed to represent all of America, would anyone notice? Apparently not.

Really? So what was this act of insanity by President Bush?

He called the Democrats “Democrats.” And Susan G counted:

He mentioned “Democrats” or “Democratic” 22 times, in almost every instance linking the chosen term to America’s biggest bugaboo, taxes.

I would call her complaint childish but my wife and I raised 3 children and they never did~anything like that.

Surber then goes on to note that the Dems have plenty to be paranoid about over this truth-in-labeling by the President, given the bankruptcy of an agenda that has failed every time it has been tried in the last three decades. And he also notes that the Dems are troubled by a sometimes-missing syllable.

I am curious as to what Susan G wants us to call Democrats. Some of them go off the deep end if you fail to include the “ic” in Democratic Party.

How about the “Icks” then? Icky Frye did seek the party’s nomination for governor in West Virginia in 2004. Harold Ickes is a very familiar name in presidential politics.

I’ve been doing something like that for a while, referring to them as the DemocratICK Party. But hey – if “Democrat” really offends them, I can go with calling them the Icks.

Posted by: Greg at 09:51 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 306 words, total size 2 kb.

A big tip of the hat to Don Surber for noting a little bit of absurdity from the KOSsacks.

Ordinarily I let lying blogs sleep, but this post at the Daily Kos was too insipid to ignore: “Partying Down with Bush in His Radio Address” by Susan G:

If the President of the United States goes on a stark raving mad lunatic partisan word salad spree in a purportedly non-partisan venue in which he is — at least on paper — supposed to represent all of America, would anyone notice? Apparently not.

Really? So what was this act of insanity by President Bush?

He called the Democrats “Democrats.” And Susan G counted:

He mentioned “Democrats” or “Democratic” 22 times, in almost every instance linking the chosen term to America’s biggest bugaboo, taxes.

I would call her complaint childish but my wife and I raised 3 children and they never did~anything like that.

Surber then goes on to note that the Dems have plenty to be paranoid about over this truth-in-labeling by the President, given the bankruptcy of an agenda that has failed every time it has been tried in the last three decades. And he also notes that the Dems are troubled by a sometimes-missing syllable.

I am curious as to what Susan G wants us to call Democrats. Some of them go off the deep end if you fail to include the “ic” in Democratic Party.

How about the “Icks” then? Icky Frye did seek the party’s nomination for governor in West Virginia in 2004. Harold Ickes is a very familiar name in presidential politics.

I’ve been doing something like that for a while, referring to them as the DemocratICK Party. But hey – if “Democrat” really offends them, I can go with calling them the Icks.

Posted by: Greg at 09:51 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 314 words, total size 2 kb.

Talk about suits with no merit – this qualifies.

The South Carolina Supreme Court has tossed out a lawsuit filed by barbecue magnate Maurice Bessinger accusing several grocery store chains of unfair trade by not selling his sauce on their shelves.

Nine chains with over 3,000 stores between them removed BessingerÂ’s mustard-based barbecue sauce in 2000 after he raised the Confederate flag over his restaurants in protest of the General AssemblyÂ’s decision to take the Confederate flag off the top of the Statehouse dome.

News stories at the time also pointed out Bessinger distributed literature at his restaurants with titles like “The South Was Right” and “Myths of American Slavery.”

Bessinger sued Bi-Lo, Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Kroger, Publix, Wal-Mart, SamÂ’s Club, Winn-Dixie and Piggly Wiggly stores, asking for $50 million. He said they violated his right to free speech under the stateÂ’s Unfair Trade Practices Act by removing his barbecue sauce.

The state Supreme Court recently upheld rulings by two lower courts that BessingerÂ’s case did not have enough merit to be heard by a jury.

Bessinger attorney Glen Winston LaForce Sr. said the ruling ends BessingerÂ’s legal fight.

“Mr. Bessinger is still proudly flying the Confederate flag. He stood for his principles, and I’m proud of him for that,” LaForce said.

I’m sorry, but there is no merit to the lawsuit from a constitutional standpoint – after all, no state action is involved in the actions of the stores. And I don’t see how the decision of the stores can run afoul of a state statute – after all, these stores have every right not to associate themselves with the speech of Mr. Bessinger. Indeed, I’d argue that any statute that required them to do so would constitute a violation of THEIR rights under the First Amendment.

Posted by: Greg at 09:49 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 307 words, total size 2 kb.

No surprise here -- but a neat family story.

Posted by: Greg at 09:48 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 17 words, total size 1 kb.

Or are we in fact dealing with a religion of that values something else entirely?

The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) has just learned that an Ethiopian evangelist named Tedase was beaten to death by militant Muslims on Monday, March 26th, as he and two young women were on a street evangelism assignment in Jimma, Ethiopia. This marks the second time in six months that Christians residing in Southeast Ethiopia have been attacked and killed by extremist (Wahabbi) Muslims.

On Monday afternoon Tedase and two female coworkers were conducting street evangelism on Merkato Street in Jimma, Southern Ethiopia. Merkato Street runs by a Wahabbi Mosque. As the team was walking by the Mosque, a group of Muslims exited the Mosque and began to run after them to confront them. Tedase's female coworkers ran away from the mob but Tedase continued on. The Muslims caught up with Tedase, pulled him into the mosque, and savagely beat him to death. Sources from Jimma reported that Tedase was beaten with a calculated intention to kill him. This was no accident or case of mob frenzy getting out of control. His body was later taken to the hospital for an autopsy and he was buried Tuesday, March 27.

Our sources also reveal that Jimma Christians were conducting an evangelism campaign, and news of the outreach was spreading among Jimma residents as well as militant Muslim groups in the area. The Muslims that belonged to the Wahabbi sect purposefully beat Tedase to death as a message to Christians that they are ready to combat evangelism.

In the West, we grant Islam full rights along with other religions – as is appropriate, given that freedom of conscience is a fundamental human right. However, all too often Islamic nations deny such rights to Christians – or turn a blind eye to the violation of the rights of Christians by Islamic religious groups. It has been only a little over six months since a full-scale pogrom against Christians took place in the same region of Ethiopia, with no significant response from the Ethiopian government.

To register your outrage at this event:
Ethiopian Embassy, Washington D.C.
3506 International Drive, NW
Washington, DC 20008 USA
Tel: 202/364-1200
Fax: 202/587-0195
info@ethiopianembassy.org

Ethiopian Embassy, London
17 Princes Gate
London SW7 1PZ UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7589 7212
Fax: +44 (0)20 7584 7054
info@ethioembassy.org.uk

Ethiopian Embassy, Canada
#210-151 Slater Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P5H3
Tel:- 613-235-6637
Fax: 613-235-4638
infoethi@magi.com

Posted by: Greg at 09:46 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 422 words, total size 3 kb.

This story from England is pretty scary -- if the radical wing of Islam can get a historical fact as well-documented as the Holocaust excluded from the curriculum because they are offended by the notion that there is something wrong with murdering innocent Jewish men, women and children, then there is somethign truly wrong.

Schools are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils, a Government backed study has revealed.

It found some teachers are reluctant to cover the atrocity for fear of upsetting students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial.

There is also resistance to tackling the 11th century Crusades - where Christians fought Muslim armies for control of Jerusalem - because lessons often contradict what is taught in local mosques.

The findings have prompted claims that some schools are using history 'as a vehicle for promoting political correctness'.

The study, funded by the Department for Education and Skills, looked into 'emotive and controversial' history teaching in primary and secondary schools.

It found some teachers are dropping courses covering the Holocaust at the earliest opportunity over fears Muslim pupils might express anti-Semitic and anti-Israel reactions in class.

The researchers gave the example of a secondary school in an unnamed northern city, which dropped the Holocaust as a subject for GCSE coursework.

The report said teachers feared confronting 'anti-Semitic sentiment and Holocaust denial among some Muslim pupils'.

It added: "In another department, the Holocaust was taught despite anti-Semitic sentiment among some pupils.

"But the same department deliberately avoided teaching the Crusades at Key Stage 3 (11- to 14-year-olds) because their balanced treatment of the topic would have challenged what was taught in some local mosques."

I'm terribly sorry, but you can take whatever immoral and hate-filled teachings about the Holocaust that are being spewed in your mosque and shove them up your collective arses -- the reality is that the Holocaust is well-documented and undeniable, just like the Turkish genocide against the Armenians. And as for the Crusades, they are simply one part of a larger clash of cultures that were taking place over hundreds of years -- beginning with the Muslim aggression against and conquest of Christian areas of the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe beginning within the lifetime of Mohammad himself.

Oh, and by the way -- I suspect the school that was challenged by Christian parents had presented a view that was overly sympathetic to the Palestinians rather than a balanced view of the conflict in the Middle East (considering recent events in british academia with regard to anti-Semitic boycotts of Israeli students and scholars). But even so, I have a problem with those who insist that history conform to their religious views -- and would make run out of my classroom any parent who attempted to impose their religious viewpoint of history on me and my students.

Posted by: Greg at 10:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 488 words, total size 3 kb.

To read this article, not the lawbreaking parents who came to this country illegally and gave birth to American citizen children.

As the government's crackdown on illegal immigrant workers has intensified in recent months, so have the consequences for a large subgroup of U.S. citizens: American-born children of illegal immigrants.

Numbering at least 3.1 million, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute and the Pew Hispanic Center, such children range from teenagers steeped in iTunes and MySpace to toddlers just learning their ABCs.

Until recently, their parents' illegal status had limited impact on these children's lives, because, although every year hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants are detained attempting to cross the U.S. border, once they make it in, they are rarely caught.

But the increase in raids against companies employing illegal workers is beginning to change that.

In December, immigration agents descended on six meat-processing plants belonging to Swift & Co. and arrested 1,297 illegal workers. At one plant, in Worthington, Minn., the workers had at least 360 U.S.-born children and probably many more, according to a local pastor who raised money for them.

Similarly, of 361 workers arrested during a raid of the Michael Bianco Inc. manufacturing plant in New Bedford, Mass., last month, about 90 were the sole caregivers for one or more children in the United States, according to federal and state authorities.

On Thursday, a chubby-cheeked fifth-grader named Jessica Guncay joined the ranks of such children when immigration agents raided a Dixie Printing and Packaging Corp. plant in Baltimore, where her parents were working under false Social Security numbers.

During an interview in her home in Pikesville the next day, Jessica, 10, said that although she had known her Ecuadoran parents were in the country illegally, she never imagined they would be arrested.

"I feel sick inside," she mumbled, staring at her white sneakers.

Sorry, folks, but what makes this American citizen sick inside is the fact that the prss has more sympathy for the immigration criminals and their families than they do for the enforcement of the laws of the United States. The reality is that none of these folks should EVER be allowed to enter this country legally, as they have already shown flawed moral character by coming here and staying here in violation of our nation's immigration laws. And while it is sad -- even tragic-- that their law-breaking has a negative effect upon the lives of their children, let's place the blame right where it belongs -- upon the parents, not the government.

I've said it in the past, and I repeat it again -- if we cannot modify the Fourteenth Amendment to deny citizenship to the children of illegal aliens, then we need to pass a law terminating the parental rights of illegal alien parents and place the children for adoption. That will solve the anchor-baby problem once and for all.

Posted by: Greg at 10:31 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 486 words, total size 3 kb.

After all, they clearly believe that the real enemy of the United States is its elected president, not the terrorists who want to destroy us.

Even as their confrontation with President Bush over Iraq escalates, emboldened congressional Democrats are challenging the White House on a range of issues -- such as unionization of airport security workers and the loosening of presidential secrecy orders -- with even more dramatic showdowns coming soon.

For his part, Bush, who also finds himself under assault for the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, the conduct of the Iraq war and alleged abuses in government surveillance by the FBI, is holding firm. Though he has vetoed only one piece of legislation since taking office, he has vowed to veto 16 bills that have passed either the House or the Senate in the three months since Democrats took control of Congress.

Despite the threats, Democratic lawmakers expect to open new fronts against the president when they return from their spring recess, including politically risky efforts to quickly close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; reinstate legal rights for terrorism suspects; and rein in what Democrats see as unwarranted encroachments on privacy and civil liberties allowed by the USA Patriot Act.

"I suppose there's always a risk of going too far," said House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), "but the risk of not going is far greater."

Would that the Neo-Copperheads realized that Hoyer's statement should be made about the real enemy we are fighting, not the political struggles at home.

Posted by: Greg at 10:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 264 words, total size 2 kb.

Really -- I do. While I jump around many genres, I always find myself returning to a good piece of science fiction with a good historical back story. Why? Because sometimes knowing too much real history gets in the way of enjoying real historical fiction.

Well, there's a new social networking site starting up for folks like me. It is called Sci-Edge, and is designed for the science fiction enthusiast, science hobbyist, and technology geeks among us. Come on, folks, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! It's a place for us all to hang out, be ourselves, and build an online community for folks like us --sort of like MySpace with brains! Best of all, Sci-Edge is free to join, so you can jump on in and find out if it is for you.

Paid Endorsement.

Posted by: Greg at 10:20 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 139 words, total size 1 kb.

Well, that is the view expressed by Barack Obama -- a view which he wraps in a lie.

If President Bush vetoes an Iraq war spending bill as promised, Congress quickly will provide the money without the withdrawal timeline the White House objects to because no lawmaker "wants to play chicken with our troops," Sen. Barack Obama said Sunday.

"My expectation is that we will continue to try to ratchet up the pressure on the president to change course," the Democratic presidential candidate said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I don't think that we will see a majority of the Senate vote to cut off funding at this stage."

* * *

"I think that nobody wants to play chicken with our troops on the ground," said Obama. "I do think a majority of the Senate has now expressed the belief that we need to change course in Iraq.

Too late, Senator -- you and your party already have played chicken with the troops on the ground -- and your failure to send a clean bill to the President will result in a lack of funding as soon as April 16. So stop lying to the American people.

Posted by: Greg at 10:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 214 words, total size 1 kb.

Among other things, that is.

Barry is looking to drum up some traffic for his blog, Barry's Blog. Since he seems to be somehow related to education, I think he really deserves this plug for his site. The site itself is rather amusing, with bits about insurance, removing stick contact lenses, and variousfinance issues he has written about.

I like his style -- serious yet engaging.

Paid Endorsement.

Posted by: Greg at 10:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 72 words, total size 1 kb.

No, not Fred Thompson -- Former Wisconsin Governor and Bush Cabinet member Tommy Thompson.

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson on Sunday joined the crowded field of Republicans running for the White House in 2008. "I am the reliable conservative," he asserted.

Thompson, who was health and human services secretary during President Bush's first term, also said he is the only GOP candidate who has helped assemble both a state and federal budget.

Since announcing last year he was forming a presidential exploratory committee to raise money and gauge support, Thompson has lagged behind better-known rivals.

Asked Sunday whether he was running for president, Thompson said, "That is correct."

Thompson, 65, has focused his strategy on Iowa, which holds the nation's first caucuses for presidential nominees. He has made weekly visits to the state and sought to make the case that it will take a candidate who can carry the Midwest to win the nomination.

I like Tommy Thompson, and could see him as a potential vice presidential candidate -- but he has no more chance of getting the presidential nomination than I do.

Posted by: Greg at 09:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 191 words, total size 1 kb.

The winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are Demographics and the Medicalization of Human Existence by Eternity Road, and Tabula Rasa by Michael Yon. 
Here is a link to the full results of the vote.

Here are the full tallies of all votes cast:

Posted by: Greg at 09:40 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 198 words, total size 5 kb.

As I've pointed out so often in the past, debt is a fact of life in today's world. Aside from mortgages and car loans, there is also credit card debt, medical debt, and student loan debt that people find themselves struggling to repay. When they find themselves overwhelmed with debt, there are many debt management options available to them, including loans and debt consolidation. That is where sites like DebtHelp.com can be very useful to consumers.

Now what I like about this particular site is that it isn’t just a site designed to sell you a service – it is an educational site. The site has many useful articles about dealing with different forms of debt. For example, relevant to recent issues in my own life, there are a number of articles related to medical debt. Frankly, there was information there that I was unaware of regarding ways to deal with such debts after they are incurred.

The site also contains information related to debt collectors and bankruptcy. One of the most interesting is the one dealing with debt collectors, which explains your legal rights if someone calls seeking to collect a debt on behalf of someone else. Did you know that the collector must prove to you that they are, in fact, authorized to collect the debt? And that you can insist that they verify for you that the information they have is accurate? They may not, for example, force you to prove that the debt is not a valid one unless you have first been provided with written information detailing what you owe and how you owe it.

Frankly, DebtHelp.com impresses me a great deal -- and I encourage folks to take a look at it so that they are educated about debt issues before they find themselves in serious harm's way.

Paid Endorsement.

Posted by: Greg at 06:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 307 words, total size 2 kb.