Free Republic

>>if you wantd to start a Charter School that was Chrisitan based? You would be denied. What if he Charter School was based in teaching abstinence in sex...you would be denied<<

Then I guess I wasn't clear on making that point.

If this denial is going on (and I certainly believe you when you say it is because that is the liberal way)then you force the government to take the all or nothing stance. Either they fund Charter Schools fo ALL ideologies (within parent demand of course) or they fund NONE. Expect and Demand fairness. Make the fight a fight for fairness and equality even if that equality means noone gets their way, not a fight against anothers freedom. Show them what true tolerance means- not the intolerant tolerance of the left.

A test case would be nice. A group of parents within the same district choosing to create a Charter School with a conservative minded ideology (however broad or general the parents wanted.) It would be interesting to see the initial reaction of the district as well as how far up the chain of command you would have to go (provided they denied it) before someone realized the two-facedness of their policies. I would hope they would at some point realize either they have to fund both or they have to fund neither. They may not of course, they may very well twist policy and law all around to keep it just the way they have it now in thei fifedoms- in fact I would expect nothing less from them. But it would be out there - another ray of light for the blind to see.

It is just so sickening to me that a school would tell children that children should/could be killed by their parents. They will reap what they sow.

Unfortanately liberals are cocky- and with right as we have tended to back down too much in the past. We left the schools for private schools and homeschools while leaving our money in their hands to do with as they wanted. We left them in charge, and it will be quite a fight to take back either the schools or the money (or better yet both!) You are right to fight- you SHOULD fight. I guess I just worry because every time we seem to pick these battles the left turns it around on us and they end up even farther ahead and I would hate for that to happen with all the progress that has been made on the education front so far.

This idea certainly turns my stomach.

But, Charter schools are one of the few ways parents have to exercise educational freedom, and like it or not, this is the educational freedom some people seek. So long as this Charter School is voluntary, and so long as other taxpayer-funded Charter Schools with opposite ideaologies are also allowed to be established then this isn't the hill we should die on.

If I understand correctly, and I may very well not, Charter Schools are one of the few ways Ca. homeschoolers can organize themselves to keep the state off their back. And as disgusting as it is some parents want this kind of education for their kids (side note: I mentioned this to my husband and he replied "Let them do it, when their kids turn out to be idiots it will be less workplace competetion for my kids.")

We have to remember that when we take away others freedoms we end up slitting our own throats and end up with even less choice. In other words if we start complaining about the way people exercise their educational fredom we are the ones going to pay for it. When the state starts declaring one single mandatory curriculum for all, homeschool, charter school, private school or public school it is going to look a whole hell of a lot more like this school and a whole lot less like the schools we would choose.

If we truly value educational freedom, then we value educational freedom for all, not just those who subscribe to our brand of groupthink.

The taxpayer-funded issue DOES present a conundrum. If it were up to me schools would be free-markets and the taxpayers would keep their hard earned money in the first place to be able to pay for it. Second choice would be vouchers for all with no strings attached. Currently Charter Schools are one option that we have been allowed and as long as people with opposite idealogies can also establish taxpayer funded Charter Schools in competition to this one then it isn't time to complain. When one group gets turned down and another does not- then it is time to speak up for equality and fairness.

What is your source on this? We won't be looking for colleges for several years yet and will need a more current list then.

Also- do you know anything about homeschoolers applying to any of the militray academies?

>>Why don't we discuss fornicators, slanderers, thieves, adulterers, like we do homosexuals?<<

I think that we are discussing homosexuals becasue we are already at the bottom of that slippery slope of sexual immorality. Society has already given the fornicators and adulterers a pass in previous generations and homos are the last bastion we have to fight in this generation. In previous generations it was just as taboo to have sex outside of marriage, or to cheat on your spouse but those days are no longer.

It doesn't make the Bible wrong- it just makes us wrong.

>>but jeez, take a valium, princess<<


And there you have it....(the attitude that makes you target practice that is)

It was just too funny to pass up!

>>...the woman is NOT in a coma.<<

Yeah but if you tell a lie often enough and enough people believe it you can certainly pass it off as truth to the public school indoctrinated sheeple. I just read right over it every time they refer to her as a vegetable or in a coma now. It would be funny the way they parrot those terms if it weren't so tragic.

But this article went even beyond that standard lie into complete and utter hit piece of everyone involved. Her parents have "fought the whole way", Bush and Byrd were engaged in "travesty" by "political grandstanding in the ugliest sense."

I mean look at the words and phrases they use "Gov bush grabbed it," "brazen violation of the courts and an arrogant attack , " "transparent and contemptible ," and "pawn in a political game."

And they potray Michael as the poor wronged husband, supported by the courts and constitution and plauged by her parents. I notice they didn't bother to mention how Michael has shacked up with another women and spawned two children with her. Or how he needs Terri to die so he can inherit her trust fund AND marry his new gal- with a divorce he only gets the girl!


This is a hit piece from beginiing to end (except in regards to "poor, pathetic, grieving" Michael.) Very clear where this rag of a paper lies in the culture of deeath. May it come back to bite them in the behind.

Quite the unbiased, agenda-free piece of journalism we have here.

Yeah right.

For your information the Educator programs at Borders (25%) and Staples and Office Max (both work on a rebate gift card thing) are open to homeschoolers. Even though the Borders staff are pretty lefty (hell that might even be an understatment for a couple) they were very friendly to me on Teacher Appreciation Day and never hassle me at all when I ask for my discount.

Sometimes though individual employees may not realize that homeschoolers "count" for their educator programs. If that is the case just talk to another employee or sign up online and skip any store level information issues.

>>5) Every Wal-Mart I've ever seen built has led to dozens of other businesses opening up around them, not resulting in an entire town shutting down.<<

The new Wal-Mart here was responsible for getting all the roads around it fixed- potholes got fixed, lights put in, streets widended. We also have a lot of growth around it. I dont know if Wal-Mart is the chicken or the egg but they don't seem to be hurting us. I wish they were a SuperCenter though...

>>Remember what Blockbastard Video did? They drove all the small chains and mom and pops out of biz, then promptly jacked up their rental prices.<<

Blockbuster used to be the cheapest? Blockbuster was always the most expensive. The reason to go there was they were well laid out, they had more than two copies of any given current hit and they had all the "movie theater" extras- cokes, popcorn, candy. it was one-shop stopping. Plus if you rented at one location you could still drop it off elsewhere if you were out. With mom and pop you had to go back to that location- which meant you had to stay local and they rarely had drop boxes. Changes like drop boxes and implementing a share system with other stores to compete with Blockbusters convenience could have saved mom and pop stores.

We use Netflix now- they must have the sweet deal with the post office though. Or they must expect a lot of "gym membership" customers who pay the monthly but hardly ever rent. Hope they aren't slashing their throats, it would be a shame to lose them.

>>"All we hear from management is 'Do more,' " said Kay Underwood, 49, a 29-year Kroger employee. "We did an employee survey, and the number of us on Paxil, Prozac, blood pressure medicines, you name it, has gone sky high. We're killing ourselves for this company."<<


Is she kidding. When I worked union grocery they used to prevent me from working. I was a bagger while in high school and worked nights. After 9pm or so the store would practically die- I'd do all my front end jobs and be bored stiff out of my mind for another hour or two. There were jobs to done still but baggers couldn't do them according to union rules because the bagger would be taking work away from a checker who made a higher hourly salary.

They deserve the bed they have made. Wal-Mart pays bagger salaries and miracle of miracles there are actually people willing to do those jobs at that wage- just as I would have.

Now their jobs are too stressful. Boo-fricken-hoo. Poor baby. Maybe if you would have accepted some help form lower wage workers instead greedily keeping them to yourselves you wouldn't be in this boat.

Self ping and

request to be added to future pings please!!

>>I know it will pass. I said that last night after the House spoke and voted. Who could follow those performances and not vote to save Terri? Only someone who wants to be hated for life in Florida, I think.<<

These idiots are going to stall until it is too late. Then they will take credit for trying and we will all pat them on the back recognizing their useless efforts.

They need to hurry this up NOW, not tonight- she has already gone 6 DAYS now with no food or water. She doesn't have time on her side- they seem to think they do!!

>>Incompetent parents regard the school system as a holding tank for their little thugs. Kick the punks out. What's so hard about this?<<

I agree with you but I see a potential problem. After their Johnny gets kicked out of school he goes and knocks over a liquor store. He gets busted. Having his future ruined, the parents turn around and sue little Johnny's teachers/school/district/city/state government for keeping him from getting an education and having to knock over liquor stores.

Stranger things have happened.

Well this whole case stinks. I don't understand how a judge can rule on a case where being able to actually physically see the evidence is important when said judge cannot see. I don't understand how a judge can decide on hearsay that a woman would choose to die when she left no written directions to the fact. I don't understand how a judge can say no water when the law as currently written says that patients who agree to starvation may not be dehydrated. I don't understand how a man can take money that was supposed to go to his wife's rehab can take that money and use it on lawyers fees to try and kill her with the courts backing. I don't understand how the rogue judge can legislate in a matter the defies law as previoulsy written and yet everyone with a drop of power can keep their hands off saying they don't have the authority to do anything about it. I don't understand how no one has the power to stop the crime that has been committed in this case.

This woman's rights have been violated up one side and down the other and yet everyone says they can't stop it, they don't have the power. Even the legislature- who I thought was tasked with writing all these laws in the first place is sniveling they shouldn't be doing this.

Who the hell has the power to stop atrocities like this if not the government tasked with such. Has our government become that useless and dysfunctional?

>>I was in B & N yesterday<<

Well I presume a bookstores selection will be somewhat influenced by local culture. But yes B&N has po'd me more than once by their display of Heather has Two Mommies and other such crap.

We shop Borders exclusively now. Not only can we pre-reserve through Amazon if we want to (don't usually but can) they give the 20% or 25% educator district to homeschoolers- which B&N does NOT do. The only discount we have ever gotten through B&N is the Preferred Reader 10% discount that you have to buy a membership for (which we used to since we do buy that many books.)

The educator discount so far is offered on all purchases not just stuff that will obviously be used in an educational setting. I suppose if this policy gets abused they could change it but so far they get ALL our media business because of their homeschool-friendly policy (and would continue to even if they were forced to change it to limited selection.)

Office Depot and Staples also offer their educator discounts to homeschools though sometimes individual staff and even managers may not be aware. Never hurts to ask- and ask again higher up the chain of command if necessary.

Anyone with a website can sign up to be an affiliate. Anyone one of us with websites that allow advertising (somtimes the free webspace from through an ISP disallows this) could do the exact same thing and donate it to Bush or the RNC etc...

This does not mean any of these companies are anti-Bush (nor would their dropping his affiliation mean they are Pro-Bush so much as they are PR-smart.)

The best way to fight this would be to open up competeing sites donating to your individual causes (or for your own profit.) Anyone who has the time, knowledge (basic HTML) an webspace can do it. I have often wondered why JimRob doesn't sign up for a few to help fundraise (though sometimes we might be his obstacle.)

Any of you who run pages (or know the person who does) for your homeschool groups, scout troops, schools or whatever can sign up for these affiliate programs. Usually the only restricitons are on porn sites, or sites that "hate" or encourage illegal activity. And obviously individuals can have sites.

Just don't shop through this guys links (and in fact if you did click a link you need to find a site you would like to support and click a link from them as some stores use cookies to give credit for up to 30 days.)Whenever you online shop either go through a site you DO want to support or go directly to the site itself.

Could someone please update me on what has happened and what it all means. I apparently missed the legislature session while fixing/having dinner with my family.

The cut ans paste was from another article I was reading but the reply is to you about this thread!!

>>I'm no fan of government programs but I am concerned that when someone tries to make an effort to get off welfare and be self-sufficient there are no resources available to do it. <<

He wants the money. If he divorces her he doesn't get the money when/if she does die becuase he won't be her "next of kin." The only way to insure he gets as much as he can free and clear is to kill her off as quickly as he can while they are still married.