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Days of Silence Bethany Stotts, July 08, 2008 Same-sex marriage isn’t the only pro-gay policy making waves in California. Now school districts with bullying problems are forming alliances with organizations such as the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) and the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), often at the behest of the American Civil Liberties Union. Upper Lake Union Elementary School District (ULUESD) recently decided to adopt comprehensive “sensitivity” policies following an ACLU lawsuit over the alleged assault of a 14-year-old student last Fall. The ACLU recently issued a press release celebrating the out-of-court settlement with the California school district. “We’re...

DETROIT -- Jennifer Sharpe is one sharp cookie, especially when it comes to selling Girl Scout Cookies. The 15-year-old from Dearborn, Mich., sold more than 17,000 boxes of cookies. Jennifer was on a street corner with her mom every day selling Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos and the rest of the cookie line. Pam Sharpe, Jennifer's mother and troop leader, said the sales effort helped build her daughter's confidence. She said that at first, Jennifer was shy and quiet but came out of her shell selling the cookies. National Girl Scout officials said there is no cookie sale record on the books,...

Two Girl Scouts Start Campaign Against Cookie Sales By MARJORIE KAUTH-KARJALA   Seventh graders Rhiannon Tomtishen, left, and Madison Vorva are helping to save orangutans by raising awareness of the effect of palm oil plantations on the primate's habitat. (Photo by Leisa Thompson)     ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Two middle school students who started a project to earn a Girl Scout award have ended up rejecting what may be the best known of their organization's symbols: Girl Scout cookies. Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen, both 12, started doing research last fall on endangered orangutans in Indonesia as part of...

CINCINNATI, April 10, 2008 – It’s reasonable to think servicemembers deployed the world over might be missing Girl Scout cookies again this year, but that’s not necessarily the case. More than 150 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines soon will be enjoying Girl Scout cookies and other goodies thanks to the Thank You Foundation and several members of the greater Cincinnati community. “This was a real community effort,” said John Guinn, president and founder of the Thank You Foundation. “Students from St. Margaret of York [School] collected items, and several Girl Scout troops donated cookies. Senior citizens from the Lebanon...

Humans have altered Earth so much that scientists say a new epoch in the planet's geologic history has begun. Say goodbye to the 10,000-year-old Holocene Epoch and hello to the Anthropocene. Among the major changes heralding this two-century-old man-made epoch: Vastly altered sediment erosion and deposition patterns. Major disturbances to the carbon cycle and global temperature. Wholesale changes in biology, from altered flowering times to new migration patterns. Acidification of the ocean, which threatens tiny marine life that forms the bottom of the food chain. The idea, first suggested in 2000 by Nobel Prize-winning chemist Paul Crutzen, has gained steam...

The Osseo school district must give a student-run gay rights group at Maple Grove Senior High the same privileges it offers other extracurricular clubs, such as the use of school rooms for meetings, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen issued a permanent injunction that puts the group Straights and Gays for Equality, also known as SAGE, on equal footing as other groups. Two students, their parents and SAGE sued Osseo Area Schools in 2005, claiming the Twins Cities suburban district violated the federal Equal Access Act, which holds that public schools must extend the same privileges...

Christian Alternative to Secular Girl Scouts Growing, Expanding http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070803/28750_Christian_Alternative_to_Secular_Girl_Scouts_Growing,_Expanding.htm http://tinyurl.com/36w64j American Heritage Girls (AHG), a Christian alternative to Girl Scouts, has entered a new phase of growth this month with plans to expand to all 50 states by 2008. Fri, Aug. 03, 2007 Posted: 20:14:11 PM EST American Heritage Girls (AHG), a Christian alternative to Girl Scouts, has entered a new phase of growth this month with plans to expand to all 50 states by 2008. The 12-year-old organization offering girls programs that are God-centered has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years while large secular organizations such as t Girl...

A board member for Equality California has come out swinging at the Bible-based Capitol Resource Institute, which works on behalf of family and biblical values in California, especially among its lawmakers. "If you continue your efforts, we will BURY you," said an e-mail from Ben Patrick Johnson, to his "colleagues" at the CRI, according to a statement from the Christian organization. "For a group that purports to expand tolerance and civil rights, Equality California is not practicing what it preaches," CRI said. "This type of language evokes images of Communist leader Nikita Khrushchev pounding his shoe on the podium of...

4/27/2007 - FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. (AFNEWS) -- Girl Scouts near Spokane, Wash., finished their third year of collecting cookies for deployed troops through Operation Troop to Troop April 23 and will be sending approximately 9,600 boxes of cookies to servicemembers fighting the war on terrorism. More than 2,200 Scouts canvassed more than 52,000 square miles and collected $38,400 for their cookies destined for American forces overseas. The Girl Scouts took on the challenge to give back to their community and support the troops. "The goal is to give back to the community and provide a way for the...

Rosanne Strott says she was not trying to make a political statement. She just wanted to invite a close friend to Friday night's prom at Bishop Feehan High School. The problem was, that friend was a woman. Catholic Diocese officials barred the same-sex couple from attending the prom together.

Calling a judge's decision Friday to allow a Gay-Straight Alliance to meet at her high school a "relief," club president Yasmin Gonzalez said she wants the group to have its meeting on campus next week. "It's a big step forward. We had to meet out of school, and we have a lot of members, but a lot can't make it out of school," Gonzalez said. U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore granted a preliminary injunction Friday that allows Gonzalez and the Gay-Straight Alliance of Okeechobee High School — which Gonzalez tried to start at the school in September — to...

High school clubs that address sexual orientation and gender identity have more than quadrupled in North Jersey since 2000. This rainbow revolution is part of a national trend that has students openly discussing gay and lesbian issues in school-sanctioned clubs. Some of the clubs adopt a purposely vague moniker, like "Kaleidescope" or "Spectrum." But most use the name "Gay-Straight Alliance" -- GSA for short. All see themselves as no different from any other issue-oriented club, such as Amnesty International or environmental clubs. There are at least 16 of these clubs in Bergen County, and 125 throughout New Jersey. What's most...

The federal government said yesterday that it had selected AT&T, Verizon and Qwest Communications to bid on portions of the government’s biggest telecommunications contract ever, leaving one longtime partner, Sprint Nextel, out in the cold. The contract, by the General Services Administration, is valued at about $20 billion over 10 years, but could grow to as much as $48 billion. None of the three companies selected know yet what portion of the total business they will receive under the contract, known as Networx Universal. Rather than split the business upfront, they will compete for the opportunity to provide telecommunications services...

WASHINGTON, March 27 / -- A national pro-family coalition, www.NotOurKids.com, is calling upon parents to keep their children home from school on April 18 -- to avoid GLSEN's homosexual "Day of Silence," in which students and some supportive faculty intentionally remain silent throughout the school day to protest alleged oppression of homosexuals. SNIP www.NotOurKids.com is a coalition of pro-family groups who object to the disruptive political hijacking of America's classrooms by pro-homosexual advocates.

Witnesses have told congressional investigators that the chief of the General Services Administration and a deputy in Karl Rove's political affairs office at the White House joined in a videoconference earlier this year with top GSA political appointees, who discussed ways to help Republican candidates. With GSA Administrator Lurita Alexis Doan and up to 40 regional administrators on hand, J. Scott Jennings, the White House's deputy director of political affairs, gave a PowerPoint presentation on Jan. 26 of polling data about the 2006 elections. When Jennings concluded his presentation to the GSA political appointees, Doan allegedly asked them how they...

PARENT GROUPS ASK MARYLAND TO STOP NEW SEX ED LESSONS Neutral Unisex Bathroom Created for Cross-dressing Student Montgomery County, Maryland – Three parent organizations are asking the Maryland State Board of Education to halt the new sex ed curriculum approved by the Montgomery County, Maryland Board of Education (BOE). Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX), Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum (CRC), and Family Leader Network have filed an appeal requesting Maryland to stay Montgomery County Public School’s sex ed plans. The newly approved curriculum, entitled "Respect for Differences in Human Sexuality," promotes cross-dressers, homosexuals, transgenders, bisexuals, the intersexed,...

"...The White County school board and the ACLU reportedly have reach a tentative agreement to settle a suit growing out of attempts to for a gay support club at White County High School...The paper, quoting sources close to the matter, says the school board, through its insurance company, has agreed to pay the ACLU $168,000 to cover court costs and another $10,000 to the student plaintiffs...White County must also set up an anti-bullying program at both the high school and the ninth grade academy, according to the report..."

Until a few years ago, the gay-rights movement kept its distance from my life in suburban California. I followed the movement’s progress in the media and analyzed its claims in theology papers, but none of these matters directly intruded on my family’s life and thus did not prompt any direct response. Then one morning, as I read the online bulletin issued by my son’s Catholic high school, an item grabbed my attention: “We are announcing a new school club—‘The Gay, Straight…and anything in between…Alliance’ (GSA)!!” I read over the announcement several times, pondering the oddly jocular tone of the...

Ever since I announced my bid for the United States Presidency, I’ve been questioned about some of my more radical political opinions. Most of those questions have dealt with my proposed economic policies – for example, the abolition of the IRS and the implementation of the Fair Tax. Today, I offer an answer to questions about why I am opposed to the idea of gays adopting or teaching children. Several years ago, I began writing columns questioning the so-called gay rights movement. I prefer to call it the “gay privileges” movement because gays are not presently deprived of anything that...

In an age when colleges live and die by their rankings, a new focus for campus assessment is emerging: gay-friendliness. The Advocate, the national newsmagazine for gays and lesbians, published a 389-page book this month listing the 100 schools that it says offer the best discrimination protection, most friendly climate, and most extensive campus services for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered students. Sixteen of the schools are in New England, including six in Massachusetts. MIT, for one, made the top 100. The school is cited for having one of the nation's oldest gay and lesbian student groups and for early...

Nature-deficit disorder is ruining our kidshttp://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20060816/OPINION/108160053 http://tinyurl.com/zchy3 by jim stiles August 16, 2006 No matter how old I live to be, there will never be a place so full of mystery and adventure as a place of my childhood called The Woods. The stories that grew out of those trees still kindle powerful feelings, even after all these years. My friends and I knew the place was haunted. It had no boundaries, and in our 10-year-old minds, it went on forever. Jump ahead a few decades to a familiar topic: the commercialization of wilderness. What created the demand for such...

Rabies shots urged for 950 Girl Scouts Associated Press LEESBURG, Va. - Officials are recommending that nearly 1,000 Girl Scouts who may have been exposed to rabies at a Northern Virginia camp consider getting protective vaccinations. There is only a small chance that any of the girls were infected by bats that were found in some of the sleeping shelters at Camp Potomac Woods, Loudoun County officials said. But authorities are erring on the side of caution because around 1 percent of bats carry rabies, a viral disease that is incurable once symptoms appear. Bats can bite children in their...

SAN FRANCISCO - Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides said Friday that if he unseats Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in November he would sign a bill legalizing gay marriage in California. Angelides talked about the issue the day after New York's high court upheld that state's one-man, one-woman marriage laws and as a California appeals court prepared to consider whether a trial judge erred in declaring the state's marriage laws unconstitutional. "I would sign the marriage equality bill because I believe if we can get behind people to build a lasting relationship, that is a good thing," Angelides said at a news...

Activist: Clubs Promoting Risky Behavior Should Be Booted from Campus (AgapePress) - A Michigan school board is defying the requests of parents who want Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs banned in the district. Despite the objections of concerned parents, the Forest Hills School Board has vowed it will not shut down three GSA clubs in the district. The board claims the federal Equal Access Act requires schools to allow sex-based clubs. But Gary Glenn, director of the American Family Association of Michigan, says schools can ban student groups that promote risky behavior -- and it has already been done, he...

Show and tell Educators say the pre-school set needs straight talk on gay issues Despite the controversy that can arise when gay issues are talked about in elementary school classrooms, a group of educators are trying to give schools the tools they need to do just that. This year Wheelock College offered a new course for early childhood education workers on making schools and daycare settings welcoming for same-sex couples and their children. The course prompted the formation of the Massachusetts LGBT Early Childhood Education Initiative, a consortium of people in the field working to make classrooms around the state...

Chris Krug had thought she was a lesbian from the time she was 8, but she felt certain after developing a serious crush on her best friend. She was in the fifth grade at the time. Krug formally came out a year later, as she started Ritenour Middle School. She casually mentioned it to a classmate on a Sunday. By Monday, students were shouting "Christina's a lesbian," down the hallways at school. "It was probably not the best way to go about it, but it happened," said Krug, now 16. "It was tough for a few months and then people...

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO (May 19, 2006) -- Marine Band San Diego sent a delegate of five Marines to the locally harbored USS Midway on Saturday where they provided patriotic music for the Girl Scout Operation Thin Mint 2006 Sendoff Celebration. Girl Scouts by the hundreds, troop leaders and parents gathered on the large carrier’s deck and surrounded the center stage waving miniature American flags while the brass quintet played patriotic music. The girls met on the ship as a formal way to send massive quantities of cookies sold throughout the year to the troops deployed overseas. Bill...

Tuesday, April 25, 2006 How homosexual school clubs offer sex to students Posted: April 25, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern By Linda Harvey © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com The mainstream media is sure to spend time this next week on the subject of homosexuality and youth, precipitated by the observance in hundreds of high schools of the so-called "Day of Silence" on Wednesday, April 26. This is the day that students who are "GLBT" – that's "gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered" – pledge to remain silent all day to draw attention to what they believe is discrimination. On Thursday, April 27, some schools will be...

It's an American tradition as homespun as Thanksgiving Day turkey and Fourth of July fireworks. But how much you pay for a box of Girl Scout cookies can depend on where your Girl Scout lives. Every winter, eager Girl Scouts set up their cookie-laden booths in front of supermarkets, and the selling begins. For buyers, getting a box or two of the Girl Scout-sponsored Thin Mints is about much more than picking up a snack; it's a nostalgic trip down memory lane. For the scouts, selling the cookies is a chance to learn valuable business skills, while making money for...

March 1, 2006 Bill to allow gay foster parents to adopt doesn’t have the votes By Jan Pudlow Senior Editor A proposal to allow gay foster parents to adopt the children they care for received its first public hearing since Florida’s anti-gay parenting law was first enacted in 1977. It was standing-room only at the Senate Children & Families Committee on February 14, where 19 people — including gay and lesbian parents, foster parents, foster children, national children’s advocates, sociologists, and researchers — testified why the bill was in the best interests of children. But before there was a vote...

It's a way to help the Girl Scouts without pigging out. It's a clever cookie caper; Pat Tobey can buy boxes of the cookies without wearing them. Girl Scout Audra Barkley is writing thankyou notes to customers who choose to ship their cookies to Iraq. Feb. 20, 2006. 6 p.m. Parents whose kids are selling Girl Scout Cookies often end up helping out by taking the tempting treats to work where co-workers and clients make them disappear. Big problem for Brian Barkley, who is a fitness trainer. His clients at Functional Conditioning in Arvada are busy working off cookies, donuts...

Two Christian parents say their son was a victim of homosexual indoctrination at the prestigious "Governor's School of North Carolina."The Governor's School of North Carolina describes itself as "program for intellectually gifted high school students, integrating academic disciplines, the arts, and unique courses." But one North Carolina couple is suffering some after effects of their son's involvement in the program. Jim and Beverly Burrows say after their son attended a Governor's School seminar called "The New Gay Teenager," he began telling them he was unsure of his "sexual orientation."The parents believe the seminar was intentionally scheduled as the last optional...

My 7-year-old daughter recently asked if she could join the Brownies like some of her friends. I am inclined not to let her join, because my understanding is that the Brownies (and the Girl Scouts) are not what they were when I was growing up in the 1950s. Still, I hate to deprive my daughter of a valuable experience with her friends. The fact is, I really don't know much about the Brownies, since I was a Cub Scout (and Boy Scout) back in the days when we were allowed to proudly wear our uniforms in school, replete with the...

Dr. Johnnetta Cole, a woman whose radical views forced the Clinton administration to withdraw her name from consideration for Education Secretary, will be one of three keynote speakers at the Girl Scouts USA national convention in Atlanta from October 7-10. Another speaker is Kavita Ramdas, president and CEO of the Global Fund for Women, which, among other things, promotes abortion and feminism. The third speaker is Ann Curry, news anchor for NBC’s Today Show. The choice of the first two speakers indicates that the Girl Scouts show no sign of slowing their plunge into hard-core feminism and political advocacy, at...

The Boy Scouts are routinely attacked for standing by traditional standards of moral character, like faith in God and respect for the institution of the family. In the politically correct corners of America, wearing a Boy Scout uniform is like wearing a Nazi brown shirt. In a recent column for the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, Rick Mercier criticized President Bush for having visited last month's patriotic Boy Scout Jamboree. "Isn't there something nightmarish about our misleader swooping down on a steaming pit of sweat and testosterone and whipping a throng of brown-shirted youths into a nationalistic frenzy?" he asks. The Philadelphia...

According to a report in the Ft. Worth Telegram, Debra Jones has been charged in Ft. Worth, Texas federal court with illegally diverting $10 million in contracts to a company in the area in which she and her husband had a financial interest. She was an employee of the General Services Administration at the time and was allegedly diverting contracts for food preparation and serving equipment to a company doing business as Global Service Supply in 2000 and 2001. The charge accuses Jones of "personally and substantially" using her position as a federal employee to direct GSA purchases to the...

Question: Ignoring all legal issues.... Would you care/object if your children's teacher was openly (not flaming) gay? Would it make any difference if the gay teacher was male or female? Would it make any difference if the gay person taught elementary, middle school or high school?

It took long weekends camped outside their local grocery stores and hours tromping door-to-door, but the Girl Scouts in Springfield Troop 1868 eventually sold enough Thin Mints and Tagalongs to help fund a camping trip to Hersheypark in Hershey, Pa. But then the mother in charge of the troop's cookie sale vanished, as did her young daughter and $4,483 of the cash, troop leaders said. The summer trip was canceled....

When I was in high school, the students fell into many different groups: preps, jocks, cheerleaders, punks, deadheads, druggies, geeks, and all the rest. Just about everyone received an unofficial but virtually unchangeable assignment to a particular group. When I work in high schools today, I discover little difference. The groups still exist (with just a few changes in terminology), and the teachers and administrators still counsel against the labels. As they wisely explain, labels reinforce stereotypes and prejudices; they prevent us from accepting individuals and getting to know the real person. There is one difference, however. While still warning...

(AgapePress) - A Masschusetts pro-family group is blasting the state legislature for overriding the governor's veto of a 70 percent increase in state funding for homosexual programs in public schools. Last month, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney vetoed a $175,000 funding increase for Gay Straight Alliance clubs and school assemblies promoting same-sex "marriage." However, the state legislature, led by House Ways and Means chairman Robert DeLeo, voted to override Romney. Brian Camenker, who heads the Waltham-based group Article 8 Alliance, recalls DeLeo's influence in the matter. "The chief of staff of this guy [DeLeo] had a phone conversation with me [during...

WASHINGTON, July 21, 2005 – The General Services Administration certified its commitment to GSA employees serving in the nation's reserve component forces July 20, as the federal agency's chief signed a "5-Star" statement of support here. Stephen A. Perry, GSA administrator, signed the agreement at the organization's headquarters. Besides serving as a public demonstration of GSA's support, said Bob Hollingsworth, executive director of the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, the document confirms that GSA: Promises to safeguard job positions, support continuation of medical and dental benefits for family members, grant leaves of absence for military...

WASHINGTON, May 18, 2005 – Following each Girl Scout cookie season there are thousands of leftover boxes of unsold cookies. Fortunately, most of these extras are donated to charity. Girl Scouts from Service Unit 80-5 in Woodbridge, Va., and their families packed care packages loaded with boxes of Girl Scout cookies on May 14. The care packages are being shipped to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Courtesy photo (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. This year, Girl Scout Service Unit 80-5, which consists of 23 separate troops from Woodbridge, Va., decided to donate their leftover cookies to American servicemembers...

Police: Alleged Gay-Bashing At Marin High School A Hoax Perpetrator 'Confessed To Everything' May 8 (AP) — A 17-year-old top wrestler at an area high school here faked a series of gay-bashing incidents that prompted a police investigation, authorities said. The rash of gay-bashing incidents at Tamalpais High School was the work of a student gay leader who claimed she was the victim of hate crimes, according to Mill Valley Police Capt. James Wickham. The teen, who heads the school's Gay-Straight Alliance, admitted to authorities that she was the perpetrator of the incidents, which included vandalizing her own car with...

Montgomery County Public Schools yesterday halted a new sex-ed curriculum that was to have begun today, after a federal judge ruled in favor of a lawsuit that charged the course is unconstitutional and promotes homosexuality. U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. had granted a 10-day temporary restraining order yesterday to halt the teaching of the new course. "I have directed the office of the deputy superintendent of schools to review and evaluate the materials referenced in the judge's order," Superintendent Jerry D. Weast said, "...before any decisions are made about any future pilot testing of the revised curriculum in our...

Activist Claims School Censored Protest Against Homosexual Event By Mary Rettig April 12, 2005 (AgapePress) - Members of a high school conservative group in California are saying their First Amendment rights were violated when they tried to protest an upcoming pro-homosexual "Day of Silence" event. Tim Bueler, a senior at Rancho Cotate High School in Rohnert Park, is the founder and president of the High School Conservative Clubs of America. Last week the Rancho Cotate High School Conservative Club participated in a demonstration called the "Day of Truth." The conservative protest was designed to counter a pro-homosexual observance known as...

Another GLSEN sponsored 'Day of Silence" has come and gone in America's indoctrination camps, aka public schools. The idea behind this event, which calls upon students to be disobediant and refuse to respond to teachers, is that the schools are not 'safe' for students who believe themselves to be something other than heterosexual. The 'safe schools' war cry is a lie. It's a facade behind which squats something altogether filthy and evil. In order to know the truth, we must first, identify their ideological worldview, and second, 'unmask' homosexuality. GLSEN, and their counterpart GSA (Gay Straight Alliance Network) are neo-Marxists....

(South Windsor-WTNH, Apr. 15, 2005 10:55 PM) _ Some students in South Windsor don't agree with gay marriage and they sported t-shirts showing others how they feel. But when they wore those shirts to school, the trouble really started. by News Channel 8's Bob Wilson Because of their religious convictions they believe gay marriage is wrong. So four students at the South Windsor High School wore t-shirts saying "Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve." "We wore them to protest a gay straight alliance rally that they had on Tuesday where they wore signs," said sophomore David Grimaldi. "They had...

A Shelby County woman with a history of writing bad checks has been charged with theft of $4,848 in Girl Scout cookies. The Shelby County Sheriff's Department charged Doris LeAnn Taylor, 33, of the Shelby community with one count of theft by deception, Sheriff Chris Curry said Thursday. Taylor, a Girl Scout cookie mom, is accused of ordering 3,020 boxes of cookies and then failing to return either money or cookies to the Girl Scouts of Cahaba Council, which serves seven counties. Cookie moms are mothers who take responsibility for supervising sales by a group of Scouts. The Cahaba Council...

<p>Kerry Pacer was used to the whispering behind her back, the name-calling and the snickering when she walked down the hall. But when almost the entire student body at White County High School booed as she accepted a rose from a female friend during a Valentine's Day (news - web sites) program last month, she knew it was time to do something.</p>

Operation Thin Mint Updated: 3:10 PM Mar 9, 2005 Shaun Verbout Girl Scouts of Indian Waters Council are asking if people want to purchase cookies for soldiers overseas. They call the project "Operation Thin Mint". When you buy girl scout cookies, you'll have the option to purchase some for soldiers as well. The Girl Scouts get money, which goes towards projects in the community; and soldiers get a taste of home. The problem is finding the money to ship the boxes over. It costs over ninety cents to ship one box. So, local business are chipping in to pay for...