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St. Paul, Minn. — A few Somali parents in Willmar complained that the public schools weren't allowing their Muslim children to step out of class for daily prayer. Some didn't send their children to school last week in protest. Today, school officials said they won't change their policy, which allows students to pray during lunch time and between classes. For now, families have reluctantly agreed to send their children to school, but the issue may resurface later in the school year. This is the first school year Somali parents have had an issue with Willmar public schools over when their...

Governments tend toward tyranny. Governments are comprised of selfish humans with personal desires for money, job security, and increased authority over fellow citizens. A citizen working for a government has opportunities to rule over and oppress fellow citizens, they would never have outside their government position. Therefore, government becomes a magnet for selfish power-seeking individuals. By their sheer size and superior firepower, governments tend to overrun and ignore personal rights. The machine capriciously devours it's victims. The Declaration of Independence declares that governments exist to protect the rights of citizens. The Constitution for the United States of America further states...

I don't know if I'm posting this correctly, but I thought everyone should get a load of this video. Typical Obama supporter?

MARTINSBURG, WV - A pro-gun group wants to do away with a Martinsburg law that bans guns in city buildings, but city officials intend to keep the rule in place. As a gun owner and owner of Shep's Sporting Goods store in Martinsburg, Brad Sheppard believes in the right to bear arms. "If a person has a right to carry a gun for their protection, then they should be allowed to do so," he said. On the other hand, he also understands Martinsburg's ordinance that says people can't carry a firearm or other deadly weapon into a building owned, leased,...

WASHINGTON, July 31, 2008 – A new Web site is giving the American public a nonpartisan opportunity to join entertainers, professional athletes and politicians in expressing gratitude to servicemembers defending the nation. “What we wanted to do and, I think, something that we were equipped to do, was to provide a forum that is really meant to be uplifting [to servicemembers],” said Stacey Artandi, founder of “Moment of Thanks.” “It’s meant to say [to Americans], ‘Shed your politics. Put them aside, and take a moment to be grateful for some of the things that we really cherish.’” The Moment...

At 15, Lawrence King was small—5 feet 1 inch—but very hard to miss. In January, he started to show up for class at Oxnard, Calif.'s E. O. Green Junior High School decked out in women's accessories. On some days, he would slick up his curly hair in a Prince-like bouffant. Sometimes he'd paint his fingernails hot pink and dab glitter or white foundation on his cheeks. "He wore makeup better than I did," says Marissa Moreno, 13, one of his classmates. He bought a pair of stilettos at Target, and he couldn't have been prouder if he had on a...

Father-of-three branded a 'pervert' - for photographing his own children in public park By David Wilkes Last updated at 1:46 AM on 16th July 2008 When Gary Crutchley started taking pictures of his children playing on an inflatable slide he thought they would be happy reminders of a family day out. But the innocent snaps of seven-year-old Cory, and Miles, five, led to him being called a ‘pervert’.

Name Agency Title Overtime Total pay ABELARDO SAAVEDRA HOUSTON ISD SUPT OF SCHOOLS $0 $442,556 BRUCE H. LESLIE HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE CHANCELLOR EMERITUS $0 $336,583 FRANK WILSON METRO PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXEC OFFICER $0 $312,260 H THOMAS KORNEGAY PORT OF HOUSTON DIR EXECUTIVE $0 $277,979 HERMINIA PALACIO HARRIS COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR $0 $275,185 ARTHUR L. STOREY JR HARRIS COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,PUB.INF&FCD $0 $271,799 LUIS ARTURO SANCHEZ HARRIS COUNTY CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER $0 $271,449 KEVIN CRONIN METRO DEPUTY PROGRAM DIRECTOR $0 $263,744 MARY S. SPANGLER HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE CHANCELLOR $0 $242,106 KAREN K SOEHNGE HOUSTON ISD CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER $0...

WASHINGTON, April 28, 2008 – If the U.S. military lost its politically neutral footing, the armed forces would surrender the public’s trust, a senior U.S. military officer who explained a new Defense Department directive on troops’ political activity said in an interview. “If we do appear to be influenced by our own views or our own understanding of how things should be, we’re going to lose the public trust,” Army Col. Shawn Shumake, director of legal policy within the Office of the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, told the Pentagon Channel. “We’re going to lose the...

INDIANAPOLIS - The nation's system of public financing presidential elections is "creaky" and needs to be updated, Sen. Barack Obama said Friday, offering another possible argument for bypassing the three-decades-old system that has helped pay campaigns for the White House. Obama, who has raised a whopping $234 million from about 1.3 million donors, said the limited amounts of money available from the federal treasury for presidential campaigns pose difficult choices for candidates raising large sums. "I think that it is creaky," he said of the program financed by $3 dollar checkoffs in tax returns. "The amount of money raised through...

Young people's financial know-how has gone from bad to worse. High school seniors, on average, answered correctly only 48.3 percent of questions about personal finance and economics, according to a nationwide survey released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve. That was even lower than the 52.4 percent in the previous survey in 2006 and marked the worst score out of the six surveys conducted so far. With home foreclosures at record highs, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke stressed in a speech that young people must sharpen their financial knowledge so they are in a better position to make sound investment decisions throughout...

<p>As Marc Ambinder reports, the McCain campaign raised only $4 million online and through direct mail. Barack Obama, meanwhile, has over 1.3 million donors, a number that will surely increase if he wins the Democratic nomination. So far, McCain has caught a lucky break.</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) - Seventeen of the nation's 50 largest cities had high school graduation rates lower than 50 percent, with the lowest graduation rates reported in Detroit, Indianapolis and Cleveland, according to a report released Tuesday.

TIKRIT — The Task Force Iron medical team hosted a United and Healthy Conference at the main dining facility on COB Speicher March 23. The conference was designed to bring together and engage Director Generals of Health, the Ministry of Health, Provincial Reconstruction Teams and U.S. medical personnel in a forum where they could present their issues and recommend solutions to the Ministry of Health regarding concerns. “Today’s event marks a historic moment in Iraq’s history,” said Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, 1st Armored Division and Task Force Iron commander. “Their presence today demonstrated the strength and determination of the...

To soothe the bruised egos of educators and children in lackluster schools, Massachusetts officials are now pushing for kinder, gentler euphemisms for failure. more stories like thisInstead of calling these schools "underperforming," the Board of Education is considering labeling them as "Commonwealth priority," to avoid poisoning teacher and student morale. Schools in the direst straits, now known as "chronically underperforming," would get the more urgent but still vague label of "priority one." The board has spent parts of more than three meetings in recent months debating the linguistic merits and tone set by the terms after a handful of superintendents...

HARTFORD, Conn. - Hillary Rodham Clinton relegated her chief Democratic rival to the rhetorical sidelines Monday and focused her criticism on President Bush, saying he had lost touch with the concerns of an anxious public. In a speech to more than 1,000 people jammed in a gymnasium, Clinton did not refer to the fight with Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. Her audience, which included an equal number listening in an adjoining room, roared with approval when the former first lady took note of the Republican president's dwindling time in office. "Tonight is a red-letter night in American history,"...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2008 – When Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Ralph Chavez volunteered for a deployment to Afghanistan, he didn’t really know what he was getting himself into. It ended up being one of the best experiences of his military career. Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Ralph Chavez. Defense Department Photo.  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Chavez, a yeoman, or administrative specialist, decided to volunteer for an individual augmentation deployment in 2006 while stationed in California. He said it was important for him to volunteer because he knew soldiers and Marines who were on their second or...

I think my late wife would approve of this message.

Task force targets school corruptionDec 28, 2007 3:00 AM (7 days ago) by Bill Myers, The Examiner WASHINGTON - U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor has convened a “working group” of anti-fraud investigators from federal and local agencies tasked with rooting out endemic corruption in the District of Columbia’s education system. The new task force began work in the shadow of a string of high-profile fraud and abuse cases within the city’s schools. “Instead of trying to pick up the pieces after the damage has been done, we’re out there in the schools meeting key people and getting the word out...

The Texas Department of Transportation will hold several local meetings early next year to offer answers on the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor. In 2007 TxDOT released a tentative outline for the cross-country Interstate 69, which is currently planned to come through Texarkana. The highway would be a straight shot from Canada, through the United States and into Mexico. TxDOT will hold nearly a dozen “town hall� meetings and 46 public hearings to encourage public input and address concerns. “We want to hear the public’s ideas and we want to answer their questions,� said TxDOT Commissioner Ted Houghton. “Their comments will help...

Lawsuit seeks over $25,000 in damages NELSONVILLE - A Nelsonville-York School District gym teacher has sued a Nelsonville couple who have been claiming he acted abusively toward their son. Teacher Anthony Mollica of Athens filed the lawsuit last week in Athens County Common Pleas Court against Robert and Tia Chubb of Nelsonville. The lawsuit accuses the Chubbs of a "campaign of defamation" and seeks more than $25,000 in compensatory damages and an award of punitive damages to be determined later. In previous articles about the situation, Brown News Service has not used Mollica's name because he has not been officially...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2007 – Serving in the military was something Jose Munoz always wanted to do, but it wasn’t until after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that he was spurred to enlist and fulfill that dream. Army Sgt. Jose Munoz is telling the military’s story to the American people at community and business events, veterans organizations and other gatherings as part of the Defense Department’s “Why We Serve” public outreach program. Defense Department photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Munoz, now a sergeant with five and a half years in the Army, said a lack of...

Officers protecting Albuquerque Public Schools showed up on campus Thursday armed with guns. The school board approved a plan to arm the officers Wednesday night. Officers with APS get training every few months on how to use the weapons, and how to make sure they don't end up in the wrong hands. Officers ...are also trained on how to handle the worst case scenario, a student with a gun.

When a high school friend told me several years ago that he and his wife were leaving Washington's Mount Pleasant neighborhood for Montgomery County, I snickered and murmured something about white flight. Progressives who traveled regularly to Cuba and Brazil, they wanted better schools for their children. I saw their decision as one more example of liberal hypocrisy. I was childless then, but I have a 6-year-old now. And I know better. So to all the friends -- most but not all of them white -- whom I've chastised over the years for abandoning the District once their children reached...

Southland school holiday debate blows up into a national controversy (http://www.dailysouthtown.com/news/591412,010507xmas.article) October 7, 2007 Angela Caputo, Staff writer News that Christmas celebrations, of all things, might be banned in some Oak Lawn schools was just another example of how the core of American culture is being gutted by outside influences, according to television personalities, radio pundits, bloggers and everyday people who piled on the debate in Ridgeland District 122 last week. "For years now, it seems like the war on Christmas is only getting worse," CNN's Glenn Beck said. "First it was mangers, then it was trees. And then it...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2007 – The U.S. military is battling terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq so Americans don’t have to fight them in the homeland, a senior air-defense noncommissioned officer said. “If we’re not over there solving that problem now, it’s definitely going to be on our front door,” Army Sgt. 1st Class Steven M. Adams told American Forces Press Service. Adams, 34, has served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Qatar, and is currently assigned to U.S. Space Command, at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. He is among an elite group of soldiers trained to operate the Joint Tactical Ground...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The U.S. government cannot trade a parcel of land to private hands to allow a Christian cross to remain in the middle of a vast federal preserve, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Thursday.

Every few years a new fad sweeps across the public schools. We've had self-esteem, new math, whole language, New Age, outcome-based education, school-to-work, mental health screening, school-based clinics, global education, diversity, multiculturalism, and early childhood education. The newest public school fad was announced last week on the front page of the New York Times, so educators must be taking it seriously. If it hasn't come to your town yet, no doubt it will come soon. Freshmen at Dwight Morrow High School in New Jersey, starting this fall, must declare a major, and they must take at least one course in...

NEW YORK Despite rising criticism from some quarters, Gen. David Petraeus appears to command considerable respect from the average American, a new Gallup poll reveals, booosting the chances that his much-publicized September report on the "surge" will be treated as credible by most. The poll of 1,012 adults, taken earlier this month, found that 47% give him a favorable rating, and only 21% unfavorable. The rest had not heard of him or had no opinion. This is the first time that Gallup asked Americans about their overall opinion of Petraeus. In April, however, Gallup asked about the reliability of various...

HORRIFIED diners watched in shock as a maniac sliced off his manhood in a crowded pizza restaurant. The 35-year-old Pole burst into the Zizzi eaterie in central London and grabbed a knife from the kitchen. He then leapt on a table and dropped his trousers as customers fled screaming. A witness said: “There was blood everywhere. Everyone ran out of the place.” Surgeons battling to save the severed willy tried to sew it back on in the first UK op of its kind. Quick-thinking cops recovered the organ from the restaurant floor after subduing its crazed owner with CS gas....

WASHINGTON - In the eyes of the public, Congress is doing even worse than the president. Public satisfaction with the job lawmakers are doing has fallen 11 points since May, to 24 percent, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll. That's lower than for President Bush, who hasn't fared well lately, either. Bush has been taking heat over the Iraq war, his decision to spare a former top vice presidential aide from going to prison and his desire for an overhaul of immigration laws that critics said would give a free pass to illegal immigrants. His job approval rating in the...

Forty-five years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the reciting of state-sponsored prayers in government schools – a matter that should have been left in the hands of the states – was unconstitutional.

A guest speaker at an assembly at Boulder High School in Colorado has told students as young as 14 to go have sex and use drugs, prompting school officials to say they will investigate. The instructions came from Joel Becker, an associate clinical professor of psychology at the University of California at Los Angeles. "I am going to encourage you to have sex and encourage you to use drugs appropriately," Becker said during his appearance at the school as part of a recent panel sponsored by the University of Colorado's Conference on World Affairs. "Why I am going to...

There won't be room for the public at the May 3 GOP presidential debate at the Reagan Library — a landmark political event for Ventura County. Nine presidential candidates have confirmed that they will participate in the event, which originally was billed as open to the public but with limited seating. But because of a change in location and for security reasons, Reagan Library officials now say seating is limited to about 400 people, with no room for the public. "We've always wanted the public to be able to attend the debate, but with (nine) candidates, we needed a larger...

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2007 – American military members serving in Iraq have an additional opportunity to share their experiences with the U.S. public, thanks to a new public outreach initiative, a senior U.S. military officer said today in Baghdad. “The ‘Share the Story’ initiative is a new program that’s designed to connect U.S. military personnel with organizations and groups like yours,” Navy Rear Adm. Mark I. Fox, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, told stateside-based representatives of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Reserve Officers’ Association and others during a telephone conference call. Military members of all ranks and service...

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2007 – Eight servicemembers with duty experience in Iraq, Afghanistan or the Horn of Africa, who have been selected to tell the military’s story to the American public, met with Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England here March 30. Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, left, greets a group of servicemembers participating in the “Why We Serve” public outreach program in his Pentagon office March 30. Defense Dept. photo by Gerry J. Gilmore  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “It’s important and it’s vital, particularly now,” England told the group of their mission to relate their experiences to...

The state House on Thursday rejected a plan to give public money to parents to send their children to private schools. It's the third consecutive year the House has voted against establishing a voucher program. This time around, voucher supporters tried to attach three separate proposals to a bill allowing open enrollment in public schools. All three were defeated; two of them by slim margins. The emotional issue triggered some heated debate and brought a surprise appearance by Rep. James Smith, D-Columbia. Smith flew home from National Guard training in Kansas to vote on the controversial proposals. Rep. Bob Walker,...

WASHINGTON - Lies from the White House. Incompetence in treating wounded veterans. Irrelevance in Congress. Can't anybody do anything right? It's days like these that turn Americans sour on government, stoking a desire for leaders who actually lead. Exhibit A is the perjury conviction of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, whose trial cast unflattering light on the Bush White House and the mainstream media. Exhibit B is the shameful treatment of wounded soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan at Walter Reed Medical Center, and the likelihood that veterans care problems are systemic — a national disgrace. And let's not forget Iraq and...

As February came to an end, a page one story in my local daily was headlined, “Retired teachers told: Medical bills on state.” In what was described as “a side deal with the state teacher’s union” New Jersey’s Governor Jon Corzine had agreed that taxpayers would pick up their share of the bill cited at $53.6 billion! These kinds of sweetheart deals exist everywhere state teacher’s unions wield the kind of political power that exists in New Jersey. Political pundits have concluded that, if the National Education Association—a union—ever deserted the Democrat Party, it could no longer exist. They are...

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. -- A 47-year-old data processing supervisor in the state comptroller's office this week denied charges that he was naked and masturbating inside a glass-enclosed ski lift car at a Vermont ski area. William N. Barret III of Oliver Street, Albany, was charged with felony lewd and lascivious conduct at Stratton Mountain Resort in December. He also was charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession. He entered his plea Tuesday in Brattleboro District Court. On Dec. 15, according to police in the town of Winhall, a 26-year-old man riding a gondola down the hill passed Barret's gondola, which was on its...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2007 – The Defense Department recognized a California high school at the Pentagon today for supporting one of its students and a program she undertook for the nation’s servicemembers. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Dorrance J. Smith (right) presents the Office of the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Public Service Award to Gregg Pinick (left), principal of Orange Lutheran High School in Orange, Calif., for its support of Shauna Fleming's "A Million Thanks" program and the Defense Department's America Supports You program. Pinick accepted the award on the school's behalf. Photo by William D. Moss  '(Click...

Iran Prepares Public for Possible Clash Monday January 22, 2007 11:01 PM By ALI AKBAR DAREINI Associated Press Writer TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran conducted missile tests Monday as its leadership stepped up warnings of a possible military confrontation with the United States. In another show of defiance, Tehran said Monday it had barred 38 United Nations nuclear inspectors from entering the country, apparently in retaliation for a U.N. Security Council resolution last month imposing limited sanctions on Iran. The drum-beating suggested Iran does not intend to back down in its standoff with the West. It could also aim to...

Most Americans oppose President Bush's call to send additional U.S. military forces to Iraq and just over a third say the new plan makes victory there more likely, an initial public rebuke of the strategy he unveiled last night in a nationally televised address. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted following the President's speech finds broad and strong opposition to his call to send about 21,500 more troops to Iraq: 61 percent oppose the force increase, with 52 percent "strongly" opposing the build-up. Thirty-six percent support the additional troops; only one-quarter of the public is strongly supportive. Support for...

Homeschool regulation: The revenge of the failures Posted: January 4, 2007 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Bruce N. Shortt, Ph.D. In their never-ending effort to "help" homeschoolers, public school bureaucrats periodically try to increase homeschooling regulations. This makes K-12 education perhaps a unique endeavor: it's a field in which the failures regularly, and astonishingly, insist that they should be able to regulate the successful.

Alcohol manufacturers being afraid of the government to introduce public monopoly suggested creation of a single unified agency – the Alcohol Safety Council of Russia. Although entrepreneurs may be late: the State Duma is working out the bill regulating not only monopoly in the industrial sector but in retail field, either. The problem of alcohol market (of both foreign and home production) has been discussed for a long time. Actually, there doesn’t exist a unified agency able to turn the market into a centrally controlled one. The market is observed by several ministries and departments: the Ministry of Finance, Russian...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 2006 -- The Grand Ole Opry is looking for the public’s help in honoring the nation’s veterans during its live Saturday night show this week, which happens to coincide with Veterans Day. The Opry is a member of America Supports You, a Defense Department program highlighting ways Americans and the corporate sector support the nation’s military “The Opry has great attendance and a great allegiance from veterans, so it’s the Opry giving back to those folks who certainly have given to the Opry, given to America,” Rogers said. “The Opry is the embodiment of America’s music,...

Can science get by without your tax money? Just ask them over at IBM Science Notebook by Terence Kealey SCIENCE POLICY across the globe is but a series of footnotes to Vannevar Bush’s 1945 book Science: The Endless Frontier. Before the Second World War the US Government spent little on applied science and nothing on pure science. In 1940 its total research budget was only $74 million, mainly for defence and agriculture, when the private sector was spending $265million, of which $55 million was for pure science. Yet by 1940 America had long been the richest country in the world,...

"Because of the prohibition of the First Amendment against the enactment of any law "respecting an establishment of religion," which is made applicable to the States by the Fourteenth Amendment, state officials may not compose an official state prayer and require that it be recited in the public schools of the State at the beginning of each school day - even if the prayer is denominationally neutral and pupils who wish to do so may remain silent or be excused from the room while the prayer is being recited." --Justice Black(?), Engel v. Vitale, 1962 Contrast the 10th A. ignoring...

THOMAS MENINO wants to make Boston wireless. From park benches or street corners, people would have low-cost access the Internet. Just as Oz is the Emerald City, Boston could become an Internet city, a place where life is enriched by the glow that radiates from a vibrant mix of online services. [...] Menino has three sound goals for wireless service in the city: close the digital divide; encourage economic development; and improve city services. Under this vision, the system would be built on lampposts, the outsides of buildings, and other structures. Bringing the service inside buildings would involve buying inexpensive...

In just the last month, two separate homeowners killed black bears that threatened them while Arizona Game and Fish officers put down three others who got a little too close to people in Southeastern Arizona. Sound sleeping black bears, a rare photo opportunity, but this mama and her two cubs were found at the Tucson Airport. Kurt Bahti, a field supervisor for the Game & Fish says, "If they're not yielding to humans and they're aggressive then we will euthanize them." These weren't killed -- only tranquilized into a deep sleep. They never hurt anyone, but they might one day...