Free Republic

The National Education Association has made a glowing assessment of radical socialist community organizer Saul Alinsky and is enthusiastically recommending American public school teachers read two of his books, including one dedicated to Satan. On its website, the NEA dubs Alinsky "an inspiration to anyone contemplating action in their community! And to every organizer!" It recommends Alinsky's "Reveille for Radicals," a 1946 book about the principles and tactics of "community organizing," and "Rules for Radicals," a 1971 text that articulated a socialist strategy for gaining political power to redistribute wealth from the "haves" to the "have-nots." The NEA, the largest...

I was just reading one of my daughters "history" books called, "Call to Freedom". (credit is given to "CNNfyi.com" so I knew this was going to spell trouble.) In a chapter called "The Great Society", the book brags about LBJ's accomplishments in poverty. Here's a quote..."Partly because of Johnson's Great Society, poverty in the US decreased. Overall unemployment levels stayed low and the percentage of Americans living below the poverty level dropped to about 12% by 1969. Americans' income levels rose more during the 1960's than they had during the prosperous years of the 1950's". There are chapters devoted to...

Obama’s “Safe Schools” czar, Kevin Jennings, founded and led GLSEN for 18 years. A current GLSEN lesson plan for “LGBT History” -- intended for schoolchildren – celebrates gay and lesbian activists from the 1950s and ’60s. It recommends the film “Gay Pioneers” which profiles several practitioners and promoters of pornography. GLSEN recommends “Gay Pioneers” for classroom use, for showing at a Gay-Straight Alliance club meeting (invite other clubs!), for a school assembly, or for donation to the school library. (In the past, GLSEN’s website has recommended readings for children describing -- and implicitly endorsing -- adult-child sex and sexual experimentation...

The purpose of this thread is to secure a commitment from each local Principal to provide an opt-out so that no one is forced to endure Obama's subtle, presumptuous speech. Below, I will provide a sample of reasonable letters we want the Principal to sign. If refused, we know where they stand and will take the appropriate action against them. Here is an article of how they roll in Colorado. http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2009/09/douglas_county_school_allows_p.php It would be useful if the only comments on this thread are how to do this, report your results and contact information for the press to report and follow-up...

By PUMA Pundit on September 2, 2009 Remember, the Dept. of Education expects your kids to read books on the life of Barack Obama before the monumental speech on September 8th, well here’s a look at two of the books that shall be used: The first book is aptly titled: Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope and here is the description, direct from the Publisher’s Website: Ever since Barack Obama was young, Hope has lived inside him. From the beaches of Hawaii to the streets of Chicago, from the jungles of Indonesia to the plains of Kenya, he...

Well. Not content with an unprecedented four primetime news conferences to date in his young administration, President Obama now needs to address the entire public school system. And not just for a Hey-Kids-Howya-Doin-I’m-Your-New-President-So-Be-Good-In-School-This-Year-Mmmkay? speech. You know, like back when I was a kid and Jimmy Carter would come around and hand out balloon animals at parties. Or maybe those were clowns. I get confused. Anyway. Nope, Obama can’t just say hey to the kiddies and encourage them to do their homework. He has to make this a — what does the Left call it? — a teachable moment. A speech-in,...

College Republicans Compiling List of Liberal Professors at Ohio School UT College Republicans President Matt Rubin, a junior majoring in political science and public administration, says the list is not an attempt to bash professors who have liberal ideas, but an attempt to speak out for students who may have been victims of political bias. Randiah Green, The Independent Collegian Uwire Monday, August 31, 2009 The University of Toledo's College Republicans are compiling a list of liberal professors who they claimed have a bias against conservative students. The list will include professors who students say have let their political views...

The Government’s ‘equality’ watchdog is recruiting 14 and 15-year-olds for its second annual summer camp. The camp, called Our Space, will consist of a few days in the Lake District with outdoor activities and “modules to discuss diversity, equality and rights”. The camp is being organised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the body which recently funded a leading homosexual lobby group to write a guide for employers on how to deal with religious workers. The same watchdog gave an atheist group £35,000 last year which was used to fund another set of guidance which told employers that...

After debate among parents, teachers, and other community members, the Alameda Unified School District Board of Education voted 3-2 Tuesday, May 26 to adopt safe schools curriculum that addresses sexual orientation and gender identity. The curriculum, which covers kindergarten through fifth grade, includes lesson plans on stereotypes, different kinds of families, name-calling, and being an ally. Sean Cahill and his partner have two children in the district, one fifth grader and one second grader. Cahill said he's been involved with developing the curriculum from the beginning, when he brought to the district's attention that derogatory language was being used in...

Our Congress with the help of Republicans is squeezing out private charity with paid "volunteers." They are paid - AmericaCorps - but called volunteers; it sound so good. What do they work on? What the politicians want; you have no say. And they tripled its funding. But what if there aren't enough volunteers for paid "volunteer" service. Force! It might be unconstitutional under the 13th Amendment's ban on involuntary servitude. But Jim McDermott (D, Washington) wants your children to serve his favorite causes. Robert Knight at Townhall ... Mandatory national service has reemerged in HR 1442, the "Congressional Commission on...

Samir Al-Salimawi wore a suit to school Wednesday. The second-grader called it his funeral suit because he wore it to his grandmother’s funeral. That was a big day. This is a big day, too. In November, Samir and some other children at Clinton Elementary School drew pictures and wrote letters to their new president. Twelve of their submissions ended up in a book. Wednesday, the book ended up at their school. One copy of “Dear President Obama: Letters of Hope from Children Across America” for each published grade-school author. A copy came for the boss of Lincoln’s schools, Susan Gourley,...

Rasmussen Poll: Just 53% of Americans Say Capitalism Better Than Socialism... Developing...

The head of a conservative activist group says President Obama's appointment of a leading homosexual activist to his faith-based council is an ominous sign that he may enforce a "pro-homosexuality orthodoxy" on religious groups receiving federal funds, which is itself a form of bigotry. Barack Obama has appointed outspoken homosexual activist Harry Knox to the White House Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Knox, who is the director of the Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) Religion and Faith program, will serve a one-year term on the 25-member Council. Two years ago during an appearance on MSNBC, Knox argued that scientific...

RALEIGH -- Home-school groups and conservatives across the country are infuriated by a Wake County judge's declaration that he will make a North Raleigh mother stop teaching her children at home and send them to public schools. As part of a continuing divorce case, Wake District Court Judge Ned Mangum said last Friday that it would be in the "best interests" of Venessa Mills' three children to go to public school this fall. Mangum said at the hearing that while the children are "thriving," they need to be exposed to the "real world." "It will do them a great benefit...

Washington DC, Jan 21, 2009 / 03:19 am (CNA).- Former Supreme Court nominee Judge Robert Bork has predicted that upcoming legal battles will have significant ramifications for religious freedom. He names as issues of major concern the continued freedom of Catholic hospitals to refuse to perform abortions and the likely “terrible conflict” resulting from the advancement of homosexual rights. Speaking in an interview published Tuesday by Cybercast News Service, Judge Bork discussed the contentious nature of modern politics. “Everything is up for debate these days. I can’t think of anything that isn’t,” he said. “You are going to get Catholic...

Question: I recently was in a situation at work where a coworker made transphobic statements about a customer (out of earshot, thank God). He said things like, "That person isn't really a woman," and went on to mention how proud he was of himself for being able to "tell." What are the best ways to react to such comments? I'm a queer white woman who's out, and I wanted to engage my coworker in conversation as a peer so that our work relationship can continue to be positive, and so that we can have the kind of dialogue that eventually...

As in many other areas, the biggest education debates are happening within the Democratic Party. On the one hand, there are the reformers like Joel Klein and Michelle Rhee, who support merit pay for good teachers, charter schools and tough accountability standards. On the other hand, there are the teachers’ unions and the members of the Ed School establishment, who emphasize greater funding, smaller class sizes and superficial reforms. During the presidential race, Barack Obama straddled the two camps. One campaign adviser, John Schnur, represented the reform view in the internal discussions. Another, Linda Darling-Hammond, was more likely to represent...

From Hillary Clinton Forum Yesterday, 09:44 PM Maddie Kaddison New Member = <100 Posts Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 99 Poster Rank: #454 Obama's supporters scare me. Here is a comment I just read from this story (the story that Dean Reynolds of CBS wrote about Obama's "stinky" plane etc): Quote: I support Obama, but I disagree on some major issues. One is that we need to use major authoritarian measures against wingnuts and theocrats to save this country. That in particular includes deprogramming institutions and a Gitmo like camp to deal with the worst wingnuts. These people should be...

Larry Schweikart, previously co-author of A Patriot’s History of the United States, is author of the new (released today) 49 Liberal Lies About American History (That You Probably Learned in School). A professor of history at the University of Dayton, he takes some opening-day questions from NRO editor Kathryn Lopez, in the hopes of undoing some of the lies early in the school year. Kathryn Jean Lopez: So only 49? Larry Schweikart: You know, publishers do have cost restraints. The original version was the size of The Historical Statistics of the United States. So we allowed for volume 2, 3,...

The Seattle Public school system may be finding itself in more hot water, following dustups over last fall’s “Myth Of Thanksgiving” incident, and last summer’s “Exploring White Privilege” conference. A reliable source has informed ORBUSMAX that at least one Obama supporter was caught openly selling Obama for President t-shirts, “on Seattle Public School premises during an official School District Training” for teachers, yesterday and today, at the Aki Kurose Middle school. The source says they overheard the Obama supporter being told by an attendee of the training on Monday that the table display was inappropriate and may be in violation...

I like to pick up old textbooks from the 1950s and 1960s at yard sales. They are less politically correct. I recently bought a set of children's encylopedias published in 1966. The entry on "communism" was so devastating that I couldn't help chuckling -- I can't imagine it being published today in a reference work. If anyone is interested, I can type in a few paragraphs from the article on communism. All of it is still true.

Teen Screen Lawsuit Advances: Federal Court Affirms Family’s Right to Sue School for Subjecting Teen to Mental Health Test Without Parental Consent SOUTH BEND, Ind.—A federal court has given the green light to a civil rights lawsuit filed by Rutherford Institute attorneys in defense of a 15-year-old Indiana student who was subjected by school officials to a controversial mental health examination without the knowledge or consent of her parents. In ruling that the lawsuit filed on behalf of Chelsea Rhoades and her parents, Teresa and Michael, may proceed to trial, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana...

Majority Democrats in the California Assembly have rejected two amendments that would have allowed schools to fire any employee discovered to be part of an extremist terror network and require users of school facilities to affirm they are not terrorists. A report from Karen England at the Capital Resource Institute said the amendments were submitted by assemblymen Martin Garrick and Chuck DeVore to a plan that also would allow members of the Communist Party to teach in public schools. "I am appalled that Democrat lawmakers will not agree to these commonsense amendments," said England, executive director of CRFI. "My son...

ABC News' Teddy Davis and Lindsey Ellerson Report: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told Planned Parenthood Tuesday that sex education for kindergarteners, as long as it is "age-appropriate," is "the right thing to do." "I remember Alan Keyes . . . I remember him using this in his campaign against me," Obama said in reference to the conservative firebrand who ran against him for the U.S. Senate in 2004. Sex education for kindergarteners had become an issue in his race against Keyes because of Obama’s work on the issue as chairman of the health committee in the Illinois state Senate. "'Barack...

There's a splendid controversy brewing at the University of Chicago--at least we'll consider it splendid so long as it has a happy ending, which now seems likely. The U of C may be best known these days as home to the law school where Barack Obama used to lecture on constitutional law (twice a week!), but in simpler times it was most famous as the academic perch of the great free-market economist Milton Friedman, who died in 2006. So when a prestigious university wants to name a research center after its most celebrated (Nobel prize, Presidential Medal of Freedom, etc.,...

Children learn many useful things from television shows and cartoon characters. They learn letters and numbers from the characters on Sesame Street; Dora the Explorer helps them hone their reasoning and problem-solving skills. Now, a cartoon character is telling them when they should die. He’s a dog in a lab coat named “Professor Schpinkee.” He is a creation of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Planet Slayer website. Kids who visit the website are invited to pay a “game” called “Professor Schpinkee’s Greenhouse Calculator.” But instead of learning letters or numbers—or even how to take a bite out of crime—they learn “how...

Students at a California public school have written a series of letters to Chicago's Heartland Institute, which works to discover and develop free-market solutions to society's problems, attacking its members for "destroying our planet" by refusing to endorse the politics of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" film. According to students in the sixth-grade class of teacher Michael Steria at David A. Brown Middle School, the institute consists of "fools" and "horrible people." "I think your (sic) fools for denying G.W. you know it could kill us all & you're just adding to it. I want you to help stop G.W....

While many on the left are super-sensitive when it comes to any inference of voter disenfranchisement or coercion, their thin skins have emerged when it comes to the ongoing charge of liberal indoctrination in academia, demonstrated by the current rise of all things Obamanation. How else to debunk a conspiracy theory on liberal indoctrination in schools? Try a survey conducted by academics. According to the Associated Press, “The research, to be published later this year in the journal PS: Political Science and Politics, analyzes separate surveys on the attitudes of about 6,800 students at 38 universities and how they changed...

In California, your child's neighborhood bully is likely to be the state. And if the state government can't successfully mandate absolute allegiance to its dictates, then a judicial buddy can do the dirty work.

An evangelical Christian photographer was brought before the New Mexico Human Rights Commission after she declined for religious reasons to photograph a same-sex commitment ceremony. When Elaine Huguenin of Albuquerque, N.M., declined in September 2006 an e-mail request from a lesbian couple to photograph their ceremony, one of the lesbians responded by lodging a human rights complaint with the New Mexico Human Rights Division, the state agency charged with enforcing state anti-discrimination laws and sending cases to the commission to be adjudicated.

GLENDALE, Ky. -- Bobby Thorn wanted to be the only boy on his school's cheerleading squad, but that didn't happen. The 13-year-old attends East Hardin Middle School in Glendale, but the controversial decision to cut him from the team expands beyond the district's boundaries. Bobby's mother filed a discrimination claim with the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights two years ago, and now a settlement has been reached. Bobby works with coach Jen Brewer at a gym called Becca's Fliptown, something he's been doing since he was about 5. He's been successful, too, winning trophies for gymnastics and cheerleading. “Bobby's phenomenal,”...

In 1997, the National Association of Social Work (NASW) altered its ethics code, ruling that all social workers must promote social justice “from local to global level.� This call for mandatory advocacy raised the question: what kind of political action did the highly liberal field of social work have in mind? The answer wasn’t long in coming. The Council on Social Work Education, the national accreditor of social work education programs, says candidates must fight “oppression,� and sees American society as pervaded by the “global interconnections of oppression.� Now aspiring social workers must commit themselves, usually in writing, to a...

Bush is no rocket scientist by any stretch, but if there was ever a doubt why Kerry didn't get elected it is moments like this. Wow.

The Maryland State Board of Education has ruled that the right of the state supersedes the rights of parents in teaching children about homosexuality. The Board said the "right (of parents) is not absolute. It must bend to the State's duty to educate its citizens." The ruling means that the teaching of homosexuality as an accepted and approved lifestyle in Maryland public schools can move forward

Of course, there will be the initial criminal investigations and accusations of foul play from those wanting to know if the typical illegal contributions were involved. But what if the Beast was actually sworn in as president? What then? She won't be Queen - at least not after a few years. I mean, c'mon, Americans voting in a large Republican Congress would be obvious after seeing the Clintons in power once more. (Hey, the RATS aren't in the lead by THAT much.) Billy Jeff will be free to troll the grounds for fresh meat. Hillary, with a new stash of...

Communist Re-education in Action by: Matt Hadro, June 18, 2007 Communism may be dead in Eastern Europe, but its influence is alive and well in various areas of the world, even though intellectuals in and out of the Ivory Tower would rather not talk about it. “Why do they kill so much?” Dr. Richard Pipes, Professor of History at Harvard University, asked the audience at the Heritage Foundation. “Yes, they desire to stay in power, but they also have no value of human life.” “Real humans are created by the Communist society.” On the same panel with Dr. Pipes, Tran...

The University of Colorado has sent letters to the 400 students signed up to live next year in the Cheyenne Arapaho dorm — saying they must take a 101 course, or move to another hall. The wide-ranging course explores the history of higher education, and touches on topics including diversity, binge-drinking and the psychology of going away to college... But some professors — who say they support a more tolerant campus — are concerned with how the university is rolling the CU 101 course into its curriculum. Hadley Brown, a newly elected CU student-body president, and the others on her...

04/24/07 Massive Arrest of Chinese and American Christian Leaders in Xinjiang Article Photos China Aid Association Press Release 04/24/07 Tel: (432) 689-6985 Fax: (432) 686-8355 Contact: Bob Fu info@ChinaAid.org www.ChinaAid.org www.monitorChina.org Midland, TX (CAA)-April 24, 2007 Massive Arrest of Chinese and American Christian Leaders in Xinjiang CAA has learned though credible sources that on April 19, 2007 in Akesu city, Xinjiang province, about 30 major house church leaders were arrested when they met with four American Christians Among two American are a senior pastor and an associate pastor of an American church. Sources tell CAA that the four Americans arrived...

As a new School of Ed student hoping to become an English teacher, I'm perfectly used to left-wing academic claptrap. I've already suffered through four years of it as an liberal-arts literature-major undergraduate. Deconstructionism and Derrida ruled the day. But now I'm with the School of Education folks and it's a rather different strain of pseudo-Marxist hogwash. The problem is this: with the Literary Liberals, it was just a zoo of academic dimwits up in the ivory tower babbling to each other. These Education Liberals are the ones teaching the people who will be teaching the children of America; they...

Children will be taught race relations and multiculturalism with every subject they study -from Spanish to science - under controversial changes to the school curriculum announced by the Government. In music and art, they could have to learn Indian and Chinese songs and instruments, and West African drumming. In maths and science, key Muslim contributions such algebra and the number zero will be emphasised to counter Islamophobia. And in English, pupils will study literature on the experiences of migration - such as Zadie Smith's novel White Teeth, or Brick Lane, by Monica Ali. One critic accused Education Secretary Alan Johnson...

SHILOH, Ill. - A picture book about two male penguins raising a baby penguin is getting a chilly reception among some parents who worry about the book‘s availability to children — and the reluctance of school administrators to restrict access to it. Complaining about the book‘s homosexual undertones, some parents of Shiloh Elementary School students believe the book — available to be checked out of the school‘s library in this 11,000-resident town 20 miles east of St. Louis — tackles topics their children aren‘t ready to handle. For now, "And Tango Makes Three" will stay put, said school district Superintendent...

BATAVIA, N.Y. (AP) _ Five parents who asked to transfer their children out of Batavia High School classes with a transsexual teacher have been denied, according to city schools Superintendent Richard Stutzman. The written requests did not meet the guidelines set out by the district, Stutzman said Tuesday without providing specifics. "That's all between the school, the teacher, the parents," he said.......... .

The history of the United States is a tale of constant oppression— a story of a checkered past where political leaders and economic moguls continually acted in their own self-interest… or so many left-leaning history authors would prefer modern Americans to believe. American history has been hijacked by the left wing, where the mistakes of America’s past such as slavery, disenfranchisement, and class warfare are overemphasized, while Franklin D. Roosevelt is simultaneously glorified as the savior of the twentieth century with his New Deal policies. While most textbooks of that nature may cast American history in a bad light and...

Veto threat forced an overhaul, but senator sees progress on rights. State Sen. Sheila Kuehl has given up her hotly contested campaign to force changes in California school curriculum to reflect the contributions of gays and lesbians. Faced with a certain veto by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kuehl unveiled amendments Monday to Senate Bill 1437 that delete any requirement to alter curriculum. "I'm very disappointed that the governor twisted our arms on this," the Santa Monica Democrat said of the amendments, which she said eliminated 90 percent of her bill. Kuehl said she did not talk personally with Schwarzenegger, but that...

College campuses today may seem to house more activist professors than politically charged students. Professors, perhaps recalling their own Vietnam days, are constantly making headlines in campus publications and occasionally national news by voicing their personal opinions about the current administration and the war on Iraq. But for many professors, the greatest worry is an apparent lack of political action in their students. Austin Sarat, a political science professor at Amherst University, longs for the protests of the past: “There was a certain nobility in being gassed. Now you don’t get gassed. You walk into a dining hall and hand...

How much is in a serving? "This guy is overweight," she says, explaining that this is because he eats too much fast food and drinks cola. "And guess what happens?" she asks. "Inside his body there are lots of problems." At a table, a dozen or so refugees - most of them from Africa - sit and nod. Some smile and chat among themselves. They appear to get the picture. This workshop on how to eat American food responsibly is part of an Illinois state-funded programme to improve the nutrition of refugees who are being re-settled in the land of...

Few will know this genetic truth, because the 5-year-old's parents and school administrators have agreed that it's in his best interest to blend in as a female. Mental health professionals have diagnosed Pat - not his real name - with gender dysphoria, a condition in which a person believes that he or she is the opposite gender. After two years of examination, they have determined that he is not simply effeminate or going through a phase. "Gender dysphoria can take place during a fetus' development in the womb," said noted gender specialist and sexologist Marilyn Volker, Ph.D., of Miami. While...

We've deluded ourselves into believing in the myth of the noble and peaceful primitive Nicholas Wade's Before The Dawn is one of those books full of eye-catching details. For example, did you know the Inuit have the largest brains of any modern humans? Something to do with the cold climate. Presumably, if this global warming hooey ever takes off, their brains will be shrinking with the ice caps. But the passage that really stopped me short was this: "Both Keeley and LeBlanc believe that for a variety of reasons anthropologists and their fellow archaeologists have seriously underreported the prevalence of...

Spineless and rude: Ryerson University shows how notto grant an honorary degree National Post Mon 19 Jun 2006 Page: A13 Section: Issues & Ideas Byline: Lorne Gunter Talk about intellectual cowardice and appalling bad manners. Today, Ryerson University will award an honorary science doctorate to Margaret Somerville, one of Canada's most renowned and respected academics. Whenever there is a major debate about medical or bio-ethics anywhere in the world, Somerville will almost certainly be summoned to explain the moral, legal, historical and cultural intricacies. Several networks around the globe call on her expertise. The United Nations, at the highest...

During the lazy, long, hot days of summer, which activity would you rather see your son or daughter engaged in – playing a video game or reading a book? A silly question, right? After all, nearly every parent will say, "Reading a book." But whether that's truly the better activity depends on what book your child is reading. And as I've told readers of this column before, plenty of books designed for today's pre-teens and teenagers undermine the traditional moral values most parents struggle to teach their children. This time of year, kids of all ages come home with...