Free Republic

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In a monumental victory for the gay rights movement, the California Supreme Court overturned a voter-approved ban on gay marriage Thursday in a ruling that would allow same-sex couples in the nation's biggest state to tie the knot. Domestic partnerships are not a good enough substitute for marriage, the justices ruled 4-3 in an opinion written by Chief Justice Ron George. Outside the courthouse, gay marriage supporters cried and cheered as news spread of the decision. "Our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and...

A homeschooling mom in Utah has been ordered by a judge to enroll her children in a public school district within 24 hours, and have them in class tomorrow, all because of a paperwork glitch that very well could be the fault of the district. The mother, Denise Mafi, told WND that she already has enrolled her children in the district, under the threat from Judge Scott Johansen, who serves in the juvenile division of the state's 7th Judicial District, that he would order her children taken away from her. (snip) It seems that an affidavit she faxed to the...

The Seattle School District has backtracked on a statement that racists are "whites" after "numerous concerns" were expressed over the description, according to the district's website. A cached webpage of the Seattle District's page regarding "Equity & Race," had defined racism as: "The systematic subordination of members of targeted racial groups who have relatively little social power in the United States (Blacks, Latino/as, Native Americans, and Asians), by the members of the agent racial group who have relatively more social power (Whites). The subordination is supported by the actions of individuals, cultural norms and values, and the institutional structures and...

It’s not the score of a Hawkeye football game. It’s the number of Democrats versus the number of Republicans in the University of Iowa history department, and it has Iowans in an uproar. So, too, do charges published by Mark Bauerlein that left-wing bias has influenced the department’s hiring process. In response to the revelations, department chair Colin Gordon announced that the department had committed no wrongdoing, and neither he nor the university has expressed any concern about the total absence of intellectual diversity. Rarely have the hypocrisy and mendacity of academia been so thoroughly exposed as in the history...

It’s been 43 years since student protester Mario Savi ignited the “free speech movement� at Berkeley with his famous address urging students “to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus -- and you’ve got to make it stop!� Today, liberals are still trying to stop “the machine,� but they’re not aiming at the government or university officials. The “machine� they are trying to stop is public opinion that disagrees with theirs. The American left has adopted a totalitarian mindset; they’re actively working to stamp out dissent. Did you know that...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Less than two weeks after Democrats took control of both houses of Congress, Accuracy in Media has exposed a plan by congressional liberals to use the federal government to silence conservative voices in the media. Reporting from a so-called National Conference on Media Reform, organized by "progressive" activists, AIM editor Cliff Kincaid has revealed, in an exclusive report now available on the AIM web site (http://www.aim.org), that liberals in the House and Senate intend to push legislation giving the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the authority to monitor and restrict what conservatives in the media say...

In his first appearance at Cornell since President David J. Skorton's September inauguration, former President Jeffrey S. Lehman '77 lectured on welfare and globalization yesterday as part of the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs' colloquium series. Lehman, who will present another lecture today, was the University's 11th president, serving from July 2003 to July 2005. Lehman spoke on the challenges posed to the welfare state by globalization and suggested that one solution to both issues would be the broadening of the welfare state into a "welfare planet." Lehman said that because of the phenomenon of globalization, the way policymakers study...

Shift in Harvard Curriculum Reflects Larger Trend Toward Global Law Leigh Jones The National Law Journal 10-24-2006 Harvard Law School's recent announcement that it is making the most sweeping changes to its first-year curriculum in 100 years heralded a major shift in legal education, including a new emphasis on global law. But some of its competitors say that they already have revamped their programs in similar ways. Harvard will begin requiring first-year students to take three new courses, including a class on legislation and regulation, another covering global legal systems and a third focusing on problems and theories. The school's...

WASHINGTON - Immigration issues are always ripe for demagoguery, particularly in an election year. But the solution to the very real problems along the U.S.-Mexican border can be found, ironically, in that other part of the world that demagogues love to ridicule: old Europe. Two years ago, the European Union admitted 10 new members. Like Mexico, all of these nations were poor, some of them fairly backward and most recently ravaged by war and dictatorship. The leaders of the European Union wisely created policies for fostering regional economic and political integration that make the North American Free Trade Agreement "look...

Liberty Counsel Files Suit on Behalf of Christian Businessman Who Refuses to Reproduce Pro-Homosexual Videos Arlington, VA – Today, Liberty Counsel filed suit in Arlington Circuit Court on behalf of Tim Bono and Bono Film and Video, Inc. against Arlington County Human Rights Commission (“Commission”), Arlington County Board, and Arlington County, Virginia, seeking Declaratory Judgment, Preliminary and Permanent Injunctive Relief, and Damages. The lawsuit challenges the authority of the Commission to order Bono Film to duplicate two pro-homosexual videos provided by lesbian activist Lilli M. Vincenz. Tim Bono was contacted by Lilli Vincenz via e-mail to reproduce two documentaries entitled...

ATLANTA -- A judge has struck down Georgia's ban on same-sex marriages, saying a measure overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2004 violated a provision of the state constitution that limits ballot questions to a single subject. The ruling by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Constance C. Russell had been eagerly awaited by gay-rights supporters who filed the court challenge in November 2004, soon after the constitutional ban was approved. Russell said the state's voters must first decide whether same-sex relationships should have any legal status before they can be asked to decide whether same-sex marriages should be banned. "People who...

This just in: Jay Bennish has been reinstated as a teacher at Overland High School.

REINHARDT, Circuit Judge: When parents of schoolchildren in Palmdale, California learned from their sons and daughters that they had been questioned in their public elementary school about sexual topics such as the frequency of “thinking about having sex” and “thinking about touching other peoples’ private parts,” some of them exercised their constitutional right to take their grievance to the courts. The questioning was part of a survey the Palmdale School District was conducting regarding psychological barriers to learning. The parents brought an action in district court against the School District and two of its officials for violating their right to...

TORONTO (CP) - Western nations can defuse the terrorist threat that looms over wealthy countries by sharing their prosperity with the half of humanity that feels the system "is rigged against them," former U.S. President Bill Clinton said Tuesday. Security policies alone will never thwart the destructive ambitions of terrorist groups like Al Qaeda, Clinton told an audience attending a motivational seminar in Toronto. "We have no excuse now for not building a world with more partners and fewer terrorists," he said. "We cannot kill, jail or occupy all of our enemies, we cannot have a security policy only." Clinton,...

MORE THAN 16 MILLION STUDENTS are now enrolled in colleges and universities in the United States, the largest number ever. In two years, the figure will exceed 17 million, and it will continue to grow, as the high school graduating class of 2008 will be the largest in history. Today nearly 70 percent of the 18-to-24 age cohort attends college in one form or another, and more than 80 percent of high school graduates do so. College attendance has become a near universal rite of passage for youngsters in our society, and a requirement for entry into the world of...

LANSING, Mich. — A federal judge has declared unconstitutional Michigan's law aimed at banning a procedure that opponents call partial-birth abortion. In a ruling dated Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Denise Page Hood (search) in Detroit ruled the law places an "undue burden" on women's right to choose an abortion. The parties in the lawsuit learned of the ruling Wednesday.

The price of freedom': More bodies The harsh reality is that too many Americans love their guns more than they love their children JOSH SUGARMANN In just 10 days last month, two mass murder-suicides -- one ending in a Minnesota high school, the other taking place during a religious service in a Wisconsin hotel -- left a combined toll of 18 dead and more than 10 injured. As Americans go through the familiar ritual of asking how this could happen, the National Rifle Association has a stark answer articulated by former head Harlon Carter more than 20 years ago. America's...

Village to vote on toys police deem indistinguishable from real thing Orland Park is on the verge of banning the possession and sale of virtually all BB guns and pellet guns within village limits. The village's police committee Monday night unanimously approved a new law that would ban the purchase, sale, possession and transfer of all "replica firearms," a term that encompasses nearly all BB guns. The law still must be approved by the full village board April 4. Village officials said Orland Park needs the law to combat the recent popularity of BB guns, also known as airsoft guns,...

Across the nation, the leftists are being outed by their students. It is about time. College is about learning, not indoctrination. ===================================================================== PREVIOUS ENEMIES -- 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 =========================================================================== Warning: Postings are only opinions. (See Terms of Service)Record for NoIndoctrination.org entry #286.   Cleveland State University Dec. 5, 2003     http://www.csuohio.edu OH     Course: EDB 609: Comparative & International Education   Course Catalog Description: Examines selected foreign educational systems with emphasis on the historical, sociological, philosophical, and cultural influences that have shaped their development. Special attention is...

If Ward Churchill loses his job teaching at the University of Colorado, he could end up giving Howard Dean a real run for his money to head the Democratic National Committee. Churchill already has a phony lineage and phony war record – just like John Kerry! (Someone should also check out Churchill's claim that he spent Christmas 1968 at Wounded Knee.) In 1983, Churchill met with Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and later felt it necessary to announce that his group, the American Indian Movement, "has not requested arms from the Libyan government." In 1997, he was one of the "witnesses"...

I. The Internal CrisisIn the next two decades, the U.S. Supreme Court will face three constitutional crises: one will be an internal crisis, another will be national, and the third will be global. Each of these has the potential to significantly erode the Constitutional structure established by our American Founding Fathers.The internal crisis is how the entire Judicial Branch—including the Court, lower courts, attorneys, judges, law professors and students, and all legal professionals—sees itself.  The two leading current views are: strict constructionism and judicial activism.Strict constructionists believe that the Court should judge solely on the basis of the words...

ITHACA--In an editorial in the Ithaca Journal (which cannot be reposted here thanks to the cretins at Gannett news), Susan Buck-Morss, a "professor of political philosophy and social theory at Cornell University" wrings her hands over the recent Iraqi elections and argues they may not be legitimate.Bush-Morss, in arguing against the election results, attacks the election on issues that including campaign financing, ethnic politics and not letting prisoners vote.In other words, she seems to hinting that "Bush stole another election."

Day worker arrests are halted in Redondo Beach Day laborers in Redondo Beach had their day in court Monday, and won – temporarily, at least – when a federal judge ruled that they can’t be arrested for soliciting employment on public streets and sidewalks. U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall issued a temporary restraining order against the city of Redondo Beach, preventing officials from arresting, warning or fining the workers, who have been targeted by police in recent months for violating a 15-year-old city ordinance limiting where they can solicit work. In her ruling, Marshall wrote that “there are serious...

SEATTLE -- The state Supreme Court has ruled that the Privacy Act prohibits a parent from eavesdropping on a child's phone conversations. The case came to the Supreme Court because of a purse-snatching in Friday Harbor. A 17-year-old boy was convicted of second-degree robbery, based in part on testimony from his girlfriend's mom, who overhead him discussing the crime on the phone with her daughter. The daughter had taken a cordless phone into her bedroom and closed the door. In another room, the mom pressed the "speakerphone" button on the base of the phone, listened to the conversation and took...

"There is apparently no limit to the insanity in California. For the umpteenth time in the long and sordid tale of AB-50, the California Assembly voted on the bill and the bill lost by a 35-36 margin. That was voting by the rules. But the rules seem to matter very little in Sacramento. Shortly after voting to send the fifty caliber ban to a well-deserved grave, California Democrats called for a "re-vote" and we watched as a handful of Democrats pressed the vote button at their own desk, then calmly walked to the empty desk of another member of the...