Free Republic

“I love seduction, but I hate rape.” I heard those words for the first time during my freshman year at college. George Mason University professor Walter Williams was giving a lecture on the role of government and the proper use of its monopoly on force in a free society. Government isn’t alone in its ability to abuse its power. Labor unions have also failed to learn the lesson that “no” means “no.” One of the most egregious examples of this is headed for the U.S. Supreme Court. For the last five years, Washington state, its National Education Association-affiliated teachers’ union,...

Who would obstruct the fight against sex trafficking of children? The Vancouver Education Association comes to mind. The teachers union, a local chapter of the Washington Education Association and National Education Association, has refused to allow a teacher to send her union dues to Shared Hope International, a charity working to prevent and eradicate sex trafficking and slavery of women and children. Federal law states that employees who object to union membership on the basis of religious belief can divert their dues to a charity in order to accommodate their religious objection. Susan Wiggs, a teacher in the Vancouver School...

LOS ANGELES (March 6) - Rock act Mute Math is so frustrated at being branded a Christian band by Warner Music Group's Christian outlet Word Records, it has taken matters into its own hands, self-releasing its debut album Feb. 1. And last September, Billboard has learned, Teleprompt Records -- a label co-founded by Mute Math keyboardist Paul Meany -- filed suit against Warner Bros. Records and Word. The suit is for breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation, and seeks punitive damages. Warner, however, might be somewhat pardoned for the marketing approach. Mute Math was formed by Meany, formerly of the...

BACK-SCRATCHING BIZ: Lil' Kim, one of many artists whose popularity was rigged. WireImage Eliot Spitzer.......unveiled a deal to halt bribery of DJs and rigging of ratings — schemes designed largely to hype mediocre acts, but also bigger names, in order to score higher returns. Four months ago, he extracted a $10M settlement from industry leader Sony BMG to break up its payola ring involving DJs, radio station executives and crooked middlemen. He's still probing the industry's two remaining mega-firms — EMI and Universal Music. In his crackdown on Warner music — the industry's No. 3 label — Spitzer accused...

An American-hosted soft porn Internet site also doubles as a cyber home for radical Islamic video propaganda. One approximately six-minute video housed on the Japanese site which we will not list because it so horrendous. Titled, "The Ambon Massacre," it starts with a picture of the ocean waves lazily lapping at dusk. The scene soon shifts to video of a burning building and people being massacred. Then viewers see rows of dead bodies covered with newspaper, followed by scenes of burning, decimated houses. The horrifying footage is followed by graphic video of burned, dead bodies with holes in their heads,...

When a friend told coach Stu Gorski in 1995 that Mount Adams School District had hired "a phenomenal wrestling coach," Gorski froze. "Tell me you didn't hire Randy Deming," he pleaded. The district had. Gorski, a football and golf coach in Whatcom County, knew Deming for years as a rival coach at nearby Blaine High School. Gorski also knew of Deming's reputation as a groper of girls who had even been charged with child molestation. When Gorski learned Deming would also be teaching girls, he warned: "You're putting him back into the fire." GORDON KING / YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC Randy Deming...

The National Education Association, the nation's largest professional employee union, claims to believe “every child in America, regardless of family income or place of residence, deserves a quality education.” The organization goes so far as to state on its website that: “In pursuing its mission, NEA has determined that it will focus the energy and resources of its 2.7 million members on improving the quality of teaching, increasing student achievement and making schools safer, better places to learn.” The words are noble, but the teachers’ union actions often are not. The NEA consistently places its political priorities over the actual...

March 10, 2005 Teachers' union puts politics over needs of children Ryan Bedford For the Washington Education Association (WEA) it‚s about the children, right? Well, maybe not when its political agenda is at stake. On March 3, the WEA Children's Fund Board approved a motion to combine politics and charity at the expense of children. The WEA Children's Fund is an honorable program that provides „$50,000 a year for such things as warm coats, new shoes and basic school supplies to thousands of students who otherwise would go without. Teachers can purchase these items for students and submit receipts to...

More political extortion from the left: When it's time to pick up supplies for her third-grade classroom, Jennifer Strand would prefer to steer clear of Wal-Mart. [snip]

When it's time to pick up supplies for her third-grade classroom, Jennifer Strand would prefer to steer clear of Wal-Mart. The teacher is convinced the retail giant isn't paying workers a fair wage, but in the northeastern Washington town of Colville -- population 5,000 -- the only other option is a small stationery section in the local grocery store. So Strand became a reluctant Wal-Mart shopper -- venturing in from time to time to pick up supplies and emergency items for disadvantaged students, such as coats and shoes. She'd get reimbursed through the Washington Education Association's Children's Fund, a decade-old...

For the Washington Education Association (WEA) it’s about the children, right? Well, maybe not when its political agenda is at stake. On March 3, the WEA Children’s Fund Board approved a motion to combine politics and charity at the expense of children. The WEA Children’s Fund is an honorable program that provides “$50,000 a year for such things as warm coats, new shoes and basic school supplies to thousands of students who otherwise would go without.” Teachers can purchase these items for students and submit receipts to the Fund for reimbursement. The Fund allows teachers to meet the every day...

*** WA State Alert *** If you were listening to the John Carlson Show today (KVI570-AM), you may have heard the controversy about the school pornography bill being killed in committee due to blatant trickery (lying). Please send mail/email something similar to the one below or call Majority Leader Lisa Brown - (360)786-7604 (brown.lisa@leg.wa.gov) SUBJECT: School Pornography MESSAGE: Our children in this state are being left in a dangerous situation due to political tricks by a member of the Democrat party. Please bring Senate Bill 5677 to the floor for a vote. I am extremely appalled at the course of...

House votes to end need for 60% on school levies By Andrew Garber Seattle Times Olympia bureau OLYMPIA — The state House of Representatives yesterday passed legislation, for the third year in a row, that could make it easier for school districts to get property-tax levies approved by voters. The constitutional amendment now goes to the state Senate, where it has died in past years. It would allow school levies to be approved by a simple majority of voters instead of a 60 percent supermajority. The amendment would go before voters in November if approved by a two-thirds majority in...

The Washington Education Association (WEA) and the National Education Association (NEA) recently announced their participation in this week’s national No Name-Calling Week in hopes of reducing verbal bullying. Since we at the Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) have born the brunt of the WEA’s most vicious verbal attacks, we applaud the union’s plans to usher in a new era of civility when dealing with ideological opponents. The prospect of being free of union name-calling comes as a relief, even if only for one week. The teachers union spokespersons have branded EFF with such appellations as “lying dirtbags,” “hate group,” “evil band...

OLYMPIA,WA—Today the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) unanimously ruled that two Seattle Education Association building representatives violated state law by using the Seattle School District’s internal mail and e-mail system to distribute campaign-related materials. Based on a complaint submitted by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF), the PDC investigated the local union representatives, who are also school district employees, for using public school facilities in support of placing Referendum 55 and Initiative 884 on the November 2, 2004, ballot. The union representatives distributed information on R-55 and I-884 by using school district mailboxes and e-mail systems, in clear violation of state law....

The Washington Education Association's definition of success appears to be as strange as its definition for fair. Someone get the union's leaders a dictionary, asap. A Nov. 11 press release from the union said, "WEA members celebrate election success on Saturday." It goes on to say that the union's 77,000 members (public educators in this state are forced to pay dues to the WEA if they want to teach here) helped elect "strong, pro-public education leaders and defeat charter schools." In addition to the charter school legislation's defeat, the union cited victories in six of seven "priority races" in the...

When kindergartners and first-graders start their day at John Stanford International School, they are greeted either with "hola" or "konichiwa" as "hello." But it doesn't stop there. They spend half their day learning Spanish with Maria Buceta-Miller, or learning Japanese with Mihoko Tsang, studying math, reading and writing entirely in one of those languages. The foreign language to most of the students in class, however, isn't a learning block. Instead, the immersion language program is one of the beauties of this north Seattle school, described as the first public elementary in Washington with an international focus. The Stanford school is...

Why do top teacher union officials, like National Education Association (NEA) President Reg Weaver, describe themselves as "classroom teachers" rather than union representatives? The annual Harris Poll provides a ready answer: Teachers are regarded by almost half of the American public as belonging to an occupation of "very great prestige," whereas only 15 percent regard union leaders that way. The teacher union has been so successful in downplaying its identity as a labor union that a survey of members of the Alabama Education Association in 2000 showed only 19 percent regarded the NEA as a union, with an overwhelming 77...

OLYMPIA, WA – The Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) published a magazine today titled “Barrier to Learning: How the National Education Association prevents students and teachers from achieving academic and professional excellence.” The magazine shows what EFF’s extensive investigations have uncovered about the NEA’s tactics and goals, and analyzes the union’s impact on teachers and students. The release of the magazine coincides with the NEA’s annual convention, which starts today in Washington, D.C. and continues through July 7. EFF, a non-profit public policy research organization based in Washington state, began investigating the NEA in 1996 at the request of teachers. Since...

OLYMPIA – On Thursday, May 27, from 8:45-9:45 am, the Washington Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in an appeal of the 2003 Court of Appeals ruling declaring the state law prohibiting unauthorized use of non-member union fees for politics as unconstitutional. The decision negated part of campaign finance Initiative 134, which was approved by 72 percent of Washington's voters in 1992. The Washington Education Association (WEA) was sued by the state Attorney General (AG) and found guilty in July 2001 of willfully violating RCW 42.17.760, which prohibits the union from using fees taken from non-member teachers to advance political...