BMAT Moral Action Committee Watchman Report #83 05/12/2006
Click on an article to view OR just scroll through the Articles:
1. America: Standing in the Need of Prayer
2. Planned Parenthood Solicits Mother's Day Donations
3. Why Embryonic Stem Cell Research? It's About Human Engineering, Not Ending Disease
4. Minuteman Project Caravan Approaching DC with Petitions Demanding Sealing of Boarders and No Amnesty for Illegals; Rally at Capitol 11:00 AM May 12
5. Guest-worker debate boosts alien-smuggling business
6. Republicans and Democrats pandering on combined legislation package while US borders remain open
7. Believers need to Prepare for Da Vinci Code Fallout
8. CBN.com Confronts the Errors in the Da Vinci Code
9. Harry Potter’s Influence Goes Unchallenged in Most Homes and Churches
10. Update: Congressmen Move to Protect Military Chaplains Right to pray in Jesus Name
11. Sex Offender Act Passes without Hate-Crimes Language
12. CWA Commends Congress for Striking Bill that Would Allow Abortion in Military Hospitals
13. Texas House Bill H.B. 1 is overly complicated Education Funding Legislation with many flaws
14. Religious Liberty in danger of being trumped by those who want Sexual License
15. XXX.com Web Domain for pornography being Considered
16. Andrea Clark Dies of Natural Causes – Family Grateful for Pro-life Intervention
17. Senator Frist Leads Effort against Indecency
18. Nine out of ten school age children are exposed to pornography
19. National Institutes of Health Slush Fund for Transhumanism
20. Judicial Watch Releases Special Report: 'The Clinton RU-486 Files'
21. FBI Most Wanted: Cult leader Polygamist
22. Jerusalem Mayor Can't Stop WorldPride Event
23. Homosexual kids' book now showing up in schools
24. California's 'Gay History' Bill Advances
25. San Diego ordered to remove cross or pay $5,000 a day
26. Christian Church Files Emergency Lawsuit to Stop their Ministry from Being Shut Down
27. Palestinian Religious Leader Blasts Christian Zionists
28. Can we stand any more Government Help with Gasoline?
29. The Subversive Plan to Ditch The Electoral College
America: Standing in the Need of Prayer
May 8 2006 Tony Perkins American Research Council
I
ran's ruler, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has written a letter to President Bush. It is the first such communication in 27 years. Ahmadinejad has publicly called the threat of UN economic sanctions against his country "meaningless."
Even now, Russia and China are actively working at the UN to water down the already too weak sanctions--and threatening to veto any resolution that has teeth. This is but one of the grave threats to our world.
ABC Television plans a movie that will scare many Americans about the dangers of avian flu. We are just coming into a new hurricane season. Now Al Gore tells us that global warming will be the ruin of us.
Last week, we assembled in 40,000 locations for the National Day of Prayer. That was a good and necessary thing. But as Jesus instructed we should not lose heart in the midst of the challenges but we should pray always (Luke 18:1).
Back
Planned Parenthood Solicits Mother's Day Donations
May 10 2006 Citizen Link staff reports
The largest abortion provider also denies any impact from the procedure.
R
acy commercials and "sex-ed" programs are just a few of the tricks Planned Parenthood has up its sleeves — just in time for Mother's Day.
One example: A report by Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of Planned Parenthood, claims there are no physical or psychological consequences to having an abortion.
Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, said scientific research simply does not support such a conclusion.
"That simply flies in the face of ever-accumulating studies over the past 30 years," she told Family News in Focus.
Wright said the research draws a definite link between abortion and depression, something Guttmacher chooses to ignore.
"A Guttmacher Institute study on abortion is as credible as a tobacco industry's report on nicotine," she said.
And it gets worse: Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, has sent out an e-mail asking for donations for Mother's Day. The group promises to deliver a card to mothers telling them of the contribution made in their honor.
Jim Sedlack, president of the American Life League's Stopp International, called the scheme "outrageous" — especially if the woman receiving the card has had an abortion.
"There are two days of the year that it really hits them from their abortions," he said. "One is the day that would have been the birth date of their child, and the other is Mother's Day."
Back
Why Embryonic Stem Cell Research? It's About Human Engineering, Not Ending Disease
May 9 2006 John-Henry Westen LifeSiteNews.com
Embryonic Stem Cell Research in reality quest for a 'superhuman' race and to create a race of sub-humans to do menial or dangerous task.s
S
PRINGFIELD, IL, Dr. David Reardon, Ph.D., best known for his voluminous research on the after-effects of abortion on women, has launched a new venture to pre-emptively ban human engineering which he contends is the root of the quest for embryonic stem cell research.
Many have wondered at the insistence on funding for and pursuit of embryonic stem cell research given the fact that there is not even one embryonic stem cell therapy currently in use while adult stem cell therapies are used every day in the treatment of nearly a hundred different diseases.
Reardon, a biomedical ethicist whose studies have been published in such prestigious medical journals as the British Medical Journal and the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, told LifeSiteNews.com in an interview that the key to understanding the dilemma is the quest for a 'superhuman' race and to create a race of sub-humans to do menial or dangerous tasks. While embryonic stem cell researchers prefer to talk about the goal of ending disease, their ultimate goal is to create "better people," says Dr. Reardon.
While the claims may sound preposterous, Dr. Reardon, a consummate researcher, has done his homework and amassed a startling series of quotes from leading scientists which prove his point.
For example, James Watson, who won the Nobel Prize in 1962 for describing DNA structures, has proclaimed stupidity a disease and wants the freedom to design "better people" who lack the hypothetical "stupidity" gene. In a 2003 televised interview Watson, now president of the Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory, New York said, "If you are really stupid, I would call that a disease . . . so I'd like to get rid of that .
Additionally, Dr. Joseph Fletcher a Harvard Professor widely recognized as the "patriarch of bioethics", who died in 1991, said, "parahumans might legitimately be fashioned to do dangerous or demeaning jobs. As it is now, low-grade work is shoved off on moronic and retarded individuals, the victims of uncontrolled reproduction. Should we not program such workers 'thoughtfully' instead of accidentally, by means of hybridization?"
Gregory Stock, the Director of the Program on Medicine, Technology, and Society at UCLA's School of Public Health and author of the 2002 book "Redesigning Humans: Our Inevitable Genetic Future" has said, "If biological manipulation is indeed a slippery slope, then we are already sliding down that slope now and may as well enjoy the ride.''
Furthermore, Dr. Reardon's website devoted to the subject, lists, in addition to more salient quotes, links to organizations devoted to 'transhumanism' or moving forward human evolution through genetic manipulation.
Dr. Reardon has formed a coalition to enact a pre-emptive ban on human engineering and require that the scientists who wish to pursue such research first prove their efficacy with animal experiments and then appeal for approval of further research from voters.
An initiative to amend the Missouri constitution to erect a pre-emptive ban on human engineering, defined as any act that genetically alters human gametes or "nascent human life," has been filed with the Secretary of State's office for the November election.
Back
Minuteman Project Caravan Approaching DC with Petitions Demanding Sealing of Boarders and No Amnesty for Illegals; Rally at Capitol 11:00 AM May 12
May 10 2006 Christian Newswire
M
EDIA ADVISORY, - The hottest issue across the United States, after the war in Iraq, is sealing the US boarders against illegal immigration and the issue of “guest worker” amnesty for illegal aliens already here, according to a new Zogby poll.
"This is a Trojan horse—a covert invasion," says Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project.
Gilchrist is on a national campaign to rally citizens and encourage them to become informed and to become active in resolving the risks to America’s survival and the safety and livelihood of every lawful American citizen, young and old.
A coast to coast caravan is moving state by state toward Washington, DC, symbolically being led by "The Spirit Of Allegiance," Official Pace Car of the Minuteman Project Caravan to Washington.
The Spirit Of Allegiance Pace Car is a 1970 Mercury Cougar owned and driven by Lyman Stucky.
Both Gilchrist and Stucky are certain by election day 2006, voters will show conclusively that illegal entry by foreigners on US soil and the issue of “guest worker amnesty” is at least as important to the American people as the war in Iraq.
Back
Guest-worker debate boosts alien-smuggling business
May 9, 2006 Jerry Seper the Washington Times
U.S. law-enforcement authorities and elected officials in Arizona say large numbers of migrants now flooding into the United States are hoping to cash in on what they perceive as an amnesty program if they can establish residence and a work record in this country.
These migrants are bolstered by the much-publicized debate in Congress over immigration reform and "guest workers" -- and by the millions of pro-immigration and pro-amnesty supporters who defiantly have rallied in cities throughout the United States.
The Border Patrol has reported a 6 percent increase in the number of apprehensions of illegal aliens along the 1,951-mile U.S.-Mexico border since Oct. 1, with more than 724,600 illegals arrested. That's more than 4,000 arrests a day.
Arizona state Rep. Russell Pearce, Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and a longtime proponent of increased immigration enforcement by the federal government, said he thinks the recent rise in illegal-alien traffic may be as high as 20 percent, based on what U.S. Border Patrol field agents have told him.
"Absolutely the numbers are way up, nobody denies that," Mr. Pearce told The Washington Times in an interview Thursday. "And the draw is the promise of a guest-worker program or amnesty now being debated in Washington. These people are expecting to be rewarded for breaking the law, and Congress wants to go along with it."
Mr. Pearce said lawmakers in Border States are "tired of waiting" for Congress and the White House to enforce federal immigration law, and while both have "made a lot of promises, they have delivered nothing." He said before a guest-worker program is approved, "they better figure out how to secure our borders and enforce the laws already on the books."
The House passed a bill in December that focused on enforcement, and the Senate is debating legislation that would create a guest-worker program. The latter would give the estimated 10 million to 12 million illegal aliens in the United States legal status and a pathway to permanent citizenship.
The Senate hopes to have its bill done by this summer, and then it will have to work out differences with the House measure.
Meanwhile, hundreds continue to arrive here daily, off- loaded from trucks and vans from Altar to be escorted on foot at night along well-worn trails across the border and into Arizona. They hide during the day until being picked up along the highway and taken to points east, west and north, or to "safe houses" in Phoenix from where they will be transported later to other states.
In 2004, after Mr. Bush first outlined his guest-worker program, a Border Patrol survey of arrested aliens found that 45 percent were influenced to come to this country by the promise of amnesty. The White House put a stop to the survey after its existence was reported by the press.
Reyes, who admits to a drug-smuggling conviction in the U.S., acknowledged having "other names, but I just liked using this one today." He said migrants crowd into town waiting to hook up with coyotes armed with sophisticated weapons, Global Positioning System equipment and mobile radios.
"A lot of people are making a lot of money here. You could say it's a bit of capitalism at its best," this smuggler of humans said with a laugh and a swig of tequila. "God bless America."
Back
Republicans and Democrats pandering on combined legislation package while US borders remain open
May 09 2006 Thomas Sowell the Conservative Voice - Commentary
M
aybe some recent polls will put some backbone into Senate Republicans. But don't bet the rent money on it.
The percentages vary a little from poll to poll, as is usually the case, but these polls agree on one thing -- the public's top priority on the immigration issues is controlling the borders. They prefer the tougher bill passed by the House of Representatives to the weaker approach of the Senate.
The House of Representatives bill has been depicted in much of the media as harsh or draconian, as if it is a terrible thing to make illegal entry into this country a crime. The House bill is what is supposed to have sparked massive protest demonstrations around the country by illegal aliens and their supporters.
Those demonstrations may have impressed the media and intimidated politicians but they didn't change many minds among the American people. A majority of Republicans, Democrats, and independents all favor the tougher House bill. The percentages differed among these groups but they were all majorities.
What is really striking is that 53 percent of Hispanics supported the House bill. The loudmouths at the demonstrations did not speak for all Hispanics.
On this issue, as on some others, the Democrats in Congress are more united than the Republicans, even though the Republicans have a majority in both Houses. But a united minority can often defeat a divided majority.
As things stand at the moment on the immigration issue, the Democrats clearly have the upper hand politically as this year's elections approach.
The Democrats can solidify their base behind amnesty. But the Republicans' base -- 81 percent of whom are behind the tougher House bill -- are undermined, if not demoralized, by the vacillation of the Senate Republicans and the Bush administration on strong border control, apparently out of fear of alienating Hispanic voters.
In view of the latest polls, it is not clear how many Hispanic voters are going to be alienated. The greater danger is that the Congressional Republicans will alienate their own supporters.
The irony in all this is that the Republicans could turn the tables on the Democrats and put them on the defensive, instead of being on the defensive themselves.
There is no reason other than politics why amnesty and border control have to be in the same bill. It will take time to see how various new border control methods work out in practice and there is no reason to rush ahead to deal with the people already illegally in this country before the facts are in on how well the borders have been secured.
Separate border control legislation would force the Democrats to stand up and be counted on this issue, without the political cover of a package deal. Some of the more weak-kneed Republicans also want this political cover but taking away the package deal would do far more damage to the Democrats.
Legislation dealing solely -- and seriously -- with border control might be difficult for some Congressional Republicans to vote for but it would be a political nightmare for the Democrats in Congress. And a bill takes just 51 votes to pass in the Senate.
Unfortunately, President Bush has pushed the package deal and used the straw man argument that we cannot find and deport millions of people, even though virtually no one has said that we could.
The real question is whether sweeping the illegal alien problem under the rug by calling them legal will bring in still more millions of illegals, as a previous amnesty has already done. Nor will calling amnesty by some other name do anything more than undermine the confidence of the American people in general and the Republican base in particular.
Sometimes caution is the most dangerous policy. General MacArthur once defined defensive warfare in one word: "Defeat."
Frankly, the Republicans deserve to lose this fall's election, after their wild spending and pandering to economic ignorance on gas prices. But a Republican defeat would only bring in the Democrats -- and the country does not deserve anything that disastrous. The Democrats' petty obstruction and irresponsible demagoguery in wartime disqualifies them for national leadership when a nuclear Iran and nuclear terrorists loom on the horizon.
Back
Believers need to Prepare for Da Vinci Code Fallout
April 27 2006 Prophecy News Watch
A
n upcoming movie based on a best-selling book that questions Christ's divinity can be challenged with fact and reason, says a Christian author. James Garlow advises Christians to be prepared to refute untruths that will be conveyed in Sony Pictures' The Da Vinci Code.
The movie, due to be released in the U.S. on May 19, is directed by Ron Howard and stars Tom Hanks. The film is based on the best-selling by Dan Brown, which asserts that Jesus and Mary Magdalene married and had children, and questions the divinity of Christ. The movie is rated PG-13 for disturbing images, violence, nudity, thematic material, brief drug references, and sexual content.
James Garlow is co-author of Cracking Da Vinci's Code, and he also compiled The Da Vinci Code Breaker. Garlow says Christians have an opportunity to counter the lies in Brown's novel with the historical truths found in scripture. He is convinced the Church must take seriously the challenge posed by the film.
"It'll either be catastrophic for the Church in terms of the unbelieving public losing a great deal of whatever confidence they may have left in the scriptures or in the person of Jesus," he says, "or if the Church is ready -- if we're able, as Peter writes, to give an answer for the hope that lies within us -- we can seize this opportunity and have fabulous evangelistic fruit ... or what I call pre-evangelism."
Christians, says the California pastor, must be willing and equipped to answer questions that will arise in the minds of non-believers about the reliability of the New Testament.
"If a person equips themselves on how to refute the lies, they can just simply say, 'Here, look at this information,'" he suggests, "and they can help a person establish a strong faith and even a sufficiently strong understanding of the historicity of the gospels, the historicity of Jesus and his life, even church history itself enough so that they can refute Dan Brown's notions."
Back
CBN.com Confronts the Errors in the Da Vinci Code
May 8 2006 Christian Newswire
V
IRGINIA BEACH, Va., - With the release of The Da Vinci Code in theaters worldwide later this month, Christians are preparing to defend biblical truth in the face of the errors presented in the book by author Dan Brown. To help equip believers, and also to answer the questions of skeptics and seekers, CBN.com has prepared an in-depth special section titled, "The Da Vinci Code: A Biblical Response":
htt p://www.cbn.com/special/DaVinciCode/
CBN has also created an original booklet, "Beyond the Code" that can be linked to from other Web sites or downloaded and printed:
http://www.cbn.com/community/booklets/DaVinciCod e/beyond_the_code.pdf
This booklet will also be offered in printed format through The 700 Club and the CBN Prayer Counseling Center. To order a copy, call (800) 759-0700.
The CBN.com Da Vinci Code site features:
-
Comparison and contrast between Da Vinci Code distortions and biblical and historical facts;
-
Video from 700 Club interviews with Da Vinci Code experts;
-
The CBN original booklet, "Beyond the Code";
-
Video and written commentary from leading Christian thinkers such as Gordon Robertson, Lee Strobel, Josh McDowell, Janet Parshall, Dr. Erwin Lutzer, and others;
-
Links to purchase the books and videos of leading Christian authors;
-
Links to other Christian Web sites with Da Vinci information; and
-
Links to current Da Vinci Code news.
This in-depth site will be updated on a daily basis as long as the controversy remains in the headlines.
Every day, viewers from around the world log on to CBN.com to find a wealth of news, in-depth interviews, on-demand video, feature articles, spiritual life resources, and the latest from The 700 Club -- all from biblical worldview. The online magazine also offers a Christian perspective on today's culture, including the latest movies, music, and books, along with up-to-date information on marriage, family issues, health and fitness, and more.
CBN.com is also a portal with links to other CBN television shows like Living the Life, CBN Newswatch and Christian World News -- and ministries such as CBN WorldReach, Operation Blessing, Regent University, and the American Center for Law and Justice.
To sign an online petition against the Da Vinci Code, go to the Christian Movie guide petition site: http://www.movieguide.org/petition/
Back
Harry Potter’s Influence Goes Unchallenged in Most Homes and Churches
May 1 2006 the Barna Group
H
arry Potter has experienced broad popularity because his appeal cuts across demographic and religious lines. The vast majority of teens – regardless of gender, ethnicity, faith, or other characteristics – has been personally exposed to the story. For instance, even a large majority of teenagers from groups that have objected most stridently to the stories of wizards and witchcraft have indulged in this fantasy world. Three-quarters of all church-going teens (77%) and born again Christian teenagers (78%) have seen or read Potter.
Despite widespread exposure to the Potter story, few teens – just 4% – say they have experienced any teaching or discussions in a church about the spiritual themes embedded in the wizard-in-training legend. Among born again teens, a minority (13%) recalls ever receiving any input from their church on the subject or spiritual themes of Harry Potter.
Parents are somewhat more likely than churches to address the spiritual themes of Potter with their children. However, only one-fifth of all teens and one-third of born again Christian teens said they had discussed the supernatural elements of Harry Potter with their parents.
Overall, a majority of teens – Christian or other – are ingesting the mythology of the child wizard without any guidance from their parents or church leaders. Instead, teens are feeling their way through the spiritual themes either on their own or with the influence of their peers.
Kinnaman, who is Vice President of The Barna Group, suggested that parents and youth leaders take to heart Jesus’ instruction that believers should be “in, but not of” the world. “The teenage years are an important transition from the leadership of parents to independence and reliance upon God. Instead of simply trying to isolate children from all the spiritually dangerous material available in our media-saturated culture, parents could prepare their kids to be missionaries to their peers and to our society. Even though the approach and even the outcome will look different for every teen, helping teens to respond biblically to the messages of popular culture – such as those found in Harry Potter – is an important function of parents and church leaders. You do not get a free pass if you are not interested or if you do not enjoy stories like Potter. Young people are avidly consuming
contemporary pop legends. Adults can guide them in knowing how to interpret that information and to respond in a Christ-like manner.”
“The Bible notes that believers should always be ready to answer questions about their faith whenever people ask. While not minimizing the spiritual danger of stories like Harry Potter, the upside of such content is that it raises questions of purpose, destiny, relationships, isolation, redemption, spiritual power and more – the very topics that are so important to the message of Christianity. But, as things stand, many parents and church leaders are letting those spiritual opportunities go to waste.”
Back
Update: Congressmen Move to Protect Military Chaplains Right to pray in Jesus Name
May 11 2006 Citizen Link
The right to pray in Jesus' name is under attack.
T
he House Armed Services Committee has approved language to protect the right of military chaplains to pray in accordance with their faith.
The provision, sponsored by two congressmen who are leaders on military issues -- Reps. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Walter Jones, R-N.C. -- was inserted into the massive Department of Defense budget authorization bill.
It reads: "Each chaplain shall have the prerogative to pray according to the dictates of the chaplain's own conscience, except as must be limited by military necessity, with any such limitation being imposed in the least restrictive manner feasible."
Back
Sex Offender Act Passes without Hate-Crimes Language
May 10 2006 staff reports Citizen Link
Amendment removal seen as a defeat for Ted Kennedy.
T
he Senate passage of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (S. 1086) last Thursday was a victory for children, but it also represented a defeat for Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who tried to amend the bill to add sexual orientation to the definition of a hate crime.
He removed the controversial language late last week, which allowed the previously stalled bill to pass unanimously.
Kennedy once told his Senate colleagues, "We know that hate crimes are a serious problem that continues to plague us."
But Bob Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute, said that's just not true.
"Senator Kennedy and his supporters have not come up with any evidence that this law is even needed," he told Family News in Focus. "In fact, hate crimes based on sexual orientation have actually dropped over the last couple of years."
According to FBI statistics, in 2004, crimes against gays made up one hundredth of one percent of all crimes.
And Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel for the Liberty Legal Institute, said gays are already protected.
"The Constitution protects the rights of everybody to vote, to own property, the things that are basic," he said. "Everybody has those rights, no matter who they are."
He said, given the statistics, homosexual activists must have another motive behind gaining special rights.
"It's a building block to really move homosexual rights forward," Shackelford said. "And to eventually overturn marriage laws as well."
Back
CWA Commends Congress for Striking Bill that Would Allow Abortion in Military Hospitals
May 11 2006 Christian Newswire
W
ASHINGTON, - Concerned Women for America (CWA) commends the House for soundly defeating an amendment introduced by Rep. Robert Andrews (D-New Jersey) that would have allowed military health facilities to perform abortions on demand. The Davis/Sanchez/Harman Amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization (H.R. 5122) is legislation that exploits women in the military.
“The American people can be relieved that we have one less bad piece of legislation in the House,” said Lanier Swann, CWA’s Director of Government Relations. “Pro-abortion advocates have been trying to sneak this bill in for almost a decade, but each year, the House strikes it down. Congress knows that our military hospitals are not there to end lives but to save them.”
“Our brave men and women in uniform place themselves in harm’s way to protect the United States and to save lives every day. To allow abortions in military medical facilities would send a mixed message. Turning these places into abortion clinics will detract from their intended purpose of healing.
“CWA’s Washington staff and our grassroots chapters have worked tirelessly to prevent passage of this bad legislation. Our voice has been heard, and thousands of unborn babies’ lives have been saved.”
Back
Texas House Bill H.B. 1 is overly complicated Education Funding Legislation with many flaws
May 8 2006 Cathie Adams Texas Eagle Forum
Not only is HB1 too EXPENSIVE because it ROBS our ELECTED State Board of Education of duties and gives those duties to NON-ELECTED bureaucrats.
HB 1 COSTS the General Revenue Fund / Foundation School Fund more than $9 BILLION a year as shown on the 5-year impact below, according to the TX Legislative Budget Board.
Please review the analysis from SBOE members Terri Leo and Don McLeroy, Cathie Adams
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
Fiscal Year Probable Savings/(Cost) from
GENERAL REVENUE FUND
1 Probable Savings/ (Cost) from
FOUNDATION SCHOOL FUND
193 Probable Revenue Gain/ (Loss) from
School Districts Change in Number of State Employees
from FY 2007
2007 ($74,920,564)
($3,750,079,436) ($1,666,400,000) 18.0
2008 ($58,396,048)
($8,348,536,000) ($5,753,900,000) 18.0
2009 ($112,037,711)
($9,524,986,000) ($5,692,300,000) 18.0
2010 ($114,323,651)
($9,158,206,000) ($5,620,900,000) 18.0
2011 ($112,932,921)
($9,557,256,408) ($5,538,400,000) 18.0
HB1 Article 5 has not been fixed, keep calling! May 8 2006 SBOE Member Terri Leo
Almost all of the Senate offices today are telling callers that Article 5 of HB1 has all been fixed. This is the (totally unrelated to property tax relief) section of HB1 that removes power from the elected State Board of Education (SBOE) and hands it over to the unelected bureaucracy, the Texas Education Agency (TEA). While it is true that Sen. Shapiro amended it in committee, the amendment language fixes/changes nothing in the bill.
The SBOE members were not consulted regarding her amendment to "fix" the bill and I know of not one SBOE who is in support of Senator Shapiro's "fix," including the SBOE chairman. It seems this is the only "bone" they were willing to throw us. When you call the Senators offices and they argue that the bill has been fixed, ask them to read the committee substitute language and amendment for themselves. It can be clearly seen that no language has been changed in the bill by the amendment. The "notwithstanding" amendment language that Senator Shapiro added in committee does NOTHING! The words in the bill still say that the Commissioner "APPROVES."
Under the proposed language in Article 5 the elected SBOE plays no role in developing or approving the high school TEKS (curriculum). The SBOE cannot veto any area of the Commissioner (TEA) approved curriculum even if the SBOE does not agree with it. The SBOE does not get to select or supervise the curriculum vertical alignment teams. And just what are we aligning with? College professors do not have a set curriculum they follow. And which college professors will then be selected to write the high school curriculum?
You must call today and tomorrow. This will be heard tomorrow on the Senate floor at 2:00. If this passes into law the SBOE will have to rubber stamp whatever TEA approves. If I do the wrong thing you can get rid of me. You cannot get rid of an unelected bureaucracy. Citizens, teachers and parents will have no recourse, no public hearing and no voice in the process.
Please see my fellow SBOE member's article below and forward this to those who will care. The Senate contact information is at the bottom of this email. It would also be helpful to ask the Governor's office to weigh in and ask the Senate to remove Article 5 of the bill. Terri Leo State Board of Education District #6
Keep the Focus on the Finances not Our High Schools May 8 2006 SBOE Member Don McLeroy
One of the major pieces of school finance reform legislation now being considered in our state legislature is HB 1 which has a major section on school reform legislation, “Article 5 - High School Success and College Readiness" piggybacked on top of it. In the rush to pass the finance legislation, this reform is riding forward without the public, the media, and the legislative scrutiny it deserves. The proposed reform legislation is a result of a subcommittee consisting of staff from the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board—no elected officials. Their recommendations could lead to some interesting possibilities.
For example, can you imagine University of Texas undergraduate students taking a state “University-TAKS" test? The day may be getting closer than you think. Charles Miller, former UT Regent and former major player in Texas’ K-12 efforts, has a new role as national chairman of the Commission on the Future of Higher Education. His recent comments suggest a University-TAKS test may be around the corner. He was appointed by a former fellow Texas education reformer Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. When you read Article 5, though it does not recommend University-TAKS tests, it does talk of identifying “college readiness standards and expectations that address what students must know and be able to do to succeed in entry-level courses offered at institutions of higher education.” It follows the recent trendy ideas of our school reformers who have a new-found focus on high school.
The amendment in HB 1 is supposed to help eliminate the poor preparation of our high school students for college. But it is simple thinking that would assert that the high incidence of remedial work needed by many of our high school graduates can be fixed by linking our state public education accountability reforms to the university. In fact, it could be argued that the present reform efforts have contributed to this breakdown.
What is really needed today is a good honest look in the mirror at what our present K-12 reforms have actually wrought. The fact is our "teach to the test" public schools are simply incapable of producing an abundance of college-ready graduates. When experienced teachers are asked if their children are stronger academically than they were before the onset of the State Accountability System 13 years ago, they invariably answer that the students are weaker.
But, building on the assumed success of the K-12 No Child Left Behind/Standards-Based Reforms, politicians are now eager to get an education feather in their cap; and they are promoting this reform.. But, as Jim Windham, an educational policymaker, has noted, our K-12 schools are doing better but only as measured by our state test—the TAKS. We're not doing better according to the ACT and SAT tests. In fact, ACT and SAT, with years of experience and millions of assessments, have already determined what college readiness standard should be—and they are free for the asking. The HB 1 amendment is unnecessary; we do not need to reinvent this wheel.
Don't you wonder where these reform ideas are hatched? It is not from parents; it is not from the teacher in the trenches; it is not from the school principals. These educational reforms are generated from a loosely defined group of education- policy gurus, think tanks, state-level bureaucrats, and employees of large educational groups. These folks, seeing themselves as the only hope for the educational salvation of our children, draw upon the same tools that they think they used to fix K-12 public education and now want to expand their role to the colleges and universities.
This is social engineering pure and simple. And, it is this mentality of "social engineering" that is so scary. This idea -- that those in Austin can put into effect policy and then all will be well -- is bogus.
The fact is we don't need Article 5; at least we don't need Article 5 without serious debate. For now, it should be removed from this legislation that is supposed to be primarily focused on school finance issues. Not only parents should be terribly concerned but also our state colleges and universities should look with great trepidation on this legislation and what it might bring forth. Don McLeroy -Texas State Board of Education District 9
Back
Religious Liberty in danger of being trumped by those who want Sexual License
May 8 2006 Tony Perkins Family Research Council
M
aggie Gallagher is a well-respected columnist and author. She co-authored The Case for Marriage and is president of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy. She is a serious-minded journalist. We should therefore pay careful attention to her new article in The Weekly Standard.
Dr. Gallagher argues in a long piece titled "Banned in Boston" that the coming clash will be nothing less than religious liberty versus sexual license. She writes of a recent meeting that included liberal legal theorists. They are fully committed, she writes, to the view that same-sex marriage is the most pressing civil rights issue of our time. They are the ones, Gallagher writes, who will force the issue in state after state.
King and King--the book that made seven-year olds in Lexington, Massachusetts thinks about sexual topics--is just the beginning. Catholic Charities was forced to stop doing adoptions in Massachusetts because it would not place children in homosexual couples' homes. A Lutheran high school in California may be forced to accept students who declare they are engaged in homosexual liaisons. Liberals intend to treat churches and synagogues that reject homosexual conduct as outlaws.
Will the IRS pull their tax exempt status? "That's the 18 trillion dollar question," says Marc Stern of the American Jewish Congress. "If the [Lutheran] high school loses," says Stern, "then religious schools are out of business." If anything, says Stern, we have underestimated the impact of this issue. The changes that same-sex marriage will make "will reverberate across the legal and religious landscape in some ways that are today unpredictable."
Back
XXX.com Web Domain for pornography being Considered
May 10 2006 Tony Perkins Family Research Council
T
he Internet Corporation on Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is an entity tasked with the role of "traffic cop" on the Internet, helping to determine how content on the web gets classified.
In recent years, ICANN has been considering whether to create a new Web domain for pornography, where porn sites would be assigned the ending .xxx instead of .com or some other designation. Today's Wall Street Journal reports that the ICANN board could vote as soon as today on the proposal to create this new "adult neighborhood" on the web. Advocates of the idea say it will make it easier for filtering software to block porn web sites.
At least one advocate, the Journal reports, has other goals in mind as well: Web entrepreneur Stuart Lawley "hopes to make a pile of money by collecting fees for registering dot-xxx sites." ICANN should continue to resist this bad idea, and the U.S. Commerce Department, which has veto power, should overrule ICANN if it takes this step. As our Charmaine Yoest told the Journal, "The porn industry is constantly preying on the eyes of our children. This would only double porn holdings on the internet."
Back
Andrea Clark Dies of Natural Causes – Family Grateful for Pro-life Intervention
May 8 2006 Hilary White LifeSiteNews.com
Andrea’s family condemns Texas law allowing hospitals to kill patients.
H
OUSTON, Andrea Clark, the woman at the centre of a battle over the rights of patients not to be killed by their doctors, died peacefully of natural causes at St. Luke’s Episcopal hospital on Sunday at about 3 pm. Her new attending physician reported that Andrea's heart naturally stopped beating. Andrea received the last sacraments of the Catholic Church on Saturday.
After suffering brain damage during surgery, the ethics committee at St. Luke’s voted behind closed doors to remove her from life support even though she was not terminally ill and had expressed her desire to live.
Clark’s family issued a statement saying “We hope that the battle that we fought for our sister will bring to light and bear witness to the horrible acts committed in the name of ethics in hospitals across the state of Texas.” A Texas law gives hospitals the power to decide if a patient’s life is “worth” maintaining against the wishes or beliefs of patients or their families.
Mark Pickup, founder of HumanLifeMatters, the Canadian affiliate of the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation, encouraged the people who had advocated on Andrea’s behalf. Pickup said, “So many people stood up for this defenseless woman. Andrea died naturally, without pain, surrounded by loved ones. It is all any of us can wish for at the end of our worldly lives.”
Andrea was left unable to breathe on her own after developing bleeding on her brain after open-heart surgery and needed a ventilator. She was also on a dialysis machine. Andrea told her family she wanted life sustaining treatment to continue until her natural death. Although she had suffered damage to her motor functions, her mental capacity was not affected.
The story caught the attention of the pro-life world and the hospital received floods of emails and phone calls on Andrea’s behalf. On May 3rd, the family announced that Dr. Matthew Lenz would be taking over her case and that the hospital would continue to provide life-sustaining and appropriate treatment.
Mrs. Melanie Childers, Andrea’s sister, told media that actions by pro-lifers around the world made the difference. “I think we should all be glad that this is an issue in which such a passionate and large group of people have chosen to wage war. Once these people get started, they are like a steamroller—they are going to run through the opposition.”
Under the principles of Bioethics, the philosophy that drives most hospital ethics committees, the preference is no longer for life, but for “quality of life,” which can be judged subjectively by doctors. Activists in the euthanasia movement have been very successful in using this trend to propose relaxing of laws against euthanasia and doctor assisted suicide in nearly every jurisdiction in the western world.
Back
Senator Frist Leads Effort against Indecency
May 4 2006 Tony Perkins Family Research Council
S
en. Bill Frist (R-TN) has been showing strong leadership in the fight against broadcast indecency. Action is certainly overdue. It has been more than two years since Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during halftime at the 2004 Super Bowl.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed strong legislation to raise the penalties on broadcast indecency more than a year ago. Michigan Congressman Fred Upton's (R) bipartisan measure, H.R. 310, increases fines the FCC can impose on broadcasters for airing indecent material from $32,500 to $500,000 per violation. So far, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, has apparently tuned out the concerns of American families and blocked the advance of this measure, though there are signs he may be starting to relent.
This is the time for the Senate to act on the House version. This is must-pass legislation for American families. The values voters are tuned into it and are watching.
Back
Nine out of ten school age children are exposed to pornography
April 27 2006 Prophecy New Watch
R
ecent studies confirming the corruptive impact of pornography on people revealed a growing concern among both secularists and Christians regarding its effect on children, especially if they are exposed at an early age.
Author Peter Stock addressed the concern in a document titled "The Harmful Effects on Children of Exposure to Pornography," in which he noted that viewing pornography distorts the sexual development of children and adolescents. Not only does it give an inadequate perspective of human sexuality, it dehumanizes women.
"This possibly violent, very degrading image or depiction of sexuality becomes the normal depiction of sexuality in the child's mind," said Daniel Weiss of Focus on the Family Action.
Even if the exposure to graphic sexual images is accidental, research shows that it can warp a child's understanding of sexuality. This twisted view follows them through life-tainting relationships well into adulthood, and creates a plethora of problems along the way. For example, experts associate early exposure to pornography with an increase in teen pregnancy, abuse, drug and alcohol abuse and relationship problems.
According to researcher Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, these problems surface when external beauty fades after years of marriage. "The ability to see the human being on the inside and respond erotically requires that you not have set up and trained yourself in a set of completely artificial, impersonal expectations," he said.
But with constant advancements in technology, these artificial expectations are staring kids in the face while making it more difficult for parents to protect them.
As reported by the U.S. Justice Department, nine out of ten school age children are exposed to pornography, usually while doing their homework online. In addition, the New York Times recently cited a study titled "Impact of the Media on Adolescent Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors" in which it was noted that one in five children ages 10 to 17 had "inadvertently encountered explicit sexual content, and one in five had been exposed to an unwanted sexual solicitation while online."
While Internet filters are helpful when it comes to protecting children from online pornography, counselor Joann Condie also encourages parents to help their children process a good, wholesome and healthy view of sexuality.
Back
National Institutes of Health Slush Fund for Transhumanism
May 4 2006 Tony Perkins Family Research Council
The National Institutes of Health has given a grant of $773,000 to Prof. Maxwell Mehlman of Case Western Reserve University. Prof. Mehlman is to study and make recommendations for genetic "enhancements" of human beings. Mehlman says "the problem is that the rules were all designed with therapeutic goals in mind. The question is, are these safeguards appropriate to govern testing for non-therapeutic enhancements..." In short, Prof. Mehlman will study how to proceed to make smarter, taller, better-looking humans, how we will direct our own evolution as a species.
The World Transhumanist Association (WTA) describes Prof. Mehlman's Center for Genetic Research Ethics and Law (CGREAL) at Case Western Reserve University as an ideal place for transhumanists to work. Mehlman has written a book titled Wondergenes in which he lays out the prospects for a future dominated by genetic manipulation of the human species.
We have a host of diseases-- like cancer, heart disease and juvenile diabetes--that have yet to be cured. But here we have the NIH pressing the agenda of transhumanism, a basket of ideas that runs the gamut from beauty-boosting to building a post-human future. And the NIH is facilitating it with our tax dollars.
The NIH should immediately rescind this grant. If that fails, Congress should cut NIH's budget by $773,000 and re-direct the funds to the President's Council on Bioethics, where such issues can be debated in the light of day.
Back
Judicial Watch Releases Special Report: 'The Clinton RU-486 Files'
May 9 2006 Christian Newswire
New Documents from Clinton Presidential Library Reveal Clinton White House and FDA Political Drive to Bring Abortion to U.S. Market
WASHINGTON, As the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prepares for a May 11 meeting in Atlanta, Georgia focusing on deadly infections allegedly caused by the abortion pill RU-486, Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released a new special report: “The Clinton RU-486 Files.” The report contains recently uncovered documents that shed new light on the Clinton administration’s aggressive drive to push RU-486 to market in the United States. Judicial Watch obtained the documents from the National Archives at the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas in February 2006, shortly after the archives allowed public access to Bill Clinton’s presidential
papers.
The newly disclosed documents include the Clinton administration’s legal, political and press strategy memos for bringing RU-486 into the American marketplace – despite the manufacturer’s historical refusal to permit marketing the drug in the United States. Analysis of the records shows:
-
President Clinton ordered the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the FDA to coordinate the marketing of RU-486 as his first official act in office. Within one month, the FDA Commissioner had met with the RU-486 manufacturer and parent company.
-
Official U.S. government political, economic and diplomatic pressure was brought to bear to strong- arm the companies into changing their policies in order to make the drug available in the United States. In one confidential memo, former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala brags that she and former FDA Commissioner David Kessler personally changed the positions of the makers of RU-486 to market the abortion pill in the United States.
-
The FDA was compromised in its role as an objective reviewer of the safety and efficacy of the drug because of its active role in brokering a deal between pharmaceutical firms and an abortion rights foundation. (The five standard requirements for certifying a drug “safe and effective” were circumvented to rush RU-486 to market.)
“As our report shows, the Clinton administration pushed the abortion pill through the approval process in order to appease the abortion lobby,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “These new documents prove the RU-486 approval process was infected by raw politics. Accordingly, Congress and other authorities should launch appropriate investigations. At least six women and 560,000 unborn children have lost their lives due to the Clinton administration’s reckless drive to bring RU-486 to America. This dangerous abortion pill needs to be pulled off the market immediately.”
Judicial Watch’s report and relevant documents at: www.judicialwatch.org (64-page doc.)
Back
FBI Most Wanted: Cult leader Polygamist
May 8 2006 Tony Perkins American Research Council
T
he FBI has added Warren Jeffs to its Ten Most Wanted list. He is accused of arranging marriages between underage girls and older men. He is wanted in Arizona for the crime of sexual contact with a minor. He has also been charged in Utah as an accomplice to a rape.
Jeffs is involved with a breakaway sect that left the Mormons when that religious community formally rejected polygamy in 1890. Jeffs' alleged crimes point to the truly exploitative nature of polygamy. It's not Love, as Hollywood would have us believe: it really should be Young Victims. Women and children suffer most from polygamy.
I hope the FBI catches this man. His trial would be far more educational for Americans than most of the murder and mayhem that get wide coverage on TV. This would allow Americans to see what will eventually be asserted as a "right" if the U.S. Constitution is not amended to protect the definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman.
I thank Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the Bush Administration for recognizing the seriousness of these charges.
Back
Jerusalem Mayor Can't Stop WorldPride Event
May 05 2006 Julie Stahl CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief
Jerusalem's mayor, a religious Jew, opposes an international "gay pride" event taking place in his city this summer, but a municipality spokesman said he can't stop it from happening.
InterPride, an international association of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered activists, plans to hold its WorldPride event in Jerusalem in August. The six-day event includes a march through city streets.
The first WorldPride event took place in Rome in 2000, when Christians were celebrating the second millennium after Christ's birth.
Critics say that holding the event in a city sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims is a deliberate offense to religious people who reject homosexuality as a way of life.
Local sponsors of the event, the Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance (JOH), said WorldPride is intended to bring a "new focus to an ancient city through a massive demonstration of LGBT dignity, pride and boundary-crossing celebration."
The Jerusalem City Council discussed the parade on Thursday at the prodding of Councilman Saar Ran-Netanel, an openly homosexual member of the liberal Meretz faction.
Last year, in a rare show of solidarity, Israel's two chief rabbis banded together with Christian and Muslim leaders to oppose the event, which was supposed to have taken place last summer but was postponed because of the upheaval surrounding Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Evangelical Christian and Orthodox Jewish leaders from the U.S. also launched a petition drive asking that the event be canceled.
Uri Lupoliansky is the city's first Orthodox Jewish mayor. He and the municipality were fined separately by the Jerusalem District Court last year for trying to stop the local "pride" parade.
Lupoliansky is concerned that the event will provoke Jerusalemites and further strain relations between religious and secular residents of the city, said city spokesman Gideon Schmerling on Friday.
"As a municipality, we don't have any authority to forbid or approve a march," he added. Parade permits are in the hands of the police, he noted.
Religious and secular residents of the city occasionally clash over laws pertaining to the Sabbath, when some roads are closed to traffic, public bus transportation is not available and businesses and shops are closed for religious reasons.
Although street protests against the local LGBT parades have been muted, with most Jerusalemites preferring to just stay away, a knife-wielding Orthodox Jewish man stabbed and wounded at least two participants at one of last year's local events.
See Earlier Story: Homosexuals Challenge Jerusalem for Refusing 'Gay Pride' Parade (23 June 2005)
Back
Homosexual kids' book now showing up in schools
March 20 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
A
day after a children's book about a homosexual prince finding his true love received national media attention, the colorful hardback rose to a surprisingly high No. 38 on Amazon.com's list of best sellers.
The book, "King & King" gained media coverage Thursday when a North Carolina couple expressed their outrage after their first-grade daughter came home from her public-school library with the book.
As WorldNetDaily reported, the book chronicles the adventures of Prince Bertie, who waves off a bevy of eligible princesses before falling for Prince Lee, the Associated Press reported. The book ends with the two "marrying" and sharing a kiss.
"I was flabbergasted," parent Michael Hartsell of Wilmington, N.C., told the news service. "My child is not old enough to understand something like that, especially when it is not in our beliefs."
AP reported the 32-page book by Linda De Haan and Stern Nijland was published in March 2002 by Tricycle Press, the children's division of Ten Speed Press of Berkeley, Calif. A follow-up, "King & King & Family," was recently released! The publisher says the book is intended for readers age 6 and up.
It was unclear if a special-interest organization was buying up copies of the children's book or if individuals were purchasing it. As of yesterday, "King & King" was just edging out former Bush Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's new book, "The Price of Loyalty," on the list and was hot on the heels of humorist Al Franken's "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them."
The book stood at No. 350 on Barnes and Noble's sales list - still a respectable standing considering the tens of thousands of titles the company sells.
Previous story: Homosexual book for 1st-graders
Back
California's 'Gay History' Bill Advances
May 05 2006 Susan Jones CNSNews.com Senior Editor
A
California Senate committee has approved a bill requiring "gay history" to be included in public school textbooks. The bill now moves to the full Senate, where a vote may come next week.
Not requiring textbooks to include homosexuals' and transgenders' contributions to California history amounts to "enforced invisibility," said Sen. Sheila Kuehl, the Democrat lesbian who introduced the bill.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the bill has attracted national attention because California accounts for about 12 percent of the nation's textbook market.
SB 1437 reads in part, "No textbook or other instructional materials shall be adopted by the state board or by any governing board for use in the public schools that contains any matter reflecting adversely upon persons because of their race or ethnicity, gender, disability, nationality, sexual orientation, or religion."
The bill also requires all social studies textbooks to "study the role and contributions of...people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender...with particular emphasis on portraying the role of these groups in contemporary society."
The conservative Campaign for Children and Families testified against the "transsexual-bisexual-homosexual curriculum bill," calling it "sexual indoctrination."
'Mental molestation'
CCF President Randy Thomasson is urging Americans to "loudly protest at every opportunity," and he is urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to announce that such bills will be vetoed when they reach his desk.
"Use today's bad news to spur you to righteousness," Thomasson said in a press release.
According to Thomasson, the bill authorizes the California Department of Education to sue any school district that does not promote or positively portray transsexuality, bisexuality, and homosexuality in textbooks, instructional materials, and school-sponsored activities.
"SB 1437 turns every school into a sexual indoctrination center," he said. "This bill isn't about 'safety' or 'discrimination,' it's about leading children into sexual confusion."
Thomasson has accused Democrats of "mentally molesting" impressionable children.
"Parents send their children to school for academics, not for transsexual, bisexual, or homosexual indoctrination. SB 1437 means schools will promote same-sex 'marriages' and even sex-change operations to kids.
"The voters won't stand for this," Thomasson said.
Back
San Diego ordered to remove cross or pay $5,000 a day
May 5 2006 the Washington Times
S
AN DIEGO - After a 17-year legal battle between the city and a self-described atheist, a judge has ordered San Diego officials to remove a giant cross from a hilltop par
