Freedom of Speech

Statists urge National ID

Under the national identification card system, each worker could carry one card, to be issued only after an extensive criminal background check. And it would have biometrics - such as fingerprints - embedded into the card. That way, when a worker goes to a gate, the system can tell if the person who's using the card is the one it was given to.

Using illegals to justify National ID System

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials recently hailed the agency's new fingerprint identity system for leading to the arrest of more than 23,500 people nationwide with criminal records. But an El Paso immigrant advocate worries that the new technology will simply be used to keep people out of the country rather than providing speedier access for those seeking to cross international checkpoints legally. Almost 10 percent of the arrests made using the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System between September and November were made in the El Paso sector, Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier said. The fingerprint system "allows us to fulfill a critical element of securing our nation's borders," Mosier said. "That is a luxury that we have not experienced in the past."

Federal Agencies Clash on Fingerprint Database

WASHINGTON -- Disagreements between government agencies are hampering efforts to combine U.S. immigration and law enforcement fingerprint information, making it more difficult to prevent known terrorists and criminals from entering the country, according to a Justice Department review released Wednesday. Despite some progress, the Justice, State and Homeland Security departments continue to clash over such fundamental questions as whether two or 10 fingers should be printed at U.S. borders and which law enforcement agencies should have access to the information.

The Federal No Child Left Behind Act And The Draft

The federal No Child Left Behind Act, which requires all school systems receiving NCLB money to make the contact information available to military recruiters or risk losing federal money.

Dept. of Homeland Security Pushes More Secrecy

NEW YORK -- The Bush administration appears set to maintain the secrecy that has characterized its workings since 2001. The latest evidence is a directive from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) instructing its employees and contractors to share sensitive but unclassified information only with those having a need to know it. All 180,000 department employees and contractors are now required to sign a non-disclosure agreement. But they will be held responsible for keeping secrets, even if they did not sign the pledge or were unaware of it.

DOI Buys 30,000 DESFire Chips

Philips Semiconductors has announced that it has provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with 30,000 of its Mifare DESFire chips for use in contactless smart card applications. The chips, which are being embedded in employee identification cards, operate at 13.56 MHz and comply with ISO 14443 standards. The cards will provide employees physical access to DOI facilities and, in some cases, also be used to log on to the DOI computer system.

Intelligence Overhaul to Allow Justice Department to Root Out War Criminals

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department's Nazi hunters, still busy as ever, are about to get a new class of bad guys to chase. The intelligence overhaul law signed Dec. 17 by President Bush includes a provision that directs the department's Office of Special Investigations (OSI) to root out all manner of war criminals and human rights abusers who try to settle in the USA.

Lockheed Martin to Bid on Federal Integrated Wireless Network Contract

Lockheed Martin will participate in Phase 2 of the Integrated Wireless Network (IWN) tender to supply secure, interoperable nationwide wireless communications for federal agents and officers and allow multi-agency operations between the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Treasury. The final contract is potentially worth several billion dollars over 10 years.

U.S. government and major corporate (eg. IBM, Microsoft) use of biometrics spur widespread adoption in '05

In the last year the Department of Homeland Security has done an excellent job in moving forward with initiatives to secure the US, as well as encourage other countries to do so. Sticking to their guns despite the predictable backlash from a few loud voices, their implementation of fingerprint scanners across the US’s entry and exit locations has created a whole new awareness of biometrics as it applies to terrorist prevention and citizen protection.

Intelli-Check to Supply ID-CHECK Technology to Viisage

WOODBURY, N.Y. -- Intelli-Check, Inc., a leader in advanced identification-document-verification systems, announced that Viisage (Nasdaq: VISG) has licensed Intelli-Check's proprietary ID-CHECK(R) technology for a recent government order. Viisage has integrated ID-CHECK with its iA-thenticate(R) software, enabling the solution to instantly read, analyze, and verify the encoded data in magnetic stripes and barcodes on driver licenses, military, and other government-issued IDs to determine if the content and format is valid. Intelli-Check's technology is already in use in a number of state department of motor vehicles to prevent the use of false breeder documents to obtain legally issued licenses.

In War On Terrorism, Feds Draft Businesses to be On Guard

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- It may surprise some people to learn that one of the linchpins in this nation's war on terrorism is the Bin & Barrel Mini Mart in Fremont, Calif. Under federal rules still being fine-tuned, she discovered, the Bin & Barrel — like thousands of other businesses — must have a written plan for foiling money-laundering terrorists. It also must have a "compliance officer" to ensure the plan is heeded, train its employees to spot shady transactions and regularly audit its own performance. That's not all. While not widely known, the Bin & Barrel and every other U.S. business must steer clear of people on the government's 192-page list of "specially designated nationals," which has more than 5,000 names and is updated frequently. Otherwise, business people could face huge fines and a long stay in prison.

Ex-official tells of Homeland Security failures

WASHINGTON -- The government agency responsible for protecting the nation against terrorist attack is a dysfunctional, poorly managed bureaucracy that has failed to plug serious holes in the nation's safety net, the Department of Homeland Security's former internal watchdog warns.

Security at Statehouse is being beefed up

$1.3 million project will include ID
badges, cameras, parking restrictions
The Indiana Statehouse, which has escaped the obtrusive security efforts brought on by terrorist attacks, is getting a subtle safety makeover starting next month. Expect state employees to wear identification badges, buildings to be monitored by security cameras and parking lots to be restricted.

New system to simplify fingerprinting

Burlington -- The city's Police Department rolled out new fingerprinting equipment Wednesday that is designed to instantly identify people brought in for booking or citations. The equipment, which cost $2,100, is being paid for with federal funding for homeland security. Police Chief David Walsh said it would address what has been a problem for police: "Shocking enough, people sometimes lie to us," Walsh said with a sarcastic tone.

Pryor choice for court

WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Thursday said he intends to renominate former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor to a lifetime position on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Pryor is now on the court temporarily, thanks to a special appointment. The 11th Circuit hears cases out of Alabama, Florida and Georgia. (Related: Bill Pryor Got His Judas Money; The Transcript of the Trial of Chief Justice Roy Moore, Including Bill Pryor's Cross Examination -- Also read Chuck Baldwin's eye-witness account of the trial.)

ID System Gets in Face of Criminals

The Los Angeles Police Department is seeking half a million dollars from the federal government to expand the use of advanced facial-recognition systems to identify criminal suspects. Police officials say the technology could be an important step in fighting crime. "It's like a mobile electronic mug book," said Rampart Division Capt. Charles Beck. "It's not a silver bullet, but we wouldn't use it unless it helped us make arrests."

Federal judge tosses ex-student's lawsuit over religious song

NORFOLK, Va. -- A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former public school student who was not allowed to sing a song with religious references at her commencement. U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson ruled last week that Windsor High School Principal William Owen and other school officials did not violate Anna Ashby's free-speech rights.

Justice Department To America: Lock and Load!

The shooting will continue in the political war over guns Last week, the United States Justice Department publicly released a long document, signed by three deputy assistant attorneys general, spelling out in great detail the linguistic, historical, and case-law reasons why it officially considers the right to own guns an individual one, just like the rights protected by the First Amendment, and not merely a collective right or a guarantee that states could manage their own militias.

Rubber bans banned from campus

Young Middle Magnet School of Mathematics, Science & Technology in Tampa, perhaps stretched beyond its limit, has banned the band. In a December newsletter, the Buffalo Bulletin, administrators warned parents and students.

Latest academic freedom fight: Students vs. liberal profs

At the University of North Carolina, three incoming freshmen sue over a reading assignment they say offends their Christian beliefs. In Colorado and Indiana, a national conservative group publicizes student allegations of left-wing bias by professors. Faculty get hate mail and are pictured in mock "wanted" posters; at least one college says a teacher received a death threat.

There Is NO Man-Made Global Warming

There is no scientific evidence to back claims of man-made global warming. Period. Anyone who tells you that scientific research shows warming trends—be they teachers, newscasters, Congressmen, Senators, Vice Presidents or Presidents—is wrong. In fact, scientific research through U.S. government satellite and balloon measurements shows that the temperature is actually cooling—very slightly—.037 degrees Celsius.

1/3 of Church of Scotland: Virgin birth not taken as gospel

MORE than a third of Church of Scotland ministers do not believe in the virgin birth of Christ, a central tenet of Christian faith. A Sunday Times survey of kirk ministers found that 37% believe the traditional story of Jesus’s birth, which forms part of the nativity, should not be taken literally.

Christmas Displays Being Looted

Hostility to Religion or Profit Motive?
Just as pumpkins are smashed at Halloween, a number of Nativity scenes fall victim to pranksters every year. But this year the number being vandalized or stolen appears to be higher than usual. Some see the rash of stolen Christ figures as indicative of hostility toward Christmas or Christianity. Other times the incidents seem purely hostile. A couple saw their Christmas decorations, including their Nativity scene, attacked five times in seven days, at least once by a carload of bat-wielding boys.

Teens mug Santa Claus

ALES, France -- A sweets-giving exercise by a Santa Claus in southern France turned sour when a group of greedy teenagers kicked him to the ground and beat him up for not handing over his sack of sweets, police said Tuesday. The man, dressed up as Father Christmas to hand out the sweets to children in the centre of the town of Ales on the weekend, was set upon when he refused to give more confectionery to one of the youths.

Teen Accused Of Shooting Santa With Pellet Gun

SHAMOKIN, Pa. -- Santa definitely knows one boy was not nice this year. 17-year-old is accused of firing a pellet gun from a second-story window, hitting a man dressed as Santa Claus on Monday night. Police said the boy confessed. "It felt like a bee stung me -- like a very bad bee sting."

'Santa-Free Zones' created

A group of Germans are wanting to get rid of Santa saying he has become a symbol of the commercialisation of Christmas. Thousands of stickers have been printed declaring whole areas in Germany and Austria "Santa Free Zones" and pamphlets have been handed out on street corners reminding people that the traditional bringer of presents is St Nicholas and not the red-suited, white-bearded immigrant from the English-speaking world. In some towns like the east Austrian town of St Wolfgang, Santa has even been banned from the local Christmas market - and shop keepers are restricted to offering traditional Austrian products and gifts as well as typical Austrian culinary delights.

Public Schools Give Christmas a Secular Touch

Beverly Hills elementary school students pretended to travel around the world to show how holidays are celebrated in China, Israel and Mexico. In Del Mar, students at a "Winterfest" program sang "Frosty the Snowman" but not "Silent Night." And at an Altadena elementary school, students performed "Jingle Bell Rock," "Feliz Navidad" and "Oh Hanukkah." In many parts of the country over the last month, conservative Christian groups have lashed out against what they say are practices that dilute Christmas from a profound religious celebration to a bland "holiday season."

Police Use Taser To Subdue Wheelchair-Bound Man

MIAMI -- Miami police say they used a Taser stun gun to subdue a wheelchair-bound man who threatened them with scissors. Police say they responded to a domestic violence all at a home where the man got into an argument with his girlfriend, then threw a soda can at her 13-year-old daughter.

Students Sue Over Academic Freedom

At the University of North Carolina, three incoming freshmen sue over a reading assignment they say offends their Christian beliefs. In Colorado and Indiana, a national conservative group publicizes student allegations of left-wing bias by professors. Faculty get hate mail and are pictured in mock "wanted" posters; at least one college says a teacher received a death threat.

U.S. Raises the Bar for Driver's Licenses

WASHINGTON -- Americans have long used their driver's licenses to identify themselves when cashing a check, buying liquor, applying for a job or starting an account at the video store. Now, under legislation signed by President Bush last week, those state-issued licenses will have to meet uniform national standards to be accepted as proof of identity for boarding airplanes, applying for federal benefits and other official U.S. government purposes.

Judge rejects guilty plea in AOL spam case

NEW YORK -- A federal judge refused to accept a guilty plea Tuesday from a former America Online software engineer accused of stealing 92 million e-mail addresses and selling them to spammers. Judge Alvin Hellerstein of Manhattan federal court said he was not convinced Jason Smathers, 24, had actually committed a crime under new federal "can-spam" legislation that took effect earlier this year.

TV's religious bigotry

Report: TV Content Shows No Respect for Religion
Leaders of The Parents Television Council today released a study of prime time programming that they say shows that Hollywood "has virtually no respect for religion." The study, put out in conjunction with the National Religious Broadcasters, counted 2,344 treatments of religion — such as the mention of prayer or the presence of God — from September 2003 to September 2004 and deemed 24.4% of them negative. Most were neutral, and 22.1% were positive.

School Bus Driver Bumped For Protest Fliers

Driver, Mother Objects To 'Anti-Christ' Song
CHICAGO -- A suburban school bus driver claims she was pulled from her route because she objected to an "anti-Christ" song listed in the school's holiday program. The Herald News reported Friday that Plainfield's Central School officials say the driver was taken off the route because she passed out unauthorized fliers along her route criticizing the program.

Student Suspended 5 Days For Evangelizing

High Schooler Suspended for Passing Out
Evangelical Letters Returns, Resumes Witnessing
Three thousand students at a public high school in Cincinnati, Ohio, have learned that one of their classmates is definitely not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The 18-year old was suspended after he passed out letters containing an evangelical message to fellow students at his school. Eric Bast recently served a five-day suspension from Oak Hills High School for passing out 3,000 personalized letters to schoolmates. The letters explained how an individual can have a personal relationship with Christ and avoid spending eternity in hell.

A.C.L.U.'s Search for Data on Donors Stirs Privacy Fears

The American Civil Liberties Union is using sophisticated technology to collect a wide variety of information about its members and donors in a fund-raising effort that has ignited a bitter debate over its leaders' commitment to privacy rights. Some board members say the extensive data collection makes a mockery of the organization's frequent criticism of banks, corporations and government agencies for their practice of accumulating data on people for marketing and other purposes.

Nativity removed to avoid ACLU

Fearing they would run afoul of the ACLU, county officials in Pennsylvania pulled a Nativity display that had adorned a public park for several weeks. Beaver County officials said the group that set up the display before Thanksgiving did not get permission, but if they had asked, they would have been rejected because the county soliciter has determined it violates the U.S. Constitution, the Beaver County Times reported.

UK no Longer a Christian Nation, says Anglican Head

The second most senior member in the Church of England - the mainstay of the world's 77-million member Anglican Communion, declared his nation can no longer be considered Christian, during a publicly broadcasted interview. The Archbishop of York Dr David Hope, who is leaving his post to serve as a parish priest in next year, said he feels the British are less committed to the church and “secularist” tendencies were on the increase.

Drivers' Licenses to Face New Federal Standards

The intelligence bill, which stemmed from recommendations of the independent commission that investigated the 9-11 attacks, requires the U.S. Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security to establish minimum identification standards for drivers' licenses and other state-issued identification cards. If a state's license does not meet the standards in two years, federal agencies will not be allowed to accept it as valid identification for such purposes as boarding airplanes and many other common transactions of daily life.

National Intelligence Reform Act Erodes Civil Liberties

Instead of fixing the tacit open border immigration policy now in effect in the US, the new National Intelligence Reform Act (NIRA) ignored the threat that invasion of these unknown illegal aliens flooding in at thousands daily. However, according to the Washington Post story of Friday, 12/10/04, NIRA “includes a series of little-noticed measures that would broaden the government's power to conduct terrorism investigations, including provisions to loosen standards for FBI surveillance warrants and allow the Justice Department to more easily detain suspects without bail.”

Computer Chips for US Passport

Additional Information Regarding United
States Government Printing Office (GPO) Award
NEW YORK and RA'ANANA, Israel, -- SuperCom, Ltd., a leading provider of smart card and electronic identification (e-ID) solutions, announced today, following its press release of October 11, 2004 and further to the United States Government Printing Office's (GPO) news release of October 14, 2004 that the GPO has awarded contracts to four companies to provide computer chips for testing a new electronic US Passport. SuperCom, Ltd. provides innovative solutions in smart-card and e-ID technologies to the commercial and government sectors. The Company offers a wide range of standard and customized smart-card-based solutions for physical and logical security, education, corrections facilities and air & seaports. It is also a leader in the manufacturing of secure and durable documents such as national identity cards, passports, visas, drivers' licenses and vehicle registration to improve homeland security, governmental efficiency and document ease of use. Headquartered in Israel, SuperCom has subsidiaries in the US and Hong Kong. For more information, visit our website at www.supercomgroup.com.

Full Hand Scan Fingerprint Systems

Multi-biometric technology
Identix Receives New Purchase Orders Valued in Excess of $700,000 from Government and Commercial Agencies in Four States for Live Scan Systems
MINNETONKA, Minn. -- Identix Incorporated, the world's leading multi-biometric technology company, announced that it has received new purchase orders from government and commercial agencies in four states for multiple units of the Company's industry-leading Identix(R) TouchPrint(TM) 3000 line of full hand and 10-print live scan fingerprint booking station systems. Identix' full hand scanner, the TouchPrint 3800, employs a cylindrical imager that enables the full hand - including the carpal crease, cup of the palm, and fingertips - to be captured in a single, intuitive step. Patented and patent-pending optics capture resolution provides enhanced image quality, giving operators optimal ridge detail information that can be used to help solve more crimes. Users of the TouchPrint 3800 have attested to the systems' ease of use, high image quality and reliability.

Automatic Document Authentication Technology

State of Florida Awards Viisage $1.1 Million Contract
BILLERICA, Mass. -- Viisage, a leading provider of advanced technology identity solutions, today announced that the State of Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) selected Viisage's automatic document authentication technology to detect falsified documents and ensure that state drivers' licenses are issued only to the rightful owners. The $1.1 million contract awarded to Viisage is part of a federally funded Department of Homeland Security program to protect critical infrastructure, and Florida is the first state to use grant funding for this express purpose. The initiative will help the state prevent attempted identity theft and fraud, a problem that plagues individuals, economies and national security.

Feds dread ID deadline for smart card standard

Federal agency officials say they will be hard pressed to meet deadlines for issuing interoperable identification cards to comply with Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12. Speaking today in Bethesda, Md., at a breakfast meeting sponsored by AFCEA International, officials at the National Institute of Standards and Technology said they face substantial requests for revisions to the draft standard they issued Nov. 8 as a first step in complying with the presidential order. HSPD 12 calls for all federal employees and contractors to use a standard smart card to verify their identity for secure access to federal buildings and information systems. The directive set October 2005 as the deadline for complying with the order.

Privacy concerns over new intelligence bill

The bill, which Congress adopted earlier this month after stripping out controversial immigration provisions, carries out key recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, including establishing standards for birth certificates and driver's licenses. But James Plummer of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse noted that all but one of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 had valid American identification - including driver's licenses - and that the changes Congress has ordered wouldn't prevent terrorists from obtaining the new and more secure documents. "This is a bunch of troubling language," said Plummer. "I don't think this solves the issue at all."

State Senator Proposes New Drivers Licensing

A lawmaker's proposal could change how you get your drivers license. State Senator Mike Ellis, a Neenah Republican, says our current system isn't secure and needs to be stricter. Right now you can get a drivers license in Wisconsin with a birth certificate, another form of ID, and proof of residency, such as a utility bill. Ellis wants to add another layer of protection -- your Social Security number.

Homeland Security: You Can't Fix Stupid

Tom Quinn heads up the Federal Air Marshal Service under the Department of Homeland Security. The air marshals he commands are supposed to secretly ride on passenger airplanes unnoticed and be ready to thwart any potential future hijackings. The key word here being "unnoticed." Alas, Quinn has mandated a dress code for air marshals which, as T.J. Bonner of the Border Patrol describes it, "makes them stick out like a sore thumb." Nevertheless, agents have reportedly been told, "You wear a sports coat, or you wear a suit coat, or you look for another job."

Court Orders Christians to Trial; Emergency Appeal Likely

Attorney Contends Reading Scripture
in Public Landed Them in Jail
An attorney with a pro-family ministry says a judge's decision on Tuesday, ordering four Christians in Philadelphia to stand trial for witnessing at a homosexual pride event, is comparable to the atmosphere of the civil rights struggle of the 1950s and 1960s. In October, 11 Christians were arrested as they were praying and reading scripture during the annual "gay pride" event known as "Outfest" in Philadelphia. Those in the group were charged with three felonies (criminal conspiracy, ethnic intimidation, and riot) and five misdemeanors. On Tuesday, charges were dropped against seven of the individuals; but Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge William Austin Meehan ordered the other four to stand trial on the charges. They were also banned from doing any type of evangelism within 100 yards of any "gay and lesbian event."

Third Circuit Refuses to Come to the Aid of Philadelphia Christians

Philadelphia, PA - The Third Circuit Court of Appeals denied an emergency appeal by eleven Christians who allege that the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office retaliated against them for exercising their constitutional rights during a homosexual event that celebrated the “National Coming Out Day.” The Philadelphia 11, the group arrested at the coming out event dubbed “Outfest,” were charged with three (3) felonies and five (5) misdemeanors. Among the felony charges were Criminal Conspiracy, Ethnic Intimidation and Riot.

Mom ousted for taping gay acceptance `lies'

Two parents, shocked at frank talk during a gay and lesbian awareness day at Newton North High, were forced off the property after one parent whipped out a video camera and started taping. ``This does not belong in curriculum,'' said Kim Cariani, who said four police officers and the principal told them they would be charged with trespassing if they did not leave. ``It's against my religion. It's morally wrong and forced in a child's face.'' Each year, some students at Newton North forgo classes during To BGLAD: Transgender, Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Awareness Day with assembly-like sessions including ``Out at the Old Ballgame'' and ``Color Me Queer.'' Students are not required to attend.

4 Christmas songs yanked from program

School officials at Independence Middle School have omitted some traditional Christmas songs from the program days before the concert after concerns they didn't comply with the annual holiday guidelines. The other songs cut from the program were Shepherd's Spiritual, On a Cold Christmas Day and a medley of three songs: Angels We Have Heard on High, How Great Our Joy and Ding Dong Merrily on High, according to school officials. School officials decided to pull the four Christian-themed songs and replace them with three traditional Hanukkah songs.

Holiday Tree Removed From Federal Courthouse

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- A Christmas tree that decorated the lobby in new federal courthouse downtown has been removed. Late last week the Government Services Administration, the agency that maintains the building, acted on direction from the Chief Judge to pull the tree. A lighted snowman, reindeer and sleigh has replaced the tree. A spokesperson for the GSA could not give specifics on why the tree was taken down. Gary Mote who handles Public Affairs from the Southeast Sunbelt Region says the decision was to "...make sure no one is offended."

Challenging the Christmas “Grinch” in New York and Florida

ANN ARBOR, MI — With less than three weeks to go before Americans celebrate the national Christmas holiday, two prominent legal cases dealing with government policies that discriminate against Christmas religious displays during the holy season have each reached a critical stage. The Thomas More Law Center is fighting two separate cases, one in New York City and the other in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida, over policies that outlaw the public display of the Christian Nativity while permitting the display of symbols of other religions.

Thieves Take Church's Every Possession

Storage Trailer Holding All Church's Goods Hauled Off
PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. -- Less than two weeks before Christmas, thieves robbed a church of virtually everything. Worshipping will continue at West Pines Community Church in Pembroke Pines, but it will go on without music. Among other things, thieves stole the church's musical instruments.

Intelligence reform bill is 'Patriot Act II'

WASHINGTON -- The intelligence reform bill President Bush is about to sign contains anti-terrorism language long sought by outgoing Attorney General John Ashcroft and long opposed by civil libertarians. The new legislation gives the Justice Department vast new powers to prosecute the War on Terror. Legal analysts say, in this regard, the bill might as well carry another name — Patriot Act II.

George W. Bush's America: A National Nightmare?

In many of the Hollywood “B” movies made about WWII, you could always count on a scene where two arrogant Gestapo thugs, wearing dark trench coats, would demand of a hapless German, walking on a street or seated as a passenger in a railroad car, “Let me see your papers!” Fear on the face of the nervous citizen was the typical response to such a question. Then, the subject in the scene would be seen stumbling around looking inside his jacket for his credentials while mumbling to himself. No papers! Well, that meant the suspect was going to be hauled downtown to police headquarters for a good beating or worse. Well, thanks to the cowardly members of the U.S. Congress, in 2005, and at the explicit direction of the Bush()-Cheney Gang, the above scenario could become part of our national nightmare.

Mental Health, Education And Social Control

Part 5
In case you think you will only be affected by the New Freedom Initiative if you have some extreme form of psychosis or neurosis, you need to look at whom the leaders in the field consider mentally disturbed. In B. K. Eakman's "What? Are You Crazy? The Screening of America" (CHRONICLES, October 2004), she reveals that "in August 2003, the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Science Foundation announced the results of their $1.2 million taxpayer-funded study. It stated, essentially, that traditionalists are mentally disturbed. Scholars from the University of Maryland, California at Berkeley, and Stanford had determined that social conservatives, in particular, suffer from 'mental rigidity,' 'dogmatism,' and 'uncertainty avoidance,' together with associated indicators of mental illness."

A Cloud Over The Constitution

The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee lack the grit or the will to stop Alberto Gonzales. The problem with Gonzales is that he has been deeply involved in developing some of the most sweeping claims of near-dictatorial presidential power in our nation's history. These claims put President George W. Bush literally above the law, allowing him to imprison and even (at least in theory) torture anyone in the world, at any time, for any reason that Bush associates with national security.

Imaging technology: T-rays to detect terrorists

Imaging technology could be used to detect terrorists as easily as it could find cancer, researchers believe. Devices using TeraHertz, or T-rays, are being developed in laboratories around the world that will like never before see through clothing, packaging and other objects. Safer and clearer than X-rays, T-rays are emissions between infra-red and microwaves. T-rays enable scientists to analyse the composition and density of things the rays contact, and also to image them. Professor Derek Abbott, from Adelaide University said scientists had recently discovered that T-ray technology could be used to detect cancer and it could also identify explosive compounds. He said it had the ability to be used in food safety and quality monitoring, disease detection, airport security, postal scans for drugs, explosives or bio-weapons and military threat detection.

N.Y. Teenager Indicted on Terrorist Charges

EL PASO, Texas - A teenager has been indicted on charges he communicated with a Somali terrorist organization and planned to buy night-vision goggles and bulletproof vests for the group. Mark Robert Walker, 19, of Rochester, N.Y., was indicted Wednesday, more than a month after his Nov. 6 arrest in El Paso. He is accused of communicating with members of Al-Ittihad Al-Islamiya. Walker had begun attending Wyoming Technical College in Laramie, Wyo. He apparently fled to the U.S.-Mexico border after his roommate told police he was using a computer to communicate with terrorist groups on the Internet. Walker is being held without bond in El Paso.

Security for Bush's inauguration to surpass all precedents

WASHINGTON -- For nearly a year, the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies have been developing what they regard as the most comprehensive security plan ever devised for the inauguration of an American president.

Student Suspended For Passing Letters About Jesus

A Green Township principal says he had 2,000 good reasons to suspend one of his students for five days. During class time, the Oak Hills High School senior passed out thousands of letters spreading the word of Jesus Christ. "When I finally figured out Jesus Christ died to sacrifice for my sins that I've committed and that all of us have committed I realized oh man my school needs to know this," said 18-year-old Eric Bast. Bast, who has shaved his head in the shape of a cross, wasn't in class Thursday. He volunteered at an Over-the-Rhine church after being suspended for a week for passing out a letter about finding Jesus. It can be found on his website, in which there are passages like "We don't want people to suffer for eternity in hell."

Christian Rock Band Banned From Playing Public School

Rossford High School officials were considering letting a Christian rock band play during an anti-drug assembly next week, but decided yesterday to cancel the performance because of concerns over having religious music played in a public school.

Politician Who Won't Say Pledge Of Allegiance May Be Recalled

DENVER -- A recall election is now set for an Estes Park, Colo., trustee who refuses to stand up and recite the Pledge of Allegiance during the Town Board meetings. "I have not been standing for the Pledge of Allegiance due to a conflict I have with the wording of the pledge, specifically the words 'under God,'" Councilman David Habecker said. Habecker said it's a violation of church and state to include the words in the pledge and for that reason, he won't stand.

ACLU Files Suit in Pa. Over Evolution

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The state American Civil Liberties Union plans to file a federal lawsuit Tuesday against a Pennsylvania school district that is requiring students to learn about alternatives to the theory of evolution. The ACLU said its lawsuit will be the first to challenge whether public schools should teach "intelligent design," which holds that the universe is so complex that it must have been created by some higher power.

Blogs: New Medium, Old Politics

Internet blogs are providing a new and unregulated medium for politically motivated attacks. With the same First Amendment protections as newspapers, blogs are increasingly gaining influence. While many are must-reads for political junkies, are some Internet blogs also being used as proxies for campaigns? In the nation’s hottest Senate race, this past year, the answer was yes. Little over a month ago, the first Senate party leader in 52 years was ousted when South Dakota Republican John Thune defeated top Senate Democrat Tom Daschle. While more than $40 million was spent in the race, saturating the airwaves with advertising, a potentially more intriguing front was also opened. The two leading South Dakota blogs – websites full of informal analysis, opinions and links – were authored by paid advisers to Thune’s campaign.

Civil Disobedience and the National ID

The Republican controlled Congress has passed the so-called 'Intelligence Reform Bill.' Without any doubt in my mind, new world order facilitator George Bush, Jr. will sign this massive draconian piece of legislation into law.

Feds Use 'Secret Laws' to Justify Harassment of Americans

Want to see the federal government's regulation authorizing airport security personnel to pat you down before boarding a plane? You can't. It's a secret rule. Would you like to read the government regulation that says all passengers must present identification before being allowed on aircraft, or what sort of identification meets the government requirement? Sorry, you're out of luck. That's a secret law, too.

More Cops, Less Crime?

Lee R. Shelton
The majority of Minneapolis police officers may be comprised of decent men and women who are trying to do a good job, but their union leaders are an embarrassment. They are preying on the fears of law-abiding citizens in an effort to boost department funding. According to a radio ad sponsored by the Minneapolis Federation of Police Officers, the lives of Minneapolis residents are at risk because of cuts in the city's budget. This is nothing but a disgraceful scare tactic from what many would otherwise assume to be an honorable organization.

Bush's Quarrantine Authority

Executive Order 13295: Revised List
of Quarantinable Communicable Diseases
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 361(b) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 264(b)), it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Based upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the "Secretary"), in consultation with the Surgeon General, and for the purpose of specifying certain communicable diseases for regulations providing for the apprehension, detention, or conditional release of individuals to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of suspected communicable diseases, the following communicable diseases are hereby specified pursuant to section 361(b) of the Public Health Service Act.

Evangelical Christian College Sues Over Voucher-Program Access, Religious Discrimination

DENVER — An evangelical Christian university has sued the Colorado Commission on Higher Education for denying its application to a college voucher program for in-state students. The federal lawsuit filed last week by Colorado Christian University, a 1,600-student nondenominational school in Lakewood, accused the commission of violating the school’s constitutional rights. State statutes from the 1970s bar “pervasively sectarian” institutions from state student aid money. The lawsuit points out that Denver’s Regis University, which is run by Jesuits, is eligible for state student aid. “We filed this lawsuit in order to end religious discrimination in Colorado’s state student aid programs,” Colorado Christian president Larry Donnithorne said Dec. 9.

The Discrimination Against Christianity

The Christmas wars are well underway from sea to shining sea. In fact, the skirmishes began early this year – so early, they could even be deemed the Thanksgiving wars. Maryland public schools forbade the inclusion of the Pilgrims’ faith in the teaching of Thanksgiving. Students were told the Pilgrims purpose for their fall feast was to express gratitude to the Indians. Left out was the Puritans primary motive for the 3-day celebration: to thank God.

Parent Withdraws Objection To 'Silent Night' In School Program

A parent who objected to the inclusion of "Silent Night" in a public school's holiday concert withdrew his complaint Monday, prompting school officials to reinstate the Christmas song for the program. The parent, an attorney who has not been identified by name, complained last week to officials at the school that the song -- a Christmas carol describing the nativity -- was offensive because of its religious nature.

Another Reason to Homeschool

Assistants Too Frightened To Report In Torture Case
Assistants at the Seminole County school where a woman is accused of torturing her special needs students say they were aware of the alleged abuse for years, Local 6 News has learned. Kathleen Garrett (pictured, left) is charged with nine counts of child abuse after witnesses say she pushed an autistic child's face into vomit, punched other special needs students, knocked their teeth out and even choked them.

Parishioners chase man who stole collection

A bandit snatched the collection basket Sunday during the 10 o'clock Mass in St. Gerard's Catholic Church, at Bailey and East Delavan avenues. Several parishioners left their pews and chased him, while others called the police.

U.S. adopts National ID

Homeland Security Now In charge of Regulations for
all US States Drivers Licenses and Birth Certificates
In a chilling act more reminiscent of the now defunct Soviet Union or the Nazi regime of Adolph Hitler, the United States Congress passed legislation that requires the States to surrender their regulatory rights over driver’s licenses and birth certificates to The Department of Homeland Security. The massive US Intelligence Reform Bill weighed in at over 3,000 pages and though unread by individual Members of either the House or Senate nevertheless passed all of the legislative hurdles needed in order to become law.

Ron Paul Denounces National ID Card

Washington, DC -- Congressman Ron Paul today denounced the national ID card provisions contained in the intelligence bill being voted on in the U.S. House of Representatives, while urging his colleagues to reject the bill and its new layers of needless bureaucracy. “National ID cards are not proper in a free society,” Paul stated. “This is America, not Soviet Russia. The federal government should never be allowed to demand papers from American citizens, and it certainly has no constitutional authority to do so.”

New Spy Plan Said to Involve Satellite System

WASHINGTON -- A highly classified intelligence program that the Senate Intelligence Committee has tried unsuccessfully to kill is a new $9.5 billion spy satellite system that could take photographs only in daylight hours and in clear weather, current and former government officials say. The cost of the system, now the single biggest item in the intelligence budget, and doubts about its usefulness have spurred a secret Congressional battle. The fight over the future of a system whose existence has not yet been officially disclosed first came to light this week.

Eavesdropping Mother Broke Law, Says Court

In a decision likely to stun parents of teenagers, an American court has ruled that a mother broke the law by eavesdropping on her daughter's telephone calls. Carmen Dixon, 47, was told by the Washington State supreme court that she violated the state's privacy laws when she listened in as her daughter Lacey Dixon, then 14, discussed a robbery with a friend who was a suspect in the crime. Privacy advocates welcomed the ruling, but Mrs Dixon was unrepentant. "It's ridiculous. Kids have more rights than parents these days," she said. "My daughter was out of control and that was the only way I could get information. I did it all the time."

Christmas Music Banned, Then Unbanned

Is Christmas music the target
of a school district in Illinois?
Some parents believe it is, and they went to bat last night looking to overturn a new ban silencing music from the radios of school buses. Sandy Hartogh says she found out about the no-music policy when her children rode the bus home last Friday, and she and her husband retained a lawyer to challenge the edict.

Going for the Head

Defending the Christian worldview against unbelieving thought takes understanding that each and every worldview has a centralized guiding principle that serves as the head that directs belief and action to the arms and legs. By going after the head, As Jael did to Sisera and David did to Goliath, the attacking opposition dies, no matter how strong the arms and legs. Christians have a tendency to attack symptoms, the rotten fruit of unbelieving thought, rather than the root that gives life to the tree (Matt. 3:10).

Float joins '04 parade of religious disputes

The denial of Faith Bible Chapel's unabashedly Christian entry in this weekend's Parade of Lights and Mayor John Hickenlooper's plans to remove "Merry Christmas" from atop the City and County Building galvanized many, especially conservative Christians.

Time and Newsweek say biblical account of Jesus false

Just in time for Christmas, America's two largest news magazines devote this week's cover stories to debunking the story of Jesus' birth. Among the conclusions in Time and Newsweek: Jesus was born in Nazareth, not Bethlehem; there is little evidence of three kings following a star, and the story of the virgin birth may have been borrowed.

Church anger over 'devil' Santa

Church leaders in York say the Christmas display at one of the city's tourist attractions could expose children to "evil forces". Instead of the usual Father Christmas, visitors to Satan's Grotto at York Dungeon are greeted by a man dressed as the Devil with a red face and horns.

Father convicted in circumcision attempt

A jury deliberated 40 minutes Tuesday before convicting a Ridgefield man of assault for attempting to circumcise his 8-year-old. Edwin B. Baxter, 33, was polite after the verdict as he was handcuffed to be taken back to the Clark County Jail. He thanked his attorney and the prosecutor, who last week offered Baxter a plea deal that would've given the father of nine credit for the three months spent in custody and released him from jail. He declined.

School Suspends Christian Education Payments

The Sisters School District used district money to partially fund teacher salaries at a Christian school. Sisters School District Superintendent Ted Thonstad said the district suspended the program after four years Sept. 1, after a former Sonrise Christian School teacher questioned whether it violated the separation between church and state. The teacher's question came during a hearing to decide her request for unemployment benefits from the school district, Thonstad said. Her request ultimately was denied, he said. The district now is reviewing the program and will announce its findings next month.

Many Teachers Can't Pass Tests

More than half a million Florida students sat in classrooms last year in front of teachers who failed the state's basic skills tests for teachers. Many of those students got teachers who struggled to solve high school math problems or whose English skills were so poor, they flunked reading tests designed to measure the very same skills students must master before they can graduate.

Study: PCs make kids dumber

Students who use computers frequently at school perform worse than their peers at maths and reading, a study claims. Those using computers several times a week performed "sizably and statistically significantly worse" than those who used them less often.

Homeschooling: From Burden to Lifestyle

In the fall of 1990, our family began to homeschool. At least that's what we thought we were doing. Years later we discovered that what we were really doing was learning how to live.

Baylor's faculty votes to fire Sloan

Some teachers boycott the poll;
regents say they back the president
WACO - Baylor's faculty voted to oust the school's president — although only regents have the power to fire the leader of the world's largest Baptist university. A total of 418 votes were cast against keeping Sloan, while 69 favored keeping him, according to results released Tuesday. About 59 percent of the 838 eligible voters cast ballots.

Carolers Defy Religious Ban

DENVER -- Hundreds of Christians sang yuletide carols at a holiday parade Friday night in defiance of rules forbidding them from entering floats with a Christmas or religious theme. As many as 1,000 carolers walked along the parade route in downtown Denver for an hour before the event, singing banned tunes such as "Joy to the World," "Silent Night" and "The First Noel." Some waved crosses and other Christian symbols to protest the parade committee's ruling.

Denver Mayor Won't Change Christmas Ad

DENVER - Seeking to avoid an emotionally charged battle, the mayor reversed a decision to remove the lights spelling out "Merry Christmas" from a city holiday display. Mayor John Hickenlooper said Thursday that his office was flooded with complaints after he announced he would remove the message next year and replace it with the inclusive "Happy Holidays."

Most Americans Believe The Virgin Birth is Literally True

Only 55 percent say every word
of the Bible is literally accurate
Sixty-seven percent say they believe that the entire story of Christmas—the Virgin Birth, the angelic proclamation to the shepherds, the Star of Bethlehem and the Wise Men from the East—is historically accurate. But only 55 percent of those polled say every word of the Bible is literally accurate. In the NEWSWEEK poll, 93 percent of Americans say they believe Jesus Christ actually lived and 82 percent believe Jesus Christ is God or the Son of God. Just 11 percent of those surveyed say American society as a whole very closely reflects true Christian values and the spirit of Jesus.

Atheists Target School-Board Prayer

An atheists group wants the Utah Board of Education to stop opening meetings with prayer or open the forum to all. "It suggests discrimination against atheists in the public schools," Chris Allen, who spoke on behalf of Utah Atheists, told the board Friday. "If asking politely (to stop) doesn't work . . . (legal recourse) is our option." The state school board meetings start with a "welcome and boardsmanship development." That typically includes a board member sharing a thought, then praying.

Department of Education must be abolished

The federal Department of Education was made a part of the president's Cabinet by new world order facilitator Jimmy Carter. Prior to that, America had the finest education system in the world. In 1980, Ronald Reagan promised that, if elected, he would get this unconstitutional department abolished. That promise was abandoned after his election.

Public Education is Doomed

Government grade school costs more than
college. And the results are just as abysmal.
A year of elementary public school already costs more than a year of college. We simply can't afford to keep paying such outrageous amounts forever for second-class education, especially when other countries with more severe problems than ours produce better educational results for far less money.

The Manchurian Christian

Agape Press did a story recently on Dan Smithwick, founder and president of the Nehemiah Institute, “a group that provides a biblical worldview testing and training service to Christian educators.” He has a “tool” called the “PEERS” test that “assesses the worldviews of young people.” In the article, Smithwick states what many Christian parents already know; that for years, secular humanists have been using the public school system to surreptitiously teach children unbiblical principles and practices. What those same parents may NOT know is that, according to the report, “…the majority of public school students from evangelical Christian homes consistently score in the ‘socialist’ category on the test…Smithwick says his program of PEERS testing indicates that Christian students are by no means immune to the secular humanism being taught in public schools, but have in fact been dramatically influenced by it.”

The Consequences of Constitutional Ignorance

A government of charades and imbalances
Congress has pretended that it is powerless to check the courts’ persistence in issuing unlawful rulings. This is not so. The result of this pretense has been that the United States courts have seized power and wielded illegitimate power, power far beyond the limits provided by the Constitution. The influence of the courts has thus become unduly great and government unbalanced.

Jury Rights! Jury Nullification

To often Americans forget they were guaranteed a republican form of government with democratic elections in order to protect our sovereignty as citizens. But even with this protection our elected representatives occasionally make laws that are not well received by the electorate.

TSA Strip Searches - Bureaucracy Run Amok

According to ABC News 7's I Team servicing the Washington, DC metro area, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is conducting strip searches of passengers at Reagan National Airport and has now filed a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) to obtain all passenger complaints over screenings which have taken place at Reagan. Their recent on site investigation revealed that some of these searches have taken place in stairwells at the airport.

"I Know It's True Because I Saw it on TV"

Tom Brokaw has stepped down as anchor for NBC News, and Dan Rather will retire from CBS next year. Through it all, the mainstream media–print, radio, and television–pushed the line that facts are neutral, that they speak for themselves.2 For decades, the had a majority of people believing that newscasters and journalists simply “report the news” devoid of biases, preconceived assumptions, or political agendas. This is hardly the case as James Davison Hunter points out in his book Culture Wars.

Supreme Court Watch

Suckers Get No Justice
Court Limits Damages for Misleading Loans
WASHINGTON -- Car buyers beware: the Supreme Court said that people misled about auto loans cannot use a federal law to receive significant damages. A ruling the other way could have led to claims for more than $1 billion in damages nationwide each year, auto dealers and banks said, with buyers having to pay higher interest rates as a result. When Congress passed the Truth in Lending Act 36 years ago, it decided to let consumers sue dishonest lenders for damages of $100 to $1,000. The law has been revised several times since then, but the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that the damage caps remain. Tuesday's ruling also applies to other financed purchases, such as appliances and furniture, but not to homes.

Court to Hear ISP, Cable Dispute
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider whether cable companies must open their high-speed lines to rival Internet providers. Justices will hear two cases challenging a lower ruling forcing cable companies to share their lines. That October 2003 decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has been stayed pending the outcome of appeals. At issue is whether cable-based broadband is a "telecommunications service" that makes it subject to strict Federal Communications Commission rules requiring phone companies to provide access to independent providers. It is a case that pits government and cable interests in spurring growth of the technology against consumer interests in lower prices.

Court Agrees to Block Religious Tea
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration won a Supreme Court stay that blocks a New Mexico church from using hallucinogenic tea that the government contends is illegal and potentially dangerous. The government has been in a long-running legal fight with the Brazil-based O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal over hoasca tea, brewed from plants found in the Amazon River Basin. The church's leader had sued after federal agents raided his office in Santa Fe in 1999 and seized 30 gallons of hoasca tea. The tea contains DMT, a controlled substance.

Court Asked to Take Schiavo Case
TAMPA, Fla. - Gov. Jeb Bush went to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday in a bid to keep a severely brain-damaged woman alive over her husband's objections. At issue is whether Bush overstepped his authority when he pushed through the Legislature a law in 2003 that allowed him to have Terri Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted. Six days earlier, her husband had the tube removed with a judge's approval.

Court Ponders IRA-Bankruptcy Case
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court considered Wednesday how much retirement savings people can shield when they file for bankruptcy, an important question as more Americans go into debt. The justices heard arguments in the case of a bankrupt Arkansas couple seeking to keep their two Individual Retirement Accounts.

Court Considers Title IX Case
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court considered Tuesday whether a landmark gender equity law shields people who report discrimination, hearing the case of an Alabama girls basketball coach who was fired after complaining that the boys were treated better. In a case testing the scope of the Title IX law, Roderick Jackson used the statute as the basis for a lawsuit against the Birmingham Board of Education, claiming wrongful termination.

Court Considers Bias Whistleblower Case
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court is considering whether a landmark gender equity law protects an Alabama high school coach who complained about unfair treatment of his girls' basketball team, a case testing the scope of women's athletic rights. The coach, Roderick Jackson, lost his job in 2001 after repeatedly asking the Birmingham Board of Education to provide his team a regulation-size gym with basketball rims that weren't bent — just like the boys' team had.

Christians Turning Left

How Far Left Has The Christian Right Strayed?
Seeking to take advantage of the momentum gained by the recent re-election of "conservatives" to public office, the Rev. Jerry Falwell has announced the formation of his new "Faith and Values Coalition" that will serve as a guide to Christian voters. In order to assure that "conservatives" are again elected in 2008, Falwell said the group will help keep momentum going "to maintain an evangelical revolution of voters who will continue to go to the polls to 'vote Christian". But is what we saw in this past election really an "evangelical revolution" of Christian voting or was it more a matter of the sheep following blindly behind leaders who have gone astray? Who is leading these Christians and where are they going? Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Dr. Donald Wildmon of The American Family Association and Dr. D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Ministries, were among the Christian leaders Falwell credited with getting out the evangelical vote. Of the over 30 million evangelicals who turned out on election night, Falwell stated, "I proudly say they voted Christian!" Really? By whose standards does he make such a claim? Certainly not by Christ's!

Anti-gun National ID Card: HR 10

It's "crunch time" for the 9/11 bill -- and the future of the anti-gun National ID proposal attached to it. According to State Department documents that were released last week, the Bush administration has opposed safeguards that privacy advocates contend are needed to prevent identity theft or government snooping. In addition to being used as a method of tracking your movements, these microchips can be, of course, infused with all kinds of personal information -- such as your medical, financial and library records, and, oh yes, even your gun owning status.

Court Says Pastor Can Be Sued For Following Biblical Mandates

Attorney Hopes Texas Court Will Uphold Pastor's Rights
A Texas appeals court has ruled that a pastor can be sued for following biblical mandates in administering church discipline, but a civil rights defender says the United States Constitution is on the minister's side. Four years ago Pastor Buddy Westbrook of Crossland Community Bible Church in Fort Worth was approached by member Peggy Penley, who needed counseling for marital problems. Eventually Penley left her husband to live with another man. Pastor Westbrook then proceeded to follow the three-step conflict resolution guidelines given in the Bible in the 18th chapter of Matthew. Eventually, the minister went before the church with the matter, sending a letter to the congregation in which he removed Penley from church membership. Westbrook subsequently found himself having to defend his actions in court.

Florida Town Sued For Prohibiting Nativity Displays

ANN ARBOR, MI -- Over the past several years during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, the Town of Bay Harbor Islands, Florida, has adorned the lampposts lining its main street with Jewish religious symbols of Menorahs and Stars of David and has allowed a Jewish synagogue to display its fourteen-foot Menorah in the most prominent public location at the entrance of Town. Yet every request by Sandra Snowden, a Christian resident, to display Nativity scenes purchased with her own money in a similar manner during the Christmas season, has been denied by Town officials. As a result the Thomas More Law Center has filed a federal lawsuit against the Town and its officials for their refusal to allow a Nativity to be displayed, while at the same time allowing the display of Jewish religious symbols in prominent locations throughout the Town.

Apartheid humanism

They call it "separation of church and state." But a more accurate name for what is happening in this country is "apartheid humanism." It's no longer about preventing the establishment of a state religion in America. The activists from the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and other extremist groups are – consciously or unconsciously – driving people of faith from the public square. They are marginalizing legitimate and important expressions of faith to the fringes of society.

Mass. Gets Electronic Gun Fingerprinting

BOSTON -- With a quick electronic scan of a fingerprint, gun shop owners in Massachusetts will know immediately if a customer is eligible to buy a weapon, using a system that officials say is the first of its kind in the nation. The Massachusetts Instant Record Check System, developed over the past six years with nearly $7 million in technology grant money, will be in place in all police departments and gun shops across the state by next summer. It is currently operating in three shops and about 140 police departments.

Christmastime Event Is No-Christian Zone

Santa, 'holy homosexuals' OK for parade,
but no floats with direct religious themes
In the latest skirmish over Christmas in America, a Christian group is not allowed to participate in Denver's annual Parade of Lights, because church members sought to sing yuletide hymns and proclaim a "Merry Christmas" message on their float. However, the event, now in its 30th year, will include homosexual American Indians, Kung Fu artisans, belly dancers and, of course, Santa Claus.

Pastor Offered Aid If Parade Suit Pursued

Former U.S. Attorney Mike Norton offered Wednesday to explore a lawsuit on behalf of a pastor whose church was barred from entering a Christmas float in Denver's Parade of Lights this weekend. "If he has an interest in carrying it to the next level, we're ready," said Norton, who now works for the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, which takes on religious liberty cases, primarily for Christian clients. The Parade of Lights is produced by a private nonprofit organization, the Downtown Denver Partnership. Partnership Vice President Susan Rogers Kark explained the parade's position that several groups are being allowed to march as examples of ethnic diversity. Those include the Two Spirit Society, which honors gay American Indians as holy people, and an Asian group that performs dances to ward off evil spirits at the start of the Chinese New Year. Kark said they will not be expressing religious messages.

Christmas in Colorado; All Hell Breaking Out

Its Christmas time in the mile high city and all hell is breaking loose. Things began to unravel last week when Denver Mayor Hickenlooper, a Democrat, decided to ban the words "Merry Christmas" from the city and county building in downtown Denver. "Merry Christmas," due to its offensive nature, will be replaced with "Happy Holidays." As this story begins to get national attention, it rapidly is evolving into a major public relations fiasco for Denver and Colorado. Many new questions have been raised, such as why keep the nativity scene? If "Merry Christmas" could offend someone, then surely a nativity scene on public property could send a non-christian into a panic. Why ban a Christian Church's parade float? If the Christian themed float, with its Merry Christmas message and Christmas carols cannot participate because of its "religious theme" then one must ask why the "Two Sprit Society's" float, which honors homosexual American Indians as "holy people," or the float with the lion dance, which is a tradition of the Chinese New Year?

Christian Teacher Barred from Using Historical Documents

A Christian elementary school teacher is suing his school district after a school principal told him he could not hand out documents that refer to God and religion which included the Declaration of Independence and other historical documents. The suit, filed by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys, alleges that the Cupertino Union School District violated the First Amendment of fifth-grade teacher Steven Williams by prohibiting him from teaching about American history using material with references to God and Christianity.

Related
Make Yours A Patriotic Christmas
A few years ago, I sadly discovered that it was next to impossible to find our nation's great historic documents together in one volume, so we decided to fix that problem. It took us a full year to research and compile over 50 of our country's greatest historical documents, but we did it!

Macy's stores boycotted for replacing 'Christmas'

Immortalized in a 1947 Christmas movie classic, Macy's is now the focus of a boycott campaign protesting the department-store chain's replacement of "Merry Christmas" with politically correct greetings. A group called the Committee to Save Merry Christmas says Macy's and its umbrella Federated Department Stores have ignored several requests that "Merry Christmas" signs be returned and that its advertising acknowledge the time-honored phrase.

2 Networks Are Accused of Rejecting Ad on Religious Bias

The United Church of Christ, one of the nation's most liberal Christian denominations, accused CBS and NBC yesterday of rejecting a commercial it had produced about religious tolerance, which included an implication that other denominations did not welcome gays, because the networks feared hostile reactions from conservative political and religious groups. The networks said they turned down the commercial for the same reason they had rejected numerous issue-oriented commercials in the past: they do not allow advocacy advertising.

The Heretic

Controversial televangelist and faith-healer
Benny Hinn got word from on high to delay his
plans for a World Healing Center in Irving, Texas.
If you drive west from the city of Dallas, through the neo-moderne lunarscape of Las Colinas, past the airport on our denuded prairie, into the warren of faceless office buildings that make up cosmopolitan Grapevine, Texas, you'll never find Benny Hinn. He wants it that way. The nerve center of his worldwide organization is tucked away in a group of cheap white nondescript buildings that look like the kind of domiciles favored by Mafia fronts on the wharves of New Jersey. Inside, several dozen employees process an estimated $120 million per year in donations from people who believe in Hinn as a sort of Elmer Gantry for the 21st century. (Obviously they didn't read the novel.)

The User Friendly Church

Churches update services to appear
to "church shopping" worshippers
READING, Pa. -- A growing number of people now shop for their church as they do for a supermarket or fitness center, the Rev. Robert E. Hinson said. "They could care less about what denomination a church is, and instead look for one that most suits their needs," said Hinson, senior pastor of Spring Valley Church of God in Muhlenberg Township, which often has more than 1,000 attend Sunday services. "People aren't coming because we're a Church of God. They're coming because they like what we offer."

Christians Arrested To Seek Emergency Relief In Federal Court

PHILADELPHIA -- The American Family Association Center for Law & Policy (CLP) announced that a press conference will be held on Thursday, December 2, 2004, detailing new developments in a case that has come to be known as the Philadelphia 11. The Philadelphia 11 is a group of citizens who were arrested at “Outfest” in October and charged with three (3) felonies and five (5) misdemeanors. Among the felony charges were Criminal Conspiracy, Ethnic Intimidation and Riot.

'Philadelphia 11' fighting back

Christians arrested, charged after
protesting at homosexual event
Attorneys for 11 Philadelphia-area Christians arrested and charged with felonies after protesting at a homosexual event will announce new developments in the case tomorrow and will show a videotape of the controversial arrests. As WorldNetDaily reported, on October 15, the group was "preaching God's Word" to the crowd of people attending the outdoor Philadelphia OutFest event and displaying banners with biblical messages.

Christians Gather Outside High School

Topeka church's members dwarfed by number of heathen
WEBB CITY, Mo. -- Protesters stood outside Webb City High School on a rainy Monday morning to oppose members of a Topeka, Kan., church who gathered to condemn a Webb City student and homosexuality. Students, activists and representatives from local churches lined the Madison Avenue sidewalk at 7 a.m., chanting in an effort to drown out about a half-dozen members of Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka.

Use It or Lose It

[F]ree speech is meaningless if you don't use it. If being an American means anything, it means that you don't have to tolerate personal insults from anybody under any circumstances. At least that's the way we are taught in the South.

Principal Apologizes For 'School Prayer' Poem

Poem Mentions Condoms, Witchcraft
ATHENS, Ga. -- A high school principal apologized Monday for reading a poem called "The New School Prayer" over the school's intercom, which brought complaints from some parents who said it violated the principle of separation of church and state. The poem, which has circulated on the Internet since at least 1992, is written in the rhyming style of the children's prayer that begins "Now I lay me down to sleep." It refers to prayer not being allowed in school, although students can "dress like freaks, and pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks" or "elect a pregnant Senior Queen."

``The New School Prayer''

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state.

We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.
They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.
It's "inappropriate" to teach right from wrong,
We're taught that such "judgments" do not belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.

It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!

Amen

'We could monitor you anywhere on Earth'

Derek Jacobs, a child prodigy who qualified as a Microsoft engineer at 12, convinced his parents and the company behind the technology, VeriChip Corporation, to use his family as high-tech guinea pigs when he was 14. However, the Jacobs do have some reservations about the technology's potential uses. 'I fear government abuse, like involuntary implants, forcing people to register for various political affiliations, religions, even owning a gun,' said Mr Jacobs. 'It is up to the people to make sure that there are safeguards.' Mrs Jacobs worries that people could be discriminated against in future because of the information contained in their chip. 'Imagine trying to walk into a shop and the door locks and a voice says, 'Sorry, you are overdrawn. Do not enter',' she said.

Getting Chipped

In October the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), approved the VeriChip,™ an inert, encapsulated, microchip the size of a grain of rice, implanted by a syringe under the skin in the flesh of the upper arm. To be used for medical identification purposes the information contained in the chip is accessed through a special reader, not unlike a barcode scanner. Applied Digital Solutions, the company making the chips say it will save lives and limit injuries from errors in medical treatment. However the company has much larger plans. In a recent New York Times interview they expressed hope that such medical uses would accelerate acceptance of the chip as a security measure.

Scientists Track Footprints of Thoughts

Australian scientists have discovered a way to track the electronic footpath of a single thought travelling through the human brain. The discovery has implications for everything from education to planning the safest way to undertake brain surgery. The latest developments in scanning techniques allow brain experts to track responses in the brain from particular movements and thoughts, in real time.

Microchip passport critics say ID theft possible

The United States hasn't issued any microchip-equipped passports yet, but as the Department of State tests different prototypes, the international standards for the passports are under fire from privacy advocates who worry the technology won't protect travelers from identity thieves. The international standards for "electronic" passports were set by the U.N.-affiliated International Civil Aviation Organization, which has worked on standards for machine-readable passports since 1968.

Passport ID chips may not be secure

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration opposed security measures for new microchip-equipped passports that privacy advocates contended were needed to prevent identity theft, government snooping or a terror attack, according to State Department documents released Friday. The passports, scheduled to be issued by the end of 2005, could be read electronically from as far away as 30 feet, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which obtained the documents under a Freedom of Information Act request. Though the passports wouldn't include transmitters of their own, they would have antennas to allow a reader to capture the data.

Viisage Selected to Implement Face Recognition in Pakistan's Smart Machine Readable Passport and National ID Program

BILLERICA, Mass. -- Viisage, a leading provider of advanced technology identity solutions, today announced that the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), an independent corporate organization in Pakistan, has signed a contract with Viisage to integrate the Company's state-of-the art face recognition technology into Pakistan's smart passport and national ID program. The new program, headed by NADRA and sponsored by the Pakistani Government, is designed to mitigate terrorism and ethnic violence by helping the country enhance national security and prevent problems related to identity theft, fraud and the use of unauthorized identity documents.

ID cards spread biometrics

UK & Ireland News
The government has pledged its full backing for a national ID card scheme, which may encourage more organisations to adopt biometric technology. It also detailed plans to establish a new policing agency that could help to reduce online threats. The Queen's speech proposed that ID cards should start being issued along with new passports within the next four years, and that there should be a full roll-out by 2012. Each card will contain an individual's biometric information, such as a facial, iris or fingerprint scan.

Scannable Humans Complicate Ideas of Privacy

DELRAY BEACH -- Scott Silverman, chief executive of Applied Digital Solutions Inc., is banking that a microchip in his upper right arm will bring the company vast riches one day. For now, however, the implanted chip, approved in October by the Food and Drug Administration, is attracting more media queries and privacy concerns than cash. Silverman realizes it might take some time before the public comes around to his vision of a VeriChip in every arm, making personal, medical or financial information accessible with the wave of a wand.