Archive for February, 2008
“Oprah and Friends” to Teach Course on New Age Christ – Heresy coming straight to you from Oprah
ALL Christians take notice about what OPRAH WINFREY is doing! ! !
Just to make sure this was true, I went on Oprah’s website and checked it out, and there it was.
I have never been a huge fan of Oprah’s. I find her ego suffocating, and I find the worshipful adoration of her to be nauseating. I figured one day there would be the “Church of Oprah” and that they would saint her, and I guess this is just the start.
“Oprah and Friends” to teach course on New Age Christ.
Jesus Christ being reinvented, redefined, and blasphemed and, this false New-Age Christ teaching is about to make huge inroads into the world, with the help of the queen of television talk shows, Oprah Winfrey.
Oprah Winfrey, beginning January 1, 2008, on her daily radio program will offer a year-long course on the New Age Christ, in a lesson a day and will completely cover the 365 lessons from the Course in Miracles “Workbook.”
Listeners will be encouraged to buy A Course in Miracles for the year-long course, and an audio version, recited by Richard (John Boy Walton) Thomas will be available on compact disc.
Those who finish the Course will have a wholly redefined spiritual mindset — a New Age worldview that include the beliefs that there is no sin, no evil, no devil. A Course in Miracles teaches its students to rethink everything they believe about God and life, and, bluntly states: “This is a course in mind training” and is dedicated to “thought reversal.”
The Course in Miracles — in reality — is the truth of the Bible turned upside down.
Oprah told her television audience that Williamson’s book, A Course in Miracles, was one of her favorite books, and that she had already bought a thousand copies and would be handing them out to everyone in her studio audience. Oprah’s endorsement skyrocketed Williamson’s book to the top of the New York Times bestseller list.
A Course in Miracles is allegedly a “new revelation” from “Jesus” to help humanity work through these troubled times. This “Jesus” — who bears no doctrinal resemblance to the Bible’s Jesus Christ — began delivering channeled teachings in 1965 to a Columbia University Professor of Medical Psychology, Helen Schucman.
One day Schucman heard an “inner voice” stating, “This is a course in miracles. Please take notes.” For seven years she diligently took spiritual dictation from this voice that described himself as “Jesus.”
Here are some quotes from the “Jesus” voice of A Course in Miracles:
“There is no sin . . . ”
A “slain Christ has no meaning.”
“The journey to the cross should be the last ‘useless journey’..”
“Do not make the pathetic error of ‘clinging to the old rugged cross.'”
“The Name of Jesus Christ as such is but a symbol… It is a symbol that is safely used as a replacement for the many names of all the gods to which you pray..”
“The recognition of God is the recognition of yourself.”
“The Atonement is the final lesson he [man] need learn, for it teaches him that, never having sinned, he has no need of salvation.”
Popular author Wayne Dyer told his PBS television audience that the “brilliant writing” of A Course in Miracles would produce more peace in the world.
2 Timothy 3
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof : from such turn away.
LINK to Oprah’s site: http://www2.oprah.com/xm/mwilliamson/mwilliamson_acim.jhtml?promocode=XMHP
LINK: http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/007/smith-oprah.htm
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 7 so far )American Professor, Ousted from Depaul University, Declares Support for Hezbollah in Lebanon
One more traitorous man who was allowed to teach on a US college campus – it sickens me! He is certainly welcome to go live in Lebanon since he is so supportive of Hezbollah!
American Professor, Ousted from Depaul University Declares Support for Hezbollah in Lebanon
Monday, February 25, 2008
CHICAGO – An ousted American political science professor who believes some Jews have exploited the legacy of the Holocaust recently expressed his support for the terrorist organization Hezbollah.
Norman Finkelstein, who resigned from DePaul University last fall amid criticism of his opinions on the Holocaust, told Lebanese television that his view of Hezbollah is “rarely heard” in the United States.
“I have no problem saying that I do want to express solidarity with them, and I’m not going to be a coward and a hypocrite about it,” Finkelstein told Future TV. “I don’t care about Hezbollah as a political organization. I don’t know much about their politics and anyhow, it’s irrelevant.”
The Jan. 20, 2008, interview was conducted in Arabic; Finkelstein replied in English.
Hezbollah, funded by Iran and Syria, engages in terror operations worldwide. President Bush and other U.S. leaders view the organization as an opposing force to peace in the Middle East, and it is listed by the U.S. State Department as a foreign terrorist organization.
Finkelstein’s support for Hezbollah would be illegal if he were helping raise funds for the organization, said Richard Miniter, a terrorism analyst with the Hudson Institute.
“If terrorists are able to use his name to fundraise in any way, that would be illegal,” said Miniter, who added that only Al Qaeda has killed more Americans than Hezbollah.
Finkelstein, who is the son of Holocaust survivors, said in the televised interview that Jews had to resist the Communists in World War II and the Lebanese people will have to make the same kind of choice about accepting or resisting Hezbollah.
“It’s a choice that the Lebanese have to make – who they want to be their leaders, who they want to represent them.”
Israel and the United States are resisting Hezbollah’s control of the region, Finkelstein said.
“That’s the problem,” he said. “If Hezbollah laid down its arms and said, ‘We will do whatever the Americans say,’ you wouldn’t have a war.
“That’s true, but you would also be the slaves of the Americans. I have to respect those who refuse to be slaves.”
He said Israel must suffer a defeat to lead to peace in the Middle East.
Asked to comment on this report, Finkelstein said he was only willing to speak live on air.
Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard Law School professor and supporter of Israel, said Finkelstein’s comments show that he is anti-American.
“If it’s not literal treason, it certainly is treason in spirit,” Dershowitz told FOXNews.com. “He belongs with Hezbollah.”
Finkelstein is supporting an organization that brags about killing Americans, he added.
“This is a man who supports an organization that recently called for terrorist attacks against Jews and Americans all across the world,” Dershowitz said.
Finkelstein initially fought DePaul, a private Catholic university in Chicago, on its decision last September to cancel his courses and deny him tenure after six years as a faculty member.
He threatened to risk arrest by appearing on campus, but negotiations with university officials led to a peaceful exit.
Dershowitz, who weighted in on Finkelstein’s tenure process, said Finkelstein’s support for Hezbollah vindicates the decision by DePaul to deny his tenure.
“To have an American citizen endorsing the views of a group of Iranian-funded Lebanese murderers, it shows you that the biggest front in the War on Terror is the propaganda war,” Miniter said. “Days like today, it looks like we’re losing.”
LINK: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,332360,00.html
LINK to Finkelstein’s Website: http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 3 so far )“If I Die Before You Wake” – Very touching song
Great song and video – listen here http://www.axpdf.com/wake/index.htm
Thanks to all our heroes who are willing to give their lives for us. We love and appreciate you!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )The Pledge of Allegiance – Excerpt from a John McCain Speech
Wow, very powerful!! How can people say the flag has no meaning?
This is taken from a speech that John McCain gave before the 1988 Republican National Convention.
“The Pledge of Allegiance” – by Senator John McCain
As you may know, I spent five and one half years as a prisoner of
war during the Vietnam War. In the early years of our imprisonment,
the NVA kept us in solitary confinement, two or three to a cell. In
1971 the NVA moved us from these conditions of isolation into large
rooms with as many as 30 to 40 men to a room.
This was, as you can imagine, a wonderful change and was a direct
result of the efforts of millions of Americans on behalf of a few
hundred POWs 10,000 miles from home.
One of the men who moved into my room was a young man named Mike Christian.
Mike came from a small town near Selma, Alabama. He didn’t wear a
pair of shoes until he was 13 years old. At 17, he enlisted in the
US Navy. He later earned a commission by going to Officer Training
School. Then he became a Naval Flight Officer and was shot down and
captured in 1967. Mike had a keen and deep appreciation of the
opportunities this country and our military provide for people who
want to work and want to succeed.
As part of the change in treatment, the Vietnamese allowed some prisoners to
receive packages from home. In some of these packages were
handkerchiefs, scarves and other items of clothing.
Mike got himself a bamboo needle. Over a period of a couple of
months, he created an American flag and sewed it on the inside of his shirt.
Every afternoon, before we had a bowl of soup, we would hang Mike’s
shirt on the wall of the cell and say the Pledge of Allegiance.
I know the Pledge of Allegiance may not seem the most important part
of our day now, but I can assure you that in that stark cell it was
indeed the most important and meaningful event.
One day the Vietnamese searched our cell, as they did periodically,
and discovered Mike’s shirt with the flag sewn inside, and removed it.
That evening they returned, opened the door of the cell, and
for the benefit of all of us, beat Mike Christian
severely for the next couple of hours Then, they opened the door of
the cell and threw him in. We cleaned him up as well as we could.
The cell in which we lived had a concrete slab in the middle on
which we slept. Four naked light bulbs hung in each corner of the room.
As I said, we tried to clean up Mike as well as we could. After the
excitement died down, I looked in the corner of the room, and
sitting there beneath that dim light bulb with a piece of red cloth,
another shirt and his bamboo needle, was my friend, Mike Christian.
He was sitting there with his eyes almost shut from the beating he
had received, making another American flag. He was not making the
flag because it made Mike Christian feel better. He was making that
flag because he knew how important it was to us to be able to Pledge
our allegiance to our flag and country.
So the next time you say the Pledge of
Allegiance, you must never forget the sacrifice and courage that
thousands of Americans have made to build our nation and promote
freedom around the world.
You must remember our duty, our honor, and our country.
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and
to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Congressmen Call for Defunding Planned Parenthood Due to its Website promoting Teen Promiscuity and Pornography
Finally somebody is paying attention to what Planned Parenthood is putting out there!! Notice the 2nd article below also – Go Virginia!!!!!
Congressmen Call for Defunding Planned Parenthood
By Penny Starr
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
February 28, 2008
(CNSNews.com) – After reviewing materials posted on Planned Parenthood’s teenwire.com Web site at the request of Cybercast News Service, three House Republicans are calling for the termination of Planned Parenthood’s federal funding. Among other things, teenwire promotes the use of pornography by teenagers.
Rep. Doug Lamborn (R.-Colo.) said teenwire “is another reason we should pull all federal funding from Planned Parenthood,” a group that also performs abortions.
“There should be no money that goes to any Internet site that promotes promiscuity or sexual license in any way,” Rep. Steve King (R.-Iowa) told Cybercast News Service.
“I don’t believe taxpayer funding should be going to groups that put sexually explicit material on the Internet targeted at minors,” Rep. Joseph Pitts (R.-Pa.), chairman of the House Values Action Team, said.
The congressmen spoke to Cybercast News Service after reviewing materials from Planned Parenthood’s teenwire.com, which says its mission is to provide “medically accurate” information about sex to teenagers.
As Cybercast News Service reported on Feb. 26, teenwire.com recommends viewing “sexy pictures or movies” as a way for young couples to enjoy “safer sex.”
The Web site notes that federal law prohibits porn viewing by anyone under 18. “However,” it says, “not everyone follows the rules, and you may run across some porn before you turn 18.”
It goes on to say that “many people enjoy pornography alone or with a partner as part of sex play. People have different ideas of what is arousing, and there are many different kinds of porn that appeal to people’s different interests.”
The lawmakers reviewed other content from the site, including graphic illustrations from “Behind the Fig Leaf,” a slide show depicting the differing “styles” of male and female genitalia.
Rep. King told Cybercast News Service that he had heard of teenwire.com promoting safer sex. “What you’ve shown me brings it to my attention in a serious way,” he said. “You go back to Margaret Sanger and in the beginning of (Planned Parenthood), she is advocating promiscuity. (Teenwire.com) is advocating promiscuity.
“We should shut off all federal dollars to any organization that provides abortion services or counseling,” King added. “There should be no money that goes to any Internet site that promotes promiscuity or sexual license in any way. If there is going to be sexual license promoted, let that happen some place else. But the federal government should not be subsidizing it,” he said.
“(Teenwire.com) is another reason we should pull all federal funding from Planned Parenthood,” Rep. Lamborn (R-Colo.) agreed. “Time and time again this organization has used taxpayer dollars to promote interests that are not in step with the values of the American people.”
“I don’t believe taxpayer funding should be going to groups that put sexually explicit material on the Internet targeted at minors,” Rep. Pitts (R-Pa.) told Cybercast News Service. “Parents today already have their work cut out for them trying to keep their kids from viewing smut on the Internet.
“The federal government shouldn’t be funding groups that produce this sort of material under the pretense that it is educational,” he said.
Rep. King said he thinks teenwire.com is evidence of the continued moral decline in America, a decline boosted during the Clinton administration, he said.
“This is a progression of the kind of activity that came from President Clinton’s surgeon general (Jocelyn Elders), who advocated masturbation, and Bill Clinton himself, who argued what sex ‘wasn’t,’ and that has permeated our college campuses and our society. There are now probably millions of people who think [that] what went on between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinski was not sex.”
King added that teenwire.com is part of Planned Parenthood’s wider agenda, which he believes is damaging American culture. “I think it’s part of its strategic plan to break down the moral order of our society so that the people on the other side of morality and integrity can take power in this country.”
Planned Parenthood and other family planning organizations get federal tax dollars under Title X of the Public Service Health Act.
In its 2005-2006 annual report, Planned Parenthood Federation of America reported that $305.3 million, or 34 percent of its annual income, came from government grants and contracts.
LINK: http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200802/NAT20080228b.html
Virginia Senate Bans Tax-Funding of Planned Parenthood With Bolling’s Help
February 27, 2008
Excerpt:
With a little help form the state’s lieutenant governor, members of the Virginia Senate approved an amendment to the budget bill that would stop taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood. The vote ended in a 20-20 tie and Lt. Governor Bill Bolling cast a vote in favor of the amendment.
Sen. Ken Cuccinelli was behind the amendment that bars Planned Parenthood from receiving state funding in the new budget.
The proposal drew strong opposition from pro-abortion lawmakers.
That included Senator Janet Howell, who claimed the amendment would lead to women dying from illegal abortions, and Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, who warned it would lead to other controversial budget cuts.
LINK: http://www.lifenews.com/state2958.html
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Free Speech on Trial – Christians arrested for praying silently at Gay Event
I find this unbelievable!! Think about how many events have protestors who are screaming, shouting, holding vulgar signs, etc, and they are not stopped due to ‘freedom of speech.’ But when Christians show up at a public event to SILENTLY PRAY, they are discriminated against and free speech doesn’t apply. Very scary!!
Prayer warriors at ‘gay’ fest on trial
Police told Christians they had no speech rights in public park
Posted: February 28, 2008
10:01 pm Eastern
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
A trial is scheduled to begin today in Elmira, N.Y., and lawyers for the defendants say it will be a test of whether the First Amendment affirmations of freedom of speech and freedom of religion still are valid in the United States.
“Choosing to exercise your First Amendment rights in a public place is not a crime,” Joel Oster, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund said. “The government has no right to arrest citizens for exercising their First Amendment rights in public.”
At issue is the arrest of several Christians at a “gay pride” event is Wisner Park in Elmira in 2007. Julian and Gloria Raven and several others entered the park to pray silently for the participants of the event celebrating homosexual behavior.
Officials with the ADF noted that the materials advertising the event said everyone was invited and it was open to the public. “The group did not draw a disorderly response from event participants,” the ADF said.
(Story continues below)
However, an Elmira police sergeant had told the group they were banned from the park. They were not allowed to “cross the street, enter the park, or share their religion with anyone in the park,” according to the ADF.
The group’s members later were arrested and accused of “disorderly conduct.”
“It seems oxymoronic to say that by walking silently in a public park, with heads bowed, these people somehow disturbed the peace,” Oster said. “From the sit-ins of the 1960s to today, courts have repeatedly ruled that the police cannot arrest those who peacefully express their message in public places.”
While the facts of the case make it seem relatively minor, the ADF said the issue is nothing less than the United States’ freedoms of speech and religion.
“If this violation of these Christians’ rights is allowed to stand, the First Amendment rights of all people of faith are in jeopardy,” the ADF said.
When the Christians were arrested, officials with Elmira justified their actions to WND.
Assistant Police Chief Mike Robertson told WND that the members were accused of a “combination” of allegations, including the “intent” to cause a public inconvenience, a “disturbance” of a meeting of persons and obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic.
He also said at the time that the accusations would include taking part in “any act that serves no legitimate purpose.”
Raven had told WND his group assembled to pray for three hours the night before Elmira’s “pride” festival in promotion of the homosexual lifestyle.
“We have a legal right to be at an event held in a public square. We’re not a hate group,” he said. “We’re Christians and we’re going to be there to pray.”
He said he contacted police, who told him he had no free speech rights in the public park.
“The female officer, she said, ‘You’re not going to cross the street. You’re not going to enter the park and you’re not going to share your religion with anybody in this park,'” he told WND.
“When she said that, for the first time in my life as a Christian, I felt now my freedom of speech is threatened or challenged,” he said. “I was being told I could not share my religion with anybody in that park.”
Raven said he told the officer “she was violating the Constitution that she had sworn to uphold, and she was very agitated and adamant, and couldn’t look me straight in the eye.”
Raven asked for the justification for such a threat and was not given a response.
He said his team of Christians then went into the park, and they were arrested within three or four minutes.
He said if the situation is left unchallenged, the city of Elmira will be in the position of being able to control the content of people’s messages in a lawful assembly – or even thoughts if they are nearby.
“We didn’t say boo to a goose, still we were arrested,” he said.
The local newspaper reported the arrests came just “moments” after Elmira Mayor John Tonello delivered a speech “celebrating diversity.”
And the actions prompted some immediate criticism from newspaper readers.
“I was appalled and disgusted by the gay stories strewn through the paper. What was even more disturbing was the way the city acted. Since when is it illegal to sit on the ground in a public park and recite Bible verses? Are they not protected by the same Constitution that allows gay people to have their gay pride event. These Bible thumpers had their constitutional right to free speech and assembly trampled on by the city. They should not have been arrested,” said Kevin Raznoff.
Robertson told WND the Christians “certainly” have a right to assemble, but not on public property when there’s an “organized” event there. Asked repeatedly about how the “disturbance” statute relates to First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech, he did not answer.
“Obviously, they caused a disruption to an event that was taking place,” he said.
But Raven confirmed to WND the Christians did not approach a single person, did not speak to anyone and did not even make any audible statements until after they were arrested.
LINK: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=57607
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 16 so far )When in Danger, CodePink’s Leader calls for the US Marines
Oh, the irony!!!!!! She wants the Marines gone, but when she’s in danger she calls for them. I hope they didn’t help her.
When in danger, call for the US Marines.
That’s what CodePink’s Medea Benjamin did
By Judi McLeod Thursday, February 28, 2008
Canada Free Press
[Excerpted]
Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin, who can turn the air blue when shouting chants against American Marines called out for the Marines in front of Marine Recruiting offices in Berkeley yesterday.
Eamon Kelley, the young Marine who is featured in Move America Forward’s TV commercial that ran on Fox News earlier this week, could hardly believe his own ears when Benjamin called on the Marines for help.
Kelley, who is recovering from back surgery, spent his day in Berkeley, where CodePink continues with Berkeley council’s blessing, to keep a virtual blockade at the recruit center, expanding its efforts to harass American troops and to turn back any young Americans looking to enlist.
City Council stubbornly refuses to apologize and continues to subsidize free parking for CodePink to drive soldiers out of town.
“While we were at the protest in Berkeley from 12 to 4 p.m., a white Volvo drove by and a man spat upon CodePink,” Kelley wrote in an email to MAF’s Melanie Morgan. “They chased him down the street and got into a verbal altercation. The police were NOWHERE in sight.
“That’s not the best part, ready for this?
“Medea Benjamin yelled and I quote “Marines!” She actually yelled for our help because this man had stepped out of his car. I even asked her if she was yelling Police and she told me, “I said Marines” then put her arm around my friend Allen (the Marine Vet). Ironic?”
Benjamin, who turned on her former close friend, San Francisco Bay Area activist Maria Ruzicka, later killed in Iraq in a widely-publicized suicide bombing, over Ruzicka’s decision to work with the U.S. military to secure compensation for the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan, is on the record for supporting Cuba and Venezuela.
“Benjamin has drawn conservative criticism for her support of Hugo Chavez and her attacks on the U.S. embargo of Fidel Castro’s Cuba. Conservative writer David Horowitz’s FrontPageMag has attacked her as “a long-time Castro acolyte.” “(Wikipedia, the free encylopedia).
“Many of the causes that Ms. Benjamin espouses are Communist in nature. The Washington “peace” rally at which she spoke last month, for instance, was organized by the Workers World Party, a Communist organization…In years past, she staunchly opposed US military and to those fighting against Communist forces in Central America…She favors the creation of a government-sponsored universal health care system funded by taxpayer dollars. She exhorts the US government to lift its trade embargo against Cuba-a nation she notably lauds as a place where people have managed to “thrive despite the odds against them.”
LINK: http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/2080
Explaining to the Obamas Why They Should Be Proud of Their Country
Excellent article! I totally agree! I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!!!!!!!! And if you don’t love it, then get out!
Explaining to the Obamas Why They Should Be Proud of Their Country
By John Hawkins
Friday, February 22, 2008
For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country, because it feels like hope is making a comeback.” – Michelle Obama
Is that a surprising sentiment to hear from a woman who wants to be first lady? You might think so, until you realize that she is married to a man who doesn’t hold his hand over his heart for the Star Spangled Banner and makes a big deal out of not wearing a flag pin. Those two would make a great first couple — of Cuba or maybe Venezuela. Granted they might be a little to the Left of the people in charge now, but if anybody needs empty feel-good speeches featuring lots of Sesame Street rhetoric about “change, “hope,” and “unity,” it’s the citizens of Cuba and Venezuela.
But, since the Obamas’ patriotism is as thin as Barack’s resume, maybe someone should take the time to explain to them why they should appreciate this country.
To begin with, we live in a Super Power with the greatest military and economy the world has ever seen. We’re also the longest surviving democracy in the world and our example has inspired hundreds of millions of people across the world to seek freedom for themselves and their families — and often we have helped them. We’ve done more to promote freedom and democracy in the world than any other dozen countries combined — and we still do. We’ve expended immense amounts of blood and treasure to help keep 50 million Afghans and Iraqis free, our military ensures that there’s peace in nations like Taiwan and South Korea, and if not for our support, Israel would probably long since have been annihilated by its genocidal neighbors. Then there’s South Korea, El Salvador, Grenada — you can go on and on with a list of nations whose freedom, in some form or fashion, that we’ve had a hand in.
We’ve also fought time and time again in the 20th century when the forces of darkness threatened to engulf the world. Our entry into WWI utterly changed the course of the war. In WWII, without our help, the Allies could not have defeated the Axis. Then there was the Cold War, where we prevented the Soviets from spreading their evil ideology across the planet.
Afterwards, it was just as Colin Powell said:
And when all those conflicts were over, what did we do? Did we stay and conquer? Did we say, “Okay, we defeated Germany. Now Germany belongs to us? We defeated Japan, so Japan belongs to us?” No. What did we do? We built them up. We gave them democratic systems which they have embraced totally to their soul. And did we ask for any land? No, the only land we ever asked for was enough land to bury our dead. And that is the kind of nation we are.
It is indeed the kind of nation we are because the American people, while not perfect, are fundamentally good, hard working, ambitious Christian folk who want to do the right thing, not just for our country, but for the world.
That’s why we are, have been, and will continue to be the nation that does the most to promote freedom, capitalism, and democracy around the world. It’s why Americans give more than the citizens of any other country. It’s why we’re usually the first nation on the spot helping out after a major disaster in another country. It’s why food grown by Americans feeds starving people all over the planet. It’s why drugs, created and delivered by Americans, cure the sick across the world. It’s why people all over the planet have been able to, with the help of Americans, raise themselves up out of grinding poverty and make better lives for their families.
The Barack Obamas of the world don’t see this because as Machiavelli once said, they have “imagined for themselves republics and principalities that have never been seen or known to exist in reality,” and they compare our nation to those fairy tale kingdoms. It’s very easy to look at how we defeated the Indians and took their land, slavery, and the other assorted grievances that Barack’s pals on the Left have with America and conclude that we’re a terrible nation — but, not if you compare us to other flesh and blood countries. When you do that, especially when we’re talking about other Super Powers through history that have had responsibilities across the world, as opposed to Toy Poodle nations that make little difference in the world one way or another, you’ll find that no other country has done nearly as much for humanity as the good ol’ U.S. of A.
And despite the howls of the anti-American Left, the “Muslim street,” Socialist apparatchiks, and Western European snobs, the world knows this in their souls. That’s why we’re called the “land of opportunity.” It’s why we have tens of millions of immigrants waiting in line to move here. It’s why the same nations that sneer at us when things are going well, run to us first for help when things turn bad.
America is a good country and Americans are a decent, patriotic people that deserve a leader who is as proud to be a part of this nation as they are. What they don’t deserve is an unpatriotic empty suit who actually thinks that it takes a certain “audacity” to have hope in a great nation like this one.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Student Suspended 10 days for taking Vitamins
Oh please!! Does anybody have common sense anymore? This is ridiculous! With all the crap going on in the public schools and THIS is what they choose to suspend someone for? I feel like I’m living in loony land!
Student suspended 10 days for taking vitamins
‘It was Alice in Wonderland does The Twilight Zone,’ father says
Posted: February 27, 2008
8:45 pm Eastern
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
The parents of a student in Pennsylvania’s South Middleton School District are warning other parents of the dangers after their workout-oriented son was suspended for 10 days and half the soccer season for taking vitamins at school.
Calling it a zero tolerance policy run amok, Joseph Figueiredo told WND it was like, “‘Alice in Wonderland’ does the ‘Twilight Zone.'”
The situation involved his son, Andrew, who put himself on a physical training regimen and was taking several vitamins and supplements as part of that.
His son was aware of school rules regarding prescription medications and such, so before he launched the program he checked the student handbook.
“He took it upon himself to look in the student manual and read the drug policy and medication policy,” he said. “But he did not see vitamins or dietary supplements and in his mind thought it was okay.”
School officials, however, thought otherwise. Somebody reported he was taking the vitamins, and Andrew was called into Principal Joe Mancuso’s office where he was told he was being suspended for violating the drug policy.
WND previously has reported on situations where a student was threatened with a three-day suspension for simply having a pen in class that had a gun company logo, another case where a college student advocated for gun rights and was suspended, and yet another case in which a student who simply drew a sketch of a gun was suspended.
At Boiling Springs High School, officials refused to hold the penalty in abeyance until a drug test could be done, Figueiredo said, so he went and had his own, which showed negative results for illegal or banned substances.
“His belief and ours is it was not something Andrew needed to report to the school, because it was not a drug or medication,” Figueiredo told local reporters at the time. “My son is in a program of weight-lifting and keeping himself physically fit for playing soccer year-round.”
A goalkeeper, Andrew Figueiredo was a starting player on the varsity team for four years and was serving as a team captain this year.
But the written notice the school then provided told the family Andrew had violated the “medications” policy instead, not the drug policy, for taking the vitamins and supplements the family identified as Megaman Sport, BSN Nitrix and BSN Axis-HT, all available over the counter at General Nutrition Center stores.
They hired an attorney to protest the suspension on Andrew’s otherwise clean school record, but the school board lawyer responded that school officials determined they had acted appropriately and the matter was closed.
The family’s lawyer, Dennis Shatto, said the family then sought a public apology because vitamins and dietary supplements are simply not medications and would not be prescribed by a physician as required under school policy.
A letter from the school’s lawyer, Philip Spare, said the policy was clear to him, since it prohibits “any pill, capsule, powder, liquid, inhalant, fascimile, drug paraphernalia, or other substance of whatever form or texture, which may adversely affect the health, safety, or welfare of any student…”
He said it simply wouldn’t work to allow students access to anything like this. “It would be next to impossible for school officials to approach each pill on an individual basis and to make a case by case determination as to which pills were acceptable and which pills were unacceptable,” he wrote.
School officials declined to return multiple WND calls seeking a comment, even though Andrew specifically had waived confidentiality privileges in granting officials permission to discuss the case.
The suspensions from school and the soccer team now are over, and Andrew has returned to classes and his work, so why make it an issue now?
“We’re pushing this because we wanted to reach a reasonable accommodation,” Joseph Figueiredo told WND. “We made a suggestion that the issue be addressed in a DARE assembly, and say, ‘Look this is what happened.’ It could have been win-win for everyone. But we never had the opportunity.”
He said the situation wasn’t handled by school procedures, either, because Andrew was accused verbally of violating the drug policy, then in writing of violating the medications policy, and at no time was there a drug test as school procedures specify so that the results could be confirmed. The penalty also was not delayed until those test results could be obtained, as policy outlined, he noted.
He appeared before the school board to cite his concerns, including the fact that Supt. Patricia Sanker, based on a personal telephone call to a pharmacist, had determined that one of the supplements was a steroid.
He also complained about her attitude.
When Andrew protested those were illegal, she responded: “Don’t you argue with me. They can say anything they want. It’s a steroid,” he said.
She then said, “Listen young man. I’ve already got you for 10 days [suspension], the only question now is, is it half the soccer season, or the whole soccer season,” according to Figueiredo.
At a subsequent meeting, Figueiredo told WND, the superintendent threatened Andrew with the words: “I can ruin you.”
“We thought we’d heard it all before, but such a threat of retaliation is beyond the pale,” Figueiredo told the school board in a letter.
“Don’t misunderstand;” he continued. “The South Middleton School District is a good one. That’s why we chose to send Andrew here. Good students for the most part and good teachers for the most part.”
He said he just doesn’t want the same thing happening to other students.
A forum posted by the local newspaper included a comment from “Kathy,” who suggested the school district should get sued. “They act like there are no shades of gray in rules, but there are, and we all know it.”
LINK: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=57533
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