World News Korner

Judge Elizabeth Foote

Courtesy of Raw Story:

The parents of a Buddhist student in Louisiana ridiculed by a creationist teacher won their lawsuit against the school district, the American Civil Liberties Union revealed Friday.

The student, known as C.C., was asked by sixth-grade teacher Rita Roark to answer the following question on a test: “ISN’T IT AMAZING WHAT THE _____________ HAS MADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

When C.C. failed to respond “Lord,” Roark responded “you’re stupid if you don’t believe in God.” She also frequently denigrated his Buddhist faith, as well as the Hindu faith, referring to both as “stupid.” When his parents complained to Sabine Parish Superintendent Sara Ebarb, they were told that “this is the Bible belt,” so they should expect to find the Christian God in the classroom. Ebarb advised them that if they wanted an ungodly classroom, they should transfer C.C. to a school where “there are more Asians.”

Judge Elizabeth Foote of the U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana sided with C.C. and his parents, citing that Roark’s behavior — and the school’s decision to defend it — clearly violated “the Free Exercise and Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.”

With regard to the specific behavior of Roark, Judge Foot wrote that “[t]he District and School Board are permanently enjoined from permitting School Officials at any school within the School District to promote their personal religious beliefs to students in class or during or in conjunction with a School Event.” Furthermore, “School Officials shall not denigrate any particular faith, or lack thereof, or single out any student for disfavor or criticism because of his or her particular faith or religious belief, or lack thereof.”

The judge also ordered all the members of the school board to undergo training to make them more sensitive to their responsibilities with respect to the First Amendment.

And remember THIS happened in Louisiana, home of Bobby Jindal who has been pushing Creationism into the public school system for some time now.

This is a huge reality check for them, and hopefully for others in the religious right that they can no longer force their belief system onto others with impunity.

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Courtesy of The New Civil Rights Movement:

America is the only highly developed country where a majority of citizens think you have to believe in God in order to live a moral life.

Here’s a portion of the international breakdown in response to the question, “is belief in God essential to morality?”

China: 14%
France: 15%
Spain: 19%
Australia: 23%
Britain: 20%
Italy: 27%
Canada: 31%
Germany 33%
Israel: 37%
Japan: 42%
America: 53%

As many of you know the name of this blog is essentially to spit in the eye of those who claim that only those who embrace a certain religious belief are capable of being moral people.

It has always been my position that Steven Weinberg was right when he said:

“With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.”

Besides it is incredibly arrogant to suggest that any one group have the market cornered on morality, and in fact morality itself is a rather mercurial concept, that shifts and changes based on circumstances and needs.

Are Christians. Jews, or Muslims willing to say that they are the moral superior to the Hindus? The Buddhists? The Sikhs? The Jains?

What incredible egos it must take to believe that out of all of the thousands of religions and gods that mankind has worshiped throughout our history that you have figured out the one true religion, and the one true God.

And how convenient that it is, more than likely, the most readily accessible religion for you to access in your community.

In so many ways our country is a shining example of progress, tolerance, and acceptance. But in other ways it is anything but.

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I am almost embarrassed to admit that I was virtually unaware of the many talents of the great Stephen Fry before seeing him in "V for Vendetta."

I loved that film and loved his character in it.

Since then I have learned a great deal about his vast body of work, and even follow him on Twitter.

This video is exceedingly well done and explains exactly why testing theories against evidence is the only true pathway to truth.

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This is a school book from 1937.

Did you notice anything missing?

Despite Right Wing protests to the contrary, some things have no always been they way they are today.

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You may remember Everest Wilhelmsen from a post I did at the end of last month:

Well since then his plans have become even more specific:

Another member posted a "member list" which conveniently lists all of the individuals who have signed on to be part of this force, from all over the country.

So the question I have is WHY is this guy still allowed to be running free, essentially orchestrating the assassination of our President?

By now the Secret Service HAVE to know this guy exists.

So is he so insignificant that they simply cannot be bothered?

Or is he, whether he knows it or not, helping to flush out other enemies of the state, so that the Federal government can gather their names and keep an eye on them as well?

I kind of think the latter.

How about you?

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Judge Eric Smith, the gentleman sitting in the middle.

According to Court View the judge appointed to this case, Kari Kristiansen, has now been replaced by Judge Eric Smith, a Tony Knowles appointee.

Does this help Levi?

Well it certainly can't hurt to have a judge that does not owe their position to the mother of the defendant.

By the way, as of this post, Bristol has still refused to return to the state with Tripp, despite there being a motion of contempt filed for her refusal to do so.




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Apparently this is Palin's new "thing." Impulsively calling into talk shows in order to gain some notice, and keep her name out there.

She did the same thing last week.

This time it is so unexpected that the guy who screens calls simply refuses to believe that Palin has become so inconsequential that she no longer has a staff persona arranging interviews and instead calls into insignificant local radio programs on a whim.

Of course once they establish that it really IS Palin (At the 1:45 mark), and that takes a while, they become all fan girl and start to gush over her.

Palin claims to be in Scottsdale visiting Bristol, and that she listens to the show on her way home form "hot yoga." (Personally I think she is confusing hot yoga with the hot flashes she gets while struggling to put on her shoes.)

Palin claims that she understand their reticence in believing it was her, because she has been punked a number of times herself. (Ahh, the memories.)

When asked how often she gets to Arizona (3.35 mark) Palin says she gets to "zip in" when she is headed to a speech or event, because it is a "jumping point" for her to use before heading out to other states. (Of course we know that is bullshit, and that she has a house down in Scottsdale and spends the majority of her time there these days. Woman lies about EVERYTHING.)

Palin is also asked about her new streaming program (4:16) which she describes as "an app" and that the information leaked about it was not completely accurate. She claims that the app will provide unfiltered access to her message and help with distributing endorsements to candidates. (Because you know having a service that only a handful of people will be willing to pay for, is going to be SO much better at getting out her message than Facebook or Fox News, where millions can see it for free.)

Palin also uses this as an opportunity to pimp her new "huntin" show on the Sportsman Channel (5:14) which she claims she is filming in a Phoenix studio. (What? No location shooting for the "Queen of the Outdoors?")

The host then asks the obligatory question about whether she is running for office again (6:05). She of course responds with her usual song and dance about not being sure, and that she continues to support certain candidates. Like Ted Cruz, who is the only one that she mentions by name.

Ultimately this is nothing but fluff, which is really all Palin offers anymore, along with the red meat she occasionally throws out to feed the ravenous Right Wing.

However what I learned is that Palin is now essentially a full time resident of Arizona, as evidenced by the fact she is now as familiar with THEIR conservative talk shows as she once was with Alaska's conservative talk shows such as Bob and Mark on KWHL. A show she used to call into with some regularity, even while Governor of the state.

I also learned that Palin is essentially adrift for the most part without the SarahPAC paid staff helping her make decisions about who she should talk to, and when she should talk to them.

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