Free Republic

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...

US, February 21, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - At the same time that news has come out that the Toronto Catholic School board has refused to participate in pro-homosexual activities, homosexual activists are making significant inroads in US schools, as a booklet titled, "Just the Facts about Sexual Orientation and Youth," is set to be distributed to all 16,000 school districts in the country. The 24-page booklet by the National Education Association and American Psychological Association, tells students that homosexuality is a "normal expression of human sexuality". "What's so scary and dogmatic about this report is that it communicates that religious-based viewpoints...

Persistence helps student pro-lifer make impact Ed Thomas - OneNewsNow - 2/9/2008 12:00:00 PM A student will drop her lawsuit against Westmont High School of San Jose, California, after the school agreed to give a pro-life student club the same recognition and privileges of other clubs on campus. An attorney for the student says her written request to the school to start the "Live Action - Pro-Life Club'' and receive standard rights and benefits was denied on the basis that it was too controversial -- even though other clubs granted recognition status included a Gay Straight Alliance club. David Cortman...

Marriage on trial in Oregon Hearing affects not only the future of marriage, but also your right to be heard. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On November 2, 2004, 57 percent of Oregon voters voted in favor of Measure 36, a constitutional amendment that recognizes marriage as the union of one man and one woman only. This was a critical measure, a significant step in protecting marriage. Nevertheless, this amendment did not stop advocates of the homosexual legal agenda, who have been working around the clock ever since to reverse the expressed will of the people. Last year, the activists found an ally when...

New Mexico, January 30, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The case of a Christian photographer who refused to photograph a same-sex "commitment ceremony", was heard before the New Mexico Human Rights Division on Monday. A same-sex couple asked Elaine Huguenin, co-owner with her husband of Elane Photography, to photograph a "commitment ceremony" that the two women wanted to hold. Huguenin declined because her Christian beliefs are in conflict with the message communicated by the ceremony.The same-sex couple filed a complaint with the New Mexico Human Rights Division, which is now trying Elane Photography under state antidiscrimination laws for sexual orientation discrimination. The...

A MOB of wallabies has grounded RAAF fighter-bomber jets after dark at a Northern Territory airfield. And medical rescue planes have been moved to another airstrip after being unable to take off at night. The Northern Territory News understands the problem started when a fence was built around the military-controlled Tindal airport at Katherine. The fence was designed to keep the agile wallabies out - but actually fenced many of them in. The Department of Defence failed to respond to several requests for comment yesterday. But the Health Department confirmed its aero-medical aircraft had been moved from Tindal to Darwin....

BOSTON, January 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit in federal court Friday against a new Massachusetts law that creates a 35-foot "buffer" zone around abortion clinics.  The law essentially eliminates free speech rights within the zone by restricting pro-life advocates from sharing their message with people entering the clinics. "Pro-life advocates shouldn't be penalized for expressing their beliefs," said ADF-allied attorney and lead counsel Michael DePrimo.  "The buffer law is breathtaking in its scope.  It obviously was designed and intended to squelch pro-life speech, but it prohibits much more, such as labor...

A U.S. Coast Guard officer and devout Catholic has filed suit to prevent being forced to receive a vaccination derived from the lung of an aborted child after a higher ranking officer disputed his understanding of Church theology. The Alliance Defense Fund filed a complaint last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Healy, charging the government with using its own arbitrary judgment of what constitutes Catholic theology while permitting religious exemptions to others, effectively discriminating against Healy's sincerely held religious beliefs. Healy's request for religious exemption cited a 2005...

Army pilots earn stripes in France Peter Wilson January 11, 2008 THE growing role of Europe in Australian military planning has taken another step with the first two Australian pilots completing a French military training program on Eurocopter's new Tiger helicopter. The training of Captain Paul Donaldson and Captain Hamish Felton-Taylor at a French-German base at Le Luc in southern France follows a string of victories for European arms makers in outgunning their US rivals for major Australian contracts. The US remains unchallenged as Australia's main military ally but if the two Australian Army pilots at Le Luc had their...

The Alliance Defense Fund was able to prevent a liberal group from spoiling the Christmas cheer of two South Carolina school districts by offering to serve as their legal counsel. The Edgefield and Aiken County districts had received threats of legal action from Americans United for Separation of Church and State last month for facilitating distribution of shoes to students by volunteers in a church-sponsored program. During winter each year, a Baptist church in the Aiken, South Carolina, area offers the "Laces 4 Love" program, which provides shoes to consenting parents of children who are wearing worn-out or inappropriately cold...

(CNSNews.com) - With Dec. 25 only days away, a central image in the celebration of Christmas - the manger scene featuring replicas of Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus - has become the focus of attacks by vandals and leaders of "the secular Left," Christian groups charged on Wednesday. While the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights was erecting a nativity scene in New York City's Central Park, the group issued a news release condemning three dozen instances in which manger scenes were vandalized or stolen from Antioch, Calif., to Leesburg, Va., this Christmas season. "In perhaps the sickest...

A man barred from placing a nativity scene in the Washington State Capitol rotunda last year will no longer face opposition from state officials.  ADF attorneys filed a lawsuit last year after state officials denied the request but allowed a menorah and a “holiday tree” to be displayed.  The parties settled the suit, allowing Ron Wesselius to display a nativity scene on behalf of citizens who celebrate Christmas.   “It’s incredible to think that Americans have to think twice about whether it is OK to celebrate Christmas in public,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Byron Babione.  “Just as it is constitutional...

A federal judge has ordered a Louisiana city to stop enforcing an ordinance that banned a Christian man from warning bar patrons about the consequences of their actions, concluding the First Amendment trumps the local law. "Zachary (La.) has no legitimate governmental interest in restricting speech that is too 'annoying' or 'offensive' to listeners," said U.S. District Judge James Brady, who issued a preliminary injunction preventing the city from continuing to enforce its restriction. The case was brought by the Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of John Netherland, a man who had been targeted by authorities in the city of...

BATON ROUGE, La. After Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorneys filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court, school officials decided that an immediate course correction was in order. They have now agreed to permit a Christian student to use school buses for a field trip for her One Way Club, just like her classmates in the Arabic Club or the Gay-Straight Alliance can. According to its official website, the school is "[a] Celebration in Excellence and Creativity and Individuality . . ." As their initial decision was a clear denial of granting equal access to all students, that celebration of "Individuality"...

Teen’s antiabortion club gets green light Virginia high school officials recently gave a green light to a teen’s request for a once-banned after-school antiabortion club, the Washington Post reported. "We just wanted the same rights as other clubs," 16-year-old Stephanie Hoffmeier told the Post. "It's not a radical thing to expect equal treatment." Stafford County, Virginia, school officials initially denied Hoffmeier’s spring request to host the club, which opposes abortion and promotes sexual abstinence, saying the club was not associated with school curriculum. Hoffmeier filed a lawsuit in September contending the decision violated her free-speech rights because other clubs with...

 A lawsuit pro-life attorneys filed on behalf of a group of students who were denied official recognition for their pro-life club apparently did the trick. Colonial Forge High School was the latest to come under fire for discriminating against pro-life students and found itself on the receiving end of a lawsuit from the Alliance Defense Fund.A student at the school wanted to start a pro-life student club on campus and applied for her club to become officially recognized.  Officially recognized student clubs enjoy privileges such as access to the school newspaper, bulletin boards, and the public announcement system, as well...

The Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, today announced that Australian Defence Force personnel serving alongside their North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) counterparts in Afghanistan will be able to officially accept and wear the NATO medal. The Commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) made a formal offer to award the medal to Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel, and this offer has been accepted by the Australian Government. The NATO medal with clasp ‘ISAF’ is awarded for 30 days service in Afghanistan in support of ISAF. “Australian Defence Force personnel have been working with...

ADF attorney: Federal appeals court rejects demand of “transsexuals” for special rights Court says employers have legitimate concern over use of restrooms by employees with Gender Identity Disorder Wednesday, September 26, 2007, 11:11 AM (MST) | ADF Media Relations | 480-444-0020 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments DENVER — A federal appeals court has issued a significant ruling saying that an employer’s concern over the use of restrooms by “transsexual” employees is legitimate, according to Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel Brian Raum. Raum explained further that the court ruled that “transsexuals” do not qualify as a protected class under Title VII. “The court...

Christian Psychologist Sues Minneapolis After Being Fired for Membership in Pro-Family Group MINNEAPOLIS, September 18, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit last Tuesday in federal court on behalf of an Illinois clinical psychologist who lost his contract with the city of Minneapolis because of his membership with a politically conservative, pro-family organization. "Pro-family, Christian conservatives cannot be treated as second-class citizens," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Brian Raum.  "Government officials do not have the right to end someone's contract on the basis of religion or political viewpoint.  The city of Minneapolis is engaging in...

WHAT makes the Special Air Service elite may not be what you expect, reports Mark Dodd. While the memory of his Vietnam homecoming is unlikely to fade, this week -- the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Australian SAS -- the commander of the Australian Defence Force's Special Operations Command, Major General Mike Hindmarsh, pays Barnby and his fellow Vietnam SAS veterans the ultimate tribute: they were the best in the world. "The SAS Regiment, in an incredibly difficult operating environment in Indochina, quickly stamped itself as probably the finest exponents of clandestine reconnaissance and harassment in the world...

A court decision that opens the doors of Culbertson Elementary School in Pennsylvania to books about witches – but rejects the Bible as being too "proselytizing" – is being challenged. The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund has submitted amicus briefs in a lawsuit filed when a kindergarten student, under an assignment in which parents were invited to read their child's favorite book, was denied permission to have his mother read a Bible story. A decision in U.S. District Court that sided with the school's decision to ban the Bible reading, while allowing teachers to suggest reading books about "witches and Halloween,"...

A federal civil rights lawsuit has been filed on behalf of a 67-year-old Georgia man who was arrested, held in jail for two days and convicted without being given access to a lawyer for passing out Gospel tracts on a public street. The action was brought by the Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of Fredric Baumann, who was arrested on the orders of police chief Mike Eason. The ADF said a Georgia Superior Court earlier this month agreed to its request to overturn the conviction of Baumann, "a Christian man whom Cumming police arrested in April for passing out religious...

A federal civil rights lawsuit has been filed on behalf of a 67-year-old Georgia man who was arrested, held in jail for two days and convicted without being given access to a lawyer for passing out Gospel tracts on a public street. The action was brought by the Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of Fredric Baumann, who was arrested on the orders of police chief Mike Eason. The ADF said a Georgia Superior Court earlier this month agreed to its request to overturn the conviction of Baumann, "a Christian man whom Cumming police arrested in April for passing out religious...

Mark Dodd | August 22, 2007 ADF may be first to buy 'tilt' chopper AUSTRALIAN special forces could be the first international customers for the revolutionary tilt rotor Osprey - a US-designed half-helicopter and half-plane. In its first operational deployment, 10 of the twin-engined V-22 Osprey will be sent to Iraq as troop and cargo carriers serving the US Marine Corp. Manufacturer Boeing claims a clean operational report card is likely to be followed by US government export approval and the Australian Defence Force is being eyed as a potential customer. The ADF today confirmed it is looking at buying...

David French has known for years that college campuses are bastions of anti-evangelical bias. He knew it when he served on the admissions committee at Cornell Law School and watched his colleagues ridicule evangelical applicants as "Bible thumpers" or members of the "God squad." He knew it during his tenure with an education watchdog organization that routinely challenged university speech codes bent on silencing evangelical viewpoints. He knew it when he shifted into his current role as director of the Alliance Defense Fund's Center for Academic Freedom, a position from which he's filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of victimized evangelical...

2 Gideons cited while on public property near Florida school A Florida judge has dismissed all counts against two members of The Gideons International who were arrested while handing out Bibles on a public sidewalk outside a school, officials with the Alliance Defense Fund said. "Christians cannot be treated as second-class citizens," said ADF senior legal counsel David Cortman. "These two men have the same constitutional rights as everyone else to pass out literature on a public sidewalk. "We are pleased that the court agrees that these men should not have been arrested and dismissed the charges against them," he...

BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS Ban on desecrating terrorist flags challenged Lawsuit filed on behalf of students in anti-terror protest Posted: July 10, 2007 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2007 WorldNetDaily.com College Republican member argues with Palestinian supporter at Oct. 17 anti-terrorism rally at San Francisco State University (Photo: Golden Gate Xpress) A lawsuit filed by the Alliance Defense Fund is targeting the speech codes imposed on students by the university system in California after several students were prosecuted for the "desecration" of flags used by terrorist groups. "America's colleges and universities should recognize the constitutional rights of Christian and politically conservative students...

On May 30, Ramirez was part of a serious car accident where he suffered multiple injuries and was put into a comatose state. He was placed onto feeding tubes where he received nourishment and water. Ten days later, the man’s wife, Rebecca, 33, asked doctors to pull him from the tubes after they explained that the accident would probably leave the man blind or in vegetative state. For five days, the hospital withheld sustenance from the injured man, but restored the tubes after the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) – an Ariz.-based Christian law firm – filed a lawsuit on behalf...

BLACK Hawk 221 was hovering only metres above the deck of HMAS Kanimbla, a few seconds from landing, when it became clear something was wrong. * Video: Black Hawk crash The helicopter's engines began screaming, its rotors seemed to droop, and the pilots were heard to swear. "It was either 'Oh shit' or 'Oh f..k, then I heard them start talking to each other really quickly and I could tell they were trying to sort it out," one of the Black Hawk's crew yesterday told the board of inquiry into last November's crash off Fiji, which claimed the lives of...

Just as a leopard cannot change its spots, nor a zebra its stripes, an organization whose founder admired the “ideals� of the hammer and sickle can never really abandon those destructive beginnings. More than a quarter-century after his death, the “legacy� of American Civil Liberties Union founder Roger Baldwin – a self-professed fan of Soviet communism and of Joseph Stalin – is still going strong. With the collapse of the Soviet empire, current ACLU leaders have thrown more of their support to one of the last remaining bastions of the Soviet ideal: Cuba. In 2005, for example, the ACLU endorsed...

TWELVE days is all it takes for a crack team of US Navy combat engineers to carve a runway out of virgin bush in northern Australia and transform the site into a mini-airport capable of handling one of the world's biggest transport planes, the RAAF's new C-17 Globemaster. The bush airport on the Bradshaw training range in the Top End will be built by the famed “Fighting Seabees”. The runway construction feat will mark one of the highlights of a massive $20 million joint defence exercise with the US. Throw into the mix a US carrier battle group, two nuclear...

Two men who are members of Gideons International, the Christian organization that is famous for, among other ministries, placing Bibles in motels and giving them to children, have been arrested after trying to hand out Bibles on a public sidewalk in Florida, according to a law firm. Officials with the Alliance Defense Fund have confirmed they will be representing Anthony Mirto and Ernest Simpson, who were arrested, booked into jail and charged with trespassing. Jeremy Tedesco, one of the ADF's lawyers on the case, confirmed to WND that the organization's clients were on a public sidewalk when they were handing...

Washington D.C. -- Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins released the following statement praising a lawsuit filed by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) against 109 Massachusetts lawmakers. The lawsuit accuses them of deliberately violating the law, which requires a vote on a successfully filed citizen initiative that would define marriage in the commonwealth's constitution as the union between one man and one woman: "Massachusetts lawmakers have repeatedly neglected their duty to voters and have trampled the state constitution which requires a vote on citizens' petitions. The legislators' attempt to kill the proposal and close out the year in hiding...

THE Australian Government has despatched a second warship to stand by near Fiji in case a mass evacuation is necessary following fears of a coup. Announcing the deployment of amphibious support ship, HMAS Kanimbla, from Townsville, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson tonight would not rule out military assistance from Australia if the Fijian Government asks for help. Australia sent the frigate, HMAS Newcastle, to waters near Fiji yesterday. The Government also revised its travel advisory to Fiji tonight, warning Australians to exercise "a high degree of caution" ... because of increased tensions between the Fiji government and military, and the possibility...

TWO Australian naval ships, with troops and helicopters, are heading to international waters outside Fiji while extra police have been offered to South Pacific island nation as threat of a military coup escalates. The amphibious warship, HMAS Kanimbla, with an undisclosed number of fighters, left port this evening in the wake of the HMAS Newcastle, which left sometime earlier. Defence Minister Brendan Nelson last night said the the Australian Government was very concerned about the event, while Foreign Minister Alexander Downer conceded a coup was a "reasonable chance". Dr Nelson called on the Fijian defence chief Frank Bainimarama to respect...

In an incident that is rapidly becoming famous even among people who don't follow the campus culture wars, leftist activists stormed the stage at Columbia University this month and triggered a wild melee during a speech by Jim Gilchrist, the controversial founder of the Minuteman Project. The incident was shocking enough, but it cannot be viewed in isolation. The mob at Morningside Heights is just another piece of gathering evidence that the '60s are returning to campus. It's a dangerous turn to an era not of "peace and love," but a step closer to the violence and threats that dominated...

The first of Australia's new fleet of four C-17 Globemaster III's was rolled out of the hangar this week in California, ahead of its initial flight later this month. In the slow-moving world of defence procurement, US aerospace giant Boeing is moving at lightning speed to deliver the big four-engine jet airlifter before the end of the year. The aerospace giant this week confirmed that it remained on track to deliver the first plane by November 28, less than seven months after Australia signed a letter of agreement with the US Government. "It's very exciting to see Australia's first C-17...

Rapped in the Raptor: why Australia must have the best October 2, 2006 A former Top Gun is right to set his cross-hairs on key defence spending, writes Gerry Carmen. THE Peter Criss known to many Australians is the "catman" drummer of iconic band Kiss, whose theatrics include poking out tongues. But there's an Australian namesake who has just stepped out of the shadows and deserves even closer attention because he, too, is poking a mighty important metaphorical tongue — at the government. Retired RAAF air vice-marshal Peter Criss has put aside usual conventions to openly question the wisdom of...

A NEW South Wales Supreme Court judge will sit in Launceston today to hear the opening of a case in which a Tasmanian man is suing the Federal Government over his part in the Voyager naval disaster. Geoffrey Singline, 63, is suffering cancer and is seeking unspecified damages for anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol abuse, and special damages for economic loss following the disaster, his lawyer, David Forster of Hollows Lawyers said. Eighty-two people died when aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collided with destroyer HMAS Voyager, slicing HMAS Voyager in two and sinking it, during an exercise in NSW waters...

THE aggressive anti-Australian tone of East Timor's response to the Becora prison breakout is a sure sign that Canberra will have great difficulty winning an extension when the joint "green helmet-blue helmet" security arrangement is reviewed by the UN Security Council next month. Under the UN mandate passed by the council 10 days ago, the Australian-led stabilisation force has authority to operate in East Timor separately from the UN's 1600-strong police deployment. But as a concession to the many opponents of this shared security system, the council ordered UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to review the arrangement and report back within...

RICHMOND, Va. — After repeated threats for speaking out on public sidewalks against abortion, two pro-life supporters, represented by attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Monday against the city’s police chief and one of its officers. “Pro-life speech cannot be treated differently than any other kind of speech,” said ADF Senior Counsel Nate Kellum. “The police cannot reprimand speech for being ‘too loud’ when no standard definition of an unacceptable noise level exists.” Charles Neal and Paul Trout, both of whom remained peaceful and respectful while expressing their free-speech rights on a public sidewalk,...

James Kennedy's Christian Crusade TV Evangelist's ministerial and media empire claim US a 'Christian nation', don't believe in the separation of church and state, and aims to extend political reach Although not nearly as well-known or flamboyant as the Rev. Jerry Falwell, Focus on the Family's Dr. James Dobson, or Pat Robertson, Dr. D. James Kennedy, who was recently inducted into the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB - website) Hall of Fame, has created a media and ministerial empire that is packing a powerful political punch.Kennedy...has created a media and ministerial empire that is packing a powerful political punchAs Senior Minister...

The Alliance Defense Fund, students of Georgia Tech and free speech won a substantial victory in court this week. On Monday, August 14 a court order went into effect that requires Georgia Tech to repeal and replace a speech code which the ADF said is unconstitutional. The order also prohibits the school from changing the code again for a period of five years unless pre-approved by the court. “The First Amendment applies to all students on campus, including religious students and students who hold conservative political beliefs. We are glad that we reached a mutually agreeable settlement with the university...

University of Wisconsin ignores the law, refuses to recognize Christian student organizationshttp://alliancedefensefund.org/news/pressrelease.aspx?cid=3820 ADF attorney calls university officials to account for discriminatory actions Monday, August 07, 2006, 5:15 PM (MST) ADF Media Relations | 480-444-0020 MADISON, Wis. — The director of the Alliance Defense Fund’s Center for Academic Freedom sent a letter to University of Wisconsin officials today warning them about the illegality of their continued de-recognition of Christian student groups. "Christian student groups shouldn’t be treated differently from other student organizations,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David French, who wrote the letter. “The University of Wisconsin has decided to force...

Last week, the Alliance Defense Fund filed suit against Arizona State University on behalf of the university’s chapter of Students for Life (SFL). The suit alleges that ASU acted in a discriminatory manner when they insisted that SFL purchase liability insurance for a pro-life exhibit because “there is not evidence this requirement was ever imposed on any other student expression.” Speaking about the lawsuit, ADF Litigation Counsel Heather Gebelin Hacker said, “Colleges and universities cannot treat pro-life students differently than they treat other students. Unfortunately, that's exactly what Arizona State did...” The stated purpose of the SFL chapter is to...

Just over a week ago, Temple University’s Board of Trustees adopted a new policy on academic freedom, one that extended rights to students and not only to professors. The policy, which goes into effect today states in part that students “should be encouraged to develop the capacity for critical judgment and to engage in a sustained and independent search for the truth,” “should be free to take reasoned exception to the information or views offered in any course of study and to reserve judgment about matters of opinion,” and “should have protection through orderly grievance procedures against prejudiced or capricious...

A single vote kept Washington from becoming the first state in which same-sex couples could come from anywhere in the U.S. to obtain a marriage license. The state Supreme Court today decided 5-4 that Washington's law limiting marriage to one man and one woman does not violate the state constitution. The court dealt a "devastating setback to same-sex marriage proponents," asserted Mathew D. Staver, founder and chairman of the public-interest legal group Liberty Counsel. The decision is very significant, he said, because, unlike Massachusetts – which in 2003 became the only state to establish same-sex marriage – Washington does not...

IRAQ'S trade minister today repeated his threat to reconsider trade deals with wheat supplier Australia unless it reopens an inquiry into the killing of one of his bodyguards by Australian soldiers. Australia's defence force chief said last week that a military inquiry had cleared the soldiers of any wrongdoing. Two people, including a bodyguard of Iraqi Trade Minister Abdul Falah al-Sudany, were killed and several wounded when Australian security forces in Baghdad shot at their car as it approached their convoy on June 21. Mr Sudany's spokesman, Mohammed Hanoun, said the minister is "not satisfied" with the results and is...

The Australian troops involved in a so-called "friendly-fire" incident in Baghdad last month have been cleared of any wrongdoing. The soldiers were providing security for an Australian trade delegation when they opened fire on an approaching vehicle, believing they were about to be attacked by insurgents. But in the car were bodyguards protecting Iraq's Trade Minister. One was killed, and several other people were wounded. Australian Defence Force chief Angus Houston says an inquiry into the incident found the Iraqi bodyguards were repeatedly warned to stop. "Our personnel acted in accordance with their rules of engagement," he said. Air Chief...

Religious Right Power Brokers The Top Ten by Rob BostonThe United States is home to dozens of Religious Right groups. Many have small budgets and focus on state and local issues; the most powerful organizations conduct nationwide operations, command multi-million-dollar bank accounts and attract millions of followers. They have disproportionate clout in the halls of Congress, the White House and the courts, and they wield enormous influence within the political system.What follows is a list of the nation’s Top Ten Religious Right groups, as determined by publicly available financial data and political prominence. (For budgetary data, Church & State used...