Free Republic

Christian kids are typically sent to Sunday school for lessons on the Bible and morals. For nonbelievers, there's atheist Sunday school. With an estimated 14 percent of Americans professing to have no religion, according to the Institute for Humanist Studies, some are choosing to send their children to classes that teach ethics without religious belief. Bri Kneisley sent her 10-year-old son, Damian, to Camp Quest Ohio this past summer after a neighbor had shown him the Bible. "Damian was quite certain this guy was right and was telling him this amazing truth that I had never shared," said Kneisley, who...

U.S. Christian Camp Loses Tax-Exempt Status over Same-Sex Civil-Union Ceremony By John Jalsevac OCEAN GROVE, N.J., September 19, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced on Monday that it was stripping the Methodist Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association of its tax-exempt status for part of its property. The Methodist camp made the news earlier this year after it refused, for religious reasons, to allow a lesbian couple to hold a "civil-union" ceremony at a pavilion on the camp's property. The pavilion, said Scott Hoffman, the camp's chief administrative officer to LifeSiteNews, "is a facility we...

Three boys attended church programs every week of the summer MONTGOMERY, AL – Mothers around the nation rejoiced earlier this month as children grudgingly made their way back to school. But for Sandy Eaton, this year’s celebration was oh so much sweeter. “I finally did it,” Eaton said, tipping her head back and shaking it at the sky with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s just, you have no idea how many long years this has taken.” Eaton is celebrating because, for the first time, she managed to find VBS programs for her three school-age boys every week of...

Jason lives! More than a quarter century after it premiered, the horror cult classic "Friday the 13th" will be shown tomorrow night to moviegoers in the Warren County town where it was filmed. When patrons at Roy's Hall theater in Blairstown see the slasher flick at 6:30 and again at 8:30, they will have the unique experience of watching it from a building seen in the 1980 film. "It's not often you get to see a classic slasher film in the environment in which it was filmed," said Robert Armin, artistic director of the theater at 30 Main St.. "It...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A group of campers tied a peeping Tom suspect to a tree, keeping him bound until police arrived. Richard H. Berkey, 63, was charged with private indecency, a misdemeanor, by sheriff's deputies who were called to the Big Fan Campground near Bagby Hot Springs last weekend, according to Clackamas County Detective Jim Strovink. Campers told deputies they recognized Berkey from a similar incident at the campground last year and wanted to make sure he didn't get away. The 2006 incident was reported to police but did not result in charges. "Last year, we took down his...

Campers tie up man accused of peeping at women Campers tied this man to a tree after they believe they caught him peeping at women going to the bathroom at a campsite near Estacada over the weekend.     Story Published: Aug 22, 2007 at 12:36 PM PDT Story Updated: Aug 22, 2007 at 6:10 PM PDT By KATU Web Staff   ESTACADA, Ore. - A group of campers over the weekend caught a man they say was watching women go to the bathroom in the woods - a man who allegedly told them he had been doing similar...

ESTACADA, Ore. -- A man accused of spying on female campers while they used a campground latrine was arrested last weekend. Clackamas County deputies said Richard Berkey, 63, was spotted by campers in a latrine area at the Big Fan Campground near Bagby Hot Springs in Estacada. After he was seen hiding in dense foliage, Berkey was chased down and tackled by Jason Dugan, who was camping with friends, according to deputies. “He didn’t say anything and I caught a side profile and I just knew. I took off up the hill and I yelled for one of my friends,”...

When 6-year-old Ethan Bondick told his mom and dad he wanted to go fly-fishing in Montana, his well-heeled parents were stumped. "We looked at each other and said, 'Oh, god, now what?' " said Gigi Bondick, 37, a "reformed" attorney whose husband works as a private-equity partner in Massachusetts. "We're just not the camping kind of people. We don't pitch tents. We don't cook outdoors. We don't share a bathroom. It's just not going to happen. This is a kid who has never flown anything but first class or stayed anywhere other than a Four Seasons." After typing "luxury"...

SALADO, Texas — After hours of drawing and playing games, the youngsters gathered around a table at summer camp to write letters to their fathers. But these letters weren't going to be mailed home. A counselor explained that the notes would be tied to helium balloons and released in tribute to the fathers, many of whom were killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. "Are we gonna send them to heaven?" one child asked. At Camp Good Grief, all the children are mourning for a parent or other relative who died while serving in the military. "Age doesn't matter. The grief process...

Gay Camp by: Malcolm A. Kline, August 15, 2007 To many cynical observers, “Gay Camp” may sound redundant but to the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Community it is a summer retreat for campus activists. “I didn’t realize you could get paid to be what they’re calling a professional homo or working queer,” Ashleigh Ratchford, a junior at North Carolina A & T State University told The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Paula Wasley. Originally, Ratchford had planned on a career as an FBI agent but she may find campus politics more lucrative. “After all, [the University of Maryland at] College...

A San Antonio pastor and an employee of his Christian boot camp were arrested Friday on aggravated assault charges, accused of dragging a girl behind a van after she failed to keep up during a running exercise. Investigators with the Nueces County Sheriff's Office arrested Charles E. Flowers, 46, shortly before noon at the Faith Outreach Center in northwest San Antonio, said Brad E. Bailey, a spokesman for the Schertz Police Department. Bailey said boot camp trainer Stephanie Bassitt, 20, was later arrested without incident at her home in Kirby. Flowers and Bassitt each were being held on $100,000 bail...

EAST CHICAGO, Ind. — Parents say their children were strip-searched at a city-run day camp by counselors who were searching for $140 that disappeared from another worker's backpack. April Hinton said her 8-year-old son told her about the search that happened at the Martin Luther King Center last week. Snip Ivan Bodensteiner, a civil rights lawyer and Valparaiso University Law School professor, said even law enforcement officers have fairly limited powers to strip-search suspects. "Government would have a very difficult time justifying a strip search of kids just because they happened to be around when some money was stolen," he...

Summer day camp strip-search (NBC NEWS CHANNEL) -- Parents are outraged in an Indiana community after they learned their young children were strip-searched at a summer day camp. Mothers like April Hinton want answers tonight. Hinton says "had our children not talked to us we would not have even known about it." She says when she talked to the director of the summer camp here at this East Chicago, Indiana rec center she wasn't given a great answer. April says "she says she was not aware that she could not do that. And I told her you feel that it's...

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China is launching an experimental summer camp for 40 youngsters to try to wean them off their Internet addiction, state media said on Tuesday. The 10-day program would accept youngsters aged between 14 and 22 once they had undergone a psychological test and evaluation, the China Daily said. About 2.6 million -- or 13 percent -- of China's 20 million Internet users under 18 are classed as addicts, state media have reported. The youngsters at the summer camp would be treated for depression, fear, unwillingness to interact with others, panic and agitation. It would appear to be...

Remember the mammoths, say the clean-cut organisers at the youth camp's mass wedding. "They became extinct because they did not have enough sex. That must not happen to Russia". Obediently, couples move to a special section of dormitory tents arranged in a heart-shape and called the Love Oasis, where they can start procreating for the motherland. With its relentlessly upbeat tone, bizarre ideas and tight control, it sounds like a weird indoctrination session for a phoney religious cult. But this organisation - known as "Nashi", meaning "Ours" - is youth movement run by Vladimir Putin's Kremlin that has become a...

LANCASTER, Ohio -- A camp counselor accused of molesting three boys at a church camp in central Ohio said he's innocent. In an interview Wednesday with WBNS TV in Columbus, 43-year-old Timothy Stephen Keil said he did not harm any children at the Scioto Youth Camp. The camp is about 50 miles southeast of Columbus. Keil, a married father of six, was arraigned Wednesday on felony charges of gross sexual imposition. A Perry County judge ordered him held on a $200,000 bond. Authorities said Keil was arrested on Friday after three boys, age’s 8 to 10, claimed Keil touched them...

Last Updated: Tuesday, 24 July 2007, 15:58 GMT 16:58 UK Rubber rings ruled too unhygienic A council has banned its swimming pools from lending out armbands [water wings] and rubber rings after a sports watchdog ruled blowing them up was too unhygienic. Bournemouth Borough Council in Dorset imposed the ban in response to guidelines issued by The Institute of Sport and Recreation Management. The council said it would be too expensive to train the 275 staff needed to follow the new rules. The guidelines also warn that accidents may be caused by unseen punctures. Raft of rules A council spokeswoman...

Terrorist Boy Scouts? 7/25/2007 Let me say up front: I am not making this up. There's a Boy Scout camp in Colorado where they've taught gun safety and target shooting for years. Well, when some newcomer neighbors complained about it, the county sheriff there likened the place to a "Hamas training camp." Elbert County Sheriff William Frangis, who's testified in favor of gun bans in Denver on multiple occasions, now has the Boy Scouts in his sights. So, what were the Scouts doing that caused all the commotion? Shooting sporting clays during a two-day fundraiser. Yeah, I know: So what?...

RVs -- or trailers, auto or trailer coaches -- cannot be stored for more than 48 hours in the home's "setback" area. That's basically the driveway or any spot between the sidewalk and the front of the house. That's city ordinance 15.140.020. Break the city's 48-hour rule and you could get a $100 ticket. ... If a person really is loading or unloading the RV for a trip, officials may give him some extra time, Fernandez says. But, he says, you can't keep putting things in and taking things out. "You can technically load and unload ad infinitum," he says....

Scouts' firing range irks residents Neighbors say clay shooting events disruptive By Ivan Moreno, Rocky Mountain News July 7, 2007 ELBERT - Neighbors say the Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch is anything but that. The realization came after an explosion of shotgun blasts from the camp in May, when Boy Scouts held a two-day clay shooting fundraiser. "It sounded like Hamas had a training camp next door," said Elbert County Sheriff William Frangis, who fielded numerous calls from people who live near the ranch. The Scouts say no one complained to them. Although the camp has had a shooting range for...

The importance of children in a marriage for making that relationship work is plummeting, and a children's organization says churches apparently are reflecting that change in priorities, with tens of thousands fewer congregations now offering vacation Bible school. The concerns are being expressed by officials at National Children's Day, who promote the second Sunday in June as Children's Day each year. Since its beginnings in the 1920s, when Standard Publishing of Cincinnati became the first publisher to create a full-scale vacation Bible school program, the institution has been part of many communities' summertime outreaches. However, new studies show that the...

Camping and Lewis and Clark BY DAVE BARRY (This classic Dave Barry column was originally published on April 7, 1996.) Now that it's warmed up, I'm thinking about camping. Don't misunderstand me: I'm not thinking about actually going camping, in the sense of venturing outdoors and turning my body into an All-U-Can-Eat buffet for insects. I'm just thinking about camping. What got me on this topic is a book I'm reading, called ''Undaunted Courage,'' by Stephen E. Ambrose, about the ultimate camping trip: the Lewis and Clark expedition. If you're a product of the U.S. educational system, you no doubt...

YMCA stands for Young Men’s Christian Association.  That being the case, why would the athletic group allow an anti-Christian young Muslim girl’s organization to use their facilities for a jihad camp?On the heels of their counterpart Young Muslims brotherhood’s secret camp, the Young Muslims Sisters (YMS) will be holding their own camp, today, August 18th through the 20th, at the most unlikely of places – Port Murray, New Jersey’s YMCA Camp Bernie.  While the destination may be different, and the attire might have changed, the speakers at the event will be just as radical.YMS is a subsidiary of the Islamic...

Nature-deficit disorder is ruining our kidshttp://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20060816/OPINION/108160053 http://tinyurl.com/zchy3 by jim stiles August 16, 2006 No matter how old I live to be, there will never be a place so full of mystery and adventure as a place of my childhood called The Woods. The stories that grew out of those trees still kindle powerful feelings, even after all these years. My friends and I knew the place was haunted. It had no boundaries, and in our 10-year-old minds, it went on forever. Jump ahead a few decades to a familiar topic: the commercialization of wilderness. What created the demand for such...

A disconnect at camphttp://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1154728213922&call_pageid=970599119419 http://tinyurl.com/mb4ox Kids are OK with new no-cellphone rules, but not so for some of their parents Aug. 5, 2006. 01:00 AM FRANCINE KOPUN FEATURE WRITER Ali Goodwill, 14, spends three hours a night on her cellphone. "I usually have to gossip with my best friends, and I just talk with random people for another hour. ... I love my cellphone so much. ... It's my baby." So you would think there would have been tears, tantrums, perhaps a smuggling incident, when the Grade 9 student was asked to hand over the phone at the gates of...

Rabies shots urged for 950 Girl Scouts Associated Press LEESBURG, Va. - Officials are recommending that nearly 1,000 Girl Scouts who may have been exposed to rabies at a Northern Virginia camp consider getting protective vaccinations. There is only a small chance that any of the girls were infected by bats that were found in some of the sleeping shelters at Camp Potomac Woods, Loudoun County officials said. But authorities are erring on the side of caution because around 1 percent of bats carry rabies, a viral disease that is incurable once symptoms appear. Bats can bite children in their...

I sent my son off to church camp this year, an innocent nine-year-old boy, a little shy. They returned to me a demented little pervert with a repertoire of filthy jokes that would make Andrew Dice Clay blush. Not to mention three new hymns and a half dozen Bible verses. Cool. He'd never been to any kind of camp before. He was worried about all the normal stuff a boy would worry about before such an adventure. Would he be homesick? Would the food be OK? Are there bears? Or, even worse, GIRLS? I told him: A little bit. Probably....

VERGAS, Minn. — It's one of the rituals of the summer camp experience — young campers starting each morning with a group song. But here at Al-Waha, it's not the standard "Camptown Ladies" fare. The kids warble not in English, but in a guttural yet soothing Arabic, the language they're learning in a two-week session on the shores of northwestern Minnesota's Leek Lake. As they sing, Al-Waha's dean, Ghazi Abuhakema, translates: "My world is beautiful, and wrongdoing will not happen," Abuhakema whispers. "A villager I am. Our caravan keeps moving forward in a big long procession." It's like much of...

Planning to overnight at the Kenai's most popular campground? Leave the tent at home. Tent camping is now banned in the Russian River campground. Campers there must sleep in a hard-shelled vehicle. This comes after a bear grabbed a man sleeping in his tent early Saturday morning and bit him. Other campers scared off the bear after the man started yelling. He suffered minor injuries.

 The Young Muslims are in hiding.  They are hiding the location of their August 2nd youth camp, and the public has a right to know why.The Young Muslims (YM) was founded well over a decade ago, as a subsidiary of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), an organization that was created specifically to emulate the violent Muslim Brotherhood of Pakistan, Jamaat-e-Islami.  Through ICNA, YM holds events that feature as speakers some of the most radical individuals in the Islamic community.  These events include youth camps, which, prior to the attacks on 9/11, were referred to as “jihad camps.”The latest...

Campers honor unknown soldiers Published July 19, 2006 LAKE JACKSON — Before a flag-draped coffin Tuesday, Brazosport Christian School summer campers witnessed a somber ceremony of remembrance. The casket, though empty, stood as a symbol for the sacrifice of countless military men and women, a sentiment not lost on the campers who sat motionless as the Freeport Chapter 4341 of the Veterans of Foreign War folded the flag, explaining the significance of each crease in the fabric. “The first fold in the flag is a symbol for life,” VFW Special Aide-de-Camp Wess Hudgins recited. “The second fold is a symbol...

Move over Abercrombie & Fitch. For the teenage Lutheran, Abreadcrumb & Fish is much more hip. A slogan touting a takeoff of the popular youth clothier is among many campy T-shirts being snatched up by a massive gathering of Christian teens here this week. The convention of youth of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is so large that they meet in two waves. Last week saw about 15,000 swarming downtown, and this week there are some 25,000 here. With a combined estimated 40,000 delegates, it is the largest convention to date in San Antonio. Between pricey hotel rooms, River...

CROWN POINT, Ind. -- Prayer has been banned at 4-H meetings in Lake County, Ind. A memorandum issued last month by the Lake County Cooperative Extension Service said prayer is forbidden at all times, including to "begin or close meetings, fundraisers, camp sessions, including meals, and/or award ceremonies." Stan Sims, the county extension director, said he issued the directive because: "We want to respect peoples' beliefs and be inclusive." No single incident prompted his note. The formal prayers had been a tradition at various events, including 4-H, which has more than 800 youth members in Lake County. The new policy...

Loney says camp closing because of his homosexuality Former hostage James Loney is accusing an Ontario Catholic camp he once worked for of closing its doors because of his homosexuality. James Loney alleged that a youth camp closed its doors in an act of discrimination. The closure of the Ontario Catholic Youth Leadership Camp by the Knights of Columbus Ontario State Council, which finances the camp, was an act of discrimination, Loney told a news conference Tuesday. Loney said he and his supporters struggled with the decision to go public with the allegations, but finally decided to come forward. "We...

Utah Scouts preparing to push summer safetyhttp://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635212541,00.html http://tinyurl.com/kcvon Deseret Morning News, Saturday, June 03, 2006 By Pat Reavy and Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News In the wake of high-profile outdoor tragedies in recent years, the Great Salt Lake Council of the Boy Scouts of America is revising its rules to help keep Scouts safe this summer, and one Utah mom has developed an outdoors safety pack for children. The organization has made sweeping changes to many of its camping policies, including new safety measures for hikes, precautions against lighting strikes and new guidelines for campfires. "We now have in place...

Fresh Idea: Survival Kits For Kidshttp://kutv.com/freshidea/local_story_143180939.html May 23, 2006 4:07 pm US/Mountain The summer is here and you may have a lot of outdoor activities planned. But before you send family members out in to the wilderness, Michelle King shows us what every parent should equip their child with. In case of any emergency being prepared for the worst may save your life or the life of someone you love. Last summer 11-year-old Brennan Hawkins went missing for four nights, but was found alive. Just one year prior to Brennan, 12-year-old Garrett Bardsley also went missing during a scout trip...

Boy Scouts of America Selects Campfire Cafe Cookbook http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/5/prweb384364.htm (PRWEB) May 16, 2006 -- Over The Open Fire, a unique cookbook featuring open fire cooking recipes and methods from the popular television series Campfire Cafe, has been chosen for worldwide distribution by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Boy Scouting is designed to take place outdoors. In the outdoors, the skills and activities practiced at troop meetings come alive with purpose. Outdoor cooking has long proved to be an activity that helps make outdoor excursions more fun and educational. Over The Open Fire takes traditional open-fire cooking methods enjoyed by...

ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 8, 2006 – Even though the registration deadline is only a week away, there's still room for military children to attend an "Operation Purple" summer camp free of charge, according to National Military Family Association officials. Applications are available only online, and officials emphasized they will be accepted only through May 15. NMFA's Operation Purple camps provide children from military families fun and memorable opportunities to learn new skills for managing deployment-related stress, officials said. NMFA developed this free summer camp program, sponsored this year by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and TriWest Healthcare Alliance,...

North Liberty, Iowa. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has signed a lease for up to 25 years with a group that wants to build a Muslim youth camp at Lake Coralville. The lease allows the Cedar Rapids-based Muslim Youth Camps of America to build on 114 acres of federal land. Construction can start once the group works out details with county and state regulators, the corps said Wednesday. Plans for the $934,000 camp north of North Liberty call for lodging up to 60 campers ages 10 to 17 in cabins and tents plus staffers during the summer and up...

LITCHFIELD -- State police have arrested a Winsted woman who allegedly struck a 7-year-old autistic boy she was hired to watch at a summer day camp in Barkhamsted. According to an arrest warrant, Lisa J. Warner didn't last a full August day with Cathy and Paul O'Meara's young son. The camp's director drove Warner home early on her first day after counselors saw her getting rough with the boy. State police handcuffed Warner at her 111 Meadow St. home Wednesday morning. She was later arraigned in Bantam Superior Court, where she faced charges of cruelty to persons and second-degree breach...

Ambrea Johnson, 9, right, and sister Aijah, 7, bottom, put on camouflage paint with the help from Pfc. Kenneth Crim during Sunday's 4-H Club visit to a Fort Huachuca obstacle course. (Mark Levy-Herald/Review) Youngsters conquer obstacles on fort, learn team conceptBy Michael SullivanHerald/Review FORT HUACHUCA — “The emphasis today is on teamwork,� Lt. Robert Parker advised about 30 eager-eyed 4-H’ers Sunday morning at the Robert C. Sheetz Jr. Warrior Complex. The kids had other ideas. With the gusto and general fearlessness of youth, the boys and girls charged through the grueling obstacle course with one goal in mind: to...

Falling tree kills girl, 8, at Scout camp OCEAN TOWNSHIP - An 8-year-old girl was killed and three others injured Wednesday when an oak tree crashed down on them during a first-aid class at a Boy Scout camp, authorities said. The girls were participating in a class being taught as part of an overnight camp when the 31-foot tree suddenly snapped, falling on the picnic table at which they were sitting, Police Chief Kenneth Flatt said. The tree broke about three feet from its base and crashed through a tarp over the picnic table, landing on the girl's head. She...

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- The Salvation Army Camp that thousands of children and adults visit every summer will soon become home for families who have lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. Lois McDonald came up with the idea to use the camp. "It's just kind of natural. It was there. I knew it was there, and it just came to mind," said Lois McDonald. Now evacuees will have a roof over their heads, a bed to sleep in and meals prepared for them, KMBC's Lara Moritz reported. "We'll be housing and feeding these people for an undetermined duration of time," Salvation Army's...

Imagine if an ad for summer camp read, "Give your children a summer of enjoyment! Let them learn a skill! Teach them to kill." Imagine no more. The ad belongs to Hamas. by Rabbi Shea Hecht Imagine if an ad for summer camp read, "Give your children a summer of enjoyment! Let them learn a skill! Teach them to kill." It would be shocking, wouldn't it? The ad is imaginary, but just as other specialty camps teach children various skills, according to a recent San Francisco Chronicle article there is a camp that teaches children to kill. Why do parents...

Mainline denominations have struggled for years in the area of church growth. Actually, most of them have been far better at shrinkage. Dave Shiflett's book Exodus describes Americans racing from liberal churches for conservative Christianity found in a variety of places, not the least being Roman Catholicism, the Orthodox Church, the Southern Baptists and other evangelical traditions. The shrinking dynamic continues apace as once formidable denominations have, according to Shiflett, turned "Holy Writ on its head: what was once forbidden becomes acceptable, if not celebrated; admonitions toward holy living suddenly become hate speech." The mainliners have, in many instances, become...

Tent? Check. Coleman stove? Check. Laptop? Darn right!Camping essentials used to include Coleman lanterns, goose-down sleeping bags and water purification kits. But a growing number of campers are adding laptops to that list, and wireless Internet access in the great outdoors is becoming the new must-have. Private campgrounds across the nation have been adding wireless Internet access in recent years, and state park campgrounds are apparently following suit in a number of places. And while few campsites in national parks offer wireless Internet so far, that could change if demand warrants. Alan Friedman, CIO of the California State Parks system,...

The Art of Protesting: Kids take creative approach to activism at camp in Ben Lomond If You Go WHAT: Art in Action, which is running a summer camp in Ben Lomond, hosts a performance and dinner this week. WHERE: The Attic Teahouse & Art Space, 931 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. WHEN: 7 p.m. Thursday. COST: $10-$20, sliding scale at the door. INFORMATION: 460-1800. By SHANNA McCORD Sentinel staff writer BEN LOMOND — While most summer camps get kids out of the house and give parents a break, a group called Art in Action is nurturing the next Michael Moore —...

Members of Boy Scout Troop No. 633 got a sad surprise just before a weekend camping trip. When they showed up at Mountain View Baptist Church on Friday afternoon to get their camping gear from a utility trailer in the parking lot, it was gone. Everything - the trailer, the camp stoves, the tarps, the lanterns. In typical Boy Scout fashion, the boys were taught a lesson within the predicament. "We told the boys that there are bad people out there and that bad things happen sometimes," said Scout dad John Nolin. "You can hang your head or you can...

What Palestinians view as respite from poverty, Israelis call terror training for youth. Gaza City -- Seventeen-year-old Osama Abu Asi knows what Hamas stands for: swimming lessons, horseback riding, potato sack races and other summertime fun -- including religious education and paramilitary training. This is summer camp in the Gaza Strip, as organized by Harakat al- Moqawama al-Islamiyah, the Islamic Resistance Movement, better known as Hamas -- which is officially regarded by the United States and many other countries as a terrorist organization that has killed hundreds of Israelis. All summer long, at camps in playgrounds, in dirt-poor neighborhoods and...

Few who attended a summer camp tested high enough to become fourth-graders, but they can move on in other ways. Despite giving up weeks of their vacation to summer reading camp, few Tampa Bay area third-graders scored high enough on a final exam to earn promotion to fourth grade. Only 14 percent of the 403 Pinellas children who took the test scored well enough to be promoted. In Hernando County, only 28 percent, or 30 children, passed. In Pasco County, 138 students will move on after passing the test. It is unclear how many took it. Hillsborough officials are still...