Free Republic

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/57states.asp

Obama claimed to have visited 57 states while campaigning

SOUTHERLAND,ELIZABETH 00 ES $185,100.00

2016 Salary — just imagine what her pension will be

Google cache of article: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:SmG7rBDLYMIJ:www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Senate-battles-fuel-Cruz-coalition-5958901.php+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a

Click here for link

Apple has now taken over the role of the "evil empire" -- witness the ironic Motorola Superbowl ad slamming conformist iPod earbud wearers.

Apple's "walled garden" approach to apps & content (i.e., benevolent dictatorship) runs contrary to Internet norms of sharing, openness, and freedom.

Case in point, Apple's rejection of traditional Christianity by removal of the "Manhattan Declaration" app:

http://www.christianexaminer.com/Articles/Articles%20Jan11/Art_Jan11_04.html

Apple has rejected an iPhone/iPad "app" that had been resubmitted by signers of the Manhattan Declaration, further frustrating Christian leaders who fear the controversy signals a growing societal intolerance of orthodox Christianity.

Conservative leaders are now calling the company's policy "appalling" and suggesting it reflects hostility toward Christian beliefs.

At issue is an iPhone/iPad software program containing the text of the Manhattan Declaration, a 4,700-word document that includes basic Christian teachings and Bible verses on marriage, life and religious liberty. More than 480,000 people the signed the document online. It received widespread media coverage. Among its stances, the document opposes "gay marriage," abortion and embryonic stem cell research.

Apple pulled the free app from its online store in November, saying it "violates our developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people."

Here’s a much better Youtube:

Obama Birth Certificate Faked In Adobe Illustrator - Official Proof 1 ( Layers )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s9StxsFllY

Downloading the PDF and opening it up in Adobe Illustrator clearly demonstrates “layers” of images which show how the document was assembled. There’s no possible way that the PDF posted to the whitehouse.gov website was a simple scan/copy of an original document.

http://whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/birth-certificate-long-form.pdf

Wow, your superior intellect is astounding — NOT! And what lies and distortions do you refer to?

I don’t think David Parker is even aware of freerepublic, but you can go on deluding yourself with your brilliant inferences, as I’m sure you will.

Melas wrote:
The guy just didn’t know when to quit. Why he thought that remaining in the school’s office after he was asked to leave makes no sense on his part.
He was in the right in every respect, and had he left and got a lawyer he’d have prevailed.

I guess you'd think that Rosa Parks should also have just gotten up and left the bus, instead of getting arrested for "violating the segregation laws" for refusing to sit at the back of the bus. Why should Christian parents (and their children) be treated as second-class citizens by the government schools? http://teacher.scholastic.com/ROSA/arrested.htm

Support David Parker ! Visit:

www.davidparkerfacts.org

Support David Parker (father jailed in Lexington for standing up for parental rights) ! Visit:

www.davidparkerfacts.org

Here are letters in the newspaper issue accompanying the poll results

Curriculum reflects families’ values
By Meg Soens/North Hancock Street
Thu Apr 17, 2008, 06:17 AM EDT
Lexington -
Lexington - My children will not benefit from the elementary diversity curriculum that Superintendent Ash recently announced will be piloted in the fall, since our youngest heads to Diamond then. But I know that current and future students will reap the benefits.

The curriculum is really an attempt to restore and systematize what had been, prior to the Parker-Wirthlin lawsuit, a long-term, ongoing effort to make the public schools welcoming for all children by acknowledging and incorporating their families and backgrounds in the reading and discussions.

At one level, this curriculum will ensure that children will finally, once again in some cases, get to see their own families reflected in class materials. This means the children will feel truly included in the community. When our eighth-grade children were in elementary school, they asked me why there were no books that included our family in their classrooms. That did not feel right to them. It bothered them.

At another level, this will make sure that teachers’ discussions include some mention of gay and lesbian people — in addition to people of color, people with disabilities, people of all kinds of family structures — will reduce bullying and harassment because of the message of respect sent by such inclusion.

Some people may not see such harassment at the elementary school level, but it exists. My youngest son was harassed by another child this year because he has lesbian parents. This devolved to the kind of crude sexualized putdown that I would be shocked to hear from someone of any age. From a fifth grader, I was stunned. School staff did a great job of responding. However, the lawsuit had resulted in teachers being ordered not to read any books that included gay and lesbian people. As a result, this child was not exposed in class to the ideas that gay people and gay-headed families deserve respect just like everyone else. Our teachers were silenced for two years. I don’t know if inclusion in books and discussion would have ensured that my son didn’t get harassed, but it could have.

Now, with the new curriculum announced and the lawsuit thrown out at yet another level, teachers once again can use resources that show our families. Students will once again get to see their classmates of all backgrounds and abilities and yes, with gay parents as well as straight, in the texts they read.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/lexington/news/opinions/letters/x2037901085

Schools becoming more welcoming
By Jenny Richlin/Sherburne Road
Thu Apr 17, 2008, 06:16 AM EDT
Lexington -

Lexington - Every time I drive by the Minuteman statue or take a visitor to the Battle Green, I’m reminded of how lucky I am to live in Lexington. I’m proud of our town’s history of supporting freedom and diversity. And, I’m proud of our continued focus on making Lexington a place of tolerance and inclusion for all, regardless of race, religion, age, gender or sexual orientation.

That’s why I was pleased to hear about the recently announced diversity curriculum. The curriculum supports some of our town’s most basic values by making sure all children feel welcome in our schools. The curriculum is age appropriate and designed to help children recognize and accept themselves and their peers regardless of race, gender, religion, or family makeup.

The curriculum is not something radically new or different from what Lexington has done in the past. It simply builds on work that is already being done in the classrooms — work that reflects Massachusetts state curricula — and provides a consistent set of materials and guidelines to be used throughout the elementary schools.

Dr. Ash, the School Committee, the people who developed the curriculum, and the teachers who will ultimately deliver it are making a great contribution toward keeping Lexington a free and welcoming place for our children. Please show them your support as they roll it out over the coming months. Something as simple as a one line e-mail to your principal can make a big difference as our educators come under fire for supporting something as basic as a child’s right to a safe, welcoming school environment.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/lexington/news/opinions/letters/x2037901085

Educational materials were carefully crafted
By Lexington's PTA leaders
Thu Apr 17, 2008, 06:14 AM EDTLexington - With the introduction of a new curriculum promoting understanding of the diversity around us, the Lexington Public School system finds itself, once again, the focus of sensational media stories. And so, we ask ourselves, isn’t it time that Lexington’s efforts to follow state and federal mandates, adhere to educational best practices and stay true to our own principles of inclusion, respect and understanding, be the norm, not the news?

As PTA presidents in the Lexington Public Schools, we work hard to strengthen our school communities. We are deeply committed to understanding, inclusion, and respectful involvement. Our sincere hope is that our children are learning these very same things every day in their classrooms from kindergarten through 12th grade.

The material and lessons in the new diversity curriculum, being piloted in Lexington next year, have been carefully developed and reviewed to meet children at their developmental level. They will flow seamlessly into long-standing programs like Open Circle and the Scott Foresman reader. The curriculum guarantees a more comfortable and secure learning environment as children see themselves, their families and their community, in all its variation, reflected in their school material. The lessons offer alternatives to stereotyping and bullying. The material explores some historical roots of discrimination giving our children a deeper awareness and better preparation for becoming caring citizens and future leaders in our diverse and complex world.

We hope Lexington parents will join us in actively and openly supporting our school administration and staff as they go about the business of educating our children in the 21st century.

This letter was co-signed by Debora Hoard, LHS PTSA President; Saana McDaniel, JCSA Co-President; Susan Schiffer, JCSA Co-President; Donna Desmond, Diamond PTA Co-President; Mary McTigue, Diamond PTA Co-President; Lisa Nardone, Bowman PTA Co-President; Jen Vogelzang, Bowman PTA Co-President ; Ann Boese, Bridge PTA Co-President; Monica Cantwell, Bridge PTA Co-President; Margaret Counts-Klebe, Estabrook PTA Co-President; Pam Hoffman, Estabrook PTA Co-President; Nicole Abair, Fiske PTO Co-President; Sue Bruce, Fiske PTO Co-President; Sharon Kendall, Hastings PTA Co-President; Jessie Steigerwald, Hastings PTA Co-President; Suzanne Cherenson, Harrington PTA Co-President; Mary Ann Stewart, Harrington PTA Co-President; Leslie Zales, Lexington PreSchool PTA Co-President; Deb Rourke, Chairman, PTA Presidents Group.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/lexington/news/opinions/letters/x1632297031

Church group supports program
By Karen Longeteig and Mark Metzger/Follen Church
Thu Apr 17, 2008, 06:11 AM EDT
Lexington -
Lexington - The Follen Church Society (Unitarian-Universalist) of Lexington deplores the recent threats of violence against Superintendent Paul Ash, and would furthermore like to state its firm support of diversity curricula, instruction that helps schools welcome every child from every family.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/lexington/news/opinions/letters/x2037901069

Freep the accompanying poll:

http://www.wickedlocal.com/lexington/homepage/x1767333038

This week we ask for your reaction to the school district’s new diversity curriculum. To learn about what the curriculum entails, visit http://lps.lexingtonma.org/Diversitypresent(mar08).pdf or read Superintendent Paul Ash's column here.

Love it - it will help children feel welcome in schools 84% (84 votes)

Hate it - Children in elementary schools don't need to learn about gay/lesbian topics 14% (14 votes)

Comments (2)

Elisabeth Sackton2008-04-10T22:50:59
I am proud of Dr. Ash and the LPS for their careful development of a diversity curriculum. It is critical that our children are supported in this way. I hope that the LPS will continue also to work on reducing stigma that faces kids with disabilities, continue to start talking about diversity in families early on, and continue to educate for the future of our community: a community that will have all kinds of diversity.

Spencer Fabricant2008-04-11T01:42:05
When I read this over, all I could think was, "wow, if only they taught this stuff to us when I was in elementary school". I love it: children need to be taught to love, not allowed to hate.
Now we need a GSA at the middle-schools. I guarantee there's at least several students NOW in Diamond and Clark that would more than benefit from it. And to anyone who plays the "they're too young to know about it" card about putting a GSA in the middle schools; pardon my tongue, but if they're old enough to know how a penis goes into a vagina (fifth-grade health class), they're old enough to know that it's okay for two guys to love each other.
For what he's done thus far, endless thanks to Paul Ash! Keep it up!

Support David Parker ! Visit:

www.davidparkerfacts.org

The goal of the curriculum was to “serve students from different racial, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds,” and to “serve students from [gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered] families.”

This is intended for children in grades K-5 !

Ping. Support David Parker ! Visit:

www.davidparkerfacts.org

Here's the superintendent's newspaper column about the "diversity curriculum" http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997341/posts

Support David Parker ! Visit:

www.davidparkerfacts.org

Perhaps if David Parker of Lexington, Mass., instead of being a Christian, were Muslim his kids public schools would have withdrawn the same books.

Support David Parker ! Visit:

www.davidparkerfacts.org

a comprehensive, inclusive K-5 Diversity Curriculum

On March 18, we presented to the School Committee this new, formalized diversity curriculum in preparation for next year, when we plan to pilot four to five short units in each elementary grade. Some units will focus on families, including families with single parents, foster parents, and gay and lesbian parents. Other units will focus on racial and ethnic diversity and other areas in which human beings differ from one another.

Why do they have to do this starting in KINDERGARTEN??

Ping Support David Parker ! Visit:

www.davidparkerfacts.org

Here is the accompanying front-page article from the week of the poll:

Lawsuit dismissal upheld

Parker/Wirthlin case may head to Supreme Court

by Ian B. Murphy, Staff Writer

February 7, 2008

A three-judge panel of the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of the Parker/Wirthlin lawsuit against the Lexington Public Schools late last week.

The three judges heard the Lexington families' appeal in December, and Thursday upheld U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf's February 2007 dismissal of the federal case.

"We do not suggest that the school's choice of books for young students has not deeply offended the plaintiffs' sincerely held religious beliefs," said the decision, written by Circuit Judge Sandra Lynch. "If the school system has been insufficiently sensitive to such religious beliefs, the plaintiffs may seek recourse to the normal political processes for change in the town and state."

David Parker, one of the parents who brought the lawsuit forth in 2006, said he is committed to going to the Supreme Court.

"The bottom line is that the opinion of the court is that the teachers, [the judge] admitted, are influencing the children to basically accept gay marriage and homosexual conduct," Parker said. "All parents realize that small impressionable children can be easily manipulated, so in effect it's functional coercive indoctrination."

The court also affirmed that remaining state law claims may be brought back to Massachusetts' courts.

The original suit was filed in 2006 after the Parkers' son, Jacob, brought home a book as part of the diversity book bag from his Estabrook Elementary kindergarten class in 2005.

The book, "Who's in a Family," showed various family types including a same-sex-headed household, as well as single parents and grandparents raising children. The Wirthlins' son, Joey, who was then in second grade, was in class on a day that marriage was the topic. At the time, a book on a prince marrying another prince was read to the class, "King and King."

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) applauded the decision.

"The court's ruling in favor of the Lexington Public Schools is a victory for diversity in American society," said Robert Trestan, the ADL's Eastern States Civil Rights Counsel, in a statement. "Teaching about diversity is of critical importance to creating an open and welcoming society. Such lessons are most effective when the training begins in students' formative years."