Free Republic

Donna M. Beegle, PhD, is spending her career explaining to audiences that there is poverty in America, that the solution to poverty is education, and that too often poverty prevents people from getting educated. A few weeks ago I heard Beegle speak at the high school where I work. While the impact of most motivational speakers lasts only a few days, this one was different. You can get an idea of her qualities as a speaker from excerpts available on YouTube, and from a trailer for "Invisible Nation," a one-hour documentary about Beegle and her family that is in the...

MANAMA, Bahrain, July 21, 2009 – Navy Rear Adm. Carol M. Pottenger and Navy Rear Adm. Michelle Howard have plenty on their respective plates – Pottenger as commander of Naval Expeditionary Combat Command and Howard as commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 2. But that doesn’t stop the two flag officers from taking on the additional role of mentoring female sailors. Navy Rear Adm. Carol Pottenger, right, and Navy Rear Adm. Michelle Howard met with women surface warfare officers at U.S. Naval Forces Central Command headquarters in Manama, Bahrain, to encourage them in their careers and lives. U.S. Navy photo by...

A convoy of security forces Airmen from the 732nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron Detachment 2, roll out of Camp Striker, Iraq May 8. The Airmen will convoy outside the wire to a local city to train and mentor the Iraqi Police on everything from conducting basic patrols to weapon handling techniques. Photo by Senior Airman Jacqueline Romero. CAMP STRYKER — In a crowded briefing room more than two dozen security forces members sporting flight suits casually sit and wait for their squad leader to start the briefing for the day's mission. As the squad leader makes his way to the...

BAGHDAD, Jan. 29, 2009 – Soldiers from varied backgrounds and specialties are helping to ensure the continued success of the Iraqi army as mentors and members of a military transition team. Iraqi army 1st Lt. Murtada Esam Hussein searches Iraqi army 1st Lt. Mohammed Edan while U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Heather Roark, member of the 9th Iraqi Army Division military transition team, observes and offers advice on the appropriate techniques for searching women at Al Rasheed Iraqi army base in Baghdad, Jan. 23, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Whitney Houston  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “Our main...

BASRA — Combat Outpost Perry (COP) here houses elements of the U.S. Army's 21st Military Police Company, the first U.S. military police unit in the area. The unit, which is primarily based out of nearby Contingency Operating Base Basra, is deployed to provide assessments, assistance, training and mentoring to the Basra police force. Although the unit could have been based solely out of the contingency operating base, the Soldiers at the outpost said they felt a need to be closer to the citizens of Basra and their Iraqi Police (IP) counterparts. "By being closer to the IP and the people...

KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Jan. 22, 2008 – A U.S. Marine embedded training team is teaching Afghan army officers to show initiative and take the lead for their army and country. Marine Lt. Col. James F. Werth looks down a mountain to check on his embedded training team as it makes its way to an observation point on top of a mountain from a border checkpoint several hundred meters below in eastern Kunar province, Afghanistan. Werth is the team officer in charge for ETT 7-2, which is deployed to Afghanistan from Okinawa, Japan, to work with the Afghan National Army....

MAIMANEH, Afghanistan, Nov. 29, 2007 – Road maps of Faryab province mark roads as “drivable,” “possibly drivable” and “maybe drivable,” but a police mentoring team there often drives where there are no roads at all. These mentors from Task Force Phoenix drive them all, even at night. Army Spc. John Caddell cleans the talc-like dust from his M-240 machine gun at a rest stop during a patrol. Caddell was out with a Police Mentoring Team on a visit to the Qasir, Afghanistan, district police headquarters to check on Afghan National Police deployed during an operation against insurgents in northwest...

HERAT, Afghanistan (NNS) -- A Sailor is using his skills as a chief petty officer as a valuable leadership tool for Afghan forces at Camp Victory near Herat, Afghanistan. Chief Storekeeper Archee Santos, an individual augmentee, has the unique responsibility of mentoring one of the Afghan National Army’s (ANA) kandak's, or battalion's, company commanders, executive officers, and first sergeants for Higher Headquarters Company (HHC). “The ANA is only three years old,” said Santos, “so that means the most experienced person in the whole army only has three years under their belt. It’s a young army and they need strong mentoring....

Former Presidents Bush, Clinton asked to raise cash for hurricane victims WASHINGTON President Bush is asking his father and former President Bill Clinton to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina. The two have been raising money for victims of the tsunami that hit Asia in December. The former presidents plan to meet at the White House today with the current chief executive. A White House spokesman also says President Bush will tour the damage zone tomorrow by helicopter and then will see some spots on the ground. The spokesman says Bush wanted to visit the area earlier but "didn't...

All 3 set to address their plans of action for hurricane relief...press conference and address to be given at 2:20 EST

Saturday, November 27, 2004 LAW OF THE LANDAtheists sue to stop Christian mentoring'Our Constitution was very purposefully written to be a godless document' Posted: November 27, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com The Wisconsin-based atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation is suing to cut off federal funding to a Christian child-mentoring program that helps troubled kids. Last year, the federal government awarded a $225,000 contract, part of $9 million awarded to 52 Arizona groups, to Phoenix-based MentorKids USA, according to the Madison, Wisc.-based Capital Times. The lawsuit, presided over by U.S. Judge John Shabaz, is demanding a summary judgment that federal funding...

The Wisconsin-based atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation is suing to cut off federal funding to a Christian child-mentoring program that helps troubled kids. Last year, the federal government awarded a $225,000 contract, part of $9 million awarded to 52 Arizona groups, to Phoenix-based MentorKids USA, according to the Madison, Wisc.-based Capital Times. The lawsuit, presided over by U.S. Judge John Shabaz, is demanding a summary judgment that federal funding of the program cease until the government "has a demonstrated plan in place to comply with its constitutional obligations," reports the Wisconsin paper. Citing the First Amendment, the atheist foundation...

AgapePress) - One of the nation's largest mentoring organizations is discovering that some of its chapters are having trouble getting liability insurance because they allow homosexuals to be mentors for kids. According to Family News in Focus, several chapters of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) may be forced to shut down because insurance companies are charging higher premiums or even refusing to write policies because of the "gay" mentors. In 2002, BBBSA began requiring its chapters to allow open homosexuals to serve as mentors for children participating in its programs. That policy -- especially in light of the...

Buddhist group receives funds for worker effort The Buddhist Coalition for Bodhisattva Activity in Boulder was announced on Monday as one of the recipients of a Colorado Compassion Institute grant. The grant, which is funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is designated to help small community- and faith-based groups fund a direct service program. About $200,000 was given to 27 sub-awardees from around the state. The Boulder coalition received $4,925 to enroll and support its volunteers who are working in conjunction with Workforce Boulder's Project Work Together. The volunteers help mentor people who are making the...

Former police officer sentenced in sex case FORT WORTH (AP) — A former Haltom City policeman was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for sexually assaulting a teen. John Ross Ewing, 29, was convicted Wednesday of three counts of sexual assault of a child. Investigators said Ewing was off duty when he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old male he met in a program intended to give students a chance to learn about law enforcement. The Explorer program, which Haltom City officials suspended last year, operated in conjunction with the Boy Scouts of America. Ewing resigned from the Haltom City police...

SEAT PLEASANT, Md., Sep 26, 2003 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- The police chief of a small Washington, D.C., suburb was charged with taking pornographic photos of a boy in a junior police program and coercing the boy to have sex. Chief Ronald C. Forrest, 39, was arrested Thursday, and is being held without bond pending an appearance Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court, according to an FBI affidavit. The FBI said a woman who knew Forrest obtained a photo album containing pornographic images of underage males from Forrest's home in Clinton and gave it to agents earlier this month....

In the wake of the Catholic Church scandal, the Big Sisters Big Brothers program exposes public schools to increased liability risks by allowing homosexuals to volunteer, a public interest law firm is warning administrators and parents across the nation. In a letter distributed nationwide, the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund said the mentoring program's policy change – permitting volunteers who practice homosexual behavior – is a "recipe for disaster," especially without written parental consent. "As the recent scandals in the Catholic Church demonstrate," the letter to school officials states, "when an adult uses a position of authority and influence to take...

The Alliance Defense Fund warns school districts nationwide of grave consequences if they pair kids with homosexual Big Brothers or Big Sisters without parental consent.Last year, we learned that Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) was mandating its local chapters accept homosexual mentors for youth. Worse, we learned that some of BBBSA's school-based mentoring programs were pairing students with open homosexual mentors — without the knowledge or consent of parents. Recently, the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) mailed a letter to hundreds of major school districts — from San Francisco to New York — warning them the situation could place...

- A Christian legal group is cautioning people about the potential fallout from a new anti-family policy being implemented by the largest mentoring organization in the United States.Last year, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) ordered all 490 of its local affiliates to allow homosexuals to mentor children. At that time, many pro-family groups -- among them Focus on the Family, the American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, and Family Research Council -- reacted strongly to the move. Dr. Bill Maier, a psychologist with Focus on the Family, called it a "recipe for disaster" to match up children...

Schools, Parents Warned About Homosexual Mentors for Kids With No Parent Involvement, Schools Open to 'Substantial Legal Liability,' Group Says By Jim Brown and Jody Brown August 29, 2003 (AgapePress) - A Christian legal group is cautioning people about the potential fallout from a new anti-family policy being implemented by the largest mentoring organization in the United States. Last year, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) ordered all 490 of its local affiliates to allow homosexuals to mentor children. At that time, many pro-family groups -- among them Focus on the Family, the American Family Association, Concerned Women for...