The US schools with their own police

The US schools with their own police: "More and more US schools have police patrolling the corridors. Pupils are being arrested for throwing paper planes and failing to pick up crumbs from the canteen floor. Why is the state criminalising normal childhood behaviour?

The charge on the police docket was "disrupting class". But that's not how 12-year-old Sarah Bustamantes saw her arrest for spraying two bursts of perfume on her neck in class because other children were bullying her with taunts of "you smell".

"I'm weird. Other kids don't like me," said Sarah, who has been diagnosed with attention-deficit and bipolar disorders and who is conscious of being overweight. "They were saying a lot of rude things to me. Just picking on me. So I sprayed myself with perfume. Then they said: 'Put that away, that's the most terrible smell I've ever smelled.' Then the teacher called the police."

The policeman didn't have far to come. He patrols the corridors of Sarah's school, Fulmore Middle in Austin, Texas. Like hundreds of schools in the state, and across large parts of the rest of the US, Fulmore Middle has its own police force with officers in uniform who carry guns to keep order in the canteens, playgrounds and lessons. Sarah was taken from class, charged with a criminal misdemeanour and ordered to appear in court...."

ACTA in UK: 10 years in jail for a download?

Indiana House Approves Bill That Allows Homeowners To Kill Police Officers

Indiana House Approves Bill That Allows Homeowners To Kill Police Officers: "Republicans in Indiana are taking self-defense too far. In a move supported by the National Rifle Association, the Indiana House passed Senate Bill 1, which allows homeowners to shoot and kill police officers they believe are unlawfully on their property or in their homes. The bill could also extend to federal law enforcement officials..."

My jaw dropped when I saw this. WTF are they THINKING?!

The March of Christian Dominionism 1: What Is Christian Dominionism?

The March of Christian Dominionism 1: What Is Christian Dominionism?: "Or “Welcome to the Theocratic States of America”

Thirty years from now, a protestor stands alone on a corner. She is visibly pregnant. Her sign, written in blood red marker, says “I’m carrying my rapist’s baby! Thanks a lot, Jesus!” She has only been there for five minutes but has been called “slut” and “whore” by several passersby. One elderly woman stops long enough to tell her she deserved to be raped for not loving Jesus enough. Others look at her with sad eyes but quickly avert their gaze lest one of their neighbors notice.

Finally the police arrive to take the woman into custody. She has not spoken a word. She has no bullhorn. She has not accosted a single person on the street. Yet she is still arrested by men who barely contain their contempt for her. She has broken no laws that we would recognize but still, she is roughly handcuffed and placed in the back of a police cruiser. Of course, they take great care not to harm the baby she is carrying; the bruises she’ll have later won’t be anywhere near life-threatening. In this, she is lucky to be pregnant; others do not fare as well...."

Komen's $7.5 Million Grant to Penn State Appears to Violate New Policy

Komen's $7.5 Million Grant to Penn State Appears to Violate New Policy: "Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which recently announced that it is ending grants to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screening because of a controversial investigation launched by an anti-abortion Republican congressman, currently funds cancer research at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center to the tune of $7.5 million. Like Planned Parenthood, Penn State is currently the subject of a federal government investigation, and like the Planned Parenthood grant, the Penn State grant appears to violate a new internal rule at Komen that bans grants to organizations that are under investigation by federal, state, or local governments. But so far, only the Planned Parenthood grants appear to have been cancelled....."

Why Is an Atheist High School Student Getting Vicious Death Threats?

Why Is an Atheist High School Student Getting Vicious Death Threats?: "Her state representative has called the student "evil" and she has been threatened with violence, rape and death. What gives?

If you take away just two things from the story about atheist high school student Jessica Ahlquist, and the court case she won last week to have a prayer banner taken out of her public school, let it be these:

1. The ruling in this case was entirely unsurprising. It is 100 percent in line with unambiguous legal precedent, established and re-established over many decades, exemplifying a basic principle of constitutional law.
2. As a result of this lawsuit, Jessica Ahlquist is now being bullied, ostracized and threatened with violence in her community. She has been called "evil" in public by her state representative, and is being targeted with multiple threats of violence, rape and death.

Which leads one to wonder: What the hell is going on here....?"

"As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion..."
~Treaty of Tripoli, 1797

"The problem with writing about religion is that you run the risk of offending sincerely religious people, and then they come after you with machetes."
~Dave Barry

Florida GOP Considers Bill Which Would Allow Student Government To Vote For School Prayer Over Objection Of Religious Minorities

Florida GOP Considers Bill Which Would Allow Student Government To Vote For School Prayer Over Objection Of Religious Minorities: "School sponsored prayer has been unconstitutional for years. This is because a publicly funded school cannot put one religious group over another. It would alienate those who practice different religions or none at all. But a new bill in the Florida Senate would circumvent the Constitution by allowing student government to vote for the kind of school prayer they want over the objections of religious minorities.

According to the ACLU of Florida, Senate Bill 98 “would let school districts overrule the objections of religious minorities and organize school-sponsored prayer under the banner of student government. Under the bill, school officials would be able to skirt the Constitutional protections of religious liberty by letting students actually vote on what kind of prayers the school will allow and conduct...."

Kansas GOP House Speaker ‘Prays’ That Obama’s ‘Children Be Fatherless And His Wife A Widow’

Kansas GOP House Speaker ‘Prays’ That Obama’s ‘Children Be Fatherless And His Wife A Widow’: "ThinkProgress reported last week that Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal (R) was forced to apologize to First Lady Michelle Obama after forwarding an email to fellow lawmakers that called her “Mrs. YoMama” and compared her to the Grinch.

Earlier that same week, the Lawrence Journal-World was sent another email that O’Neal had forwarded to House Republicans that referred to President Obama and a Bible verse that says “Let his days be few” and calls for his children to be without a father and his wife to be widowed...."

What an ass.

Marines Urinate On Dead Bodies In Afghanistan (Graphic Warning)

Our solders acting like this doesn't help anyone at all.

All About SOPA, the Bill That Wants to Cripple Your Internet Very Soon

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

For more on this: http://lifehacker.com/5860205/all-about-sopa-the-bill-thats-going-to-cripple-your-internet

10 Ways Right-Wing Christian Groups Will Likely Shove Religion Down Your Throat This Year

10 Ways Right-Wing Christian Groups Will Likely Shove Religion Down Your Throat This Year: "A surging religious right means daunting challenges for keeping Church and State separate.

The following piece comes from Church and State Magazine, published by Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

You don’t have to look far or wide to see signs that the Religious Right was resurgent in 2011.

From the halls of Congress, where the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly urged public schools to post “In God We Trust” displays in classrooms, to the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C., that was attended by 3,000 fundamentalist Christian activists, the Religious Right’s influence loomed large...."

Virginia Republicans to require loyalty oath for primary voters

Virginia Republicans to require loyalty oath for primary voters: "Virginia’s Republican presidential primary is getting more exclusive by the day.

First the state party sparked controversy last week when it announced that neither Texas Gov. Rick Perry nor former House speaker Newt Gingrich had submitted enough valid signatures to appear on the March 6 primary ballot.

Now Republicans are also looking to place restrictions on just who can actually vote in the primary...."

House GOP Refuses to Allow Dem Whip to Speak on Floor & Offer Senate Compromise

Christianity’s Unhealthy Obsession with Islam

Christianity’s Unhealthy Obsession with Islam: "Christianity has always had an institutional hard-on for Islam. The Christian fixation for Islam is nothing like its unhealthy obsession with Judaism. While Christianity’s relationship with Judaism is a bit of a sick fascination, a mixture of love, dependence and hate, its relationship with Islam has always been one of hate, never of love, and certainly never of dependence. Christianity depends on the Jewish Bible – a garbled translation of which stands in as the Christian Old Testament – but the Qur’an came later and has never been anything less than an abomination in Christian eyes. Judaism rejected Jesus but Islam embraces him and ironically, is hated for it. Jesus is savior for Islam as for Christianity, and will return, just as he will return for Christianity – but for Muslims he is not God...."

Gingrich: I Would Send Police To Arrest 'Activist Judges'

WTF...

Christian Bookstore Bans Pink Bibles

Liberty All Askew

We don't live up to the Statue of Liberty's poem anymore.

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
~Emma Lazarus

Christian Bookstore Stops Selling Bible Because Proceeds Support Cancer Research, Cite Link To Planned Parenthood

Christian Bookstore Stops Selling Bible Because Proceeds Support Cancer Research, Cite Link To Planned Parenthood: "LifeWay Christian Bookstores is “one of the world’s largest providers of Christian products and services” including church literature, music, video recordings, church supplies, and of course bibles in hopes of “providing biblical solutions for life.” But one Bible didn’t meet their “biblical” standard and was subsequently pulled from the shelves. Why? Because it helped raise money for breast cancer programs.

For every copy of this particular Bible that was sold, $1 dollar from the sale went to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, a breast cancer charity well-known for organizing “Race for the Cure.” The foundation, in turn, donates some of its funds to breast cancer health programs sponsored by Planned Parenthood. Because the religious right views Planned Parenthood as the pinnacle of abortion evil, LifeWay immediately said they had “made a mistake” in selling the Bible and pulled it from the shelves...."

Way to be a bunch of dicks!

Obama Drops Veto Threat Over Military Authorization Bill After Revisions

Obama Drops Veto Threat Over Military Authorization Bill After Revisions: "WASHINGTON — President Obama will not veto a military authorization bill that contains several disputed provisions about the treatment of terrorism prisoners, the White House announced Wednesday, signaling a likely end to a political battle over detainees and executive power.

The administration had threatened to veto versions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 passed by the House and the Senate, arguing that provisions would open the door for the military to perform policing functions inside the United States, and that they would infringe on executive branch powers...."

If I Was A Poor Black Kid...