it's sickening when you find out that the money rolling out the pockets of the ACLU came from taxpayers.

It is one of the many ways of fleecing America.

Many liberals complain about taxes being so high yet they still support the ACLU who ends up costing our taxpayers more than any other organization around. It cost one small city over $400,000.00 just to remove a small barely legible cross from their city emblem and this did not include court costs, etc. It bankrupted the city. The ACLU is destroying our economy as well as destroying our history and Christian heritage.

ADF to defend Christian student groups facing discrimination at two California universities
Four Christian student groups pressured to accept members and leaders that do not share their beliefs
Monday, November 28, 2005, 3:00 PM (MST)

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Alliance Defense Fund filed a civil rights lawsuit today against San Diego State University and California State University, Long Beach, on behalf of four student Christian groups facing discrimination on those campuses.  The lawsuit is part of ADF’s University Project, a nationwide effort to defend Christian student groups at universities across the nation from the discrimination they often face by campus officials.

“The right of association applies to all groups on campus,” said Jeremy Tedesco, litigation staff counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund.  “All student groups have a right to elect officers and members who share that group’s values or belief system.  These universities are requiring Christian organizations to accept members who disagree with their beliefs and viewpoints, violating these students’ First Amendment rights.”

The universities’ so-called “nondiscrimination” policies force Christian groups to abandon their Christian beliefs as a condition to gain access to the benefits recognized student groups enjoy, including meeting on campus, receiving university funding, and accessing the primary channels for communicating their message on campus.  Because the Board of Trustees of California State University governs all 23 Cal State school campuses, ADF’s filing of the lawsuit has ramifications for the entire Cal State school system.

“University officials would never require that the student vegetarian club allow meat eaters or hunters to lead their organization,” said Tedesco.  “The ultimate impact of this policy will be to either eliminate Christian clubs from campus or dilute them to the point where they are no longer Christian.”

ADF’s clients include local chapters of Every Nation Campus Ministries at San Diego State University and California State Long Beach, as well as Alpha Gamma Omega and Alpha Delta Chi, a fraternity and a sorority at San Diego State University.  Three of these Christian student groups require their members and officers to profess their faith in Jesus Christ and adhere to a biblical code of conduct.  The other group applies these requirements to their officers only.  Each group’s code of conduct prohibits sexual conduct outside the bounds of marriage between a man and a woman.  This restriction applies to both heterosexual and homosexual conduct.

[(My Note: Congress needs to get the Ten Commandments bill passed and fast to squelch the ACLU on this once and for all.)]

                
Texas-Like Commandments Monument Under Attack in Sooner State

By Allie Martin
November 28, 2005

(AgapePress) - The ACLU has filed a lawsuit against another city over a public display of the Ten Commandments as part of a historical exhibit.

Last November officials in Haskell County, Oklahoma, erected a marble monument depicting the Ten Commandments on one side, with the Mayflower Compact on the other. The monument sits in Stigler, Oklahoma, the seat of Haskell County. Now the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit seeking removal of the monument. The suit, Green v. Haskell County, was filed on behalf of Stigler resident Jim Green, a disabled 68-year-old veteran, who claims the monument constitutes government interference in individuals' religious freedoms.

"[W]hen the government starts dictating what religious ideas are 'right,' it interferes with a person's choice," Green said in a statement released in connection with the lawsuit. He contends that placement of the monument near the courthouse "sends the message that if you don't subscribe to this specific thought, you will have no access to the government."

The Ten Commandments display sits on county grounds along with other memorials dedicated to those who died in the Civil War, World War I, and World War II.

Erik Stanley is with Liberty Counsel, which is representing the county. He says the ACLU is fighting a tough battle in light of last summer's Supreme Court ruling over a similar monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds in Austin.

"The ACLU is going to argue that because the [Haskell County] monument was erected only a year ago that it's different than Texas because Texas's monument has been on the Texas state capitol grounds for about 40 years," the Liberty Counsel attorney says.

According to Stanely, Supreme Court Associate" Justice John Paul Stevens provided the swing vote in the Texas case. "[Stevens said] that basically because the monument had been there for 40 years it was constitutional -- that was really the only ground that he decided the case on," Stanley explains. "So that's going to be the battle."

But the lawyer insists that Haskell County's public display of the Decalogue will be defended.

"We are going to argue that this Ten Commandments is constitutional," he says. "That if Texas is allowed to have on its state capitol grounds a monument that is essentially identical to what Haskell County has, then Haskell County should be able to have the exact same monument on its grounds."

Stanley contends that there should be no "constitutional distinction" between the two monuments. "We're going to take this case up," he adds, "and if we have to, we'll take it to the U.S. Supreme Court in order to clarify this issue."

Liberty Counsel represents more than a dozen governmental displays that include the Ten Commandments.

(My Note: Congress needs to get the Ten Commandments bill passed and fast to squelch the ACLU on this once and for all.)

Comoros Volcano Spews Ash Over Capital
MORONI - A volcano spewed ash in its second eruption this year in the Indian Ocean Comoros islands, sending hundreds of villagers fleeing in fear the mountain could unleash a river of lava, witnesses said.

Mount Karthala, a 2,361-metre (7,746-feet) volcano, sent clouds of ash and sparks flying late on Thursday, leaving the capital Moroni and other villages on the main island of Grande Comore covered in grey.

Witnesses said the ground continued to rumble on Friday.

A number of villagers who live close to Karthala fled on foot and by car, while authorities put disaster plans into place and urged the public to remain calm.

Karthala erupted in April, forcing thousands to flee in fear of poisonous gas and a possible magma flow. It was the first eruption in more than a decade on the archipelago nation, 300 km (190 miles) off the coast of east Africa.

"For the last 10 days, the volcano has been showing worrying signs, but in the last week the activity has risen. This phenomenon of rising activity is not predictable," said Hamidou Soule, a vulcanologist with the National Centre for Documentation and Scientific Research.

The centimetre-thick layer of ash made breathing difficult for thousands who had no means of protection beyond wrapping scarves around their faces.

The islands have largely escaped major destruction from the volcano, but has had several close calls. In 1991, the last eruption before April, Karthala threw boulders for several kilometres but caused no injuries.

A torrent of molten rock coursed down a fissure on the side of the mountain in April 1977, destroying 300 homes in the village of Singani, but again, residents escaped to safety.

In 1903, noxious fumes seeped from cracks and suffocated 17 people.

Amen Brother,

Of all the news that I look for on a daily basis this is the most difficult to find because it is not widely published.

I understand the feeling on seeing all the anti-Christ, ant-Christian garbage. It upsets me also. It is a driving force that propels me forward to do something about getting the truth out as far and as much as I can.

I am thinking of adding some pages to The Fifth Day on this very subject.

Earthquake shakes Turkey's Malatya province


   ANKARA, Nov 26 (Xinhuanet) -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.3 on the Richter scale shook Turkey's central province of Malatya on Saturday.

   No casualty was reported.

   Semi-official Anatolia News Agency quoted officials of an observatory center as saying that the quake occurred at 17:56 p.m.(1556 GMT) and that the epicenter of the quake was at the Poturge town of Malatya.

   Malatya Governor Osman Derya Kadioglu was quoted as saying that there were no reports of any casualties or damage after the quake which was felt in Malatya and surrounding provinces.  


   Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey. A strong quake hit western Turkey in 1999, leaving more than 18,000 people dead.

Earthquake kills at least seven in Iran
Sun Nov 27, 2005 2:09 PM GMT

By Alireza Ronaghi

TEHRAN (Reuters) - At least seven people were killed and many more injured when an earthquake razed mud-brick villages on the Gulf island of Qeshm off Iran's south coast on Sunday, officials and state media said.

Iran's official news agency IRNA said the quake, with a magnitude of 5.9, shook southern Iran for about 10 to 15 seconds at 1:53 P.M. (10:23 a.m. British time) and the island's main hospital was full of injured people.

"The earthquake was really strong and people poured into the streets in panic. My husband immediately rushed off to one of the stricken villages," said Sara Sadeqi, 22, a housewife in Qeshm City, the island's capital.

Mohsen Kazemi from Iran's Red Crescent relief agency told Reuters all of the seven came from the villages of Tonban, Gavarzin, Khaledin and Gourian.

Tahereh Irankhah, a volunteer with the Red Crescent in Qeshm, said the situation at the hospital was desperate.

"The number of people injured is very high, and people are in the corridors. We need tents and blankets," she said.

State media said there were three strong aftershocks.

PALM FORESTS

Qeshm is the biggest island in the Gulf and is a free-trade zone in southern Hormuzgan province with a population of about 120,000.

It is famed for its palm forests and its beaches are much loved by tourists and nesting sea turtles.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was of 6.1 magnitude, and placed it about 58 km (36 miles) southwest of the Gulf port of Bandar Abbas.

The tremor was the first fatal quake in Iran since February when more than 600 people died in a magnitude 6.4 tremor, centred on the town of Zarand about 700 km (440 miles) southeast of Tehran.

That quake revived painful memories of the devastating 6.8-magnitude quake in 2003 that killed 31,000 people in the desert citadel city of Bam, 1,000 km (600 miles) southeast of Tehran.

Sunday's tremor was also in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, prompting many people to evacuate buildings.

Witnesses in high-rise buildings said they felt the ground shake for about a minute. Many residents left their buildings and waited on the streets.

Scientific proof that the birds from dinosaur theory is false.


_________________________


Local Scientist Disputes Dinosaur-Bird Link

Sunday Times (Johannesburg)
NEWS
November 20, 2005
Posted to the web November 21, 2005

By Brett Horner
Johannesburg

A DURBAN scientist who buried a dolphin and exhumed it a year later to experiment with its carcass has used the exercise to challenge the theory that birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs.

Professor Theagarten Lingham-Soliar, a palaeontologist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and two other scientists -- Professor Alan Feduccia of the University of North Carolina and Dr J Richard Hinchliffe from the University of Wales -- dismissed the long-held theories of a direct evolutionary link between birds and dinosaurs in a paper published in the US Journal of Morphology last month.

Lingham-Soliar examined the fossils of two dinosaurs, Sinosauropteryx and Sinornithosaurus, that were discovered in China in 1996 and 2001.

The chicken-sized specimens, which appeared to contain traces of "feathers", were immediately latched onto by scientists as the ultimate proof that birds came from dinosaurs.

But this week Lingham-Soliar labelled the original studies of the Chinese fossils as "shabby" and "distorted".

He said the skin decomposition of the dolphin he had buried and later exhumed was strikingly similar to the "feather" patterns of the fossils and other reptiles he studied.

"The object was to see what happened to collagen upon decomposition. I didn't know what to expect," he said.

His conclusions that the "feathers" identified on the Chinese fossils were instead meshworks of collagen, have deeply divided the palaeontological community.

Avian palaeontology has split into two factions: the Birds Are Dinosaurs (BAD) camp and the Birds Are Not Dinosaurs (BAND) brigade.

Feduccia, Lingham-Soliar's co-author, said their research had created a "buzz" among biologists in the US, particularly due to the contribution made by Lingham-Soliar.

Dr Mark Norell, curator of palaeontology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, is one of the biggest critics of BAND and has dismissed Lingham-Soliar's work on collagen fibres in his most recent book on the Chinese fossils.

Barry Lynn

"There is clearly a distinction made between religious speech and activity and any other speech and activity." (Former ACLU's Legislative Director; now President of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. Policy Review . September 1988.)

Patrick Henry

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion…Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people . It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." (President John Adams. October 11, 1798. Address to the Military.)



President John Quincy Adams

"The highest glory of the American Revolution was this, it connected in one indissoluble bond, principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity." (July 4, 1821.)




"The original version (of the First Amendment) proposed in the Senate on September 3, 1789, stated, 'Congress shall not make any law establishing any religious denomination.' Their second version stated, 'Congress shall make no law establishing any particular denomination.' The third version was very similar, 'Congress shall make no law establishing any particular denomination in preference to others.' The final version passed on that day declared, 'Congress shall make no law establishing religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.'…According to their records, the word 'religion' was interchangeable with 'denomination.'" (pp. 4-5. The Foundations of American Government. WallBuilder Press: Aledo, TX. 1993)

The ACLU is now taking on private school in an attempt to control it's policies. The following article taken from ACLU's own web site:

______________________________


NYCLU Defends Pregnant School Teacher Fired By School (11/21/2005)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
 
NEW YORK -- The New York Civil Liberties Union today charged a private Catholic school with discriminating against an unmarried Catholic schoolteacher by firing her because she became pregnant.
 
Michelle McCusker’s employment was terminated even as school officials praised her teaching ability and her “high degree of professionalism.” The NYCLU’s Reproductive Rights Project has filed a complaint on McCusker’s behalf with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
 
“Michelle McCusker was fired because she chose to have a child,” said Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the NYCLU.  “This is blatant pregnancy discrimination, which is both wrong and illegal. The NYCLU believes that all women like Ms. McCusker should have the right to choose to bring their pregnancies to term without being fired for it.”
 
McCusker was hired to teach pre-kindergartners at the St. Rose of Lima School in Queens in September 2005. Her teaching contract was to last for one year.  A month after school began, McCusker, who is single, informed the school’s principal that she was pregnant and planned to have the child.  Two days later, the principal told McCusker that she was being terminated because she violated the school’s religious principles by becoming pregnant while unmarried.  The school principal said she could work only until the end of October.
 
After the NYCLU wrote the school’s principal on McCusker’s behalf, urging her reinstatement, the school moved up the termination by a week and rescinded permission for McCusker to say good-bye to her students.
 
“I have been devastated over this incident,” said Michelle McCusker. “This was my first teaching position and I was excited and looking forward to the school year with my young students.  I don’t understand how a religion that prides itself on being forgiving could terminate me because I am unmarried and choose to have a baby.”
 
The NYCLU complaint charges that the school’s decision to fire McCusker was intentional and unlawful discrimination based on her gender and pregnancy.  The school enforced its policy of prohibiting sex outside of marriage only after learning that McCusker was pregnant.  Because only women can become pregnant, the school enforced the policy in a way that has a disproportionate impact on women and therefore is illegal, the NYCLU said in legal papers.    
 
“The school fired Ms. McCusker ostensibly for engaging in non-marital sex, but neither the school nor the Diocese that runs the school enforces this policy against men,” said Anna Schissel, Acting Director of NYCLU’s Reproductive Rights Project.  “Applying different policies to men and women employees is classic sex discrimination.”
 
McCusker’s case is similar to a complaint filed by the NYCLU in 2003 on behalf of the director of an after-school program employed by a religious charity.  When the unmarried program director became pregnant, the charity demoted her to a position that involved no student contact. The NYCLU's Reproductive Rights Project filed an EEOC complaint against the charity alleging sex and pregnancy discrimination.  The EEOC found that the religious charity violated federal anti-discrimination laws by demoting the teacher because of her pregnancy.  The NYCLU secured a favorable settlement that included the adoption by the charity of an employment policy that prohibits discrimination on the basis of marital status or pregnancy.
 
“The federal law against pregnancy discrimination was passed in 1978,” said ACLU Reproductive Rights Project staff attorney Cassandra Stubbs. “Ms. McCusker’s case, unfortunately, demonstrates the gap between the promise of the law and what is happening in the workplace today.  After more than 25 years there is still much work to be done to ensure that women who decide to become pregnant and have children can go to work in an environment free of discrimination.”
   
In addition to losing her job while pregnant, McCusker is facing difficulties finding full-time employment, as the school year has begun and most institutions are no longer hiring, Stubbs noted.

The NYCLU is asking the school to adopt a non-discrimination policy similar to the policy adopted in the 2003 case.
 
 

No free expression on public sidewalks in Concord
ADF-allied attorney files suit against city for highly restrictive policies against free speech on public sidewalks
Tuesday, November 22, 2005, 5:34 PM (MST)
ADF Media Relations | 480-444-0020

"The First Amendment applies to all Americans, including those expressing their religious viewpoint while standing on public sidewalks," said ADF-allied attorney Rick Nelson of the American Liberties Institute based in Orlando, Fla.
Comments
 


CONCORD, N.C. - An Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney filed suit Monday in federal court against the city of Concord for its highly restrictive ordinances against public expression on community sidewalks and in public parks.

"The First Amendment applies to all Americans, including those expressing their religious viewpoint while standing on public sidewalks," said ADF-allied attorney Rick Nelson of the American Liberties Institute based in Orlando, Fla.  "The city's ordinances are clearly unconstitutional because they restrict the First Amendment rights of citizens in public areas traditionally open to free speech activities."

Nelson filed suit on behalf of three individuals after their family members and relatives were cited for alleged violations of the restrictions.  After the friends and relatives held an event on Oct. 14, two were fined $1,000 and one was fined $5,000.  The city's regulations call for incarceration for up to 30 days and fines up to $5,000 if just two people walk together on a public sidewalk or in a public park without first applying for a permit.

Nelson explained, "This restriction is absurd because it prohibits a family from taking an evening stroll in the city's parks or on the city's sidewalks without first applying for a permit."

The restrictions also prohibit any two people from gathering to make known any position without a permit, and picketing is banned in public parks and other areas where free speech is common in most cities.  The city also may censor any picket sign if city officials feel any words used might be "derogatory or defamatory in nature."

"The First Amendment does not permit government officials to censor speech it deems derogatory or defamatory," Nelson said.  "These restrictions are egregious.  They give the city far too much discretion in when and where to allow the free speech that the Constitution guarantees to all Americans who want to express their point of view in a public area.  Our clients are having their First Amendment rights chilled each day that these ordinances are enforced."

Along with the complaint in the case, Benham v. City of Concord, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, Nelson also requested a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to stop the city from enforcing its ordinances while the lawsuit moves forward.  The court has set a hearing for Dec. 6 at the Greensboro federal courthouse.

Massive quake hits eastern China

Saturday 26 November 2005, 10:06 Makka Time, 7:06 GMT

At least 12 people have died and more than 400 were injured when an earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale struck east China's Jiangxi province.

Xinhua news agency, which cited the Ministry of Civil Affairs, gave the official toll as of 11.55am (0355 GMT), three hours after the quake on Saturday morning.

The data seemed to tally with numbers provided by local officials talking to AFP by telephone.

"Six people were killed in Jiujiang county," a local official earlier said. "Another 247 were injured, and 8,072 buildings were toppled."

An official in nearby Ruichang city said five people had been killed there, while 39 were injured.

One fatality was recorded near the city of Wuxue, in neighbouring Hubei province, an official there said.

"The earthquake this morning was quite scary," said a shopkeeper in Ruichang reached by telephone who would only give her surname as Zhou.

Milder trembling that she assumed was an aftershock was felt again around 1pm (0500 GMT), Zhou said.

Many people in Ruichang, which has a population of about 420,000 people, were staying outside for fear of more aftershocks, Zhou added.

Tents were set up outside the local hospital, she said.


Temperatures in the region were relatively mild, hovering around 10 degrees Celsius, weather reports said.

The quake measured 5.7 on the Richter scale and struck at 8.49am (0049 GMT), the China National Seismic Observation Network said, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

I'm having a wonderful experience with the blog - I'd never done it before but the set up was soooo easy I just "fell into it".... but I DO have a  

I signed up for a guestbook and was accepted, but now I don't know how to place the "guestbook" button on the blog page .... can anyone enlighten this computer illiterate?

Blessings-

ps: I'll need detailed instructions .....  

I know very little about the Blog Pages myself. I haven't set one up yet so I don't know if the guestbook can even be put on the blog page or not. I would suggest using the "contact us" located at the bottom of the blogs section. I am sure that you will get someone there that will be able to answer your questions on it.