February 12, 2006
Here’s Your Valentine
The history of Valentine's Day -- and its patron saint -- is shrouded in mystery…One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.
Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.
According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter -- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France…
http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/valentine/?page=history
ACLU takes on Boy Scouts in 9th Circuit
Lesbians want to nix city-owned camp because group 'religious'
February 11, 2006- An ACLU lawsuit on behalf of an agnostic, lesbian couple seeking to nullify the Boy Scouts' long-standing lease with a San Diego park will be heard in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, widely regarded as the nation's most liberal.
...Backers of the Boy Scouts argue that while the group promotes belief in God, it represents no particular denomination or religion. Individual troops can be sponsored by a church, synagogue, mosque or secular organization.
The local Desert Pacific Council of the Boy Scouts has used the northwest corner of Balboa Park, near the San Diego Zoo, since 1940. It has leased the land for $1 a year since 1957, and the city council approved a 25-year lease agreement at the end of 2001.
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48787
Another Government Taking
February 9, 2006 -Conaway Ranch is a 17,300-acre spread north of Davis, Calif. On property that sidles up to Interstate 5 and provides a fine view of the Sacramento skyline, owners grow rice and alfalfa, boast rights to 50,000 acre-feet of water and extract natural gas. The gray sky and Sierra runoff are home to countless birds -- ducks, egrets and hawks -- some of which the owners hunt.
Yolo County wants the land... In 2004, county supervisors voted to seize the ranch by eminent domain. "We want to keep it from being developed," explained Supervisor Mike McGowan.
...Spokesman Tovey Giezentanner argues that while Kelo was outrageous -- for it allowed local governments to seize homes and hand them over to private developers -- if Yolo wins, it will be the first time the "government got into the business of trying to run an existing business." There will be nothing to stop governments from seizing other profitable businesses -- parking garages, farms, hotels -- and running them themselves...
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-2_7_06_DS.html
Illinois Newspaper Rejects Sonogram Ads as 'Too Graphic'
February 09, 2006- A pro-life group in Illinois said a local newspaper refused to publish advertisements featuring sonogram images because executives at the paper considered the ads to be "too graphic."
When contacted by Cybercast News Service, the advertising manager of the Joliet-based Herald News did not deny using that description, but he said his newspaper reserves the right to reject any ad for any reason.
Jill Stanek, president of the Will County, Ill., chapter of the National Right to Life Committee, told Cybercast News Service that she contacted the advertising department at the Herald News in hopes of buying space to depict a sonogram photo and a box of tissues with text reading, "Excuse me America, this is tissue, this (the unborn child) is not."
According to Stanek, after the newspaper refused the ad, she offered a different ad reading, "She's a child, not a choice," along with a different sonogram photo, but that also was rejected.
A third submission was made with an ad reading, "I am an American," again with a different sonogram photo. Once again, the paper refused to run the ad, Stanek said, for the same reason - that it was "too graphic."
...Stanek argues that sonogram photographs are in no way "graphic."
"Ultrasound photos are beautiful," she said. "Parents post them on their refrigerators, enter them into 'Most Beautiful Baby' photo contests, and proudly display these 'first photos' in baby albums."
Steve Vanisko, manager of the Herald News's advertising department, at first denied that the term "graphic" was ever used in rejecting Stanek's ad. But when pressed on the subject, Vanisko amended his statement.
Stanek added, "The Herald News is apparently so paranoid about the abortion issue it has lost its sense of rationality on the topic. It has now gone so far as to censor the truth about the beauty of human biology."
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive\200602\CUL20060209a.html
WMD Gear Found In British Mosque
Feb. 8, 2006- A radical British imam was stockpiling protection gear for a weapons of mass destruction attack in a notorious North London mosque, British police revealed on Wednesday.
London authorities told Reuters that the discovery of the WMD-gear actually happened in 2003, but could not be disclosed until Tuesday, after Abu Hamza al Masri was convicted of 11 charges related to terrorism - including soliciting murder and possessing a terrorist training manual.
Hamza preached jihad at the notorious Finsbury Park mosque, where convicted shoe bomber Richard Reid and alleged 20th 9/11 hijacker Zacarias Moussaoui both worshipped.
According to Reuters, 150 police staged a dramatic raid on Hamza's mosque in Jan. 2003. Once inside, they discovered gas masks, chemical, biological and nuclear protective suits, blank passports, hunting knives, and blank-firing weapons, the news agency said...
http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/2/8/225420.shtml?s=ic
Why Iraq is not devolving into "civil war," and how we are systematically quashing insurgents
In an exclusive interview, Brig. Gen. Daniel P. Bolger discusses the training and motivation of Iraqi soldiers. He also explains why Iraq is not devolving into “civil war,” and how we are systematically quashing insurgents.
A conversation with U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Daniel P. Bolger, commander of the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team in Iraqhttp://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/WThomasSmithJr/2006/01/30/184219.html
David Bennett <><
http://home.hiwaay.net/~dbennett
http://www.freewill-predestination.com
The history of Valentine's Day -- and its patron saint -- is shrouded in mystery…One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.
Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.
According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter -- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France…
http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/valentine/?page=history
ACLU takes on Boy Scouts in 9th Circuit
Lesbians want to nix city-owned camp because group 'religious'
February 11, 2006- An ACLU lawsuit on behalf of an agnostic, lesbian couple seeking to nullify the Boy Scouts' long-standing lease with a San Diego park will be heard in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, widely regarded as the nation's most liberal.
...Backers of the Boy Scouts argue that while the group promotes belief in God, it represents no particular denomination or religion. Individual troops can be sponsored by a church, synagogue, mosque or secular organization.
The local Desert Pacific Council of the Boy Scouts has used the northwest corner of Balboa Park, near the San Diego Zoo, since 1940. It has leased the land for $1 a year since 1957, and the city council approved a 25-year lease agreement at the end of 2001.
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48787
Another Government Taking
February 9, 2006 -Conaway Ranch is a 17,300-acre spread north of Davis, Calif. On property that sidles up to Interstate 5 and provides a fine view of the Sacramento skyline, owners grow rice and alfalfa, boast rights to 50,000 acre-feet of water and extract natural gas. The gray sky and Sierra runoff are home to countless birds -- ducks, egrets and hawks -- some of which the owners hunt.
Yolo County wants the land... In 2004, county supervisors voted to seize the ranch by eminent domain. "We want to keep it from being developed," explained Supervisor Mike McGowan.
...Spokesman Tovey Giezentanner argues that while Kelo was outrageous -- for it allowed local governments to seize homes and hand them over to private developers -- if Yolo wins, it will be the first time the "government got into the business of trying to run an existing business." There will be nothing to stop governments from seizing other profitable businesses -- parking garages, farms, hotels -- and running them themselves...
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-2_7_06_DS.html
Illinois Newspaper Rejects Sonogram Ads as 'Too Graphic'
February 09, 2006- A pro-life group in Illinois said a local newspaper refused to publish advertisements featuring sonogram images because executives at the paper considered the ads to be "too graphic."
When contacted by Cybercast News Service, the advertising manager of the Joliet-based Herald News did not deny using that description, but he said his newspaper reserves the right to reject any ad for any reason.
Jill Stanek, president of the Will County, Ill., chapter of the National Right to Life Committee, told Cybercast News Service that she contacted the advertising department at the Herald News in hopes of buying space to depict a sonogram photo and a box of tissues with text reading, "Excuse me America, this is tissue, this (the unborn child) is not."
According to Stanek, after the newspaper refused the ad, she offered a different ad reading, "She's a child, not a choice," along with a different sonogram photo, but that also was rejected.
A third submission was made with an ad reading, "I am an American," again with a different sonogram photo. Once again, the paper refused to run the ad, Stanek said, for the same reason - that it was "too graphic."
...Stanek argues that sonogram photographs are in no way "graphic."
"Ultrasound photos are beautiful," she said. "Parents post them on their refrigerators, enter them into 'Most Beautiful Baby' photo contests, and proudly display these 'first photos' in baby albums."
Steve Vanisko, manager of the Herald News's advertising department, at first denied that the term "graphic" was ever used in rejecting Stanek's ad. But when pressed on the subject, Vanisko amended his statement.
Stanek added, "The Herald News is apparently so paranoid about the abortion issue it has lost its sense of rationality on the topic. It has now gone so far as to censor the truth about the beauty of human biology."
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive\200602\CUL20060209a.html
WMD Gear Found In British Mosque
Feb. 8, 2006- A radical British imam was stockpiling protection gear for a weapons of mass destruction attack in a notorious North London mosque, British police revealed on Wednesday.
London authorities told Reuters that the discovery of the WMD-gear actually happened in 2003, but could not be disclosed until Tuesday, after Abu Hamza al Masri was convicted of 11 charges related to terrorism - including soliciting murder and possessing a terrorist training manual.
Hamza preached jihad at the notorious Finsbury Park mosque, where convicted shoe bomber Richard Reid and alleged 20th 9/11 hijacker Zacarias Moussaoui both worshipped.
According to Reuters, 150 police staged a dramatic raid on Hamza's mosque in Jan. 2003. Once inside, they discovered gas masks, chemical, biological and nuclear protective suits, blank passports, hunting knives, and blank-firing weapons, the news agency said...
http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/2/8/225420.shtml?s=ic
Why Iraq is not devolving into "civil war," and how we are systematically quashing insurgents
In an exclusive interview, Brig. Gen. Daniel P. Bolger discusses the training and motivation of Iraqi soldiers. He also explains why Iraq is not devolving into “civil war,” and how we are systematically quashing insurgents.
A conversation with U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Daniel P. Bolger, commander of the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team in Iraqhttp://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/WThomasSmithJr/2006/01/30/184219.html
David Bennett <><
http://home.hiwaay.net/~dbennett
http://www.freewill-predestination.com
posted by David Bennett | 1:50 PM
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