Weekly Issues Alert

March 17 - 23

"It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes." ---Andrew Jackson

North Carolina General Assembly

Board Asks Prosecutors to Investigate Black, Campaign
The State Board of Elections asked prosecutors Thursday to investigate whether House Speaker Jim Black or his campaign committee have broken any state laws. The board also ordered Black's campaign to forfeit more than $23,000, including illegal corporate donations and donations from the video poker industry and Black's fellow optometrists. Prosecutors were also asked to start criminal inquiries into the political action committees of the North Carolina Amusement Machine Association and a state optometric group, along with nearly 20 people who testified before the board this week. Read
Judge Dismisses Lottery Lawsuit
It's a sad day for justice in North Carolina. Instead it's been an illegitimate victory for a legislature that overstepped its constitutional parameters and the gambling industry which intends to fleece the citizens of this State. Read
N.C. Topless Bar To Offer Lottery Tickets Along With Lap Dances
A Charlotte strip club will offer lottery tickets along with lap dances when the state starts scratch-off sales next week. "We're the only (strip) club that has it," said Chris Falls, owner of the Paper Doll Lounge. "And I also have something the convenience stores don't." Any business in the state can apply to sell tickets for the game that begins March 30, with the only restriction being that lottery sales cannot be an operation's sole business. Read
Extreme Makeover In N.C. Senate Changes Face Of The Chamber
The North Carolina Senate is about finished with its extreme makeover. Sought for more than a decade, the $2 million renovation of the Senate chamber is so extensive that even political veterans may soon forget what the Senate once looked like. Read
N.C. Elections Board Expected To Wrap Up Hearings Into Video Poker Contributions
The state elections board will continue its hearing Thursday involving donations and the campaign of House Speaker Jim Black. Read
Report: Low-Income Players Spend More On S.C. Lottery
When lottery tickets go on sale in North Carolina at the end of this month, those who can least afford it could end up spending the most. That's what happens in South Carolina, according to a report in Saturday's editions of The Charlotte Observer. The paper looked at four years of lottery sales in that state, and concluded low-income people spend a greater proportion of their money on lottery tickets than those who are more affluent. Read
Donors Testify About Contributions To Black's Campaign
A used-car salesman denied Tuesday that he never donated to the campaign of House Speaker Jim Black, despite a $1,000 money order bearing his name that ended up in the campaign's account. Read
Ex-Senator Put On Probation For Illegal China Exports
A former state senator was sentenced Wednesday to a year of probation for illegally shipping law enforcement equipment to China. John H. Carrington, 71, pleaded guilty last year, agreeing to pay an $850,000 fine and give up his exporting privileges for five years. The felony conviction carried a possible maximum sentence of 10 years. Read

North Carolina Courts

Judge Rules In Favor Of State On Lottery Issue Read Ruling
A Wake County Superior Court Judge's Order to Either Improve Test Scores or Close School Doors is Gaining Support.
The North Carolina NAACP Monday pledged its full support this week for Judge Howard Manning Jr. who, in a written letter earlier this month, warned that if 19 of the state's poorly performing high schools don't start doing better, he'll order them closed unless the state makes sweeping changes, including replacing principals at the schools. Read

Other North Carolina News

The Need for Wisdom in an Age of Intellectual and Spiritual Insanity
By Rev. Mark H. Creech (Executive Director of CAL)
Albert Einstein's name has become synonymous with genius. Einstein didn't drive a car, so he had a chauffer to take him from place to place. Once while on a lecture tour speaking about his theory of relativity, Einstein's chauffer said: "Dr. Einstein, I've heard your lecture on relativity so often now, I believe I could give it myself." "Well, why don't you do it," said the brilliant scientist. "The people at the next university have never seen me and they won't know who I am. You put on my clothes and I'll wear your uniform and cap. You introduce me as your chauffer and I'll introduce you as Dr. Einstein." Read
Alexander County Residents: "We Don't Want Alcohol On Your Shelves"
A business owner looking for a way to have his two convenience stores annexed into Taylorsville so they could sell beer and wine got a twofold message from neighbors in dry Alexander County this month: one, we don't want alcohol on your shelves; and two, we'll frequent your stores to help prove that you don't need beer and wine to attract customers. Read
Bars and Restaurants Not Responsible for Drunken Patrons
If it's been said once, it's been heard a thousand times; alcohol proponents are always saying Liquor-By-The-Drink sales provide better control of alcohol consumption in a community. They contend bars and restaurants are responsible for how much alcohol they serve patrons. And if the establishment serves a customer too much and then he/she leaves and seriously injures someone, the establishment will be held liable by law. Read
Registered Sex Offender Arrested On Indecent Liberty Charges
Cumberland County authorities have arrested a Robeson County man and charged him with taking indecent liberties with a 14-year old girl. Read
Widow Of Knightdale Man Killed In Drunken Driving Accident Speaks To WRAL
James Warren Dies After Drunken Driver Hits Him, Deputy Read
Easley Disappointed More High Schools Haven't Gotten State Help
Gov. Mike Easley said he's disappointed the state Department of Public Instruction hasn't provided more struggling high schools with the support teams he promised more than six months ago. Read
Some Southern Pines Residents say They are Tired of Local Churches Sacrificing Historic Homes in the Name of Growth
Residents like Abigail Dowd are worried about a recent trend in which churches buy old properties with houses on them, knock down the houses and expand the churches. Read
Easley: More Preparation, Money Needed For Pandemic Flu
The federal government needs to give states more than the $350 million proposed by President Bush to prepare for a pandemic flu, Gov. Mike Easley said Tuesday. "From a state perspective, I can tell you that that will not cut it," Easley said. "It is going to take a bigger federal commitment." Read
Two Executions Scheduled In April, May
Two condemned inmates have been scheduled for execution in April and May, the N.C. Department of Correction announced Tuesday. Willie Brown Jr., 61, is scheduled for execution April 21, for the slaying of Vallerie Ann Roberson Dixon. He was sentenced in 1983 in Martin County Superior Court and received an additional 40-year sentence for armed robbery. Read
CEO Says Progress Energy Is Not Being Shopped To Buyer
Progress Energy chief executive officer Robert McGehee has told the energy company's 11,600 employees that top managers are not shopping the company to potential buyers. Read
Longtime North Carolina NRA Lobbyist Resigns Over Group's Sunday Hunting Stand
A longtime lobbyist for the National Rifle Association has stepped down from the job because he can't support the group's endorsement of Sunday hunting in North Carolina. Read
82nd Airborne Division To Get New Commanding General
The famed 82nd Airborne Division will get a new commanding general next month when its current commander leaves for duty in Iraq, the Department of Defense said Wednesday. Maj. Gen. William V. Caldwell IV will become deputy chief of staff for Strategic Effects at the Multinational Force in Iraq. Read
Iraq War Brings Business Profits To Kenly Company
With no end in sight to the war in Iraq, the business of defending democracy is dangerous for troops and profitable for one local company. Federal Covers & Textiles, in Kenly, recently announced it would expand its operation to Selma, giving a much-needed boost to a community that the federal government describes as a "highly under-utilized business area." Read
NRC Releases Findings In Shearon Harris Probe
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has released the findings of its investigation into Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant after nuclear watchdog groups raised questions about the safety of the nuclear reactor and the ability of intruders to access it. Read
Capitol Broadcasting Forms Joint Media Venture With Hispanic Media Company
Hoping to capitalize on the state's growing Hispanic population, Capitol Broadcasting is taking a minority interest stake in Que Pasa Media Network. The two companies have formed a joint venture partnership that will be managed by Que Pasa's owners. Both media firms will share resources as part of the deal. Que Pasa, which means "what's up" or "what's happening," is the largest Hispanic media company in the state, operating three weekly newspapers, eight AM radio stations and three subsidiary companies focused on marketing, staffing and sports. The newspapers are based in Raleigh, Charlotte and the Triad. Read

Congress

U.S. House Takes on Gambling-Control Legislation
On the eve of March Madness, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The bill now awaits action by the entire House. Read
Corrupt Congressman's Loot to be Auctioned Off
Government selling Cunningham's valuables from his bribery scheme Read
House OKs $92B For Wars, Hurricanes
The Senate probably will give President Bush most of the money he wants for the Iraq war and Gulf Coast hurricane reconstruction while setting aside bipartisan worries about the enormous costs of both. That's what the House did when it voted 348-71 Thursday to approve $92 billion in supplemental funds for Iraq and Afghanistan military operations and Hurricane Katrina cleanup, slightly less than what the president sought. Read
U.S. Senators Meet With Al-Jaafari
A group of U.S. senators met Tuesday with Iraq's interim prime minister to discuss the formation of a national unity government, a step viewed as important in working toward peace and a withdrawal of U.S. troops. Read
U. S. Senate Considers Dot-XXX Domain
Pro-family analysts say it would not produce the desired result. Read
Hollywood and Congresswoman Start Embryonic Stem Cell Research PAC
Members of the Hollywood elite are joining forces with a Colorado congresswoman to start a new political action committee to back candidates who support embryonic stem cell research. Together they held a bigwig fundraising event at a premier Hollywood home Thursday. Read
Sen. Feinstein: Fire Donald Rumsfeld
Sen. Dianne Feinstein called on President Bush to fire Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over his handling of the Iraq war and reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq from the current 130,000 to 50,000 by year's end. Read
IRS' Everson: Fresh Proposals Would Close Federal 'Tax Gap'
Small business owners beware: IRS Commissioner Mark Everson wants your credit card records. Buried deep within this year's federal budget proposal is a provision that would require credit card issuers to provide information on gross business receipts to the IRS. Read
Specter Takes Senate Lead on Eavesdropping
A vocal Republican critic of the Bush administration's eavesdropping program will preside over Senate efforts to write the program into law, but he was pessimistic Wednesday that the White House wanted to listen. Read
Senators More Hopeful of Resolving Yuan Issue
Two U.S. senators pressing China to loosen its currency controls said on Thursday they were more optimistic about resolving the dispute over the yuan's value. Read

Courts

Police House Searches Limited by U.S. Supreme Court
Police officers who lack a warrant can't search a home when one occupant consents and the other objects, the U.S. Supreme Court said in a ruling that prompted Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. to write his first dissent. Read
Attorney: Two Women's Legal Battle Forces State Marriage Law Face-Off
Judge's Ruling Blocks Lesbian Litigant's Bid to Enforce Vermont Court Child Visitation Order Read
States Win Suit to Stop New EPA Standards
A federal appeals court sided with 14 states Friday and blocked the Environmental Protection Agency from going forward with new regulations activists say would lead to more air pollution from the nation's power plants and factories. Read
Judge Rejects Lafave Plea Deal Again
A judge has rejected a plea deal that would have allowed a Tampa teacher to avoid going to trial — and to prison — for having sex with a middle-school student who was 14 at the time. Read
Alternatives to Reality
Horrifying stories about the rapes and murders of children, and about judges who go easy on sex offenders who prey on the young, have prompted some state legislatures to tighten up the laws and restrict the sentencing discretion of judges. Read
33 Charged in Failed Spain Bombing
A Spanish judge has indicted 33 suspected Islamic extremists in a failed plot to attack the National Court in Madrid, which tries terrorism cases, with a truck bomb, according to a copy of the court order viewed by CNN. Read
European Court Tosses Saddam Rights Lawsuit
Europe's human rights court on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit filed by Saddam Hussein against 21 European countries whose troops joined the U.S.-led military campaign in Iraq, saying the case fell outside its jurisdiction. Read

Christianity/Pro-Family/Religion/Ethics

Navy Chaplain Threatens to Sue for Right to Pray in Jesus' Name
The Navy chaplain who fasted 18 days for the right to pray in Jesus' name is now threatening to file a federal lawsuit. Read
Dr. Wafa Sultan: Exposing the Lies of Islam
An amazing and courageous Arab woman has gotten little attention here in the United States, even though this woman is now an American. But Dr. Wafa Sultan got plenty of attention in the Middle East when she appeared on Al Jazeera a few weeks ago. Read
It's Time for Christians to be 'Offended'
Everyone is offended these days. Muslins... Jews... Atheists... Blacks...Hispanics... Homosexuals... Native Americans... You name it. The list goes on and on and on. In fact, we are not even surprised any more when lawsuits are filed and complaints are registered over "offenses" real or imagined. Read
Faith Leaders Confront Inter-Religious Challenges
The number of Americans who view Evangelical Christians favorably "closely rivals" the number expressing favorable attitudes toward Muslims, a new analysis by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life revealed. Read
AU Pledges Opposition to Church Politics
Election season is upon us and one of the first salvos in the fight is from Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, which provided a secret recording of a pastors' political strategy meeting in Pennsylvania to the New York Times. They hope to intimidate conservative churches into thinking they must steer clear of anything political, or lose their tax exempt status. Peter Brandt of Focus on the Family Action says they will be encouraging civic participation from faith communities. "These are very much areas where churches can be involved and they should not take this intimidation by groups such as the ACLU." Read
Presbyterians Consider Triune 'Mother, Child, and Womb'
Presbyterians this June will be asked to ratify a new report on Trinitarian theology that describes the cornerstone doctrine in various metaphorical terms, including a controversial description of the triune God as "Mother, Child and Womb." Read
Kirk Cameron, From Sitcom Star to Evangelist
As Mike Seaver, the eldest son in the smash hit sitcom "Growing Pains," actor Kirk Cameron could make audiences roll with laughter. But now he wants to bring them to the Lord. And he's deadly serious. Read
Pregnant Teen Waitress Gets $1,000 Tip
"It involved a lot more than good service at a great restaurant," Dogan told the Times. "I didn't need it. It helped someone who ... needed it. God put us there together. God answered my questions." Read
Christians Urged to Prepare for Sharing Truth After Da Vinci Code Movie Released
The impending release of a movie version of the blockbuster novel The Da Vinci Code is stirring debate in Christian circles. To many, the release represents an attack on the Christian faith. Many others also see in it a door opener for sharing the gospel. The resulting impact will depend on how prepared Christians are to respond effectively. Read
Focus Action Fights for Marriage in Minnesota
Ad campaign spotlights stalling tactics of two state senators. Read
Afghan Christian Convert to Undergo Psychological Exam
An Afghan man facing a possible death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity may be mentally unfit to stand trial, a state prosecutor said Wednesday. Read
Help Save His Life
U.S. Makes Low-Key Appeal in Afghan Convert Case
The Bush administration issued a subdued appeal Tuesday to Afghanistan to permit a Christian convert on trial for his life to practice his faith in the predominantly Muslim country Read
Televangelism Outreach to Millions in India Dispells Doubts
In the second most populous nation in the world, only 2.3 percent are Christian. Hope, however, penetrated the mainly Hindu population of India and brought an amazing two million people to Jesus Christ through an unprecedented televangelism outreach of the Billy Graham ministry. Read
Methodists Tackle 'Consumer Church' Mentality, Call for Radical Transformation
About 43 percent of United Methodist churches in America did not receive a member by profession of faith in 2004 — a figure some leaders attribute to the rising "consumer church" mentality and the falling discipleship levels in the denomination. Read
Studies Show Increase of Seminarians, Decrease of Pastoral Graduates
Protestant seminary enrollments are increasing throughout the nation, but a smaller portion of graduates are becoming pastors. Read
Voodoo Magic May Be Stumped by Bird Flu
People here have special reason to fear, because the national religion is voodoo and chickens figure prominently in most rituals. Read
New Orleans Witnessing Renewal, Awakening
"It wasn't just about our small band. It was something much greater. God is doing something much greater. There's something happening there on the ground in New Orleans. God is doing a renewal, awaking churches and campus groups." Read

Abortion/Pro-Life

Postpartum Depression Impacts Infant Care
Mothers who suffer symptoms of depression after childbirth are less likely to breast-feed, play with, read to, or otherwise interact with their newborns, new research shows. Read
Dead Women: Are They Collateral Damage In War On Unborn Babies?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just announced that two more deaths of women are attributable to complications from using the abortion drug, RU-486. This brings the total to six women in the U.S. and at least three overseas. There have been more than 800 complications that have been reported to the FDA since the drug was legalized in the U.S. Read
Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm Will Sign Abortion-Ultrasound Bill
Pro-abortion Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm says she will sign a bill that will allow women to see an ultrasound of their unborn child prior to having an abortion. The move is somewhat of a surprise because Granholm has vetoed virtually every other piece of pro-life legislation state lawmakers have approved. Read
Catholic Monk Who Advised Terri Schiavo Family Says Human Life at Risk
A Catholic monk who advised Terri Schiavo's family during the final days of her life spoke to a group of college students at University of Minnesota Duluth on Monday and told them that human life is at risk. He asked the students to stand up to assisted suicide and euthanasia that are violating the sanctity of human life. Read
South Dakota Abortion Ban Legal Defense Fund Now Has $7K
A legal defense fund set up to help defend South Dakota's abortion ban in court has already received just over $7,000. There is no word yet on when and how the names of donors to the account will be disclosed to the public and a legal determination may be weeks away. Thus far, supporters of the abortion ban, which prohibits all abortions except those in rare cases to save the mother's life, have donated $7,157 as of Monday. Read
Michigan Cmte Debates Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Human Cloning
A Michigan bill to repeal the state's ban on embryonic stem cell research was the subject of a hotly contested legislative hearing on Tuesday. Supporters and opponents of the bill debated the merits of the research and whether the ban would lead to human cloning. Read
Connecticut Bill Forcing Catholic Hospitals to Give Morning After Pill Dies
A bill in the Connecticut legislature that would have forced Catholic and other hospitals to dispense the morning after pill to rape victims failed to get approval form a legislative committee. That means the bill is likely dead for this year's session. Read
A Birth-Based Recipe for Australia Becoming a Muslim Nation
A pro-family organization dedicated to ending the overpopulation myth says falling birth rates in Australia could dramatically change the long-term future of that country. Read

Alcohol/Drugs/Health

Colombian Rebels Charged in U.S. With Cocaine Trade
A federal grand jury indicted 50 members of a Colombian rebel group on charges of importing more than $25 billion worth of cocaine into the U.S. and other countries, the Justice Department said. Read
'High Chance' Of Bird Flu In Israel
Tens of thousands of turkeys were ordered destroyed Friday as a protective measure, while officials waited to hear whether Israel has experienced its first outbreak of a deadly bird flu. About 11,000 turkeys have died in recent days, and after preliminary tests, Health Minister Yaakov Edri said there was a "very high chance that this is avian flu." Read
Abortion Law May Affect S.D. Tourism
The superintendent of Mount Rushmore, Gerard Baker, was surprised at first when people from all over the country started calling up to express their opinion about South Dakota's ban on nearly all abortions. Some callers said they were so upset that they would never visit Mount Rushmore, South Dakota's No. 1 tourist attraction. Others said they were so thrilled that they would make a point of coming to see the chiseled faces of four U.S. presidents in the Black Hills. Read
S.C. Abortion Opponents Looking to 2007
South Carolina lawmakers who oppose abortion are looking to next year to further restrict the procedure here. Read
Panamanian Drug Gang and Swallowers Nailed by NYPD
New York City police officers arrested leaders and members of a drug gang involved in a narcotics enterprise that used dozens of "swallowers" to transport heroin from Panama into the United States. "Swallowers," are drug couriers who rent out their bodies as cargo containers, each carrying upwards of a kilo, or 2.2 pounds, of packaged narcotics. Body packing is on the rise and getting more sophisticated, according to narcotics officers. Increased airport security has caused some drug cartels to shift a majority of their small shipments out of carry-on baggage and into the less easily searched internal compartments of the "mule." Read
Md. House Leaders Support Senate Stem Cell Research Bill
Leaders in the House of Delegates are abandoning plans to foster a compromise version of a bill to provide funding for stem cell research. Read
Baby Boomers Emerge As Meth Addicts
Baby Boomers Emerge As Meth's Uncharted Addicts Read
Too Much Fluoride can Damage Bones, Teeth
Federal standards may put children at risk, report warns Read

Education/Sex Ed/Teens/Children

Iowa State Cans Hoops Coach
Iowa State fired basketball coach Wayne Morgan and his staff Friday in the wake of a possible recruiting scam. Morgan's firing comes two days after CBS SportsLine.com reported that a number of college basketball programs may have steered more than $100,000 to a California business run by a junior college coach. Read
College Board Finds 27,000 Unchecked SATs
College Board Finds 27,000 More Unchecked SATs, Incorrectly Giving 375 Students Low Marks Read
University of Wis. Sets Policy on Disputed Bible Studies
Resident assistants are free to host Bible studies in their rooms, as well as sales or political meetings, under a policy adopted unanimously by the University of Wisconsin system's Board of Regents. Read
The Peril of Ignoring What Your Children Learn
"Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so ...." Our children love their Savior with a simple faith Jesus Himself recognized. We teach them their first verses and prayers, watch them bow their curly heads, and listen with satisfaction and relief when they grab on to what seems to be a sure place in heaven. But according to the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life, 88 percent of Christian children leave the church by the time they reach the age of 18. What is happening? Read
Majority of Unchurched Claim Christian Faith, Says Barna Survey
A new Barna survey found that 76 million adults in America do not attend church although more than half of the unchurched say they are Christian. Read
Industrious Spring Break In Big Easy
The perhaps 10,000 college students here this month are part of a persistent wave of able-bodied volunteers who are as determined as New Orleansians to raise the city from the lingering muck and malaise of hurricane Katrina. They come to fulfill Christian duty, to understand the devastation firsthand, and to give what they can, which for many is time more than money. Read
Study: America's Professors, Students 'Spiritual'
But UCLA researchers say that does not mean they're religious. Read
Socialism Makes People Worse
Throughout much of last week, hundreds of thousands of students in France were angrily protesting. They have been joined by the major French labor unions, which are threatening a general strike. And what is this all about? Read
Teacher Debra Lafave Won't Face Student Sex Charges
State prosecutors decided Tuesday to drop charges against a former Tampa teacher accused of having sex with a 14-year-old middle school student. Read
S.C. Schools Won't 'Analyze' Evolution
The state Board of Education on Wednesday rejected a state panel's proposal to change high school standards on evolution by calling on students to "critically analyze" the theory. Read
Top Anglican Head Opposes Creationism in Schools
The archbishop of Canterbury, the leader of the world's Anglicans, says he is opposed to teaching creationism in schools. Read
Former College Paper Editor Fired for Reprinting Muslim Cartoons May Sue
The former editor-in-chief of the student newspaper at the University of Illinois says he was unjustly fired for re-publishing controversial cartoons depicting Muhammad. The images originally published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on September 30 of last year have generated widespread outrage and sparked violent riots and destruction of property by Muslims around the world. Read
Lawsuit Targets 'Onerous' Student Speech Codes at Georgia Tech
A federal civil rights lawsuit accuses the Georgia Institute of Technology of censoring the speech of religious and conservative students by enforcing "draconian" speech codes. The suit claims students at the school "are less free to speak and express themselves at the Institute than they are in downtown Atlanta." Read
Methodist College Vows to Fund, Rebuild Burned Ala. Churches
A ''service of grief and hope'' over the fires and arrests of three students accused of setting fire to a string of rural churches was held last week at Birmingham-Southern College, where two of the three are enrolled. Read

God and Country/National Security/Politics/Economy

A Mother Drives Her Son's Memory Home
One military mother is going to extraordinary lengths to pay tribute to her fallen son. Jerry Bowen reports on her journey in the fourth part of the CBS Evening News special series, "The Iraq War: Three Years and Counting." Read
2 Years After Soldier's Death, Family Battles Army
Patrick K. Tillman stood outside his law office here, staring intently at a yellow house across the street, just over 70 yards away. That, he recalled, is how far away his eldest son, Pat, who gave up a successful N.F.L. career to become an Army Ranger, was standing from his fellow Rangers when they shot him dead in Afghanistan almost two years ago. Read
Suspected Immigrant Smugglers in Colo. Car Wrecks
Two Days, Six Crashes and 80 Suspected Illegal Immigrants Taken Into Custody Read
Bush: Iraq Pullout a Choice for a Later President
Amid public unease, president suggests U.S. troops will stay through 2008 Read
Seditionist Cardinal Mahony Defies the Pope
The debate continues to rage over Cardinal Mahony's instructions to his priests to ignore future immigration laws while cloaking his justification in biblical verse. He is not the first to do so. Cardinal McCarrick the archbishop of Washington, DC, has also made a similar claim about current immigration laws. It is this author's opinion that such exhortations are prima facie evidence of preaching and practicing sedition. It is further suggested that the rampant, willful continuance of unlawfully 'aiding and abetting' illegal aliens by the Catholic Church, Catholic Charities and others, is ALSO a form of sedition. Just what IS sedition? Sedition is a United States "federal crime of advocacy of insurrection against the government Read
Bush: 'No President Wants War'
"We're making progress [in Iraq], and that's important for the American people to understand," President Bush told a news conference on Tuesday. Bush said he called the press conference to tell the American people what's on his mind — and "what's on my mind is winning the war on terror." Read
Abu Ghraib Dog Handler Gets 6 Months
An Army dog handler was sentenced to six months behind bars for using his snarling canine to torment prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Sgt. Michael J. Smith, 24, was found guilty of six of 13 counts a day earlier and could have faced 8 1/2 years in prison. Read
Anti-Iraq War Demonstrators Seek Momentum
On the Third Anniversary of the Iraq War, Activists Want to Start Grass Roots Movement to End the Conflict Read
Bomb Parts Pass Checkpoints at 21 U.S. Airports
Congressman Calls Results of Undercover Tests 'Very Disappointing'
Government investigators conducting undercover tests at 21 U.S.airports were able to get bomb materials through screening machines at all of them, ABC News has learned. Read
N. Korea Warns U.S. of Pre-Emptive Strike
North Korea suggested Tuesday it had the ability to launch a pre-emptive attack on the United States, according to the North's official news agency. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the North had built atomic weapons to counter the U.S. nuclear threat. Read
Tough Times for Print Journalism — and In-Depth Reporting
The Project for Excellence in Journalism, which will become a part of the Pew Research Center in mid-2006, issued its annual report on the state of the news media this week. Here is an excerpt from the report's overview. Scan the headlines of 2005 and one question seems inevitable: Will we recall this as the year when journalism in print began to die? The ominous announcements gathered steam as the year went on. The New York Times would cut nearly 60 people from its newsroom, the Los Angeles Times 85; Knight Ridder's San Jose Mercury News cut 16%, the Philadelphia Inquirer 15% — and that after cutting another 15% only five years earlier. By November, investors frustrated by poor financial performance forced one of the most cost-conscious newspaper chains of all, Knight Ridder, to be put up for sale. Read
Bush Says Troop Levels not Bound by Politics
President George W. Bush vowed on Wednesday he will not let election-year politics interfere with decisions about U.S. troop levels in Iraq as he sought to rally flagging public support for the war. Read
Disabled Iraq War Veteran Wins Illinois Primary
Will be Democratic nominee for House seat Read
Are Aliens Who Cross our Borders 'Illegal' or 'Undocumented'?
Euphemisms are being used more often these days. Once a word describes what it is meant to describe, once it creates a picture in everyone's mind of the qualities the word was originally designed to convey, many politically correct people rush out to search for something that will no longer do this, a word that might be confusing enough to place doubt in the listener's mind. Read
The Big Lie: Illegal Immigration Benefits Americans
It's widely been reported that illegal aliens comprise upwards of 27 percent of the US prison and jail population. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — two agencies within the Department of Homeland Security — claim in several reports that they've apprehended over 100,000 criminal aliens whose offenses go far beyond violation of immigration laws and regulations. Read
Ex-CIA Op: U.S. Could Destroy Iran's Nukes
A former senior CIA operative says the U.S. can easily destroy Iran's nuclear facilities with bunker-busting bombs and other weapons. "We can dig those things out. We can destroy them," Gary Berntsen, who led the search for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in late 2001, told The Jerusalem Post. Read
Delphi, GM Reach Deals With UAW on Buyouts
General Motors Corp. and auto parts supplier Delphi Corp. announced deals with the United Auto Workers on Wednesday that would help the struggling companies cut labor costs by offering early-retirement buyouts to 113,000 U.S. hourly workers. Read
L.A. Bus Worker Retiring on 100th Birthday
"I'm kind of nervous about leaving the job, I've been doing it for so long," Winston told The Associated Press. "I'm going to miss my crew. But I'll find plenty of things to do with my free time." Read
Moussaoui Witness: FAA Lax with Pilot Training
Flight school manager's concerns about future 9/11 hijacker dismissed Read
Peace group hostages freed in Iraq
U.S. and British forces have freed three Christian aid workers held hostage in Iraq, ending a four-month ordeal in which an American captive was found dead on a Baghdad street. Read

Pornography/Homosexuality/Obscenity/Immorality/Sexual Abuse

Police Seek Sex Offender With Underground Dungeon
Authorities in South Carolina are looking for a convicted sex offender. They suspect the man of raping two teens in an underground dungeon behind his home. Read
North Carolina Sex Offender and Public Protection Registry
Remark About Gays Shadows St. Pat's Parade
Organizers have faced questions about their attitudes toward gays and have barred an Irish gay and lesbian group for 16 straight years. The snub led City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is openly gay and of Irish descent, to decline to participate in the Fifth Avenue march, and she blasted Dunleavy over remarks that appeared in The Irish Times on Thursday. He told the newspaper, "If an Israeli group wants to march in New York, do you allow Neo-Nazis into their parade? If African Americans are marching in Harlem, do they have to let the Ku Klux Klan into their parade?" Read
N.H. House Votes against Amendment to Ban Same-Sex Marriage
The New Hampshire House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday against a proposed amendment to the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Read
Miss. Lawmakers Face Deadline for Abortion Bill
A House-passed proposal would ban all abortions in Mississippi, except when a woman's life is at risk or she was the victim of rape or incest. Read
Dad Arrested After Toddler Wanders Into Strip Club
Boy Claimed Dad Said Monsters Would Eat Him Read
McDonald's, Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney's advertisers of Desperate Housewives
Corporate advertisers of Disney/ABC's Desperate Housewives include:
McDonald's, Wal-Mart, J.C. Penneys (your letters needed) Sample Letter
Gay Couples Challenge Conn. Marriage Laws
A lawyer for eight gay couples argued in court Tuesday that Connecticut's marriage laws illegally create a separate class of people based on sexual orientation. Read
Condom Debate Stirs Tension in Uganda
The activists, as well as some Ugandan officials, accuse the United States of blunting the condom message in favor of abstinence, while the Americans say they are victims of misinformation and have actually increased nearly tenfold the number of condoms they supply to this African nation of 26 million. Read
Poll: Opposition to Gay Marriage Declining
The public backlash over gay marriage has receded since a controversial decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court in 2003 to legalize those marriages stirred strong opposition, says a poll released Wednesday. Read
Big Brother Watching: Nude Photos Up for Sale?
Days after American artist Spencer Tunick snapped photos of mass nudity in Venezuela, police on another continent have investigated whether department colleagues have hawked close-ups from one of the photographer's last "all-in-the-flesh" shoots in England. Read

Other News

12 Indicted in 'Caravan of Death' Case
75 killed after 1973 Pinochet coup Read
Hamas Defies Abbas, Calls Special Session
The militant Islamic group Hamas moved closer to controlling the Palestinian government Wednesday, calling a special session of parliament to approve its new Cabinet despite objections from President Mahmoud Abbas over its refusal to recognize Israel.
Abbas plans to state his complaints but in the end will give his blessing to the new Hamas governing team, an official said. Read
Iraqi Insurgents Attack Police Paramilitary Unit
Insurgents laid siege today to the headquarters of a police paramilitary unit near the capital, lobbing a volley of mortars that killed at least one senior officer and injured at least five, Interior Ministry officials said. Read
Russian Voters say "Nyet" to Israel's Olmert
Israel's most influential electoral bloc is saying "Nyet" to interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert just days before his Kadima party is expected to win a general election. Failure to win the Russian vote in Tuesday's election could hamper the ability of a Kadima-led government to implement far-reaching policies such as setting final borders and dismantling Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Read
EU Bans 92 Airlines From Landing
The European Union on Wednesday banned 92 airlines, most of them based in Africa, from landing at European airports due to failures in meeting international safety standards. Read

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Index of Weekly Issues Alerts

2007

2006