Bob Egelko, Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writers
A California appeals court ruling clamping down on homeschooling by parents without teaching credentials sent shock waves across the state this week, leaving an estimated 166,000 children as possible truants and their parents at risk of prosecution.
The homeschooling movement never saw the case coming.
"At first, there was a sense of, 'No way,' " said homeschool parent Loren Mavromati, a resident of Redondo Beach (Los Angeles County) who is active with a homeschool association. "Then there was a little bit of fear. I think it has moved now into indignation."
The ruling arose from a child welfare dispute between the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and Philip and Mary Long of Lynwood, who have been homeschooling their eight children. Mary Long is their teacher, but holds no teaching credential.
The parents said they also enrolled their children in Sunland Christian School, a private religious academy in Sylmar (Los Angeles County), which considers the Long children part of its independent study program and visits the home about four times a year.
The Second District Court of Appeal ruled that California law requires parents to send their children to full-time ...   more »

by David Gutierrez
(NaturalNews) Members of the Minnesota National Guard returning from the longest tour of any ground combat unit in Iraq were surprised to learn that they were not eligible for the education benefits that they expected to receive under the G.I. Bill.
The Minnesota National Guard's First Brigade Combat Team of the 34th Infantry Division was deployed in Iraq for 22 months, 125 days longer than they had originally been scheduled for. This involuntary extension, a part of President Bush's "surge" strategy for the war, made the 2,600 soldiers' tour of duty the longest of any ground combat unit in Iraq. Recently, however, 1,162 of the soldiers learned that because their orders were written for 729 days instead of 730 (as the other 1,338 soldiers' orders were), they were not eligible for increased education benefits.
Under the Montgomery G.I. Bill of 1984, soldiers who serve for less than 730 days are entitled to Reserved Education Assistance program payments for as long as they are still enrolled in military service. Soldiers who serve for 730 days or more, however, have the option to pay $1,200 in exchange for a $234 per month higher payment. Perhaps more significantly, this benefit ...   more »

Drugs will Allow Teenagers to Abort their Unborn Children After Engaging in Sexual Intercourse
COLOMBIA, March 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The government of Colombia has announced a new program through which it will distribute the abortifiacient "morning after pill" as "emergency contraception" free to all women who are of the age of fertility.
"The measure covers victims of rape and all women who have had sexual relations without protection.  The first must make an emergency request and the second through a priority consultation with her EPS (Health Promoting Entity)," said Blanca Elvira Cajigas, Vice Minister of Health and Well Being in an interview with El Tiempo.
All teenage women, regardless of their participation in the nation's health care system, will receive the abortifacient contraceptives free of charge.  Women older than 19 years must be enrolled in a government or private health care plan to receive the benefit, although Cajigas believes that even this requirement will be dropped.
"The plan is that next year, when we reach universal health care coverage, everyone can have access" to the program, she said.
All three forms of contraceptives offered not only prevent pregnancy, but also can cause abortions by preventing a newly conceived zygote ...   more »

DEERFIELD, IL, March 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Deerfield High School, in Deerfield, Illinois, is offering the books "Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes" (Part One & Two) - laced with graphic sexual content, including gay sex, pervasive expletives, religious denigration and mockery - in English classes this spring.
The books contain graphic descriptions of sodomy heretofore only heard of in hardcore homosexual pornography.  With numerous uses of the 'f' word and vulgar sexual references to Mother Teresa, the Mother of Jesus, and God.
"After almost 15 years of school advocacy and reviewing many objectionable books and curricula, I have never seen anything this vulgar and harmful to students," says Lora Sue Hauser, Executive Director of North Shore Student Advocacy.  "Parents, taxpayers and concerned citizens must force themselves to read these excerpts, as horrific as they are, so you know what kids are being exposed to.  The school justifies this egregious choice because of its themes of hope.  Evidently, all great literature with themes of hope have already been exhausted so teachers need to start offering pornography.  We say - enough."
North Shore Student Advocacy (NSSA), an organization to help parents and students when they run into problems ...   more »

By SARAH OLIVER 
A Royal Mason: The Duke of Kent is the organisation's Grand Master
A branch of the Freemasons secret society is being formed by members of the Royal Household and police who protect the Royal Family.
And their decision to call it The Royal Household Lodge has put them on a collision course with Buckingham Palace – as has their plan to co-opt the royal cipher – EIIR – for their regalia, to underline their connection to the Queen.
Although the Queen's cousin, the Duke of Kent, is head of the secretive organisation – he is Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England – the new branch has not gone down well with the Royal Family.
The Palace has no power to halt the formation of the lodge, but it is determined to stop it adopting its chosen name and block it from hijacking the Queen's EIIR.
Use of the Royal Household title and any related symbols requires official permission.
Angry officials clearly feel the new lodge's proposed name is the last thing the Palace needs at a time when it is trying to be seen as more modern and open.
Last night, a spokesman for ...   more »

By John Jalsevac
March 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - This past Monday Oprah Winfrey, considered by many to be the world's most influential woman, began a ten-week long online course on the best-selling book, "A New Earth," by New Age guru, Eckhart Tolle. "A New Earth" has already sold some 3.5 million copies worldwide, thanks largely to the publicity given to it by Oprah. According to Oprah, 500,000 people from across the world signed on to the first segment of the online course, to spend an hour and a half listening to Ekhart and Oprah talking about chapter 1 of the book, and taking calls from participants.
In recent years Oprah has been inviting an increasing number of representatives of new age spirituality onto her talk shows, including figures such as Marianne Williamson, Barbara DeAngelis, LaVar Burton, Richard Carlson, Betty Eadie, and many others. Oprah has strongly endorsed many of their works, and has included some of them in her "Book Club" list. 
Since the beginning of this year Oprah has offered daily classes on her XM radio station on the book "A Course in Miracles." "A Course in Miracles" (or ACIM for short) was written by another major player in ...   more »

By Steve Jalsevac
March 6, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In the wider Muslim world a substantial percentage of the followers of Islam live a relatively peaceful and productive co-existance with other cultures and faiths. There is, however, a growing movement toward radical, fundamental Islam, which movement is coming especially out of the Middle East, and is now spreading to many Muslims within North America. William Federer explains that in the West multiculturism policies appear to be a major factor facilitating that radicalism and its intolerant, violent attitude to its host nations.
In an interview with LifeSiteNews Federer explained that western society is itself largely to blame for the rapid increase of threats to its civilization from a variety of sources. The abandonment of our Judeo/Christian heritage and the resulting internal corruption has greatly weakened us. The relativistic liberal creed that one culture is as good as another belittles the value of our once strong, free and prosperous Christian-based society.
The rejection of our traditional religious faith and its moral and other social principles has left a great vacuum.  Those from more solidly identified, but also radically different cultures, naturally see this as an opportunity to expand their worldview.
Federer says that ...   more »