To Stop Gay Couples, Mississippi School Cancels Prom
Constance McMillen wanted to go to her high school prom with her girlfriend. She wanted to wear a tuxedo. The Itawamba County Agricultural High School faced a dilemma. Their policy said no same-sex couples, and no cross dressing.
The American Civil Liberties Union, however, said that policy was a violation of civil rights. The ACLU's point had already been decided in Fricke v. Lynch, 491 f. Supp. 381, way back in 1980. So the school district made a decision: rather than let one girl wear a tuxedo, they cancelled the prom for everyone.
The report didn't actually say it was because of that, but "due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events."
Apparently, in that county in Mississippi, learning about civil rights is a distraction to what they consider a proper education.
Read the story at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_lesbian_prom_date
Image used is at http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-13517.html/ and appears at http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-13517.html/ No threat to its copyright is intended.
You may remember when pushing for breast-milk foods for people was a publicity gimmick done by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals--see below). Well, this time it's real.
Troy Anthony Davis was convicted of the 1989 killing of Savannah, Georgia police officer Mark Allen MacPhail and sentenced to be executed. Since then, seven of the nine key witnesses have recanted their testimony, and one of those remaining two witnesses is a possible suspect. But prosecuters are claiming Davis' lawyers may have coerced witnesses into recanting.
California's gay marriage ban is now on trial. Beginning today, Monday, 11 January, the court is examing the ban. Currently, five U.S. states and the District of Columbia approve gay marriage. 
"Well I've just got one question
Yep, we guessed it. Michael Jackson, The King of Pop, was seen alive in a video after he was murdered. Who would have thought it? We would have thought it. Look Below.
A CIA report that was released today (Monday, 24 August 2009) says interrogators threatened to kill the children of a 
The preliminary hearing for suspect Israel Mireles, who is the prime suspect in the killing of Emily Sander, is continuing. After hearing the preliminary evidence, a judge will decide if there is sufficient evidence to go to trial. At that point, Mireles will enter a plea.
As of right now, it's been seven weeks since the death of "The King of Pop" Michael Jackson died at age 50. He's been the focus of tremendous media attention, and received what was called "the biggest celebrity send-off of all time," watched by 1 billion people.
The preliminary hearing for suspect Israel Mireles has been rescheduled for August 18, 2009. Mireles has been charged with the capital murder, rape and aggravated sodomy of Emily Sander.
'According to the study by Todd Kendall, an economics professor at Clemson University, “the arrival of the internet was associated with a reduction in rape incidence.”'
13-year-old Alfie Patten, who got front-page recognition as the father of his 15-year-old girlfriend's baby, is not the father.
Texans love five things: barbecues, football, guns, executions, and registering sex offenders. It's a good-old-boy state where you can get lifetime registration as a sex offender and 20 years in prison for downloading photos that have appeared in several art museums. But leaving a loaded gun where a kid gets it and shoots and kills his cousin can get you a fine.
A friend and I were talking about how the possible retirement of U. S. Supreme Court justices, and their replacements, could change the nature of the Supreme Court. A few hours later, I read that David Souter would be retiring.
In 1920, America approved a constitutional amendment that meant the prohibition of alcohol. In 1929, the stock market crashed into the Great Depression. In 1933, America revoked the amendment, and made alcohol legal again. By 1936, the American economy (with the exception of still lower employment) had improved so much it was back to pre-crash levels.
American President Barack Obama has absolved CIA officers from prosecution for waterboarding, depriving detainees of heat and clothes, and slamming them against the wall. At the same time, Obama released details of the treatment against legally-innocent suspects. The ACLU had fought for the release of the information on the methods which the president said are no longer being used.
It sounds like a joke, but it's not. Attorney General Eric Holder said that the the Drug Enforcement Administration will stop raiding state-approved marijuana dispensaries.
Two girls, age 14 and 15, have been arrested and charged with disseminating child porn--for sending pictures of themselves.
"Breaking forcefully with Bush anti-terror policies, 
Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw a shoe at President George W. Bush as a protest, got a party in prison.
Guantanamo Bay Prison, a place where "suspected terrorists" were being held indefinately, many without even being charged with anything, may soon be shut down.
Marijuana use has long been associated with problems in short term recall. Hey, did I say bud affects short term recall?
Black Friday, the day after America's Thanksgiving, is so named because it's the "biggest shopping day of the year." The average retail business makes 10% of its holiday sales on that one day.
"The federal appeals court in Atlanta on Friday halted Troy Anthony Davis’ execution, the third time his life has been spared shortly before he was to be put to death."
This is hard for us to believe and hard to write. The U. S. Supreme Court has refused to review the Troy Anthony Davis case. Davis was convicted of killing a police officer who was shot 17 years ago, and sentenced for execution.
Davis was convicted of fatally shooting Mark Allen MacPhail, a 27-year-old officer killed on August 19, 1989. The court said it would meet on Friday to discuss the case, but hasn't said when it will make a decision on whether or not to reconsider it.
In a bizarre twist, the U. S. Supreme Court was scheduled to look at the case of Troy Anthony Davis on September 29, 2008. But the state of Georgia insisted on killing Troy Davis on September 23, 2008. After 17 years, they didn't want to wait six days even if it meant an innocent man might be saved from death.
"GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - The Yemeni man convicted at the first Guantanamo war crimes trial will be eligible for release in less than five months after receiving a light sentence from a jury made up of 
(Alden Loveshade is a freelance writer who became involved in a political protest while vacationing in Boulder, Colorado, some time before JonBenét Ramsey (sometimes spelled JonBenet Ramsey) was reported missing. Alden has been following the Ramsey case ever since.)
Hey, everyone,
"A group of up to 300 young men have burned to death 11 people suspected of being witches and wizards in western Kenya — in some cases slitting their victims' throats or clubbing them to death before burning their bodies, officials said."
Marriage has always been the state-recognized union of one man and one woman. Or such is the assumption some would have us make, even though a look through Christian, Jewish and Muslim scripture would show otherwise.
Mandi Hamlin was handed a pair of pliers and told to remove her nipple rings before boarding a plane, according to attorney Gloria Allred. In a news conference on 27 March 2008, Allred said Hamlin was forced by the Transportation Security Administration on 24 February 2008 in Texas. (For those who don't know, Texas is a part of the United States, although some Texans insist it's the other way round.)
Shackling teens for 12 hours a day; physically and sexually abusing teen girls and teen boys; stripping teenage girls naked and forcing them to eat their own vomit: These are correction methods that have been investigated by various agencies, including the U. S. Department of Justice. Now the Columbia Training School of Columbia, Mississippi, which has been the site of much of this controversy, is being shut down.
"For the first time in U.S. history, more than one of every 100 adults is in jail or prison, according to a new report documenting America's rank as the world's No. 1 incarcerator," wrote David Crary, AP National Writer. Keep in mind that's the percentage currently incarcerated--it doesn't count all those who are on probation or parole, or those who used to be.
Until now, if you sold "marital aids" in Texas, you could be prosecuted for obscenity. A federal appeals court has finally overturned that law.
Tragically, authorities believe they've found the body of Emily Sander. The body was found about 50 miles from El Dorado, Kansas, where Emily attended school and was last seen.
Emily Sander, an 18-year-old student at Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas, is missing. She was last seen leaving a bar there with a man who may have been Israel Mireles, 24. El Dorado is about 30 miles from 
The Holy Bible says nothing against polygamy--in fact, many of the greatest spiritual leaders and men of God were polygamists. Even King David, the man after God's own heart in Christian and Jewish faith, practiced it.
"A judge who ordered a woman to drop her pants and decided a custody dispute by flipping a coin was removed from the bench by the Virginia Supreme Court on Friday." This is from an Associated Press article by Larry O'Dell about Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge James Michael Shull of Gate City.
Many teenagers may be shocked to learn that the intimacy that they and many of their classmates share could land them in prison. In fact, the senior who's dating a junior could be in danger of becoming a lifetime registered sex offender, and considered a sexual predator of children.
Should a 17-year-old teenager get 10 years in prison for having consensual oral sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend? The state of Georgia said yes; but now, after two years, the court said no. But just barely.
"'Today's opinion underscores the fact that the Department of Justice is required to follow the law, and that it is bound to abide by the Constitution,' defense attorney Robert Trout, said, promising more legal challenges to 'overreaching by the government in this case.'"
"The pending execution of Troy Anthony Davis, scheduled to take place on July 17, is raising serious questions about his guilt - and about the Newt Gingrich-era federal law that has limited his appeals options and prevented him, say his supporters, from getting a fair shake...."
Here's another twist on the sex offender laws that have been popping up in the last few years and are growing bigger and bigger throughout America.
"The nation's top two law enforcement officials acknowledged Friday the FBI broke the law to secretly pry out personal information about Americans." This is from a 9 March 2007 article written by Lara Jakes Jordan of the Associated Press. Jordan also writes, "Attorney General Alberto Gonzales left open the possibility of pursuing criminal charges against FBI agents or lawyers who improperly used the USA Patriot Act in pursuit of suspected terrorists and spies."
"This summer, a group of teenagers has disrobed near restaurants, bookstores and galleries, igniting a debate about whether this bohemian southern Vermont town should ban a practice that has been tolerated until now." That's from an article called "Nude teens raising eyebrows in Vermont."
(Alden Loveshade is a freelance writer who became involved in a political protest while vacationing in Boulder, Colorado, some time before JonBenet Ramsey was reported missing. Alden has been following the Ramsey case ever since. Here, Alden looks at the problem of false accusation, like what happened in the Ramsey murder case and to a small town mayor).