redstateupdate.net

interpreting the constitution

crowd control

spread of the red

one nation, under surveillance

fun d' mental

in bed with the red

red state rebate

verbatim

redstateupdate.net

spread of the red

redstat

one nation, under surveillance

crowd control

Weather

spread of the red

in bed with the red

2007 Winter Solstice Edition

redstat

fun d' mental : bible belted

Texas Panel Approves Fundamental Changes

US Citizens Choose Christian Conformity

Students Air Force-Fed Dogma on Campus

source: Viroqua Institute

2005 yearly revenues of largest Christian televangelist companies and their directors

Charles Stanley Billy Graham James Dobson Paul F Crouch Michael Little

A lawsuit has been filed against
the Department of Defense
relating to the missionary
activities of an evangelical
Christian group on the campus of
the Air Force Academy.

The Military Religious Freedom
Foundation filed the suit after the
release of a video by the
Academy Campus Crusade for
Christ that shows members
recruiting students saying that
they can be “government paid
missionaries” when they leave the
academy and that the ministry
wants to “make Jesus Christ the
issue” on the Air Force Academy
campus.

The director of the Military
Religious Freedom Foundation,

Mike Weinstein, said that the tape
represents government support of a
specific religion that is unconstitutional.
Weinstein said, “You cannot engage the
US government to propel your
religion.” Weinstein's group has
previously criticized DOD for allowing
Christian evangelicals to intimidate
students at its war colleges.

A spokes person for Campus Crusade
for Christ said that the group is careful
“to comply with all government and
Department of Defense policies and
regulations” when they carry out
missionary work on the US military
college campuses.

The Air Force said that it works “actively
to remind people to respect others” and
that a “wide variety” of religious services
are available on campus. it's all true

A poll conducted by Gallup, Inc.
indicates that 82 percent of Americans
identify themselves as Christians. 51
percent of poll respondents identified
themselves as Protestant and 23 percent
said they were Catholics. The poll
found that an additional five percent
reported that they followed the
precepts of another Christian religion,
such as Mormonism.

62 percent of the participants in the poll

said that they also are members of a
“church or synagogue”. This
represents a slight downturn in
citizens who reported that they are
active churchgoers since the late
1960’s when over 70 percent said
that they belonged to church or
synagogue. Gallup began to conduct
polls about religious beliefs in
America in 1937. it's all true

A panel of the Texas Higher Education
Board has given approval to the Institute
for Creation Research to award on line
masters degrees to students in science
education.

The group is a fundamentalist Christian
organization that teaches that the earth
was created in six days and that humans
have only existed for a few thousand
years. The group opened the Creation
Museum last year in Kentucky where
early humans are depicted living in the
Garden of Eden along side dinosaurs.
This is in spite of scientific data that
shows that the earth is 4 billion years

old and the ancestors of human
beings appeared millions of years
ago. The group says that its courses
give future teachers of science
"evidences of the Bible's accuracy and
authority" through scientific research
but "within a thoroughly biblical
framework."

If approved by the Coordinating
Board of the Texas Higher Education
Panel, the Institute could begin
offering masters degrees to students
who want to become science
teachers in Texas classrooms by early
next year. it's all true

Almighty, you can ...you're equally
an American if you're a Jew,
Christian or Muslim or Hindi or
whatever." Washington DC 08.15.04

verbatim number 26.1

"And if you choose to...if you believe in the

More than 45 percent of
common European bird species
have significantly declined over
the past 26 years, the result of
reduced habitat and increasingly
intensive farming and forestry
methods, according to a
comprehensive new study
released last week. Many of the
most severely impacted species
face "continental extinction" in
the words of the report, which
was published jointly by the
European Bird Census Council,
BirdLife International, and the
Royal Society for the Protection
of Birds. Among the threatened
species are the grey partridge, the
nightingale, and the turtle dove,
all of which suffered declines in
their European populations
exceeding 60 percent during the
period studied.

The study found that common
farmland birds were particularly at
risk, with all 33 farmland species
showing declining numbers, and a
cumulative 44 percent decline
among these species since 1980.
In a statement, RSPB
Conservation Director Dr. Mark
Avery said, "These declines are so
severe that in Europe they are
considered to be heading towards
continental extinction." The
report documents similar trends
among the newer European
Union states.

A US-based census of common
bird species released by the
National Audubon Society in June
also found alarming declines in
their numbers, with twenty
species having lost more than half
of their populations over 40
years. it's all true

Human Blight
Is Avian Plight

A raft of recent reports out of Iraq
provide fresh evidence that the trauma
and privation from years of US military
occupation have had particularly tragic
consequences for the nation's children.
Some 25,000 children in Iraq fled their
homes and became refugees in each
month of 2007, according to a United
Nations document released last week.
The report, by the UN children's welfare
agency UNICEF, said that acute
malnutrition among Iraqi children has
more than doubled since the March 2003
US invasion. A separate study by Iraq's
anti-corruption board estimates that
there are currently more than five
million Iraqi orphans, according to a
report by the Voices of Iraq news agency.

The UNICEF report, entitled "Little
Respite for Iraq's Children in 2007,"
concludes that more than two million

Juvenile Detentions Ensure No Child Left Behind in Iraq

authorities, many for alleged security
violations." A recent report by the
Agence France Presse news agency
revealed that US troops were holding
as many as 950 children, some as
young as 10, in a prison facility at
Camp Cropper, near the Baghdad
airport. The children, dressed in
special red jumpsuits, constitute
about 25 percent of total detainees
at Camp Cropper.

"These juveniles have been involved
in something that is perceived as a
security threat to Iraq or coalition
forces," Brigadier General Michael
Nevin of the US military police told
the AFP. The UN agency report
notes that detentions of Iraqi
children are up significantly since the
start of the US troop "surge" last
February. it's all true

children in the country face serious
threats of violence, disease, and
malnutrition. The agency also warned
that the massive internal refugee
population was largely without access to
education. According to the report,
"Insecurity and displacement continue to
cause hardship for many in the most
insecure parts of the country and further
eroded access to quality essential
services country-wide." The report
estimates that almost one million Iraqi
schoolchildren have had their education
interrupted by the conflict.

A largely overlooked aspect of US
military operations in Iraq is the
detention of juveniles apprehended
during security sweeps. UNICEF
researchers found that "approximately
1350 children were detained by military
and police authorities, many for

Despite the widespread implementation
of enhanced security protocols at
airports nationwide as part of the Bush
administration "war on terror," there is
no evidence that such measures are
effective in preventing or reducing
breaches of security, according to a
report released last week by a team of
researchers from the Harvard School of
Public Health. The researchers could not
identify any investigations or evidence as
to the efficacy of any of the common
airport security screening procedures,
including x-raying luggage or requiring
passengers to remove their shoes. The
results of the study were published in
the British Medical Journal.

Transportation Security Administration
officials contacted by the research team
said that evaluation of new security
measures was not a priority, but

defended its operations by highlighting
the TSA's confiscation of more than 13
million prohibited items in a single year.
The researchers found that most of
these items were disposable lighters.

The questions about the effectiveness of
sweeping new security procedures come
as the Department of Homeland Security
is pressing forward with two
controversial operations that have drawn
criticism from civil liberties groups. DHS
officials confirm that the Automated
Targeting System, a database developed
to screen and track international cargo
shipments, was being expanded to
gather data on every individual that
enters or leaves the country for any
purpose. The TSA has also increased its
deployment of "behavior detection
specialists" to mingle with the public in
the nation's airports. it's all true

DHS Increases Suspicious Activities

source: UN Office on Drugs and Crime

Average prison sentence length
selected countries

UK - 15

Estonia - 55

United States - 27

years 20 40 60

Finland - 7

Canada - 1

verbatim number 26.1

"If you've got
somebody in
harm's way...

...by the military."
New Albany IN 11.13.07

...you want the
president being...
making advice,
not be given advice...

A recent review of Justice
department statistics pointed toward
an increase in instances of police
brutality over the past few years.
USA Today and the Transactional
Records Access Clearinghouse at
Syracuse University found in separate
reviews that the number of criminal
cases being brought by Justice
Department attorneys against local
police forces for the use of excessive
force and brutality climbed
significantly between the years of
2001 and 2007.

The study by USA Today found that
the number of actions brought by the
Justice Department against police and
prison guards in 2007 was 25 percent
higher than in 2001. Justice
Department statistics also showed
that there were 53 percent more
convictions in 2007 than in 2001.

The Transactional Records Clearing
House found in its review of DOJ
statistics that the number of police
brutality cases in the first ten months
of 2007 exceeded the entire amount
of cases brought in 2002 by 66
percent. TRAC also reported that
the number of excessive force cases
filed last year was 61 percent higher
than the number of cases filed a
decade ago. it's all true

Slim Harpo
Tribute Page

verbatim
archive

redstat
archive

Brutal Tactics
Increase as
Police Practice

As Americans celebrate the holidays and
look forward to the New Year, citizens
living in two modern-day suburban tent
cities in California brace for the coming
year with hope and apprehension.
Residents of one of the encampments,
located near Sacramento, were served
with an eviction notice on Christmas
Eve. The group of homeless citizens
was forced off property owned by the
Union Pacific Railroad in November,
which is when they moved the
encampment to the undeveloped parcel
they are now being evicted from.

Over 200 people live in another
encampment located adjacent to the
LA/Ontario International Airport in

Ontario, CA. Local authorities moved
the residents of “Camp Hope” to the
site near the airport because an earlier
encampment was too close to homes.
Town officials in Ontario granted the
city owned property to its residents,
declaring the parcel a “rest area”. The
city also provides portable toilets to the
residents of the camp. Local homeless
support groups supply residents with
meals and hot showers twice a week.

Residents who live in the tent cities say
that the downturn in the economy,
inflated housing prices and rising medical
costs are factors that lead many families
to desperate situations. San Bernardino’s
homeless population his risen 39 percent

since 2002 and one in every 43
households is in foreclosure.
Nationally, foreclosures are up more
than 100 percent since last year.

The Associated Press recently
reported that credit card defaults
have risen 18 percent since last year
and the number of accounts that are
more than 30 days late has risen by
26 percent. Some banks reported
even higher increases in credit card
default; Bank of America saw an
increase of 200 percent over the last
year. Capital One Financial reported
that credit card delinquencies are
highest in areas where foreclosures
have increased. it's all true

Experts See Prospects for Growth in America's Tent City Sector

The Environmental Protection Agency
recently denied California a waiver that
would allow the state to impose limits
on automobile emissions of green house
gasses that are more stringent than the
recently amended federal standards.
Although EPA staff had reviewed the
request and advised that it should be
granted, the denial came after an
intensive lobbying campaign by the
automobile industry, members of
Congress and the White House.

California had sought and received
waivers from the agency over 60 times in
the past 37 years and had never been
denied the right to establish more strict
emission standards for automobiles than
the federal requirements until the recent
decision. The denial also impacts 16
other states that were poised to adopt
the California standards.

Congress recently passed new federal
auto emissions standards that gradually
raise the nation’s fuel economy standards
over the next 15 years. The rules
require manufacturer’s automobiles, light
trucks and SUVs to get an average of 35
miles per gallon of gas by 2020. The
federal plan begins to be phased in
2011. It was the first time in 32 years
that emission standards have been
strengthened largely due to pressure
from the automobile industry to
maintain the outdated federal limits.
The California rules require
manufacturers to achieve a fleet average

of 43.7 miles per gallon by 2016 and
would require changes in 2009
automobile models. An executive at
General Motors testified in a trail earlier
this year that the California standards
could cost the company $25 billion over
the next 9 years.

During debate about the new standards
automobile industry executives met with
members of congress and Vice President
Dick Cheney seeking assurances that the
federal standard would be strictly
enforced. The White House lobbied for
exclusive agency power to adopt a single
federal standard as Congress was drafting
the standards. In a speech on the floor
of the Senate, Carl Levin (D-MI) said
that his vote for the more strict
emissions standards was conditioned on
the EPA not undercutting the federal
rule by granting states separate waivers.
Prior to the ruling, representatives from
the auto industry delivered an appeal in
the form of a letter directly to the head
of the EPA.

Rep Henry Waxman (D-CA) said that the
EPA ruling “appears to have ignored the
evidence before the agency and the
requirements of the Clean Air Act.”
Representatives of the auto industry
disagreed saying, "by denying this waiver,
the EPA has not wavered." Waxman,
who chairs the House Oversight and
Government Reform Committee, has
initiated an investigation into the
agency's denial of the waiver.   it's all true

Auto Lobby Rebuilds EPA Ruling in DC Chop-Shop