No Home Schooling in California!

Judge orders homeschoolers into government educationCourt: Family's religious beliefs 'no evidence' of 1st Amendment violation
Posted: February 29, 20083:24 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh© 2008 WorldNetDaily
A California court has ruled that several children in one homeschool family must be enrolled in a public school or "legally qualified" private school, and must attend, sending ripples of shock into the nation's homeschooling advocates as the family reviews its options for appeal.
The ruling came in a case brought against Phillip and Mary Long over the education being provided to two of their eight children. They are considering an appeal to the state Supreme Court, because they have homeschooled all of their children, the oldest now 29, because of various anti-Christian influences in California's public schools.
The decision from the 2nd Appellate Court in Los Angeles granted a special petition brought by lawyers appointed to represent the two youngest children after the family's homeschooling was brought to the attention of child advocates.

"We find no reason to strike down the Legislature's evaluation of what constitutes an adequate education scheme sufficient to promote the 'general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence,'" the court said in the case. "We agree … 'the educational program of the State of California was designed to promote the general welfare of all the people and was not designed to accommodate the personal ideas of any individual in the field of education.'"
The words echo the ideas of officials from Germany, where homeschooling has been outlawed since 1938 under a law adopted when Adolf Hitler decided he wanted the state, and no one else, to control the minds of the nation's youth.
Wolfgang Drautz, consul general for the Federal Republic of Germany, has said "school teaches not only knowledge but also social conduct, encourages dialogue among people of different beliefs and cultures, and helps students to become responsible citizens."
Specifically, the appeals court said, the trial court had found that "keeping the children at home deprived them of situations where (1) they could interact with people outside the family, (2) there are people who could provide help if something is amiss in the children's lives, and (3) they could develop emotionally in a broader world than the parents' 'cloistered' setting."
The appeals ruling said California law requires "persons between the ages of six and 18" to be in school, "the public full-time day school," with exemptions being allowed for those in a "private full-time day school" or those "instructed by a tutor who holds a valid state teaching credential for the grade being taught."
The judges ruled in the case involving the Longs the family failed to demonstrate "that mother has a teaching credential such that the children can be said to be receiving an education from a credentialed tutor," and that their involvement and supervision by Sunland Christian School's independent study programs was of no value.
Nor did the family's religious beliefs matter to the court.
Their "sincerely held religious beliefs" are "not the quality of evidence that permits us to say that application of California's compulsory public school education law to them violates their First Amendment rights."
"Such sparse representations are too easily asserted by any parent who wishes to homeschool his or her child," the court concluded.
The father, Phillip Long, said the family is working on ways to appeal to the state Supreme Court, because he won't allow the pro-homosexual, pro-bisexual, pro-transgender agenda of California's public schools, on which WND previously has reported, to indoctrinate his children.

A most excellent image was given to me propitiously, when I photographed the mouth of the Necanicum River. This was a an extreme telephoto shot and because of how I framed the image, it caused me to paint this painting of "Fred" who is a local character. Fred walks all over town and I just happened to "catch" him as he was walking on the fairly hard sand near the mouth of the Necanicum River. If you click on the image it will take you to my auction of this painting on Artbyus. The painting is hand signed by me (Leonard Keigher) and is executed in acrylic paint. It measures 8 x 6 inches.

No sex with carnivores (meat eaters), according to a group of vegansexuals in NZ. Well I guess if all vegans looked like the couple in the article, the whole concept of "veggie sex" would be relegated to a world where people actually liked broccoli. Wouldn't be prudent; that's my reaction to the thought of even considering a liaison with these potato people.

Fortunately the opportunity will never present itself because I'm safely married and besides that, I only go with omnivores. :)

My goodness how often does a perfectly genteel eccentricity degenerate into a kind of fascist insanity? In today's world it seems as if those things that divide us become the reason for burgeoning hatred rather than tolerance. Personally, I can tolerate vegans confining their breeding to their own kind as long as they keep their intolerance to themselves.

As a Christian I am quite used to abuse by the press and from others. Personally, I find that most people are neither good nor bad but seem to exist in an in between place. Many will talk about caring and even make the effort to help, but only up to a point. Seems to me that when Christ showed us how to "care" for others, he made the ultimate sacrifice. It's better to care about the fate of others rather than separate yourself from them. We all are riders on the same train, heading towards eternity. How we treat the least of our fellow passengers matters. There is true joy in service.

I recently wrote an article about Compassion and how it's quite different from "romantic love" and it's maxim about love and hate being two sides to same coin.

Here's the article:

Some think there is a thin line between love and hate. Perhaps that could be true if you only consider love to be one of the simple basic boy/girl emotions. But let me ask you a question. Have you ever been the recipient of compassionate love; did you feel that real hate was even a part of the same universe as that of the giver? I don't really think that true goodness and vile hatred can be comfortable together.

To enter the world of hate you have to pretty totally abandon the world of compassion and humanity. And of course the reverse is true. To enter the world of the compassionate you must totally abandon darkness. Not many will completely grasp this idea, because not that many people are willing to be truly compassionate. I don't think compassion is something you pine for like you might for a companion to share your life; no I believe compassion is something that you are made of.

To be compassionate, you of course must be able to free yourself of personal concerns for a time. In a materialistic world filled with empty gestures it's not that easy to adopt a true level of concern for the lives of others. To be compassionate you have to set aside your world and be open to understanding the world of each person that you meet so that their world unfolds with all of its mystery, pain and beauty. You can bond with people in a very intimate way but still maintain a separate understanding of your world too. There is little room in such a world for dark wrath or venial anger. That is not say that such negative feelings are not there, it's just that they aren't fed because your real focus is on feeding peoples real needs not inflaming their emotions.

Compassionate love demands action. It isn't romantic, nor is it idealistic. Compassionate love requires effort and movement. It requires that you work to understand the needs that another might have. This is therefore not an easy kind of love but it is fulfilling in a complete and satisfying way. Usually in long lasting marriages, this is the love that couples share. In fact it's why certain people often seem so tied together; it's truly an interwoven kind of feeling and it grows stronger, not weaker as those involved grow older. In rare cases whole communities can share this feeling if only for awhile. From such sharing we may see the flowering of true creativity, charity and peace. The results of this effort often leads in unexpected directions and this in turn fuels our delight in being with others.

All the Great Words are Dead

It is said, it is said
All the great words are dead
Now they flutter like ghosts, mere memories in the head
Or they cower and they stumble from the mouths of fools who mumble
“Far better they are gone... far better, far better, far better.” they said.

We were told, we were told
That the great words were bad,
That they made people sad
And we settled, yes we settled, yes we settled for that!

Are you mad, are you mad
That now the great words are bad,
Words like canticle and capriciousness and character and cad?

Are you sad, are you sad
As you mourn the loss of beauty?
Now we must all cater to our pc duty.
Never say, never say, never speak them again
All this chastity and charity and kindliness must end!

The great new words are significant you know.
Glorious words like Phat, Whack and Ho.
Marvelous concoctions of consonant and vowel,
Emulating sounds that rumble from the bowel.
More real, more real, more real they said,
Snuffling on their sleeve
They stood back and let our culture leave.

Want a Great Genealogy Program for Free!

Do you want a wonderful free genealogy program that allows you to search through over 900 databases for relatives? I would recommend My Heritage Family Tree. I already really liked this site, but recently it merged with Gen Circles and Family Tree Legends and by doing so added new levels of access and research. I like and use all three sites for my research, and have found that the free family tree download from My Heritage to be superior to anything else I've tried.

After you've downloaded the tree you can either upload an already previously compiled family tree from Ancestry.com or you can begin by entering your own files. I know that My Heritage works well with uploads in the GEDCOM format. I already did extensive research on my Ancestry.com site and so I downloaded that GEDCOM file into My Heritage Family Tree Builder and than I was ready do some further research. My Heritage has some really great connections to other sites and their data bases and also to a number of totally free sites, like Roots Web. It also has links to some sites that offer a reasonable subscription rate.

As a result of using their software and the links that they provided I was able to expand my research for certain individuals quite a lot. After you download data and add in other data as you obtain it, the program saves your information into your tree and than offers you the option of "publishing" your tree to its website. If you decide to do that than you will be given a subscription choice which will include the basic free option and various paid plans. I started with the free plan and now am subscribed to their 2nd tier plan.

Another thing I really like is that My Heritage has adopted and improved the matching software used on the Gen Circles web site. This matching software is similar to matching software used by Ancestry.com but I believe that My Heritage has improved on the concept by allowing a review of all the matches from other family trees and the ability to compare those matches with your data. By doing this you can often tell if your data has any obvious problems.

Finally, I just totally love the programs many versatile features including the way that the family tree is displayed, the sidebar window with all of your ancestors listed (with an alphabetical sort option too!). After you download the program to your desktop (that's where I have mine located), you can put up several genealogy programs at one time and easily jump back and forth between them for easier fact checking.

The list of reports you can generate is pretty good and the variations of the charting view are impressive. I love the fact that when you move the cursor to one of the names on your list or on your chart, you can find out immediately if that person is related directly to you or to your wife. There's also plenty of room for adding in photos and various other enhancements to your ancestors view. There is also a

One last thing, I would recommend that you download the help manual for the program; it will probably make your life a bit easier. However, to be honest, I've had the program for months and just now got around to downloading the manual, so if you're familiar with windows you won't really need the manual to understand most of the options. Just like Ancestry.com, this program seems to be destined to become more and more popular.

I would rate the merger of the three companies as an AAA++++ improvement. So far the Gen Circle site and the Family Tree Legends continue to maintain their own sites. Hopefully the merger will benefit all three companies and we will see some more databases opened up to the general public for free.

The Amish are Prepared to Leave Michigan.

The Amish are prepared to leave the Michigan, if the federally mandated NAIS program is forced on them. This program mandates that all cattle be marked with RFID tags as a health control protection. The Amish believe that this technology is the "Mark of the Beast" and have stated that they will quit farming rather than submit to the mandates of this program. They also said they would leave the state. The article cites the passage below from the Bibles New Testament. This section called Revelation is the last book of the Bible and the passage refers to a mandate required by the Anti Christ.

"He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name."

-- Holy Bible

New International Version,

While I am not convinced that this RFID chip is the one spoken of by John in Revelation, it certainly is the precursor of it. As noted in my previous post China is requiring all 12.5 Million residents of the city of Shenzen to have RFID Cards for purposes of personal identification. This card will contain many personal details and it will eventually be used to pay for certain things. I don't know sounds like the Mark to me. Of course they haven't mandated that it be injected into your arm or forehead yet. I wonder how long before that's required?

Dangerous Threat to Privacy from RFID Chips.

Recently, the news has been full of stories about the RFID tracking chip. However I was surprised by a recent article in the New York Times. It seems that the application of this kind of technology is now speeding up. China announced that the 12.5 million citizens of the city of Shenzen, will be issued government ID cards which will contain an RFID chip. Data on the chip will include the citizen’s name and address, employment history,schooling, religious affiliation, ethnicity, police records, medical information and the landlord’s phone number. It will also carry information about the number of children in the family. Without this ID card the citizen will be unable to live in Shenzen. In order to live there though ones privacy must be forfeited. Is it worthwhile to sacrifice your privacy for considerations like economics, security or public assembly control?

There are additional studies underway to increase the value of the chip by adding in credit history information and also by programming in the ability of the card holder to make small purchases such as subway fares etc. Along with these new ID cards the government is installing 20,000 street cameras for crime deterrence. These cameras will augment and sometimes work in tandem with the nearly 200,000 private company owned cameras that already exist there. The argument is that this security infrastructure is for crime deterrence, but many civil libertarians are speculating that it is the communist governments’ way of controlling political activity and thought. Privacy appears to be on the way out.

Where did this technology come from and where is it going? Apparently, the development of the RFID (radio frequency identifier) chip is based on research that’s an offshoot of radio broadcast and radar technology. The first research breakthroughs appear to have occurred in the late 1940’s. Research continued through the 1970’s. The technology was seriously tested in the 1980’s. Commercial development and usage came into the market place soon after the testing and was developed on through the 90’s. As the technology developed, so did the need for industry standards. By the year 2000, the RFID tag was becoming common and today it’s become quite a familiar and useful business tool used to track inventories. These tags are usually foil based and embedded into the first layer of the packaging on various items. Sometimes they appear to be simple printed sticker labels pasted onto an item or onto the package. These “spy chips” have also been adapted for certain marketing purposes so that companies can determine a unique consumers purchasing habits. Such expanded consumer targeted usage does in fact threaten our privacy. Adaptations of this sort of label are embedded into bracelets, pendants and watches too. There is of course the obvious usage of these tags in hospitals and other institutions for dealing with those whose judgments are impaired by age, immaturity or illness. None the less these simple chips are considered intrusive, but they probably are not yet a fatal threat to privacy.

It is the parallel development of sub dermal chips used to mark animals and humans that concerns civil libertarians the most. These chips can be injected directly into the body of an animal or a human. They are not easily removable, and they may even possibly migrate from the original insertion point due to muscle movement. Such RFID tags are already being used in several european night clubs to identify regular patrons, who have an account with the bar and the kitchen. By allowing these chips to be inserted, the patron can than pass through any check point or barrier in the club. The exclusivity appeals to the clubbers. Certainly it appears that the use of such ID chips will expand beyond our present level of comfort as time goes on.

There are many good reasons for RFID tags to be adapted for use on livestock and human beings. Digital Angel Corporation, a subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions, first tested their chips in 2001. They were embedded in watches and pagers and given to volunteers for testing the readers. These devices were to be used for medical
emergencies and monitoring other activities as well. Apparently they succeeded in their trials because Digital Angel Corporation which has been selling a lot of sub dermal chips for pets world wide, is now producing similar chips for children and certain individuals with perilous medical conditions. While Digital Angel used sub dermal chips for the animals, for the human clients, they have so far chosen to use an adapted chip embedded into a pendent or a bracelet that could than be worn. Recently Digital Angel has entered into the asset location business. Their newest RFID chip has GPS capabilities, which works with satellite technology to help locate downed planes and lost soldiers. Recent sales to Oman, Sweden and the UK, indicate a strong international interest in such devices. These most recent devices are too bulky to be injected directly into a human, but with continuing developments in nanotechnology, I’m sure that a miniaturized version of their chip will soon be available. Just think your whereabouts will always be known to whoever is reading the information from the “reader”.

Another company, the Hitachi Corporation created useful super small RFID chips. The chips measure just 0.05 millimeter by 0.05 millimeter. This chip is nicknamed the powder chip and is expected to be available in 2009. Each of these tiny chips transmit a 38 digit ID number when stimulated by a reader. Because of the minute
dimensions of this particular chip, it would be possible to “mark” someone surreptitiously. Therefore, all privacy is lost. It is the recent accelerated pace of this technology development that concerns me. Why is there such a push to remove our anonymity? Who is behind this? In many cases it looks like the technology has caught the eyes of the military establishment. Of course it makes perfect sense because by having this technology available, makes it all about control and access. The existence of a device to both control the movements of individuals and prevent hostile incursions into certain high security areas has many implications for both the military and also for civil libertarians.

One company, CityWatcher.com is a government contractor that sells surveillance equipment to municipalities. Last year, they implanted two employees with RFIDs, which are microchips that are toothpick-thin and as long as two grains of rice. These chips provided access to certain secure areas and the company stated that these employees were volunteers and that it was all about security. Of course now that this technology is unleashed, the future chances for exploitation and abuse have most certainly increased. Verichip, a sister company to Digital Angel, and also owned by Applied Digital Solutions, is injecting chips into alzheimer patients in
Florida. Certainly, controlling the movements of the medically disabled seems to be a noble use for these new chips. Applied Digital Solutions owns both of these companies. They both produce a very similar product, so why are there two companies? And where will the line finally be drawn? Or will the line ever be drawn?

In the first paragraph of this article I refer to Shenzen, China. Their approach to civil population control is to use ID cards with chips. No, they are not yet injecting these chips, but won’t that happen soon enough? People will lose their cards, they will be stolen, the cards will be sold, they could be copied in some way. Arguably these problems may occur enough so that the next step will be similar to Digital Angels “mark of the beast” rfid chip, whereby people are permanently tagged like livestock.

An innovative new company, called Somark Innovations, has produced a rfid mark that can be applied directly to the skin like a tattoo. The mark can be “read” from a fair distance because it was created with frightened and milling animals in mind. Domestic animals behave in a somewhat erratic manner in their pens. They are not
cooperative candidates for someone trying to “scan them”. This new mark by Somark seems to address that problem. Such a permanent tattoo would make civil rights demonstrations and other politcal actions, dangerous for those who were so marked since the tag could be read from a distance. Is there a hidden agenda in all of this?

I wonder.

One last item that just came across my desk. Verichip has changed the name of it’s health care tracking products. Verichip is now called Xmark. Hmm.... is that like we say Xmas instead of Christmas? I mean what is that all about? I noticed that the small icon that now appears by the web links to many sites, appears in Xmarks case to be a christian cross. If you access the link let me know what you think. It appears to be an attempt to divert concerns about this technology away from the Biblical references to the “Mark of the Beast” in the New Testament chapter called Revelation.


We are living in perilous times my friends, indeed perilous times. I know most of us value our privacy and are concerned about the continuing erosion of this right. I will continue to report on these matters as new information reaches me. Thank You.