The book “Escaping the Matrix” is in the mail. I’ll be reviewing this for Mind & Media. Watch for the review posted here in the days ahead!

Wow.

Michelle Malkin summarizes the story:

The book, “Who’s in a Family?,” teaches preschoolers about “multicultural contemporary family units” including nuclear, intergenerational, mixed-race, and lesbian and gay arrangements. David Parker, father of a 5-year-old boy in Concord, Mass., was arrested Wednesday at his son’s kindergarten over a disagreement about the appropriateness of the material for his child.

Boston Globe story:

The dispute arose because [Parker and his wife] asked school officials to notify them about classroom discussions about same-sex marriage and what they called other adult themes. They also wanted the option to exclude their boy, now 6, from those talks.
Parker said he met with school officials to gain those assurances and then refused to leave until he got them. Parker stayed at Estabrook School for more than two hours, according to Superintendent William J. Hurley, as officials and Lexington police urged him to leave. Finally, they arrested him for trespassing.

Parker, who refused to bail himself out of jail Wednesday night, said he spent the night in custody to prove a point.

Michelle Malkin, regarding her own parenting, has this to say:

I don’t know about you, but we are preoccupied enough as it is teaching our four-and-half-year-old daughter to mind her manners, share, remember her phone number and address, and put the caps back on her markers. She can’t even tie her own shoes. No way is she ready to start learning about “alternative lifestyles.”

I was going to excerpt relevant portions of this email exchange, but it’s hard to do so without leaving something out. Click through and read the exchange for yourself. Here’s an attempt at summarizing.

January 17th:

We want to state for the record that [son’s name] shall be removed from any and all classroom or school functions which discuss or display homosexuality. We anticipate that you will respect our wishes.

We believe we have the right to answers from you to the following series of questions:

1) Is it the intention of Estabrook to include homosexual/lesbian family dynamics as part of the school curriculum?

2) Is your position in this matter that parents don’t have the right to intervene in teaching homosexual family values because of state law?

3) Is equal emphasis and sensitivity being given to Judeo/Christian/Islamic and secular communities and their respective family values— many of which do not endorse gay family values?

4) Do you commit to us that [son’s name] will not be subjected to homosexual family values at Estabrook?

5) Who else has viewed these materials and deemed it appropriate for the children in the school system to take home and view/read?

It is not necessarily you, solely, whom we wish to focus our concerns on, however; we feel as the principal- we need answers from your perspective. We will be posing these same question to other authorities.

In the interim time period, a series of back and forths between the principal and the Parkers regarding date and content of a meeting.

March 4:

We find it necessary to write to you and the Lexington Public School to inform you of the following:

We do not authorize any teacher or adult within the Lexington Public School system to expose our sons, [older son] and [younger son] (begins school in 2006) to any sexual orientation/homoseexual material/same sex unions between parents.

We shall be notified in advance of any such activity in the Estabrook School.

March 4 again:

We would like to clarify that our previous e-mail which states: “we do not give the Lexington Public School system permission to discuss homosexuality issues (i.e. - trans gender/bisexual/gay headed households) to our son [son’s name]” - is a parental assertion; not a matter open to legal interpretation or administrative policy. Let us, David and Tonia Parker, parents of [son’s name], be clear in purpose and prose on this matter:

Discussions concerning homosexuality issues will not take place in front of our son, [son’s name] (5 yrs old), at Estabrook. This includes material given to [our son] to covertly transport into our household (i.e.- diversity book bag). Such doctrine is against our Christian family beliefs. We will be notified when there are plans to have homosexual material discussed with the students - when [our son] is present - so that we can take action to ensure his spiritual safety. You are not permitted to infringe upon our religious beliefs and parental rights or obviate our freedom of choice, to exclude our son from material that would expose him to beliefs contrary to the Word of God in our Christian faith. Our parental rights and Christian belief system will be respected in this diversity- oriented, anti-biased school community. We know other parents, of various faiths and values, that endorse this position. This is not solely a Christian assertion of rights.

April 12th:

Dave and I would like to schedule a meeting with you at your convenience. Dave attended the anti-bias meeting on 4/11/05. They informed Dave that books with homosexual issues/families will be placed in every classroom in our school.

Were you aware of this? Who approved this? Various members of the anti-bias group also told Dave that our parental rights assertion would not be honored or respected at Estabrook. By what authority does the anti-bias group deny us of our rights? Who is responsible for the official response to our parental rights assertion pertaining to our son, [son’s name]?

April 22, principal responded:

We could both meet with you on Wednesday, April 27 at 2:30 or 3. Would that work for you?

It was at this meeting that Mr. Parker was arrested.

Jay Tea:

Quibble if you wish with Mr. Parker’s beliefs, but don’t challenge his right to possess them — and act on them. We need more parents who feel as protective of their children as he does.

The Pink Flamingo:

The vast gulf between the left and reality is making any possibility of my children ever going into any public school vanish. This is not as some might claim the Right Wing evangelicals rolling back the clock. This is much more like parents finally understanding what is being attempted by the left wing.

Joust the Facts:

And apparently the indoctrination must start early. It would be perfectly appropriate for these teachers to teach respect for all others, sharing, compassion, and other universally desirable traits in a developing child. To do this, however, does not require detailing specifics about homosexual-headed or any other types of families. As Gwendolyn noted that there is no way these teachers would point out economic differences and specify that ‘Joey’s’ family has lots of money and lives in a mansion, but ‘Carolyn’s’ parents rent a tenement apartment, would they? So what is the purpose of this specificity? It is to remove the parents from teaching social mores to their own children. They can’t take the chance that you might teach your children something that hasn’t received the “Seal of Approval.”

KelliPundit:

How many times do we hear educators complain how parents are not interested in their child’s education? Well, for a lot of educators this is just a load of excrement. Parental involvement is their worse fear.

Kimberly Swygert:

I certainly hope he withdraws his child from that school system while this injunction is still in order. I’m also interested in seeing whether the school can back up the claim that teaching kindergarteners about alternative lifestyles is both necessary and not dependent on parental permission (as sexuality/sex education classes would be).

Tampa Jeff:

It’s not just the weather that compels 800 people a day to move to Florida.

For a different perspective, Daily Dose of Queer wonders:

How do you get to a place, mentally, where you are so bothered by your child being present for homosexual discussions at school that you refuse to leave your son’s school until they agree to notify you before any discussion including homosexuality so you can save him from such a disgusting topic? It seems literally crazy to me.

Palm Tree Pundit contrasts this arrest to these non-arrests.

Bookworm:

I’m very much not opposed to homosexuals and I haven’t yet made up my mind about the societal benefits or burden of homosexual marriage. I simply object strongly to well-meaning governmental busybodies exposing my very young children to delicate matters of sexuality that are not yet on my developmental schedule for them.

Yep, it’s true.

Houston public libraries want to keep stinky and tired people out.

Library officials said people have been using the libraries as temporary shelters, restaurants and changing stations. The new ordinance prohibits sleeping on tables, eating, using restrooms for bathing and “offensive bodily hygiene that constitutes a nuisance to others.”

…

“I understand what they’re trying to do, but when you start targeting a community like the homeless, I think that’s poor policy,” council member Ada Edwards said.

Bill Andrews puts his foot down:

Inmates set a small fire, flooded toilets and smashed a television in a violent protest to searches at the Jefferson County Jail, authorities said.

…

He has revoked inmates’ television, telephone, commissary and visitor privileges for an indefinite period.

“Once in a while you’ve got to remind these people who’s in charge here,” Andrews said Wednesday.

Any bets on how long before someone starts screaming that TV watching isn’t a privilege, it’s a right?

Palm Beach Post:

As a 13-year-old Palm Beach County girl prepared this week to end a pregnancy she says she does not want, the Florida Department of Children and Families went to court to stop her from having the abortion.

The American Civil Liberties Union challenged the state’s position Wednesday, saying DCF is overstepping its authority and violating the girl’s constitutional rights.

And check out this quote by ACLU of Florida Executive Director Howard Simon:

“forcing a 13-year-old to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term… is just plain cruel. “

Killing the baby, on the other hand, is apparently not a bit cruel.

The Republic of T agrees with the ACLU, and takes it a bit further.

Regardless of how she got pregnant, in my book forcing her to carry it to term qualifies as a rape done by the state.

As does Hope.

Really, her life can’t get much worse. Oh wait, I know…

Let’s force her to have a child she doesn’t want.

Its like they enjoy making life as miserable as possible, isn’t it?

Twenty Something Mom is on it as well.

Does the State of Florida not have enough minor children to take care of?

“Too many kids already” seems to be presented as at least one valid justification for killing this one. It is interesting too that she adds this:

I used to be radically pro-life, until I got pregnant way too young.

I’ve never been young and pregnant, so I cannot completely relate, but this sentence basically says to me “I abandoned what I believed was right when it became inconvenient for me,” concluding with “It’s sad, but it was right.” At least she is consistent wit this “death is better than a bad life” argument that presented by her above.

This 13-year-old girl has obviously been through a lot in her life. She is in a bad situation which has led to poor choices. I have great compassion on her, and as such, I do not think that the solution is to allow her to live the rest of her life knowing she has killed her child. The bogus arguments of “this child will be cared for by the state forever” and “this child will live in poverty” and “this girl will have her life ruined and never go to college and be a contributing member of society” … unless she kills her baby, are specious. She can carry the baby to term, live with the short term consequences of her actions, and put the baby up for adoption to one of the many families who are not able to have children and will take care of and love this child for the rest of its life. She can then move on with her life and grow to a be a contributing member of society, should she choose to do so. This is the compassionate approach. 9 months seems like forever when you are 13 years old, but allowing her to compound her poor choice by having an abortion is not in any way compassionate or protecting her “rights.” It is adding to the harm that has already befallen her.

UPDATE: (5/4) The court has ruled the girls is competent and will permit the abortion. Gov. Jeb and the DCF will not appeal.

Anecdotally, I’ll offer up personal corroboration of BizzyBlog’s take on the topic.

Five-plus years ago, people listened to Rush, Liddy, and the rest to learn things the mainstream media either would not report, or would not emphasize.

Today, those who follow the blogs have 24-7 access to alternative information. Many of us can predict what Rush, Hannity, Franken and the rest are going to talk about even before the show starts, and we can feel pretty confident that we won’t learn much that is new. So, why listen? Since the left-of-center blogosphere is just as active, one would expect that many of them feel the same way about Franken, Imus (whose program has gone through a steep decline), et al.

This is exactly on target. It used to be that the talk radio shows created the news, and generated hot topics. Now they are simply hours behind what is already buzzing in the blogosphere. For those with computer access and a good set of RSS feeds during the day, listening to talk radio has become very predictable and redundant.

Via MM.

Rep. William Clay (D-MO) stated it as succinctly as possible.

In another sign of the measure’s new support, Democratic Rep. William Clay of Missouri, who staunchly favors abortion rights and voted against the measure in the past, voted for it on Wednesday. Clay said he switched in response to an outpouring of support for the bill from constituents in his St. Louis district.

“This bill simply says that a parent has a right to know if their child is having surgery,” Clay said.

It is also interesting to note the AP wording on the lead paragraph. (Well, actually it’s not that interesting, but at least worth pointing out).

The House passed a bill Wednesday that would make it illegal to dodge parental-consent laws by taking minors across state lines for abortions, the latest effort to chip away at abortion rights after Republican gains in the November elections.

How about this alternate wording, as suggested by Dodo David:

“the latest effort to strengthen parental rights…”

Hmmm… wonder what the AP writer thinks of the bill.

Made ya look! Of course the Washington Post didn’t do that.

Anyway, check out RedState’s discussion of the onesided coverage of the House ethics issues.

We’ve got another Stacey Campfield update. (Original Myopic Zeal coverage here and here).

Jon Fish, who is an editorial writer for the Daily Beacon (U of T), has taken on Rep. Campfield.

You have to read this email correspondence. Assuming it’s not a fabrication (which, given what I’ve read of Mr. Campfield’s previous dialogues and posts, I have little doubt about), it is a terrible reflection on Mr. Campfield. Regardless of whether or not you agree with his politics, his views on the issues, or his party affiliation, you have to cringe when you read these.

Tragic that with all your education you still cant read once again I ask you to read the bill it defends itself next I offer you proof that the bill is needed with examples from…

…

It is tragic when a young mind is turned to mush from excessive drugs next time just say no!

…

if you want I could show to work Google it could save you a trip to Hodges [the largest library in Nashville] and who knows you might even have time left over to get a life

We’ve already discussed the fact that he has difficulty with spelling and grammar, and there’s no point in beating a dead horse on that one (thought it’s quite funny to see him ripping on Mr. Fish for not being able to read), but the personal attacks (you druggie, get a life) on a constituent, particularly one who identifies himself as a member of the media, is simply dumb. It doesn’t take experience to exercise common sense, but he apparently has neither.

I am going to predict now that the citizens of his district in Tennessee will give him a pink slip come next election. As a midwest conservative, I sure hope the good people of Tennessee can find better representation for conservative values than Mr. Campfield.

As an aside: the one struggle I have in posting something like this is that I always try to remember that there is a human being at the other end of such criticism. I look at Mr. Campfield as a person and wish him well. I think he has good intentions and a good heart, I believe he has a “Mr. Smith goes to Washington” mindset, but sadly, he is not qualified to represent the people in state government. If I lived in Tennessee District 18, I would be highly tempted to campaign against him in the primaries.

UPDATE: I noticed this somewhat related post today.

Try this haircut (Via Ann Bartow)

CNN Guerrillas in the Midst: A Viral Marketing Campaign Exposed:

Last week, CNN attempted an unusual marketing campaign in the blogosphere. The campaign combined blackhat search engine optimization techniques, viral marketing tactics, and guerrilla comment spam. Unlike the majority of comment spam, this spam appears to only target blogs that have discussed CNN in the past 3 months. So far, 13 separate instances of the spam have been found. Most alarmingly, CNN may have also left malicious keywords at least 3 out of 13 with the intent of using google’s keyword stuffing detectors to censor them. As of now CNN has not returned my request for a confirmation or denial.

This is a very extensive post. Check it out.

UPDATE: Others are commenting:

Say Uncle
Infinite Angst
Careless Thought
Scared Monkeys
Ad Rag

I have just one question about this.

Why would you want such a thing? Our culture’s obsession with these “stars” is just nuts.

I got a good chuckle at this article:

More than 700 people joined religious leaders and Democratic politicians at two rallies yesterday to denounce Christian conservatives’ use of a Louisville church as a platform to advocate prohibiting filibusters against judicial nominees.

Speakers called both the assault on filibusters and the injection of religion into politics “un-American” threats to religious freedom and to constitutional checks and balances.

The larger of the two rallies, designed to counter a telecast from Highview Baptist Church last night, took place at Central Presbyterian Church near downtown Louisville.

Hah!

“It is un-American to inject religion into politics by using a Louisville church as a platform to broadcast your views.”

Unless, of course, you are standing another Louisville church making this statement.

WaPo has a story titled Filibuster Rule Change Opposed. It includes this:

But by a 2 to 1 ratio, the public rejected easing Senate rules in a way that would make it harder for Democratic senators to prevent final action on Bush’s nominees.

While the sentence is true, the headline is decidedly deceptive. The questions in the poll do not even mention the filibuster at all, nor do the describe it. (See questions 34 and 36). The relevant question is really #36.

Would you support or oppose changing Senate rules to make it easier for the Republicans to confirm Bush’s judicial nominees?

The results indicate 26% support, and 66% oppose, but to pull the headline “Filibuster Rule Change Opposed” out of this is at best a stretch.

Jay Tea has a fun thread started discussing “what would you love to do if you had a chance to attend a Bill Clinton book signing.”

Go contribute your thoughts!

Interesting link about Dawa (via LGF)

Dawa through the school newspaper

The school newspaper is another effective way of doing Dawa. Muslim students are highly encouraged to become writers and editors of their school papers. Inform the writing staff to consult you before publishing articles on Islam and Muslims. Being a writer will give you ample opportunity to provide Islamically oriented articles which will Insha Allah open the hearts and minds of readers.

As a group, the Muslim students should try to contribute an article on Islam in each issue of its paper. The school may not allow you to preach in the school paper, but Alhamdu lillah, there are ways to circumvent this problem.

When your Islamic group holds any Islamic event like lectures, religious/ cultural events etc, submit an article about this event as a “news” article. This way, you are still presenting an aspect of Islam without coming across as a preacher.

The second way to circumvent the problem is to write articles about Islamic holidays, the two Eids and again submit them as “news” articles. It also helps to have a good rapport with the editor and the writing staff of the paper. Invite them to your Iftar parties, gatherings, lectures etc.

Yesterday, I had a conversation where I said almost exactly (though probably not as eloquently) what LaShawn has to say here.

We live in a litigious society, and had the teacher done anything physical to restrain her, the parents would have sued the school. That must change. Schools should be allowed to administer a certain level of restraint when children become a physical threat to others without civil liability. I’m old enough to remember when principals paddled students. You had to be really bad to get sent to the principal’s office at the elementary school I attended, but if you were, you got paddled and sent home.

Those days are gone, thank goodness. The only people who should administer corporal punishment are the child’s parents. And believe me, my mother (and father a few times) administered plenty!

You can’t touch children that way anymore. But what do you do when they act out the way this child did? The teacher couldn’t let her run wild, knocking things over. She had to restrain her. This is what should have happened, in my opinion. Someone should have continued restraining the girl while her mother was called. NO COPS! If the mother couldn’t be reached or didn’t want to come, call the next number on the list. Good grief, call social services before you call the POLICE to arrest a child, for crying out loud!

Click through and read the rest.

I will say, though, that given the litigious nature of society, what are the police and the schools to do? If a kid is going nuts, and the “bear hug hold” isn’t permitted, cuffs seem like a good safe way to restrain the out of control child. The problem is not the handcuffs.

Hah!

(Via Fark).

This is pretty cool. It’s one of those “why didn’t I think of that?”