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Thursday, March 5, 2020

FREEDOM FROM RELIGION FOUNDATION LODGES COMPLAINT AGAINST TEACHER FOR "UNDERMINING THEORY OF EVOLUTION"

FREEDOM FROM RELIGION FOUNDATION LODGES COMPLAINT AGAINST TEACHER FOR "UNDERMINING THEORY OF EVOLUTION"
BY HEATHER CLARK
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 
purposes:
HOLLAND PATENT, N.Y. — A school district in New York says that it has addressed a public high school biology teacher — who has agreed to comply — after it received a complaint from the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) that the teacher recently “undermin[ed] the theory of evolution” to students.
FFRF sent a letter to Holland Patent Central School District Superintendent Jason Evangelist on Feb. 18, advising that a “concerned parent” had alerted them to the classroom talk at Holland Patent High School.
It said that biology teacher Phil Lucason told students that when they take the Regents Exam, they will have to “play the evolution game, where evolution is the answer to everything.” He explained that none have been “able to find when something becomes something else” and that evolution is contrary to genetics, such as if a dog “underwent several mutations and became a cat.”
Lucason also reportedly told his class that polar bears could mutate among themselves from brown fur to white fur, but that the eye, for example, could never have evolved because of its complexity and the necessity for a series of mutations.
“So, what that means is that you have to play the evolutionary game because the people writing this are married to that idea, despite the new proofs and the science coming out,” he is quoted as saying about the exam.
FFRF claims that it is illegal for Lucason to speak against evolution in the classroom and rather teach creationism.
“Mr. Lucason’s attempt to undermine what he was teaching is both unconstitutional and pedagogically deplorable,” it wrote. “Teaching creationism or any of its offshoots, such as intelligent design, in a public school is unlawful because creationism is not based on fact.”
The atheist and agnostic organization pointed to various court rulings that held that teaching creation science in the classroom would violate the Establishment Clause by promoting religion.
“Any attempt to teach that there is a controversy about evolution is fraught with legal peril,” it claimed. “Evolution, like gravity, is a scientific fact. … No controversy exists in the scientific community regarding the fact of evolution, and the teaching of alternative theories or a controversy is not only inappropriate and dishonest, it is unconstitutional.”
FFRF requested that the district conduct an investigation into the matter and take corresponding corrective and disciplinary action.
“Mr. Lucason must be directed to refrain from promoting religion or attacking evolution to his students,” it opined. “If he cannot do this, he cannot be a teacher in a public school.”
The parent who complained to FFRF — who has remained anonymous — similarly claimed to the Utica Observer-Dispatch,“A biology teacher telling students that evolution can cause only minor changes within a species and cannot cause one species to gradually become a different species over the course of thousands of years is the equivalent of a math teacher telling students that it’s possible to add two plus three, but it’s impossible to multiply 987 by 6,789.”
“If a math teacher taught his students that multiplication were an impossibility, there would be no question. People wouldn’t say that he was entitled to his opinion,” they said. “He would be told by administration that if he weren’t willing to teach what he is supposed to teach, he would not be allowed to continue as a teacher of the subject. And that’s exactly what should happen in this case.”
Superintendent Evangelist responded to FFRF’s letter on Feb. 26, advising that the district discussed the matter with its attorney and subsequently addressed the teacher, who agreed to comply.
“We have consulted with our legal counsel to confirm a clear understanding of the constitutional requirements referred to in your letter regarding instruction on evolution,” he wrote. “We have addressed these requirements with Mr. Lucason who has indicated his understanding of the requirements and his commitment to them. We are confident that his presentation of the curriculum will comply with the New York State Education Law and the U.S. Constitution.”
Lucason likewise told the Observer-Dispatch, “Having taught about evolution for 20 years, I know that our students hear various theories on the origins of species. I enumerated some of them by way of example. My mention of those other theories led to the concerns that have been articulated. In the future, I will not refer to other, non-scientific explanations and will clearly teach the science and theory of evolution as the explanation for the development of life on earth as provided by the New York State standards.”
As previously reported, more than 1,000 scientists have signed the “Dissent From Darwinism” statement since it was first posted online by the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture. The site where others in the scientific community can sign the statement includes comments from prominent professors and researchers who explain why they have doubts about Darwinian theory.
“Darwinian evolutionary theory was my field of specialization in biology. Among other things, I wrote a textbook on the subject thirty years ago. Meanwhile, however I have become an apostate from Darwinian theory and have described it as part of modernism’s origination myth,” wrote Dr. Stanley Salthe, professor emeritus at the Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.
Dr. Marcos Eberlin, the founder of the Thomson Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, said that he became skeptical about evolutionary theory after realizing the wonders of the genetic code and “its many most intelligent strategies to code, decode and protect its information, such as the U x T and ribose x deoxyribose exchanges for the DNA/RNA pair and the translation of its 4-base language to the 20AA language of life.”
He remarked that genetics “absolutely relies on a diversity of exquisite molecular machines made by the products of such translation forming a chicken-and-egg dilemma that evolution has no chance at all to answer.”
As previously reported, not all of those who accompanied Darwin on his journeys supported his theories. During the 1860 Oxford evolution debate, Admiral Robert FitzRoy, who had once served as the captain for Darwin’s voyage to the Galapagos Islands and played a significant role in the development of the Origin of Species, repented of his participation.
Reports state that FitzRoy walked to the front of the room during the debate, “lifting an immense Bible, first with both and afterwards with one hand over his head, [and] solemnly implored the audience to believe God rather than man.”
Colossians 1:15-16 declares, “[Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”
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EUROPE UNITES TO DEFEND CONTINENT FROM MIGRANT INVASION

EUROPE UNITES TO DEFEND CONTINENT 
FROM MIGRANT INVASION 
★★★ A NEW CONSERVATIVE AGE IS RISING ★★★ A United Europe is defending their continent from the threat of a mass migrant invasion; gang this is stunning; we’re talking all the major forces in Europe are lining up in tandem with one another with a single unified message: migrants will not be welcomed and the security of Europe’s borders are non-negotiable. It really is amazing. So we’re going to take a look at the latest on particularly the Greek border, and nation after nation throughout Europe is coming to their aid, exemplifying a significant nationalist populist rightward shift for the continent as a whole. You’re going to love it!

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT LINGUIST ACCUSED OF PASSING CLASSIFIED INFORMATION ABOUT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE COMPUTER SYSTEMS & U.S. INTELLIGENCE ASSETS TO HIZBALLAH

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT LINGUIST ACCUSED OF PASSING CLASSIFIED INFORMATION ABOUT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE COMPUTER SYSTEMS & U.S. INTELLIGENCE ASSETS TO HIZBALLAH
BY ROBERT SPENCER
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 
purposes:
Was Mariam Taha Thompson vetted properly when she was hired? Almost certainly not. To have probed her sentiments regarding jihad would have been “Islamophobic.” What’s more, the U.S. government and military are still largely committed to the idea that Islam is a religion peace that has nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism. This soothing fantasy would have guided even the way suspicions of espionage are handled. It’s a wonder that she has been charged at all.
“DOD linguist charged with giving classified info to Lebanese national with ties to Hezbollah: DOJ,” by Bradford Betz, Fox News, March 4, 2020:
A linguist working for the Department of Defense was arrested last week on charges of giving top-secret information, including details on American intelligence assets, to a Lebanese national with ties to Hezbollah, a group designated by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization.
Mariam Taha Thompson, 61, who had top-secret government security clearance, was arrested Thursday on the espionage-related allegation at an unidentified U.S. military facility overseas, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors accused Thompson, formerly of Rochester, Minn., of turning over information that placed intelligence assets and American military personnel in danger.
Prosecutors said that during a six-week period starting in late December, when U.S. airstrikes targeted Iranian-backed forces in Iraq, Thompson repeatedly accessed dozens of files, including the names of human assets, their pictures and information detailing what these sources provided the U.S. government.
Prosecutors said that when officials searched her living quarters, they found a handwritten note in Arabic under her mattress with information about DOD computer systems and warning of a DOD target.
Prosecutors said she had given the information in the note to a co-conspirator who worked for the Lebanese government and “has apparent connections” to Hezbollah….
__________________________________________________________________
SEE ALSO:
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/defense-department-linguist-
charged-espionage
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/missouri-man-sentenced-19-
years-attempting-provide-material-support-isis

POLICE STATE NEW JERSEY: CARRY-LICENSED SECURITY GUARD ARRESTED FOR SO-CALLED "HOLLOW-POINT" AMMUNITION

Armored Car Security Guard Roosevelt Twyne, Wrongfully Arrested
Armored Car Security Guard Roosevelt Twyne
POLICE STATE NEW JERSEY: 
CARRY-LICENSED SECURITY GUARD ARRESTED FOR SO-CALLED "HOLLOW-POINT" AMMUNITION
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
ROSELLE PARK, NJ – -(AmmoLand.com)- On February 8, 2020, armored car security guard Roosevelt Twyne was returning home from work when he was stopped by three Roselle Park police officers for alleged side-tinted windows on his vehicle.
Twyne advised and showed the officers that he has a New Jersey Permit to Carry a Handgun, and informed the officers that he was coming home from his employment as an armored car security guard and was, in fact, one block away from his home.
New Jersey Permit to Carry
New Jersey Permit to Carry
Twyne’s Permit to Carry a Handgun specifies the Smith & Wesson handgun that he was carrying at the time of the stop. Twyne also possesses a SORA (Security Officer Registration Act) Card, a New Jersey Firearms Purchaser Identification Card, and lawfully purchased/registered his handgun with a New Jersey permit to purchase.
“Ammunition lacking a hollow cavity at the tip, such as those with polymer filling, are not considered to be hollow point ammunition. An example of this can be seen with the Hornaday Critical Defense #ad / Critical Duty, Car-Bon PowRball / Glaser Safety Slug and Nosler Inc. Defense ammunition.” (Emphasis added.)
Hornaday Critical Duty Ammunition
Hornaday Critical Duty Ammunition

Roselle Park Police Officer Louis Plock, nonetheless, arrested and charged Twyne under NJS 2C:39-3F(1) (possession of hollow nose ammunition) for possessing the above-mentioned Hornady Critical Duty ammo #ad.

Plock also charged Twyne with unlawful transportation of a weapon under NJS 2C:39-9D. This statute, however, specifically exempts people who are licensed or registered under chapter 58, and Twyne’s New Jersey Permit to Carry a Handgun was issued pursuant to chapter 58.
These are 4th-degree felony-level crimes with potential 18 months imprisonment for each.
Because of the arrest, Twyne is presently suspended from his employment.
Twyne has hired the law firm of Evan F. Nappen, Attorney at Law PC, to represent him. When asked for comment, Nappen said:
“Mr. Twyne is innocent of these charges as a matter of law, and never should have been arrested. The information regarding the legality of his ammunition is easily available to the public and law enforcement on the New Jersey State Police website. Three white officers stopping a black, law-abiding, licensed, armored car security guard coming home from work is extremely dubious. His subsequent arrest was unjustifiable.”

www,gogetfunding.com/roosevelt-twyne-legal-defense-fund/ has been set up to help pay Twyne’s legal fees and correct this injustice, as he is presently unemployed as a result of these charges.


Evan Nappen
Evan Nappen
About Evan Nappen:
Evan Nappen (www.EvanNappen.com) is a criminal defense attorney who has focused on New Jersey firearms and weapons law for several decades. He is the author of the New Jersey Gun Law Guide. Visit his website at www.EvanNappen.com




ANTI-ZIONISM & "PROVIDING COVER" FOR PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY THE ONLY UNIFYING FACTOR FOR WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

ANTI-ZIONISM & "PROVIDING COVER" FOR PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY THE ONLY UNIFYING FACTOR FOR WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 
purposes:
Far too many people do not accept what the Palestinian “resistance” for what it is:  an endeavor to advance the jihad against the State of Israel. The chant is well known — “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free.” It should be more widely known, however, that this chant means that “Palestine” will only be free once the Jewish state is completely obliterated, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
The World Council of Churches has fallen into the trap of victimhood propaganda. According to Dexter Van Zile, Christian Media Analyst for CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis):
The PA relies on the WCC to promote hostility and agitation towards Israel. The Palestinians believe the WCC has access to the international media to further their agenda of incitement to hate and terrorism.
In information presented by Israel News Talk Radio:
The WCC views the Peace plan as the equivalent of an act of war against the Palestinians. Thus, providing cover to corrupt Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to avoid engaging in bi-lateral negotiations persisting in holding out to occupy the space between the “river and the sea” by espousing incitement to hatred and funding terrorism.
Why would any Church organization keep company with, let alone support, Islamic supremacists and their documented vision, which includes jihad against Christians? Instead, churches should be advocating for truth and justice, which includes the truth about Christians facing genocide in the Middle East and Africa. But the WCC has sunk into dhimmitude:
The WCC also operates in a dhimmi-like pose to Islamic supremacism in the Middle East because of threats to dwindling Christian minorities in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan. The WCC is fearful of sectarian riots and pogroms against minority Christians.
Cowardice now reigns so supreme that the WCC also reportedly “supports the blood libel actions of clerics like Archbishop Attallah Hanna, the Head of the Sebastia Diocese of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem condemned by the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the International Committee for Interreligious Consultations.”
The horror of the World Council of Churches enabling the jihad was highlighted by educator and author Richard Rubenstein, who noted in his book “Jihad and Genocide” (p.109) the longtime efforts made by Muslim Arabs to win over Churches. Rubenstein states that the Muslims initiated “a major effort to gain Christian support for their cause, stressing the theme of the Palestinians as innocent victims and Israel as their oppressors. On November 25-27, 1980, speakers at an Arab Summit meeting in Amman, Jordan, stressed the need for contacts with the Vatican and other Christian organizations such as the World Council of Churches, to ensure support for ‘the recovery of full Arab sovereignty over Jerusalem.’ Even as the mainstream churches, both Catholic and Protestant, continued interfaith dialogue with Jews in the Diaspora, all too often they favored the Palestinians in the ongoing conflict.”
“The Anti-Zionism Hypocrisy of the World Council of Churches – Beyond the Matrix,” Israel News Talk Radio, February 21, 2020:
Rod Reuven Dovid Bryant and Jerry Gordon bring back Dexter Van Zile, Christian Media Analyst of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) to address why anti- Zionism is the only unifying factor for the World Council of Churches (WCC). The umbrella world body was founded in 1948 with the mission of unifying Christian witness. However, with conflicting theologies, the only thing that it shares is political defamation of the Jewish state of Israel thus providing cover for the Palestinian Authority opposing efforts at normalization.
Instead, the WCC supports the blood libel actions of clerics like Archbishop Attallah Hanna, the Head of the Sebastia Diocese of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem condemned by the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the International Committee for Interreligious Consultations. Then there is South African theologian Jerry Pillay who is running for election as the WCC leader who accuses Israel of being an apartheid state. General Secretary Fykse Tveit of the WCC has joined forces with anti-Israel Churches for Middle East Peace condemning the Trump “Peace through Prosperity Plan”. The WCC views the Peace plan as the equivalent of an act of war against the Palestinians. Thus, providing cover to corrupt Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to avoid engaging in bi-lateral negotiations persisting in holding out to occupy the space between the “river and the sea” by espousing incitement to hatred and funding terrorism. According to Van Zile, the PA relies on the WCC to promote hostility and agitation towards Israel. The Palestinians believe the WCC has access to the international media to further their agenda of incitement to hate and terrorism.
The WCC also operates in a dhimmi-like pose to Islamic supremacism in the Middle East because of threats to dwindling Christian minorities in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan. The WCC is fearful of sectarian riots and pogroms against minority Christians. This comes as normalization of relations with Israel is being promoted by the Gulf Arab States, and by both Palestinian and Israeli Arabs who increasingly identify with the benefits of living under Israeli law and commerce.
Van Zile contrasts the WCC anti-Israel agenda with the pro-Zionism of evangelical groups like the 8 million strong members of Christians United for Israel. He attributes that to the founding fathers of the US who were Old Testament Scripture Protestants who recognized the contributions of the Jewish People for self-government and as America as a “chosen nation”. The vast majority of American evangelicals support and love the Jewish people and the Jewish nation of Israel. Van Zile believes that Evangelical pastors do not follow the lead of the WCC and the UN.
When the subject of the peculiar role of the Russian Orthodox Church in the WCC was brought up, Van Zile noted that during the Cold War era that it was infiltrated by the KGB and deployed Christians in international groups. The Russian Orthodox Church does whatever the current Putin regime says is policy. That includes oppressing minority Christian churches that oppose the Orthodox hierarchy….
_________________________________________________________________

Report: World Council of Churches 

Trains Anti-Israel Activists to See Israel as the 'Enemy'

How the World Council of Churches 

Activists' Anti-Israel Actions Were Exposed


TURKEY: ERDOGAN SAYS "THE NUMBER OF REFUGEES HEADING TOWARD EUROPE WILL SOON BE IN THE MILLIONS"

TURKEY: ERDOGAN SAYS 
"THE NUMBER OF REFUGEES HEADING TOWARD EUROPE WILL SOON BE IN THE MILLIONS"
BY ROBERT SPENCER
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 
purposes:
Turkey should not be in NATO. Turkey should not be considered an ally of the United States.
“Erdogan warns ‘millions’ of refugees will soon head toward Europe,” Ekathimerini, March 2, 2020:
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey had no intention of stopping migrant flows to the European Union warning that “millions” of people would soon head toward Europe.
“After we opened the doors, there were multiple calls saying ‘close the doors’,” Erdogan said in Ankara Monday according to reports.
“I told them ‘it’s done. It’s finished. The doors are now open. Now, you will have to take your share of the burden’,” he said.
“Since we have opened the borders, the number of refugees heading toward Europe has reached hundreds of thousands. This number will soon be in the millions,” he said….
_________________________________________________________________ SEE ALSO: https://cms.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/03/turkey-proves- refugees-are-weapon-treat-them-one-daniel-greenfield 

19 STATES SUE TO STOP USE OF MILITARY FUNDS FOR TRUMP BORDER WALL

19 STATES SUE TO STOP USE OF MILITARY FUNDS FOR TRUMP BORDER WALL
BY LUIS MIGUEL
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 
purposes:

Nineteen states have joined together to sue the Trump administration over its recent diversion of $3.8 billion in defense funding for the border wall, making the case that doing so is unconstitutional and could bring dire environmental consequences.

“Use of these additional federal funds for the construction of a border wall is contrary to Congress’s intent and in violation of the U.S. Constitution,” read the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in California.
Last year, President Trump declared a national emergency in response to massive number of “migrants” crossing our southern border, most of them Central Americans seeking asylum status in the United States — although many of those crossing the border were, in fact, economic migrants.
Along with the declaration, the president announced he would use Department of Defense (DOD) funds to construct the border wall because Congress did not allocate the full amount he had desired in the federal budget.
The Pentagon informed Congress this month that it would make a transfer of an additional $3.8 billion for the wall by using money from weapons programs.
The argument made by the 19 states is that the allocation is unconstitutional because it violates the separation of powers and Congress’ power of the purse.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs make the case that using DOD funds hurts communities whose economies are dependent on military spending.
The lawsuit reads:
Defense spending in Connecticut is critical not just to national military readiness but to Connecticut’s economy. The Administration’s planned funding diversions threaten to harm the State’s economy, employment, and tax revenues. As of 2017, annual defense spending injected $15 billion into Connecticut’s economy, accounting for 5.6 percent of the State’s per capita GDP — a higher percentage than in all but two other states.
DOD’s reprogramming action diverts funding away from critical military projects for which Connecticut-based companies produce key components.
Additionally, the states claim the Trump administration did not adequately take into consideration environmental impacts, describing the White House’s move as a violation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a federal environmental law.
“President Trump is risking the safety of every American by diverting taxpayer dollars from our military to fund the same xenophobic campaign promises he’s made for the last four years,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James in a statement.
In addition to New York, the states participating in the lawsuit are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
The suit also claims that the wall will cause environmental harm in some of the states where it will be built.
“Defendants’ use of the diverted funds to construct parts of their border wall in New Mexico will also harm New Mexico’s sovereign interests by imposing environmental harm to the State. The environmental damage caused by a border wall in New Mexico would include the blocking of wildlife migration, flooding, and habitat loss,” the suit reads.
Last week, the Sierra Club, American Civil Liberties Union, and Southern Border Communities Coalition also sued over the reallocation of funds for the wall.
“The president is doubling down on his unlawful scheme to raid taxpayer funds for a xenophobic campaign promise that is destroying national treasures, harming the environment, and desecrating tribal lands,” an ACLU attorney said.
TNA has previously explored the constitutionality of reallocating military funds for use on wall construction.
The president’s move certainly falls within his constitutional authority as commander-in-chief. Using military funds for the wall is not even, as many would classify it, “diverting funds,” as the wall’s very function is military in nature — protecting the national border from invasion.
As immigration hardliner Ann Coulter noted to Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, the construction of walls has been one of the most basic activities of militaries throughout history, including American history.
“Of course you can build a wall,” Coulter said. “That is most of what the military did for the first 100 years. We weren’t going around remaking the rest of the world. It was the military building forts on our border. Defending American borders is the number one job of the commander-in-chief.”
In fact, the U.S. military regularly builds walls in other countries. Somehow, the construction of border barriers on lands thousands of miles away is considered essential to our national security, but building them on our own border is not.