Category Archives: science

Ohio Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case of Science Teacher Fired for Urging Students to Think Critically About Evolution

The Ohio Supreme Court has granted The Rutherford Institute’s appeal to hear the case of John Freshwater, a Christian teacher who was fired for keeping religious articles in his classroom and for using teaching methods that encourage public school students to think critically about the school’s science curriculum, particularly as it relates to evolution theories. Freshwater, a 24-year veteran in the classroom, was suspended by the Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education in 2008 and officially terminated in January 2011. The School Board justified its actions by accusing Freshwater of improperly injecting religion into the classroom by giving students “reason to doubt the accuracy and/or veracity of scientists, science textbooks and/or science in general.” The Board also claimed that Freshwater failed to remove “all religious articles” from his classroom, including a Bible.

“Academic freedom was once the bedrock of American education. That is no longer the state of affairs, as this case makes clear,” stated John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “What we need today are more teachers and school administrators who understand that young people don’t need to be indoctrinated. Rather, they need to be taught how to think for themselves.”

In June 2008, the Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education voted to suspend John Freshwater, a Christian with a 20-year teaching career at Mount Vernon Middle School, citing concerns about his conduct and teaching materials, particularly as they related to the teaching of evolution. Earlier that year, school officials reportedly ordered Freshwater, who had served as the faculty appointed facilitator, monitor, and supervisor of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes student group for 16 of the 20 years that he taught at Mount Vernon, to remove “all religious items” from his classroom, including a Ten Commandments poster displayed on the door of his classroom, posters with Bible verses, and his personal Bible which he kept on his desk. Freshwater agreed to remove all items except for his Bible. Showing their support for Freshwater, students even organized a rally in his honor. They also wore t-shirts with crosses painted on them to school and carried Bibles to class. School officials were seemingly unswayed by the outpouring of support for Freshwater.

In fact, despite the fact that the Board’s own policy states that because religious traditions vary in their treatment of science, teachers should give unbiased instruction so that students may evaluate it “in accordance with their own religious tenets,” school officials suspended and eventually fired Freshwater, allegedly for criticizing evolution and using unapproved materials to facilitate classroom discussion of origins of life theories. Freshwater appealed the termination in state court, asserting that the school’s actions violated his rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and constituted hostility toward religion. A Common Pleas judge upheld the School Board’s decision, as did the Fifth District Court of Appeals, without analyzing these constitutional claims. In appealing to the Ohio Supreme Court, Institute attorneys argued that the Board through its actions violated the First Amendment academic freedom rights of both Freshwater and his students.

At Disney World’s ‘Living with the Land’ Exhibit, Teaching Children About GMO Agriculture Is A Fun Activity For The Whole Family

By Ethan A. Huff

Biotechnology has made its way to “the happiest place on earth,” with an exhibit at Walt Disney World’s EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) theme park now featuring genetically-modified (GM) fruits and vegetables, some of which are shaped like Mickey Mouse’s head. According to several different reports, the agricultural exhibit, called Living with the Land, takes parents and their children on a tour through “living laboratories” that highlight “the wondrous ways scientists are helping farmers prepare for the food needs of our world’s nations.”

With over 2.5 million square feet of greenhouse space, Living with the Land is a behemoth display of agricultural technology, including a giant gravity-defying tomato “tree” with thousands of tomato fruits, and various displays of unique growing techniques like hydroponics. But according to Jill Fehrenbacher from Inhabitat, a tour guide explained to her that most of the food grown in these greenhouses, which is also fed to park guests in restaurants and cafeterias throughout the parks, has been genetically-altered in some way.

This makes sense, since part of the tour includes a visit to the exhibit’s “Biotechnology Lab,” a “sterile research environment” sponsored by pro-GMO food giant Nestle USA, where scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture can be seen working on various “crop improvement” techniques. After the tour, park guests can even purchase “Mickey’s Mini Gardens,” which are small glass bottles of plant starters made from cloned plant cells rather than from natural seeds, that were produced in Biotechnology Lab.

Genetic manipulation of plants and crops has apparently been taking place at Disney’s Living with the Land exhibit for almost two decades now. Back in 1996, the USDA published an article in one of its publications explaining that the main purpose of the Biotechnology Lab at EPCOT has always been about “showcasing various tools — such as biotechnology” as part of its “sustainable agriculture” initiatives.

Even back then, John Cordts from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) admitted that he and others were working on various GMO projects in the lab, which at the time included exploring new ways to genetically-alter peaches to ripen longer on trees, yet stay firm enough to be shipped. And before that, then-manager of the Biotechnology Lab Lexie McKently had been working on developing GM peanuts (http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/ar/archive/jul96/disney0796.htm).

And yet the millions of young children that have passed through this exhibit over the years have no idea that what those scientists are working on behind the glass has been shown to cause human sterilization, organ damage, and death. Because the entire presentation is dressed up with cute Disney characters and fun animations, it all just looks like some type of agricultural utopia.

Interestingly, the veneer of Disney’s supposed sustainable and pollution-less approach to agricultural runs thin in others areas as well, as Fehrenbacher’s tour revealed the use of materials like non-biodegradable styrofoam to house plants, for instance. When asked by several guests why the exhibit featured styrofoam and other environmentally-unfriendly materials, the tour guide allegedly explained that these materials are inexpensive and easily disposable.

So as is the case with most things Disney, the Living with the Land exhibit appears to be nothing more than a thinly-veiled veneer of propaganda aimed directly at young children. And in this case, the Disney empire has “greenwashed” biotechnology as an environmentally-friendly and sustainable agricultural system of the future in order to convince the next generation that it provides great benefits to humanity.

It is no secret that millions of families from around the world make the trek to Orlando, Fla., every year to visit Walt Disney World theme parks specifically because they believe it is a safe and fun environment for children. Little do many of them know, however, that part of Disney’s apparent agenda is to indoctrinate society’s youngest and most innocent members into the phony dogma of biotechnology.

Deliberately shaping a genetically-modified pumpkin into the shape of Mickey Mouse ears, for example, would probably not sway most NaturalNews readers into thinking that the technology is safe. But to a child, this explicit form of manipulation appears fun and exciting, which subconsciously instills in him or her the idea that genetically-tampering with nature in this way is a good thing.

Because they cannot present a legitimate and scientific argument for why GMOs are safe or necessary in the first place, purveyors of biotechnology are now resorting to such blatant brainwashing campaigns aimed directly at young children. This is why parents everywhere need to take the time to explain to their children the truth about GMOs, and teach them how to deflect all the crafty propaganda that is increasingly being embedded in popular cultural icons like Disney.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/035861_Disney_World_GMO_agriculture.html

Dr. John Bruchalski Presentation “The Struggle Making Abortion Safe, Legal, and Rare” at Med Students for Life 2012 National Spring Tour

Dr. John Bruchalski, a former abortionist and now pro-life OB/GYN, is the founder of the Tepeyac Family Center in Fairfax, Virginia which is one of the only all pro-life OB/GYN health care practices in the nation. He is a dynamic and engaging speaker whose story and style reaches people on all sides of the culture battle and shows them the value of an evidence-based approach to medicine and the value of treating the whole person. The following Med Students for Life video presentation was recorded at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey forum. (Appx. 45 min.)

Rutherford Institute Appeals Ruling Against Teacher Fired for Urging Public School Students to Think Critically About Evolution

(Mount Vernon, OH)   The Rutherford Institute has announced its intention to appeal to the 5th District Court of Appeals in Ohio on behalf of John Freshwater, a Christian teacher who was allegedly fired for keeping religious articles in his classroom and for using teaching methods that encourage public school students to think critically about the school’s science curriculum, particularly as it relates to evolution theories. Freshwater, a 24-year veteran in the classroom, was suspended by the Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education in 2008 and officially terminated in January 2011. The School Board justified its actions by accusing Freshwater of improperly injecting religion into the classroom by giving students “reason to doubt the accuracy and/or veracity of scientists, science textbooks and/or science in general.” The Board also claimed that Freshwater failed to remove “all religious articles” from his classroom, including a Bible.

“The judge’s ruling is unfortunate because academic freedom is the bedrock of American education,” stated John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “What we need today are more teachers and school administrators who understand that young people don’t need to be indoctrinated. Rather, they need to be taught how to think for themselves.”

In June 2008, the Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education voted to suspend John Freshwater, a Christian with a 21-year teaching career at Mount Vernon Middle School, citing concerns about his conduct and teaching materials, particularly as they related to the teaching of evolution. Earlier that year, school officials reportedly ordered Freshwater, who had served as the faculty appointed facilitator, monitor, and supervisor of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes student group for 16 of the 20 years that he taught at Mount Vernon, to remove “all religious items” from his classroom, including a Ten Commandments poster displayed on the door of his classroom, posters with Bible verses, and his personal Bible which he kept on his desk.

Freshwater agreed to remove all items except for his Bible. Showing their support for Freshwater, students even organized a rally in his honor. They also wore t-shirts with crosses painted on them to school and carried Bibles to class. School officials were seemingly unswayed by the outpouring of support for Freshwater. In fact, despite the fact that the Board’s own policy states that because religious traditions vary in their treatment of science, teachers should give unbiased instruction so that students may evaluate it “in accordance with their own religious tenets,” school officials suspended and eventually fired Freshwater, allegedly for criticizing evolution and failing to teach the required science curriculum. Freshwater appealed the termination in state court, asserting that the school’s actions violated his rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and constituted religious discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Knox County Common Pleas Judge Otho Eyster upheld the School Board’s decision in a ruling issued on Oct. 5, 2011. Rutherford Institute attorneys have announced their intention to appeal the county court’s ruling.

Acceding to Rutherford Institute’s Demands, Ohio Dept. of Education Removes Letter of Admonishment From John Freshwater Record

(Mount Vernon, Ohio) The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has agreed to remove a “letter of admonishment” from the professional record of Christian teacher John Freshwater. In its letter, the ODE stated that it is investigating The Rutherford Institute’s charges that the admonishment against Freshwater was issued in defiance of Freshwater’s due process rights and in violation of the Department’s own rules. Institute attorneys insist that the ODE’s issuance of the admonishment violated Freshwater’s due process rights because the teacher was not given proper notice or an opportunity to defend himself against the charges. The Institute also argues that the ODE exceeded the scope of its authority by issuing the letter in violation of the prescribed statutory procedures. The Rutherford Institute came to Freshwater’s aid in the wake of a bitter and protracted legal dispute regarding Freshwater’s display of allegedly Christian posters in the classroom and his encouraging students to think critically about scientific “theories” such as evolution.

“I’m pleased that the Ohio Department of Education has decided to step back and review this situation,” stated John Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “The right to basic due process—especially the right to defend oneself against charges—is too important to be short-circuited by any government agency.”

John Freshwater was suspended by the Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education in 2008 and officially terminated in January 2011. The School Board’s resolution claims that Freshwater improperly injected religion into the classroom by giving students “reason to doubt the accuracy and or veracity of scientists, science textbooks and/or science in general.” The Board also claims that he failed to remove “all religious articles” from his classroom, including a Bible. Throughout his 21-year teaching career at Mount Vernon Middle School, John Freshwater never received a negative performance evaluation. In fact, showing their support for Freshwater, students even organized a rally in his honor. They also wore t-shirts with crosses painted on them to school and carried Bibles to class.

However, school officials were seemingly unswayed by the outpouring of support for Freshwater. The Ohio Department of Education issued its admonishment against Freshwater on March 22, 2011, based on charges that a student was injured after Freshwater, a 24-year veteran in the classroom, permitted students to touch a live Tesla coil. However, as Institute attorneys pointed out, the administrator who investigated the initial incident ultimately concluded that the allegations had been overblown and that there was “a plausible explanation for how and why the Tesla Coil had been used by John Freshwater.”

With the help of The Rutherford Institute, Freshwater is appealing his termination in state court, asserting that the school’s actions violated his rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and constituted religious discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

E.coli superbug outbreak in Germany due to abuse of antibiotics in meat production

The e.coli outbreak in Germany is raising alarm worldwide as scientists are now describing this particular strain of e.coli as “extremely aggressive and toxic.” Even worse, the strain is resistant to antibiotics, making it one of the world’s first widespread superbug food infections that’s racking up a noticeable body count while sickening thousands.

Of course, virtually every report you’ll read on this in the mainstream media has the facts wrong. This isn’t about cucumbers being dangerous, because e.coli does not grow on cucumbers. E.coli is an intestinal strain of bacteria that only grows inside the guts of animals (and people). Thus, the source of all this e.coli is ANIMAL, not vegetable.

But the media won’t admit that. Because the whole agenda here is to kill your vegetables but protect the atrocious practices of the factory animal meat industries. The FDA, in particular, loves all these outbreaks because it gives them more moral authority to clamp down on gardens and farms. They’ve been trying to irradiate and fumigate fresh veggies in the USA for years.

The above is an except from a recent article by Natural News editor Mike Adams. In the article, he goes into greater detail about factory farm practices and how to protect yourself from mutated e.coli.

To read the rest of the article, go to http://www.naturalnews.com/032590_ecoli_superbugs.html.

Bird Songs, Medical Therapy and Bird Brains

My dad always said we kids were a bunch of bird brains. I never knew exactly what he meant until now.

A news article by Natural News reveals that children who listen to recordings of bird songs behave more calmly when receiving medical treatment, according to those behind a new project at the Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool, England.

Recordings of birdsong, rain and wind — made by hospital children along with sound recording artist Chris Watson in Springfield Park — are now being played throughout the children’s ward to calm patients during injections, surgery and other stressful procedures. The birds singing include blackbirds, greenfinches, robins and songthrushes.

“We have seen tangible benefits for patients in bringing the natural world into hospitals,” said Laura Sillers, Artistic Program Director of the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology. “We also installed it in the corridors and there have been numerous requests for the Bird Song chorus to be reproduced on CD which patients then play at home. This research will be groundbreaking in demonstrating the role art can play in delivering health benefits.”

Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson attributes humans’ love of birdsong to our intrinsic “biophilia,” or an inborn need to connect with nature and other living beings, according to Natural News.

Even Genesis expresses soulish kinship of birds and homo sapiens. Hence, the justification for the paternal quip “bird brain.”

More startling is the wisdom saying of nearby college history professor: “May the bird of paradise fly up your nose.” To the uninitiated, the professor was saying may God’s spirit get into your brain. By implication, it meant God’s will is for us to be spirit filled bird brains. Connecting the divine authored songs of birds with the presence of the divine would naturally engender peace and tranquility.

To read the entire article, go to the Natural News website.

Health Care Ethics Conference

Cedarville University invites the general public for the 2010 Health Care Ethics Conference, Protecting the Vulnerable in the 21st Century, on September 15-17, 2010. An impressive assembly of leading experts in the field of bioethics will provide biblical perspectives on the critical issues shaping the church, our health care system, and the medical profession. The conference will include presentations by keynote speakers (Kathy McReynolds, Christopher Hook, and Nigel Cameron) as well as small-group discussions.

Topics will include:

* Reproductive Ethics
* End-of-Life Ethics
* Genetic and Biotechnology Ethics
* Health Care Reform
 

To learn more, go to Health Care Ethics Conference webpage.

Look what Xenia has been missing…

Much of the fluoride added to municipal water supplies across the United States is imported from China, and is contaminated with heavy metals, according to a warning by Bernard Miltenberger, president of the Pure Water Committee of Western Maryland.

In a letter published in the Cumberland Times-News, Miltenberger notes that he first became aware of the issue in an engineering report for the city of Boulder, Colo. The report noted that the fluoridation chemicals used for the city’s water had been evaluated, and were found to contain lead levels of 40 milligrams per bag and arsenic levels of 50 milligrams per bag. The bags were being imported from China under no regulatory monitoring of acid or salt content.

Miltenberger then visited the Frostburg Water Filtration Plant in Maryland and noticed that the fluoride bags were not labeled with any importation information. He contacted the plant’s chemical supplier, Univar USA, and was then referred to Sovay fluorides. Sovay informed him that the fluoride had been manufactured by Shanghai Minthchem Development in China.

“This type of trade from a country with a track record of lead paint on toys to antifreeze in cough syrup medicine is completely unacceptable,” Miltenberger writes.

Heavy metal contamination is only the latest concern to emerge over the practice of water fluoridation, which has been controversial since its inception. Fluoride is a well-known toxic chemical, as Miltenberger notes:

“The material safety data sheets from Solvay fluorides show that a teaspoon amount of five grams of sodium fluoride can be fatal to an average size man of 70kg. … chronic toxicity by oral route may cause skeletal and dental fluorosis, thyroid, testes, kidney, liver, ambiguous carcinogenic and mutagenic effects, fetotoxic and fertility effects.”

Miltenberger also notes that fluoride toothpaste contains a warning that anyone who consumes more than a pea-size amount should contact a poison control center at once. This amount of toothpaste contains as much fluoride as just eight ounces of fluoridated water. A prescription-strength fluoride supplement marketed by Colgate warns that children under the age of six should not consume doses regularly added to municipal water.

This post is just a reminder that city officials have attempt to fluoridate the water supply numerous times and may try it again in the future. The mentality is since every surrounding municipality us is doing it Xenia should save some taxpayer money while while in-toxicating them with the health destroying chemical, fluoride. Heck, it does not even whiten teeth; too fluoride turns them muddle brown. What they do if many taxpayers lost their health and their lives? Raise taxes?

Source: Natural News, August, 15, 2010

Medical Studies Prove These Drugs Make Your Brain Stop Working

If the post boggled the mind, you might want to take one of the following listed below. Why? Well, medical researchers have discover that they can make your brain stop working. The medical journal Neurology published their finding as did Physorg. What better way to escape the reality of young people winning court case in the of defending the right of life. First, it was student lead prayer in public schools. Gasp! Now, it is pro-lifer victories. What’s next,shutting down Planned Parenthood abortion mills? (Lil Rose, you go girl.)

May be a hooray is in order.

Anyway, here is a list of over-the-counter drugs capable of making humans nearly brain dead (as if secularism qua socialism qua liberalism could be improved on):

Benadryl
Dramamine
Excedrin PM
Nytol
Sominex
Tylenol PM
Unisom
 

Some prescription drugs that are about brain deadening as the above include:

Paxil
Detrol
Demerol
Elavil
 

Everyone has seen the commercial about firing your brain on drugs. People no longer need cocaine, heroine, PSP, marijuana, or for that matter, Jack Daniels liquor. The FDA and drug companies have made it convenient and legal.

No wonder their has been a pandemic of ADD.

Sweet dreams, but tried to get them with the above sleep aids.

Source: Dr. Mercola Newsletter, August 3, 2010