News Links
Senate Hides “RAVE Act” in Larger Bill
Due to the tremendous public outcry, Senate bill S. 2633 (the “Reducing Americans’ Vulnerability to Ecstasy”, or “RAVE” Act), which would have placed businesses and property owners in greater danger of prosecution and property forfeiture, never came up for a vote. But the same language has now reappeared within Tom Daschle’s “omnibus domestic security bill” S. 22; see <http://www.nomoredrugwar.org/music/rave_act.htm>.
Stop the War, But Draft Youth Anyway
New York’s Rep. Charles Rangel plans to introduce a bill to require mandatory military service for all Americans. Details, reported at <http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/29/mandatory.military/index.html>, were sketchy, but Rangel made it clear that the purpose of introducing the bill is to discourage Congress from authorizing military action against Iraq.
More On the Drugged Generation
A new study in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine of Jan. 2003 reports on the increase in prescriptions of psychotropic drugs to kids. See the story at <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/01/13/health/main536269.shtml>, and a forceful commentary at <http://www.townhall.com/columnists/joelmowbray/jm20030115.shtml>.
Faith-Based Funding Follow-Up
Last month’s cover story speculated that faith-based grants might become available to religious “gulag schools” such as the chain of Roloff Homes. On December 12, George W. Bush issued executive orders which come close to doing just that. The orders, viewable at <http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/12/20021212-3.html>, allow publicly-funded social service providers to keep religious references in their names, display “art, icons, scriptures, or other symbols” of their religious identity, and maintain their “religious character” in programs receiving federal funding. They don’t have to observe the non-discriminatory hiring practices required of other public agencies, either. These orders won’t satisfy places as extreme as the Roloff Homes, however, since using federal dollars for “worship, religious instruction, or proselytization” is still prohibited.
Children Rescued After Years of Isolation
In New Jersey, two seven-year-old boys and their four-year-old brother who had spent virtually their entire lives locked in basements or closets were finally discovered—one dead—in the first week of January. Parts of their story appear at <http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/01/08/starved.children/>, <http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1042355644231210.xml> and <http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/other/1110/1-7-2003/20030107070011_067.html>.
“Kids” Defined By New Domain
Having a sex- and violence-free “zone” on the Internet is a fine idea, but did they have to call it “dot kids”? According to <http://www.townonline.com/tewksbury/news/local_regional/tew_buswimarkeyp111820021.htm>, the domain—and its name—became official when President Bush signed it into law on December 18.
Homeschoolers Breathe Easier
The U.S. Department of Education fixed a mistake in its financial aid handbook that caused headaches for younger home-schooled college applicants, and sent a letter to all universities to help clear up the mess. As an item at <http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/hslda/200301/200301020.asp> explains, the error made colleges believe they would lose federal funding by enrolling home-schooled applicants younger than their state’s compulsory school attendance age.
Identity Theft By Parents
More on the irresponsibility of those Baby Boomer parents: <http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,56570,00.html> reports on grownups who try to get out of their own financial holes by using their children’s names to apply for credit cards.
What Would Jesus Spank With?
Reverend Arthur Allen Jr. of Athens, Georgia is now in jail. Rev. Allen encouraged parents in his congregation to bring their disobedient children to church, where they would be restrained by two men and beaten with a belt by the pastor. Rev. Allen was previously warned to use only an open hand to hit children, but <http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/102202/new_20021022039.shtml> quotes the pastor as saying, “I can’t maintain discipline ... by just hand-spanking our children.”
Christmas—A Time For Families
On Christmas Day, a six-year-old Chicago girl was beaten to death trying to break up a fight between her mother and her mother’s boyfriend, says the story at <http://www.tv7-4.com/Global/story.asp?S=1061793>. Also that day in the Chicago area, a depressed mother shot her husband and two daughters before turning the gun on herself; according to <http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-021226aurora,0,7906758.story?coll=chi-news-hed>, the husband died at the scene.
High School “Singles Only”?
A story at <http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asp?S=898137&nav=1ugBAicm> describes the struggle of 15-year-old Leanne Murphy of Tennessee to return to high school after she got married.
Florida’s Foster Felons
An article at <http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/4844235.htm> suggests that inadequate background checks and screening of foster care applicants “may have contributed to the deaths of at least 100 children since 1998.” The reporters found 168 Florida foster parents had felony records for crimes including armed robbery, welfare fraud, racketeering, and child endangerment, many with convictions in the past ten years.
Child Found Injured, Intoxicated on New Year’s Eve
With a blood-alcohol level of .17 and internal bleeding from apparent “shaken baby syndrome”, a 3-year-old Albuquerque, New Mexico boy was admitted to the hospital in critical condition on New Year’s eve; the story at <http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news02/123102_news_baby.shtml> says that the boy’s mother and her boyfriend have been arrested.
Honesty Not Against School’s Policy
A Florida school official apologized to angry parents for the “poor judgment” shown by a kindergarten teacher, but, says <http://www.news-journalonline.com/2002/Dec/14/NOTE1.htm>, insisted that the school could not discipline or fire the teacher merely for truthfully answering questions about the existence of Santa Claus.
Prozac Approved for Pre-Teens
Psychiatrists have been prescribing Prozac to kids for years, but as of January 3—for patients at least eight years old—they can do it with official approval and guidelines from the Food and Drug Administration. The article at <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/01/03/national1726EST0661.DTL> mentions that, besides other possible side effects, children may experience decreased growth.
Four-Day Week Saves Schools Money
More than 100 rural school districts in seven states have made school days longer in order to give students—and employees—Fridays off. Items at <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37906-2002Dec25.html> and <http://www.projo.com/kids/content/projo_20030106_friday.c011e.html> describe some of the perceived pros and cons of the plan.
Parent Sues New York City Schools
The star and crescent of Islam were okay, and the Jewish menorah, too, but no nativity scenes; Christian displays in New York public schools were to consist of Christmas trees only. One mother, according to <http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200212/CUL20021211b.html>, calls that policy “religious discrimination,” since the Supreme Court has ruled in the past that a menorah is a religious symbol, but a Christmas tree is a “secular” one.
Family Fraud
The good news for 7-year-old Hannah Milbrandt of Urbana, Illinois: she doesn’t have leukemia and she’s not going to die. The bad news: her parents and her grandmother have been arrested for defrauding well-wishers out of about $10,000. According to <http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Midwest/01/15/faked.cancer.ap>, Hannah’s mother shaved her head, bandaged her arm to cover an imaginary chemotherapy “port”, gave her sleeping pills, and took her to counseling to prepare for death.
