L.A. Sheriff Prefers Scientology to Marijuana

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeWhile I would expect most police officers to say no to marijuana and other drugs I find it interesting that Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca is fighting California's Proposition 19 (California's Control and Tax Cannabis proposition) while touting Scientology's drug treatment programs. It sounds as though Sheriff Baca has gotten into the evidence locker again.

In a typical pot is bad, religion (Scientology) is good speech, Sheriff Baca, who is the co-chair of the No on 19 campaign, spouted off numerous claims. Among the claims made by Sheriff Baca, marijuana dispensaries are “hijacked by underground drug-dealing criminals” and that “it is no surprise that people are going to get killed … drugs and violence go together.” Sheriff Baca also claimed that as many as 97 percent of dispensaries operate as criminal enterprises, and that many buy their marijuana from Mexican drug cartels.

However, Los Angeles Police Chief, Charles Beck, has called bullshit on his claims. Beck said,  “I have tried to verify that because that, of course, is the mantra, it doesn’t really bear out.”

The DEA also said that they could not substantiate Baca’s allegations.

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Dove World Outreach Center Website Removed by Host

Rackspace, the web host for Dove World Outreach Center has done what no one else can; make them disappear, well at least removed from the Internet. 

Screen shot at 10:40 PM PST

While the church is crying censorship, Rackspace's argument that maliciously setting fire to a holy text violates the "no hate speech" clause in Dove World Outreach's contract is pretty inarguable. Pastor Terry Jones has until midnight to gather up his Internet flock and move them to another host. The First Amendment protects Jones's right to express his beliefs as he pleases, but it doesn't mean Rackspace has to put up with it—especially if it violates a binding legal agreement between the two. 

via CrunchGear

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Arizona's ELL Programs May Violate Federal Civil Rights

Image via Wikipedia   

Federal civil rights officials from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights have identified two practices that Arizona uses to identify students that require English Language Learner (ELL) services. The practices in question are the surveys schools and districts give to parents to initially identify students to be tested for ELL services and the process the state uses to reclassify ELL's as fluent in English even if they don’t pass all sections of the state’s English-language-proficiency test.

John A. Stollar Jr., a former deputy associate state superintendent of English language acquisition services for the state spent an entire day on the stand defending Arizona's ELL program in federal court last week.

The outcome of the case may implications outside of Arizona as some states have ELL identification and testing policies similar to Arizona's. 

It seems as though Arizona not only wants to keep Latinos out of Arizona it also doesn't want to educate them.

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Christian Indcotrination in Public Education

I just read an intersting post over at Unreasonable Faith by vorjack on a new film titled: IndoctriNation: Public Schools and the Decline of Christianity in America.

After viewing the trailer and the clips posted on their website I very nearly threw up. This is probably one of the most direct assaults to public education by Christian extremists yet. While the message is similar to what we have been seeing from these Christian extremists for some time, this is a more concerted effort that I find very disturbing.

If you thought the assault on Texas public schools by the run away SBoE was outrageous then you will achieve a new level of anger over this.

The film makers are blaming every social ill on the lack of religion, specifically the Christian religion, in public schools. They also have some "constitutional lawyer" saying that public education is against the constitution.

If religious schools are so great why are there so many fucked up theists?


If you dare to watch consider yourself forewarned. Also, barf bags are not included.

h/t vorjack

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• IndoctriNation (unreasonablefaith.com)