National Secular Society - New report highlights growing incursion ...

A new report published by the National Secular Society has revealed that publicly funded schools are being targeted and exploited by evangelical Christian groups as part of their missionary work.

The report, Evangelism in state schools – the role of external visitors in publicly funded education (pdf), reveals a determined push by evangelical churches and organisations to gain access to state schools with the intention of proselytizing among young children.

The report finds that the activities of external visitors are often undertaken in schools without parents' knowledge and with little, if any, opportunity for withdrawal.

According to the report, the motivations and aims of religious groups, either out of complicity or naivety, are going unquestioned by head teachers, governors, Local Education Authorities and the Department for Education.

The National Secular Society has written to Education Secretary, Michael Gove, calling for national guidance setting out best practice for working with external visitors and contributors and particularly religion and belief groups.

The report also calls for all schools to publish and adhere to an external visitor's policy which forbids proselytizing and evangelism and makes clear that parents should be given prior and relevant information about school visitors.

One parent, Saul Freeman from Sheffield, said:

"Having sent our child to a non-religious state primary school, we never expected to find ultra-conservative evangelical activity. Our son's school has never been open with parents about its close links with a local evangelical church despite our best efforts to get clarity.

"Adults who come in and lead school assemblies are seen by the children as authority figures in the local community – and this means that the school has conferred a status of trust and respect on a group of individuals who preach hate and a fundamentalist, literalist and creationist approach to religion and life."

Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns manager, said that the educational purpose of religious education is so vague that it is open to exploitation by aggressive religious groups that are determined to reach children in schools.

He said: "The legal obligation on all schools to provide religious education, and a daily act of worship provides a foot in the door to organisations with evangelistic intentions. The ambiguity about the specific aims and purpose of religious education, and its low status in schools, provides an ideal environment for evangelical groups to exploit.

"Given the diminishing interest in religious observance amongst young people and their parents, it's easy to see why evangelical groups are so keen to access schools. But we have to question the appropriateness of state schools being used in this way. The presence of such groups undermines the rights of parents who rightly expect a state education for their child that doesn't run counter to their own religious and philosophical convictions."

Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, said:

"The targeting of our schools in this way by such dubious organisations must be tackled by the Department for Education. Most parents have absolutely no idea that such groups are present in their children's school until the child comes home and starts repeating the messages they've been given – sometimes about creationism, sometimes manipulative evangelical messages or literature that reinforces a very conservative religious outlook on life."

Mr Sanderson said the whole issue of religion in schools needs to be urgently reassessed.

"Our schools are becoming playgrounds for religious interests who are exploiting their opportunities to the full. The increasing number of faith schools is not going to make this any better. With fewer and fewer people regarding themselves as religious, it is clear that faith groups see schools as their best hope of reviving their fortunes. Children have to be there by law, they are a captive audience."

Read the report: Evangelism in state schools – the role of external visitors in publicly funded education (pdf)

See a list of evangelical groups active in schools

Research into the activities of evangelical groups in schools in ongoing. If you have information or concerns about external visitors in a particular school, please use the form on this page to provide details.

The NSS is calling for religious education to be replaced with a new National Curriculum subject that allows pupils to take a more objective and religiously neutral approach to the consideration of moral and ethical issues. Read our briefing paper setting out the need for comprehensive reform of RE.

Source: http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2013/10/new-report-highlights-growing-incursion-of-evangelical-christians-into-state-schools
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Gunmen in Syria release 4 aid workers, hold 3

This image made from citizen journalist video posted by the Shaam News Network, which is consistent with other AP reporting, shows the aftermath of a car bomb attack on a market in the town of Darkoush in Idlib province, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013. Syrian activist groups say the bombing in a rebel-held northwestern town has killed and wounded dozens of people. Car bombs are becoming more common in Syria's civil war, now in its third year. The conflict has killed more than 100,000 people.(AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)

This image made from citizen journalist video posted by the Shaam News Network, which is consistent with other AP reporting, shows the aftermath of a car bomb attack on a market in the town of Darkoush in Idlib province, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013. Syrian activist groups say the bombing in a rebel-held northwestern town has killed and wounded dozens of people. Car bombs are becoming more common in Syria's civil war, now in its third year. The conflict has killed more than 100,000 people.(AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)

This image made from citizen journalist video posted by the Shaam News Network, which is consistent with other AP reporting, shows the aftermath of a car bomb attack on a market in the town of Darkoush in Idlib province, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013. Syrian activist groups say the bombing in a rebel-held northwestern town has killed and wounded dozens of people. Car bombs are becoming more common in Syria's civil war, now in its third year. The conflict has killed more than 100,000 people.(AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)

This image made from citizen journalist video posted by the Shaam News Network, which is consistent with other AP reporting, shows people evacuating a victim of a car bomb attack on a market in the town of Darkoush in Idlib province, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013. Syrian activist groups say the bombing in a rebel-held northwestern town has killed and wounded dozens of people. Car bombs are becoming more common in Syria's civil war, now in its third year. The conflict has killed more than 100,000 people.(AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks during an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel, in Damascus, Syria, Monday, Oct. 7, 2013. Assad has conceded making mistakes and says no side in his country's civil war is entirely free of blame. (AP Photo/SANA)

BEIRUT (AP) — Gunmen in Syria released three Red Cross staffers and a Red Crescent volunteer who had been kidnapped in rebel-held territory, the international agency said Monday.

The fate of three other Red Cross workers who were also seized Sunday in the northwestern Idlib province remained unclear, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

Syrian opposition activists said the seven aid workers were taken at a rebel checkpoint outside the town of Saraqeb, manned by an al-Qaida-affiliate, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. There was no claim of responsibility.

About two dozen miles away, near Turkey, a car bomb went off in the market of the town of Darkoush on Monday, while it was crowded with people shopping for the four-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha holiday. The blast set cars on fire and sent people running.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 27 people were killed, while another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, put the death toll at 15.

It was not clear who carried out the bombing and why they attacked a civilian target in a rebel-held area. Syria's conflict has seen an increasing use of car bombings, but most have been carried out against regime targets, usually by jihadi fighters among rebels.

Meanwhile, Syria became a full member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on Monday, in another step toward eliminating its chemical weapons stockpile by mid-2014.

The mission is overseen by the OPCW and the United Nations. The joint team has inspected five of at least 20 sites in the past two weeks, according to the OPCW chief.

Ahmet Uzumcu signaled that the team of 60 OPCW inspectors and U.N. staff is encountering difficulties. He was quoted as saying that one abandoned site was in rebel-held territory and that in other cases, routes went through opposition-controlled areas, preventing access because rebels have not promised cooperation.

"They (the areas) change hands from one day to another, which is why we appeal to all sides in Syria to support this mission, to be cooperative and not render this mission more difficult. It's already challenging," he told the BBC.

The OPCW won the Nobel Peace Prize last week, in a strong endorsement of its Syria mission.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, meanwhile, selected Sigrid Kaag, a Middle East expert from the Netherlands, to head the joint OPCW-U.N. team in Syria, U.N. diplomats said. Kaag is an assistant administrator of the U.N. Development Program and speaks Arabic, said the diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of a public announcement.

The push to eliminate Syria's stockpile of about 1,000 metric tons of blistering and nerve agents stems from an Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack on opposition-held suburbs of Damascus. Hundreds were killed, including many children. The West says the Syrian government was responsible, while Damascus blames the rebels.

Syrian President Bashar Assad said Monday that his country stopped manufacturing chemical agents in 1997 because they became an "outdated deterrent." He said Syria has since concentrated on its missile capabilities.

Damascus is believed to have thousands of long-range missiles that can reach targets almost anywhere inside Israel, its archenemy.

"Developing Syria's missile deterrent force that can be used from the first moments of war ended the necessity of chemical weapons," Assad was quoted as saying in the Lebanese Al-Akbar newspaper.

Nonetheless, Assad said, Syria is suffering a "moral and political loss" in handing over its chemical weapons.

Asked about the OPCW's Nobel prize, Assad attempted an apparent joke, saying, "this prize should have been mine."

More than 100,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the Syria conflict erupted in March 2011, with a popular uprising that escalated into a civil war. The country has turned into a patchwork of regime- and rebel-held areas. Assad's political opponents are divided, while Islamic extremists have emerged as dominant in many rebel areas.

Despite the fractured nature of the opposition, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said talks on a political transition must begin by mid-November, as envisioned by the U.N.

Kerry said Syria urgently needs a transitional government, but that Assad "has lost the legitimacy to be able to be a cohesive force that could bring people together."

It's uncertain if the Syrian political opposition will attend.

Opposition figure George Sabra said a final decision of the Syrian National Council, the main Western-backed umbrella group, is expected at a conference starting Oct. 24. Sabra's group, the largest in the council, won't attend transition talks, he said.

The opposition wants Assad to step down first. It has also expressed anger over the chemical weapons deal, in which the regime is treated as a partner. "Unfortunately, they let the criminal escape from punishment," Sabra said.

___

Associated Press writers Karin Laub in Beirut, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and John Heilprin in Geneva contributed to this report.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-10-14-ML-Syria/id-9bb3414b268545d089b062b86127a0cd
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Red Cross Wants Video Games To Get Real On War Crimes

A gamer plays a war game at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles in June. The ICRC wants war games to spread understanding of the rules of armed conflict.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

A gamer plays a war game at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles in June. The ICRC wants war games to spread understanding of the rules of armed conflict.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

There aren't universal laws of war when it comes to video games. Players can disregard the rules of the Geneva Convention without encountering any consequences. The International Committee of the Red Cross wants to change that.

ICRC spokesman Bernard Barrett says that for the past two years, a special unit of the Red Cross has been working with video game producers to help them simulate real-world sanctions for virtual war crimes.

As its website explains, "The ICRC is concerned that certain game scenarios could lead to a trivialization of serious violations of the law of armed conflict."

"We're not going to get into the fine technicalities of the Geneva Conventions," Bennett tells Weekend Edition host Scott Simon, but the organization is focusing on things like deliberately killing civilians, shooting at ambulances and torture.

Some games already do exact a price for such violations, he says: "In one game for example, at a company that we've worked with, if you start shooting indiscriminately at civilians, someone from your own side may start shooting at you."

Interview Highlights

On how the ICRC works with video game producers

We've approached them, and in some cases they've approached us, asking for advice. In one case we said, "Hey, would you like to incorporate this in your game?" They thought it was a wonderful idea, so we sat down with them and explained some of the basic concerns and maybe some ways that they might want to approach it.

On whether flouting the rules of war in games is just an accurate reflection of life

It may reflect what happens in life. At the same time, because they are flouted, we can't throw up our hands and say it's useless, anything is allowable under war. We have to keep insisting on that, and we have to keep pushing the notion that there are laws, even in war, and that they must be respected.

On whether the ICRC should be more concerned with real war

This is not a huge effort or expenditure on our part ... We've got a unit that specializes in working with the military, with armed forces, with armed rebel groups, talking about the laws of war and trying to encourage respect. And so this is a few of the people in that unit who took an interest in video games ...

We know a lot of military off-duty play video games, and a lot of young men and women who are likely to be recruited play video games. And it's also a chance to sensitize the general public, so they can tell their leaders, whether they be military or political, that's not acceptable or that is acceptable.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/10/12/232480753/red-cross-wants-video-games-to-get-real-on-war-crimes?ft=1&f=1004
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ELEMENTS: Endangered Species of the Salmon River

Our Elements series is a close-up look at the natural world through the eyes of river guide Codye Reynolds. This time she gives us a glimpse at two rare species found in Idaho’s Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness.

Delicacy is in the eye of the beholder. At camp on the Main Salmon River, I was reminded of this twice, as I spent an hour contemplating in a Pacific yew grove and was visited by a feather-light Edith’s checkerspot butterfly.

Pacific Yew –Delicate, with unseen powers

One of my favorite treasures of the Main Salmon River is a grove of Pacific yews that lies a few miles from the river. Upon entering the shady, mystical grove, the temperature mercifully drops a few degrees. A quietly wandering creek slinks by the nearby cliff wall, and the yews are magnificent. There aren’t many of these yew trees, but they leave a distinct impression of a unique and rarely seen beauty. Their surfaces are a silvery green, peeling sheen that reveal glimpses of a harder, shimmering heart-red under-bark. With the yew’s fairy-dust-like glimmer, it’s not a stretch to believe they have medicinal powers.

As it turns out, a breast and ovarian cancer drug named Taxol is derived from the Pacific yew’s bark. In the 1960’s the yew bark was identified as a possible anticancer agent. Unfortunately, this drug led to wide-ranging deforestation, as deriving the compound killed the trees. The search for a wholly synthetic replacement was long and arduous, culminating in total synthesis in the 1990’s.

The yews are delicate, with unseen powers of healing. Their powers of awe, though, are reliant on their groves staying untouched. Luckily the Main Salmon yews are protected by the scientific synthesis of their medicines, and the Frank Church of No Return Wilderness.

Edith’s Checkerspot – Small and spectacular

Upon my exit from the grove, and thinking about the fragility of the yews, I sat down to eat lunch and an Edith’s checkerspot butterfly landed on my dry-bag.

I watched it for as long as it cared to perch, as it tested my green bag for traces of nectar. Its long, tongue-like proboscis probed and explored, unsure of how something so brightly colored could NOT be rich tasting. Even though Edith’s don’t move more than 2,000 feet in their entire lifespan (they are not migrators), they live only about 10 days as an adult, so I knew that even if I was on this Idaho river trip next week, I wouldn’t see this very butterfly again.

Various subspecies of Edith’s checkerspot are endangered in North America, primarily due to habitat destruction and warming of their home ecosystems. As they are exceptionally sensitive to warming temperatures, California’s endangered Quino checkerspot is considered an early warning indicator of climate change, as whole populations are moving north to cooler temperatures.

I contemplated the nature of fragility and mighty impact of a changing world. I watched while my checkerspot butterfly flew off, perhaps in search of a mate, and I wished it luck.

 

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Kenyans pray for peace on day before elections

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) ? Five years after more than 1,000 people were killed in election-related violence, Kenyans on Monday will begin casting votes in a nationwide election seen as the country's most important ? and complicated ? in its 50-year history.

Clerics across Kenya gave sermons dedicated to peace on Sunday, and urged the country to prove wrong the "prophets of doom" who predict violence.

A barrier to a peaceful vote is that the country faces so many potential triggers of violence: A secessionist group on the coast is threatening attacks; Somali militants could launch assaults on voters, especially near the Kenya-Somalia border; and the tribes of the top two presidential candidates have a long history of tense relations.

In addition, 47 new governor races are being held, increasing the chances of electoral problems at the local level.

Perhaps most importantly, Uhuru Kenyatta, one of two top candidates for president, faces charges at the International Criminal Court for orchestrating the 2007-08 postelection violence. If he wins, the U.S. and Europe could scale back relations with Kenya, and Kenyatta may have to spend a significant portion of his presidency at The Hague.

Kenyatta's running mate, William Ruto, also faces charges at the ICC.

Kenyatta, a Kikuyu who is the son of Kenya's founding president, faces Raila Odinga, a Luo whose father was the country's first vice president. Polls show the two in a close race, with support for each in the mid-40-percent range. Eight candidates are running for president, making it likely Odinga and Kenyatta will be matched up in an April run-off, when tensions could be even higher.

At the Nairobi Chapel, an evangelical church in the capital, three pastors took turns Sunday praising the attributes of some tribes, drawing cheers from the congregation. The Kikuyus were praised for being entrepreneurial, the Luos for valuing education, and the Kalenjins ? Ruto's tribe ? for their loyalty.

"Tomorrow we celebrate our cultural diversity as a nation," Nick Korir said in his sermon. "A lot of things unite us as a church. A lot of things unite us as a country."

In the weeks leading up to Monday's vote, described by Odinga as the most consequential since independence from the British in 1963, peace activists and clerics have been praying that this time the election is peaceful despite lingering tensions.

Odinga's acrimonious loss to President Mwai Kibaki in 2007 triggered violence that ended only after the international community stepped in to mediate. Odinga was named prime minister in a coalition government led by Kibaki, with Kenyatta named deputy prime minister.

The candidates held their final rallies Saturday, a day of political attacks and denials following published comments attributed to Odinga that election violence could be worse than 2007-08 if the vote is rigged. On Sunday church leaders asked their congregations to disappoint those who suspect there will be violence.

"We ask you to shame all prophets of doom," a cleric at an evangelical church in Nairobi called Mavuno told a packed congregation. "This is a country we are all proud of despite the divisions that people talk about. There is a Kenya after tomorrow."

Some 99,000 police officers will be on duty during an election in which some 14 million people are expected to vote. Kenyans will also be electing new lawmakers, governors and other officials.

Kenyatta, 51, the son of Jomo Kenyatta, the country's founding president, is one of the country's wealthiest men. He studied at Amherst College in the U.S. before returning home to become a businessman and later his father's political heir.

In 2011 Forbes magazine listed him as the wealthiest Kenyan, worth at least $500 million, although he was dropped from a subsequent list because his personal wealth was hard to separate from that of his close relatives. The Kenyattas are said to own hundreds of thousands of acres of prime land across the country, a controversial point in a nation where millions do not own even a small plot of land.

Gladwell Otieno, a Kenyan who runs a think tank called The Africa Center for Open Governance, said it would "be difficult for (Kenyatta) to claim that he can do much" to tackle Kenya's historical land problem. But despite the baggage of wealth and the ICC charges, Kenyatta's team has done a good job of marketing him as "a youthful candidate" of hope, Otieno said.

"Our main concern has been the fact that he is indicted at the ICC," Otieno said. "A government led by him would immediately be paralyzed."

Odinga, 68, who has been prime minister since 2008, believes he was cheated out of victory in the last election. Odinga's refusal to accept the results of the 2007 election helped fuel tribal tensions, with many here seeing Kibaki's win as another example of the Kikuyu's overly broad influence.

A win by Odinga would make him the country's first Luo president, a feat never accomplished by his father, Oginga Odinga, who was Kenya's first vice president and himself a hero of the anti-colonial movement. The elder Odinga fell out with Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, straining Kikuyu-Luo relations for decades.

In a rally Friday in Kisumu, Odinga's hometown and the biggest Luo-dominated city, Odinga repeatedly used words like "freedom" and "change" to emphasize the epochal moment it would be for his people if he wins.

"Be prepared for freedom," he said. "This country is at the verge of total liberation."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kenyans-pray-peace-day-elections-095133986--politics.html

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Investigating customer complaint: How can we access our sales ...

Q. We recently received a complaint that one of our sales representatives had sent false emails and texts about one customer to another. We determined that the emails and texts have been sent fro?m the cell??phone that we provide to the sales representative. We asked the service provider to send us copies of the emails and text messages. The service provider re??fused our request. Why can?t we get that information?

A. Under the federal Stored Communications Act and Chapter 626A of Minnesota statutes, electronic communications providers cannot disclose the content of the messages stored in their servers to the subscriber of the telephone service. Only the sender, addressee or recipient may access that content.

As a result, employers that provide and pay for cellphones and cellphone service are often prevented from gaining access to the records. Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem?but it requires pre-emptive action by the employer.

Under the statutes, the sender, addressee or recipient may grant consent allowing others to access the data. Employers that want the right to access cellphone or smartphone data should obtain specific written consent from employees, including permission to access the content itself and the logs concerning text messages, calls, emails, photos, video and search history.

Consent may be hard to obtain once an investigation is under way. Therefore, you should secure consent well in advance of any need to access the data.

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Macklemore's Pro-Gay ?You Can Play? PSA: Watch The ...

Out Of The Thrift Shop & Into The Streets!

The latest artist to throw their high-profile support behind gay youths who are struggling with bullying and their identities is chart-topping, bargain-shopping Seattle MC Macklemore, who, along with Ryan Lewis, recently spent four weeks atop the Hot 100 with breakout hit ?Thrift Shop.? In a new video clip for the You Can Play campaign, the 29-year-old, whose real name is Ben Haggerty, says, ?Things are really good for us right now.? He later adds, ?We?ve also got some great friends and family, and some of them are gay.?

Bringing the point home, Haggerty continues: ?You know someone who?s gay: athletes, musicians ? people in your life. They just haven?t told you yet.?

The rapper says that being gay doesn?t matter, because if ?you have the skills, talent and the heart, you can play. Don?t let being gay hold you back.? He then notes that anti-gay language has ?no place in sports or music.?

And, hey ? if there?s anyone who knows all about maintaining a cool balance of confidence in their life, it?s the man who penned the line, ?Walk into the club like, ?What up? I got a big cock!??

[Via MTV News]

?

Source: http://idolator.com/7444022/macklemore-gay-you-can-play-psa

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