Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U.S. 578 (1987) was a legal case about the teaching of creationism that was heard by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1987. The Court ruled that a Louisiana law requiring that creation science be taught in public schools, along with evolution, was unconstitutional because the law was specifically intended to advance a particular religion.

On June 19, 1987 the Supreme Court, in a seven to two majority opinion written by Justice William J. Brennan, ruled that the Act constituted an unconstitutional infringement on the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, based on the three-pronged Lemon test, which is:

The government’s action must have a legitimate secular purpose;
The government’s action must not have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion; and
The government’s action must not result in an “excessive entanglement” of the government and religion.

source: Wikipedia (H/T Infoplease, for the date/event )

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 113^th Congress – 1^st Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Vote Summary

Grouped By Vote Position

For Immediate Release
June 13, 2013

Grassley Comment on Vote to Table Border Security First Amendment

Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the following comment after the Majority party moved to table his amendment that would ensure that the border is secure before undocumented immigrants are legalized.  The amendment would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to certify to Congress that the Secretary has maintained effective control over the entire Southern border for six months before processing applications for Registered Provisional Immigrant status.  The motion to table the amendment passed by a vote of 57-43.

“The fact that the Majority voted to table my amendment proves that this is a far cry from the open and fair process the American people were promised.  This type of obstruction is the wrong way to start the amendment process on such an important bill.

“It appears that the majority is afraid to have an open debate and vote on a provision that ensures true border security before legalization.  They claim to be open to improving the bill, but this motion to table shows that they’re not ready to fundamentally change the bill.

“There’s a lesson to be learned from the 1986 legislation.  At that time, we legalized first and thought we were going to secure the border later.  We never did.  My amendment would ensure we learned our lesson from the mistakes of the past.  Unfortunately, the Majority is obstructing an up or down vote on my common-sense amendment that would help keep us from repeating those past mistakes.

“We only do immigration reform once every 25 years.  Surely, we need an amendment process in which true immigration reform can succeed.”

But if you take a few billion dollars worth of intelligence spending and transfer it onto the Booz Allen balance sheet, then political organizing around the cause of higher intelligence spending can avail itself of the tools of private enterprise along with the tools of bureaucratic politics.

source: The Washington Examiner

Reports suggest a US government progarm named PRISM basically collects information on everything you do.

Google spokesmen, like spokesmen from all the tech companies, deny participating in any such program. So Americans are left to wonder: Was this corporate-government collusion? Was this federal hacking or infiltration of corporate servers?

source: The Washington Examiner

The idea that the GOP has shifted rightward over the last several generations is dubious at best. Consider the behavior of House Republicans during the Great Society Congress of 1965-66. That Congress produced Medicare and Medicaid, federal funding for education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and more. On item after item, Republicans in the House opposed or tried to alter drastically these measures. In fact, none other than Bob Dole—then a representative from Kansas—was a regular vote against President Lyndon Johnson’s major reforms. Along with a majority of his own caucus, he voted against Medicare. He voted to reduce spending in LBJ’s war on poverty and retain state authority over funds. He voted against federal funding of elementary and secondary schools. He voted to cut spending for housing assistance. He voted to cut highway beautification programs. He voted to delay implementation of a new minimum wage floor. And so on.

source: The Weekly Standard

American Conservative Op-Ed: Big Brother Says, ‘Open Your Mouth!’
Jun 10, 2013

The Bill of Rights is and should be popular. It is something most Americans overwhelmingly support. Conservatives love the Second Amendment and honest progressives defend the First Amendment. But it is sometimes harder for the public to embrace and champion the due process of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth amendments.

Why? Because to defend due process sometimes means defending trials, lawyers, and privacy for people accused of heinous crimes. Understandably, some don’t choose to think about the fact that the worst imaginable people in our society are still guaranteed rights as citizens-the right to trial by jury, the right to an attorney, the right to be free from suspicionless searches.

Continue reading →

“From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural school house, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty. To anyone who truly loves America, nothing could be more inspiring than to contemplate this rededication of our youth, on each school morning, to our country’s true meaning.

Especially is this meaningful as we regard today’s world. Over the globe, mankind has been cruelly torn by violence and brutality and, by the millions, deadened in mind and soul by a materialistic philosophy of life. Man everywhere is appalled by the prospect of atomic war. In this somber setting, this law and its effects today have profound meaning. In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource, in peace or in war.”

Statement by the President Upon Signing Bill to Include the Words “Under God” in the Pledge to the Flag, 6/14/54

source: Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum

The first official national flag, also known as the Stars and Stripes, was approved by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. Today is Flag Day.

source Infoplease.com

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, June 10, 2013) — Army birthday celebrations began somberly in the nation’s capital with a wreath laying at the tomb of the Continental Army’s first general, Alexandria, Va.

Surrounded by several hundred visitors at the Mount Vernon estate of George and Martha Washington, Secretary of the Army John McHugh placed a wreath at the crypt of America’s first president. The event marked the start of a week of festivities surrounding the Army’s 238th birthday, which is officially June 14, 2013.

source: US Army

Hospitals in the U.S. pledge to keep a patient’s health background confidential. Yet states from Washington to New York are putting privacy at risk by selling records that can be used to link a person’s identity to medical conditions using public information.

source: Bloomberg

Does this get your attention?

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-05/states-hospital-data-for-sale-puts-privacy-in-jeopardy.html

From the author of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address comes a beautifully designed account of George Washington’s historic crossing of the Delaware River and the decisive Battle of Trenton—with a foreword by his son, #1 New York Times bestselling author Mark R. Levin.

Jack E. Levin, author of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, presents a beautifully designed and produced micro-history of George Washington’s daring forge of the Delaware River and the triumphant Battle of Trenton during the Revolutionary War. Accompanied by historic paintings, illustrations and maps from the era, George Washington: The Crossing is a dramatic and fascinating rendering of an honored American story.

source: The Mark Levin Show

Washington is preoccupied with the political decisions surrounding last year’s attack in Benghazi, but nine months later the who and why of the terrorist assault that left four Americans dead remains shrouded in mystery.

source: The Washington Times

This story wanders around but happens to be one of the few I have seen lately. When the hell will our elected officials bring this delayed investigation to resolution? The longer this goes on the more probable letting it fade into oblivion seems likely. That is tragically sad and dangerous.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

“The purpose of the conference is to energize, train, and equip our top activists and chapter leaders on voter registration, voter education, get-out-the-vote, lobbying their legislature, dealing with the media, building a precinct organization, and utilizing social media to mobilize supporters. We want them to leave this conference prepared to bring about a pro-family majority in Washington and in every state capital,” said the group.

source: The Washington Examiner

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) on Friday disputed a claim President Obama made at a press conference only moments earlier, when the president said that every member of Congress had been briefed on the National Security Agency’s (NSA) domestic phone surveillance program.

Merkley said only select members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees had been briefed on the program, and that he was only aware of it because he obtained “special permission” to review the pertinent documents after hearing about it second-hand.

source: The Hill dot com