Mine were not allowed to come to my house as much

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Apparently, it's just sitting there. He's not teaching from it.

A Mount Vernon science teacher said yesterday that he will refuse to remove a Bible from his classroom desk, despite his school district's order.

"Thousands of citizens in this community have built their lives on deeply held religious convictions, and it is for them that I stand today," John Freshwater, 51, who teaches at Mount Vernon Middle School, said in a news release.

The religious activist Dave Daubenmire, Freshwater's friend, acted as his spokesman yesterday. "This is not a religion issue; this is a free-speech issue," Daubenmire said. "He didn't take the Bible to read to anybody."

Mount Vernon Superintendent Steve Short said Freshwater's characterization of the events leading to the district order that he remove religious items from his classroom was "not entirely accurate," but Short wouldn't elaborate.

The district later released a one-paragraph statement saying that district officials don't oppose religion but are required "under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution to protect against the establishment of religion in the schools. As a public school system the district cannot teach, promote or favor any religion or religious beliefs."

Freshwater and Daubenmire believe that separation of church and state "is a fraud" and that the framers of the Constitution never intended it to be practiced the way it is today, Daubenmire said.

The district asked Freshwater last week to remove the Ten Commandments from the door to his classroom and remove the Bible from the view of students. About 3,900 students attend Mount Vernon schools. Mount Vernon is about 52 miles northeast of Columbus.

Freshwater took down the Ten Commandments but decided that being prevented from taking a Bible into the classroom was going too far.

In the past, Freshwater has taught his students about the "holes in evolution" and intelligent design, the theory that a supernatural power created complex forms of life, Daubenmire said.

"Would our government ask a follower of Islam to remove her burqa in order to teach school?" Freshwater said in his written statement. "Would we ask a science teacher to remove The Origin of Species from his desk merely because the origin of man has never been proven?

"I cannot with a clear conscience follow a directive that makes religion and the religious viewpoint any less credible by those who deem themselves more enlightened."

Freshwater wouldn't answer questions directly because of the likelihood he will file a lawsuit charging "viewpoint discrimination," Daubenmire said.

Daubenmire is the former London High School football coach whose district was sued in 1999 by the American Civil Liberties Union because he led his players in prayer at games, practices and meetings. The district settled out of court, and its insurance company paid the ACLU $18,000 for court costs.

in fair condition about 10 years ago, got into some medical problems, and have just now paid off the mortgage. Hubby and I agreed we would do nothing to the house for remodeling because we wanted to pay it off first, then the medical bills. I need to know of some websites/magazines/books to start researching for how to go about this. These will be major repairs - roof, septic, basement, windows, pretty much everything except wiring. Where do we start? Maybe hire a general contractor just to do an evaluation and give us recommendations? Hubby is a handyman but cant seem to get a handle on where to begin. We would like to do as much of the work ourselves as possible - labor of love and all that...

Pit bulls are either not allowed in Miami-Dade County in Florida but I heard something about having $600,000 insurance if you own one.....but that COULD be Broward County where they are allowed. I'm in Miami.

March 14, 2007� Dozens packed the Belmont (California) city council chambers tonight for the first public airing of a new smoking ban proposal.

The law would give Belmont the toughest smoking ban in the nation � possibly in the world.

The crackdown aims to curb the harmful effects of second-hand smoke by preventing puffs not just in parks and around public buildings � but in private apartments and city streets as well. If the law passes, the only places left in Belmont to smoke would be single family homes and private cars.

Mayor Coralin Feierbach says the proposal was made to protect residents who suffer from health problems aggravated by smoke.The council didn't take action tonight. It's just the first of several meetings to discuss the proposal.

I definitely agree that she should take the dog inside, but if she absolutely refuses maybe you could buy her a well-insulated doghouse so at least the animal will have some protection from the cold. Animals have survived cold temperatures for years, but they need a place that shelters them from the cold, and she needs to provide that for them!!

I feel for you - vegetarian here :) One of the big reasons I lost respect for my ex-best friend was the way she treated her animals. She was always buying dogs and cats and then leaving them at the pound or pawning them off on people. It really made me think less of her, because what kind of person does that! She also won't admit she did anything wrong! arrrrgh! It drives me crazy when people don't take proper care of their animals. They are a big responsibility - not just a cute puppy to show off when it's convenient. I hope your daughter straightens up, but again, if she doesn't I highly recommend purchasing a good doghouse for the poor dog!

Girls, has your hubby ever gotten you a "practical" gift that you did not appreciate? This video will put a smile on your face! Enjoy the lighthearted fun.

I chuckled reading your post. I have 9 - yes 9 - cats, three of whom are kittens in the range of 7 months old. I got them all about a week apart and they're each about a month apart in age. They are refugees from the neighbors really bad decisions.

Nothing in the house is safe any more. All of my bigger plants are now in hooks on the ceiling - the smaller plants were already there. It looks silly, but it works. There is nothing left on any flat surface. It cracks me up when they get going and chasing each other. My house is very cat friendly at this point. I made the choice to put the good furniture in storage for now and I have washable furniture. There are cat beds everywhere. My office shelving unit is more cat bed than it is storage and I have 2 beds on the desk beside my computer.

Brown ground beef and add taco seasoning (as in making tacos). Melt Velveeta and Rotel in microwave; add meat mixture. I transfer to a crockpot to keep it hot. Serve with corn chips. This recipe is made with 1 lb ground beef, 1 packet taco seasoning, 1 small can Rotel, and half of a big block of Velveeta. Of course, you can vary it to the amount you need to serve.

the people who lived here before us had a rabbit that got out of the hutch and they couldn't get it back in, so it lived in our yard. One nice warm evening I took our house cat out with me while I was outside. I looked away for a minute and in the blink of an eye, the male rabbit was...um...having nonconsensual relations with my poor, terrified female cat. I could not believe my eyes. Needless to say, my cat stayed in the house after that.

My 16-year-old daughter was also smoking on and off since last summer. When her dad actually caught her red-handed, she was grounded indefinitely - no phone or computer and no friends. She had exercise-induced asthma as a child and I thought I had drilled it into her from little on up how stoopid (censor wouldn't let me spell it right) smoking would be. Not to mention that my parents both smoked and mom has severe asthma and dad has the start of emphysema as well as many other health problems.

Anyway, she started again and finally, I went through her purse and found 2 packs of cigarettes, which I took and she was grounded from seeing the boyfriend, which was far worse than the phone, I think. She threw a fit because her older brother also smoked in high school, but he was already 18, so not much we could really do about it. She's only 17. Plus the fact that she just started oral contraceptives and her doctor told her right to her face no smoking.

But, I think we are on the right track at the moment. Good luck to you because this sure isn't fun.