New RSS Email Service

Greetings faithful Your Moral Compass readers. I'm writing to tell you about the RSS email service change I made today. For all of you who subscribe, I have removed FeedBlitz as my provider. They were supposed to be a free service and decided to change that, so good-bye FeedBlitz.

I have switched to MailChimp. Their service is much more customizable and remains a free service for certain types accounts, such as YMC. I have already transitioned your membership subscriptions over to this service, so you will not need to do anything any differently.You'll begin receiving emails very shortly as I update the blog.

Summer's coming and as the weather continues to get nicer, things like camping and outdoor family events will take precedence. However, I'm sure with our current national leadership, I will regularly feel the need to purge myself of their ridiculous, immoral and unconstitutional actions/policies via my recently described "diatribe." It seems, when you call a liberal on the illegality of how they violated federal electioneering laws based on the video evidence that they provided that somehow you are the one at fault. Diatribe is how my pointing out the illegality is how my words were described, like I violated the law or something!? I guess if the shoe fits, I'll wear it. Give me something not to diatribe about and I'll be happy to comment on it. Unfortunately, with this administration that task is impossible.

Have a great week everyone.

Kingdom Bailouts

Earth Hour: The Ridiculous Waste of Ambition and Resources

Absolute non-sense! There is NO credible science to support man-made global warming. The extreme amount of narcissism necessary to fabricate a crisis of global proportions is astounding. What’s even more astonishing are the masses of mindless numbskulls that will fly straight into the fire without thinking for themselves.

We know, for instance, that the world has NATURAL warming and cooling cycles. Sea levels rise and fall with these naturally occurring phases. Natural disasters occur at varying levels based on the stages the Earth is in. Ice ages, global flooding, volcanic eruptions, massive hurricanes, cyclones and tornadoes, earthquakes, etc. can only be attributed to our correlation with the Earth’s orbit and axis and, of course, the wrath and fury of God.

I detest everything about the global warming alarmists and their cause. The whole charade of their ridiculous crying is nothing more than a ploy to raise taxes and scare the populous into submission. I had seen the news explaining the Earth Hour event coming up, but I had purposely not paid any attention to it. When I saw the pictures covering the event, however, I was disgusted. Had I known specifically when the event was to take place, I would have turned on everything in my house that uses electricity.

My wife informed me that I should be happy for this event since I constantly go around the house turning off the lights that everyone in the house leaves on. This is different, though. I gripe about the lights being left on and the garage door not being closed on cold days, out of a conservation of spending and not out of a sense that we’re raping the earth.

Renegade Judges, Attack on the Family, and False Perception of Home Schooling Part 1

A Wake County, North Carolina judge has ordered three children to attend public schools this fall because the homeschooling their mother has provided over the last four years needs to be "challenged."

The children, however, have tested above their grade levels – by as much as two years.

The decision is raising eyebrows among homeschooling families, and one friend of the mother has launched a website to publicize the issue.

The ruling was made by Judge Ned Mangum of Wake County, who was handling a divorce proceeding for Thomas and Venessa Mills.

A statement released by a publicist working for the mother, whose children now are 10, 11 and 12, said Mangum stripped her of her right to decide what is best for her children's education.

The judge, when contacted by WND, explained his goal in ordering the children to register and attend a public school was to make sure they have a "more well-rounded education."

"I thought Ms. Mills had done a good job [in homeschooling]," he said. "It was great for them to have that access, and [I had] no problems with homeschooling. I said public schooling would be a good complement."

The judge said the husband has not been supportive of his wife's homeschooling, and "it accomplished its purposes. It now was appropriate to have them back in public school."

Mangum said he made the determination on his guiding principle, "What's in the best interest of the minor children," and conceded it was putting his judgment in place of the mother's.

Adam Cothes, a spokesman for the mother, said the children routinely had been testing at up to two years above their grade level, were involved in swim team and other activities and events outside their home and had taken leadership roles in history club events.

According to Williams' website, the judge also ordered a mental health evaluation for the mother – but not the father – as part of the divorce proceedings, in what Williams described as an attack on the "mother's conservative Christian beliefs."

According to a proposed but as-yet unsigned order submitted by the father's lawyer to Mangum, "The children have thrived in homeschool for the past four years, but need the broader focus and socialization available to them in public school. The Court finds that it is in the children's best interest to continue their homeschooling through the end of the current school year, but to begin attending public school at the beginning of the 2009-2010 instructional year."

The order proposed by the father's lawyer also conceded the reason for the divorce was the father's "adultery," but it specifically said the father would not pay for homeschooling expenses for his children.

The order also stated, "Defendant believes that plaintiff is a nurturing mother who loves the children. Defendant believes that plaintiff has done a good job with the homeschooling of the children, although he does not believe that continued homeschooling is in the best interest of the children."

The website said the judge also said public school would "prepare these kids for the real world and college" and allow them "socialization."

Williams said the mother originally moved into a homeschool schedule because the children were not doing as well as she hoped at the local public schools.

Reported by World Net Daily
By Bob Unruh
Reported 03/11/2009

Renegade Judges, Attack on the Family, and False Perception of Home Schooling Part II

I have several problems with this. First of all, everyone involved in this believe that the children are thriving and excelling in their education via homeschool. The judge even admitted that they were, the father admitted it too.

The judge cites “socialization” and the “real world” as motivators for his decision. Obviously, this lunatic has no idea what he is talking about. Allow me to elaborate a bit on socialization.

Socialization is knowing how to act appropriately in various situations and is best taught by adults who care about the child. Socialization is not the same as having a social life. Remember this when you hear the dreaded ‘S’ word from others. Your homeschooled kids will have as many friends and activities as they want and you allow (and likely more time than their PS peers to enjoy them).

They will be socialized by their parents and other caring people who will help them learn appropriate behavior in different situations- at home, in public, in informal and formal activities. They will have many opportunities to learn and practice social skills as they will be interacting with the real world on a regular basis.” (www.about.com)

Let’s remember what the article said about these socialized lacking children, “…the children routinely had been testing at up to two years above their grade level, were involved in swim team and other activities and events outside their home and had taken leadership roles in history club events.” It sounds like they have been anti-social to me, not!

According to L.M. Rudner, he discovered that nearly 25% of homeschooled students were enrolled one or more grades above those of the same age enrolled in traditional schools. Even with a conservative analysis of the data, the achievement levels of the home school students in the study were exceptional. By the time home school students are in 8th grade, they are typically four years ahead of their public/private school counterparts.

Cloud also discovered that homeschoolers also did quite well in 1998 on the ACT and SAT college entrance examinations: “They had an average ACT composite score of 22.8, which is .38 standard deviations above the national ACT average of 21.0. This places the average home school student in the 65th percentile of all ACT test takers. The average SAT score for homeschoolers in 2000 was 1100, compared with 1019 for the general population”

Another argument in favor of homeschooling is that most children learn at different paces. A child who is a quick study can easily become bored by the lesson plan that accounts for the rest of the classroom in the student body. This boredom can be perceived as manifestations of behavioral issues and children who really do not need to be on medications end up on them. My friend Rachel homeschools her children for this very reason. Ethan was reading well ahead of all other children his age. His speed of learning would have resulted in his boredom and so she decided it best to educate him from home, where he has subsequently excelled in academics.

Personally, I feel a very strong need as a parent to protect and shelter my children from influences that I find contrary to our belief and value systems. I realize that as they grow and mature, they will have to come face to face with questionable situations. It is my hope, however, that, by sheltering them or, at the very least, educating them that they will be better equipped to function properly when confronted with the situation.

According to Dr. Gordon Neufeld, a leading developmental psychologist, “traditional schooled peer interaction has become more of a problem than an asset. Instead of peer interaction facilitating the process of socialization, it is now more likely to lead to the premature replacement of adults by peers in the life of a child. Such children become peer-oriented rather than adult-oriented and are more difficult to parent and teach. Furthermore, peer-oriented children fail to mature psychologically and their integration into adult society is compromised” (Neufeld). A parent who is truly interested in his child's education and not just kicking against the system, can easily find ways to give his child the socialization skills that will make him a better member of society.

In 1992, Stough’s research looked particularly at socialization, comparing 30 home-schooling families and 32 conventionally schooling families, families with children 7-14 years of age.

The researcher found no difference in the self-concept of children in the two groups. “According to the findings, children who were schooled at home ‘gained the necessary skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to function in society...at a rate similar to that of conventionally schooled children.’ Stough maintains that ‘insofar as self-concept is a reflector of socialization, it would appear that few home-schooled children are socially deprived, and that there may be sufficient evidence to indicate that some home-schooled children have a higher self concept than conventionally schooled children”

Taylor, in 1987, did a similar study employing what many consider today as being “the most validated self-concept scales available” (Taylor). Taylor randomly sampled 45,000 home-schooled children and found “that half of these children scored at or above the 91st percentile—47% higher than the average, conventionally schooled child” (Taylor). His conclusion? “Since self concept is considered to be a basic dynamic of positive sociability, this answers the often heard skepticism suggesting that homeschoolers are inferior in socialization”

Homeschooled children have most all of the same socialization opportunities available to the traditionally schooled child and perhaps with a lot less peer pressure. Home economics is a class taught by schools, which would seemingly not be necessary for the homeschooled student since they spend the largest portion of their day with the mother at home (usually). Communities often have sports opportunities available through parks departments. Clubs abound, and some include Boy/Girl Scouts of America, Explorers, Civil Air Patrol, ROTC, 4-H, community choruses and bands, etc. Many communities have various different homeschooling associations and plan field trips and play dates.

Webb, who is one of only a few researchers to have examined aspects of the adult lives of homeschooled people “found that all who had attempted higher education were successful and that their socialization was often better than that of their schooled peers”

Colleges are beginning to seek out homeschoolers. One such school is Kennesaw State University in Georgia (Cloud). Smith and Skikkink discovered that “parents who homeschool their children are more likely to vote, contribute money to political causes, contact elected officials about their views, attend public meetings or rallies, or join community and volunteer associations” (Smith, Christian, and Sikkink).

Homeschooling no longer holds the social stigma it once did. All of the evidence overwhelmingly proves that homeschooled children not only excel, but also do so exponentially. If we are to believe the data, than it is no longer feasible to argue that children who are homeschooled are socially inept.

So, I've demonstrated via the scientific research that has been done, that in fact colleges seek out homeschooled students. That students who are homeschooled excel exponentially in every category including socialization and we've determined that the kids in this particular case are doing exceptionally as well.

That makes it very clear then that this is really an attack on the mother and homeschooling and religion by a renegade judge. The father, who is responsible for breaking up this family because of his extramarital affair, has even stated that the kids are doing superior. Despite all of the judges reasoning and the evidence to the contrary, this judge has acted against the will of the mother and her best judgment for the children and removed her rights. A mother the judge, himself, has said Ms. Mills had done a good job [in homeschooling]," he said. "It was great for them to have that access, and [I had] no problems with homeschooling."

Why order this mother, who everyone agrees is a good mother, to undergo a psychiatric exam? Did she commit adultery and break up this family? I would think that the one with the deviant behavior should undergo the scrutiny of mental health examinations.

Get ready people. With Obama and the Liberals at the helm, there is much more of this non-sense to come. Christian's, pro-family, pro-moral and value programs, individual liberty to live their faith out loud is going to come under fire more and more.

Guantanamo Detainees Say They Planned 9-11 Attacks

The five detainees at Guantanamo Bay charged with plotting the September 11, 2001 attacks have filed a document accepting responsibility for the deaths of nearly 3,000 people and expressing pride at their accomplishment, The New York Times reported late Monday.

The document, which the newspaper said may be released publicly on Tuesday, describes the five men as the "9/11 Shura Council," and says their actions were an offering to God, according to excerpts of the document read to a reporter by a government official, the report said.

"'To us,' the official read, 'they are not accusations. To us they are a badge of honor, which we carry with honor,'" the paper said.

The document is titled "The Islamic Response to the Government's Nine Accusations," the military judge at the U.S. Naval base said in a separate filing, obtained by the Times, that described the detainees' document.

The document was filed on behalf of the five men, including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who has called himself the mastermind of the attacks.

Some of the men had said earlier that they planned the 2001 attacks and that they wanted to be martyrs. The reason for the new filing, which the report said reached the military court on March 5, was not clear. The brief court order describing the filing said the men sought no legal action.

I'm sure that, despite their clear and concise confessions, that the Obama Administration will find a way to release these terrorists in the name of some "reward failure" policy.