LUFKIN — A Lufkin woman received a surprise visit from the Secret Service last week because of a “death threat” comment she "supposedly" made about Sen. Barack Obama to a campaign volunteer asking for her support of the presidential candidate.
Two federal agents arrived at Jessica Hughes’ home Thursday to ask her if she said, “I will never support Obama and he will wind up dead on a hospital floor.”
Hughes said her words were deliberately twisted by a volunteer who was apparently furious that Hughes didin't support Obama during a phone conversation. The Lufkin mother, a Republican, said she received a call on her cellphone Wednesday from a woman with the Obama Volunteers of Texarkana.
“She asked if I was an Obama supporter, to which I replied, ‘No, I don’t support him. Your guy is a socialist who voted four times in the state Senate to let little babies die in hospital closets; I think you should find something better to do with your time.’ (And then) I hung up.”
Hughes is referring to a “born alive” Illinois bill that did not pass in the Illinois state Senate in 2005 and had previously been opposed by Obama.
Obama Campaign Communications for Texas director Josh Taylor declined to comment Monday, referring the matter to the Secret Service, which he said is conducting an investigation. A message left with a Secret Service agent in Houston was not immediately returned.
Hughes said she was surprised to see two Secret Service agents at her door, and upset to learn that the conversation she had with the volunteer apparently had not been recorded.
“I find it hard to believe that (campaign volunteers) don’t tape these calls. They call people unsolicited and they aren’t monitoring the calls or recording them? I think that is absolutely ridiculous,” she said. “I mean, how often must this happen - that someone is rude to a volunteer that they don’t want to talk to?”
Hughes said she wants to file a countercomplaint against the volunteer.
“She has made a charge that will follow me the rest of my life,” she said. “I find that repugnant and violating - that some person who got her undies in a bundle because she didn’t like what I had to say.”
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6043299.html
By JESSICA SAVAGE
Death: What awaits us?
October 7, 2008
October 4, 2008
OJ Simpson declared guilty on all charges: He's finally going to jail
A NV jury has declared OJ Simpson guilty on all charges, including armed robbery and kidnapping.
13 years to the day that a jury in Los Angeles acquitted OJ in the brutal knife murder of his ex wife, Nicole Brown Simpson.
13 years to the day that a jury in Los Angeles acquitted OJ in the brutal knife murder of his ex wife, Nicole Brown Simpson.
October 3, 2008
Hindu religious rites taught to public school students causes stress among critics.
Hindu religious rites taught to public school students causes stress among critics.
MASSENA, N.Y. (AP) -- A group of parents and religious leaders in upstate New York want yoga classes out of public schools, saying the instruction violates boundaries between church and state.
Two high school teachers began using yoga last year to help students relieve stress before exams. Special education teacher Martha Duchscherer and Spanish teacher Kerry Perretta also were developing a districtwide program.
But those plans were halted after parents and others in the community complained students were being indoctrinated in Hindu rites.
"We are not opposed to the benefits. We can understand the benefits. We are opposed to the philosophy behind it and that has its ties in Hinduism and the way they were presenting it," said the Rev. Colin Lucid of Calvary Baptist Church in Massena.
The program does not have ulterior motives, Julie Reagan, Massena Board of Education president, said Thursday.
"If the school board felt there was any hidden religious activity behind the motives of our two instructors, we certainly wouldn't allow that," she said. "There is absolutely none of that. The teachers are well intended and trying to offer an aspect of fitness in the classroom that relaxes and readies the children for better learning."
A hundred schools in 26 states use yoga in the classroom to relieve stress, Reagan said. Federal funds and grants are available to educators seeking yoga certification, she said.
According to a statement on the Web site of the American Yoga Association, yoga is not a religion, although its practice has been adopted by Hinduism, as well as other world religions.
There are more than 100 different schools of yoga, which seeks to bring harmony to the mind and body. The most commonly practiced type in the United States is hatha yoga, which encompasses physical movements and postures, plus breathing techniques.
"It's been a little discouraging that this program has taken on a negative tone," said Duchscherer, who has taught in the Massena district for 11 years. "The intention was never to teach religion. ... It was to introduce relaxation techniques."
But Lucid believes the voluntary program causes stress and should be offered as an after-school activity.
"People have made it a religious war, and it's not a religious war. We are basically concerned parents, saying we don't want our children participating in something that could cause them more stress and confusion," Lucid said.
Parents in Aspen, Colo., were successful in demanding the removal of yoga in the local curriculum in 2002. In Alabama, religious leaders pushed for a 1993 law prohibiting the teaching of yoga in schools, citing connections between yoga and Hindu religious training.
MASSENA, N.Y. (AP) -- A group of parents and religious leaders in upstate New York want yoga classes out of public schools, saying the instruction violates boundaries between church and state.
Two high school teachers began using yoga last year to help students relieve stress before exams. Special education teacher Martha Duchscherer and Spanish teacher Kerry Perretta also were developing a districtwide program.
But those plans were halted after parents and others in the community complained students were being indoctrinated in Hindu rites.
"We are not opposed to the benefits. We can understand the benefits. We are opposed to the philosophy behind it and that has its ties in Hinduism and the way they were presenting it," said the Rev. Colin Lucid of Calvary Baptist Church in Massena.
The program does not have ulterior motives, Julie Reagan, Massena Board of Education president, said Thursday.
"If the school board felt there was any hidden religious activity behind the motives of our two instructors, we certainly wouldn't allow that," she said. "There is absolutely none of that. The teachers are well intended and trying to offer an aspect of fitness in the classroom that relaxes and readies the children for better learning."
A hundred schools in 26 states use yoga in the classroom to relieve stress, Reagan said. Federal funds and grants are available to educators seeking yoga certification, she said.
According to a statement on the Web site of the American Yoga Association, yoga is not a religion, although its practice has been adopted by Hinduism, as well as other world religions.
There are more than 100 different schools of yoga, which seeks to bring harmony to the mind and body. The most commonly practiced type in the United States is hatha yoga, which encompasses physical movements and postures, plus breathing techniques.
"It's been a little discouraging that this program has taken on a negative tone," said Duchscherer, who has taught in the Massena district for 11 years. "The intention was never to teach religion. ... It was to introduce relaxation techniques."
But Lucid believes the voluntary program causes stress and should be offered as an after-school activity.
"People have made it a religious war, and it's not a religious war. We are basically concerned parents, saying we don't want our children participating in something that could cause them more stress and confusion," Lucid said.
Parents in Aspen, Colo., were successful in demanding the removal of yoga in the local curriculum in 2002. In Alabama, religious leaders pushed for a 1993 law prohibiting the teaching of yoga in schools, citing connections between yoga and Hindu religious training.
October 2, 2008
Homosexuality as a ‘Choice’ Not to be Judged: Sarah Palin
Homosexuality as a ‘Choice’ Not to be Judged: Sarah Palin
Katie:The governor told us though she’s not a member of any church, she visits a couple of them regularly when she’s home. She took issue with news reports that one of them, The Wasilla Bible Church, sponsored a conference where gays could be made straight through prayer.
Palin: Well, it matters though, Katie, when the media gets it wrong. It frustrates Americans who are just trying to get the facts and ... be able to make up their mind on, about a person’s values. So it does matter. But what you’re talking about, I think, value here, what my position is on homosexuality and you can pray it away, because I think that was the title that was listed on that bulletin.
And you know, I don’t know what prayers are worthy of being prayed. I don’t know what’s prayers are going to be asked and answered.
But as for homosexuality, I am not going to judge Americans and the decisions that they make in their adult personal relationships.
I have one of my absolute best friends for the last 30 years happens to be gay, and I love her dearly. And she is not my “gay friend,” she is one of my best friends, who happens to have made a choice that isn’t a choice that I have made. But I am not going to judge people."
Click here to read the rest of the interview
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