Black Friday...Something for Everyone

Planned Parenthood offering Christmas gift certificates for...abortion?

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Gift certificates have become a popular holiday gift option, but a controversial new one, already has people talking. For the first time, Planned Parenthood in Indiana is offering gift certificates.

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Some Hoosiers 24-Hour News 8 talked to asked if the gift certificates could be used towards abortions. The answer is yes. But, Planned Parenthood said that's not the purpose of the gift certificates.

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Of course not.

(Curtsy to Try 2 Focus via Reasonable Progressive via Badger Blogger via Berry Laker)

Thanksgiving - What IS important?

So there's this family in West Bend who is spending Thanksgiving at Children's Hospital. Their daughter was born with trisomy 18, a rare disorder, that generally kills a child before birth. Survival is rare. Survival to 9 months is extremely rare. This little girl, Zoe, has beat survival statistics. This is a humbling Thanksgiving thought.... It was written by her Dad.

Zoe is thankful.Thankful for 250 days of grace. Thankful you've walked with her and carried her in your prayers when she couldn't go on. Thankful for doctors and nurses who believe in the pricelessness of a breath and the value of life.She's thankful for things we walk by without noticing - a shadow or a brilliant color. The incredible dexterity in our hands. Wind in trees. For things we forgot had worth. A mother's sacrifice. For a baptism. For a breath.And I think if you could ask her and if she could respond - and one day, you ask her for yourself in Heaven - you'll know Zoe right away, the shapely and tough-as-nails woman, terrible and beautiful as a goddess with a smile that makes you forget everything else - if you asked her if she knew all she had done through 250 days, she'd smile and tell you she didn't do anything at all. That God had done it in her and in you. She just fought and breathed and believed.And you were moved because you forgot life was that simple and powerful and meaningful.

Zoe's thankful you remembered.

http://batiansila.blogspot.com/2008/11/zoes-first-thanksgiving.html

Today Zoe is expected to be extubated. This is critical. (While we're thinking about turkey and mashed potatoes....)

Incredible perspective.

Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving to All...

West Bend Store ROBBED at gunpoint...

Hope this didn't ruin anyone's Thanksgiving..... Glad nobody was hurt.

An armed robber escaped with an undetermined amount of cash from the Pay Day Loan Store in West Bend late Monday afternoon, a police spokesman said.

The robber, described as a black man wearing black shoes, blue jeans and a black parka with a hood, entered the store, 1080 Gateway Court, at around 5:54 p.m., displayed a handgun, possibly a semi-automatic, and ordered an employee to open both safes, Sgt. Paul Pokorski said.

The suspect left the store with a green bank bag and the cash. The suspect in believed to have fled on foot, Pokorski said. There were no injuries. The police department continues to investigate.

SUNBURST Ski Hill OPENS - Kewaskum

Sunburst Ski Area in Kewaskum, Wisconsin has six runs open with five lifts. "The base has held up nicely; especially with these cold night time temperatures," Jim Engel, owner of Sunburst said. "Our new snowmaking system really worked well to get this many runs open so early. Conditions are fantastic."
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Sunburst has its "Progression Terrain Park" open. The Park Crew has worked hard to have lots of fun hits and rails ready.
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Snowmaking will continue with the cold weather allowing Sunburst to be 100 percent open by December 15th... weather permitting.
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Sunburst has the following hours of operation posted:
Wednesday, Thanksgiving Eve..................... 4:00PM until 9:00PM
Thursday Thanksgiving Day ......................... Closed to allow family time
Friday of Thanksgiving Weekend................. 10:00AM until 10:00PM
Saturday............................................................. 10:00AM until 10:00PM
Sunday .............................................................. 10:00AM until 9:00PM

http://www.skisunburst.com/sunburst/

Cedarburg parents battle for Open Records

The 2nd District Court of Appeals asked the state Supreme Court today to rule whether the transcript of a closed arbitration hearing involving former Cedarburg teacher Robert Zellner should be made public.


The Cedarburg School District fired Zellner for viewing pornography on his school computer. The district refused to reinstate Zellner after an arbitrator said it should do so.
A circuit court judge ruled that the transcript of that hearing was exempt from public records laws because releasing the transcript would defeat the purpose of having a closed arbitration hearing.



But a group of Cedarburg parents appealed, saying they had a right to know what information Zellner shared with the district so they could judge the appropriateness of the district's actions.

Then we read:

Under state and federal laws, the public is entitled to a wide array of information from all levels of government. In Wisconsin, the presumption is that records are available to the public unless there is a compelling reason for them to remain private. Except in very narrowly defined circumstances, the information and documents belong to everybody – and for good reason. A well-informed public is critical to the exchange of ideas that builds community strength. Just as important, residents need to have access to details that will help them make well-informed voting decisions and assist them in keeping government in line. The media has a watchdog function, but it’s a role every citizen can and should play.

Daily Tribune staff members routinely make open records requests, and they, along with members of the media from throughout the state, recently participated in a Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council audit. The audit, which involved 318 records requests in 65 of 72 counties, showed that three out of 10 requests were not filled properly, and one in 10 were ignored or denied entirely. In Adams County, for example, a sheriff’s department employee told a Daily Tribune reporter that the jail booking log was not a public record.

Clearly, under state law, it is.

To his credit, Adams County Sheriff Darrell Renner set up a meeting with staff members to review the department’s open records policy. He took the matter seriously and responded with an effort to educate – an entirely appropriate course of action.

Most public officials get it. They understand the law and will provide information upon request. Still, sometimes a reminder is needed. One of the benefits of public records audits is drawing attention to policies or behaviors of public employees that need to change.

A lack of understanding about relevant regulations certainly can be a reason a records request is denied. More concerning are government officials who openly and willingly flout open records and meeting laws. By doing so, they fail to properly serve their constituents, draw criticism and face possible lawsuits.

In this state, in this country, the records and information belong to everyone.

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Do they? It seems that's what we are told, but when you take a look at incidents such as the one above (and I'll bet there are people that would come forward in droves to affirm this), obtaining those records can take quite a bit of verbal manipulation, lawful skills, and begging. But you don't have to take MY word for it.

Rathergate II: Certification of Live Birth a Forgery?

"The media bought it. The voters bought it. And now some in Congress are resisting the idea of congressional hearings because they believe that Barack Obama's "birth certificate" has been posted online.

Not so.

What was posted was not a birth certificate, but something that resembles a "Certification of Live Birth" or COLB, which, even if authentic, does not prove "natural born" U.S. citizenship. You see, in Hawaii, a Certification of Live Birth is issued within a year of a child's birth to those who register a birth abroad or one that takes place outside a hospital.

It's Rathergate all over again with more amiss than a 1970s Selectric typewriter. But before I tell you what the experts found, let me ask you a few questions:

If you were a natural born American citizen and had it within your means to quiet all the lawsuits and questions with proof, would you do it?

If you were a natural born American citizen, would you spend thousands of dollars to fight the legal cases against you, or would you simply answer the legitimate question of whether you meet the constitutional requirements for office?

If you were a natural born American citizen, would you forge a document called a "Certification of Live Birth" and tell the public it was a real "birth certificate"?

If someone were to violate the law by manufacturing a forgery in order trick the public, would that be enough evidence for members of Congress to conduct hearings and for a court to issue an order for the critical records, including the original long-form birth certificate (signed by the doctor) to ensure that the U.S. constitutional requirements for office were not violated? After all, Congress is sworn to uphold and defend that Constitution, and the justices on the U.S. Supreme Court are "guardians" of the Constitution. That's their job, isn't it? "

MORE HERE:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=81943