The Peaceful Gnome

The LCMS handed over $25,000.00 to these jokers while claiming the Christ Centered Cross Focused ministry of Issues Etc. had to be thrown into the rubbish bin. It doesn't get much more offensive than this! Why in the (a)BLAZES are these BAPTISTS pretending to be Lutherans at all? Especially LCMS, which was supposed to be confessional Lutherans, I thought? We have been hijacked by a pack of non-Lutherans and it's time to act I'd say, but then I'm just a layman so what do I know?

Mike Horton of the White Horse Inn has just done a special interview with the Mollie Ziegler Hemingway former member of the Board of Communication Services and author of the Wall Street Journal article that broke yesterday.

Google has a very cool page set up where you can track a number of blogs, I am using it at the moment to read the dozen or so Confessional Lutheran blogs I like to follow to keep up with what it going on in the LCMS. I tried subscribing to my own blog just to see what happens and the result is that, nothing happens, they say I have no items to display. Ah well, maybe I've got some obscure setting wrong. I fiddle with it later. In the meantime if you like to read several blogs it's nice to have a single spot to go to and look at them all. Check out Google Reader . I might "restart" this blog to make it work with readers, seems my "feed" is all messed up due to me not knowing what I'm doing and probably messing it up beyond all hope. ;-/

Deception and lies don't belong in a Christian organization, but here we are... Check out Save the LCMS! blog to keep updated, and this story in particular. This graph is from the story , the blue section is Issues Etc. downloads, the almost invisible yellow section is all of the other downloads combined! Even worse is the fact that downloads via iTunes for the podcast are not listed here! That is how I listened to the program by the way so my downloads are not on this graph at all. Also be sure to check out the Wall Street Journal article on the story, they got it right!

Update RE Appellate Court Ruling - 3/27/08 HSC has received word that the 2nd appellate court will be re-hearing the case that would have made it illegal to homeschool without a teaching credential. We understand a new hearing will be held in June. HSC's pro bono counsel, as well as pro bono counsel for several other inclusive California homeschooling groups, will be seeking approval to file amicus briefs in this matter. This is standard court procedure to ensure that the court only has to deal with briefs from counsel representing groups with a large enough interest in the case. Since the court's prior opinion was vacated when the court granted the rehearing, meaning it has no legal effect, you should keep homeschooling as you have been. It will be months before we will see another ruling in this case, but we will keep you updated.

Cool, for once I've found some honesty in advertising, I found this in the latest Smithsonian Magazine, it's what DC is all about after all. Worshiping at the false god's temple...

This heresy is taking over the LCMS, yuck. http://crosebrough.typepad.com/lcms_purpose_driven_take_/2008/03/is-the-lcms-bei.html http://revcwirla.blogspot.com/2008/03/pastoral-letter-to-my-congregation.html

In the interest of protecting homeschooling freedom in California, HSC has been working with other support organizations. Together we have issued the following statement. JOINT STATEMENT REGARDING HOMESCHOOLING IN CALIFORNIA The following organizations, California Homeschool Network, Christian Home Educators Association of California, Private and Home Educators of California and HomeSchool Association of California, represent the major California-based organizations working on a statewide basis to support private homeschooling. They, together with the Home School Legal Defense Association, which also works in California to support private homeschooling and which has members in California, jointly issue the following statement: 1. We are united in the goal of protecting the right of parents to teach their children privately at home without additional governmental interference. 2. We believe that children deserve to learn in the environment that best meets their individual needs. We supp...

My partner, Pat, is going in for surgery this week, as a result I'm working two six day weeks in a row, Monday - Saturday with Sunday's off. I anticipate sparse blog posting during this period.

It got late fast yesterday so I didn't get my photos posted up, click here to see photos from Serenity's birthday parties, the first set with the grown ups was on Thursday with Lora's friends, the second set with the little kids is with Serenity's friends. I didn't have the camera on park day on Thursday when she had another semi-party with the park day kids. Enjoy!

No posts the last couple of days because of Serenity's 3 day long birthday celebration :-) More photos to follow late Sunday, but here's a taste, Serenity and her good friend Kaley as they arrived for Serenity's birthday party today from Kaley's house where Serenity spent the night:

I sent a rather angry letter to the synod president, it was ignored there and it made its way to David Strand, the layman who is apparently in charge of the idiot brigade in charge of ruining the proclamation of the gospel via KFUO. Here is my letter to him: What is * this * drivel? "For programmatic and business reasons, the decision was made this week to discontinue the "Issues, Etc." program on KFUO-AM. We look forward to bringing you new programming in this time slot in the near future. Also, we thank "Issues" host Rev. Todd Wilken and producer Mr. Jeff Schwarz for their years of service on behalf of the station. Those interested may still download past "Issues, Program Etc." programs from the "Issues" archive on this website. Thank you sincerely for your continued support of KFUO's radio ministry." SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! This means NOTHING! These words say NOTHING! Tell us the truth! Tell us the REAL reasons! I am ...

When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD. Proverbs 19:3 Yep, whenever I mess up I tend to get angry with the Lord, foolish me.

There used to be a show called Issues Etc. on KFUO AM, they had a podcast each weekend I listened to, it was a confessional and conservative voice that I really learned a lot from. Sadly, for unknown reasons, reasons that the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod has thus far refused to disclose, they have, without warning or notice canceled the show, pulled all of the archives and destroyed the Issues Etc. web site as well. While I know that I am supposed to put the best construction on these things I find myself unable to find any possible construction that doesn't sound negative. In fact the BEST I can come up with, the very best construction for this action, is that the people running the LCMS are idiots. All of the other explanations involve duplicity and a deliberate attempt to drive away confessional Lutheran voices from the LCMS. I anticipate this new LCMS advertising campaign in the near future: "Come worship with us, we have toe tapping music and are just like ever...

Someone posted this on a mailing list I am on, it explains just how rare and how early this Easter really is: Yep, Easter is VERY early this year! Here's why: As you may know, Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar. Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) but that is pretty rare.This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here's the facts: The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for...

Marylee Shrider: Stop telling home-schoolers to chill out By MARYLEE SHRIDER, Californian columnist e-mail: mshrdier@bakersfield.com | Friday, Mar 14 2008 5:46 PM Last Updated: Friday, Mar 14 2008 5:43 PM If I read one more op-ed telling California’s home school parents to calm down and chill out, I may throw up. Related Stories: Marylee Shrider: Let us teach our kids at home Calif. school chief backs parents' right to home school Court: Credential needed to home school For the record, home school parents aren’t panicked. They’re furious. And they should be. I generally don’t tackle the same topic two Saturdays in a row, but my inbox was on fire this week with moms and dads furious over a California Court of Appeal ruling that parents have no legal right to home school their kids. As it turns out, California’s home schoolers have friends in high places. Citing the “long and ...

I'm a grandfather who helps his daughter homeschool a wonderful little girl, I can vouch that, despite societal stereotypes of right-wing religious zealots, home schoolers are an exceptionally diverse group of people. Our reasons for homeschooling are equally diverse. The one thing that we all have in common is a deep love for our children and an environment that allows our children to flourish and grow into high-quality, literate, socially responsible and productive adults. One of the key reasons that home schooling is so successful is that we are largely unregulated. Our children have the ability to learn at their own pace, in a very flexible environment. Each family's needs are different. My granddaughter was failing in a traditional public school. Some home schooling families have children with "special" needs. We have all found that a one-size fits all approach fails our children. In this regard, a one-size fits all approach to standardizing and "testing...

March 14, 1:59 pm, is really when to celebrate π (Pi) day. It's also Albert Einstein 's birthday! How cool is that? We celebrated it today at our Tri-Valley Explorers homeschool park day, a day early but it was fun anyway :-) I forgot my camera, again, but Jenny kindly emailed this group shot of the kids to me. (She has more photos here .) Serenity is second from the left in the front on her knees. The colored paper chain circle represents 300 digits of π , each color was connected with a digit from 0-9 and each kid and most adults there did at least a 10 number sequence. We also had "round" food which turned out to be mostly cakes, cookies and crackers :-) Early in the morning, on our way to Serenity's gymnastics class it was sort of dark and wet out, misty enough that I had my windshield wipers on most of the way there, but as you can see above it cleared off and was nice and warm by noon. There is a bunch of very cool π stuff here. Finally, there is on...

Here is a place where, if you live in California, you can show support for homeschooling in a really helpful way. Go to http://www.supporthomeschools.org/ and sign your name. The numbers will be used to show how many people support homeschooling.

Well, we've been given a 60 day notice to vacate by our landlord because she has a relative she is going to let use the place, ah well it was a nice place for the last 2 years. So we are looking for new place to live, many are available, we'll be fine I'm sure. Wish us luck as we look for a place for 3 adults, one child a dog a cat and three fish. The one good thing is that no matter where in the area we land Serenity will not need to change schools since her school travels with us :-)

This news has come in to HSC and CHN . Leslie Buchanan, president of the HSC Board said to feel free to post it: "SACRAMENTO - State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell announced today that the California Department of Education has completed a legal review of the February 28 California Court of Appeal ruling regarding home schooling. O'Connell issued the following statement: "I have reviewed this case, and I want to assure parents that chose to home school that California Department of Education policy will not change in any way as a result of this ruling. Parents still have the right to home school in our state. "Every child in our state has a legal right to get an education, and I want every child to get an education that will prepare them for success in college and the world of work in the challenging global economy. "As the head of California's public school system, I hope that every parent would want to send their children to publ...

All of the State Homeschooling organizations are backing this resolution and urge all California residents to call or write to their Assembly member urging them to support it. I have written to my Assembly member, Mary Hayashi, already. BILL NUMBER: ACR 115 INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Anderson MARCH 10, 2008 Relative to home schooling. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST ACR 115, as introduced, Anderson. Home schooling. This measure would acknowledge the long and rich history of private home schooling in California and call upon the California Supreme Court to reverse the opinion of the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District in Los Angeles in the case of In re Rachel L. that home schooling without a teaching credential is not legal. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, Some 30 years of experience with the modern home schooling movement in California demonstrates that home-school graduates take up responsible positions as parents, as students i...

First, from the SF Gate/Chronicle web site we have an editorial, very well written in support of homeschooling: Children's Right to Homeschooling Attacked Imagine the outrage that would result if someone in the California Legislature introduced a bill mandating that our credentialed public schoolteachers must come from the bottom quartile of their college classes. And yet, studies have shown that on the average, that is the case. On Feb. 28, a California appellate court ruled that California parents may not homeschool their children unless those parents are credentialed teachers. What planet are those judges coming from? Why would they think a California teaching credential is a sign of knowledge and teaching ability? Read more . Then one from CNN yesterday, you have to scroll down a ways to get to the part about homeschooling, GLENN BECK Governor Spitzer Linked to Prostitution Ring; Bill Clinton Stock Deal Questioned; California Coming Down on Homeschooling Parents; Harvard Res...

My sister sent me a note about a HSLDA petition, here is my reply: Kari wrote: > > Are you aware of this petition? > > My daughter and her husband are planning to home-school their children. > They are not satisfied with the education system of today. There is a > movement pending in California making home-schooling illegal. Debbie > has the education to get her credentials but she won't because of the > methods used today. A lot of people home-school for religious reasons. > Although it could be abused, it is mostly a very good thing. Her > children are very intelligent. Just go to _http://www.Hslda.org_ > and sign the petition. They ask for your name > and address, but won't use it for any sharing. They just need to make > sure you are real people, not just someone providing fictitious names. > Thanks, > Yes I'm aware of it. However, the group I am affiliated with, The HomeSchool Association of California , doesn...

I thought they weren't finished with this thing yet, but they were going to leave it like this! Way to go Scott Haggerty! Don't let them disrespect Dublin. Supe tells BART to paint 'hideous' new garage The grand opening of BART's $42 million parking garage at the Dublin-Pleasanton Station has been put on hold after Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty went ballistic over the gray slab's "hideous" looks and demanded a $500,000 paint job to pretty it up. Or else. Haggerty, who also sits on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, has branded the seven-story garage "the tower of torture." He is so furious at the colorless colossus that's gone up in his district that he has threatened to vote against BART's $30 million plan for new trains unless the hulk gets a makeover. Read more.

Here is a page with an interview with Debbie Schwarzer , The HomeSchool Association of California Legal Team Co-chair, can be found on Homes Education Magazine's web site , along with a plethora of useful links to information on other sites.

Well, at least we have the Governator on our side! Gov.: Overturn Calif. home-school ruling Published: March 7, 2008 at 2:20 PM SACRAMENTO, March 7 (UPI) -- California's governor wants to see a court ruling tightening the rules for home schooling overturned. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a statement Friday calling this week's ruling requiring home-school instructors to hold valid teaching credentials "outrageous" and called for it to either be overturned in the court system or changed through the legislative process. "Every California child deserves a quality education and parents should have the right to decide what's best for their children," Schwarzenegger said. "Parents should not be penalized for acting in the best interests of their children's education." California's 2nd District Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that home-schooling was not a guaranteed constitutiona...

OK, so the Angry Gnome has been venting all sorts of venom the last couple of days, you may be shocked to know that there is actually a way of saying the same thing without sounding like a shrill loony like me :-) A post from Debbie Schwarzer The HomeSchool Association of California Legal Team Co-chair: I have been astonished about the hype about this case. So many have been making sensational claims that parents will be criminally prosecuted, etc. Please rest assured about a number of things. First, the law, other than this court's interpretation, hasn't changed. Parents involved in a truancy prosecution might face criminal charges, but only after a rather lengthy series of hearings and court orders, and only if the parents failed to comply with the orders. It would be a criminal contempt charge, which isn't nothing but doesn't land you in Pelican Bay. We have never known conscientious parents ever to be prosecuted under truancy laws to the point of contempt char...

I have long maintained that instead of calling the government schools, "schools" we ought to be calling them "Government Indoctrination Camps". This recent decision makes that point more openly than ever, the judge and the lawyers who brought the case both make the point that government schools are NOT about education at all. Note these quotes from a story in the San Francisco Chronicle : 1. From the senile idiot Justice H. Walter Croskey himself: "A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare," the judge wrote, quoting from a 1961 case on a similar issue. Of course this is exactly the reason I do NOT want my granddaughter to go to the government indoctrination camps, and will not allow her to, ever! This ruling actually makes it far less likely Serenity will ever set foot in one of those places again. 2. Fro...

I just saw this on a mail list, an alternate version of Pink Floyd's "The Wall" ------------- We don't need no legislation. We don't need no gov control. No dark sarcasm in the courtroom. Judges leave our kids alone. Hey, Arnold, leave those kids alone! All in all it's just another brick in the law. All in all you're just another brick in the law. Cool :-)

"The Media" is at it again. You know "The Media", those are the giant, corporate owned, which means state owned here in Amerika of course, directors of public opinion like major newspapers, TV and radio outlets. They are all owned by a very small clutch of giant corporations so they all spew pretty much identical vomitus out at us each and every day of the week. There is no point in changing the channel on your TV when looking at the news the same items with identical spin will be on them all, same with major corporate newspapers. My bias and disgust toward "The Media" having been made clear, here is a severely distorted LA Times story about a recent legal decision about home schooling in California, note in the first part where it mentions "waves of fear". That is simply not true. Waves of annoyance and anger yes, but not fear. I'm on a number of Home School email lists and fear is not the predominant theme right now. Home schoolers a...

Now here is a really cool idea: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Voters in two Vermont towns on Tuesday approved a measure that would instruct police to arrest President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for "crimes against our Constitution," local media reported. The nonbinding, symbolic measure, passed in Brattleboro and Marlboro in a state known for taking liberal positions on national issues, instructs town police to "extradite them to other authorities that may reasonably contend to prosecute them." Read More.

So this morning on my way into work there was a long haired bearded dude wearing scruffy clothes, sitting at the bottom of the Embarcadero Station escalator cranking on some weird musical instrument and making a wonderful noise that had beat and background drone and a certain fun twang to it. I had no idea what it was but I liked it so I walked over and chatted with him about it. Turns out it was a Hurdy Gurdy! Which brought back memories of an old song from the 60's that I initially remembered as a Beatles song but when I looked it up it turns out it was Donovan. Here is a video of the Donovan song and here is a clip of a Hurdy Gurdy being played. Cool stuff for the Monday morning commute. I gave the Hurdy Gurdy man a buck and stayed to listen for a while.

Yesterday Serenity and I went up to Rock City on Mt. Diablo, we had a blast! Go here to see some more photos of the rock climbing kid!

Yesterday afternoon Serenity Lora and I went up to Laurel Creek Park in Pleasanton to participate in the Acorn Project with several other families from Tri-Valley Explorers and Pleasanton Naturalist Eric Nicholas. It was a sunny, somewhat cool, February day, the breeze was brisk up on the ridge. Serenity, Lora and I planted about 30 acorns on the hill. A wild guess would be that close to 200 acorns were planted by our group. We encountered a huge Jerusalem Cricket (aka: as we called them when I was growing up in Novato, "Potato Bug") while clearing a spot to dig a hole to plant an acorn in the foot tall green grass. I just about jumped out of my skin when I saw it! They are huge and really ugly... We are looking forward to Arbor Day when there will be more Acorn Project work to do: Arbor Day All ages Interested in planting a forest? Join Program Naturalist, Eric Nicholas for the 1st annual Pleasanton Arbor Day Event! You can be a factor of change in the world we a...

On February 20th I posted about the court ordered, but utterly ineffectual, closure of Wikileaks by a foolish federal judge. That judge has now reversed himself and I guess I'd have to say he's no longer a total idiot :-) S.F. judge dissolves his Wikileaks injunction Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer Saturday, March 1, 2008 (02-29) 17:35 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge in San Francisco who had ordered the shutdown of a whistle-blowers' Web site where private bank documents were posted changed his mind Friday, conceding his original ruling might not have been constitutional. Read more.