Court: Lake Elsinore War Memorial Advances Religion

The proposed Lake Elsinore war memorial — which was to portray the iconic silhouette of a soldier kneeling at a cross-shaped headstone — was declared unconstitutional by US District Judge Stephen Wilson:

On Thursday (Feb. 27), U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson of California’s Central District ruled that a granite monument depicting a soldier kneeling in prayer before a cross lacked “a secular purpose” and has “the unconstitutional effect” of endorsing religion over nonreligion.

For those that can’t seem to remember, the US Constitution says this about religion:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…

Is such a stone really Congress making a law respecting establishment? Using the Lemon Test, the Judge (PDF) said:  Read more

Cross-Dressing Airmen Party at Kadena (Video)

The Stars and Stripes covered a ‘drag fundraiser’ held at Kadena Air Base, Japan:

Servicemembers here may have been the first to take to the stage and perform as drag queens on a military installation in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender troops…

Six servicemembers — gay, lesbian and straight — donned heavy makeup to dance and lip sync songs…

(The previous drag show on a military base apparently did not include military members.)  Navy Lt. Marissa Greene, who helps lead the local chapter of the homosexual advocacy OutServe-SLDN at Kadena, reported she’d hoped to sell 75 tickets — and ended up selling 400.

It is a leap to assume that all 400 people were Read more

Dayuma, Auca Who Guided Nate Saint, has Died

Dayuma was a Waodani (Auca) woman in Ecuador who helped spur the missionary outreach to her people group in the 1950s — an effort that included the world-famous martyring of five missionaries. She died March 1st. Steve Saint, whose father Nate was one of those martyred, memorialized her:

“A beautiful daughter of Christ has joined Him in Heaven today. Dayuma was the first Waodani that reached out to her own people along with Aunt Rachel. She made God’s story known to these people in a way only a Waodani could. Praise God for her life!”

The other four Read more

USAFA Gets Award for Mosaic Coaching under Rosebush

The US Air Force Academy quietly announced the USAFA Mosaic Character and Leadership Coaching Program had received the Best Practices Award from Florida State University’s Jon C. Dalton Institute on College Student Values last month.

Col. Joseph Sanders, director of the Academy’s Center for Character and Leadership Development program [said] “Mosaic coaching has become one of the primary methods that cadets in the squadron can strengthen their commitments to each other and the Air Force’s values, through a professional coaching intervention that is committed to respecting the worth of the individual.”

The notable thing is that Dr. Mike Rosebush — not mentioned in the article — is credited with much of the work behind the “design and execution” of the MOSAIC program. That’s the same Dr. Rosebush that a few critics tried to get fired because he previously Read more

Budget Proposal: Air Force to Retire A-10s, U-2s

The controversial DoD budget proposal that has been in the news for the past few weeks contains two specific items for the US Air Force — the end (again) for the A-10 Thunderbolt II (“Warthog”), and the U-2 Dragon Lady.

The former is supposed to be replaced by the F-35; the latter, by the unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk.

The A-10 has been on and off the chopping block for decades — most recently preserved by the very intentional efforts of a single Senator, who now calls this decision a “serious mistake.”

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USAFA Investigating Mass Cheating Allegation

The US Air Force Academy announced it was investigating a mass cheating incident involving 40 cadets (of 500 in the course):

The Air Force’s Academy identified approximately 40 of its 500 fourth class cadets (freshmen) enrolled in Chemistry 100 (a core freshman course) for suspected Honor Code violations. Portions of a lab report assignment were allegedly copied and not documented either from previous semester reports or current student reports; this assignment is worth 50 of 3000 points.

The timing of the potential scandal is poor, given the spate of other ethical failures occurring in the active duty military right now.  It will certainly give rise to some interesting discussions in the coming days, however.

(Earlier reports implicated 11 cadets.)

Also at the Colorado Springs Gazette and Air Force Times.

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Military Chaplains Support Marriages across Distance

Chaplains deployed to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, started a program that would enable real-time, live counseling to occur between deployed servicemembers and their families back home:

“We are using technology to reduce the many miles which divide service members from their loved ones,” [Chaplain (Maj) James Buckman] said. “Before this program, when a marriage was going through a hardship we would usually hear one side of the story. Now we can listen to both parties and help counsel both individuals. We are not only the service member’s chaplain, we are the chaplain of the family member as well.”

Read more

Mike Farrell Gets Standing Ovation at USAFA

Of the dozens of speakers who addressed the National Character and Leadership Symposium at the US Air Force Academy last week, the local Colorado Springs Gazette highlighted just one: former MASH star Mike Farrell (previously discussed).

Actor and activist Mike Farrell said he gave his usual, well-honed speech.

He focused on human dignity, derided the death penalty and the Iraq war, and described American tactics against alleged terrorists as “drone murder.”

…the audience that gave him a standing ovation…  Read more

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