PUBLIC MARKS from jasontromm with tag news

Dodge ball is out. Too aggressive. Ropes courses are out. Too much liability. And don't even think about proposing a gun club at your child's school these days. But when the principal of Spokane's Washington's Adams Elementary School banned the playing of tag by students on the playground, at least one 3rd-grader had enough.

They are the Pentagon's new "rules of engagement" — the diamond ring kind. U.S. Army chaplains are trying to teach troops how to pick the right spouse, through a program called "How To Avoid Marrying a Jerk."

Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided, but not because the Supreme Court presumed to legalize abortion rather than ban it. Roe was wrongly decided because abortion simply is not a constitutional issue. There is not a word in the text of that document, nor in any of its amendments, that conceivably addresses abortion. There is no serious argument based on the text of the Constitution itself that a federal "right to abortion" exists. The federalization of abortion law is based not on constitutional principles, but rather on a social and political construct created out of thin air by the Roe court.

But reporters still ignore free market advocates who predicted it. Media coverage of problems facing the new Medicare prescription drug plan focused on elderly patients left in the lurch by bureaucracy, producing what CBS’s Bill Plante called a “political headache” for the Bush administration. But in the Jan. 16 reports on the “Evening News” and “World News Tonight,” both networks ignored conservative critics who had argued the plan was doomed to fail because it was a typical big government solution that ignored the free market.

Another candidate has announced his intent to run for education superintendent. Columbia high school teacher Tim Moultrie said he plans to file paperwork with the state Ethics Commission. Moultrie said he will run as a Libertarian

Ranked by the editors of Human Events. (Republicans In Name Only)

President Bush and many lawmakers have announced they are refunding or giving to charity some or all of the donations they or their political action committees received from once-powerful lobbyist Jack Abramoff, his associates or clients.

Look at this Abramoff investigation. Already the media are treating it as a Republican scandal, almost exclusively. Well, the fact is that we know that both Dingy Harry and Helmet Head, Byron Dorgan, may have problems. Reid is the Senate Democrat leader. But they're reporting it this way because they want it to be a Republican scandal. Some news reports are even saying Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. We know for a fact he spread money around to both parties.

Another year gone by. Three hundred and sixty-five days -- yet it seemed like a scant 52 weeks. Perhaps it was that extra second added on Jan. 1; threw everyone's internal clocks off. But before the year yields to its inevitable successor, let us look back at the notable moments of 2006. Yes, 2006. Tomorrow's news, today!

Wow, what a year! It seems just yesterday that Sandy "Burglar" Berger had found a novel way to preserve classified documents by pickling them in his pants and socks. But alas, those were the good ol' days of 2004. Thankfully, we have a fresh batch of classic comic events from 2005, so let's get right to it.

The Media Research Center’s annual awards issue, a compilation of the most outrageous and/or humorous news media quotes from 2005 (December 2004 through November 2005). To determine this year’s winners, a panel of 52 radio talk show hosts, magazine editors, columnists, editorial writers and media observers each selected their choices for the first, second and third best quote from a slate of six to nine quotes in each category.

It turns out that looking at the aggregation of billions of search queries people type into Google reveals something about our curiosity, our thirst for news, and perhaps even our desires. Considering all that has occurred in 2005, we thought it would be interesting to study just a few of the significant events, and names that make this a memorable year. (We’ll leave it to the historians to determine which ones are lasting and which ephemeral.) We hope you enjoy this selective view of our collective year.

Just who is responsible for the problems with America's health care delivery system?

"Dean's take on Iraq makes even less sense than the scream in Iowa: Both are uninformed and unhelpful," Jim Marshall, a Democratic congressman from Georgia, told the Post.

A Christian attorney says recent acts of censorship indicate Christmas is under attack in public schools across the United States. One Ohio high school principal, for example, recently renamed the school's Christmas tree and concert a "holiday tree" and a "holiday concert." Similarly, a Missouri school superintendent informed fine arts teachers in his district that an upcoming winter assembly may not include "direct references to Christmas or the birth of Jesus," and a Wisconsin school district has banned all Christian Christmas songs.

A Christmas tree in the Purdue Memorial Union's Great Hall is being called the "Union tree," a name some think is more inclusive of all holiday celebrations but others think is silly. It's the second time the tree's name has caused a stir. Last year, the Purdue Student Union Board, which oversees the installation of the tree, asked that it be referred to simply as a "holiday" tree.

Yep, despite the political correctness of happy holidays and other bizarre things, The Blog Herald’s Christmas Awards return for another year.

Drivers would have to say they don't want their organs donated if they die under a bill filed by a Myrtle Beach senator becomes law.

Fatter derrieres are causing many drug injections to miss their mark, requiring longer needles to reach buttock muscle, researchers said on Monday.

In continuing with the social media “hacks” series (RSS, Technorati, blogging and Wikipedia), here are ten hacks that work with Bloglines, the most popular RSS news reader.

The great news is that the Disney movie version of "The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe" is not only very entertaining, but retains the deeper truth and essence of C.S. Lewis' great novel, the first in his great seven-part Chronicles of Narnia redemptive fantasy series. Just 11 hours after the final edits, the Director's Guild audience thrilled to the exciting motion picture, adapted beautifully from the novel that almost 100 million people have read and loved. Neither the fans of the book, nor the fans of the story behind the story, will be disappointed.

Mary Mapes, the producer fired from CBS News for her role in the 60 Minutes story about President Bush’s National Guard service, has written a book to explain her side of the story. On today’s Good Morning America she talked to ABC’s Brian Ross about that book and the forged documents used in the Bush story.

A just-released political survey by George Washington University contains bad news for Democrats and Republicans because it lays bare a public seemingly disenfranchised with both major parties.

This is your complete source for Narnia movie news. Walden Media and Walt Disney Pictures will release The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on December 9, 2005. If this is your first time to hear about the movie, we've prepared a FAQ page for quick information about the film. Be sure to sign up for NarniaWeb Updates so you can stay up-to-date with all the latest Narnia Movie News!

A would-be carjacker got a different kind of jolt from his intended victim's morning cup of coffee, authorities said.