400-408 – • Baltimore Sun (10/20/2010) Drug-sniffing dogs are now for hire. Catering to concerned parents, nonprofit uses canines to ferret out marijuana and other contraband. Where do you draw the line on a minor child's right to privacy? Have you had to deal with your kids doing drugs? Would this have deterred you back in high school? Would this be an effective deterrent in your own home? Those of you who work with this issue, school counselors, rehab people, intervention specialists, law enforcement, etc., what's your advice to parents? Those of you with drug experience, would you use a drug dog on your own kids, including their clothes and their car? Teachers, do you want these dogs at your school? If your church made this service available for free, would you use it? Do your minor teenagers have "private property" that you can not look at, such as cell phones, texts, computers, drawers, clothing, diaries, etc.?
LAUSD has their own drug-sniffing dogs, and random drug testing.
• NBC (10/21/2010) Drug-Sniffing Dogs Go to School: Palm Springs' school administrators take stand in drug fight.
413-423 – Calls
428-437 – Jeff Angeli, co-owner with Raul Perez of ABET Security Services in West Covina (Office 626-839-2990, Cell: 626-255-2675, abetsec.com).
(2:17) • YouTube, Sniff Dogs on ABC World News Tonight (10/22/2008). The Sniff Dogs can detect a single marijuana seed from 15 feet away, and marijuana residue on clothing for up to 48 hours.
443-452 – Calls
458-508 – Calls
512-523 – Calls
528-539 – Calls
544-554 – Calls
558-608 – Calls
612-623 – Calls
628-639 – Calls
644-656 – Calls
• Mercury News (10/24/2010) Jerry Brown visits black churches in LA. The churches listed in the story are: Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Compton, Los Angeles' Holman United Methodist Church, and First African Methodist Episcopal Church. Brown was joined along the way by other Democratic candidates, such as San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who is running for lieutenant governor and San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, who hopes to be the next state attorney general.
• The Pledge of Allegiance was first written in 1892 for a magazine contest, and it read: "I Pledge Allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands; one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." The Pledge became part of the US Flag Code in 1942, and in 1954 President Eisenhower and Congress added the phrase "under God" into the Pledge.
What does it mean to be a "nation under God?" Are you in a family that is "under God"? Are you leading a life that is "under God?"
(:35) Minnesota Democrat, Betty McCollum intentionally leaves out the phrase "under God" after she had volunteered to recite it back on 4/17/2002. Story and video are here.
(:05) McCollum short.
• HotAir (10/25/2010) Video: Congresswoman omits "under God" on House floor while leading Pledge of Allegiance.
Aaaaaand it's not just any Congresswoman, but Minnesota's own Betty McCollum, who's defending the seat against a strong challenge from Republican Teresa Collett in the 4th CD this year. Normally, I'd let this slide, but in this case McCollum wanted to lead the chamber in saying the Pledge of Allegiance. If she objects to the "under God" portion of the pledge, then why volunteer for the job? But this is from quite a while ago as well.
This took place on April 17, 2002, according to C-SPAN's archives, which makes it fair game but not as trenchant as if it had occurred in this session of Congress. A voter in McCollum's district dug up the incident, thanks again to C-SPAN's searchable library. I'm not sure I've heard of this being an issue in McCollum's earlier races, but then again, she hasn't found herself in a competitive race in any of her re-election campaigns. The closest race she had was a 58-33 squeaker over Patrice Bataglia in 2004.
• ProCon.com (5/6/2009) Top 10 Pros and Cons: Should the words "under God" be in the US Pledge of Allegiance?
Proponents of including "under God" in the Pledge argue that the US is a Christian nation, at least 80% of Americans support the phrase, the language reflects America's civic culture and is not a religious statement, and federal law, state constitutions, currency, and the presidential oath already contain references to God.
Opponents contend that church and state should be kept strictly separate as the Founding Fathers intended. They argue that the Constitution protects minority rights against majority will, and that the words "under God" in the Pledge are a religious phrase and thus violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
