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A group called “Americans United for Separation of Church and State” is suing the city of Greece, New York because they don’t like the prayer they have before city council meetings.

In the lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, Americans United for Separation of Church and State claims the Greece Town Board is flouting the First Amendment by opening public sessions with explicitly Christian prayers.

“This lawsuit strikes at the heart of our Constitution, which requires government to refrain from preferring any religion over others,” said Ayesha N. Khan, legal director for Americans United in Washington, D.C. “That’s particularly important with legislative bodies, which are charged with representing all their constituents, not just those who share the majoritarian faith.” [Rochester Democrat & Chronicle]

Wrong. The lawsuit isn’t about the first amendment. It’s about trying to squash Christianity whenever possible. The first amendment says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”.

Congress hasn’t passed a law establishing Christianity to be the official religion of Greece, New York. In fact, the first amendment isn’t involved in this case in any way. Of course, there might be the issue of free speech. Suing the city to prevent them from saying a prayer… isn’t that just an attempt to force the government to stop people from exercising free speech?

What is going on here is a few people who aren’t Christian getting their panties in a bunch because they’re offended by prayer. It isn’t difficult to sit quietly for 30 seconds while there is a prayer. I know this because I am not a Christian and I sit quietly whenever Christians pray.

Clearly, what’s going on here is another attack on Christianity by a secularist group. It’s no big surprise that the ACLU has jumped on board with this also.

The ACLU got involved after some area residents who had attended board meetings complained about pre-meeting prayers that invoked Jesus Christ.

Were “some residents” forced at gunpoint to praise Jesus? Did the Mayor tell them that if they didn’t take Jesus as their personal savior they had to leave? Or are there some Christian haters out there with too much time on their hands. I suspect there are some bored people in Greece, New York who have nothing better to do than make trouble.

But then I guess I should be thankful that we live in a country where all of our other problems have been solved and these people can devote so much time and money to make sure nobody is offended by a prayer. Now that the economy is rock solid, the 9.3 trillion dollar national debt has been paid off, and no children are going to be hungry, we can get to work on making sure that a couple of people in Greece, New York have the right to stop everyone else in town from praying. Because really, that’s the important issue of the day.

Hat Tip: Rochester Conservative

A 26 Year old Iraq War veteran has won a cool million:

Wayne Leyde, who served two tours in Iraq with the Army, bought his winning Millionaire II ticket Tuesday night at a Zip Trip in Mead, about 10 miles northeast of Spokane.

Leyde said he had trouble sleeping after scraping away the gray metallic cover on one of his tickets to reveal the winning numbers.

I’m sure the lib media will spin that. I can see the headline:

Iraq War Vet Can’t Sleep, Spends Night Lying Awake

If we had the Fair Tax, he’d get every penny of that ticket’s winnings. Instead, after taxes, he might have enough to get a sixer of Rolling Rock to celebrate.

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Ricin was found in a hotel in Vegas, but the story doesn’t tell us which hotel or how much was found. They do tell us that the deadly poison probably isn’t terrorism related.

Nothing to see here…move along, move along:

Three police officers, three hotel employees and another person were taken to the hospital for testing and observation. All appeared to be in good condition, authorities said.

Ricin is made from castor beans and in proper doses can be used for cancer treatments. It attacks cells, preventing them from making necessary proteins, and an amount the size of a grain of salt can be deadly.

If “an amount the size of a grain of salt can be deadly” then you know that they found more than enough to kill some folks in that room. I mean, no one is saying, “Well we found a grain of salt sized bit of Ricin.” Most cleaning crews would probably just wipe the table and then start going through the luggage. (Just kidding…when I am out there this September for the Blog Expo, I don’t expect you’ll be going through my luggage.)

It seems to me that there is more to this story, but I also think this story will die quickly.

California is considered by the Brady Campaign to be the best state in the United States when it comes to gun control. The best in the country. Take a look for yourself.

The best state for gun control:

Police are searching for a gunman who wounded eight people at a busy South Los Angeles bus stop and trying to figure out why he opened fire into a crowd of children and adults.

Armed with a semiautomatic handgun, the man apparently was aiming at somebody but missed his target and shot others at the bus stop just after schools let out Wednesday, Lt. Ruben De La Torre said.

Good thing they have those guns under control or someone might be shot.

In fact, just Google “california+shootings ” and see how well California’s gun laws are working to control gun violence.

Hat Tip: SayUncle.

ABC has done a pretty good job of showing where a barrel of oil goes in America:

A barrel of oil contains 42 gallons of crude. During the refining process, additives increase the “refined yield” of the barrel. In the end, about 44 gallons of various products are produced from each barrel.

They have some fancy graphics and details on what is made with 42 gallons of crude.

Iowa has joined so many other states in telling its citizens they are too stupid to take care of themselves:

Today the Iowa Legislature passed House File 2212, otherwise known as the “Smokefree Air Act.” This bill takes away the rights of business owners to decide what actions can or can not take place in their business. Of course the Iowa Legislature was oblivious to that fact. Now even business owners cannot smoke on their own property. One of the arguments that were used to shove this miscarriage of law down our throats was that it was bad for bar and club employees to be around second hand smoke. My answer to this is that there are other jobs out there, if you don’t want to be around cigarette smoke find another job.

Can anyone explain to me why this is necessary? Isn’t a person smart enough to make a decision for themselves? If you go into a club, and they are smoking, then why can’t you just turn around and walk out? Or not take a job there? Or open your own smoke-free club?

This is supposed to be the land of the free, but it seems to be turning into the land of the swaddled. I don’t need the government to tell me that I should not be around second hand smoke. I can make that decision myself.

In other nanny-state news:

• Peach Pundit talks about Georgia’s fight against obesity with “the SHAPE Act.”
• Secondhand Smoke asks if we are as sick of the nanny state as he is. I know I am.
• An editorial at Courant.com sums up what most of us already think about laws governing a teenager’s behavior: “Parents: Start parenting.“