VOL. IV Issue 3V
SD Blogwatch Defunct? 'Fraid So!
The Blogging community in South Dakota lost a valuable service earlier this month. SD Blogwatch has been shut down. This was apparently a decision of the operator of the blog himself. Known only as "Watchman" and "Editor", he carried on in a courageous and dynamic pursuit for truth, wisdom and integrity. In a statement to the Holabird Advocate this afternoon he said in part, "Loved blogging about blogs but my position in the state just didn't allow me to identify myself. The anonymity thing just doesn't work with blogs and, given some of the concerns about fairness in the blogosphere-- legit concerns -- I decided after a week on the road for spring break that maybe it was time to waste my free time in other ways." It appears he is going to be gardening this spring. He further stated, "A day doesn't go by when there isn't something I want to say about the blogosphere. But I don't miss having to read Sibby daily or trying to figure out who Todd Epp wants to be this day (serious commentator or cut-up?). Besides, Jon Lauck is moving to D.C. and so I expect SDP to fall apart. God Bless You for your work." The Watchman claims that if the B.S. gets too thick, he'll come back. On that day, there will be an editorship at the Holabird Advocate waiting for him.
Federal Judges Rule Indiana's Display
of Ten Commandments Constitutional
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
of the Agape Press
A federal appeals court has upheld a display of the Ten Commandments as part of a historical exhibit in one Indiana government building. The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that officials in Elkhart, Indiana, did not violate the establishment clause of the Constitution of the United States by displaying the biblical laws in the County Administration Building (Elkhart County). That display also includes nine historical documents and symbols, along with the flags of the United States and the State of Indiana. Mat Staver is president of Liberty Counsel, the legal group that represented the county in the case. He says the ruling is significant because the Elkhart County display is identical to the Ten Commandments display at the center of a case that is now under consideration by the justices of the Supreme Court in Washington, DC. "We will notify the United States Supreme Court of the recent ruling by the Federal Court of Appeals," Staver says, "and I think this Court of Appeals decision has good rationale, good reasoning, and sound logic that could be influential in the final outcome of the Kentucky Ten Commandments case currently pending before the Supreme Court."
Publisher's Notes
by Jerry Hinkle
To begin with, I want to say how sorry I was to here that Terri Schiavo died this morning. She just ran out of miracles, I guess. Miracles on Earth anyway. Let's hope that her husband and parents can make peace and put all this unpleasantness behind them now.