Teacher omits God from Pledge of Allegiance

Jessica Andrews could not believe her eyes.
“It was like an ‘Oh my gosh’ type of feeling,” the mother of six from Aiken, South Carolina told me.
The item that caused her angst came from her daughter’s school. It was a copy of the Pledge of Allegiance. But the school’s version of the pledge was just a few words short – two to be exact.
“It didn’t have ‘under God’,” she said.
Jessica’s daughter is a fourth grader at Chukker Creek Elementary School. She said Aiken is a very religious community and they are a religious family. So you can imagine her surprise when she realized the school’s version of the pledge did not include a shout-out to the Almighty.
“It’s outrageous, to be honest,” she told me. “It seems like the government is doing everything they can to take God out of everything.”
Jessica pointed out that our forefathers believed in God – so why can’t the youngsters acknowledge we are a nation under God?
“We are so quick to change our religion to accommodate everyone else,” she said. “It seems like Christianity is getting taken out of everything.”
So how did the Almighty end up getting cut from the pledge?
I alerted the school early Tuesday morning – and by midday Principal Amy Gregory determined Jessica had a legitimate beef.
In this particular case, the omission was not the nefarious work of a godless educator. The principal said it was an honest-to-goodness mistake.
“This was a single mistake by a very embarrassed and apologetic teacher,” the principal told me in written correspondence.
“In order to assist her new students with our morning announcements, a teacher made copies of the pledge and national anthem for her class,” she told me. “She cut and pasted these from a website and in doing so, this line was omitted.”
Ah yes – the old “cut and paste” will get you every time.
“The teacher failed to proof the paper,” the principal wrote.
As we all know – the most important part of the editorial process is the proof-reading. That’s why God made copy editors. Before I go off chasing another squirrel, let’s get back to the issue at hand – the pledge.
The principal said as soon as the teacher learned her mistake, she sent a corrected version to parents – along with an apology.
“I do apologize,” the teacher wrote. “Please forgive me. I respect our country and what it was founded on.”
Principal Gregory said the boys and girls at Chukker Creek recite the pledge every day. And in case you’re wondering, she said the words ‘under God’ are included.
Jessica told me she used the incident as a life lesson for her little girl.
“I told her the government and a lot of people don’t like God,” she said. “Some people are offended by Christianity. I try to be as real with my kids about their faith as I can be. I don’t want to sugarcoat everything.”
We need more moms like Jessica Andrews. Thanks to her eagle eye she was able to facilitate change at Chukker Creek Elementary School.
We also need more educators like Principal Gregory. She acknowledged the mistake, took swift action and righted a glaring wrong.
Gold stars for everyone!

US working to verify video purportedly showing beheading of American journalist

The Obama administration was working early Wednesday to confirm whether a video released by Islamic militants purportedly showing the beheading of American journalist James Foley was authentic.
However, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press Tuesday that they believed the video showed Foley's death. A statement by Foley's mother, Diane, posted on the "Find James Foley" Facebook page requested privacy "as we mourn and cherish Jim."
"We have never been prouder of our son Jim. He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people," the message said. "We implore the kidnappers to spare the lives of the remaining hostages. Like Jim, they are innocents. They have no control over American government policy in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the world."
Earlier Tuesday, a red-eyed but gracious Diane Foley said the family would not have an immediate statement when approached at her Rochester, N.H. home by an Associated Press reporter. A priest arrived at the home several hours later.
White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the administration has seen the video. She said that if it's deemed genuine by the intelligence community, the U.S. would be "appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American journalist."
President Obama was briefed on the video Tuesday night by Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes on Air Force One, Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said.
Fox News has learned that the video, which is being taken seriously by U.S. officials, is being analyzed by a special group within the US intelligence community that specializes in media exploitation. The group, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, is believed to have other Americans in their custody.
At the end of the video, a militant shows a second man, who was identified as another American journalist, Steven Sotloff, and warns that he could be next captive killed. Sotloff was kidnapped near the Syrian-Turkish border in August 2013 and freelanced for Time, the National Interest and MediaLine.
The release of the video allegedly showing his death comes amid a U.S. airstrike campaign against Islamic State targets in Iraq. ISIS has declared an Islamic state in the territory it controls in Iraq and neighboring Syria, imposing its harsh interpretation of Islamic law.
Foley, 40, a freelance journalist, vanished in Syria in November 2012 while covering the Syrian civil war for GlobalPost. The car he was riding in was stopped by four militants in a contested battle zone that both Sunni rebel fighters and government forces were trying to control. He had not been heard from since.
The publication "mounted an extensive international investigation" for his whereabouts, with the search extending throughout the Middle East, along the Syria-Turkish border, in Lebanon, Jordan and other locations, GlobalPost wrote on its site Tuesday.
In 2011, Foley was among a small group of journalists held captive for six weeks by the government in Libya and was released after receiving a one-year suspended sentence on charges of illegally entering the country. In a May 2011 interview about his experience, he recounted watching a fellow journalist being killed in a firefight and said he would regret that day for the rest of his life. At the time, Foley said he would "would love to go back" to Libya to report on the conflict and spoke of his enduring commitment to the profession of journalism.
"Journalism is journalism," Foley said during the AP interview, which was held in GlobalPost's office in Boston. "If I had a choice to do Nashua (New Hampshire) zoning meetings or give up journalism, I'll do it. I love writing and reporting."
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists condemned what it called a "barbaric murder. The organization estimated Tuesday that about 20 journalists are missing in Syria, and has not released their nationalities. In its annual report last November, CPJ concluded that the missing journalists are either being held and threatened with death by extremists, or taken captive by gangs seeking ransom. The group's report described the widespread seizure of journalists as unprecedented and largely unreported by news organizations in the hope that keeping the kidnappings out of public view may help in the captives' release.
Marquette University, Foley's alma mater, said it was "deeply saddened" by the news of Foley's purported death. The Milwaukee university said he had a heart for social justice and used his talents to tell stories in the hopes they might make a difference.
"We extend our heartfelt prayers and wishes for healing to James' family and friends during this very difficult time," it said in a statement.
Earlier Tuesday, GlobalPost CEO and co-founder Philip Balboni in a statement asked "for your prayers for Jim and his family." AFP chairman Emmanuel Hoog said the French news agency was "horrified" by the video and called Foley "a brave, independent and impartial journalist."

Gaza truce talks break down as Israel, militants trade rocket fire

Talks being held in Cairo for a long-term Gaza cease-fire broke down Tuesday as Israel recalled its delegation hours after Palestinian militants broke an earlier truce by launching volleys of rockets.
An Israeli official told The Associated Press that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered negotiators at cease-fire talks to return home.
The Israeli military said a total of 10 rockets had fallen Tuesday, including one that damaged a coffee shop in southern Israel.
Israel responded to the rockets by launching their own airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian officials in Gaza reported more than two dozen Israeli airstrikes. At least 21 people, including 14 women and children, were wounded in a strike that hit a building housing the offices of Hamas' Al Aqsa TV station in Gaza City.
Israel's civil defense authority, the Home Front Command, ordered authorities to reopen public bomb shelters within a 25-mile range of Gaza.
The Israeli moves, coupled with the outbreak of violence, threw Egyptian efforts to arrange a long-term cease-fire into jeopardy.
The Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to journalists, said the Egyptian-hosted talks with Hamas militants are based on the "premise" that there will be no violence. The talks face a midnight deadline.
There was no immediate Egyptian comment, but a Hamas official declared the talks over.
In Cairo, the head of the Palestinian delegation, which is comprised of various factions, said no progress had been made in Tuesday's talks, but expressed hope they could still succeed.
"We gave the Egyptians our final position. We are waiting for them to come back with a response," said Azzam al-Ahmed, a close aide to President Mahmoud Abbas.
Earlier Tuesday, Israel’s military said three rockets launched from Gaza City landed in open fields near the southern city of Beersheba.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But shortly before the launch, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum hinted of more rocket fire, saying: "If Netanyahu doesn't understand ... the language of politics in Cairo, we know how to make him understand."
In a statement Tuesday, Israel’s military accused Palestinian militants of violating a cease-fire and said it maintains "both defense and striking capabilities in order to address the renewed aggression."
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev called the rocket attack “a grave and direction violation of the cease-fire.”
Wide gaps remain on key issues in the cease-fire talks, including Israel's blockade of Gaza, its demands for disarmament of Hamas and Palestinian demands for a Gaza seaport and an airport.
In an apparent attempt to pressure Hamas, Egypt said early Monday it would co-host an international fundraising conference for Gaza — but only if a deal is reached first.
That appears to play into the hands of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, which is seeking to regain a Gaza foothold, seven years after Hamas ousted it from power in the densely populated coastal strip.
Hamas, whose officials are part of the Palestinian delegation in the Cairo talks, has emerged weaker from the month-long Gaza war.
The militant group finds itself pressured by both Egypt and the Palestinian Authority to accept a less than perfect deal with Israel, but needs to show the people of Gaza that the enormous sacrifices they endured in the fighting were not in vain.
A member of the Palestinian delegation said that Israel was offering to ease the Gaza blockade by opening border crossings to some goods and people, but was insisting that it retain the right to limit the imports of material like cement, and chemical and metal products, which Israel says can be used for weapons manufacturing.
Hamas fears the arrangement would allow Israel to retain the right to close the crossings whenever it wished and is pushing for more Palestinian input into such decisions.
The Palestinian official also told The Associated Press that Israel wants to put off for an unspecified date any discussion on the opening of a Gaza seaport and airport and the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
The Palestinians, however, say they will only agree to postpone discussing the seaport and airport for "a month after a ceasefire agreement, with other issues like .... the prisoners," the official said. He spoke condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss negotiations with the media.
He also said that Israel agrees to extend the maritime territory in which Gaza fisherman can venture out from three to six miles and eventually to 12 miles from the shore, but that it was standing firm against Hamas' demand for unsupervised exports from the strip.
The Gaza blockade, imposed after Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007, has greatly limited the movement of Palestinians in and out of the territory of 1.8 million people, restricted the flow of goods into Gaza and blocked virtually all exports.
Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent arms smuggling, but critics say the measures have amounted to collective punishment.
Jamal Shobaky, the Palestinian ambassador in Cairo voiced disappointment with the Israeli stance, particularly on the question of the blockade. "What the Israelis have offered so far in the talks is not removing the blockade but rather easing it," he said.
The latest round of Gaza fighting was precipitated by massive Israeli arrests of Hamas members in the West Bank in the aftermath of the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers in June. Their deaths were followed by the slaying of a Palestinian youth in Jerusalem in what was a likely revenge attack.
Since the war started with an Israeli air campaign on July 8, followed by the introduction of troops on the ground nine days later, many of the strip's structures have been destroyed and tens of thousands of people remain huddled in U.N. shelters.
Gaza Health Ministry official Ashraf al-Kidra said Monday the death toll from the fighting had jumped to over 2,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, while U.N. officials, who often take more time to verify figures, put the number at 1,976. Israel lost 67 people, all but three of them soldiers.