Among them: whether "under God" should be included in the Pledge of Allegiance recited by schoolchildren, under precisely what conditions the Ten Commandments may be displayed on public land and whether religious words and symbols can be included in school murals.

The Supreme Court's pair of 5-4 rulings Monday amounted to a split verdict on the permissibility of Ten Commandments displays, striking down framed copies in two Kentucky courthouses but upholding a 6-foot granite monument on a 22-acre lot surrounding the Texas Capitol.

"The lesson to people wanting to promote religious symbols is to conceal what their purpose is," said Douglas Laycock, a church-state expert at the University of Texas law school. "For the other side, there also is some benefit because it limits how aggressively a state can endorse Christianity."

Justices said Ten Commandments exhibits would be upheld if their main purpose was to honor the nation's legal, rather than religious, traditions, and if they didn't promote one religious sect over another. How long an exhibit has stood – as well as its location – also will determine its constitutionality, and locations open to everyone are more acceptable settings than schoolhouses filled with young students, the court held.

"It is very encouraging that the Supreme Court understands the historical and legal significance of displaying the Ten Commandments," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, which supports greater public acknowledgment of religion.

"But in terms of impact on church-state law, the rulings are limited because they're so fact-specific. The one thing we'll probably have now is more psychoanalysis of individual legislators as to their purpose," Sekulow added.

Legal experts said Tuesday the rulings offer a few tidbits of general principles that could guide some pending church-state cases.

For example, thousands of monuments donated by the Fraternal Order of the Eagles in the 1960s that proclaim "I AM the LORD thy God" have a stronger chance in court because they all have the same text as the Texas monument. Courthouse displays, however, are questionable if lawmakers ever mentioned a religious purpose in erecting them.

In the Pledge case, challengers can point to strong language in Monday's rulings against religious symbols in schoolhouses, while supporters can take heart that the Pledge has been recited for decades with minimal controversy. That was a key factor cited by Justice Stephen G. Breyer in upholding the Texas display.

Last year, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the Pledge case but did not rule on merits because litigant Michael Newdow didn't have legal custody of his daughter. Newdow has since filed a new challenge in California with other parents who are in full custody of their children.

The court appeared to underscore some of the lines it drew Monday, letting stand Tuesday four lower court rulings that struck down Ten Commandments displays in schools and courtrooms in Kentucky and Ohio because they were overly religious.

A fifth appeal – of a ruling that barred South Carolina town council from opening its meetings with a prayer invoking Jesus Christ – also was rejected. The Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had found that it improperly favored one denomination.

Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, predicted many more lawsuits ahead as federal courts and partisans sort through all the implications of Monday's rulings.

"There's going to be a healthy amount of litigation," Lynn said. "I just wish justices had a clear, bright-line rule that says government buildings aren't churches. But unfortunately Mr. Breyer didn't go that far, so that's where we stand."

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20050628-1446-scotus-tencommandments.html

Missing boy Found living in Tree!
-- Esteli, Nicaragua

Esteli, Nicaragua- 7 year old Ricardo San Pablo Jr. was finally found after an extensive, arduous 3 month search which brought local police all the way to the Punta Gorda Bay area, southeast of the capital Managua. How the boy was found was even more shocking! Early Saturday morning, a couple (who chose to remain anonymous) heard loud screams coming from the forest which neighbors their home. The man grabbed his rifle and ran into the forest, in search for the screaming child. As the screams became louder and louder, the man still did not see from whom this crying was coming from: "I heard the screams, but I could not see the person who was screaming", exclaimed the hero. As the man approached a large tree, he saw a colony of Macaque monkey’s squealing and dancing. As he approached this unheralded scene, he saw a boy inside the hollow tree being attacked by 2 monkeys. The monkeys were hitting and biting the boy to the point as to when the man showed up, the boy lost consciousness. The man fired a shot into the air and the monkeys quickly scrambled off. As it turns out, the boy had been living in this tree for the 3 months as to which he had gone missing, surviving on a diet of tree bark and leaves. The boy had run away because of an altercation between himself and his younger brother Fernando. Ricardo had gotten into an argument with Fernando on January 26th, 2005, and hit his younger brother in the face with a shovel. As his father ran outside the house, Ricardo ran off, having not been found until this past Saturday, April 30th. Local police Chief Cornello Vargaises has exclaimed that "this is one of the oddest cases he has ever worked on". Ricardo Jr suffered minor injuries due to the brutal monkey attack, but had to receive many antibiotic treatments due to possible rabies which he may have received from the monkeys. There is still no comment from the parents at the moment, but there is still more to come on this story.

Daisies! and that is all i have to say.

he he, abby

he he i am grounded to sam's house, how is that being grounded? my mom doesn't know diciplen. oh well doesn't bring me down. went to see batman, boring!

 fell asleep twice and then woke up because these, austrilians were throwing stuff at me,, i need my sleep man.

As always, Abby 

blahblahblah. he he i am hyper, so don't help me

i like being hyper ha ha. it makes me happy and others happpy and sometimes annoyed i like making pple annoyed well going to go swiming, i like chicken i like liver meow mix moew mix please deliver.

As always,

Abby