Daily Archives: August 12, 2008

TCPalm reports: “For the 2007-08 school year, the Florida Department of Education estimated 56,650 students were home schooled, compared with 31,440 students in 1997-98 — an 80 percent increase.”

The Tigard Times reports: “Tigard Police Department sweep of Internet prostitution taking place inside, and in some cases, near the city netted 16 arrests since April, including one woman who was marketing a 15-year-old as part of a prostitution package.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State has issued this press release that begins: The District of Columbia City Council’s plan to give $13 million in property and cash to Central Union Mission is unconstitutional and must be dropped, …

WTOPNews.com has this report that begins: WASHINGTON – History teachers tell students that slavery ended in the U.S. in 1865, but sources tell WTOP that a “hidden epidemic” of child sex-slavery persists in this area and nationwide.

ZNET reports: “Along with the Green Party, the Royal College of Nursing, the National Association of Probation Officers, the Communications Workers Union and the English Collective of Prostitutes, the IUSW supports the decriminalisation of the sex industry.”

Bill Muehlenberg has this post on his blog. He begins: For millennia, the institution of marriage was viewed as a solemn covenant, involving strong obligations and commitment. Recently however many Westerners have come to view marriage as just a mere …

The 2008 Democratic Party platform draft, which will be submitted to delegates at the Democratic National Convention for approval later this month, expresses opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) . . .

The Christian Post reports: At least 87 percent of members, elders (lay leaders) and ministers of Presbyterian churches across the country indicated they have “no opinion” on whether they prefer a man or a woman for most congregational roles, such …

In her 1991 book, Rights Talk: The Impoverishment of Political Discourse, Glendon defined the problem as “our increasing tendency to speak of what is most important to us in terms of rights, and to frame nearly every social controversy as a clash of rights.”

Time reports: “If he wins Tuesday’s closely contested race for the seat Senate-contender Mark Udall is vacating in Colorado’s second congressional district, the 33-year-old Internet mogul will almost assuredly join Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank as just the third openly …

365Gay.com reports: “The Project Marriage Coalition said it made the decision after a state appeals court in Sacramento turned down an urgent appeal of a lower court ruling that upheld Attorney General Jerry Brown’s definition of the proposed constitutional amendment …

ACLJ reports: “The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) is pleased to announce that a U.S. District Court sitting in Cleveland has formally dismissed a motion brought by the ACLU of Ohio to hold in contempt of court Richland …

Alan Keyes has this commentary on WorldNetDaily that begins: I remember reading somewhere that societies in decline reach a point where they are so corrupt that attempted remedies only reveal and further aggravate the causes of their demise. Sometimes I’m …

LifeSiteNews.com reports: After decades of division over issues surrounding fertility and the moral issues inherent to procreation, many protestants are now turning away from the contraceptive culture and towards Natural Family Planning (NFP), a completely natural method, that allows couples …

PVS is the only modern medical diagnosis that denies the personhood of a patient, and thus is fraught with logical and ethical problems.

By “homophobic” disapproval, I mean disapproval of others’ desires motivated by fear that one shares in those desires.

Two years ago, South Dakota voters rejected an abortion ban . . . But polls then showed that many who voted against the ban would have switched sides if the proposal had made exceptions for women impregnated through rape or incest.

The AP reports: “State lawmakers will consider a proposal that would require computer repair technicians to report any child porn they discover to law enforcement officials.”

LifeSiteNews.com reports: “In response to criticisms by the nation’s Catholic bishops regarding pro-abortion and anti-family language in Ecuador’s new proposed Constitution, a group of people entered a chapel in Guayaquil, grabbed the Eucharistic host that was exposed for adoration, tore …

LifeNews.com reports: . . . While a survey from the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a part of Planned Parenthood, shows fewer than 20 percent of all pregnancies nationwide end in abortion, 72 pregnancies end in abortion in New York for every …

LifeNews.com reports: “. . . the platform contains an uncompromising statement saying abortions should be allowed throughout pregnancy and paid for by taxpayers across the country.”

LifeNews.com reports: “Abortion advocates in the U.S. Senate continue to hold up a pro-life former state legislator President Bush selected to become a Wyoming federal judge. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Richard Honaker in February but may …

The Telegraph reports: An investigation by this newspaper has uncovered plans by several leading universities to ignore the new award because it will mean offering more places to independent school pupils. The A* grade was introduced by ministers because universities …

“A federal court has held that New York state had the right to stop using Medicaid funds to cover the cost of gender reassignment treatments for a 48-year-old plaintiff who has been living as a woman since the age of 20.”

Jennifer Roback Morse has this post on the National Catholic Register website. She writes: “But I issue them this challenge: Black America has made significant progress since the first civil rights movement. Today, any significant improvements in black well-being will …

Judge Richard Posner of the 7th Circuit has this post on the Becker-Posner Blog discussing the economics of marriage redefinition. Prof. Gary Becker has a similar post.

With regard to diasporas of Middle Eastern origins, those laws are often influenced by Islamophobia and the global War on Terror.

This Article is the first in a series that seeks to uncover the immanent structure of free speech doctrine.

The AP reports: The number of women in state government leadership positions is on the rise, with the percentage nearly mirroring their representation in the general population in six states, a study has found.

Tony Mauro reports on the Legal Times: The ABA’s House of Delegates will be voting Monday or Tuesday on recommendations to improve the federal process by encouraging more and earlier bipartisan consultations on vacancies and possible nominees. The measures call …

The Religion Clause Blog reports: “Inside Higher Ed today reports on problems faced by North Carolina Central University, a part of the University of North Carolina system. The campus violated UNC rules by opening an out-of-state program housed at a …

The Religion Clause Blog reports: “In Fegans v. Norris, (8th Cir., Aug. 11, 2008), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, rejected an Assemblies of Yahwah adherent’s challenge to Arkansas grooming regulations for prisoners.”

David Limbaugh has this commentary on Townhall that begins: ABC reports that the group “Democrats for Life,” whose title gives new meaning to “oxymoronic,” decided last week not to press the Democratic Party to restore a life-tolerant “conscience clause” to …

ADF attorney Joe Martins appeared on WDET Public Radio Detroit to discuss ADF’s suit against Wayne State University for denying a pro-life group student equal access. The mp3 file is here. It runs just over 13 minutes. Related: University denies …

Patrick J. Buchana has this commentary on Townhall. He writes: In the Pennsylvania primary, Barack Obama rolled up more than 90 percent of the African-American vote. Among Catholics, he lost by 40 points . . . But if Barack had …

365Gay.com reports: Dutch law requires the kingdom’s three parts – the Netherlands, Aruba and the Dutch Antilles – to recognize each other’s legal documents, including marriage certificates. But the Antilles government contends the law also grants the island self-rule – …

The AP has this report on the career of Cal. Chief Justice Ronald George. It reports: Now, the law-and-order supporter of capital punishment is enduring from gay marriage foes the very complaints of “judicial activism” he has worked so hard …

The Wall Street Journal reports: “President Bush attended church in Beijing on Sunday, worshipping with Chinese Christians and singing ‘Amazing Grace.’ But what happened outside the church says more about the state of religion in China.”