Daily Archives: January 20, 2009

The Hill: The crowd packed on the west side of the Capitol grounds serenaded President Bush in mocking fashion when he took to the inaugural stage alongside Vice President Dick Cheney. “Nah nah nah nah, hey hey, good-bye,” a section …

The AP: “. . . Senate Bill 472 would require parents or guardians who homeschool their child to notify the local school district and provide a report of academic progress to school officials. Senate Bill 308 would let local police …

The33TV.com: “It’s being hailed as the largest all-nude strip club in Texas, which opened Thursday on Stemmons Freeway in Dallas. But, not everyone is getting out their dollar-bills . . . “

Omaha.com: “A western Nebraska lawmaker wants to restrict sexually oriented businesses he says are too common in the eastern part of the state, including Lincoln . . . “  The bill includes various time, place, and manner restrictions.

The Grand Forks Herald: “North Dakota is one of only 11 states that does not have laws banning human trafficking and should enact one, a bill sponsor told a House committee Monday . . . Though the state may not …

CBS: Several hundred groups and individuals, ranging from churches to businesses, have weighed in with the California Supreme Court on both sides of whether Proposition 8, the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, should be upheld. The competing views were contained …

The new Administration wasted no time overhauling the White House website.

AP: More than a year after denying it, the newly elected mayor of Portland has admitted having a sexual relationship with a male teenager in 2005. Sam Adams, who is openly gay, acknowledged the relationship in a statement Monday, after …

The ABA Journal reports: Some time after he graduated from California Western law school in 1995, Joel Kellum married his law school sweetheart. The couple had $190,000 in student debt . . . and they divorced last year . . …

Amy Grossman writes on Findlaw: In December 2006, the New Jersey Legislature adopted a civil union law, permitting same-sex couples to enter into a legal alternative to marriage. The legislature acted in the wake of a ruling from the New …

Tony Mauro writes in the Legal Times: “Well, at least no one dropped the Bible. (That happened at one of Franklin Roosevelt’s inaugurations.) But the swearing-in of Barack Obama did not go entirely smoothly. Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., apparently …

The Politico reports: “Ted Kennedy was taken out of the Statuary Hall luncheon after suffering an apparent seizure — a few minutes after Sen. Robert Byrd was removed in his wheelchair under the supervision of medical personnel . . . …

NCRegister reports: A case now pending before the Supreme Court of Arizona shows that it will take a long time to rid state law of a pervasive symbol of anti-Catholic bigotry: the so-called Blaine amendments. A “Blaine amendment” is a …

“The U.S. Senate will delay a vote on Senator Hillary Clinton’s nomination to become secretary of state until tomorrow at the earliest after a Republican senator objected to her confirmation by voice vote today.”

USA Today: Cut the conspiracy theories. The Presidential Inauguration Committee has stepped up to take the blame for leaving a controversial gay bishop’s prayers out of the public broadcast of the concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday. Bishop of …

WorldNetDaily reports: A Christian mother has been told by a Virginia court that her 6-year-old daughter must now visit the mother’s former lesbian partner in Vermont, and if she refuses, the law will remove the girl by force, if necessary. …

WorldNetDaily: On the third day of her televised “Best Life” week-long series, even Oprah Winfrey was stunned to hear one of her pastor panelists, Rev. Ed Bacon, declare, “Being gay is a gift from God.” With wide eyes, Winfrey responded, …

“This is the source of our confidence – the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.”

. . . I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life—Yeshua, Esa, Jesus, Jesus—who taught us to pray . . .

Stanley Fish has this post in the New York Times discussing a new book, “The Last Professors: The Corporate University and the Fate of the Humanities,” by Frank Donoghue. An abstract describing the book includes this: “How is it that …

“Despite campaigning on the rhetoric of wanting to reduce abortions, Obama will make one of his first actions promoting them globally . . . ”

The Daily Mail: Religion, not race, is the most divisive issue in Britain today, an authoritative poll has found. This is the view of six in ten of us, according to the Government’s Equalities and Human Rights Commission . . …

The Omaha World-Herald reports: When a parish breaks up with its church authority, who gets the house of worship? That’s a fight taking place in courthouses coast to coast and now in Nebraska as part of the Episcopal Church’s schism …

The Badger Herald reports: With the nation’s economic struggles at the forefront of people’s minds, the debate has been out of the spotlight recently but is again being brought to light locally as the Madison Surgery Center is moving toward …

Pat Buchanan writes on Townhall: Demographically, philosophically and culturally, the party base has been shrinking since Bush I won his 40-state triumph over Michael Dukakis. Indeed, the Republican base is rapidly becoming a redoubt, a Fort Apache in Indian country …

Scott Gottlieb writes in the Wall Street Journal: In Britain, a government agency evaluates new medical products for their “cost effectiveness” before citizens can get access to them. The agency has concluded that $45,000 is the most worth paying for …

USA Today: “The USA’s public schools stand to be the biggest winners in Congress’ $825 billion economic stimulus plan unveiled last week. Schools are scheduled to receive nearly $142 billion over the next two years . . . “

Tony Mauro reports in the Legal Times: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to take up six new cases later this term, including one from Oregon that raises an issue that had previously deadlocked the Court because of the recusal …

WorldNetDaily: The New York City Council is working on a proposal that would allow a Christmas Nativity scene to be displayed in public schools during winter holiday seasons beside an Islamic star and crescent and a Jewish menorah. According to …

The Wall Street Journall: U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is expected to have a speedy and significant impact on a number of federal courts of appeal, with the potential to lessen the conservative influence that several of these courts now wield. …

The AP reports: . . . A Latin American billionaire looks to expand his empire in the United States in a deal that could make him the largest shareholder of The New York Times Co. The $250 million investment by …