Daily Archives: January 29, 2009

AP: “Rod Blagojevich, the embattled Illinois governor who went before the state Senate on a last-ditch attempt to save his job, was impeached anyway Thursday afternoon. He will be removed from office immediately . . . “

AP: “Senate leaders have scheduled a vote Monday for the certain confirmation of Eric Holder as attorney general . . . “

AP: “Police in eastern India have charged 10 men with gang raping a Catholic nun during weeks of anti-Christian violence last year, an official said Thursday. The violence between Hindus and Christians in Orissa state followed the killing of a …

Wesley Smith writes on Secondhand Smoke: “Wonder of wonders, Wyoming has stepped up to the plate to outlaw assisted suicide. From HB 120  . . . “

The program, “Education for Citizenship,” . . . instructs teachers to “revise the student’s attitude towards homosexuality.” It was formulated by Spain’s Socialist Worker’s Party, which has held power since 2004 . . .

Leonard Link reports that Columbia’s highest court has issued a ruling: . . . finding that the equal rights mandate in Colombia’s constitution requires that same-sex couples be accorded the same rights that are now accorded to different-sex couples in …

Kaiser Network: “San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the state of California alleging that the state is discriminating against women by allowing health insurers to impose so-called ‘gender ratings’ when determining premiums for individual …

AP: “A bipartisan group of Georgia lawmakers wants to slap a new fee on strip club patrons to help fund rehabilitation programs for child prostitutes and sex abuse victims . . . “

The Politico reports that every GOP Senator has sent a letter to Senate Leader Harry Reid warning that they will actively oppose any effort to seat Franken before the electoral process is finalized.

Christian Post: “A Christian Chinese couple who has been persecuted for years by authorities for their faith is pleading with officials for one final meeting as the husband is said to be near death by medical doctors and the wife …

CNA: “DMC Pharmacy, a new pro-life pharmacy in Chantilly, Virginia claims to have been the target of a bill recently introduced into the Virginia House of Delegates. The bill, which was tabled indefinitely, placed restrictions on pharmacies which refuse to …

CNA: A coalition of Jewish, Catholic and Protestant organizations has filed an amicus brief asking that Proposition 8 be upheld. The coalition argues that the successful 2008 ballot measure, which overturned a state Supreme Court decision imposing same-sex “marriage,” prevents …

CNA reports: Pope Benedict gathered the Roman Rota at the Vatican this morning to mark the end of the judicial year and to speak about marriage annulments involving mental incapacity . . . This issue raised by the Pope dealt …

Citizen Link: “‘. . . Focus on Marriage’ will take place Saturday, Feb. 28, and will be broadcast live into about 500 churches. Featured speakers will be Beth Moore, Dr. Gary Smalley, Dr. John Trent, Dr. Del Tackett and Gary …

The Christian Post: “The Chin people, Christians living in the remote mountains of northwestern Myanmar, are subject to forced labor, torture, extrajudicial killings and religious persecution by the country’s military regime, a human rights group said Wednesday . . . …

Salt Lake Tribune reports on a “gay-rights” conference being held in Denver and sponsored by The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. About the conference: http://www.thetaskforce.org/events/creating–change.

Carlsbad Current-Argus: Unmarried couples would get the same rights and privileges as their married counterparts under a bill recommended Wednesday by a Senate Committee.The Senate Public Affairs Committee voted 5-4 to recommend passage of Senate Bill 12, also known as …

Delmarva Now: The town took its first step toward restricting adult entertainment businesses at Monday’s meeting of the mayor and council . . . Under the proposed law, which can be commented on during a public hearing Feb. 23, a …

The president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation announced Wednesday that he will step down later this year to complete his memoirs and pursue other personal interests.

Yet as abortion rights go international, so does the anti-abortion backlash. The globalization of the abortion wars creates some of the same tensions—between universal human rights and community mores, between majority rule and the protection of individual liberty—as Roe v. Wade, on a larger scale.

NPR Morning Edition carries this report that indicates: . . . A judge in Sacramento is being asked to halt the disclosure of the names of donors to two groups that supported Proposition 8, the voter-approved initiative banning gay marriage. …

XBIZ Research, the research and analysis arm of adult entertainment industry media organization XBIZ, has released the official results of the first-ever adult entertainment market research study, offering statistical information on business growth/decline trends as well as top issues of concern impacting adult entertainment companies.

A review into Edinburgh’s adoption policy has been called for after a couple said they had been refused contact with their grandchildren for objecting to them being adopted by a gay couple.

LifeSiteNews.com: The Mexican State of Colima has become the latest to reject an initiative by Mexican socialists to legalize abortion, in a 19-1 vote in the state Congress. The representative who formulated the law, Adolfo Nunez Gonzales of the Party …

LifeSiteNews.com: A document of the US Catholic Bishops is partly to blame for the abandonment of pro-life teachings by voting Catholics and the election of the “most pro-abortion president” in US history, one of the Vatican’s highest officials said in …

Randy Barnett writes on the Volokh Conspiracy: On Friday, I will be giving a talk on “Was Lochner Right? Natural Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment” at a conference on Natural Rights and the Constitution sponsored by the The Tocqueville Forum …

Eugene Volokh writes on The Volokh Conspiracy: “Jews for Jesus, Inc. v. City College of San Francisco, 2009 WL 86703 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 12) . . .  it’s unconstitutional for the college to require a licensing scheme under which ‘college …

LifeNews.com: “Rhode Island pro-life advocates received a boost of encouragement on Tuesday when their governor showed up at a pro-life rally to condemn the thirty-sixth anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision allowing virtually unlimited abortions.”

Compass Direct News reports: “. . . Saudi police arrested Hamoud Bin Saleh on Jan. 13 ‘because of his opinions and his testimony that he had converted from Islam to Christianity,’ according to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information …

One News Now: A bill is being rushed through the New Mexico legislature that could lead to homosexual “marriage.” Hearings are being heard this week on the Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act, which passed the state House by a 33-31 margin.

BBC: “Islamist rebels have declared Sharia law in Baidoa, a day after seizing the central Somali city, a stronghold of the country’s transitional government . . . “

Religion Clause Blog: “The New York Times reported yesterday that Barack Obama intends to appoint Joshua DuBois as head of his Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships . . . “

AP reports: “The top Republican in the Senate is warning that the GOP risks remaining in the minority unless it does a better job of explaining its core principles to woo one-time faithful and new loyalists . . . The …

The Recorder: The bad news continues for San Francisco Bay Area associates and legal staffers. San Francisco giant Morrison & Foerster cut 53 lawyers and 148 staff Wednesday, adding to the mounting toll of out-of-work legal professionals . . . …

LifeNews: “With Washington state voters deciding to become the second state to legalize assisted suicide and courts in Montana poised to make it the third, the pro-euthanasia movement is working with legislators in Hawaii and New Hampshire to try to …

Newsmax: GOP Sen. Norm Coleman’s attorneys pried a key admission from Minnesota’s assistant secretary of state Wednesday, who said some voters “absolutely” had their votes improperly taken away during the controversial recount that awarded the lead to Democratic challenger Al …

Womensnews.org: Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, the Boston-based legal team known as GLAD, has two marriage-equality victories behind it in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Now it is pursuing a “6 by 12″ strategy, meaning it hopes to win equal marriage …

Washington Post: . . . The ACLU has had to cut staff by 10 percent nationwide, thanks to the tough economic climate and reduced donations and grants, “including those from two foundations that were wiped out by the Bernard Madoff …

Leigh Jones writes in the National Law Journal: In a sign that lateral movement has become a matter of course among attorneys in private practice, the American Bar Association will consider competing amendments to its ethics rules governing firm-to-firm movement …

“. . . To prevent the US economy from sliding into a depression, Mr Obama must implement a radical and comprehensive set of policies . . . The American consumer can no longer act as the motor of the global economy . . . ”

“Though it’s not widely known, psychoanalysts as a professional group are proactive on a number of social issues including homosexuality . . . ”

Information Week: “Google’s support for net neutrality is well known, and it’s clear that by making network performance data more accessible, the company hopes to make it more difficult for telecommunications providers to degrade or block certain protocols or applications, …