Daily Archives: January 5, 2011

Sam Stein writing at The Huffington Post: “Faced with the prospect of increasingly lengthy court vacancies, the White House on Wednesday formally renominated more than 40 judicial candidates whose possible appointments were left in limbo during the last congressional session.”

George Friedman writing at Stratfor Global Intelligence: “Attacks against Christians are not uncommon in the Islamic world, driven by local issues and groups, and it is unclear whether these latest attacks were simply coincidental and do not raise the threat to a new level or whether they indicate the existence of a new, coordinated, international initiative. There is a strong case to be made for the idea that there is nothing new in all of this . . . What is important is this: If the recent attacks are not coincidental, then a coordinated campaign is being conducted against Christian churches that spans at least these countries. And it is a network that has evaded detection by intelligence services.”

Boston.com (AP): “Iranian state television said Wednesday that leaders of the country’s Christian minority have been arrested and accused of spreading a hard-line version of their faith.”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Highly contested races are on tap for the spring election, including what already is shaping up to be a potentially heated battle for state Supreme Court justice.”

Brent Bozell writing at CNSNews: “While [Katie Couric] crinkles her face that anyone could march peacefully to oppose a mega-mosque two blocks from Ground Zero, here’s what does not upset Couric or her colleagues: Christians getting slaughtered and maimed in the Middle East by radical Islamists during the Christmas season. That story rates barely a media eyebrow lift.”

Bryan Fischer writing at Renew America: “However, AFA made a deliberate choice not to participate last year because of CPAC’s decision to allow an aggressive and radical homosexual organization, GOProud, to serve as a sponsor of the event. Because CPAC has continued its association with GOProud again this year, AFA has once again chosen not to participate.”

The Blog of Legal Times: “Senators spent little time during the past two years focusing on lower-court nominees for the federal judiciary. But as they convened today for the start of the 112th Congress, Senate Democrats have the issue on their minds.”

Boston.com (AP): “In rare move, House Republicans voted Wednesday to investigate unseating a Manchester representative because he is the executive director of the New Hampshire Democratic Party.”

Iowa Independent: “Bob Vander Plaats, a three-time GOP gubernatorial candidate who now leads the latest reincarnation of the Iowa Family Policy Center’s political action arm — The Family Leader – said that ‘as a basketball coach, he was always interested in momentum’ and ‘knew it was important’ to ‘capture on that momentum and seize on that momentum, if you hoped to win the basketball game.’”

Irish Medical Times: “Following the recent European Court of Human Rights ruling, the Medical Council has clarified its position in relation to abortion. Doctors should undertake a full assess­ment of any ‘real and substantial risk to the life (as distinct from the health) of the mother. Under current legal precedent, this exception includes where there is a clear and substantial risk to the life of the mother arising from a threat of suicide,’ the Medical Council stated.”

Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney John Anthony Simmons and ADF Senior Counsel Tom Marcelle will be available for media interviews following oral argument Thursday before the New Hampshire Supreme Court in the case of a home-schooled girl ordered into a government school by a state judge.

WLBT: “Backers of a ballot initiative to determine when life begins say the road to overturning Roe versus Wade will come through Mississippi. Anti-abortion and anti-cloning supporters held a rally at the State Capitol Tuesday to kick off a campaign to push for passage of the initiative.”

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of Tree of Life Christian Schools against the city of Upper Arlington after it refused to grant the school a permit to use its own new building.

Fed Soc blog: “State legislators from several states, including some in Arizona, are forming a coalition to pass legislation to discourage this practice. One possibility these legislators have mentioned is to pass a law creating two types of birth certificates in their states, one for children of citizens and the other for children of illegal immigrants.”

“The marriage of gay couples from other states and countries where it is allowed can be legally recognized in New Mexico, the Attorney General’s Office said in a legal opinion issued Tuesday.”

Orange County Register: “City Council on Tuesday established a temporary moratorium on adult businesses while it evaluates if and where these businesses could be located in the eastern part of the city, following a recent rezoning of about 800 acres of land – once under the flight path of the El Toro MCAS – from business-park to residential and commercial.”

The Hill: “The Susan B. Anthony List on Wednesday announced that it is mobilizing its 280,000 grassroots activists to pressure lawmakers to vote for repeal when it comes up for a House vote next Wednesday. The organization is also pressing the 112th Congress to pass two of its legislative priorities.”

OneNewsNow: “Cliff Kincaid, president of America’s Survival and editor of Accuracy in Media, recently wrote a column for the Worldview Times that points out an almost ignored section of the legislation that will temporarily halt the celebrations of homosexual activists who are bent on imposing their lifestyle on the armed forces.”

Charisma: “Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday on behalf of Tree of Life Christian Schools against city of Upper Arlington. The lawsuit challenges a zoning regulation that prohibits schools within the zone but permits daycare facilities and many other similar uses . . . ‘No city should use its zoning code to keep a Christian school’s students in inferior and overcrowded facilities. A city’s zoning code cannot give preferential treatment to non-religious institutions that function similarly to a Christian school,’ says ADF Senior Legal Counsel [Erik Stanley].”

John Culhane, Professor of Law at Widener University, writing at 365Gay.com: “Second, it’s very clear now that the panelists really want to answer the monumental constitutional issue put before them. They have just made it much harder for the Supreme Court to dodge the question on the basis of standing, as would have been likelier had the judges simply ruled – one way or the other – on standing. In that case, the losing side would have appealed that ruling to the high court, which could simply have decided there’s no standing and thereby allowed same-sex marriages in California – but only there – to continue.”

KSL: “The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to stay an order that would have required Utah to remove 14 large roadside crosses that commemorate fallen Utah Highway Patrol troopers . . . [Byron Babione], an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing the UHPA in the lawsuit, said the organization supported the request for a stay filed by the Utah Attorney General’s Office ‘We are certainly appealing, especially since we got two strong dissents on the rehearing denial,’ Babione said. ‘The dissents may attract the Supreme Court to grant our appeal.’”

Family Research Council: “Family Research Council (FRC) today called on the full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to take up the Mt. Soledad Cross case, Trunk v. San Diego. Yesterday, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit ruled that the Mt. Soledad war memorial is unconstitutional.”

The Boston Globe: “The Pentagon’s investigation of defense and intelligence employees who downloaded child pornography is being criticized in Congress after the Department of Defense acknowledged that its investigators failed to check thoroughly whether its employees were on a list of suspected porn viewers.”

Des Moines Register: “House Republicans intend to debate a bill that would restrict abortions at the point when a fetus purportedly can feel pain, the incoming House majority leader said Tuesday.”

AFSP: “A panel of 26 leading researchers, clinicians, educators and policy experts have released a comprehensive report on the prevalence and underlying causes of suicidal behavior in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adolescents and adults. The report will be published as the lead article in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of Homosexuality. The article is currently available online and will appear in print on Jan. 19.”

Tom Neven writing at First Things / First Thoughts: “What will happen will show up first in the chaplain corps . . . Along with the muffling of chaplains, others who oppose open homosexuality will be the next to be silenced . . . The repeal of DADT is already being used as a narrow edge of a wedge to try to change other policies, particularly with regard to same-sex marriage . . . Finally, the acceptance of open homosexuality within the military will go a long way toward mainstreaming it as just another flavor in the rich diversity of our country.”

“Iowa Judicial Watch will try to alter the current merit-based selection system used to pick state Supreme Court justices during the legislative session that begins Jan. 10, Executive Director Nathan Tucker said Tuesday.”

“The Judiciary Committee also voted Tuesday to recommend that the House kill a proposed constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.”

If you are astute, you have probably noticed by now that the majority of the angst over these videos is over the “anti-gay slurs,” not their generally lewd nature or most importantly the appropriateness of such behavior from a commanding officer.

The Thinking Housewife has pointed out the contrast between the 1957 message in which “a sober 31-year-old queen reflects on the unsettling pace of technological change and warns of grave moral peril” and the 2010 message in which “the Queen makes no mention of moral decline, though 1957 seems innocent and virtous by comparison. She praises team sports, which she equates with the King James Bible as a vehicle for bringing about world harmony.”

Chicago Tribune: “A leading Muslim advocacy group is calling on Indiana legislators to reject a proposal a bill that would deny recognition of the Islamic legal system Sharia in the state.”

Donald R. McConnell, Professor of Law at the Trinity Law School of Trinity International University, writing at Trinitarian Don: “One of the strange questions in Christian legal philosophy is why most Protestant Christians no longer believe in the doctrine of natural law – the idea that there is an unwritten identical trans-cultural objective moral standard accessible to all human beings . . . One major reason Protestants tend not to believe in natural law is they think natural law is incompatible with a strong view of the fall . . . A second reason many Protestants do not believe in natural law is kindred to the first: this is the belief man’s reason is fouled by sin and hence does not support moral knowledge . . . The third reason many Protestants do not accept natural law is that they have never heard a proper explanation of it.”

Kyodo News: “The Chinese military will consider launching a preemptive nuclear strike if the country finds itself faced with a critical situation in a war with another nuclear state, internal documents showed Wednesday.”

IRIN: “Six anti-slavery activists are in prison in Mauritania in a case rights experts say points to the challenges of ensuring a 2007 law criminalizing slavery is more than just words on paper.”

Pam Bondi, Attorney General of Florida, writing in the Wall Street Journal: “As new state attorneys general take office in the coming week, I fully expect an increase in the ranks of the states fighting ObamaCare in court. Our lawsuit, together with a similar lawsuit filed by Virginia’s attorney general, has exposed the health-care law’s threat to individual liberty and to the constitutional structure that the Founders designed as a means of protecting that liberty.”

Jonathan Mirsky reviews [full text via Google News] Cultivating Global Citizens: Population in the Rise of China “By Susan Greenhalgh in the Wall Street Journal: “In the quest for ‘superior’ children and mothers, Ms. Greenhalgh explains, Beijing put aside social, cultural and political factors, and discriminated against whole classes of low-quality people . . . Official pressure to curtail and ‘improve’ births resulted in infanticide and selective abortion, which in turn led to a gender gap among newborns of at best 120 boys to 100 girls. Many Chinese men, therefore, will not find brides, and fewer elderly Chinese will have daughters to comfort and support them.”

Telegraph: “Pharmacists fear that many women are taking to ‘unnecessary risks’ with their health by using the morning after pill after losing control on nights out. A poll of 3,000 people by The Co-Operative Pharmacy found that 20 per cent of women aged 18 to 35 have taken the emergency pill in the last year.”

Ed Koch writing at RealClearPolitics: “[Congressman Peter King's] decision to hold hearings into what he calls the ‘radicalization of the American Muslim community and homegrown terrorism’ is, in my judgment, a sensible act on his part which should be supported by the American public.”

CatholicCulture.org: “Donald Steier has submitted a statement to Los Angeles County Superior Court saying that many claims against priests have been ‘either entirely false or so greatly exaggerated that the truth would not have supported a prosecutable claim.’”

Winnipeg Free Press: “A minority of trustees has failed in a bid to lobby the province to change legislation that forces school boards to allow religious exercises and religious instruction to be conducted in secular public schools. But trustee Mike Babinsky claims three trustees — board chairwoman Suzanne Hrynyk, Kristine Barr, and Joyce Bateman — are using every means available to thwart and delay parents who want their kids to take part in religion at school.”

Ed West writing at the Telegraph: “People do not necessarily have to believe in God to affiliate with a religion, which is why, despite only 5 per cent of English natives attending church, over 70 per cent of them identify as Christians. More significantly, in parts of England where there are now a large number of Muslims, the last census saw a jump in the number of whites who described themselves as Christians, despite church attendance continuing to slump.”

ChristianNewsWire: “Despite Communist North Korea topping the annual Open Doors World Watch List (WWL) for the ninth consecutive year, the most dangerous countries in which to practice Christianity are overwhelmingly Islamic ones.”

New York Times: “Mr. Friedman, an Orthodox Jew, finds himself scrutinized in the Jewish press, condemned by important rabbis, and attacked in a YouTube video . . . [over] Mr. Friedman’s refusal to give his wife, Tamar Epstein, 27, a Jewish decree of divorce, known as a get . . . Although the majority of men in Jewish divorces grant their wives a get with little fuss, the husbands who refuse — it is estimated there are several hundred agunot in the United States today — can provoke a clash between religious folkways and secular divorce law.”

Tim Kane writing in The Atlantic: “Why are so many of the most talented officers now abandoning military life for the private sector? An exclusive survey of West Point graduates shows that it’s not just money. Increasingly, the military is creating a command structure that rewards conformism and ignores merit. As a result, it’s losing its vaunted ability to cultivate entrepreneurs in uniform.” | Kane provides background at the Christian Science Monitor.

The Economist / Democracy in America: “I don’t think it’s true that the pro-life movement would gain any converts among liberals by dedicating itself to increasing adoptions (even more than it already has), even if adoptions weren’t already widely available. But I do think that the pro-life movement would gain itself a lot of political allies if it were to dedicate itself to dramatically increasing usage of contraceptives among American teenagers.”

Associated Press: “In the weeks before the New Year’s Day suicide bombing of an Egyptian church, al-Qaida-linked websites carried a how-to manual on ‘destroying the cross,’ complete with videos on how to build a bomb and the locations of churches to target – including the one that was attacked.”

Pioneer Press: “China’s exploding wealth has created a culture of secret mistresses and second wives. Now officials are putting marriage records online so lovers and spouses can check for cheaters.”

Associated Press: “Photos leaked online that appear to show a prototype of China’s first stealth fighter jet were discussed in state media Wednesday – a move that supports claims the country’s military aviation program is advancing faster than expected.”

Associated Press: “Turkey promised to speed up its judicial system on Wednesday after a new EU-inspired law forced the government to free alleged Islamic militants accused of torturing and killing dozens, as well as suspected rapists, murderers and mobsters whose trials have lasted for years.”

Associated Press: “Colorado-based Focus on the Family is considering ending its sponsorship of a national conservative political action rally because of the involvement of a gay conservative group.”

LifeNews: “According to the Catholic News Agency, the bishops released a statement on December 28 through the Bishops’ Conference of Chile saying there is never a justification for an abortion and that it is never medically necessary for women.”

“The lesbian couple agreed to keep Charlie’s true identity as the father under wraps. However, his death forced his aunt to confess the situation to her sister.”

LifeSiteNews: “The Vancouver Sun reported December 21 that ‘homosexuality’ was still listed in the Alberta Health and Wellness Diagnostic Codes under ‘Mental Disorders: Sexual Deviations and Disorders.’ It appeared there alongside bestiality and pedophilia. The article prompted quick action from the provincial government, which not only removed homosexuality, but also transvestitism and transsexualism.”

Canada: Alberta Health Minister calls for homosexuality to be removed from “mental disorder” list

LifeSiteNews: “Chilean President Sebastián Piñera is urging his ministers to stand firm in their defense of pro-life values as the nation’s congress confronts two new legislative proposals to decriminalize the killing of unborn children.”

WSJ editorial [full text via Google News]: “Pakistan’s radical Islamist parties—which have never had much success at the polls but know how to dominate a street—are now treating Taseer’s killer as a hero. As for the rest of Pakistan, this is the time to honor the fallen governor by demanding the government release Ms. Bibi, rescind the blasphemy laws, and stand up to the murderers among them.”

Associated Press: “Lawyers showered the suspected killer of a prominent Pakistani governor with rose petals when he arrived at court Wednesday and an influential Muslim scholars group praised the assassination of the outspoken opponent of laws that order death for those who insult Islam.”

“MR. CROWLEY: I’d be very wary at this point about making any sweeping statements about whether what’s happened in Iraq has a bearing on what’s happening in other countries such as Egypt or Nigeria. These are all being investigated. Clearly, there are pressures on minority groups in these countries, and we would hope and expect that in – those respective governments will fully investigate these attacks and bring those responsible to justice. That’s what, for example, the people of Egypt are rightly demanding a credible, thorough investigation and those responsible brought to justice.”

NYT / Bucks: “Most people are familiar with the pay gap between women and men, but here’s a gap you may not have been aware of. According to a recent post on the blog BoingBoing, lesbian women are paid more than heterosexual women.”

LifeSiteNews: “As the modern-day homeschool movement confidently marches forward into its fourth decade, colleges and universities are opening wide their doors to welcome its mature, prepared graduates to their ranks. Homeschoolers score an average of 37 percentile points above the national average on standardized achievement tests and typically score above average on the SAT and ACT, statistics that apparently have caught the eye of college admissions personnel.”

LifeNews: “Democrats dropped the idea during consideration of the health care law in Congress after significant public pressure and now the Obama administration has followed suit — just days after the new rules went into effect on January 1. Though Obama administration officials cited procedural reasons for the decision, the New York Times indicates political considerations — the enormous outpouring of opposition — played a role.”

LifeSiteNews: “In a new study released today the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) estimates there are over 2 million children being homeschooled in the U.S. in 2010.” | The NHERI research is available for download here.

SCOTUSblog’s Adam Chandler has a roundup of reactions to Justice Scalia’s comments on the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee in a California Lawyer interview.

Detroit Free Enterprise: “Gov. Rick Snyder’s expected appointment of state Supreme Court Justice Maura Corrigan to head the Department of Human Services could be stalled by pressure to quickly name a conservative replacement on the court, or not make the appointment at all.”

Wall Street Journal: “One of the most controversial cases in the New Jersey Supreme Court’s history will be back before justices Wednesday, as an advocate for urban-school funding challenges Gov. Chris Christie’s education budget cuts. The landmark school-funding case, Abbott v. Burke, reemerges at a time when the court is in the midst of a political crisis. Mr. Christie, citing rulings such as Abbott, is remaking a court he believes has overextended its power by dictating how the state spends money.”

Associated Press: “New Jersey casino regulators are set to hand out $115,000 in fines Wednesday to Atlantic City casinos who failed to immediately catch a cheating dealer and customer, had a malfunctioning alarm system that let a robber walk away with $8,000 after holding up a cashier, allowed someone other than the winner to fill out tax forms for five slots jackpots, and allowed underage patrons to gamble and drink.”

NYT Discussion: “Will the idea succeed in the new Congress, given some conservatives’ longtime opposition, on the grounds that the credits might open the door to more government regulation of education? How would such a system work? Is it a threat to public education, as its critics claim?”

See especially the contribution of the Home School Legal Defense Association’s William A. Estrada: “A federal income tax credit for educational expenses would help all parents provide greater resources for their children. Tax credits are superior to vouchers because the family keeps its own money and is not the recipient of federal funds. This eliminates any First Amendment concerns if a family purchases religious educational materials, or any danger of federal control coming along with the money.”

Ginny LaRoe writing in The Recorder (Law.com): “At oral argument, David Boies said state law should have no effect on the court’s Article III standing analysis, but the judges in their per curiam order seemed to disagree . . . [i]f the state justices agree to answer the question — they don’t have to — it could detour the appeal for months.”

Lyle Denniston reports at SCOTUSblog: “The issue is whether the backers of so-called ‘Proposition 8′ have any right, under state law, to defend the measure’s validity when state officials refused to do so. Only if the state court answers ‘yes’ to that question would the backers of Prop. 8 have a realistic chance of being allowed to pursue the appeal of a federal judge’s ruling striking down the ban. The question sent to the state court, the court said, ‘is dispositive of our very ability to hear this case.’”

Associated Press: “Egyptian Christians say they fear a repeat attack against their community on Coptic Christmas Eve Thursday despite authorities planning heavy security following a New Year’s suicide bombing of a church in Alexandria that killed 21.”

“The World Bank is issuing its first bonds denominated in China’s yuan in Hong Kong, joining a growing number of borrowers tapping the new debt market as Beijing gradually promotes of its tightly controlled currency abroad.”

The Hill: “As Republicans eye a vote next week to repeal the new healthcare reform law, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will unveil a detailed outline of national and state-by-state repercussions if repeal succeeds.”

Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) writing at The Hill: “Federal regulation of the Internet, also known as network neutrality, has been seen as the holy grail for the media regulation obsessed left-wing special interest groups like Moveon.org, Free Press and George Soros’s Open Society Institute for the latter half of the past decade . . . it really does not matter that only 21 percent of Americans support federal regulation of the Internet over the free market or that these regulations will deter capital investment which create private sector jobs.”

The Hill: “Jordan, joined by GOP Reps. Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Tom Graves (Ga.) and Scott Garrett (N.J.), said the new rules package contained ‘Washington-style gimmicks’ that appropriators could use to recoup funds they’d cut elsewhere.”

The Hill: “House Republicans pledged to run ‘a cut-and-grow majority’ in the 112th Congress that begins Wednesday, arguing they can expand the economy while reducing government spending.”

The Christian Post: “‘Politicians should not be able to nullify a democratic act of the people by refusing their duty to defend it,’ [ADF Attorney Jim Campbell] said in a statement. ‘The people of California have the right to be defended, and thus the official proponents of Proposition 8 must have standing to defend that law.’”

The Christian Post: “The Circuit Court’s three-judge panel ruled Tuesday that the memorial cross at Mt. Soledad violates the U.S. Constitution . . . ‘It’s tragic that the court chose a twisted and tired interpretation of the First Amendment over the common-sense idea that the families of fallen American troops should be allowed to honor these heroes as they choose,’ [ADF Attorney Joe Infranco] expressed in a statement following yesterday’s ruling.”