Daily Archives: February 11, 2011

Online here.

AllVoices: “An Afghan Christian convert, Said Musa, facing apostasy charges punishable by death has written a series of letters from his prison cell asking Christians around the world to pray for him.”

Jonathan Adler reports at the Volokh Conspiracy: “Columbia Law School’s Philip Hamburger had an interesting essay on NRO this week questioning the constitutionality of federal authority to grant waivers under the federal health care law.  A taste . . . ”

Christian Newswire: “Confirming that the protection of every human being is within reach, The Defense of Human Life Act, HB 1450, has passed in the North Dakota House with an overwhelming majority of 68 – 25.”

AP on San Francisco Chronicle: “The Malibu-based university said Thursday it has appointed Judge Deanell Reece Tacha of the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. She will start work June 1.”

Verde Independent: “The Alliance Defense Fund and George Pritchard will be in Prescott at Radio Shine on Monday, Feb. 28, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. for a pastor lunch.”

Indianapolis Star: The measure, which must be approved by two separately elected legislatures and by voters, will get an up-or-down vote by the House in the next few weeks. It would add to the state constitution not only the marriage ban but also a ban on anything “substantially similar” to marriage.

Wisconsin Rapids Tribune: “After almost a year of reviewing case studies and working with the town’s attorney to develop a policy, Grand Rapids Town Board members unanimously agreed Thursday to restrictions — including a ban on nudity at such businesses.”

Wall Street Journal: “Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin likes to taunt his Republican colleagues, arguing that ObamaCare can’t be repealed because 60 votes are required to end debate in the Senate on any measure . . . Not so fast. Keith Hennessey, a former White House colleague of mine, says Democrats are wrong. He argues that Republicans can repeal health-care reform with a simple Senate majority.”

Albert J. Mohler, Jr. writes at the Christian Post: “It all started when Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist the University of Virginia, took a poll of his audience at the meeting: ‘He polled his audience at the San Antonio Convention Center, starting by asking how many considered themselves politically liberal. A sea of hands appeared, and Dr. Haidt estimated that liberals made up 80 percent of the 1,000 psychologists in the ballroom. When he asked for centrists and libertarians, he spotted fewer than three dozen hands. And then, when he asked for conservatives, he counted a grand total of three.’”

Paul Kokoski writes at Pravda: “Russia should be militant in opposing the acceptance of homosexual acts . . . The Western media often portrays the homosexual lifestyle and relationships as happy, healthy, and stable. On the contrary there are very high rates of sexual promiscuity among the homosexual population with short duration of even “committed” relationships. Homosexuals also have very high rates of sexually transmitted infections such as HIV. Further, many studies show much higher rates of psychiatric illness, such as depression, suicide attempts and drug abuse among homosexuals than among the general population. And statistics – which compare homosexuals with ethnic minorities exposed to racism – indicate this is not due to homophobia. The homosexual lifestyle is also associated with a shortened life expectancy of up to 20 years.”

CNSNews: “Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) said on Thursday that because modern technology can reveal fetal development in the womb, Americans are starting to ‘wake up’ and realize the reality that abortion ends a human life.”

National Catholic Reporter: I’m not that concerned about this ruling because there’s an easy way to avoid it: stay true to your religious mission and don’t drift away from it,” said Kevin Theriot, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which provides legal representation in religious liberty cases. “The question for liberal organizations is: Are they staying true to their theological purposes?”

The Iona Institute: “Labour’s manifesto also confirmed that the party will change Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act that it favours forcing schools to hire openly homosexual teachers, which would make it impossible for Catholic schools to teach Catholic sexual morality in full.”

CNA: “The secular western world is incapable of fully understanding the threat of a “reawakening of Islam” in the Middle East, according to an Iraqi bishop beset by radical movements in his own archdiocese.”

Heritage Foundation: “What may not be so well known is the fact that the ripple effects of family dissolution go beyond the impact on the immediate children of broken marriages. Current trends toward dissolving (or never forming) marriages have consequences for a third (and even fourth) generation, given that children’s life course of relationships tend to track that of their parents.”

Christian Post: “I think Mubarak’s resignation is a good thing for Coptic Christians, and other Egyptians. If he had not done so, there would likely have been riots and violence and a descent into chaos,” said Paul Marshall, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom in Washington, D.C., to The Christian Post. He added, “The key question is what comes next. . . . ”

One News Now: “In a 3-to-2 vote on Tuesday night, city commissioners awarded Manhattan — home of Kansas State University — the broadest special protections of any community in the nation for homosexuals, bisexuals, and transgenders.”

San Diego Union Tribune: “Same-sex couples married over the six-month period when the practice was legal can renew their vows at San Diego County’s Valentine’s Day Tradition on the Bay, officials said Thursday.”

AFP on Yahoo: “French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared Thursday that multiculturalism had failed, joining a growing number of world leaders or ex-leaders who have condemned it.”

The Idaho Press-Tribune reports. | SB 1033

Politico: “Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will argue in a major address Friday evening that the nation should “strengthen” — not “starve” — the world body.”

The Independent: “Men with historical convictions for consensual gay sex are to have their criminal records wiped clean, it will be announced today.”

Chicago Tribune: “About 75 representatives from the Winnebago Presbytery will meet in Weston to decide whether to support or oppose homosexuality within Presbyterian leadership.”

CBS: “The whole idea about conservatism is about individual freedom, individual liberty,” said Hissey, a GOProud volunteer and a “very conservative” supporter of Sarah Palin. “And they have the total right to disagree with me, but who won the PR battle here? We did. So they are more than welcome to feel that way, and act upon it, and try to lobby their supporters, but they lost in the end.”

Ari Ezra Waldman writes at Towerload (“a site with homosexual tendencies”): “The Tennessee bill to prevent municipalities from adding sexual orientation (or any other new classification) to their anti-discrimination policies is, at its core, an attempt by the state legislature to take away from gays and lesbians the opportunity to use local politics to better their lot in life. This should remind us of a parallel — though not identical — situation that happened in Colorado, and culminated in the landmark gay rights case, Romer v. Evans. ”

CNBC: “Once repeal takes effect, and American forces adapt to a more welcoming military culture, what will it mean for everyone else? What trends will it shape in the U.S. economy, the jobs market and workforce? Here are six ways . . . ”

CBC: “An NDP private member’s bill to protect transgender people from discrimination was passed by the House of Commons, but could face a roadblock in the Conservative dominated Senate.”

PRNewswire: “The following is being released by ParentalRights.org: Last week, Planned Parenthood of Montana, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Human Rights Campaign spoke against a resolution in Montana’s Senate Judicial Committee urging Congress to adopt the Parental Rights Amendment (PRA) and send it to the States for ratification.”

Reuters: “Wisconsin’s new Republican governor on Friday will propose sharply curtailing the bargaining rights of public employee unions and other cost-saving measures to rein in the state’s budget deficit.”

Christian Newswire: “Society establishes hotline and issues guidelines for pro-life protests on Valentine’s Day against government funding for Planned Parenthood, after videos show it aids & abets sex traffickers.”

LifeSiteNews: The university says that the purpose of the event is to “embrace and celebrate the use of queer as an inclusive, unifying socio-political term for people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, straight, transsexual, intersexual, gender queer, or anyone else who supports the equality of all identities and expressions.”

LifeSiteNews: A coalition of many of the country’s most prominent pro-life organizations, under the name of “Expose Planned Parenthood,” is sponsoring a “vigil for victims of underage sex trafficking” this Monday. The event seeks to put a pro-life presence in front of every single Planned Parenthood facility across the country.

LifeNews: “A Texas state Senate panel on Wednesday approved a bill that would allow women a chance to see an ultrasound of their unborn child before having an abortion. When used in pregnancy centers, ultrasounds have persuded most women to choose life.”

LifeNews: “The Protect Life Act, is one of three measures pro-life groups are supporting to remove governmental financial support for the aborton industry. Earlier this week, Republicans and Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health sparred over the measure, HR 358, sponsored by the subcommittee’s chairman, pro-life Republican Rep. Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania.”

LifeNews: “The Hawaii Choose Life license late is in jeopardy and is in danger of being discontinued unless pro-life motorists on the island purchase another 50 of the license plates, which are similar to those approved initially in Florida and other states.”

LifeNews: “Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will be called on by pro-life lawmakers in the House of Representatives to testify on the Planned Parenthood abortion business in light of the new videtapes epxosing it helping sex traffickers.”

Wesley Smith at Second Hand Smoke: “Many anti assisted suicide advocates worry that Idaho is on the pro-doctor prescribed death target list for legalization, probably by test court case, since there is not a specific law prohibiting assisted suicide. A just filed bill, S 1070, seeks to change that.”

LifeSiteNews (includes video of Chen): “Chen, a self-taught blind lawyer from the Linyi area of Shandong province, was imprisoned for exposing the violence used in enforcing the family planning policy in Linyi and providing legal assistance to peasants in 2005. In January 2007, he was found guilty of ‘intentional destruction of property and gathering a mob to disturb traffic’ at a hearing from which his lawyer and witnesses were absent because the lawyer had been beaten up and the witnesses kidnapped so that they could not appear in court.”

Blog of the Legal Times: “Conservative lawmakers are organizing in a more formal way to promote an array of changes to the civil justice system, including proposals related to medical malpractice reform, venue and federal pleading standards.”

Florida A&M University notified attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund Friday that it has reinstated a Christian student group it de-recognized in January and will review university policies for appropriate changes.

Two of America’s most legendary living military heroes have joined forces to rebuke the lame-duck Senate for repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and to urge the new Congress to overturn that controversial vote.”

AndaluciaEduca (Google Translation): A total of 371 Spanish have sued the state before the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg for “violation of fundamental rights in respect of objection to the subjects of Education for Citizenship and Human Rights.” Professionals for Ethics, which has submitted the claims along with Alliance Defense Fund, stated that the applicants, conscientious objectors to EPC, “allege the violation by the Spanish state of several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights . . . ”

LezGetReal (A Gay Girl’s View on the World): “Of course, Austin Nimocks of the Alliance Defense Fund echoed those concerns, but when confronted with the fact that the bill prevents churches from being forced to marry couples that they do not want to, Nimocks fell into the usual run of how he was upset over the fact that it would not protect individuals from discrimination. He used the example of marriage counselors who refuse to work with same-sex couples. He said “The religious exemption provided is wholly inadequate.” Of course, in Iowa they tried that and it got pointed out that the religious exemption could end up hurting just about every single group out there from different races and religions to LGBT Americans. When and if this is addressed, the odds on are that he will find some other excuse. Perhaps railing against robosexual marriage?”

The Globe and Mail: “The middle class has been shut out of a justice system that caters primarily to the very rich and the very poor, the country’s top judge has told a group of legal luminaries. Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin of the Supreme Court of Canada said on Tuesday that the middle class cannot hope to pay legal fees that average $338 per hour, leaving them little option but to represent themselves in court or go away empty-handed.”

Michelle Malkin writes at Townhall: “Planned Parenthood is a $1-plus billion business that rakes in one-third of its budget from government grants and contracts at both the state and federal levels. Congress has interrogated banking, energy, health insurance, tobacco and oil execs — treating them like serial killers before the cameras. When will they finally de-fund a corrupt industry that has real blood on its hands?”

Concord Monitor: “Despite being okayed by the Chichester Zoning Board, Fab Cusson’s application to build a Bible-quoting electronic sign on Route 4 was shot down by the planning board in a 4-3 vote Wednesday night. . . Michael Tierney, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, which protects religious freedom and has represented Cusson, did not attend Wednesday’s hearing but said ‘clearly religious speech has as much protection under the Constitution as commercial speech.’ Tierney declined to comment on the planning board’s decision or say whether he plans to appeal to the court system.” (Note: Tierney is an ADF allied attorney)

LezGetReal (A Gay Girl’s View on the World): “The Alliance Defense Fund, an organization that protects religious ‘rights’, is representing two churches in a lawsuit against the city of Mission. They are calling the tax a ‘tax on church attendance.’ Mission’s Mayor Laura McConwell has explained that ‘This is not a tax. This is a fee,’ but the Alliance Defense Fund is not buying that. The Alliance Defense Fund will be arguing that the fee is a property tax, not a fee based on the number of cars which are using the parking space . . . Why are churches tax-exempt to begin with?” (Related ADF Press Release)

ACLU: “The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Michigan filed a friend-of-the-court brief today supporting Eastern Michigan University’s (EMU’s) right to remove from its counseling program a graduate student who refused to counsel lesbian, gay and bisexual clients on any issues relating to same-sex relationships during her clinical training. The graduate student, Julea Ward, was in training to become a school counselor . . . The ACLU’s amicus brief can be found at: www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/ward-v-wilbanks-amicus-brief.”

Journal-Sentinel: “Justice David Prosser joined the state Supreme Court more than 12 years ago, but he’s only now facing a challenge at the ballot box.”

Lambda Legal: “Yesterday the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene issued a letter to state birth registrars announcing a procedure change allowing a woman to be named as a parent on the Maryland birth certificate of the child born to her same-sex married spouse, without the necessity of a court order. Lambda Legal applauds this advance for Maryland children.”

The Local: “Sweden’s Equality Ombudsman (Diskrimineringsombudsmannen, DO) has filed a lawsuit against parcel delivery company United Parcel Service (UPS) after the company dismissed a Muslim driver who refused to shave his beard.”

The majority of courts to consider the issue, as well as the majority of people voting on it, have rejected a right to same-sex marriage.

AP: “Indonesian police say 10 suspects have been arrested after Islamic hard-liners set churches on fire and killed three members of a minority Islamic sect.”

AP: “P.C. Air, which will fly to several Asian destinations starting in April, had its first training session this week for 30 recruits, including four from ‘the third sex.’”

CNN: “The USPS, a self-supporting government agency that receives no tax dollars, said it suffered a loss of $329 million in the first quarter of federal fiscal year 2011. That compared with a loss of $297 million a year earlier.”

Daily Mail: “A Christian GP claimed last night that he had been ‘sacrificed on the altar of political correctness’ after being sacked as a government drugs adviser. Dr Hans-Christian Raabe, a respected family doctor, was dismissed for holding ‘embarrassing’ views about homosexuality.”

CNN: “The International Monetary Fund issued a report Thursday on a possible replacement for the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. The IMF said Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, could help stabilize the global financial system.”

Bluegrass Policy Blog: “Legislators on both sides of the aisle, Dems as well as Republicans, in Indiana get it – charter schools work, and their state deserves more of them.”