What’s news today?
We’ve got lot’s today. Let’s start with something good, or at least pretty cool.
From TheIndependentUK
“Sergei Gaschak’s photography offers an unparalleled glimpse at animal life inside “the zone”, the area of Ukraine and Belarus that has been officially closed off to human habitation since the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe of 1986.
Using camera traps to take photographs mechanically, as well as taking photographs personally, Gaschak has captured what few have been able to see with their own eyes – the remarkable diversity of wildlife within the zone.”
“According to a book on animal and plant life in the zone, A Natural History of Chernobyl, the only abnormalities found in animals has been albino spots and deformities in barn swallows.”
Pretty amazing considering what happened.
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Horrible news out of Brazil.
From Yahoo
“A nightclub fire killed at least 233 people in southern Brazil early on Sunday when a band’s pyrotechnics show set the building ablaze and fleeing partygoers stampeded toward blocked and overcrowded exits in the ensuing panic, officials said.”
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President Obama is trying to stick it to our military yet again on their healthcare benefits.
From WFB
“The Obama administration’s proposed defense budget calls for military families and retirees to pay sharply more for their healthcare, while leaving unionized civilian defense workers’ benefits untouched. The proposal is causing a major rift within the Pentagon, according to U.S. officials. Several congressional aides suggested the move is designed to increase the enrollment in Obamacare’s state-run insurance exchanges.
The disparity in treatment between civilian and uniformed personnel is causing a backlash within the military that could undermine recruitment and retention.
The proposed increases in health care payments by service members, which must be approved by Congress, are part of the Pentagon’s $487 billion cut in spending. It seeks to save $1.8 billion from the Tricare medical system in the fiscal 2013 budget, and $12.9 billion by 2017.”
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They’ve learned nothing. These are the same flawed policies that got us in trouble the first time around.
“Despite new evidence the Community Reinvestment Act led to riskier lending and played a key role in the subprime mortgage crisis, the Obama administration is broadening the anti-redlining regulation’s authority and scope, spooking bankers.
A recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the nation’s pre-eminent economic research group, states that the CRA “clearly” had a major impact on the flood of subprime loans made in the late 1990s and 2000s, which directly led to the housing crisis.
By quietly expanding the regulation, analysts say President Obama is picking up where President Clinton left off in April 1995, when he rewrote rules for what had been a largely toothless law as first drafted in 1977.”
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Just like with NLRB ruling against the Obama admin last week, the pattern of just ignoring the courts, laws, and Constitution continues.
From Breitbart
“Earlier this week, thanks to Horner’s good work, the EPA was supposed to produce the first installment of some 12,000 secret, previously undisclosed emails. Not because it wanted to but because a federal court order required it to.
Under the order, the EPA was to provide the first installment of 3,000 e-mails with three additional installments of 3,000 e-mails to follow. Rather than provide the required emails, however, EPA’s cover letter accompanying its production of emails said it “produced more than 2,100 emails received or sent” by Jackson on an official alias e-mail account.
All fine, well and good – except that not one of those emails was from “Richard Windsor’s” account. Not one. Yet it is certain the account exists because Horner found three Windsor emails using other means. Instead the EPA provided such absurdly silly and unresponsive e-mails as the daily news briefs published by the Washington Post, and EPA national news clippings, a pathetic attempt to avoid a contempt citation that came only after a week’s worth of unsuccessful attempts to push the official response date down the road. ”
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Meanwhile, another court has dealt a serious blow to the “green” energy scam from the EPA.
From TheDailyCaller
“A federal court delivered a serious blow to the Environmental Protection Agency’s renewable fuel agenda, ruling that the agency exceeded its authority by mandating refiners use cellulosic biofuels, which isn’t commercially available.
The court sided with the country’s chief oil and gas lobby, the American Petroleum Institute, in striking down the 2012 EPA mandate that would have forced refineries to purchase more than $8 million in credits for 8.65 million of gallons of the cellulosic biofuel. However, none of the biofuel is commercially available.
“[W]e agree with API that EPA’s 2012 projection of cellulosic biofuel production was in excess of the agency’s statutory authority,” reads the court decision.”
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And here’s some more on that NLRB ruling. From CNSNews
“In his opinion, Chief Judge David Sentelle systematically analyzed the actual constitutional language in question and what it meant to the Framers.”
““When interpreting a constitutional provision, we must look to the natural meaning of the text as it would have been understood at the time of the ratification of the Constitution,” wrote Judge Sentelle.
“Then, as now, the word ‘the’ was and is a definite article. See 2 Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language 2041 (1755) (defining ‘the’ as an ‘article noting a particular thing’ (emphasis added)),” said the judge. “Unlike ‘a’ or ‘an,’ that definite article suggests specificity. As a matter of cold, unadorned logic, it makes no sense to adopt the [National Labor Relations] Board’s proposition that when the Framers said ‘the Recess,’ what they really meant was ‘a recess.’ This is not an insignificant distinction. In the end it makes all the difference.””
You would think a supposed “Constitutional Scholar” would know this stuff, but no. Maybe that’s why we can’t see his grades, thesis, or publications.
😉
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Wandering Views 
Thanks, AJ, for keeping us informed of what is going on. You are good at filtering through the news and finding what is of most import.
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I hope this video comes up that I received on e-mail:
http://patriotaction.net/video/video/show?id=2600775:Video:6073674&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_video
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Maybe this has already been posted. It’s just a short news item, probably developed in more detail elsewhere: the boy scouts are looking at lifting the ban on homosexual leaders. http://www.newser.com/story/161785/boy-scouts-leaders-in-talks-to-end-gay-ban.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=united&utm_campaign=rss_3_2
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This sadden me
Scouts considering retreat from no-gays policy
http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20130128/US.Boy.Scouts.Gays/
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I would hope that the policy is not changed. I do know from when my son was in Scouts that there were some groups which were basically made up of homeschooled boys. My son’s Scout group had a nice mix of homeschool, private school and public school students. If they go through with the change then I assume it would mean there would be groups labeled “gay-friendly” and others not. Somehow that seems to isolate certain groups so they could be targeted for one reason or another. I am not sure that is the answer. The scout program is such a good program that I think all boys could benefit from it. At the same time, it should not be a situation where people are able to influence the boys to take up an alternative lifestyle. What a difficult position for the leaders to have to sort out. The leaders need our prayers.
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If the Scouts do surrender, how will the christian Church respond?
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That is an interesting concept, Pastor Roy. Many Scout Troops meet in churches.
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I’m confident your churches can retain their bans on fraternization with sinners. Chin up you can continue to deny eagle scout status to the boys who don’t fit your views in your chapters.
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My My CB. Bad weekend?
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drivesguy if it looks like the Scout have surrender to the Bigots from the GLBT Community and their supports. I can see some churches breaking away from the boy scouts. We could even see some troops themselves break away for the main group over this.
As for CB comments well it is just CB being CB.
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These passages come to my mind with the scout’s relationship with the church and with the GLBT Community and if we may see some churches and scouts break away from the main scout group.
2 Corinthians 6:13-15
13 Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also be open.
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever
Ephesians 5:10-12
New King James Version (NKJV)
10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.
1 John 1:5-7
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
These are just a few passages that came to my mine.
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I believe the Scouts are at a very dangerous cross roads do we surrender our fellowship with the Christian Community in order to meet the needs of the GLBT Community which is one road or do we stay the course an face more attacks from the GLBT Community, which will result in more cities, towns and states to start attacking the Boy Scouts.
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the idea of fellowship is going to play a big role here.
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CB, would you at least allow that there is room in the dialogue/debate for an alternate view on gay marriage based sincerely on religious conscience?
We’re not talking about “fraternization” or hanging out with sinners (heck, that’s impossible not to do even when you’re hanging out with just you, right?). The issue rather is one of religious principle (is that no longer allowed?) as it is being applied in the overall discussion.
It seems only one view now is permissible and that there is no room for honest disagreement.
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Donna
Yes, of course. I do believe that churches should have sole authority over whom they wish to marry – there are some hetrosexual couples a church mayy wish to deny and that is also up to the church.
I would say the same for what organizations a church wants to permit to meet on its grounds. I understand that there are a few conservative evangelical churches that would not allow girl scouts to meet on their property and that is their right.
But scouts are not churches.
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I figured the Boy Scouts would eventually cave. The Mormons are very tightly tied to the Boy Scouts. I will be interested to see if they also cave. My guess is: Yes, they will. Romney sure did in his past, and the Mormons were never orthodox in their beliefs anyway.
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how many others will cave also?
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But the Scouts are a private organization.
I suppose it’s been a challenge, though, seeing as how they’ve been blocked from using many public buildings for their meetings, etc., based on this one position.
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The Scouts have had a rich history with the Christian Church. The bullies from the GLBT Community have been sucessful in blocking money and yes Donna places to meet. In one city the Scouts were paying $1.00 a month in renting space from the city, a Dem Mayor after failing to force the change on the Scouts polices raised the rent to over $6000 a month. The Mayor was clear it was to punish the Scouts.
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Pastor Roy, What is happening in other countries is really interesting. The US and Western Europe are pressuring countries to adopt pro-homosexual laws. Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Muslim countries, most African countries and some traditional Asian countries are clearly anti-homosexual. The Catholic countries are holding firm against homosexual marriage, but are not imposing punitive laws like we are now seeing in Russia and Africa. However, the influence of the US and the West is clearly in decline. I am trying to view the US as a neutral observer, while clearly hoping my grandchildren grow up in another country.
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These Kids are being unfairly target because of the Scouts values and yes, their relationship with the Christian Church.
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Donna,
Indeed they are a private organization and as such have no explicit right to meet in public buildings.
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If Russia makes a comeback (as it appears to be doing), I expect Russia to use this issue to paint the US and the West as decadent and perverted as it seeks to expand its alliances with Muslim and other traditional countries. That tactic will be aided by issues related to the adoption of babies from Third World countries by US homosexuals.
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Ricky,
Russia may well try that as a tactic. Russia also likes to tout its respect for national sovereignty by allowing repression and persecution of religious minorities, political minorities and others to pass without comment. Should the US follow that example in external relations?
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CB, I am not advocating the US follow Russia on any policy. I really don’t care what the US does. As noted I have given up on the US and view it solely as a neutral observer. My comments were made solely as a prediction.
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The Scouts don’t have a “right” to public facilities, but should they be banned solely on their stand on homosexuality?
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Donna, Public policy in the US is like a card or domino game with trumps. The hierarchy changes over time, but the current rules are:
1. Hispanic trumps Anglo.
2. Disabled trumps Hispanic.
3. Woman trumps Disabled.
4. Black trumps Woman.
5. Green trumps Black.
6. Homosexual trumps Green.
If you don’t believe me, please note that black basketball player Kobe Bryant got away with rape, but was fined for an anti-homosexual remark.
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doona the scouts do have a right to public facilities,equal acess.
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Donna
If there a group that banned Christian kids from participation, should that group have access to public facilities? I’d say no. If a group is to have access to public facilities for meeting space then, in my view, it should not discriminate on account of race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or other status.
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CB, If there was a group that banned Christian kids from participating, what Christian would want to join the group?
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CB forgets that Chrisitan’s have been banned from public facilities.
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