What’s interesting in the news today?
Open Thread, so feel free to share.
The DOJ has decided they’re going to crack down on speech offensive to religious folks, and comments considered to be anti-religion. It’s a violation of their civil rights. Well, certain ones anyway…
From Politico
“A U.S. attorney in Tennessee is reportedly vowing to use federal civil rights statutes to clamp down on offensive and inflammatory speech about Islam.
Bill Killian, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, was quoted by the Tullahoma News this week suggesting that some inflammatory material on Islam might run afoul of federal civil rights laws.”
“”This is an educational effort with civil rights laws as they play into freedom of religion and exercising freedom of religion,” Killian said about the meeting. “This is also to inform the public what federal laws are in effect and what the consequences are.””
More here from JudicialWatch
And TheTullahomaNews
Some religions are more equal than others in the mind of our govt. I guess. The DOJ doesn’t appear to be planning on giving Christians, Catholics, and Mormons the same protections. That’s a shame, because they could start the crack down right now, and a whole lot of libs would be in trouble.
From TheBlaze with a CONTENT WARNING! because they get pretty bad.
“In February, Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, an Oregon-based bakery, found themselves at the center of a media firestorm after refusing to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple’s ceremony. Nearly four months later, the small business continues to receive threatening and harassing phone calls and e-mails, as they grapple with the ongoing fall-out from their controversial decision. This week, they spoke with TheBlaze about the ongoing drama.
It was Jan. 17 when a mother and her daughter showed up at the shop and chatted with Aaron about purchasing a cake; their meeting was short-lived, though. Upon learning that the wedding was for two women, the baker purportedly politely declined service to the women, citing his Christian faith. Aaron apologized, but stayed true to his values.”
“From claims that Aaron should be shot to one apparent threat that he be raped, the hate and angst being thrown the Klein family’s way is certainly serious in nature. Some have even wished for the couple’s five children to be stricken with illness. Aaron and Melissa shared a number of the e-mails with TheBlaze.”
This seems to be exactly the kind of behavior that they’re talking about. Why the double standard?
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Uh-oh. Looks like the healthcare rationing has already begun. Well, at least there are no death panels yet. Well except for that one…
From CNSNews
“A pre-existing condition health insurance program established by Obamacare is already straining its own budget and, to control costs, the administration’s Health and Human Services Department (HHS) has stopped enrolling any new people in the program, according to an audit by the General Accountability Office (GAO).
In addition, to further control spending, HHS has directed the program to shift more of the costs onto the current enrollees, thus raising the out-of-pocket health care expenses for the people with pre-existing conditions.”
Not a 😯
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Remember way back like a week ago when the IRS scandal was just a few rogue employees? Those were the good ol’ days.
From CNNPoliticalTicker
“The Internal Revenue Service has told House GOP investigators they have identified 88 IRS employees who may have documents relevant to the congressional investigation into targeting of conservative groups, according to a congressional source familiar with the investigation.
The IRS asked these employees to preserve all the “responsive documents” on their computers, and it has been in the process of collecting it all to comply with congressional requests for information. The IRS missed its May 21st deadline to turn over documents to the House Ways and Means Committee.
The same source said the IRS argues it missed its deadline because of the scope of documents it is collecting.”
Looks like they’ll need a new story. Again.
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How do you reward the man who helped us get Osama bin Laden? If you’re the Obama admin, you blow his cover and leave him to the wolves.
From FoxNews
“It was the Obama administration that sealed the fate of the Pakistani doctor jailed for helping nail Usama Bin Laden, by divulging key details after the fact and dooming any chance Shakil Afridi’s cover story could win his freedom, according to a confidential Pakistani report.”
“Indeed, Panetta and others in the Obama administration were sharply criticized domestically for discussing the raid and efforts involving Afridi to obtain DNA from the compound’s occupants by posing as a medical team offering vaccinations. Nearly five months before Afridi’s sentencing, while the doctor was being held and interrogated by Pakistan’s shadowy intelligence agency , Panetta spoke on record in an interview to CBS “60 Minutes” confirming Afridi’s role in late January 2012. The statements came after Afridi had testified to the commission, and sharply contradicted his story.”
“The U.S. intelligence community was alarmed at the Obama administration’s loose-lipped attitude toward the raid, according to New York Times reporter David Sanger’s book “Confront and Conceal,” which claimed leaks prompted then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to angrily confront Obama’s National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon.”
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Christian shops and stores who don’t want to do gay weddings need to take a different approach to their defense. They are not refusing to serve a particular group of people. I’m sure a gay person can buy a box of cupcakes ,but they should phrase it as a product we do not offer. We don’t do gay weddings. Surely they government cannot force people to offer a product that goes against their religion. Would it be against the law for Jewish deli not to offer ham sandwiches?
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Another hard-hitting piece on the IRS scandal by Peggy Noonan, who really has found her voice on this issue:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324412604578515673945731506.html
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KBells, That is a good idea. It may not sell in some parts of the country, but the deli argument makes a lot of sense.
Donna, I have always liked Peggy Noonan. Apart from the politics, if the US can’t fix the IRS problem as well as ideological issues in certain other agencies, there is going to be a huge group of Americans who see their own government as their permanent enemy. That is not healthy for any country.
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On healthcare, I am going to be interested to see if Republicans like Paul Ryan come up with good ideas for reforms, like his original Medicare reform idea. If they only try to repeal the unpopular parts of Obamacare, they will probably make it even worse. The problem in healthcare for 50 years has been people getting something for nothing. The most unpopular parts of Obamacare are probably the only parts that should be retained.
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Interesting ….
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Interesting article from NYT and why medical cost are higher in the US. Just the opening graphic was eye-opening for me.
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IRS, guaranteed to just keep getting more interesting
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRS_INVESTIGATION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-06-02-12-10-02
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