What’s interesting in the news today?
First up, a weird story. I see the judge’s point, but I don’t see how this survives appeal.
From TheTennessean “A Newport mother is appealing a court’s decision after a judge ordered her son’s name be changed from “Messiah.”
Jaleesa Martin and the father of Messiah could not agree on a last name, which is how they ended up at a child support hearing in Cocke County Chancery Court on Thursday.”
“”The word Messiah is a title and it’s a title that has only been earned by one person and that one person is Jesus Christ,” Judge Ballew said.
Martin responded saying, “I was shocked. I never intended on naming my son Messiah because it means God and I didn’t think a judge could make me change my baby’s name because of her religious beliefs.””
I don’t see how she can either.
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And speaking of things that might not be legal…..
The Constitutional Scholar strikes again. Shouldn’t he know better?
From ABCNews “President Obama surprised aides when he revealed today the existence of a sealed indictment in the Benghazi, Libya, attack, leaving some wondering if he crossed a legal line.”
“That marked the only official confirmation so far of a sealed indictment in the Benghazi case. For days, officials across the law enforcement and intelligence communities have refused to publicly confirm reports of a sealed indictment.
After all, according to federal law, “no person may disclose [a sealed] indictment’s existence,” and a “knowing violation … may be punished as a contempt of court.” Contempt of court carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail.”
I guess he’s willing to break the law to toot his own horn. How classy. 🙄
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Another Dem using govt authority to intimidate political opponents and groups supporting Stand Your Ground laws.
From TheDailyCaller “Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin is facing a firestorm of criticism after sending letters to hundreds of organizations trying to find out the depth of their relationship with the American Legislative Exchange Council.
The senator’s interest in ALEC is based on the stand your ground legislation that has become a focal point for liberal activists and lawmakers after the George Zimmerman trial in Florida. But his hometown newspaper, The Chicago Tribune, editorialized that the inquiries looked like “Durbin’s enemies list.”
“Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz released a statement today blasting Durbin’s inquiry:
“Senator Durbin’s request for ALEC supporters to announce an official position on gun laws in advance of a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing is inappropriate, and I encourage recipients not to respond,” Cruz said. “While Senator Durbin is free to make any inquiry he likes, in my view this effort represents an inappropriate governmental intrusion into the personal and political views of American citizens and businesses.””
Just like the IRS and FEC.
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Next up, with this kind of administration, it’s no wonder they’re bankrupt.
From Bloomberg “In late February, cash-strapped Detroit received a $1 million check from the local school system that wasn’t deposited. The routine payment wound up in a city hall desk drawer, where it was found a month later.”
“This is the way Detroit did business as it slid toward bankruptcy, which it entered July 18. The move exposed $18 billion of long-term obligations in a city plagued by unreliable buses, broken street lights and long waits for police and ambulances. Underlying poor service is a government that lacks modern technology and can’t perform such basic functions as bill collecting, according to Kevyn Orr, Detroit’s emergency manager.”
Read the link, Detroit’s woes are legion. Gross mismanagement at all levels, and every office it seems.
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Once again, the Obama admin embarrasses the military with more of it’s social experimentation. I think they do this not only to further their push to make all things gay seem normal, but also just to humiliate the military. It’s pathetic.
From FoxNews “The U.S. Air Force said that a well-known drag queen group was invited to perform on base during a “Diversity Day” celebration because drag is a “symbol of gay pride and unity. But the performance sparked outrage among some airmen who called the drag show “totally offensive and inappropriate.””
“The Air Force said in a statement to Fox News that “Diversity Day” featured eight cultural groups and was meant to “foster equality and diversity in the workplace.”
““Drag acts to this day represent the struggle for freedom and equality of the LGBT community, while at the same time providing a deep-rooted historical form of entertainment for the LGBT culture,” said Peggy Hodge, a spokesperson for the Office of Public Affairs.”
But it has what to do with the military or furthering it’s mission? It’s disgusting, as are the so-called military leaders who play along with this idiocy.
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Wandering Views 
1. Obama doesn’t care if he crossed the legal line. He owns the DOJ.
And the Senate.
And the media.
2. Who brought the suit against the name Messiah? I doubt the woman knew what she was doing. The child will have lots of problems with this as it gets older.
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Chas – The original reason the parents were in the court was that they were fighting over whose last name he should have. The judge took it upon herself to change his first name. Surprisingly, to me at least, Messiah is a new somewhat popular name for babies.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this gets overturned. In the meantime, the parents can still call him whatever they want, despite his legal name.
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Calling a child “Messiah” is the same as cllling him “Christ”.
I think that is a popular hispanic name.
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I found this chart on fertility rates by nation to be very interesting. I would have never guessed that the US fertility rate was higher than Brazil’s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_by_fertility_rate
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The de-construct of the president’s speech. And there’s that “tone” again … Sigh:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/08/the-surveillance-speech-a-low-point-in-barack-obamas-presidency/278565/
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Obviously, the judge overstepped. In some European countries there is a set list of approved names but the English speaking world allows any name possible. Poor kid but the judge’s decision and rationale is an overreach to say the least.
Politicians and lobbying groups should be forced to dress like NASCAR drivers so the people can see who is really in charge. Nothing wrong with asking lobby groups to reveal the source of their funding or other means of support. Perhaps asking for one specific group is a bad idea, but the general idea is good. ALEC has inserted itself into the democratic process going as far as to write actually legislation so that laws they support are almost the same from state to state. ALEC is a manifestation of the corporate state …. for the corporation, by the corporation and of the corporation.
Florida failed to properly institute ACA and its people will probably suffer higher rates as a result.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/aug/08/ted-deutch/florida-democrats-say-gov-rick-scott-and-legislatu/
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Ricky, you might be interested in reading Jonathan Last’s What to Expect When No One’s Expecting: America’s Coming Demographic Disaster. I found it a compelling read in many respects, as it looked at the different ways fertility is measured, what impact diminishing fertility rates have already begun to have in countries where the rates have fallen below replacement level, how the U.S. is headed in the same direction and the reasons behind it, and so on.
You can take a peek inside the book at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/What-Expect-When-Ones-Expecting/dp/1594036411/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376332942&sr=8-1&keywords=what+to+expect+whe
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Ricky — The real surprise is not Brazil and Chile’s low rate but the fact that France matches the US. You can’t assign this completely to Arab immigration. In terms of 1st generation immigrants there is just as many Poles (who have a very low fertility rate) and Arabs including 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants only constituent 10% of the population. these numbers are only estimates as its illegal to collect ethnic demographic information in France (for at least the last 150 years). Of course the French gov’t makes it very easy to have children — maternity leaves, monetary bonuses for more than one child, etc.
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HRW,
Strange, I don’t recall the same concerns over Soros’s group, OfA, or any like minded manifestations of the liberal nanny-state “interfering” from the left and inserting themselves into the democratic process. OfA and Soro’s and such are for the liberal, by the liberal, and of the liberal….
When they disclose, then ALEC should too. Until then, no. All, or none.
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Not surprising that the US is ranked around 120. After all, we’ve been lowering birth rates thru abortion for 40 years. We took 56 million births out of the equation. We’ll reap the consequences for it too. In fact we already are in areas like tax paying and Social Security contributions.
Worldwide, the number sits around 1.3 billion lost to abortion. 150 more occurred in the time it took to type this. None of this is surprising.
http://www.numberofabortions.com/
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…for the corporation, by the corporation, OR by the liberal, for the liberal, or whatever the case, it’s lawmakers who pass the laws. The stereotype, of course, is that Republicans are in the pocket of corporations and rich folk, etc. Don’t pretend that’s not every bit the case with Dems.
Hopefully, nobody needs to be disabused of the notion that more regulation or government involvement is going to *somehow* (?) clean up bad legislation. A bunch of Ron Pauls wouldn’t have given us this garbage.
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As I said AJ, all politicians should be required to wear NASCAR like suits to show their sponsors baring that a simple list at the end of their name instead of (D) or (R) would suffice.
Of course, its both Democrat and Republcian who help corporations. For the most part, party differences are relatively minor in the US (you have exceptions on both ends … Ron Paul, Bernie Saunders, etc) and both parties are “sponsored” by corporations. Some pundits have pointed out that the Democrats tend to be the party of the finance and entertainment while Republicans belong to the military industrial complex and resource companies. Far too general since its usually specific to where a congressman comes from.
AJ I think Ricky was surprised to see Brazil and Chile with a lower birth rate than the US. The remarkable thing is how high the US rate is not how low. In the OECD countries (top 40 economies), only Ireland, Mexico, Turkey, New Zealand, Indonesia, Iceland, South Africa, India, and Israel have higher birth rates. In other words, all of the developed countries and some developing countries have a lower rate. Abortion may affect the numbers slightly but in reality birth rates tend to lower as countries become more urban and/or developed. In fact some countries with strict abortion laws may also have low birth rates eg Poland and Chile.
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Slightly?
Really?
56 million in the US effects it way more than slightly. Even more so when the number is 1.3 BILLION. Slightly is a gross under-exaggeration.
Oops, fixed the wrong number above. It wasn’t 556 million, it was 56 million.
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HRW, I agree with you that the US birthrate is relatively high. How do you explain Canada’s low rate, particularly given the low cost to have a baby?
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6Arrows, Thanks for the tip. That looks like a good book.
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You’re welcome, sir. 🙂
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This is proof of something I had previously read. With few exceptions, conservative states have high birthrates and liberal states have low birthrates. We (Texas) are number 5.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_fertility_rate
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Interesting chart, Ricky. I’d heard the same thing about conservative vs. liberal states and their birthrates. I was surprised to see Alabama so far down the list, though.
It was interesting to note the geographical pattern, too. Not surprising that just about the whole Northeast has low rates, but I see also that almost all the states east of the Mississippi River are below the national average TFR, and all but three states west of the Mississippi are above the average.
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In general, areas with higher urbanization and/or income/development have a lower birth rate. This trend is also true within the US. Although there are exceptions, rural states tend to have higher birth rates and states with higher GDP per capita have lower birth rates.
Canada’s birth rate is almost exactly the EU average which I would expect given its urbanization and GDP.
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HRW, I would have expected the birthrates in Canada and the UK to be similar, with Canada perhaps being a little higher. The UK’s rate is almost 20% higher. Over half the births in the UK are to single women. That makes me think that the UK’s welfare system may be a factor.
6arrows, The east/west divide is interesting. It is also interesting to me that Oklahoma is so high as I believe that Oklahoma is the “oldest” state (by age of its citizens).
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I wouldn’t have guessed that Oklahoma is the “oldest”. Florida, maybe, or Arizona? Of course, maybe a lot of the older people in those two states are only there part of the year and are not considered “residents”. I haven’t really studied up on that.
I think the higher total fertility rate in Oklahoma is saying that of all the people in the state who are of childbearing age, they are having comparatively more babies than are the people of childbearing age in other states.
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Cnas: Calling a child “Messiah” is the same as cllling him “Christ”.
I think that is a popular hispanic name.
Actually, Jesus (pronounced [hey-SOOS]) is popular among Spanish speakers. I don’t think any of them would name a child “Cristo” (Christ).
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6 Arrows, You were right about Florida and I was wrong about Oklahoma.
http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/26/real_estate/americas_oldest_states/index.htm
You were also right about the calculation of the Total Fertility Rate for a state or country.
Note to self: In the future realize persons with six children probably know more about fertility rates than you do. 🙂
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LOL, Ricky!
Thanks for all the links today. I learned some new things, and that’s always good for someone who would be older than the median age in no matter which state she might choose to live in. 🙂
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Ricky — there is no correlation between a generous welfare system and single mothers. Scandinavia is not awash in single mothers. And the UK welfare system is probably the least generous in western Europe. Besides, single moms can be teen moms or career moms its not a very coherent group.
In terms of teen moms, the UK, the US and Portugal traditionally have the highest rate. Not exactly glowing examples of a welfare state. A book called the Spirit Level looks at the correlation between income inequality and several social ills include teen pregnancies. The highest rate of teen pregnancy occur in countries with the highest level of inequality. And yes the authors looked at pregnancy not births (ie they tried to account for abortions).
Simply put, countries with generous welfare systems actually have less teen pregnancies and single moms. Welfare is not the only motivation …. a realization that welfare is probably better than trying to get ahead might be it … ie in countries with high income inequality and low income mobility (doing better than your parents) which is the US, UK and to a lesser degree Portugal.
Note: Portugal also has a low average marriage age which may also account for why they have a high teen pregnancy rate. Interesting statistical fact; Anglo-Saxon countries have higher rates than most European countries.
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The US still has income mobility, but it works both ways. Half of the old middle class went up and the other half went down. Mr. Murray explained why in your favorite book.
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