What’s interesting in the news today?
Open thread, here’s a few to start things off.
_________________________________________________
From Breitbart “Obamacare is before the U.S. Supreme Court again. On Thursday, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) lawyers filed the first viable petition for Supreme Court review involving Kathleen Sebelius’ HHS Mandate, which requires employers to provide abortion-related insurance coverage, even if those employers have a religious objection to abortion.
Section 1001 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) requires all large employers to offer “preventive services” to their employees or face enormous financial penalties. With President Obama’s approval, Sebelius issued a regulation that defined preventive services to include access to birth control, including those that cause abortions after conception. The regulation issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) only allows narrow exceptions, such as for churches, but leaves other religion-oriented or religiously-owned employers subject to the regulation. “
“These lawsuits argue both that the HHS Mandate violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment as well as a federal law called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The federal appeals courts have split on whether a religiously-owned business can claim religious-liberty protections and whether requiring people to provide abortion-related services is a substantial burden on religious faith.”
_________________________________________________
But Democrat Chris Murphy would like you to believe that forcing folks to violate their religious convictions is the morally right thing to do. 🙄
From CNSNews “Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said that it would be morally justifiable for Congress to pass a continuing resolution that forces Americans to buy health care plans covering abortion-inducing drugs even if doing so violates their religious beliefs.
CNSNews.com asked Murphy about funding the controversial provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, following a press conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday.”
_________________________________________________
Tom DeLay is back in the news. His conviction for money laundering has been overturned on appeal.
From KVUE/ABC “Found guilty in 2010, the lawmaker known as “the Hammer” became a convicted felon.
“It is what it is and we will carry on,” DeLay told reporters after the verdict was announced. Lead attorney Dick DeGuerin assured the gathered media, “This will never stand up on appeal.”
On Thursday, a two to one decision by the Third Court of Appeals overturned that conviction, citing a lack of evidence. In the majority opinion, Justice Melissa Goodwin explained, “The fundamental problem with the State’s case was its failure to prove proceeds of criminal activity.”
This decision will be appealed as well, but by prosecutors.
_________________________________________________
Just think, when Common Core is fully implemented all public school kids will be learning the important stuff they need to succeed.
Or not. 🙄
From FoxNews “Fourth grade students in Vermilion Parish, La. were given a homework assignment that included words like “Po Pimp” and “mobstaz,” but school officials said the worksheet was age appropriate based on an education website affiliated with Common Core education standards.
“I try to instill values in my son,” parent Brittney Badeaux told Fox News. “My goal is for him to ultimately to become a great man, a family man, a well-rounded man. And now my son wants to know what a pimp is.””
“Vermilion Parish School Superintendent Jerome Puyau told Fox News the “po-pimp” assignment was aligned to a fourth grade English Language Arts standard for Common Core.
“Out of context, this word is inappropriate,” Puyau said. “However, within the Common Core standards, they do want us to discuss real world texts.”
The Superintendent says this will help them later in life when buying albums. I kid you not. 🙄
_________________________________________________
And here’s one that Chas posted last night, in case you missed it.
There’s a whole lot I’d like to say about these cowards not having the decency to hear these folks out. But I won’t. I’ll just say that I find this disgusting and shameful, which is exactly what I’ve come to expect from Democrats.
From TownHall “During the second portion of a House Oversight and Government Reform hearing about Benghazi Thursday on Capitol Hill, the majority of Democrats on the Committee left the room and refused to listen to the testimony of Patricia Smith and Charles Woods. Ms. Smith is the mother of Sean Smith, an information management officer killed in the 9/11 Benghazi attack. Charles Woods is the father of Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods, who was also killed.”
More here from HotAir, along with some video.
_________________________________________________
Wandering Views 
Every day there is more evidence that Texas and Russia are natural allies.
http://rt.com/news/greenpeace-activists-arctic-arrested-089/
LikeLike
Common Core is a disaster. Becca is in second grade. On her homework last night, she had to find the thesis statement (they couldn’t just say the main idea–they had to use the term thesis). They told us they will not be teaching math facts–they don’t have time! Nor will they be teaching hand-writing, for the same reason. They tell her to use “inventive” spelling–never bothering to correct the misspelled words. They do not have access to a dictionary to look up how to spell the words correctly. It’s insanity. I’m supplementing a lot at home–hand-writing, math facts, phonics (they use the sight word method for reading). Oh how I loathe public school!!!!
LikeLike
Agreed, annms. The entire *concept* of government-funded, government-run education is a farce.
Oh yeah, Tom DeLay. How many reminders do we need of our failed win-at-all-costs voting strategy?
LikeLike
From Drudge:
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Six months into his papacy, Pope Francis sent shock waves through the Roman Catholic church on Thursday with the publication of his remarks that the church had grown “obsessed” with abortion, gay marriage and contraception, and that he had chosen not to talk about those issues despite recriminations from critics.
………………….
He articulated his vision of an inclusive church, a “home for all” — which is a striking contrast with his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, the doctrinal defender who envisioned a smaller, purer church.
Francis told the interviewer, a fellow Jesuit: “It is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time. The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent. The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently.
“We have to find a new balance,” the pope continued, “otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.”
The Roman Catholic Church and I differ greatly on theology. However, whoever they are, they lose their way if they compromise on core doctrine. It continues:
The pope’s interview did not change church doctrine or policies, but it instantly changed its tone. His words evoked gratitude and hope from many liberal Catholics who had felt left out in the cold during the papacies of Benedict and his predecessor, John Paul II, which together lasted 35 years. Some lapsed Catholics suggested on social media a return to the church, and leaders of gay rights and gay Catholic groups called on bishops to abandon their fight against gay marriage.
But it left conservative and traditionalist Catholics, and those who have devoted themselves to the struggles against abortion, gay marriage and artificial contraception, on the defensive, though some cast it as nothing new.
LikeLike
Inventive spelling is never good. 😉
LikeLike
Chas, I suspect part of the problem is that the pope is talking too much to the secular media (imagine my saying such a thing!).
There also are translation & editing issues. I follow some conservative Catholic bloggers on twitter and they’ve indicated that some of what he’s being quoted as saying is being taken completely out of its full context — sound bytes and are being used to say what he didn’t mean to say at all. They’ve given some examples of the popular “ideas” being reported — along with the full remarks surrounding them which really do give a fuller understanding of what the pope at least was trying to convey.
I haven’t read a lot of these pieces — and I have also been stunned at some of the headlines I’ve seen. These latest reports, from what I’ve read, seem to be saying that the pope was suggesting a return emphasizing evangelism and the gospel (and again, RCs and we disagree on some aspects of even that, going way back) in as much as the church sometimes becomes distracted by social/political issues of our time).
To be charitable, I think for now the jury’s still out on this new pope. Hopefully some of these remarks will be better explained and he’ll become more savvy about interviews. If there hasn’t been a misreading, and the essence of what he’s saying is what it sounds like he’s saying, then I agree there seems to be a drift from sound (such as it is in the RC church) doctrine and from an uncompromising stance on issues of our day, no matter how unpopular.
But I still think the problem may be that he’s simply talking too much (and thus getting edited too much, usually by liberal journalists who hear what they want to hear?).
LikeLike
Most classes except for AP or pre-AP in public schools have been a joke for many years. As is detailed above, public schools are now a menace. The horrible economy makes private schools difficult for many families. Home school is the answer for some. However, churches that provide a good private school education for middle-class kids at reasonable prices are performing a very important ministry. My son went to such a school from pre-K through 6th grade. His teachers were great. It amazed me how much the schools did with very few dollars. By the 7th grade, he was ready to be thrown into a Texas public school and football.
LikeLike
AJ, could you delete my last post. It occurred to me that the mothers I mentioned might not want me to share their stories.
LikeLike
Done.
LikeLike
Analysis regarding the pope:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/getreligion/2013/09/pope-francis-on-sin-confession-and-several-other-things/
” … Now, if there is anything to debate about these words it is this: Has the Catholic church been obsessed with these issues, at the daily level of pulpit and even the national bishops conference, or are these the topics that draw press coverage time and time again? …
“Now, anyone who has covered a meeting of the U.S. bishops knows that — on public policy — they spend far more time on issues such as economic injustice and immigration than on Sexual Revolution debates. But never mind. …
“The pope makes it clear that sinners — including himself — need healing and he points toward a pastoral setting as one of the key places that healing must take place. That setting is confession. And what do sinners do in confession? They repent of the sins that cause wounds, the sins that stand between them and, in church doctrine, true healing and a willingness to embrace salvation.
” … So the keys to all of these big stories in the mainstream press: Do they refer to the sin and confession content in the interview, as well as the controversial words about politics, the hierarchy, etc.? … “
LikeLike
And thoughts from a Catholic source (First Things):
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2013/09/20/pope-francis-advice-on-how-to-talk-about-abortion-gay-marriage-and-contraception/
” … It’s helpful, then, to look at the one concrete example (the pope) offers of engaging on a difficult moral question:
‘A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person. Here we enter into the mystery of the human being. In life, God accompanies persons, and we must accompany them, starting from their situation. It is necessary to accompany them with mercy. When that happens, the Holy Spirit inspires the priest to say the right thing.’
“The Pope’s approach is one familiar to any reader of the gospels. Pharisees try to discredit the gospel by trapping its teacher; the teacher refuses the terms of their question and raises the spiritual stakes. The point here is not to compromise on or back away from truth, but rather to reject its caricature. This is good practical guidance. If it’s what he meant in his broader remarks, then those remarks offer wise advice well worth taking.”
LikeLike
I got this in an e-mail I didn’t know if it were true, so I checked Snopes. Snopes had the quote without comment. So, take it for what it’s worth. You would think that even Chris Dodd would be too smart for this.
But maybe not.
In a bid to stem taxpayer losses for bad loans guaranteed by federal housing agencies Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac, Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn) proposed that borrowers be required to make a 5% down payment in order to qualify for a loan.
His proposal was rejected 57-42 on a straight party-line vote because, as Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn) explained, “Passage of such a requirement would restrict home ownership to only those who can afford it.”
LikeLike
This from Drudge:
House CR Forks Over $174,000 for Late Senator’s Wife
By Matt FullerPosted at 3:08 p.m. Sept. 20
There are many things House Republicans liked about the government continuing resolution. It defunds Obamacare, locks in the sequester spending cuts and keeps the government running.
But there’s one provision tucked into the CR that may anger constituents back home: Among the various sections of the House-passed CR are 28 words that would pay $174,000 to the widow of the late Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J.
“Sec. 134. Notwithstanding any other provision of this joint resolution, there is appropriated for payment to Bonnie Englebardt Lautenberg, widow of Frank R. Lautenberg, late a Senator from New Jersey, $174,000.”
The death gratuity — a long-practiced, little-known, unofficial perk of office — has been a staple of congressional deaths. A Congressional Research Service report on members who die in office says:
“…it has been the typical practice of the House to provide a death gratuity equal to the member’s annual salary, payable to the deceased member’s widow or widower, or children either in the annual legislative branch appropriations act or a measure providing supplemental funds for the legislative branch. By statute, a death gratuity is considered a gift.”
Before Lautenberg’s death, he was No. 8 on Roll Call’s 50 Richest Members of Congress with a net worth of at least $56.8 million.
LikeLike
Seems like a lot of political maneuvering going on today, who can keep up?
LikeLike