What’s interesting in the news today?
Lots to talk about today.
1. There’s no reason for this. It serves no other purpose but to insult.
From TheDailyMail “The rebels, who are members of the Islamic State terror group, were filmed attacking centuries-old graves in the north-west city of Mosul in Ninevah province.
Donning balaclavas and black coats, they swung sledgehammers into the tombs, causing pieces of dust and stone to fly through the air.”
“One of the devastated tombstones belonged to the Prophet Jonah (Younis in Arabic) and was revered by Muslims and Christians alike, according to Iraqi authorities.”
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2. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I have no interest whatsoever in anything aiding pedophiles, but this sets a very dangerous precedent, even for non-Catholics. Imagine the effect this could have on people seeking spiritual guidance that they think is, and should be, protected conversations.
From HotAir “Many observers misunderstood the Hobby Lobby dispute and others like it as a First Amendment case, but it wasn’t. It primarily related to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), with an indirect reference to the constitutional freedom of religious expression. A case in Louisiana may be the real McCoy, though. The Louisiana Supreme Court has ruled that a priest must testify in a case about what he heard in a confessional — an order that would result in automatic excommunication and damnation, according to the doctrine and canon law of the Catholic Church:
The state high court’s decision, rendered in May of this year, demands that a hearing be held in 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge, where the suit originated, to determine whether or not a confession was made. It reverses an earlier decision by the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeals dismissing the original lawsuit filed against Bayhi and the diocese. The case stems from a claim by parents of a minor that their daughter confessed to Bayhi during the sacrament of reconciliation that she engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with grown man who also attended their church. Court documents indicate the child was 12 years old at the time of the alleged sexual abuse.”
“This case gets complicated for a couple of reasons. While the common perception has been that priests cannot be forced to testify about confessions in the US because of ministerial privilege and the First Amendment, that privilege gets defined by each state separately. In Louisiana, the privilege attaches to the person offering the confession and not the priest. Once the penitent has revealed what was said — or perhaps more to the specific point in this case, alleges to have revealed what was said — the state can subpoena the priest to confirm or deny the testimony. In that sense, it’s akin to the lawyer-client privilege, which can be broken by the client.
On the other hand, lawyers don’t face eternal disbarment for testifying once a client has waived the privilege. Priests do, and face automatic expulsion from the Catholic Church for complying. There is nothing in church doctrine that requires a penitent to keep quiet about what transpires in the confessional, but the canon law is clear on this point. Can. 983 states that “The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore it is absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason.” The punishment for breaking the seal is explicitly noted in Can. 1388: “A confessor who directly violates the sacramental seal incurs a latae sententiae [by the commission of the act] excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See; one who does so only indirectly is to be punished according to the gravity of the delict.”
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3. Thoughts?
Also from HotAir “Turns out the American public thinks Jesus is a pro-life liberal. Who knew?
The latest research from YouGov shows that on social issues in particular Americans tend to have more liberal attitudes than imagine say Jesus would have. 48% of the public supports legal abortion, compared to only 20% who say Jesus would support it, the biggest divide between public opinion and expectations of what Jesus would think. Only on one issue, the death penalty, do the public stake out a more conservative position, with 58% in favor of the death penalty for murderers compared to 34% who say that Jesus would support it. The smallest difference in attitude is on universal healthcare. 56% of Americans support universal healthcare and 55% of Americans say that Jesus would support it too…
Comparing Protestants and Catholics we see that Jesus’ imagined position amongst Protestants is more conservative than amongst Catholics. A third of Catholics say that Jesus would support gay marriage, compared to only 20% of Protestants. Most Catholics also say that Jesus would support universal healthcare and stricter gun laws, while in each case less than half of Protestants agree.
Abortion and gay marriage were the only issues tested in which more people thought Jesus would take the traditional conservative position than the liberal one. When asked if he’d support or oppose legal abortion, a clear majority of 20/52 overall said the latter:”
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4. Now we’re starting to see what they’ve been hiding. Well….. the stuff they haven’t already destroyed anyway.
Nope. No scandal here. 🙄
From TheWashingtonTimes “Just as the IRS tea party targeting scandal was erupting, Lois G. Lerner warned colleagues to “be cautious” about what information they put in emails because it could end up being turned over to Congress, according to an email message released Wednesday.
The 2013 email exchange between Ms. Lerner and fellow employees at the Internal Revenue Service also says that instant message conversations were probably never stored and weren’t checked during open-records requests — even though they also fell under the law requiring electronic records to be stored.”
“I was cautioning folks about email and how we have had several occasions where Congress has asked for emails and there has been an electronic search for responsive emails — so we need to be cautious about what we say in emails,” Ms. Lerner wrote in an April 9, 2013, message.
She went on to ask whether the instant message communications were stored automatically. When a tech staffer said no but the records could be stored if employees copied them, she replied, “Perfect.”
Yes, perfect…. for criminals trying to hide their actions.
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5. Ray Nagin has gotten ten years in prison for taking bribes and corruption.
From NBCNews “Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was sentenced Wednesday to 120 months in prison. U.S. District Judge Helen Berrigan also ordered Nagin to pay $84,000 in restitution. “What Ray Nagin did was sell his office over and over again,” lead prosecutor Matt Coman said after the sentencing. “The damage that C. Ray Nagin inflicted on this community … is incalculable.” He will report to a minimum security prison in September.
Nagin, 58, was convicted on Feb. 12 of accepting more than $500,000 worth of bribes and free trips from contractors in exchange for helping them clinch millions of dollars in city work when he was mayor of New Orleans, both pre- and post-Hurricane Katrina. He was found guilty of 20 out of 21 counts in the indictment. Nagin, a Democrat who was mayor for two terms from 2002 to 2010, denied he took any bribes.”
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6. Why worry about doing your job, when there’s more important things to do. Like pander to outraged libs.
From TheHill “Senate Democrats will offer legislation Wednesday morning to reverse last week’s Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Supreme Court ruling on contraception coverage, though the measure has no chance of passing the House.
The measure from Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) seeks to stop corporations from refusing federal healthcare coverage mandates on religious grounds.
Murray is spearheading the effort by Senate Democrats to turn the tables on Republican supporters of the ruling ahead of the midterm elections.
The Democrats, aware that the House would never defy the court’s ruling but confident the public sides with them, want to draw the GOP into a political fight over birth control in order to energize women voters.”
They can’t run on their pathetic record, so they’ll drag out the old “war on women” horse for another beating. How original… 🙄
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7. Not surprising. They don’t want people to see what’s going on in these facilities.
From TheBlaze “Department of Homeland Security officials are stonewalling lawmakers who try to make unannounced visits to immigrant detention facilities throughout the country and are closing off public roads along the U.S.-Mexico border in an effort to keep journalists from reporting on the growing illegal immigration crisis, federal law enforcement officials told TheBlaze.
The officials said senior supervisors have made scheduling visits ahead of time mandatory at detention facilities, turned back officials from unannounced visits, and that Border Patrol agents have been forced to clean up facilities and transfer illegal aliens from unauthorized holding cells before they are inspected by lawmakers. Reporters have also been stopped by DHS officials from traveling along public access roads near the Rio Grande, where most of illegal immigrant children and groups are crossing into the U.S.
The media crackdown along the Rio Grande happened shortly after TheBlaze visited the region last month and traveled along some of the more secluded roads along the river’s edge. TheBlaze witnessed dozens of illegal immigrants turning themselves in to Border Patrol agents after making the crossing into the United States and interviewed many of them before they were taken away.”
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8. Meanwhile, the pushback from the communities they’re dumping the illegals in continues.
From WatchDogWire “The current crisis on the southern border, involving tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, has now become a concern for Michiganders who live in a rural community with less than 3000 people.
Wolverine Human Services, a social services agency which typically helps needy Michigan children, is in the process of securing a contract and negotiating with the Office of Refugee Resettlement to bring between 60- 120 male illegal immigrants, between the ages of 12-17, to the small city of Vassar without any input from residents of the community.
About 100 concerned citizens, some bearing signs, gathered outside the Vassar City Hall last night to let public officials know what they think.”
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9. Liberal academia hate competing views that go against their dogma. So it’s not surprising that they would push abortion while calling a good alternative a bad thing in order to scare people away from it.
From CampusReform “The University of Chicago (UC) has published an “abortion guide” on its website providing information on abortion— including how to obtain one on campus.
The website—titled “abguide”—is a comprehensive guide detailing how to pay for abortion, where to find an abortion provider in the area, and what to expect from an abortion. While the site touts “options counseling,” it warns against crisis pregnancy centers, saying they could “lead to suicide” or “post-abortion stress disorder.”
UC’s abortion guide is based on principles outlined by the Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice, an organization that claims the fight for women’s reproductive justice through youth organizing, environmental justice, and workers rights. The group affirms their cause stems from the civil rights movement of the 1960’s.”
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Wandering Views 
1. Strict Islam abhors any art or memorials to people — apparently it leads to idol worship. Hence, destroy grave markers may have some religious justification. Not much different than my Dutch Protestant ancestors destroying Catholic art work and stained glass.
2. Even if this goes through, the confession or spiritual guidance is still protected, its only if the “client” allows for the confession to be public knowledge is privilege withdrawn. Harsh on Catholic canon law but no threat to the confidence one has with his/her spiritual guide. An interesting book on the history of the confessional and my review;
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18210743-the-dark-box
3. Reminds me of the philosopher (I believe its Nietzsche) who said we create god in our own image. Jesus is, for the most part, who we wish him to be. Although there is some interesting admissions in terms of pro-life and capital punishment.
6. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have any record to run on considering the do nothing nature of Congress hence its smart politics to play wedge politics.
7. Part of the American Gulag; keeping it hidden is a good pr move for whoever is actually responsible.
8. People have nothing better to do with their time than to protest children being fed and housed by the government. For the most part these children are fleeing not only poverty but gang warfare in areas where central authority has broken down. The least one can do is feed and house them.
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Bob — you’re right we have different views on the role of government but when I read; establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, I pretty much read justification for anything a modern social democratic state establishes.
AJ — I don’t see Obama’s foreign policy to be any different Bush or any other post WWII president so I’m not absolving Obama and blaming Bush. I’m blaming all of them (except maybe Carter)
Obama has issued less executive orders since Grover Cleveland so its hardly a dictatorship (FDR was issuing them at least once a day). You may argue the implementation and use of regulatory bodies negates the need for executive orders but the Obama didn’t establish these bodies nor does he fund them and nor does he have unilateral control of these agencies.
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Bob — you gave me the wrong link yesterday. I’m not normally a big fan of Hanson anyway. His unapologetic ethnocentrism and “Whiggish” view of history are annoying. For example, the western way of war is a bad concept that is both ethnocentric — the west does war differently and better and “whiggish” — the west triumphed and will continue to triumph because of this.
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I heard a lawmaker this morning who has toured the facilities and has revealed a couple of things they may be trying to hide. He said that about 80% of these “children” were mostly males about 16 or 17 years old. He also said that the smaller children, and especially girls, were traumatized more by the journey than by anything that could happen to them at either end.
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Have we ever heard how they were financing these trips? I’m just so puzzled by it. HOW do you get from Central America to Texas without funds? Isn’t there the whole length of Mexico in between?
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hwesseli, 1.As my grandmother would say, “Two wrongs don’t make a right”. 2. I worked with Catholics for 19 years. They will not give in. 3. If I made Jesus in my own image he would easier on gluttony, gossip and sloth.. 6. The less they do the better. There are already so many laws on the books that the average person is probably unknowingly committing a felony right now. 7. Can we send half of them to Canada. I’m sure you all would put them up in a 4 star hotel. 8. See my previous post. i think they are bringing a lot of the gang warfare with them. In the meantime,because of Obama’s economy, higher heath insurance rates and power bills the average American is having trouble feeding and housing their own children.
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HRW, As the last living Whig, I am glad you disapprove of all things Whiggish.
Michelle, They get here in various ways: passenger trains, hitch hiking, freight trains, buses, cars, walking. Crossing the borders is the tough part. Riding buses across Meico is very cheap. Gerald Posner has a good account of Lee Harvey Oswald very cheaply riding a bus to Mexico City to meet Cuban officials in his excellent account of the Kennedy assassination.
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Michelle,
A large number are being “sponsored” by other illegal family members already in the US. They pay coyotes to bring them thru Mexico. They grease the hands of corrupt police along the way to ensure they’re not arrested. Many are also cartel funded, like the ones KBells mentioned. This is also why the cartels are allowing them thru their smuggling routes. There are reports of MS 13 graffiti at govt facilities housing them. These are gang members sent to operate in the US by the cartels.
Meanwhile our govt gives the countries allowing, encouraging, and facilitating it aid. Our govt allows it. They could seal the border, but they don’t want to. You can’t stop it until the border is controlled. Then you can deal with those here. But you have to stop the bleeding first. There are estimates of around 60,000 already here, and another 200,000 in the pipeline.
HRW,
It’s not just food and housing and you know it. ICE is no longer enforcing the borders, their agents are busy dealing with the illegal immigrants in the facilities. A large portion of DHS is as well. We pay for all that, and their real jobs aren’t getting done because of it. Who’s paying to bus and fly these children to their destination cities? We are. Who’s paying for their legal representation? We are. Medical care? We are?
Not to mention the billions in aid we give to the countries they’re coming from in order to fix those problems you mentioned.
Here’s an idea, how about we just put them all on buses and deliver them to the Canadian border and let you folks deal with them. Just do like Mexico does.
Sound good? After all, it’s just food and housing right?
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Whigs, such as Robert E. Lee, understood that once white males who were not property owners were allowed to vote, things were bound to get worse.
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This is a graphic and violent movie about young people making their way from Central America to Texas.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1127715/
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This is a funny and heart-warming story about a young boy’s trip from Mexico to Los Angeles. I have known many Mexicans and Americans very much like the people in this movie.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_the_Same_Moon
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada also presents a fairly accurate picture of conditions on the border.
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kbells — I have no doubt the vast majority of these children are males between 14 – 18. However, the legal adult age is 18. Canadian law makes a second distinction at the age of 12. Under 12, you are not legally responsible for anything. Between 12 – 18, there’s a gradual release of responsibility. I’m not sure if the US has a similar distinction but if so, that could be a legal way to separate the children from the teens and to treat them differently.
1. No it doesn’t. I just don’t think they are destroying graves to insult people as AJ asserts rather they have religious reasons. But taping the vandalism is just rubbing it in and unnecessary
2. I just don’t think there is a threat to the seal of confession only to the canon law, which is, as far as I know, accorded no special status in US law. (In some European countries canon law is accorded special status).
7+8. I would have no problem with my country accepting half of these migrants. I do agree with you that many of the older youths may have gang affiliations and the police, immigration and the courts should take this into account. As for available cash, there’s lots of wealth in the US its just not distributed properly — raising the minimum wage would be the first step to get the money out there. Capitalism does a wonderful job of creating wealth just not distributing it. (modern agriculture, a subset of capitalism, has the same problem which is why world gov’ts end up moving it from an area of surplus to an area of famine)
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Accustomed to middle class North America where we live paycheck to paycheck we may find it hard to imagine traveling from El Salvador to Texas-Arizona without a paycheck. In reality its not hard if you are willing to endure some deprivations. Transportation can be done on the cheap with hitchhiking riding trains for free, or walking when necessary. Food and other supplies can be found through scrounging, dumpster diving, minor theft and begging. The real issue is personal safety. Ricky’s film reference is a fairly decent film and probably bears close resemblance to reality.
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Ricky you and I have different views on what is a Whig. You are referring tot eh US political party and theory whereas I’m referring to a certain method historical writing that starts with the conclusion and views all events prior to it as leading up to that event or era. Its most frequently used by English historians http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_history
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AJ — I have no problem with Canada taking these migrants — after the customary health and criminal checks — and granting them permanent residency. I have more or less enough of what I need but don’t mind sharing with those who have less and I don’t mind paying the taxes to ensure that people have food, shelter, health care and even the necessary legal representation.
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Worth a watch and listen:
http://patriotaction.net/forum/topic/show?id=2600775%3ATopic%3A6734523&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_topic
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I do think some of our churches could/should step up in the wake of this immigration crisis. A Roman Catholic diocese here in the inland LA area has offered to take in some of those affected. And if Canada wants to help, that is fine as well.
But it doesn’t preclude the need also to address how to deal with the now wide-open border leak which is posing numerous problems all the way around (and dangers both to the children being literally ‘shipped’ up here and to local communities now overwhelmed with the influx).
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Raising the minimum wage will not help. That will just raise price and taxes and people in my age group who have spent years sacrificing and living clean working to get comfortable are losing ground fast. Big surprise, just as Hubby’s hours are being cut, our insurance rates, deductible and price of prescriptions go up, but hey, lazy 24 year old living in Mommy’s basement because he can’t find a job with his gender studies degree is covered.
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“after the customary health and criminal checks” Isn’t that the point of a border.
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hwesseli,
It is very kind of you to offer to have some of your money used to care for another family’s children. As for us, we would like to take care of our own family.
Raising the minimum wage would help people if prices would stay the same, but they don’t. Raising the minimum wage would help people if they don’t have any money saved-up for their old age, but many people do. Raising the minimum wage would help people if they have a mortgage, until they sell their home to downsize and have to pay taxes on the higher value.
Prices must rise in response to a higher minimum wage. Wages must rise in response to a higher minimum wage. We have been receiving less than 1% interest on the money we have put away in our annuities for over 5 years. Inflation has certainly been at least 1%. We have lost purchasing power and we will have to pay taxes on the income also. A higher minimum wage is stealing from our prudence.
A higher minimum wage is bad for us. The one group that will gain from a higher minimum wage is government; as prices go up more sales taxes will be collected; as wages go up more income taxes will be collected.
A higher minimum wage does no good but does hurt people. But it may make you feel good; just don’t think about it too much.
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HRW, Thanks for the education and clarification. You are right. Politically, I am a Whig. However, as a historian, I am a Tory.
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Meanwhile, large numbers of Americans are moving to Latin America.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2013/1201/Why-US-baby-boomers-are-retiring-in-Latin-America-video
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Now a message from a typical Texan complete with a typical West Texas background:
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. By raising the raising of the working poor, they will no longer need gov’t aid (food stamps, meidaid, e3tec) saving the gov’t money. Workers at such places as McDonald’s and Walmart receive gov’ t aid — force the companies to pay higher wags and the working poor would no longer need welfare.
A raise in minimum wage will no cause an increase in unemployment. Past experiences suggest the opposite may be true, there’s a slight uptick in hiring as consumption increases.
Here’s a simplified version of the min wage debate;
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/minimumwage/fl/pros-and-cons-raise-minimum-wage.htm
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HWR, Here’s how it works. Guy goes to work at 18 at minimum wage, works hard, gets a few raises, is now a family man making $13 hr. Government comes in raises the minimum wage to $15. On the one hand he gets a $2 an hour raise, which will be eaten up by rising prices. On the other hand he is back where he started, making the same as a 17 year old kid who spends his money on video games.
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hwesseli,
You managed to avoid my observations about the minimum wage. Get rid of Obamacare and it’s restriction on hours of work and the working poor will get an immediate wage boost of at least 25%. The American public doesn’t like Obamacare.
A raise in the minimum wage will raise all prices and all wages. This will lower my purchasing power. Why do I want this?
A raise in the minimum wage is a disincentive to save money. How can this be good for an economy?
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Last week I put up a post about our Texas Tech cheerleader who posted pictures of herself with animals she legally shot in Africa. Apparently, hundreds of thousands of liberals have called for her death on Facebook. It turns out she gave the meat to local villages which generated this photo:
http://m.memegenerator.net/instance/52119629
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hwesseli,
I looked at your URL. I see no mention of people on fixed income. No mention of the effect on savings or savers.
The market place takes into account the whole economy. Government gives to whoever has the most political power at a point in time. Why do you think politics is the best way to figure out paychecks?
I was talking to an 18 year old this week. I asked him why he wasn’t working. He says he is lazy. I feel no reason to support him. No work, no food.
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I said it was a simplified view on the pros and cons. American service employers have been relying on the gov’t to subsidize their wages raise minimum wage and eliminate the gov’t subsidy. The market place takes into account whatever information is available and sometimes its skewered information. Gov’ts should figure out the paycheck when employers can’t seem to figure out how much their employees need.
Ricky — saw some posts about the cheerleader on leftist sites — they basically said people should leave her alone.
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hwesseli,
Since when do employers figure out how much their employees need? Doesn’t it depend on how much the employer can pay and still make a profit? Some employers will pay as little as possible, others want to be as fair as possible to those who work for them.
It must have been 10 years ago or so when I was talking with the captain/owner of a crabbing boat. Crescent City CA is a major crab port on the West Coast. The captain said that it was getting real hard to make a living; Italian crab buyers from San Francisco had, in the past, given a price that the crab fishermen could live on.
Asian crab buyers, and drag boats, had come in and they would only pay the lowest price they could. It was very hard for crabbers to make a living.
I heard a story from my mother in the 60s about a cousin of hers, a farmer. They had 3 sections in cotton, wheat and barley. The farmer’s wife had gone to the store and realized that grocery prices had gone up and that they weren’t paying their farm hands enough. They gave them a raise.
It seems to me that many Americans, and Canadians, are willing to be fair to people who work for them. It is easier to keep people happy than it is to keep training new people. If you have a good worker, pay them well and keep them.
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hwesseli,
You still haven’t talked about how raising the minimum wage affects those who get a set income; those who have worked hard to save for their old age. What about them/us?
When I retired 5 years ago, a burrito was $2.50, now they are $5 to $7. A gallon of gas was $1.90 a gallon, now it is $4.29. My retirement has not gone up much.
Why do you think a raise in the minimum wage is in my favor? Let it go!
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