February 12-13, 2016::End of the day round-up

Very simple, maybe overly so, but yet has significant implications from a theological standpoint. If, one considers the so-called "gap" theory of Gen1:1 and Gen 1:2., the "when" of Satan's fall and the alleged prophecy of Christ's birth and mission (Gen 3:15).

 

Daily Derp: Fox Host Says ‘Zero’ People Killed By Religions Other Than Islam | If You Only News

Reports say radical Muslim jihadists killed thousands of people in the past few months alone. And yet when you take Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, whatever, their combined killings in the name of religion––well, that would be zero.

And people wonder why I am an atheist, anti-theist and anti-religionist,,, the pathetic nature of childhood indoctrination!!

CFI Won’t Appeal Ruling Allowing Christian Ex-Convict Ministries in Florida to Get State Funding

Unfortunately, CFI announced yesterday that the appeal would not be taking place after all. Lindsay cited strategic reasons for why the organization would not be moving forward:

… reluctantly we have come to the conclusion that it would be imprudent and a disservice to the cause of church-state separation if we pursued this case on appeal. As stated at the outset of this statement, before bringing or pursuing a lawsuit, it is incumbent upon a nonprofit organization to make sure it has a reasonable chance of prevailing and that the litigation will not create bad precedent.

Here’s the sad situation: appellate judges in Florida are appointed by the governor. Ultra-conservative Rick Scott has now appointed seven of the twelve appellate judges who sit on the First District Court of Appeal. Thus, the composition of that court, which was already moderately conservative at the time of our 2010 appeal, has now moved firmly into the camp of the religious right. We are concerned that were we to appeal, we would not only lose our appeal, but the court would revisit the favorable 2010 decision we obtained and reverse it.
Therefore, a dispassionate review of our chances on appeal indicates we likely would lose and, moreover, we may well create bad precedent that would eliminate our hard-won victory and hurt the chances of other litigants. (As it stands now, the trial court’s decision, since it is the decision of the lower court, would have no preclusive effect on other cases.)
…
We are, of course, very grateful for our donors who have supported our efforts in this litigation, and we hope you understand that the best use of your support is to preserve the partial victory we have obtained already rather than to spend more money and risk losing it.

Dave Daubenmire: Parents Would Rather Have Their Sons Be Addicted To Drugs Than Gay

"If your son came to you and said, 'Hey, Dad, I need to talk with you and Mom about something really, really important,'" Daubenmire declared, "for that two hours that you're waiting for that meeting to come, Pete, how many parents would be saying, "Oh Lord, please let it be drugs; Lord, please let it be alcoholism; Oh Lord, please let it be that he got some girl pregnant.' How many parents say, 'Oh Lord please, don't let it be homosexuality'? That's the truth of it, isn't it Pete, that no parent wants to hear that? No parent wants to hear that, yet we teach it as normal in our public schools. It's unbelievable."

Government Will Try To Figure Out How Many Americans Are Now Part Of The “On-Demand” Workforce

How many Americans are making money from “on-demand” jobs — like being an Uber driver, selling stuff on Etsy, or renting out a room on Airbnb — that either didn’t exist until a few years ago or have exploded in popularity thanks to technological innovations? No one really knows, with various reports putting it at anywhere from 5% of the workforce to more than a third. So, for the first time in more than a decade, the U.S. Department of Labor will try to get a more accurate headcount on so-called “contingent” workers.

Yesterday, Labor Secretary Tom Perez announced that the Bureau of Labor Statistics will be working with the Census Bureau to produce a “Contingent Worker Supplement” to an upcoming Current Population Survey.

The last time that the federal government collected this sort of data was 2005, when the contingent workforce was still comprised largely of self-employed independent contractors.
,,,
“This is an exciting, entrepreneurial development that is tapping into powerful consumer demand while giving workers flexibility and enabling them to monetize existing assets,” writes Perez. “At the same time, the on-demand economy raises important questions about how to continue upholding time-honored labor standards and how to promote economic security for American workers in a changing labor market.”

Maine gov. who says drug dealers impregnate ‘white girls’ wants to ‘bring the guillotine back’ as punishment

Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) followed up recent complaints about out-of-state drug dealers impregnating “white girls” by suggesting this week that some drug offenses should be punished with public executions.

At a town hall meeting earlier this month, LePage had complained that “guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty” were bringing drugs into Maine from Connecticut and New York.

“Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young white girl before they leave, which is a real sad thing because then we have another issue we have to deal with down the road,” he said.

The governor’s office later insisted that the comments had not been about race.

During LePage’s weekly radio appearance on WTOM on Tuesday, the governor was asked about efforts to increase penalties for drug dealers from out of state.

In cases where drug use resulted in death, LePage argued that “the death penalty should be the law” for dealers.

‘Leaving the gay lifestyle takes more courage than coming out’

Jennifer Roback Morse heads the Ruth Institute, an organization that was formerly associated with the National Organization for Marriage.

Perhaps it goes without saying that Morse wasn’t tickled by President Obama’s discussion of gay rights during last week’s State of the Union Address. Unfortunately, Morse didn’t herself neglect to say that coming out “does not require as much courage” as deciding to “walk away from the gay lifestyle.”

During an interview with the “Issues, Etc.” podcast on Thursday, Morse said:

“Obama talked about the courage required for a young guy to come out to his parents, completely omitting the fact that right now coming out does not require as much courage as is required by a person who says, ‘You know, I feel same-sex attraction, but what I want to do is not act on it, what I want to do is live up to my church’s teachings, what I want to do is walk away from the gay lifestyle that I’ve been living, that’s what I want to do.’ Now, that person, that takes a lot of courage to talk like that in today’s world, but Obama didn’t mention any of those people.”

As for Obama’s mention of parents reconsidering their beliefs in order to accept their gay children, she said that was “tacitly putting every adult in America, every Christian in America, every Lutheran, every serious Jewish person, at war between their religious beliefs and their love for their children.”