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Public Accommodation Bias?
Court says business discriminated against same-sex couple
by Diann Noles
So, you own your own business. Do you leave your Christian beliefs and principles outside the door? That’s the question Colorado Administrative Law Judge Robert Spenser was asked to decide. His answer? Yes, you apparently do have to disregard your beliefs when it comes to same-sex marriage.
Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado has been ordered by Spenser to “cease and desist from further discrimination.” The “discrimination” stemmed from his July 2012 refusal to sell a wedding cake to homosexual couple David Mullens and Charlie Craig who were “married” in Massachusetts, but requested a cake for their reception in Lakewood. Phillips, a Christian, declined. “I’ll make you birthday cakes, shower cakes, sell you cookies and brownies,” he reportedly told the men. “I just don‘t make cakes for same-sex weddings.”
After Phillips’ refusal to serve them, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission (CCRC) on their behalf. In their investigation, the CCRC stated there was evidence that Phillips had baked a “wedding” cake for two dogs, but had refused two women the same service. In refusing the same-sex couples, the CCRC determined he had violated a state law barring discrimination at public accommodations based on race, gender or sexual orientation.
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John Podesta, Special Adviser to President Obama
John Podesta, former Chief of Staff in the Clinton White House, has agreed to serve as a special adviser and counselor to President Barack Obama. He will return to the White House as President Obama struggles to regain his credibility after the troubled rollout of the health care website.
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Tim Johnson, United States Senator from South Dakota
The Senate Banking Committee’s leaders have drafted a bill that would slap fresh sanctions on Iran and will pass the legislation if Tehran fails to follow through on its end of a temporary nuclear deal with global powers. Crafted by Banking Chairman Tim Johnson of South Dakota and ranking member Mike Crapo of Idaho, the bill will be moved “quickly” if Iran falls short of the parameters of a six-month temporary agreement.
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Lieutenant General Bernard S. Champoux, Commander Combined Forces U.S.-Korea
The commanding general of the top U.S. Army formation in South Korea said the Republic of Korea-U.S. Alliance is the strongest military alliance in the world. At a Korean-American Friendship Dinner, Lt. Gen. Bernard S. Champoux thanked members of the Korean-American Club for supporting American troops in Korea and helping to strengthen the alliance.
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Judge Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
“There is an epidemic of Brady violations abroad in the land. Only judges can put a stop to it,” said Judge Alex Kozinski beginning a hearing on a recent case. “Brady” is shorthand for the Supreme Court decision that requires prosecutors to turn over exculpatory evidence to defense attorneys. In the case being heard, a decision released by the Ninth Circuit found extensive prosecutorial misconduct.
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Swindling America’s Soldiers
Cowardly Congress cuts military pay
by Jim Ray
The old soldier’s nightmares did not come in color, but in black and white, like old movies. “Under Magellanic Clouds,” he wrote, “two men were trudging upwards from opposite sides. One, wearing muddy battle dungarees, and the camouflaged helmet cover that we wore to distinguish ourselves from army infantrymen, was the scrawny, Atabrine-yellow, cocky young Sergeant of Marines who had borne my name in 1945. The other was the portly, balding Brooks-Brothered man who bears it today. They met on the crest, facing each other in the night like mirror and object.”
The two men in the dream were one and the same –William Manchester, a survivor of some of World War II’s most horrific battles. One, the young, cocky marine in 1945. The other, the aging, portly, docile, greedy man he had become. The younger man had risked everything, and felt betrayed by the older man. He demanded an accounting for his sacrifices.
Manchester died in 2004, but others like him who served their country loyally would understand his disillusionment that things had not quite worked out the way he had expected. And things got worse for veterans last week when the U.S. House of Representatives presented their own version of an “accounting” for the sacrifices of America’s heroes: the politicians slashed military pension benefits to pay for other government programs.
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President Barack Obama has named former Microsoft executive, Kurt DelBene to take over the volunteer job of overseeing ongoing much needed fixes to the federal ObamaCare marketplace website, HealthCare.gov.
Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with Iran’s foreign minister about the importance of moving forward with implementation of the interim agreement on Iran’s nuclear deal and Congress’ intent to possibly impose new sanctions.
Pray for President Obama and his Cabinet as they work on both domestic and foreign issues.
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Senator Mitch McConnell (Kentucky), the Minority Leader, said he can’t imagine the coming debt ceiling negotiations to create a “clean” unconditional increase, hoping to find significant offsets to increases in spending.
Senator Tom Coburn (Oklahoma) has released his new “Wastebook,” outlining areas of federal financial waste in “pork” projects, fraud and abuses, and highlighting the Army’s “megablimp” and ObamaCare among the costliest.
Pray for members of Congress as they conclude 2013’s business and enjoy the Christmas and New Year recess.
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A cross atop Mount Soledad in California is an unconstitutional religious display on government land and must come down, a federal judge in San Diego ruled. The case is expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A Florida appeals court sided with a college student who challenged a university rule that banned students from storing guns in their cars while on campus, saying the school does not have the authority to regulate firearms.
Pray about court rulings that either impede or expand individual rights – religious, speech, firearms possession.
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THE WARS
At a meeting with Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, Iraq’s Foreign Minister Zebari urged the Afghan to get over his differences with the Americans and sign the deal that would secure Afghanistan after the 2014 troop withdrawal.
Six American soldiers died in a crash involving an aircraft in southern Afghanistan. No enemy activity was known of in the area, officials said, and an investigation into the case of the incident is under way.
Pray for the safety of America’s military men and women serving in Afghanistan and elsewhere around the globe.
TERRORISM
India took retaliatory measures against the U.S. in a row over an Indian diplomat who complained of being strip-searched while in U.S. detention for arrest on felonious visa fraud and underpaying her Indian nanny.
China said a recent near-collision between a U.S. guided missile cruiser and a Chinese navy ship in the South China Sea was the result of threatening actions by the U.S. military warship, denouncing any free navigation in the area.
Pray about the relationships between the United States and nations of Asia.
THE ECONOMY
The Federal Reserve is debating the outlook for inflation and the economy as they consider reducing $85 billion monthly bond purchases designed to support the unprecedented stimulus program.
U.S. consumer prices were unchanged last month after falling in October. Compared with a year ago, overall prices are up 1.2 percent. Meanwhile, gasoline prices have dropped about 33 cents since Labor Day.
Pray about the struggling and still-anemic economy of the nation and the millions who remain unemployed.
ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST
Armored Russian trucks will carry Syria’s chemical weapons to its coastline, where they will transfer to Danish and Norwegian ships and be delivered to an Italian port, to be offloaded to American ships where they will be destroyed.
A day-long gathering for speeches by Secretary of State Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, and more than two dozen other foreign ministers is planned prior to the opening of peace discussions on Syria next month in Switzerland.
Pray that the transport and destruction of Syria’s chemicals will not be subject to assaults or hijacking.
HEALTH CARE
The U.S. infant mortality rate is increasing well behind Sweden, Finland and Japan, and on a par with Egypt, Turkey and Peru, largely because of low birth weights from teenaged mothers, congenital malformations and SIDS.
Multivitamin researchers say “supplementing the diet of well-nourished adults with (most) mineral or vitamin supplements has no clear benefit and might even be harmful – the case is closed.”
Pray about the well-being of America’s populace, particularly mothers-to-be and the elderly.
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All prayer requests are made directly from our Presidential Prayer Leader. We ask you all to pray for our leaders as the scripture says.
1 Timothy 2:1-3
King James Version (KJV)
1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
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