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Church
Takes Sheriff to Court
New Orleans church cited for violating
noise ordinance
By Nikolas
Grosfield
If you have
ever worked at a 9-1-1 dispatch center, your incoming calls may have had
a distinct ring. Most phone calls in that job are routine or misdials or
information requests. But any call could be a crisis, whether from
citizens or from emergency personnel. Dispatchers deal with frustrating
or dangerous circumstances each day, so they develop ways of coping
on-the-job. Thus, dispatchers sometimes respond almost casually to new phone
calls or radio transmissions. But they are ready for the worst, because
they all have answered a call and heard only screaming on the other end
of the line. Rigorous training prepares them to engage emergencies
effectively, and without letting their emotions slow or misguide the
overall response of authorities. (Free tip: consider offering a special
thank you to your local dispatchers at this time of year!)
When the
unique 9-1-1 ring sounds, a dispatcher may answer and say, “9-1-1, what
is the address of the emergency?” (Second free tip: the location is the
most important information you can give, so that call-takers can get some
kind of help on the way, even before they know the problem.) So given all
this, you can imagine the blend of humor and irritation dispatchers feel
when the person on the other end of the “emergency call” declares, “My
neighbor’s dog is barking!” A pithy reply might be, “Sir/Ma’am, this is a
9-1-1 line, please call back on the regular police phone line number.”
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Samantha Power, United States Ambassador to the United Nations
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power announced that President
Obama will host a global summit on the refugee crisis during next
September’s meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.
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Orrin Hatch, United States Senator from Utah
In a recent biting editorial, written for the Washington Times,
long-time Utah Senator Orrin Hatch suggests a novel and literal approach to
the First Amendment, arguing that the wall of separation between the state
and the church is non-existent, despite what the Supreme Court has to say
about it.
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General Philip M. Breedlove, USAF, Commander, U.S. European Command
The American military community in Europe is being urged to maintain
heightened vigilance over the holidays. Their message coincides with a
worldwide State Department travel warning, which also urges vigilance.
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Justice Barbara Jackson, North Carolina Supreme Court
North Carolina’s highest court has again upheld maps drawn by
Republicans for the General Assembly and congressional districts, months
after the U.S. Supreme Court told state judges to review boundaries through
the lens of its Alabama redistricting decision.
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Creeping on
Contributors
Why are the feds prying into
philanthropy?
By Jim
Ray
What’s your
Social Security Number?
By now,
you’re trained not to answer that question unless the person asking can
provide a legal or very compelling business reason for the request. If
the wrong person gets your Social Security number (SSN) you could become
the victim of identity theft.
Now,
suppose the next time you are feeling generous, the charity tells you
they can’t accept your gift unless you cough up your SSN. You would
likely be mystified. Probably enraged. And you might decide that if this
is the level of intrusion generated simply because you tried to make a
gift, it’s not worth it. And yet, this is exactly what the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) is now proposing—so that they can scrutinize donors
more closely. How bad of an idea is this? Let us count the ways.
Under
current law—which everyone agrees has worked well—donors are responsible
to “substantiate” charitable deductions they claim on their tax returns.
But the IRS now wants charities to report individual donations by filing
tax returns which lists donors’ names, addresses, SSNs, and specific
information about each gift.
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America's
National Security Threat
Thousands of U.S. visa holders missing
By Bill
Noles Jr.
Since 2001,
the United States has revoked 122,000 visas – 9,500 over terrorism
concerns. But, during a recent congressional hearing, officials with the
U.S. State Department admitted they don’t know where all those former
visa holders are or what they are doing.
Leon
Rodriguez, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, told
the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that checks are not
being made regularly and didn’t give details of when or how such checks
might be made, Fox News reported.
The
committee of Republicans and Democrats was examining safeguards to keep
extremists from exploiting legal paths to travel to the United States.
When
Republican Chairman Jason Chaffetz asked where those people currently
are, Michele Thoren Bond, assistant secretary for the Bureau of Consular
Affairs, admitted, “I don’t know.”
“If half
the employers are doing it in the United States of America, if colleges
are doing it for students, why wouldn’t Homeland Security do it?” asked
committee member Stephen Lynch, a Massachusetts Democrat. “We don’t even
look at their public stuff, that’s what kills me.”
The
Department of State, through the consular officers, is given the
discretion to revoke and cancel visas based on “security concerns.”
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The Obama administration is coming under fire from some human rights groups
over its plans to increase deportations of Central American migrants by
rounding up undocumented families.
Few new details emerged when the Obama administration released 16 pages of
emails related to Benghazi on Christmas Eve. The heavily edited documents
redacted what was considered to be sensitive information.
Pray for
President Obama as he begins his last year in office.
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A Democratic congressman wants stepped-up monitoring of social media
accounts belonging to some immigrants in response to the terrorist attack
in San Bernardino, CA. "We have to do a much better job monitoring the
social media of those people," Rep. Steve Israel said during a radio
interview.
New York Rep. Peter King says the leader of ISIS is “probably right” that
U.S.-led airstrikes have not had a massive effect on the terrorist group.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi reportedly made the comments in an audio message
released last weekend.
Pray for the
members of Congress as they reconvene after the first of the new year.
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The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments in a major case
involving abortion access. On March 2, the court will hear the case
concerning requirements imposed on Texas abortion clinics by the state
legislature in 2013.
A Michigan law allowing local governments to charge convicts for the
everyday expense of running the courts is being hotly debated, with the law
– once struck down by the courts – set to expire in 2017.
Pray for the
individual and collective wisdom of those serving in the nation’s judicial
system.
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WARS AND TERRORISM
American
hostages who were held in Iran for 444 days between 1979 and 1981 are
finally receiving compensation for their time in captivity as part of the
omnibus spending bill signed last week by President Obama.
The Justice Department charged at least 60 individuals with
terrorism-related crimes in 2015, an unprecedented number that officials
attribute to a heightened threat from ISIS and the influence of social
media on potential recruits.
Pray for
worldwide efforts to defeat the Islamic State and other global terror
groups.
FOREIGN INTERESTS & CONFLICTS
Christmas Day
attacks on Christian villages by Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines
left at least 14 people dead and may have been partly influenced by the
notoriety of the Islamic State group, officials say.
Iraqi security forces have claimed control of a key government facility in
central Ramadi from so-called Islamic State fighters after several days of
fierce fighting. All militants reported fled.
Pray for the
defeat of terrorist forces in the Middle East and elsewhere around the
world.
ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST
The Islamic
State has released a new audio message taunting the U.S. for not sending
troops to fight the “caliphate.” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi said the U.S. won’t
fight because “their hearts are full of fear from the mujahideen.”
The Palestinian Authority leadership is expected to meet this week to
discuss the future of its relations with Israel. PLO Secretary-General Saeb
Erekat says suspending relations with Israel with be discussed.
Pray for the
peace of Jerusalem and in Israel as it faces threats from its neighbors.
THE ECONOMY
Following San
Francisco and Seattle, 14 cities, counties and state governments approved a
minimum wage hike to $15 an hour in 2015 and lawmakers in 13 states and
cities have proposed similar legislation for consideration in 2016.
The U.S. stock market surged in the days leading up to Christmas, but
economic analysts say overall the U.S. economy seems to be slowing just as
the Federal Reserve tightens monetary policy.
Pray for the
U.S. economy to improve as we enter 2016.
HEALTH CARE
The CDC says
the twin birth rate in the U.S. reached a record high in 2014, with 34
twins born for every 1,000 births.
Congress says it will overhaul the military healthcare system in 2016 to
streamline the bureaucratic structure.
Pray for the
healthcare needs of Americans and those who have served in the military.
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Shoo The
News Blues
There’s a better way than shunning
information
By James
N. Watkins
I’m Jim.
I’m a news junkie.
“Hi, Jim.”
Yep, I’m a
ten to twelve hits-a-day, mainstream and online addict. In the morning,
it’s CBS radio news at 6 am. Then the local ABC station and “Good
Morning, America.” At noon, it’s the independent affiliate. Six o’clock
is FOX News and then “NBC Nightly News” at 6:30 pm. In between these
regularly scheduled programs, I’m online for “The Drudge Report”
and CNN.
Yikes, I
probably need an intervention!
A lot of my
friends have kicked the news habit cold turkey. I hear over and over,
“The news is just so depressing, so I don’t watch TV or subscribe to
newspapers.” For someone who carried a press pass for 15 years as a
reporter and columnist, I have what my high school journalism teacher
called “a nose for news.” Yep, I snort news like some addicts snort cocaine.
But more importantly, I have a heart for the world; the news has become
my prayer list.
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