Sunday, April 16, 2017

In the news, Monday, April 3, 2017


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APR 02      INDEX      APR 04
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Information from some sites may not be reliable, or may not be vetted.
Some sources may require subscription.

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from Business Insider
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Amazing images of London show the city's evolution over nearly 2,000 years
Like all living things, cities have lifespans. London started as a small Roman settlement along the Thames River. But today, more than 8.6 million people call the place home. Here are 18 maps, paintings, and old-time photographs that show the journey of the British capital.

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from Competitive Enterprise Institute

In a victory for class action fairness, Citigroup Inc. shareholders will now receive an additional $405,000 in settlement funds thanks to an objection by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) to the class lawyers’ plans to distribute settlement funds to third-party groups.

The millions of people who use prepaid cards as an alternative to expensive and unresponsive banking deserve the widest variety of products on offer. Congress should step up and tell the CFPB that far from protecting consumers, it has damaged consumer choice with this rule.

SEIU Spending Big on Fight for $15
Despite loads of union cash, the Fight for $15 minimum wage campaign has been a failure. If you read the SEIU’s press clippings, it supports a $15 minimum wage because it is a way to lift low wage workers out of poverty. But an abundance of research on the effects of minimum wages on low-skill workers shows it reduces employment. Since raising the minimum wage is not the best option to pull individuals out of poverty, why does SEIU expend so much of its members’ dues on funding the Fight for $15? It is out of self-interest.

Time to End Official Time
Federal employee unions have the right to lobby government, just like anyone else, but they should not do so at the taxpayer’s expense. The Official Time Reform Act of 2017 (H.R. 1364) would prohibit federal employees from conducting political activity on union official time. Union official time is taxpayer-funded subsidy to federal employee unions that pays for federal employees’ salary and benefits while they perform union business—including attending union conventions, lobbying Congress, and filing grievances, instead of the federal work they were hired to do. It's time to end this practice of government employees abandoning their duties on the taxpayer's dime. 

Non-Profits and Litigation: When Ideas Get Judged
For policy groups, litigation can be an essential means for getting results. Lawsuits aren’t always a test of whether the policies we believe in are good or bad. 

Gaming – It’s a Matter of State Sovereignty
During the last Super Bowl, as many as half of the 113 million viewers made some kind of a wager on the outcome of the game according to polls. However, few sports fans are aware that such bets, outside of those placed with licensed bookies in Nevada, are illegal thanks to an outdated federal law. Fewer still realize the National Football League (NFL) was the first to champion the ban and for the last 25 years has been one of the staunchest opponents of state efforts to legalize and regulate sports gambling. Last week, however, in what might signal a “softening” on the issue, the NFL voted to allow the Oakland Raiders to move from the California Bay Area to Las Vegas – the very heart of U.S. sports wagering. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell even stated that “[in Nevada] you have a regulatory environment which actually can be beneficial.” If even the NFL is willing to take a gamble on state regulation of sports gambling, it’s time for Congress to do the same.

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from Conservative Intelligence Briefing

Stabenow Vulnerable After Gorsuch Filibuster
Debbie Stabenow has announced that she will not support the confirmation of President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch. She has even threatened to filibuster the vote, following the lead of Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

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from The Daily Caller
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Idaho’s $4.3 Million Solar Road Generates Enough Power To Run ONE Microwave

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from Hoover Institution
Nonprofit Organization in Stanford, California

Unlike December 7, 1941, April 6, 1917 is not a date that lives, either in infamy or fame. Few Americans even know that it marks the country’s entry into World War I. It was on that spring day that the U.S. House of Representatives voted, at President Woodrow Wilson’s request, to declare war on Germany. The U.S. Senate had voted two days earlier. It was an earthquake in history, with aftershocks still reverberating but largely to silence.

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from Intellihub
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Gold to soar as the Trump rally hits a wall
While the dollar plummets and the stock market loses over 80 percent of its ‘Trump Rally’ gains, gold marches to the beat of its own drum. Gold has hit a four-week high, and the interest in Montana is explosive, making this the undeniably hottest mining belt in the world right now, and a little-known explorer is spectacularly poised to cash in on the biggest Spring rally gold has seen in a century. Nothing is set to benefit more from the overnight sell-off in world stock markets and the slumping U.S. dollar index than Montana gold.

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from LifeZette (& PoliZette)

How Trump Could Gut Obamacare Without Congress
Administration could drop Obama appeal of ruling that declared cost-sharing subsidy illegal

Five Democrats Most Likely to Regret Gorsuch Obstruction
Partisan Supreme Court filibuster will complicate already tough re-election fights for vulnerable liberals

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from The Living Church

Jesus’ Entry Sent a Message
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s message for Easter
Jesus entered the city at the same time as Pilate to show them, and to show us, that God has another way.

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from New Statesman
"The leading voice of the British left, since 1913."

The Gibraltar row has undermined the UK's chances of a good Brexit deal
Diplomatic goodwill among the EU27 will be sapped.

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from The North American Anglican

LENTEN TREASURE HUNTING
A REFLECTION ON THE FIRST BOOK OF HOMILIES
In making their points, the Homilies typically will state a position, discuss it logically, illustrate it from Scripture, and then illustrate it from the Fathers. The effect of this technique is to show the catholicity of the Reformed English Church.

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from The Spokesman-Review

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from Sputnik
(Russian government-supported propaganda channel)

Iran Nuclear Deal, 2 Years In: US Senators Seeking to Sabotage It
Only two years ago seven world powers, including Washington and Moscow, ratified a historic treaty guaranteeing that Iran would not develop or deploy nuclear weapons. Now, promises made by the US as part of the deal stand in danger of being circumvented by the administration of President Donald Trump.

Why Are Beijing, Washington Keeping Quiet on Eve of Xi, Trump’s Summit?
With Trump’s harsh rhetoric on the campaign trail, including his threats to impose a 45-percent protectionist tax on Chinese imports, it was expected that problems with US-China diplomacy might emerge following his election. And so they have, even before the Trump-Xi summit next week.

What’s to Hide? Trump White House Withholding Information on US Wars
Citing an almost 16-year-old authorization for the use of military force outside the borders of the United States, the Trump administration has begun to quietly deploy more US troops to Iraq and Syria -- without disclosing their number, mission or location.

Ukrainian Politicians Signal They Are Eager to Visit Crimea, Russian MP Says
Ukrainian politicians and businessmen are sending signals to Crimea, saying they want to visit the peninsula, Russian lawmaker Ruslan Balbek told Sputnik.

'Great Deal': Trump Says UK, EU Will Benefit From Brexit
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that that Brexit is a "great deal" for the United Kingdom, adding it is a "really good also" for the European Union that managed to "getting their act together" after the July 2016 referendum in Britain.

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from Townhall.com
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Flashback: When Feinstein Said You Can't Filibuster A SCOTUS Nominee Just Because You Disagree With Him
In 2006, when Senate Democrats were mulling what to do with Judge Samuel Alito (now Justice Alito), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) told Bob Schieffer, then-host of CBS’ Face The Nation, that a filibuster of Alito would be unlikely because you can’t just block a Supreme Court nominee just because you disagree with him or her. Flash forward to 2017 and Feinstein is opposing Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch because…she doesn’t like him. And she wants to get the GOP back for gumming up the works for Merrick Garland, Obama’s initial nominee to fill the vacancy left by Antonin Scalia.

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from The Washington Times

Reining the big-government stampede
A self-reliant people will always outperform Big Brother. Most Americans don’t expect the federal government to stay out of their lives altogether. What they expect is minimal involvement: Let Washington be the last resort, the one Americans turn to only when they truly can’t devise any alternative. Self-reliance characterized the first settlers in this country, and the U.S. Constitution exemplified that spirit by creating a federal government of separate and limited powers — one strong enough to represent a new nation to the world, but weak enough to allow states and individuals to thrive.

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