Thursday, June 29, 2017

In the news, Friday, June 16, 2017


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JUN 15      INDEX      JUN 17
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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 Breitbart

Paul Nehlen Launches Another Bid Against Anti-Trump Speaker Paul Ryan
Paul Nehlen, a Republican businessman from Wisconsin’s first congressional district, has just launched his 2018 congressional campaign against the anti-Donald Trump House Speaker Paul Ryan. This is the second time Nehlen is challenging Ryan, after coming up short in the 2016 GOP primary in Wisconsin’s first congressional district. “Speaker Ryan didn’t help Mr. Trump defeat Hillary Clinton, and even pledged not to defend the president,” Nehlen said in his announcement. “But I have a message for Speaker Ryan: The American people are not done fighting for President Trump’s good agenda. That’s why I am announcing my second challenge to Paul Ryan for the nomination in Wisconsin’s first congressional district.”

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from CBS News (& affiliates)

Could Illinois be the first state to file for bankruptcy?
A financial crunch is spiraling into a serious problem for Illinois lawmakers, prompting some observers to wonder if the state might make history by becoming the first to go bankrupt. At the moment, it's impossible for a state to file for bankruptcy protection, which is only afforded to counties and municipalities like Detroit. Ratings agency Moody's Investor Service earlier this month downgraded Illinois' general obligation bonds to its lowest investment grade rating, citing the state's growing pile of unpaid bills and its mounting pension deficit. Illinois, by the way, has the lowest credit rating of any state. Lower ratings mean higher borrowing costs, since lenders view such borrowers as riskier bets.

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from Competitive Enterprise Institute

New Study Finds Carbon's Private Benefits Exceed Social Costs
While regulators harp on the danger of carbon and other fossil fuels, they overlook the necessity of affordable energy for average Americans. “The private benefit of carbon is large and, in most cases, much larger than the social cost of carbon,” concludes University of Sussex economics professor Richard Tol in “The Private Benefit of Carbon and Its Social Cost.” Indeed, private benefit exceeds social cost by anywhere from about 4:1 to 34:1, as I read Tol’s paper.

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from First Things

IS CALVIN AMONG THE LIBERALS?
The challenge for someone who wants to enlist Calvin in a defense of liberalism is Calvin himself.

PROTECTING THE PUBLIC SQUARE
Jane Jacobs knew that, without ordinary people, their ordinary loves, and their often-extraordinary faith, the public square is an inhospitable and even dangerous place.

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from The Guardian (UK)
[Information from this site may be unreliable.]

'Depths of sorrow' are testing British people, says Justin Welby
Archbishop of Canterbury conducts service at Southwark Cathedral for those involved in London Bridge terror attack, remarking on sense of community. He added: “I think the depths of sorrow we’re seeing test the resources of all of us. Yet what is so extraordinary – up at Grenfell Tower, here, around Westminster – is this overwhelming depth of community that I think most of us didn’t really believe existed, and has somehow been revealed in these tragedies. You’ve got Muslims coming into churches to help with relief and support, all faiths, no faiths, everyone just being with one another. I can’t remember London like this.”

Britain's strictest school gets top marks from Ofsted
Katharine Birbalsingh’s ‘no excuses’ Michaela school praised by inspectors for behaviour policy and exemplary attitudes to learning among pupils.

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from The Heritage Foundation
[Information from this site may be unreliable.]

Supreme Court Shouldn't Delay Action on Travel Ban Case
The travel ban has already been struck down by two courts of appeals - the Fourth and Ninth Circuits -but those were political decisions, not legal ones. The U.S. Justice Department filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court, asking the justices to review and overturn the Fourth Circuit's decision. The Supreme Court needs to take this case and issue a decision as soon as possible on the merits of the president's executive order.

What the Treasury’s New Recommendations Would Mean for Financial Reform
The report identifies policies that would improve federal financial regulation in a manner consistent with the Trump administration’s seven core principles. This is a positive step toward strengthening financial markets, ending bailouts, and protecting taxpayers.

Steel Imports Do Not Threaten National Security
Imposing tariffs under Section 232 would increase the cost of one of the most crucial intermediate goods for two major American industries. In most cases, there is far greater benefit from imports than there is risk—and the same is true for steel. Products that are neither scarce nor technologically sensitive do not pose a threat to national security and do not warrant these industry protections.

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from Herman Cain

Report: 760,000 tuned out mainstream TV news in the first quarter alone
Enough of the negative crap already. "Conventional sources of television programming lost 760,000 in the first quarter." - Leichtman Research Group. Although this statistic is not overwhelming, it shows the trend that people are sick and tired of all the negative coverage of President Trump.

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from Mises Institute
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Fractional-Reserve Banking and Money Creation
According to traditional economics textbooks, the current monetary system amplifies initial monetary injections of money. Private banks are important drivers in the creation of unbacked money. But, they'd be far more constrained in this were it not for central banks.

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from Orthodox Christianity

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH AND NON-CHALCEDONIANS, PART ONE CHRISTOLOGY/ECCLESIOLOGY
Recently there was a bombing in which Coptic Christians were killed in their church. Our Orthodox people have shown a lot of sympathy, and in some parishes, priests remembered these deceased during the services. All this is fine, but the problem that has occurred, is that the Coptic Christians were presented as though they are also Orthodox. We do have clergy in the Orthodox Church who believe this. And, I have been told, internet discussion concerning these killings, shows that a number of Orthodox are expressing this opinion. How can this be since the Coptic Christians have been separated from the Orthodox Church since the Fourth Ecumenical Council, in the fifth century?

Ekaterinburg mayor Evgeny Roizman has sent an invitation to members of the British royal family to attend events commemorating the centenary of the martyrdom of the last Russian royal family, which will be celebrated in 2018, reports Interfax-Religion. The invitation was delivered through the British ambassador in Russia Laurie Bristow. “Inasmuch as the British and Russian crowns were bound by blood, Roizman conveyed through the ambassador an invitation to the members of the British Royal Family to attend the ‘Royal Days’ events in the Ural capital,” reads a message on the mayor’s site.

In his first years as a Christian, American writer and journalist Rod Dreher received an invitation from a Catholic colleague to volunteer at a local soup kitchen. Dreher took her up, spending the day prepping food and cleaning the kitchen. But at the end of the day he concluded that the project wasn’t for him — and that his time was likely better spent reading theology books. Over the next dozen years, Dreher left the Catholic Church, his cynicism over covering the sex abuse trials the primary driver. “I realised upon reflection, that if I had spent as much time working with my hands in the soup kitchen as I did reading, my faith might have been stronger,” said Dreher. “Instead, my faith had remained something that was mostly cerebral and it did not have the strength to withstand being put to the test.”

On the Search for Faith, Holy Mount Athos, Elder Ephraim of Philotheou, and Orthodoxy in the U.S.

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from Reason Magazine
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Freedom Caucus Conservatives Break from Trump, Want More Surveillance Reform
Some legislators want more privacy protections from unwarranted snooping of U.S. citizens.

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from The Spokesman-Review

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from uCatholic

Can’t Live Without Coffee? Thank This Pope.
Coffee is one of the most consumed drinks in the world, second only to water, enjoyed by millions every day. The drink was not always so ubiquitous, only becoming popular relatively recently during the 16th century. If you can’t start the day without first having your morning cup of coffee, then you should probably thank Pope Clement VIII.

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