In the news, Tuesday, January 16, 2018

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JAN 15      INDEX      JAN 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

RIGHT BIAS, MIXED, American conservative news and opinion website

Report: Middle East Christians on the Eve of Destruction
Egypt, Jordan, Syria and the Palestinian territories are amongst the most dangerous places on earth for Christians, according to a new report. Although Christians claim the area as their Biblical heartland alongside Israel, persecution and discrimination, especially in the past 15 years, means they now constitute no more than three to four per cent per cent of the region’s population, down from 20 per cent a century ago.

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from Christianity Today

What Persecution Is, and Isn’t, and How to Respond to Open Doors’ 2018 World Watch List
Our misuse of 'persecution' disrespects believers for whom any public reference of their faith could mean death. In consideration of the plight of thousands of believers around the world, those of us in the U.S. must recognize something: the occasional discomfort we feel as believers here in the States is wholly undeserving of the term ‘persecution’ as we use it today. Our lives here as Christians, in comparison to those of believers living in the aforementioned countries, are comfortable. Some of us have certainly been treated poorly or unfairly because of our faith—I get that. But truthfully, today, the term persecution must be reserved for our brothers and sisters whose lives and livelihoods are constantly placed on the line for the sake of their allegiance to Christ.

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from Competitive Enterprise Institute

RIGHT-CENTER BIAS

Questionable Climate Financing in Washington Gov. Inslee's Office
On Friday, The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page led with a deep-dive editorial, “Climate Unaccountability: Are foundations running state energy policy without transparency?” This was the paper's second item in less than a week prompted by months of CEI work using state open records laws. It followed up last Saturday’s “The Marrakesh Climate Express: A governor’s green policy advisor has a giant carbon footprint.” Both editorials detailed questionable dealings in Washington governor and climate activist Jay Inslee’s (D) office. Inslee is one of three ringleaders of the climate resistance, with California’s Jerry Brown (D) and New York’s Andrew Cuomo (D).

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from Free Market Central

[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Why We Shouldn’t Obsess Over Economic Inequality

The idea that more inequality is a bad thing and less inequality a good thing permeates public debate. But according to Nobel Prize-winning economist Angus Deaton, worrying about whether inequality causes problems, such as slower growth or impaired democracies, looks at things through the wrong end of the telescope. “Inequality is not so much a cause of economic, political, and social processes as a consequence,” he concludes. Inequality can sometimes be a reflection of some social ills. But it can be a reflection of social progress too, and some purported cures for it are much worse than the disease.

Condoleezza Rice Lampoons The #MeToo Movement — And Warns What It Could Do To Women

Speaking with David Axelrod on CNN Saturday, Rice said she believes the movement to expose men who are sexually abusive is a “good thing,” but cautioned taking the movement too far. “I do think we have to be a little bit careful. Let’s not turn women into snowflakes. Let’s not infantilize women,” she said. If the movement continues at its current pace, Rice expressed some anguish over the reaction men might have toward women in their workplaces in the future. “What I really don’t want to happen is…that it gets to a place where men start to think, ‘Well maybe it’s just better not to have women around.’ I’ve heard a little bit of that and it worries me,” Rice explained.

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from The Heritage Foundation

RIGHT BIAS, MIXED, think tank in Washington, D.C

Who’s the Radical, Trump or Obama?
Trump looks like a radical only if you believe that Obama is the norm. And that is precisely what a lot of people on the left want. It was Obama, not Trump, who spoke of “fundamentally transforming” and “remaking” America.

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from Los Angeles Times

California bullet train cost surges by $2.8 billion: 'Worst-case scenario has happened'
The estimated cost of building 119 miles of bullet train track in the Central Valley has jumped to $10.6 billion, an increase of $2.8 billion from the current budget and up from about $6 billion originally. The new calculation takes into account a number of intractable problems encountered by the state rail agency. It raises profoundly difficult questions about how the state will complete what is considered the nation's largest infrastructure project with the existing funding sources.

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from Psephizo  (Blog)

Paul’s Understanding of Resurrection (ii)
In the last part of this chapter [1 Cor 15.42–58], Paul moves from the content (logos) and credibility (ethos) to the emotional and pastoral appeal (pathos) of his teaching. He does so by drawing a series of contrasts between life in this age and the resurrection life in the age to come—but it is important to note that his contrast between the ‘natural’ and the ‘spiritual’ or between the ‘earthly’ and the ‘heavenly’ is always between two different kinds of bodies. At no point does Paul follow Greek philosophical ideas that death or resurrection involve the escape of the spirit from the body to join God ‘in heaven’.

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from Reason Magazine

[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Senate Votes to Shut Down Rand Paul Filibuster Against Surveillance Act Renewal
Lawmakers will advance legislation that expands the power of the feds to snoop on American citizens.

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from The Spokesman-Review

Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

John Spellman, Washington’s last Republican governor, dies
John Spellman, an affable pipe-smoking lawyer who was Washington’s last Republican governor, died Monday at age 91. Spellman, who served 12 years as King County’s first county executive, was elected governor in 1980 as Ronald Reagan’s presidential victory gave Republicans control of the Legislature and the executive mansion.

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