The way some schools in Nevada teach sex education could be changing.

A bill moving its way through the Nevada Legislature would require all districts to provide uniform, medically accurate and age-appropriate sex education lessons. Topics would include abstinence, abortion, contraceptives, domestic violence and sex trafficking. Students would be automatically enrolled in sex education classes under the proposed law, and parents would need to sign a document for their children to opt out of the instruction.

Currently, sex education instruction varies by county, although all counties have sex education advisory boards by law.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Education • Sexuality • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

First, like many others, I am profoundly disappointed that Rhode Island has approved legislation that seeks to legitimize “same-sex marriage.” The Catholic Church has fought very hard to oppose this immoral and unnecessary proposition, and we are most grateful to all those who have courageously joined us in this effort. When all is said and done, however, we know that God will be the final judge of our actions.

As I have emphasized consistently in the past, the Catholic Church has respect, love and pastoral concern for our brothers and sisters who have same-sex attraction. I sincerely pray for God’s blessings upon them, that they will enjoy much health, happiness and peace. We also offer our prayerful support to families, especially parents, who often struggle with this issue when it occurs in their own homes.

Our respect and pastoral care, however, does not mean that we are free to endorse or ignore immoral or destructive behavior, whenever or however it occurs. Indeed, as St. Paul urges us, we are required to “speak the truth in love.” (Eph 4:15)

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • Sexuality • --Civil Unions & Partnerships • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • * Theology • Anthropology • Ethics / Moral Theology • Theology: Scripture

A state House bill aimed at giving S.C. courts clearer guidelines on when to terminate parental rights, especially in cases where parents or guardians have a history of child or drug abuse, passed a key vote in the House Thursday.

The House voted 104-0 to give second reading to the bill, named Jaidon’s Law after a toddler who died from a drug overdose a week after the state returned him to his parents, who had prior drug charges.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Law & Legal Issues • Marriage & Family • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * South Carolina

This week, legislators here will consider excise and sales taxes on marijuana of up to 30 percent combined. The proposal emerged from a task force of health officials, representatives of the state’s rapidly developing marijuana industry and others that was commissioned last year to help develop rules for marijuana.

The goal, task force members and lawmakers say, is to set taxes high enough to finance the administration of new laws, but not so high that customers are driven back to the black market.

“We should see a financial benefit as a state that can help pay for enforcement and other fundamental issues,” said Christian Sederberg, a Denver lawyer on the panel whose firm helped draft Amendment 64, the measure legalizing recreational marijuana. “The other side is that if you tax something too high, then you simply crowd out the regulated market. We’re confident we’ll find the right balance.”

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Drugs/Drug Addiction • Health & Medicine • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • Taxes • Politics in General • State Government

Whatever struck you, provoked you, moved you; whatever part of it which you believe is most significant or worthy of further consideration. Remember the more specific you are, the more other blog reads can participate in what you say--KSH.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Blogging & the Internet • History • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Psychology • Religion & Culture • Urban/City Life and Issues • Violence • Young Adults • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Economy • The U.S. Government • Politics in General • City Government • State Government • * International News & Commentary • Europe • Russia • * Theology • Anthropology • Ethics / Moral Theology

In the waning moments of daylight, police descended Friday on a shrouded boat in a Watertown backyard to capture the suspected terrorist who had eluded their enormous dragnet for a tumultuous day, ending a dark week in Boston that began with the bombing of the world’s most prestigious road race.

The arrest of 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev of Cambridge ended an unprecedented daylong siege of Greater Boston, after a frantic night of violence that left one MIT police officer dead, an MBTA Transit Police officer wounded, and an embattled public — rattled again by the touch of terrorism — huddled inside homes....

“It’s a proud day to be a Boston police officer,” Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis told his force over the radio moments after the arrest. “Thank you all.”

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Urban/City Life and Issues • Violence • Young Adults • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The U.S. Government • Politics in General • City Government • State Government • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

Thank you--KSH.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Spirituality/Prayer • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Urban/City Life and Issues • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • City Government • State Government

The desperate 19-year-old suspect in the Boston Marathon terror bombings ran over his own wounded brother as he fled police, officials said. Considered armed and dangerous and possibly wearing a suicide vest, he remains on the loose, sought by legions of heavily armed police as nearly a million residents of Boston hunker down behind locked doors, in an unprecedented security measure.

The search for Dzhokhor A. Tsarnaev of Cambridge comes after a chaotic, violent night in which his brother died in a firefight with police, and one police officer was killed and another was seriously wounded.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Urban/City Life and Issues • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Politics in General • City Government • State Government

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, one of the health reform law's chief authors, says he’s worried about a “huge train wreck coming down” if the Obama administration doesn’t improve its public outreach about the legislation.

Baucus, a Montana Democrat who is up for reelection in 2014, sharply criticized the administration’s outreach efforts in a budget hearing on Wednesday. He told Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that people and businesses “have no idea what to do, what to expect” from the law.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Health & Medicine • --The 2009 American Health Care Reform Debate • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • Personal Finance • The U.S. Government • Medicare • Politics in General • Senate • State Government • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

An Arizona bill that could leave many employees of religious schools and daycares ineligible for unemployment benefits is on the verge of becoming law.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Education • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • Politics in General • State Government

On April 1, the Health Care Committee of the Washington State Senate held a two-hour hearing on what its proponents euphemistically call the “Reproductive Parity Act,” and its opponents describe as the “abortion insurance mandate.” If passed, EHB 1044 would require that if any health insurance plan provided coverage for maternity care, it “must also provide a covered person with substantially equivalent coverage to permit the voluntary termination of a pregnancy.”

The bill has already passed the Washington House of Representatives, 53-43, but in the Senate it may be a different matter. At the hearing one of the bill’s proponents claimed to have a written commitment from twenty-five senators (a bare majority) to vote for the bill, but from the comments of at least one committee member it appeared that the bill might have trouble making it out of committee. (There is a procedure for a bill to be brought to the floor even if it has died in committee, but such cases are rare.)

In his inaugural address (“The World Will Not Wait”), Jay Inslee, the state’s newly elected Democratic governor, surprised many by featuring the bill as one of his priorities.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Law & Legal Issues • Life Ethics • Marriage & Family • Science & Technology • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

Opponents of same-sex marriage resist it because it amounts to redefining marriage, but also because it will invite future redefinitions. If we embrace same-sex marriage, they argue, society will have surrendered any reasonable grounds on which to continue forbidding polygamy, for example.

In truth, proponents of same-sex marriage have never offered a very good response to this concern. This problem was highlighted at the Supreme Court last week in oral argument over California’s Proposition 8, the state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union of a man and a woman.

Surprisingly, the polygamy problem that same-sex marriage presents was raised by an Obama appointee, the liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Sotomayor interrupted the presentation of anti-Prop 8 litigator Theodore Olson to pose the following question: If marriage is a fundamental right in the way proponents of same-sex marriage contend, “what state restrictions could ever exist,” for example, “with respect to the number of people . . . that could get married?”

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Two Rowan County lawmakers drew nationwide attention Wednesday for pushing a resolution that says North Carolina and its counties and towns have the right to establish an official religion.

Republican state Reps. Carl Ford and Harry Warren filed the measure this week as Rowan commissioners gear up to fight a lawsuit that seeks to end their habit of opening meetings with specifically Christian prayers.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Church/State Matters • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

[Elementary School Teacher] Ms. Parks admitted to {Georgia state investigator] Mr. Hyde that she was one of seven teachers — nicknamed “the chosen” — who sat in a locked windowless room every afternoon during the week of state testing, raising students’ scores by erasing wrong answers and making them right. She then agreed to wear a hidden electronic wire to school, and for weeks she secretly recorded the conversations of her fellow teachers for Mr. Hyde.

In the two and a half years since, the state’s investigation reached from Ms. Parks’s third-grade classroom all the way to the district superintendent at the time, Beverly L. Hall, who was one of 35 Atlanta educators indicted Friday by a Fulton County grand jury.

Dr. Hall, who retired in 2011, was charged with racketeering, theft, influencing witnesses, conspiracy and making false statements. Prosecutors recommended a $7.5 million bond for her; she could face up to 45 years in prison....

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Education • Law & Legal Issues • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

A new fight is brewing over health insurance companies letting millions of Americans renew their current coverage for another year — and thereby avoid changes under the federal healthcare law.

That may offer a short-term benefit for certain consumers and shield some of those individual policyholders from potentially steep rate increases. But critics say this maneuver could undermine government efforts to remake the insurance market next year and keep premiums affordable overall.

At issue is a little-known loophole in President Obama's landmark legislation that enables health insurers to extend existing policies for nearly all of 2014. This runs contrary to the widespread belief that all health insurance must immediately comply with new federal rules starting Jan. 1, when most provisions of the law take effect.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Health & Medicine • --The 2009 American Health Care Reform Debate • Law & Legal Issues • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Corporations/Corporate Life • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • The U.S. Government • Politics in General • State Government

The heads of the Catholic and Episcopal churches in south central Pennsylvania on Wednesday struck contrasting reactions to findings of a poll that shows voters would be in favor of approving gay marriage legislation.

The Rev. Joseph McFadden, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, decried the narrow favoring for gay marriage, while the Rev. Nathan Baxter, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania welcomed it as good news.

The Quinnipiac University poll found that Pennsylvanians narrowly favor gay marriage -- 47 percent of voters indicating they would approve gay marriage, and 43 percent opposing it. The poll found greater disparities along religious lines.

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The proposal to legalize “same-sex marriage” in the State of Rhode Island is immoral and unnecessary. Despite enormous political pressure, the General Assembly should stand firm, resist the current fashionable trend, and continue to uphold its longstanding commitment to marriage as traditionally defined.

The multiple problems associated with “homosexual marriage” have been explained in this space on many occasions in the past.

The proposal to legalize same-sex marriage is an attempt to redefine the institution of marriage as it has existed in every culture from the very beginning of human history. Marriage between a man and a woman was designed by God for two specific purposes: to affirm the complementary roles of males and females in a loving relationship, and to provide a stable foundation for the procreation and raising of children. Homosexual relationships can achieve neither of those goals.

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As the Episcopal Bishop of Rhode Island, I support the bill before the General Assembly that would allow same-sex couples to marry in our state, not in spite of my Christian faith, but because of it.

Episcopalians are not unanimous in our views, but in the Episcopal Church we find our unity in common prayer, not in common opinion. Even so, through many years of prayerful discussion, the majority of Christians in the Episcopal Church have come to believe that it is possible, and even common, for two people of the same-sex to live covenanted, faithful lives together in service to God, just as people in traditional marriages do. We have also learned that it is possible to protect the consciences of those who disagree within our church and still live together in community.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • Sexuality • --Civil Unions & Partnerships • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

Citizens Against Casino Gaming and two area organizations are urging the City Council to pass a resolution to have a vote on the casino issue on the November municipal election ballot.

The Springfield-based anti-casino group was joined by The Council of Churches of Greater Springfield and the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts in seeking the November vote.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and the city’s chief development officer, Kevin E. Kennedy, have said that a casino vote is anticipated sometime between June and November.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • * Culture-Watch • Gambling • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

An Indiana interfaith clergy group is repeatedly urging the state legislature to avoid any battle over gay marriage.

The Interfaith Coalition on Nondiscrimination (ICON), which is based in Indianapolis, published a letter this week signed by more than 230 clergy and leaders of faith communities from throughout the state.

The letter asks the legislature to stop further action on the Marriage Discrimination Amendment, which was passed by the 2011 legislature and is eligible for consideration in the current biennium.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * Religion News & Commentary • Inter-Faith Relations • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

A long line of America's top chief executives have rotated through Washington in recent weeks, loudly urging lawmakers and the White House to reach a broad deal to fix the budget. They once sounded optimistic. Now many of them aren't talking, and if they are, they're gloomy.

Mark Bertolini, chief executive of health-insurance company Aetna Inc., called the state of play "pitiful and embarrassing," saying the chances are growing that a deal might not be reached by the end of the year to avert $500 billion in tax increases and spending cuts.

"Set aside my interest as the CEO of a participant in the economy here—as an American, I'm embarrassed if that's where we end up," Mr. Bertolini said in an interview. "It feels like it's starting to fall apart."

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Corporations/Corporate Life • Taxes • The U.S. Government • Budget • Medicare • Social Security • Politics in General • House of Representatives • Office of the President • President Barack Obama • State Government

Plaintiffs are individuals from a variety of professional backgrounds who are in committed same-sex relationships. In 2010 they sued the State of Montana, complaining that they are unable to obtain protections and benefits that are available to similarly situated different-sex couples who marry under State law. Plaintiffs expressly do not challenge Montana law’s restriction of marriage to heterosexual couples, do not seek the opportunity to marry, and do not seek the designation of marriage for their relationships. They contend however that there is a “statutory structure” in Montana law that prohibits them from enjoying “significant relationship and family protections and obligations automatically provided to similarly-situated different-sex couples who marry.....”

You may find the whole ruling here (133 page pdf). For a couple of articles about it, check the Citizen link one here and the Huffington Post one there.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Law & Legal Issues • Marriage & Family • Sexuality • --Civil Unions & Partnerships • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * Theology • Anthropology • Ethics / Moral Theology

In a classic 1960 children's book, a baby bird toddles up to one critter after another asking, "Are you my mother?"

For some babies today, there's no simple answer — biologically or legally.

Advances in artificial reproductive technologies, mean a baby could have three "mothers" — the genetic mother, the birth mother and the intended parent, who may be a woman or a man.

Mother here may not be mother there. Mother now may not be mother later. Statutes on surrogacy, adoption, divorce and inheritance vary state by state, court by court, decision by decision. For non-traditional couples, the patchwork of laws makes it even more complex. New York allows gay marriage but forbids surrogacy, while Utah permits surrogacy but bans gay marriage.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Law & Legal Issues • Marriage & Family • Sexuality • --Civil Unions & Partnerships • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * Theology • Anthropology • Ethics / Moral Theology

More than 200 school districts across California are taking a second look at the high price of the debt they've taken on using risky financial arrangements. Collectively, the districts have borrowed billions in loans that defer payments for years — leaving many districts owing far more than they borrowed.

In 2010, officials at the West Contra Costa School District, just east of San Francisco, were in a bind. The district needed $2.5 million to help secure a federally subsidized $25 million loan to build a badly needed elementary school.

Charles Ramsey, president of the school board, says he needed that $2.5 million upfront, but the district didn't have it.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Education • Psychology • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Politics in General • City Government • State Government • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, the Greenville archconservative, said today that he will resign from the Senate in January to become president of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

Gov. Nikki Haley will name DeMint’s successor who will serve until 2014, when a special election would be held to fill the final two years of Republican DeMint’s six-year term, the same time U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham is up for re-election.

Immediate speculation turned to U.S. Rep. Tim Scott, R-North Charleston, who, like DeMint, is a Tea Party favorite. Scott also is the only Republican African-American in the U.S. House.

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Senate • State Government • * South Carolina

How did we get here? From "say no" to "yes" votes in not one but two states?

The answer goes beyond society's evolving views, and growing acceptance, of marijuana as a drug of choice.

In Washington — and, advocates hope, coming soon to a state near you — there was a well-funded and cleverly orchestrated campaign that took advantage of deep-pocketed backers, a tweaked pro-pot message and improbable big-name supporters.

Good timing and a growing national weariness over failed drug laws didn't hurt, either.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Drugs/Drug Addiction • Health & Medicine • Law & Legal Issues • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

Gov. Sam Brownback's newly formed task force on child poverty was told Monday that the increase in "non-marital births" was a leading cause of child poverty.

Ron Haskins, a senior fellow with The Brookings Institution, said that from a child's perspective, "They need a mom, they need a dad, they need consistency … if that occurs it has major impacts on development."

Haskins' comments were made during the first meeting of the Governor's Task Force on Reducing Childhood Poverty. Brownback appointed the group earlier this month.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • Poverty • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * Theology • Anthropology • Ethics / Moral Theology

Tony Dokoupil..likes.the for-profit regulatory model in Colorado [going forward]...

"There's a ban on advertising," he explains. "There are cameras that track the marijuana from bloom to end-consumer, so the diversion into the black market is limited. There are extensive background checks on people who are part of the marketplace — so if you want to open a marijuana shop, you have to go through an extensive background check."

Once that model is in place, the consumer side of things might look a lot like Starbucks.

"I think you will have a variety of products at different levels of intensity, exactly like Starbucks," Dokoupil says. "You might be able to walk in there and in the case they'll have 12 different strains of cannabis. Behind the counter there might be hash. There might be edibles, like fizzy drinks or brownies. There could be a hot dog wheel turning. You could put THC in anything."

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Drugs/Drug Addiction • Law & Legal Issues • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • Politics in General • State Government

The Tennessee Court of Appeals is considering whether facilities that operate like businesses within a tax-exempted church should be subject to property taxes.

Advocates for a Nashville church argued in the state appeals court that a gym, a bookstore and a cafe on its property “fit the spiritual needs of a congregation,” and shouldn’t be taxed.

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Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • Politics in General • State Government

This month, two US states voted to legalise, regulate and tax marijuana. From advertising and marketing to drugged-driving enforcement, we ask what's ahead.

The 6 November votes in Colorado and Washington left a lot of marijuana users happy and a lot of police officers nervous. And they set the two states up for a confrontation with the federal government, as marijuana is still illegal under federal law.

Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the US. Legalisation advocates say the recent votes mark the beginning of the end of the drug's prohibition.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Drugs/Drug Addiction • Health & Medicine • Law & Legal Issues • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

Amid the furor of the United States elections last week, one surprising story stood out. Against all odds and prognostications, the citizens of Massachusetts voted to reject physician assisted suicide. It seemed impossible – Massachusetts, the first state in the Union to allow homosexual marriage, with a media machine that was favorable to the referendum – appeared sure to win.

The “Dignity 2012” campaign proposed to allow physician-assisted suicide for those diagnosed with a terminal illness with six months or less to live. The American Medical Women's Association and the American medical Student’s Association both endorsed the act, the latter claiming that " that quality of life is an important part of health care” the statement then explained that they “adopted the position of supporting the choice of terminally-ill patients who wish to end their suffering. Death with Dignity encompasses this principle and we thoroughly support it."

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Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Death / Burial / Funerals • * Culture-Watch • Health & Medicine • Law & Legal Issues • Life Ethics • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

Heavenly Father we ask that you will have mercy on America today and bless us in spite of ourselves. We ask that you will give wisdom to all who go to the polls to cast their votes. Help us as we make difficult decisions on a variety of issues and as we seek to elect men and women who will hunger for righteousness and seek the common good to positions of authority in our towns and cities, in our states and in our nation. We pray against any voter fraud or any corruption of proper voter access and ask that justice be done in each and every election, whatever the locale. We also pray for peace and grace with one another as the results are received and digested, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns in glory everlasting, Amen--KSH.

Filed under: * By Kendall • * Christian Life / Church Life • Spirituality/Prayer • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Taxes • The U.S. Government • Budget • Politics in General • City Government • House of Representatives • Office of the President • Senate • State Government • US Presidential Election 2012 • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

On the third day after Hurricane Sandy soaked Hoboken in several feet of water, leaving the city one of the most crippled in the region, those with the least found themselves suspended in the storm’s cold, dark aftermath. Late this week, Hoboken started to hum with generators and a taco truck.

The projects where [Grace] Rodriguez and her daughter, Jayleen Avalos, lived were still at the bottom of the world. The 25 or so buildings operated by the Hoboken Housing Authority were clustered together on 17 acres at the city’s southern edge. They were hemmed in by gentrification on one side — $600,000 lofts with same-day shirt service dry cleaners — and a steel fence in the back. Two feet of floodwater created a moat around the buildings. The National Guard brought water and MREs. The Red Cross brought bologna-and-cheese sandwiches.

But the one commodity residents were starved for was information, and the absence of it deepened their sense of isolation. The city government used social media to update citizens. Grace Rodriguez would have appreciated a bullhorn.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • Media • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Personal Finance • The U.S. Government • Politics in General • City Government • State Government • * General Interest • Natural Disasters: Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, etc.

We are opposed to Question 2 for these reasons:

The proposed safeguards against abuse are insufficient. Enforcement provisions, investigation authority, oversight, or data verification are not included in the act. A witness to the patient’s signed request could also be an heir.
Assisted suicide is not necessary to improve the quality of life at the end of life. Current law gives every patient the right to refuse lifesaving treatment, and to have adequate pain relief, including hospice and palliative sedation....

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Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Death / Burial / Funerals • * Culture-Watch • Health & Medicine • Law & Legal Issues • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

Two states, Oregon and Washington, have legalized physician-assisted suicide through voter-approved ballot initiatives. Massachusetts will become the third if voters approve the so-called Death With Dignity ballot question. The measure would let terminally ill patients with six months or less to live get a lethal prescription. The outcome of that vote could change the landscape for legalized suicide nationwide.

When Dr. Marcia Angell was editor of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine back in the 1990s, she startled many of her colleagues by arguing that dying patients should have a legal right to kill themselves. She took that stance partly because of what her father did when he was in severe pain from prostate cancer.

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Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Death / Burial / Funerals • * Culture-Watch • Health & Medicine • Psychology • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

At a Seattle synagogue, volunteers are running a phone bank urging voters to uphold Washington’s same-sex marriage law. In Maryland, Catholics are poised to preach from the pulpit opposing a similar initiative.

Voters in those states as well as Maine are less than two weeks from deciding whether to hand ballot-box victory to same- sex marriage proponents for the first time after more than a decade of defeat. Campaigns on both sides are targeting religious communities, where leaders holding on to centuries of opposition to homosexuality are often pitted against their congregants’ evolving attitudes toward gay nuptials.

“There has been some movement in recent years toward greater acceptance of same-sex marriage,” said David Masci, a researcher with the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life in Washington. “But the largest religious groups and the biggest churches remain opposed.”

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Other Faiths

State officials say someone hacked into the Department of Revenue, exposing about 3.6 million South Carolina tax returns.

Gov. Nikki Haley said Friday about 387,000 credit and debit card numbers were also exposed, and 16,000 of those were unencrypted. State officials are urging anyone who has filed a state tax return since 1998 to call a toll-free number to determine whether their information is affected.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Blogging & the Internet • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Science & Technology • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Economy • Personal Finance • Taxes • Politics in General • State Government • * South Carolina • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

This has to be listened to--catch it all.

Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * General Interest • Animals • Humor / Trivia

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • * Culture-Watch • Capital Punishment • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

A potentially serious complication has arisen in California's latest effort to avoid billions in spending cuts, which threaten the state’s education and welfare systems.

Gov. Jerry Brown's Proposition 30 intends to forestall "draconian" budget cuts by temporarily raising taxes, including sales taxes and income taxes on the wealthy. The initiative could largely determine his legacy, as well as the state’s fiscal health for at least a decade. Moreover, if successful, Prop. 30 could begin to shift the national conversation on taxes after decades of extreme antitax sentiment across the country.

Polls show that a thin majority of state voters support Prop. 30. But that support could be undercut by another proposition that aims to raise taxes for public education. Molly Munger, the millionaire behind the rival initiative, has even suggested she might start airing comparison ads arguing why voters should vote for her proposition, not Governor Brown's Prop. 30.

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • Taxes • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • State Government

Support for Gov. Jerry Brown's plan for billions of dollars in tax hikes on the November ballot is slipping amid public anxiety about how politicians spend money, but voters still favor the proposal, according to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll.

The findings suggest that voters are leery of sending more cash to Sacramento in the wake of a financial scandal at the parks department, spiraling costs for a multibillion-dollar high-speed rail project to connect Northern and Southern California and ill-timed legislative pay raises.

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Taxes • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • State Government

States saw little relief from poverty in the past year, especially among children, the unemployed and those in the lowest income brackets.

The latest Census figures show that 17 states had increases in the number of people living in poverty between 2010 and 2011. Only one state, Vermont, had a decrease; the other 32 showed no change.

Although the national poverty rate has been steady at 15.9%, the Census data show pockets of increases by geography and among demographic groups. The data reflect the economy's slow recovery and anemic job growth, policy analysts say.

"The problem is high unemployment," says Chuck Sheketoff, executive director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy....

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Poverty • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • State Government

Would an expansion of Medicaid under the federal health-care law help or hinder South Carolina’s finances? Depends who you ask.

Strains of disagreement are building against the backdrop of a campaign by Gov. Nikki Haley’s administration to build opposition to an expansion.

Generally opposed by Republicans and favored by Democrats, the debate over whether to expand the Medicaid program in the states is set to play out in many statehouses across the country. That’s because a June Supreme Court ruling made the extension of coverage optional.

In the Palmetto State, advocates for the expansion contend Haley’s administration is emphasizing the costs and underselling offsetting economic benefits of an expansion.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Aging / the Elderly • Health & Medicine • --The 2009 American Health Care Reform Debate • Law & Legal Issues • Poverty • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • The U.S. Government • Budget • Politics in General • State Government • * South Carolina

Gov. Jerry Brown of California announced when he came into office last year that he had found an alarming $28 billion “wall of debt” looming over the state, which had to be dismantled.

Since then, he has slowed the issuance of municipal bonds, called for spending cuts and tried to persuade the state’s famously antitax voters to approve a tax increase this fall.

On Thursday, an independent group of fiscal experts said Mr. Brown’s efforts were all well and good, but in fact, the “wall of debt” was several times as big as the governor thought.

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • Taxes • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • State Government

Opposition is not uniform. A few denominations, like the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, with about 22,000 members in Massachusetts, officially support the concept. The Unitarians and other mainline Protestant denominations typically do not take positions on specific state proposals.

And, in an age when many ecclesiastical hierarchies are weakening, in a country where many people are used to filtering religious beliefs through personal and secular lenses, ­individual clergy and congregants do not necessarily follow the lead of church officials.

The national Episcopal Church, for example, officially opposes physician-assisted suicide. But the Rev. Daphne B. Noyes, a deacon at the Church of the Advent in Boston and a hospital chaplain, said her work with dying people and their families has led her to ­believe the option should be available under rigorously limited circumstances that ensure that participation by all parties is voluntary and deliberate.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Death / Burial / Funerals • Ministry of the Ordained • * Culture-Watch • Aging / the Elderly • Health & Medicine • Law & Legal Issues • Life Ethics • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

So people who spend most of their money on groceries and gasoline and electricity — usually the poorest among us — effectively pay a lower sales tax, because those items aren’t taxed. So do wealthier people who spend most of their money on services — from lawn care to attorney fees — which also are untaxed. People who spend more of their money on clothing or electronics or restaurant meals or most consumer goods pay a higher effective tax rate because those items are taxed.

Now, there are perfectly legitimate reasons to write exemptions into the tax code. It can make the code more equitable: A sales tax is regressive, because poor people must spend a larger portion of their income than wealthier people, who are able to save or invest more; exempting groceries is one way to make the tax less regressive. Exemptions also can discourage those activities that we as a society want to discourage and encourage activities that we want to encourage; hence, a higher tax on cigarettes, and tax breaks for creating jobs in low-income counties.

The problem comes when the loopholes swallow the whole — as they clearly have when twice as many sales are exempted as taxed. The problem comes when the tax exemptions do not reflect generally agreed-upon values, but instead reflect the lobbying power of the favored interests. Or inertia.

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Corporations/Corporate Life • Personal Finance • Taxes • Politics in General • State Government • * South Carolina

Entrepreneurs say their technology could smooth revolutionary reforms of medical care in the US, which spends $2.6tn a year on health, or 17 per cent of gross domestic product. As policy changes roll out over the next few years, insurance companies will be forced to limit their profits, and hospitals will face penalties if patients return to the hospital within 30 days of being discharged. Doctors will no longer be paid for how many X-rays they take or laboratory tests they run but for how well their patients are doing.

However, while the entrepreneurs exude optimism about their ability to streamline the healthcare system, the sprawling industry proved resistant of reforms in the 1990s. It was difficult to translate the vision of a few bright technology experts to the massive healthcare administration sector.

Fears about the proposed technology revolution resonate in several other countries that have hit roadblocks when turning to technology to address healthcare problems. Doctors and other medical professionals around the world have historically been slow to adopt new technology, wary of the costs and the time needed to learn and adjust to new administrative procedures.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Health & Medicine • Law & Legal Issues • Science & Technology • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • The U.S. Government • Politics in General • City Government • State Government

Unemployment taxes for S.C. businesses could rise by as much as 12 percent next year because state officials are not enforcing a new state law, a state senator said Tuesday.

But officials at the state Department of Employment and Workforce, which administers the state’s jobless benefits, say they expect those tax rates to drop by 12 percent, adding they are enforcing the law.

Earlier this year, lawmakers passed a law that strips unemployment benefits from people who were fired for misconduct. State Sen. Kevin Bryant, R-Anderson, and some other Republican senators say the state agency is not enforcing the new law properly.

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • Politics in General • State Government

What's the fiercest rivalry in American politics today? There's Obama-Romney, of course, but try O'Malley-McDonnell—neighboring governors battling across the Potomac River over how best to resuscitate a moribund economy.

Martin O'Malley, Maryland's liberal Democratic governor, is competing for jobs, businesses and tax dollars with Bob McDonnell, Virginia's conservative Republican chief executive. Both are rising stars considered potential presidential hopefuls in 2016. Both are Irish Catholics—Mr. McDonnell playfully calls Mr. O'Malley "the big Irishman to our north"—and each leads his party's association of governors. The two regularly spar on the Sunday talk shows, on the pages of Washington-area newspapers, and over the radio.

Each man seems obsessed with proving that his economic model has outperformed the other's....

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • Housing/Real Estate Market • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • Taxes • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • State Government • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

South Carolina's pension fund investments have generated far less over the past year than hoped, but officials say there's no cause for alarm.

Preliminary numbers from the state's Retirement System Investment Commission show a return on investments of 0.6 percent for the fiscal year ending June 30. The state assumes a 7.5 percent annual return when calculating what it needs to keep the system solvent long-term.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Aging / the Elderly • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Credit Markets • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • Personal Finance • Pensions • Stock Market • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • State Government

Access to fast Internet is spreading in the U.S., but about 19 million Americans can't get it, according to a new government report out Tuesday....

The lack of access continues to hamper rural Americans in particular. About 14.5 million rural Americans — or 23.7% of 61 million people living in rural areas — had no fast Internet service offered for their homes. In contrast, only 1.8% Americans living in non-rural areas — 4.5 million out of 254.9 million — had no broadband access. The FCC categorizes an Internet service as "broadband" if it transmits at a speed of at least 4 megabits per second.

The report's ranking of states again underscored the correlation between broadband access and economic productivity. Economically struggling states fared worse than more thriving areas of the country. West Virginia had the least amount of access, with 45.9% of the state without broadband access. Montana (26.7%), South Dakota (21.1%) and Alaska (19.6%) followed.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Science & Technology • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The U.S. Government • Politics in General • City Government • State Government

One in four Mississippi residents report there was at least one time in the past 12 months when they did not have enough money to buy the food they or their families needed -- more than in any other state in the first half of 2012. Residents in Alabama and Delaware are also among the most likely to struggle to afford food. Residents of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Vermont are among the least likely to have this problem.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Dieting/Food/Nutrition • Poverty • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • State Government

This November, Maine voters will decide if the state should allow marriage licenses to be issued to same-sex couples. The measure marks the first time supporters of same-sex “marriage” have proposed the question of legalization on a state ballot.

The proposal goes before voters of the Pine Tree State three years after residents passed a “people’s veto,” effectively negating an effort by the Maine Legislature to legalize same-sex “marriage” earlier in 2009.

The campaigns both for and against the initiative play out in a national context this year...

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • Sexuality • --Civil Unions & Partnerships • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic

An appeals court ruled in favor of a Florida county courthouse's Ten Commandments display, sending the case back down to a lower court that had ruled against the display last year.

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the suit by the American Civil Liberties Union against Dixie County over its five-foot tall Decalogue display lacked legal standing.

The ACLU had sued on behalf of an individual named in court documents as "John Doe," who lived in North Carolina and had claimed that the presence of the Ten Commandments had inhibited him from purchasing land in Dixie County.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

Unemployment rates rose in 44 U.S. states in July, the most states to show a monthly increase in more than three years and a reflection of weak hiring nationwide.

The Labor Department said Friday that unemployment rates fell in only two states and were unchanged in four.

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • State Government

California added jobs faster than the rest of the nation over the past year. Tech firms are showering riches on Silicon Valley, and home prices are soaring in places like Palo Alto. The Golden State is rebounding, but for a broad swath of residents, it is a lot less golden and is likely to stay that way.

Even in Silicon Valley, many aren't joining the revival. Tech companies are thriving, but only after shifting much work elsewhere. Internet-software experts are in demand; middle-aged semiconductor executives aren't.

Among the thriving are people like Pete Curley, who, in six years in Silicon Valley, has twice sold social-networking applications for healthy sums. The recently married 27-year-old is considering buying a home in the region's pricey market. By contrast, Pat Fasang, who says that he is older than 50, was laid off from a six-figure marketing post at a semiconductor firm last year and says that the Internet firms hiring today have no interest in him. In more than 20 years in Silicon Valley, he has never been out of work this long. "I'm beginning to feel hungry," he says.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Globalization • Science & Technology • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Corporations/Corporate Life • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • State Government

Attached to the bishop’s letter was a series of points as to why voters should consider repealing the law under Referendum 74. Stating that the new marriage law does not expand but redefines marriage in terms of a relationship between two people, the American prelate stated that such a change would cause marriage to lose its unique identity.

Another matter of concern was that a redefinition of marriage would inevitably lead to a redefinition of parenthood. The letter cited examples of similar laws passed in Spain and Canada, where traditional designations such as "mother" and "father" have been replaced with either "Parent 1 and Parent 2" or "Progenitor 1 and Progenitor 2."

Words matter, Bishop Cupich stated, "especially words like mother and father, which have real depth and meaning. We lose a great deal when they are substituted by terms and designations not otherwise used. They are strange to the ear, but they also fail to convey what fathers and mothers each bring as male and female to the critical task of generating, rearing and educating their sons and daughters."

Read it all and please take the time to read the full text of Bishop Blase Cupich's letter.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Law & Legal Issues • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * International News & Commentary • Canada • Europe • Spain • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic

Cash-hungry states have long tried to poach business from one another. Now many are stepping up their efforts to lure gamblers from their neighbors to their growing ranks of slot machines, leaving states like Delaware, which embraced gambling early, struggling to keep up in what has become a feverish one-armed-bandit arms race.

Gambling revenue accounts for more than 7 percent of Delaware’s general fund budget, making it the state’s fourth biggest revenue stream, ahead of its corporate income tax and gross receipts tax. But when new casinos in Maryland and Pennsylvania began to attract the gamblers who once fed quarters into Delaware’s machines, the state acted. First it legalized a form of sports betting. Then it allowed table games including blackjack, craps and roulette. But its gambling revenues have continued to fall.

So at the end of June, Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat, signed a law that could make Delaware the first state to offer Internet gambling — giving its residents the chance to bet on video lottery games and online versions of games like poker, blackjack and roulette without leaving their homes.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Gambling • Law & Legal Issues • Science & Technology • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Corporations/Corporate Life • Politics in General • State Government • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

A proposed amendment to the state Constitution that supporters say would protect Missourians' right to pray in public will pass by a mammoth margin if numbers from a Post-Dispatch poll hold until Aug. 7.

That's when the so-called "right to pray" ballot measure — known as Amendment 2 — will go before voters.

The measure's champions say it better defines Missourians' First Amendment rights and will help to protect the state's Christians, about 80 percent of the population, who they say are under siege in the public square.

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Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Spirituality/Prayer • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Church/State Matters • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

Illinois Medicaid recipients have been limited to four prescription drugs as the state becomes the latest to cap how many medicines it will cover in the state-federal health insurance program for the poor.

Doctors fear the state's cost-cutting move could harm patients, who have to get state permission to go beyond the limit.

"We understand the state is trying to get its Medicaid budget under control, but our concern is it not be a hardship for patients and a hassle for doctors in the execution," says William Werner, president of the Illinois State Medical Society.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Drugs/Drug Addiction • Health & Medicine • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

“The ability of the states to meet their obligations to public employees, to creditors and most critically to the education and well-being of their citizens is threatened,” warned the chairmen of the task force, Richard Ravitch, a former lieutenant governor of New York, and Paul A. Volcker, a former chairman of the Federal Reserve.

The report added a strong dose of fiscal pessimism just as many states have seen their immediate budget pressures begin to ease. And it called into question how states will restore the services they have cut during the downturn, saying that the loss of jobs in prisons, hospitals, courts and agencies have been more severe than in any of the past nine recessions.

“This is a fundamental shift in the way governments have responded to recessions and appears to signal a willingness to ‘unbuild’ state government in a way that has not been done before,” it said, noting that court systems had cut their hours in many states, delaying actions including divorce settlements and criminal trials.

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • Housing/Real Estate Market • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • State Government

(Assiduous blog readers may remember we took a special interest in this case earlier this year).

A divided Supreme Court on Monday said states may not impose on juvenile murderers mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole.

The 5 to 4 ruling said such mandatory sentences offend the constitution’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, and follow a trend at the court of treating even the worst juvenile offenders differently from adults....

“The court took a significant step forward by recognizing the fundamental unfairness of mandatory death-in-prison sentences that don’t allow sentencers to consider the unique status of children and their potential for change,” said EJI [Equal Justice Initiative]’s Bryan Stevenson. “The court has recognized that children need additional attention and protection in the criminal justice system.”

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Teens / Youth • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

In a continuing study, an all-star group of researchers following Ms. [Wendy] Parris and tens of thousands of other Oregonians has found that gaining insurance makes people feel healthier, happier and more financially stable. The insured also spend more on health care, dashing some hopes of preventive-medicine advocates who have argued that coverage can save money — by keeping people out of emergency rooms, for instance. In Oregon, the newly insured spent an average of $778 a year, or 25 percent, more on health care than those who did not win insurance.

For the nation, the lesson appears to be mixed. Expanded coverage brings large benefits to many people, but it is also more likely to increase a stretched federal government’s long-term budget responsibilities.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Health & Medicine • --The 2009 American Health Care Reform Debate • Law & Legal Issues • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Politics in General • State Government

The new rules could hit pension plans in states like Illinois and New Jersey particularly hard, and even raise borrowing costs for certain municipalities, analysts say. "This could be the event that incites a bigger policy response than what we've seen so far," says Matt Fabian, managing director at Municipal Market Advisors, a research firm.

The exact impact of the new rules by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board isn't clear. According to researchers at Boston College, pension liabilities at 126 state and municipal pension plans would jump by roughly $600 billion, or about 18%. The estimate is based on 2010 financial data and doesn't reflect the stock market's recent rebound or moves by many U.S. states to rein in pension costs.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Personal Finance • Pensions • Taxes • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • City Government • State Government

State and local governments are keeping the tightest lid on spending in three decades, even though tax revenue is rising again and powerful interest groups are asking for more money.

he tight budget controls represent a sharp reversal from several years ago when states struggled to control spending, despite a drop in tax collections, and got a $250 billion bailout from the federal government. Today, both Republicans and Democrats are rejecting spending requests even from traditional allies -- police, businesses, teachers, doctors and others -- and keeping budgets balanced as federal aid recedes.

"We're seeing some incredibly significant examples of groups not getting what they want," says Scott Pattison, head of the National Association of State Budget Officers. "There doesn't appear to be that much pushback. Maybe there's an acceptance that cuts have to occur."

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Taxes • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • City Government • State Government

The Rev. Tom Eklo of Richfield’s St. Nicholas Episcopal Church, after voicing his opposition to the proposed constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota, went even further recently, saying he’d like to get out of the marriage business altogether.

“I don’t think clergy should be doing marriages," he said. "We’re basically puppets of the state in that regard."

According to Eklo the state is responsible for marrying individuals—and because marriage is thus a civil, rather than religious contract—religious organizations, of any denomination, should not be tasked with performing marriages.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Ministry of the Ordained • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Church/State Matters • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

A growing number of cities across the United States are making it harder for the homeless.

Philadelphia recently banned outdoor feeding of people in city parks. Denver has begun enforcing a ban on eating and sleeping on property without permission. And this month, lawmakers in Ashland, Ore., will consider strengthening the town's ban on camping and making noise in public.

And the list goes on: Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, San Diego and more than 50 other cities have previously adopted some kind of anti-camping or anti-food-sharing laws, according to the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Poverty • Urban/City Life and Issues • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Housing/Real Estate Market • Politics in General • City Government • State Government

Thousands of state workers could find themselves facing a life-changing decision later this month — whether to retire or not — and with less than a week to make it.

Lawmakers are poised to make major changes in the state’s Retirement Systems that would affect the more than 214,000 state and local government employees covered by that pension system.

State senators want some of the changes to take effect July 1.

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • Personal Finance • Pensions • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • State Government • * South Carolina

Every generation has an incentive to borrow money from the future to spend on itself. But, until ours, no generation of Americans has done it to the same extent. Why?

A huge reason is that earlier generations were insecure. They lived without modern medicine, without modern technology and without modern welfare states. They lived one illness, one drought and one recession away from catastrophe. They developed a moral abhorrence about things like excessive debt, which would further magnify their vulnerability.

Recently, life has become better and more secure. But the aversion to debt has diminished amid the progress. Credit card companies seduced people into borrowing more. Politicians found that they could buy votes with borrowed money. People became more comfortable with red ink....

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • History • Psychology • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Personal Finance • Pensions • Taxes • The U.S. Government • The National Deficit • Politics in General • City Government • State Government • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology • Theology: Scripture

Next week, North Dakota voters will decide whether to add an amendment to the state's constitution that supporters say will guarantee religious freedom. But the ballot measure has prompted debate over precisely what it safeguards; opponents argue that it's a solution in search of a problem and worry about its consequences.

Measure 3 is worded this way: "Government may not burden a person's or religious organization's religious liberty." Its supporters call it the Religious Liberty Restoration amendment; they say it's needed because of a 22-year-old U.S. Supreme Court decision they believe has put limits on religious freedom.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

“I voted for [Walker] in 2010 because I realized we have to do something about the deficit. I voted for him in the recall because I don’t believe recall elections are meant for what they’re doing with it,” said Katy Tomlanovich, who teaches at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. She said recall elections should be reserved for politicians who commit gross malfeasance, not for those who make unpopular decisions.

Tomlanovich said she plans to vote for Obama in November but cast a ballot for the Republican on Tuesday. “Scott Walker is actually doing something about [spending], and I think he should be allowed to serve the rest of his term.”

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Housing/Real Estate Market • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • Taxes • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • The U.S. Government • Budget • The National Deficit • Politics in General • House of Representatives • Office of the President • Senate • State Government

Everyone seems to have an opinion on what the vote in Wisconsin means for national politics.

But beyond the issue of whether Scott Walker's survival puts Wisconsin in play in November, his victory represents an example of the way politicians in our most pressed states are sorting themselves as they confront this long fiscal downturn. Increasingly they fall into two camps: those willing to undertake tough reforms in the face of severe fiscal restraints that don't appear likely to improve anytime soon, and those who continue to put off the difficult decisions even as their states' balance sheets deteriorate and investors grow wary of their budget instability.

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Housing/Real Estate Market • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • Taxes • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • House of Representatives • Office of the President • Senate • State Government

Scott Walker became the nation’s first governor ever to survive a recall election – and it was not as close as many predicted. With over 99-percent of the vote counted, the Republican Walker led Democrat Tom Barrett 53-to-46 percent, with Brookfield kidney specialist Hari Trivedi getting the other one-percent.

Walker’s victory margin was slightly bigger than when he first defeated Barrett in 2010.

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • State Government

....The Supreme Court is now expected to use the Miller case to determine whether states are required to consider giving juveniles a second chance, no matter what they did. And each side is giving up a little in this case. Alabama is not arguing that all juvenile murderers should be ineligible for parole, only those who commit the worst crimes—crimes that would bring a death sentence if the defendant were an adult.

Evan Miller is represented by the Equal Justice Initiative and its founder and executive director, Bryan Stevenson, and Stevenson isn’t asking anyone actually be given parole, only that when offenders are so young that at some point far down the road, they at least be allowed to demonstrate they are entitled to be set free.

BRYAN STEVENSON (Equal Justice Initiative): I think everyone is more than the worst thing they’ve ever done, and I think that policy makers can make decisions about how to punish them. But I think children are uniquely more than their worst act; they have quintessential qualities and characteristics that a decent society, a maturing society, an evolved society, we believe, is constitutionally obligated to recognize and protect.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • Teens / Youth • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

In 2011 North Carolina’s legislature voted to eliminate all funding for chaplains serving correctional institutions. According to Gary Friedman of the American Correctional Chaplains Organization, North Carolina later restored 33 percent of the funding, but it was still a drastic cut. Similar proposals are pending in other state legislatures. Some are cutting funding immediately; others are simply not replacing chaplains when they die or retire. One state’s commissioner of corrections recently told a statewide chaplains’ conference: “I am mandated to secure, educate, and medicate—religion is not an essential part of that mandate.” Friedman reports that New York State has seen its corps of prison chaplains reduced by nearly 50 percent over the past two years because of a hiring freeze. He pointed out that the hiring freezes have also cut into the remaining chaplains’ support staff—their administrative assistants and volunteer coordinators—which has left the chaplains themselves with more paperwork to do and less time for religious services and counseling.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Prison/Prison Ministry • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • State Government

Most states are still more than two years away from returning to prerecession employment levels, according to a new analysis.

Only four states — Alaska, North Dakota, Texas, and Louisiana — have created enough jobs since the recovery to get back to where they were prior to the recession, according to economist Steven Frable of IHS Global Insight. All four of those states have benefited from an energy boom, and Louisiana was starting at a low level of employment after taking a major hit from Hurricane Katrina.

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • State Government

California is facing a much deeper budget deficit than expected due to weak tax revenues and slow progress in cutting budgets, Governor Jerry Brown said on Saturday.

Brown said the shortfall for the fiscal year ending on June 30 now stood at $16 billion, up from a previous estimate of $9.2 billion made in January.

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • Taxes • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • State Government

I express my sincere gratitude to the people of North Carolina who voted FOR Marriage in the referendum completed today. Passage of the Amendment to the Constitution of our State has now ensured that the definition of marriage, as the faithful and exclusive union of one man and one woman, and one which is open to the gift of children, is in accord with God's design and in keeping with the very nature of this sacred vocation.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • Sexuality • --Civil Unions & Partnerships • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

North Carolina voters have spoken, passing an amendment to the state constitution - called Amendment One - which allows that "marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be recognized by the state." I, and many other bishops, clergy and laity from within the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, and faith leaders from many traditions, opposed Amendment One. I opposed it because I believe, as the scripture says, all people are created in the image and likeness of God and that all are therefore to be accorded the rights and dignity that befit a child of God. In like manner, those who hold a very different position are also created in that image - and deserve the same respect that befits a child of God.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • Sexuality • --Civil Unions & Partnerships • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

"We are FOR this definition of marriage," the Bishops wrote, "because we believe it is a vocation in which God calls couples to faithfully and permanently embrace a fruitful union that is open to the gift of children."

To the claim that the Amendment will codify discrimination against homosexual persons, the Bishops noted, “As Catholics, we believe in the immeasurable dignity and equal worth of all persons. And so we reject hatred or the unjust treatment of any person. We believe that our human dignity comes from God,” adding it “flows not from the expression of our sexual orientation nor from any of our actions.”

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“We oppose Amendment One because the love of God and the way of love that has been revealed in Jesus of Nazareth compels us to do so. We oppose Amendment One because every time we baptize someone in The Episcopal Church, the entire congregation vows to ‘strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.’* We oppose Amendment One because it is unjust and it does not respect the dignity of every human being in the State of North Carolina. If passed, it will harm not only law-abiding gay and lesbian citizens but other men, women and innocent children in our state,” reads one excerpt from the letter.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • Sexuality • --Civil Unions & Partnerships • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

Voters approved the amendment by a 61%-39% margin with all counties reporting, according to unofficial returns from the State Board of Elections.

The state House and Senate voted in 2011 to put the amendment before state voters. Both chambers are Republican-controlled for the first time in 140 years.

President Barack Obama said he was "disappointed" by the vote, describing it as discriminatory against gays and lesbians, a spokesman said....

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After years of stalled efforts, Connecticut is close to legalizing medical marijuana.

The state Senate approved the bill early Saturday morning following nearly 10 hours of debate. The measure passed the House of Representatives in April, and Gov. Dannel Malloy, a Democrat, has said he would sign it. The move would make Connecticut the 17th state, along with the District of Columbia, to legalize medical marijuana.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Drugs/Drug Addiction • Health & Medicine • Law & Legal Issues • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

...it is tempting for progressives to dismiss complaints about redistribution of wealth as ignorant or hypocritical, as in many cases they probably are. Yet all naïveté about public budgets aside, a strong presumption in favor of being able to keep the money you earn is a valuable and powerful thing. Progressives who embrace the concept of wealth redistribution on egalitarian grounds, or who join the refrain of “tax the rich” as the main solution to our fiscal and economic problems, tend to miss the many ways in which economic unfairness can remain untouched or even affirmed by redistributive policies....

It’s important to focus rhetoric and activism on making the rich “pay their fair share”—especially during this austerity season, in which the practical alternative is watching services for the poor dramatically cut....

This can’t, however, be the final analysis of redistributive policies. Throughout the Old Testament, inequality itself is hardly the only issue. There is also the question of fair access to the means of making a living—which, in the Old Testament world, means fair access to land ownership.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Poverty • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Taxes • The U.S. Government • Politics in General • City Government • State Government • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

State Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, and other lawmakers sent the Board of Trust a letter with legislation attached, threatening to block the policy because Vanderbilt receives state funds.

Wednesday morning, Vanderbilt students from 11 Christian organizations began handing out 4,000 MP4 players loaded with a seven-minute video outlining their objections. The video, also on YouTube, features alumnus Tom Singleton, a retired health-care executive, who said later he won’t so much as renew his football season tickets until the school backs off.

The university’s provost said Vanderbilt stands by the policy.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Education • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • Young Adults • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

With economic growth still anaemic and tax revenue down, governments are hoping that they can find additional funds by allowing more gambling.

In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo is proposing to change the state Constitution in order to legalize commercial casinos.

In Michigan two separate casino development campaigns are under way to persuade voters, who have to approve new casinos, to allow a total of 15 new casinos across the state....

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Gambling • Poverty • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Personal Finance • Politics in General • City Government • State Government

Walking down the tree-lined streets where she grew up, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley remembers the day she was presented with a beach ball at the Wee Miss Bamberg pageant -- not for winning, but as a consolation prize when she and her sister were disqualified.

"They pulled my parents aside and said they had a white queen and they had a black queen and they didn't want to upset either side by putting us in that category," she recalls, not the first time nor the last that their Indian heritage made it hard for her family to fit in this small town. "My mom said, 'Can she at least do her talent?'"

So she sang (irony alert) "This land is your land, this land is my land. …" A family photo from that day shows a solemn Nikki in a ruffled dress and black patent-leather shoes, accepting the gift-wrapped package on stage as the other little girls squirm and chatter, waiting for the contest to continue.

How times have changed.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Women • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * South Carolina

Does it worry you that there could be abuse? Patients could get the meds while they were lucid, but when they became a burden, someone else could administer them?
Theoretically there would be that possibility. For the most part, I've found when patients slip away in that way, the family becomes more concerned about their welfare and more likely to find help.

The only other states where patients can do this are Washington and Montana. Why hasn't it spread further?
There's tremendous opposition from the religious community, for reasons I accept. There's built-in antagonism among the medical profession. "I think I've done all I can, and I'm not going to do any more" is not the sort of thing doctors say. And patients and their families have the hugest difficulty in accepting that they are beyond treatment in a curative sense.

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Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Death / Burial / Funerals • * Culture-Watch • Health & Medicine • Law & Legal Issues • Life Ethics • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

Seven years after Florida adopted its sweeping self-defense law, the shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, has put that law at the center of an increasingly angry debate over how he was killed and whether law enforcement has the authority to charge the man who killed him.

The law, called Stand Your Ground, is one of 21 such laws around the country, many of them passed within the last few years. In Florida, it was pushed heavily by the National Rifle Association but opposed vigorously by law enforcement.

It gives the benefit of the doubt to a person who claims self-defense, regardless of whether the killing takes place on a street, in a car or in a bar — not just in one’s home, the standard cited in more restrictive laws. In Florida, if people feel they are in imminent danger from being killed or badly injured, they do not have to retreat, even if it would seem reasonable to do so. They have the right to “stand their ground” and protect themselves.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Rural/Town Life • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The U.S. Government • Politics in General • City Government • State Government • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

The US Department of Justice has announced an investigation into the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Florida in February.

Trayvon Martin, 17, was killed by neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, 28, while walking through a gated community in a suburb of Orlando.

Mr Zimmerman says he was acting in self-defence.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Law & Legal Issues • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

State officials make lofty promises when it comes to ethics in government. They tout the transparency of legislative processes, accessibility of records, and the openness of public meetings. But these efforts often fall short of providing any real transparency or legitimate hope of rooting out corruption.

That’s the depressing bottom line that emerges from the State Integrity Investigation, a first-of-its-kind, data-driven assessment of transparency, accountability and anti-corruption mechanisms in all 50 states. Not a single state — not one — earned an A grade from the months-long probe. Only five states earned a B grade: New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington, California and Nebraska. Nineteen states got C’s and 18 received D’s. Eight states earned failing grades of 59 or below from the project, which is a collaboration of the Center for Public Integrity, Global Integrity and Public Radio International.

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New Jersey's attorney general told Muslim leaders Saturday that he was still looking into the extent of New York Police Department surveillance operations in the state, yet stopped short of promising a formal investigation during a meeting that both sides characterized as productive.

Leaders from different New Jersey Muslim organizations met with Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa and state and federal law enforcement officials for nearly three hours in Trenton to discuss concerns over the NYPD's activities in the state.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • City Government • State Government • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam

Upon returning from Rome this evening, Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien, Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, issued the following statement on the Maryland Senate’s vote to redefine marriage in Maryland.

“Though not a surprise, today’s vote to redefine marriage in the State of Maryland by some members of the State Senate, is no less troubling for it places Maryland one step closer to the dismantling of the most fundamental social institution in all of society.

“The Catholic Church, like others throughout western civilization for thousands of years, has regarded marriage for its unique gifts rooted in nature, and respected that only God alone--not the Church and not government–bestows the true meaning upon this relationship that He created....

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On Thursday, February 23, the Maryland General Assembly voted 25-22 in favor of Senate Bill 241, the Civil Marriage Protection Act, which is summarized as: “Altering a provision of law to establish that only a marriage between two individuals who are not otherwise prohibited from marrying is valid in the State; prohibiting an official of a religious institution or body authorized to solemnize marriages from being required to solemnize any marriage in violation of the constitutional right to free exercise of religion; etc.” The law is scheduled to go into effect Jan.1, 2013.

The Episcopal Church acts as an agent of the state when its clergy officiate at marriages. The Church also has its own theology and canons, or laws, regarding what Christian marriage is. Our Episcopal Church governing body, the triennial General Convention, passed Resolution C056 at its last meeting in 2009, allowing bishops to provide “generous pastoral response” to members in dioceses where the civil authority has legalized same-gender marriage. The resolution also called for the collection and development of theological and liturgical resources for blessing same-gender unions for review by the next General Convention in 2012....

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Why is this important, and how does it affect even those who do not live in Maryland? Isn’t it best just to let people do what they want with their lives and leave well enough alone, as long as we are left in peace to do what we want with our lives? That’s a pipedream. This law is a misnomer, and its passage signals the destruction of, not greater protection for, marriage. Let me explain why.

First, let’s step back from the rhetoric and define our terms. Fundamentally, what defines a marriage? What makes it unique and distinct from all other human relationships? It is the only relationship that naturally leads to the procreation of a child, and, through its stability and mutual commitment, provides the optimal conditions to nurture and educate that child. Same-sex unions cannot achieve this biologically. Two women cannot conceive a child, nor can two men. Therefore, they simply cannot, naturally speaking, be “married,” for their relationship lacks the essential component of fertility. Sexual difference is an essential component of marriage.

Some will claim that homosexual partners raise children just as heterosexual ones do. But again, let’s step aside from the rhetoric and look at facts. Two lesbians who bring a child into the world through artificial insemination still require the male gamete necessary for fertilization to take place. Whether aware of him or not, the child of that lesbian couple actually does have a father.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • Science & Technology • Sexuality • --Civil Unions & Partnerships • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

“This is a cultural war, a cultural shift, and those who are in rebellion have decided to portray us as bigots and prejudiced,” says [Nathaniel] Thomas, pastor of Forestville New Redeemer Baptist Church, a trim, pale-brick building across from a storage facility on a dead-end road just inside the Beltway near Pennsylvania Avenue.

He knows that some gay activists are incredulous that black ministers could oppose a civil rights initiative. “ ‘How dare a black preacher take this position,’ they say, ‘because you’ve felt this pain,’ and I have,” he says. Over the decades, he has marched for voting and housing rights and fought for equal protection for blacks.

But Thomas and the 77 other Baptist ministers in the association do not see same-sex marriage as a civil rights matter. Rather, they say, it is a question of Scripture, of whether a country based on Judeo-Christian principles will honor what’s written in Romans or decide to make secular decisions about what’s right.

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Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Ministry of the Ordained • * Culture-Watch • Children • Law & Legal Issues • Marriage & Family • Race/Race Relations • Religion & Culture • Sexuality • --Civil Unions & Partnerships • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

Americans love to laugh at ridiculous regulations. A Florida law requires vending-machine labels to urge the public to file a report if the label is not there. The Federal Railroad Administration insists that all trains must be painted with an “F” at the front, so you can tell which end is which. Bureaucratic busybodies in Bethesda, Maryland, have shut down children’s lemonade stands because the enterprising young moppets did not have trading licences. The list goes hilariously on.

But red tape in America is no laughing matter. The problem is not the rules that are self-evidently absurd. It is the ones that sound reasonable on their own but impose a huge burden collectively. America is meant to be the home of laissez-faire. Unlike Europeans, whose lives have long been circumscribed by meddling governments and diktats from Brussels, Americans are supposed to be free to choose, for better or for worse. Yet for some time America has been straying from this ideal.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Globalization • Law & Legal Issues • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Corporations/Corporate Life • The U.S. Government • Politics in General • City Government • State Government

Maryland likely will join voters in Washington and Maine in deciding in November whether to legalize gay "marriage." Meanwhile Minnesota voters (November) and North Carolinians (May) will vote this year on whether to define marriage as between a man and a woman in their respective state constitutions.

The Maryland House was considered to be the biggest hurdle for the bill. Last year Democratic leaders pulled it from the House floor because it lacked the necessary votes.

Democrats control both chambers, but the bill had a tough climb in the House because of opposition from African American members who were pressured by black church leaders.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Marriage & Family • Sexuality • --Civil Unions & Partnerships • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

Nevada is envisioning a day when taxicabs might shuttle fares without a driver, or people with medical conditions that make them ineligible for a license could get around with a virtual chauffeur.

The concept took a big step when Nevada became the first state to approve regulations that spell out requirements for companies to test driverless cars on state roads.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Science & Technology • Travel • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

Attorneys general from a dozen states say they intend to sue over the Obama administration’s contraception mandate that requires many religious employers to violate the teachings of their faith.

In a Feb. 10 letter, the attorneys general voiced their “strong opposition” to the mandate, which they called “an impermissible violation of the Constitution’s First Amendment virtually unparalleled in American history.”

They said that if the mandate is implemented, they are prepared to “vigorously oppose it in court.”

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Health & Medicine • --The 2009 American Health Care Reform Debate • Law & Legal Issues • Life Ethics • Marriage & Family • Science & Technology • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Office of the President • President Barack Obama • State Government • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology