Tuesday, October 9, 2012
|
| TODAY'S HEADLINES: |
RECENT NEWS YOU MAY HAVE
MISSED:
|
| NEWS FROM OTHER MEMBERS OF THE LIBERTY ALLIANCE: |
Zionica News
Federal Judge Halts New Orleans’ Ban on street preaching after three arrested
By: Heather Clark
A national legal organization has announced that it has obtained a temporary restraining order against New Orleans’ Aggressive Solicitation ordinance, which bans evangelistic activity and all free speech after sunset on Bourbon Street.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Louisiana states that it obtained the restraining order during a brief telephone hearing this afternoon. The organization had filed suit earlier in the day, requesting that the court grant a temporary freeze on the ordinance until the case moves forward in federal court.
The ACLU represented Kelsey McCauley-Bohn in the lawsuit, who was one of the six Christians that had been arrested last Friday night while ministering on Bourbon Street in the city’s French Quarter.
While not handcuffed and charged, McCauley-Bohn, along with the others, followed officers to the 8th Precinct station as per police directives, where the group was informed, “You are under arrest.” Three of the Christians, all men, were cited and face a trial date of October 31st.
McCauley-Bohn came to Christ in October of last year because of the outreach of RAVEN Ministries, the team that she now is a part of. She was adopted by the group’s pastor, Troy Bohn, and his wife Melanie. McCauley-Bohn had previously been working at a strip club on Bourbon Street.
While the Aggressive Solicitation ordinance used against McCauley-Bohn and the five others was crafted primarily to restrict panhandling and other forms of begging, it also includes a sentence that prohibits any type of free speech on Bourbon Street after sunset.
“It shall be prohibited for any person or group of persons to loiter or congregate on Bourbon Street for the purpose disseminating any social, political, or religious message between the hours of sunset and sunrise,” the law declares.
“Because only messages of a social, political or religious perspective are restricted, the section imposes a particularly egregious [First Amendment] restriction,” the complaint filed by the ACLU stated. “[Members of RAVEN Ministries] preach a message of love and salvation. They typically display a large cross, and wear t-shirts saying things like ‘I Love Jesus’ and ‘Ask Me How Jesus Changed My Life.’ They ask people if they are familiar with the Gospel, and invite conversation; however they do not harass, follow, or make physical contact with passersby.”
District Judge Eldon Fallon, who was appointed to the bench by Bill Clinton in 1995, ruled this afternoon that the ordinance was likely causing “irreparable injury” to the constitutional rights of citizens.
“The Court finds that continued enforcement of New Orleans [Aggressive Solicitation] ordinance will result in an infringement of Plaintiff’s rights of free speech, and that the Plaintiff has demonstrated a likelihood of success that this infringement is impermissible under the United States Constitution,” Fallon wrote. “It is ordered adjudged and decreed that Plaintiff’s motion for temporary restraining order is hereby granted, and Defendants the City of New Orleans, Mayor Mitch Landrieu and NOPD Superintendent Renal Serpas, and their respective agents or employees, are hereby enjoined from enforcing or attempting to enforce [the] New Orleans Parish Ordinance.”
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a lawsuit yesterday on behalf of another evangelist, Pastor Paul Gros, who was threatened with arrest in May of this year while preaching on Bourbon Street with his wife, another pastor and a friend. ADF was seeking a preliminary injunction against the ordinance.
Until recently, The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) had been assisting David Johnson, another Christian who regularly ministers on Bourbon Street. Johnson had been surrounded by mounted police officers during last month’s Southern Decadence Festival, a popular homosexual pride event, and was forced off the street under threat of arrest.
Following the incident, the ACLJ sent a 7-page demand letter on September 6th to the City of New Orleans, urging the city to cease and desist its threats against those who wish to engage in free speech activities after sunset. Earlier this week, the organization informed Johnson that it could not proceed with further legal action, in part because of a lack of resources.
Michael Marcavage of the national evangelistic organization Repent America, who called upon the Department of Justice this week to intervene in the matter, says that he is thankful that the injunction has been granted.
“Christians have done much to help New Orleans following the hurricane devastation that it suffered, from monetary aid to charitable work, yet the silencing of Christian speech is the thanks they get in return?” he asked. “I commend Judge Fallon for issuing the injunction, as from his ruling it is evident that he understood the severity of the situation.”
Marcavage also noted concerns over the lack of response from Christian legal groups, which did not seek an emergency injunction prior to the arrests of the Christians.
“Considering the blatant unconstitutionality of this ordinance, I was disappointed to learn that a Christian legal group did not step up sooner and seek emergency relief. The case is a slam dunk, and while I am grateful that somebody did something, the ACLU now stands to make thousands in legal fees to further unGodliness in our land,” he said. “I am thankful, however, for Christian attorneys who are working to defend freedom and those who face persecution, and am praying that God would raise up more believers who zealously desire to see Him glorified in the public square.”
The temporary restraining order remains in place until the court decides further on whether to grant a preliminary injunction. The next hearing is set for October 1st.
Newsday blasts two-party system, presidential debate commission as massive fraud
Photo credit: AP | Former two-term governor of New Mexico and
Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson speaks at Duke University, in Durham N.C. (Sept. 20, 2012)
As the presidential election approaches, the emails in my in-box can be divided into three basically equal categories:
1) "I canot beleeve you have fallin for Obologna's trix."
2) "How cum U cant see thru Mitwit Romney's dum republikkan dumness. "
3) "Have you heard how Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate for president, is getting rolled?"
The first two categories I answer quickly and politely, because they are mostly from family. The Gary Johnson stuff I've just been chewing on, though, and getting disgusted.
We are a two-party system -- not by law, but because the Democrats and the Republicans have seized the mechanisms of government. They use their control to maintain power, and other parties can't compete. This causes a bunch of self-perpetuating, corrosive behaviors, like government-funded primaries for these major parties, which are really nothing but private organizations. Withholding the money for a Republican primary out of a libertarian's paycheck makes as much sense as taxing Jews to pay for KKK dance parties (now that's an idea for a reality show).
Another, more pressing way the Republicans and Democrats control the process came about in the late 1980s when the two major parties created the "nonpartisan" Commission on Presidential Debates, and crowded out the League of Women Voters, which had run the general election debates up until then.
In 1988, the League withdrew, saying in a statement that "the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter." The League was right. The debates have largely been unfair and prepackaged since then, and the Commission on Presidential Debates is currently run by a former head of the Republican National Committee and a former White House press secretary (under Bill Clinton). And no one from any other party need apply.
We now have an estimated 90 million "unlikely voters." These are citizens eligible to cast a ballot, who likely won't bother.
They say their vote won't matter, that there's nothing worth voting for. Interestingly, about 20 percent say they would vote for a third-party candidate if they did bother to cast a ballot, and 53 percent say third-parties are needed.
In a phone interview, Johnson, the former New Mexico governor who's heading the Libertarian Party ticket, told a miserable tale. He tried to run for president as a Republican this time, and was barred from most of the debates, even though, he says, he had the 4 percent support in a national poll needed to qualify "How would you feel about that," he asked, a bit plaintively. "What if it were you?"
Then he accepted the Libertarian Party nomination, and he can't get a lectern in the three general election debates, where the requirement is 15 percent support in a major poll. He's suing the Commission on Presidential Debates, but is unlikely to win in court. Regardless, he believes he's polling at 6 percent nationally -- and higher in many states -- and what he draws could decide the race in a few of them, Ralph Nader-2000 style.
Few would want every lunatic who says he's running for president on the stage. But it would be good to have more debates, and to hear from more than the two big brands. What if every candidate on the ballot in at least half the states got to participate in a debate or two, and standards toughened for later forums.
It feels like "the establishment" -- the corporations and power players -- don't care which of the two major candidates wins. They just want to be sure a Ron Paul, a Gary Johnson, a Dennis Kucinich and a Ralph Nader can't win, or, really, that their often unconventional ideas can't be heard. And until enough people make noise about it, inside the voting booth and out, it won't change.
The Conservative Byte
|
| October 9, 2012 |
The TEA PARTY ECONOMIST
The TEA PARTY ECONOMIST
Ron Paul's original staff economist, Dr. Gary North!
How Older Economists Retired Rich
Gary North’s Reality Check (Oct. 9, 2012) Most of the academic economists I know were able to retire rich. I define “rich” in a special way: the ability to quit your day job, retire permanently, and not suffer a reduction in your lifestyle. There are a lot of people who think the government has promised... READ MORE
Pay Retail for College? Sucker!
When we read an article in Forbes with this title — “The Hoax of College” — we know that word is getting out. We also know that word is not changing potential behavior, which borders on the suicidal. It is a good article. Here are some gems. As steadily as ivy creeps up the walls... READ MORE
The Ivy League’s Blackballing of Austrian School Economists
There has never been an Austrian School economist on the faculty of an Ivy League university. There have been two ex-Austrians. Three decades ago, Fritz Machlup taught at Princeton, but he had long since abandoned his Austrian views. He had been a follower of Mises until the 1940s. Mises saved his life by persuading him... READ MORE
200 Welfare State Horror Stories
I recommend two books: one on socialized medicine’s foul-ups and the other on government regulatory foul-ups. You can download both for free. The first is Shattered Lives. The second is Shattered Dreams. These books are a warning. Bureaucratic medicine and bureaucratic safety are myths. People who were supposed to be helped were harmed. There are ... READ MORE
Spanking a Child Is a Felony in Delaware
It had to happen. Delaware has become the very first state to pass a controversial law that effectively outlaws the corporal discipline of children by their parents. Senate bill 234 was signed into law by Governor Jack Markell on September 12. Sponsored by Delaware’s Senate Majority Leader Patricia Blevins, the bill redefines child abuse laws... READ MORE
Ron Paul's original staff economist, Dr. Gary North!
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
How Older Economists Retired Rich
Gary North’s Reality Check (Oct. 9, 2012) Most of the academic economists I know were able to retire rich. I define “rich” in a special way: the ability to quit your day job, retire permanently, and not suffer a reduction in your lifestyle. There are a lot of people who think the government has promised... READ MORE
Pay Retail for College? Sucker!
When we read an article in Forbes with this title — “The Hoax of College” — we know that word is getting out. We also know that word is not changing potential behavior, which borders on the suicidal. It is a good article. Here are some gems. As steadily as ivy creeps up the walls... READ MORE
The Ivy League’s Blackballing of Austrian School Economists
There has never been an Austrian School economist on the faculty of an Ivy League university. There have been two ex-Austrians. Three decades ago, Fritz Machlup taught at Princeton, but he had long since abandoned his Austrian views. He had been a follower of Mises until the 1940s. Mises saved his life by persuading him... READ MORE
200 Welfare State Horror Stories
I recommend two books: one on socialized medicine’s foul-ups and the other on government regulatory foul-ups. You can download both for free. The first is Shattered Lives. The second is Shattered Dreams. These books are a warning. Bureaucratic medicine and bureaucratic safety are myths. People who were supposed to be helped were harmed. There are ... READ MORE
Spanking a Child Is a Felony in Delaware
It had to happen. Delaware has become the very first state to pass a controversial law that effectively outlaws the corporal discipline of children by their parents. Senate bill 234 was signed into law by Governor Jack Markell on September 12. Sponsored by Delaware’s Senate Majority Leader Patricia Blevins, the bill redefines child abuse laws... READ MORE
Personal Liberty Digest
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Clash Daily
|
Smart Economic Planning: An American Oxymoron I wonder if the Romans knew they were about to fall, before the fall. I wonder how their debates went. “Well Maximus, I disagree, I think we need to pass out more bread and increase the number of lions at the games!” “No, no ... READ MORE |
 Donald Trump Tells Christians to Grow Some Cojones
I inadvertently stirred up quite a theological
controversy. I happened to, in a sense, agree with Donald Trump when he
advised the Liberty University student body to “not let people take
advantage of them.” Instead, he said, ... READ MORE
|
|
||||||
|
HOT OPINIONS
NEWS CLASH
|
MUST-SEE VIDEOS
ABOUT CLASHDAILY.COM
|
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)