Scrolling around...August 13, 2012

Treasury: U.S. to lose $25 billion on auto bailout
The Treasury Department says in a new report the government expects to lose more than $25 billion on the $85 billion auto bailout. That's 15 percent higher than its previous forecast...

Colleges and universities rejecting students for being in-state
In state after state, one of the ways public colleges and universities are balancing their budgets is by aiming to admit more students from out of state (who are charged much higher tuition rates). In theory, this means more revenue for the entire university, although critics have warned about weakening the ties between public universities and their own states...

Woman Becomes First Openly Gay General
An Army officer being promoted to brigadier general openly acknowledged her homosexuality on Friday by having her wife pin her star to her uniform, thus becoming the first openly gay officer of flag rank in the United States military...

San Francisco archdiocese bans drag queens from parish; gay group indignant
A group helping homosexuals recover from drug and alcohol abuse has canceled a fundraiser on Catholic parish grounds in protest, after the church said it would no longer allow drag queens in such events...

“Civil Rights Agenda” Files Antidiscrimination Complaint Against Chick-fil-A Based on Chick-fil-A’s Speech
...But the Civil Rights Agenda is going further still: They are arguing that it violates public accommodations environment law for companies to express certain viewpoints even in their officials’ public statements. That theory is even more clearly violative of the companies’ First Amendment rights. I hope the Illinois Department of Human Rights recognizes that Illinois public accommodation law doesn’t cover such situations — but, if it does cover them, the First Amendment prevents it from being enforced.

Child Pornography and the Restitution Revolution
Victims of child pornography are now successfully seeking restitution from defendants convicted of watching and trading their images. Restitution in child pornography cases, however, represents a dramatic departure from traditional concepts of restitution. This Article offers the first critique of this restitution revolution. Traditional restitution is grounded in notions of unjust enrichment, and seeks to restore the economic status quo between parties by requiring disgorgement of ill-gotten gains. The restitution being ordered in increasing numbers of child pornography cases does not serve this purpose. Instead, child pornography victims are receiving restitution simply for having their images viewed...

Illinois to Spend More on Pensions than on Education
The state of Illinois faces at least $83 billion in unfunded liability between its five pension systems, and is on track to spend more on its government pensions than on education by 2016, according to a new study released by Governor Pat Quinn's office, says Fox Business...Meanwhile, Illinois joins New York, California and Maryland in having the highest state tax rates in the country. Illinois was dinged last year for boosting its taxes 67 percent...

Billy Graham admitted to hospital
Billy Graham was hospitalised on Saturday night for the treatment of a pulmonary infection thought to be bronchitis...

Wesley J. Smith: Obama Looks to Strip Entrepreneurs of Religious Liberty
Do entrepreneurs sacrifice their religious liberties merely by seeking a profit? That question would have stunned our Founding Fathers, most of whom were businessmen as well as statesmen. George Washington owned a large for-profit farm. So did James Madison. John Adams and Alexander Hamilton ran successful law practices. Benjamin Franklin was a printer and an inventor. Having secured freedom of religion for themselves and their posterity, these men of liberty would be astounded that the government they established asserted the legal authority to force business owners to violate their religious beliefs in the operation of their enterprises...

Pew Forum: The World’s Muslims: Unity and Diversity
...The Pew Forum’s survey of the world’s Muslims includes every nation with a Muslim population of more than 10 million except Algeria, China, India, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Together, the 39 countries and territories included in the survey are home to about two-thirds of all Muslims in the world...

PCUSA dismissals continue after tumultuous General Assembly
The number of churches leaving the Presbyterian Church (USA) continues to increase and, following a General Assembly filled with controversy, the number seeking dismissal shows no sign of abating even as denominational membership continues to also decline.
Most departing congregations are claiming the PCUSA rejects the authority of Scripture. A steady stream of churches has departed for other Reformed denominations following the 2011 passage of Amendment 10A and the new Form of Government...