Obamacare; Iran Christians receive 80 lashes; Gambling expanded in NY...

Expansion of Gambling in New York Is Approved
...The casino amendment was promoted by a coalition called New York Jobs Now, which was primarily financed by gambling interests, including operators of the racetrack slot machine parlors, as well as labor unions that stood to benefit from the development of casinos. The coalition raised more than $4 million for the effort, which included a series of television ads promoting the economic benefits of casino development and citing endorsements from newspaper editorial boards...

A.S. Haley: The Coming Bailout of Obamacare
“Houston, we have a problem.”

Peter Ferrara, the author of this disturbing analysis in The American Spectator, is an expert on the long-term problems of Social Security and other government welfare programs. His conclusion about the coming death spiral of Obamacare:

The pool the insurers end up covering, then, will be a lot more like the pool of all burnt down houses for fire insurers discussed above. The premiums the insurers receive from this adversely shrunken pool will not remotely cover the costs of that pool. Hence they will be facing bankruptcy next year, absent another taxpayer bailout of hundreds of billions. So the choice will be that, or socialized medicine, including the government death panels we see in every other country weighed down by this “enlightened” last century albatross....

Visualizing the 15 million people who will lose their current individual health plans  ...But how many people is 15 million? Is it really such a small number, something we shouldn’t care about?...

Mystery shrouds plans for release of ObamaCare enrollment data 
The Obama administration said it will publish Affordable Care Act enrollment data next week, but has repeatedly refused to disclose which figures it plans to release.

The silence from federal health officials raises the possibility that they will release a single sign-up number that fails to shed light on how the enrollment effort is really proceeding.
The long-awaited disclosure will come as the White House works to quell a political firestorm over both real and perceived problems with its healthcare reform rollout....

Iran: Christian “whipped with extreme violence” for drinking communion wine ...Two of the four Iranian evangelical Christians who were recently convicted on charges of consuming alcohol have received their 80-lash sentence...

UK: Legalized Same-Sex Marriage is Not Enough–Homosexual Couple Sues for a Church Wedding  ...Britain’s new legislation legalizing same-sex marriage includes a provision that protects churches from being forced to conduct same-sex wedding ceremonies. But homosexual couple Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow have set out to demolish that protection for churches because it stands in the way of their coveted church wedding.

“It upsets me because I want it so much—a big lavish ceremony, the whole works.”  The duo filed a lawsuit against the Church of England, demanding that the court compel all Anglican churches to conduct same-sex wedding ceremonies in their houses of worship...

The End of Religious Liberty in the Land of Lincoln ...Senate Bill 10 offers no specific protection regarding employment practices. If a current church employee chooses to "marry" a same-sex partner, the legislation offers no specific protection regarding the church being forced to pay -- from funds collected every Sunday from faithful church-goers in the pews -- for benefits for the "spouse."

The legislation offers no conscience protections to health-care facilities, educational facilities, or social service agencies. So, faith-based hospitals, colleges, and universities that own and operate venues for rent are not protected.

Individuals and independent business owners whose religious beliefs do not condone same-sex marriage are also left in the dust. There are the stories about the photographers, bakers, florists, and bed-and-breakfast owners who have come under fire for refusing to serve same-sex weddings. What about the county judge asked to perform a same-sex wedding, or a public school teacher forced to teach about a family with two moms, two dads, or some other permutation?

They get nada....