The United States’ Unwritten Blasphemy Laws; ‘Muslim values’; 200,000 of Anyone Else Would Get Coverage...more

200,000 of Anyone Else Would Get Coverage  
The media once again largely ignored the March for Life which saw 200,000 plus people walking right down Constitution Avenue in Washington D.C.

According to Newsbusters, CBS is the only one to even mention the March and they did it in passing.

I'm just wondering if there's 200,000 of anything other than pro-lifers which would warrant such little coverage...

Obama goes after your savings account  ...Though millions of Americans have been putting money into "tax free" 529 plans to save for their children's increasingly expensive college educations, President Obama would change the law so that withdrawals from the plans to fund college would be taxed as ordinary income. So while you used to be able to get a nice tax benefit by saving for college, now you'll be shelling out to Uncle Sam every time you withdraw to pay for Junior's dorm fees. 
This doesn't hurt the very rich — who just pay for college out of pocket — or the poor, who get financial aid, but it's pretty rough on the middle– and upper–middle class. In a double-whammy, those withdrawals will show up as income on parents' income tax forms, which are used to calculate financial aid, making them look richer, and hence reducing grants.

Likewise, Obama proposes to tax the appreciation on inherited homes. When you sell property at a profit, you pay capital gains on the difference between the basis (what you paid) and what you sell it for. (Obama also proposes to increase the capital gains rate). That's not a big issue for most middle class people, because right now if your parents leave you their house, you get what's called a "step-up" in basis...

ASU offers course in “The Problem with Whiteness” ...I’d like to pretend that this is more shocking than it is, but these days it’s just business as usual. The oblivious groups who push this sort of social restructuring and societal realignment via our nations’ campuses have a very clear intent and message, but fail to see how patently offensive it is to so many people. None of them are claiming that there’s anything technically wrong with being white, and they want to be very clear about that. No, the problem is that you walk around being white every single day, waking up, making your coffee, going to work and trying to keep your bills paid, and you do all of that without once stopping to think that you would have none of those things if it weren’t for the way that you’ve helped oppress minorities for your entire life.

The shorter version of all this is that your “problem” isn’t that you’re white… it’s that you act insufficiently guilty for being white...

More homeless camps are appearing beyond downtown L.A.’s skid row

The Legal Ingredients to Forced Baking 2.0  ...So, let’s examine the facts of the case. A Christian with an uncharitable, harsh, and derogatory message about the gay community wants such values reflected on a cake that someone else would contract to create. The baker (we’re not told whether this person is a liberal or a conservative, a Christian or not) believes that this message is out of line with her values. So she declined her services. The customer filed a complaint, alleging that Silva is in violation of her state’s non-discrimination code. Silva’s plight is identical to that of other bakers, florists, and photographers who were asked and declined to use their creative talents for the purposes of a same-sex wedding celebration. In the first case, the ruling went after the baker because he discriminated against the gay couple when he said no to their same-sex wedding. How is this not the same kind of discrimination if the complainants state that their religion opposes gay marriage, and they want their cakes to represent that doctrine?

Let us be clear: Silva is right to decline her services. In a free country, she ought not be compelled to create a cake that she believes represents a hateful, wrong, or immoral message. Conservative Christians are asking to be treated in like manner...

New York Woman to ‘Marry’ Her Biological Father  ...But the teen said she didn’t feel remorse over being involved in an incestuous relationship.

“I didn’t regret it at all. I was happy for once in my life,” she stated. “We fell deeply in love.”

The two now plan to “marry,” and then move to New Jersey where incest is legal...

What are ‘Muslim values’, Lady Warsi?
...But here’s a thing. Nowhere in either article are ‘Muslim values’ defined. A bit like the Government’s elusive exposition of ‘British values’, Baroness Warsi’s understanding of the values taught by Mohammed – and propagated via the Qur’an and Hadith – appear to be dainty and celestial: peace, tolerance and respect; liberty and democracy; understanding of difference and the acceptance of diversity...

The United States’ Unwritten Blasphemy Laws 
...But what about when standing up for a culture of free expression carries the risk of a loss of social or professional standing? What about when the fire chief of Atlanta, Georgia, was fired for expressing boilerplate Christian disapproval of homosexual acts in a book he published? What about when Brendan Eich was forced out at Mozilla for donating to Proposition 8? What about when Bret Baier and Gary Sinise were harangued for agreeing to appear at a run-of-the-mill Catholic gala until they canceled?

Sure, there has been support for Chief Kelvin Cochran, but in almost all cases from predictable sources—those who agree with the opinions that got him fired. It was largely the same for Eich (with a few notable exceptions), and for the Catholic group, Legatus. But if only people who agreed with the content of Charlie Hebdo’s satire showed up online or in the streets of Paris, it would’ve been a lonely adventure. A culture of free expression requires that people who disagree with controversial speech be willing to pin their personal brand to their opponents’. That is something very few will do if there’s a risk that it will tarnish their brand...