Judge Halts Ban on Large, Sugary Drinks

New York City's planned restrictions on the sale of sugary drinks exceeding 16 ounces in restaurants, movie theaters, and stadiums, have been put on hold.
"The court finds that the regulation...is laden with exceptions based on economic and political concerns," Justice Milton Tingling wrote.
The restrictions were to begin at midnight, on March 12, and would only stop the sales regulated by the city.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters, "We believe that the judge's decision was clearly in error and that we will prevail on appeal."
The super-sized drinks ban is just the latest regulation of the Bloomberg administration targeted at public health, as nearly 60% of New York City adults and 40% of the children are overweight.

To read more, click here. 

Cardinals Gather to Elect a New Pope

The work to elect Pope Benedict XVI's successor begins tomorrow morning. In the morning the cardinals will begin the secret election, in the Sistine Chapel, called the conclave. The only clue the outside world will have are the puffs of smoke coming out of the copper chimney.
Black smoke, no pope. White smoke, the new pope has been chosen.
The election process could take hours or it could be a matter of days before white smoke is seen. Tailors have made a new set of clothes for the new pope, for as soon as a decision has been made the new pope will dress and appear on the balcony of St. Peter's

To read more, click here. 

State of the Union

President Barack Obama gave his first State of the Union address in his second term. He began by quoting John F. Kennedy, saying, "The Constitution doesn't make us rivals for power, but partners for progress...it is my task to report the state of the union -to improve it is the task of us all."
Obama began by reporting that our men and women in uniform will be coming home (he said that by next year the war in Afghanistan would be over and 34 thousand troops would be home), that 6 million new jobs have been created since 2008, and that we are less dependent on foreign oil than we have been in 20 years. He said the reforms for our country are going to be asking more from the wealthy, changing the way we pay for medicare, and not taking the cuts to education and military that the Budget Control Act would have taken.
Obama said, "The government is not expected to fix everything or agree on everything, but the American people expect government to put their interests before it's own."
Obama wants to raise the minimum wage, which is 7.25 in North Carolina, to 9 dollars.
He also brought up gun violence, saying that it needs to be voted on. "The families deserve a vote." (In the audience were families from Newtown and Aurora)  

The Pope's Resignation

     "Strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me," said Benedict XVI, age 85.

     The religious leader of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI, announced on Monday that he will resign at the end of the month "because of advanced age". Benedict will become the first pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415. The news has shocked the Catholic world and led to speculation about who would replace him.

To read more click here. 
   

U.S. Postal Service Ending Saturday Deliveries

The United States Postal Service will no longer deliver mail on Saturdays beginning in August. Packages will be delivered six days a week and the post offices will continue to be open on Saturdays. Cutting Saturday mail deliveries will save approximately 2 billion annually. The USPS had a 15.9 billion loss in 2012. To close its budget gap and debts it needs to produce 20 billion in cost reduction.        
                        
                                         

2013 Presidential Inauguration

Today, January 21, 2013, marks the beginning of President Barack Obama's second term. Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama were sworn in and took their oaths in front of hundreds of thousands of people. President Obama, in his inaugural address, spoke of change and unapologetic progress.

 "My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it -so long as we seize it together," the president declared.

The word "together" appeared seven times in the president's speech. He also used the phrase, "we, the people" five times.

He continued to say, "Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time, but it does require us to act in our time."

To read more click here.

We Can Learn To Ignore The Bulls**t In The Bible

Dan Savage, founder of the "It Gets Better" project, an anti-bullying campaign, was supposed to be delivering a speech about anti-bullying at the National High School Journalism Conference sponsored by the Journalism Education Association and the National Scholastic Press Association, but it turned into an anti-Christian speech. 

"We can learn to ignore the bulls**t in the bible about gay people, the same way we have learned to ignore the bulls**t in the bible about shellfish, about slavery, about dinner, about farming...about virginity...we ignore bulls**t in the bible about all sorts of things," says Savage. 

Savage's attack on the Christian faith caused many teenagers to walk out during his speech. As they walked out Savage insulted them by calling them "pansy-assed". 

Savage accuses the bible as being a "radically pro-slavery document". He goes on to say, "We ignore what the bible says about slavery because the bible got slavery wrong." He uses this as evidence that the bible got homosexuality wrong. However, Savages accusation about the bible being "pro-slavery" is wrong. What we in Modern America think of as slavery is a system in which people are bought or sold as property. In the bible it is called chattel slavery and the bible does not condone it. Only the pagans had chattel slaves, as found in Leviticus 25.

To watch Savage's Speech, click here.

To read more on the conference, click here.