400-408 – Brad Dacus, President of the Pacific Justice Institute (pacificjustice.org), we talk about today's Ninth Circuit ruling that Prop 8 was unconstitutional, and the recent sex scandals at Miramonte Elementary School. Brad is offering to represent the families at Miramonte pro bono. [Miramonte is located east of the 110, and north of Florence Ave.]
• WSJ (2/7/2012) Appeals Court Rejects Gay Marriage Ban.
SAN FRANCISCO—A federal appeals court panel here ruled Tuesday that California's voter-mandated ban on gay marriages was unconstitutional, in a closely watched case that eventually could lead the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.
In a 2-1 vote, the panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said California's 2008 law, popularly known as Proposition 8, had used the state's initiative power to target a minority group and take away a right the group possessed, without legitimate reason.
Doing so, wrote Judge Stephen Reinhardt in an 89-page majority opinion, violated the 14th Amendment's equal-protection clause.
"Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples," wrote Justice Reinhardt, who was appointed to the court by former President Jimmy Carter.
// The panel majority said Tuesday that Proposition 8 falls short because California's existing laws related to domestic partnerships already give gay couples all the same state rights as opposite-sex couples. So in effect, they said, Proposition 8 took away the significant designation of "marriage" while leaving in place all of its legal rights and responsibilities.
// Tuesday's decision is narrower than a sweeping endorsement of gay marriage as constitutionally protected. Instead, it focuses on the fact that California voters used the initiative process to strip from gay people constitutional rights they previously held, after the state Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that the California Constitution's equal-protection provisions didn't allow the state's marriage laws to discriminate over sexual orientation.
413-423 – Brad Dacus,
• PJI (2/1/2012) L.A. Teacher Arrested for Molestation; Union Allegedly Protected His Pension.
• Fox News (2/7/2012) Entire staff of Los Angeles school to be removed after teachers arrested on sex charges.
The entire staff at a U.S. school where two teachers were arrested on suspicion of lewd conduct will be removed while the school district investigates, the Los Angeles school superintendent said Monday night.
Superintendent John Deasy told parents and media that 88 teachers and 40 support staff at Miramonte Elementary School are being replaced because a full investigation of allegations is disruptive. They will be paid. Officials didn't know how long the investigation will take.
// The move follows the arrest of two Miramonte teachers. Mark Berndt was charged last week with committing lewd acts on 23 children, and Martin Springer was arrested Friday on suspicion of fondling two girls in his classroom.
// Berndt, who worked at the school for 32 years, was charged with committing lewd acts on 23 children, ages 6 to 10, between 2005 and 2010. The acts cited by authorities include blindfolding children and feeding them his own semen [body fluids] in his classroom in what children were allegedly told was a tasting game.
Berndt, 61, remains jailed on $23 million bail and could face life in prison if convicted.
Springer, 49, was being held on $2 million bail. The school board is scheduled to discuss firing him in a closed-door meeting Tuesday.
423 – How'd you like to be able to send your son or daughter to a great Christian school this fall for half price? Go to kkla.com, click on the "Half Off Tuition banner" and check out the cool map with all the schools we're partnering with, and get the details on how this might be a great fit for your family. If so, be listening on Wednesday February 22nd, when I'll give out a special phone number, and if you're ready to put the whole one-half tuition on your credit card at that moment, you'll one of only two families per school to qualify for this great deal! That's the "Half Off Tuition" banner at kkla.com go now!
428-438 – (1:26) Senator Barbara Boxer on Andrea Mitchell's Show on MSNBC. "I've listened to everything (Komen CEO) Ambassador (Nancy) Brinker said and it is a complete revisionist comment that she is making to why Planned Parenthood is losing funding, which has served 170,000 women over the past 5 years, which has given them lifesaving screenings they deserve to have. If you go back a couple days ago, a Susan G. Komen spokesperson said the reason was an investigation in the House. Well can I say this? I wasn't born yesterday, but I'm reminded of the McCarthy era where somebody said, "well I'm a congressman and I'm investigating this organization, therefore people should stop funding them." What are they going to do next, are they going attack the YMCA? This is so sad because it's about womens' health and we do hope that they reconsider. But to change the story is not going to work. People know what they said and this means they wittingly or unwittingly put themselves in the middle of a political witch-hunt that is very sad."
• Fox News (2/7/2012) Komen official at center of Planned Parenthood dispute quits.
A high-ranking official in the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast-cancer charity quit Tuesday, offering a defiant letter of resignation detailing the organization's decision about whether it should continue funding breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood.
Karen Handel, the charity's vice president for public policy, told Komen officials that she supported the move to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood. She said the discussion started before she arrived at the organization and was approved at the highest levels of the charity.
// Komen, which reportedly gave $680,000 to Planned Parenthood in 2011, "clearly bowed to the pressure" of the abortion rights groups, said Colin Hanna, president of the Pennsylvania Pastors' Network and Let Freedom Ring. "It is sad to think that when people around the country walk for breast cancer research, give their money to a fundraiser or wear a pink ribbon, they are also giving their money to an organization that takes the lives of unborn children every day."
• Robert George & Carter Snead (WSJ, 2/6/2012) Planned Parenthood's Hostages: The abortion provider uses a vast media and political network to maintain its subsidies from government and private charities.
The Susan G. Komen Foundation, an organization dedicated since 1982 to fighting, and one day curing, breast cancer, decided to extricate itself from the culture wars by discontinuing grants to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest provider of abortions. The grants Komen had been making amounted to $650,000 last year, funding some 19 local Planned Parenthood programs that offered manual breast exams but only referrals for mammograms performed elsewhere.
The reality is that Planned Parenthood—with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion—does little in the way of screening for breast cancer. But the organization is very much in the business of selling abortions—more than 300,000 in 2010, according to Planned Parenthood. At an average cost of $500, according to various sources including Planned Parenthood's website, that translates to about $164 million of revenue per year.
// Planned Parenthood is very far from the uncontroversial organization the Susan G. Komen Foundation aspires to be. According to its most recent annual report, for 2010, Planned Parenthood sells abortions to nine out of every 10 pregnant women who come to its clinics. And it's known throughout the country as an implacable and aggressive opponent of any meaningful restrictions on deliberate feticide.
443-452 – (1:08) Bishop Joseph McFadden, Bishop of Harrisburg Diocese (Pennsylvania), a proponent of school vouchers, says, "This is what Hitler and Mussolini and all them tried to establish -- a monolith; so all the children would be educated in one set of beliefs and one way of doing things."
• Penn Live (1/25/2012) Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg draws anger with Hitler comment.
458-508 – Kenny Luck, Founder and President of Everyman Ministries (everymanministries.com, YouTube), Men's Pastor at Saddleback (saddleback.com), talks about his recent work on university campuses and his forthcoming book Sleeping Giant: No Move of God Without Men of God (May, 2012).
512-523 – Kenny Luck, Calls – Women, are you proud of your man? Would you want your little sister to date a guy at your church? A key is for the guy to be involved with the men's group, not just an attendee at the church, but a participant.
528-539 – Kenny Luck, Calls – Women, are you proud of your man? Would you want your little sister to date a guy at your church? "Inspiration and information without progression leads to frustration." So guys, "Man up," and "come home happy."
544-554 – Kenny Luck, Calls – Wanna know how to create a men's group like this? Click "Ignite Health" at the top right of the everymanministries.com website – and have your pastor watch it too!
558-608 – Bob Tyler and Jennifer Monk are the two principles behind Advocates for Faith and Freedom (faith-freedom.com, (888) 588-6888), on today's ruling by the Ninth Circuit.
612-623 – (:27) Jay Leno's joke about "Halftime in America," "China has the ball and we're down $15 trillion."
623 – Go to kkla.com and register for a chance to win a pair of tickets to see the Newsboys on Thursday, February 23rd, at the Rock Church in Anaheim. That's kkla.com.
628-639 – (2:00) Clint Eastwood's Chrysler Superbowl commercial.
[1] "It's halftime. Both teams are in their locker room discussing what they can do to win this game in the second half. It's halftime in America, too. People are out of work and they're hurting. And they're all wondering what they're going to do to make a comeback. And we're all scared, because this isn't a game.
[2] The people of Detroit know a little something about this. They almost lost everything. But we all pulled together, now Motor City is fighting again. I've seen a lot of tough eras, a lot of downturns in my life, times when we didn't understand each other. Seems that we've lost our heart at times. In the fog of division, discord, and blame made it hard to see what lies ahead.
[3] But after those trials, we all rallied around what was right and acted as one, because that's what we do. We find a way through tough times. And if we can't find a way, then we'll make one.
[4] All that matters now is what's ahead. How do we come from behind? How do we come together and how do we win? Detroit's showing us it can be done. And what's true about them is true about all of us.
[5] This country can't be knocked out with one punch! We get right back up again and, when we do, the world is gonna hear the roar of our engines. [5a] Yeah, it's halftime, America -- and our second half's about to begin."
644-654 – • Rich Lowry (NRO, 2/7/2012) Half-Baked in America.
• Christian Schneider (NRO Corner, 2/6/2012) Eastwood's Rorschach Test. – Christian Schneider is a senior fellow at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute and a co-author of the Campaign Manager Survey.
• Daniel Halper (Weekly Standard, 2/6/2012) Detroit 'Comeback' Ad Filmed in New Orleans, L.A. Not Detroit.
• Stephen Moore (WSJ, 2/7/2012) A Fairness Quiz for the President: Is it fair that some of Mr. Obama's largest campaign contributors received federal loan guarantees?
• Fox News (2/6/2012) Catholic outcry over Obama administration's birth control decision could be factor in presidential race.
• David French (NRO Corner, 2/6/2012) We're All Catholics Now.
• Peggy Noonan (WSJ, 2/5/2012) A Battle the President Can't Win: His decision on Catholic charities makes Romney's big gaffe look trivial.
• Richard Doerflinger (NRO, 2/7/2012) Mandatory Abortion Coverage? — Mr. Doerflinger is associate director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
• Terence Jeffries (CNS News, 2/6/2012) Archbishop to U.S. Troops: Obamacare Reg 'Is a Blow to a Freedom...for Which You Have Seen Your Buddies Fall in Battle'.
• Peter Wehner (Commentary, 2/6/2012) An Absurd Abortion Argument.
