Trump-Appointed Judge Rules Photographer Doesn’t Have to Shoot Gay Weddings

Marisa Herman – August 17, 2020

U.S. District Judge Justin Reed Walker ruled that a Louisville-based photographer can opt out of providing services to LGBTQ customers, Raw Story reports.

In a Friday ruling, the judge decided that Christian photographer Chelsey Nelson can’t be compelled to take photos of same-sex weddings because photos are “art” and art is a form of speech.

Nelson has not been asked to take photos for any LGBTQ couples or customers. The city of Louisville also has an ordinance prohibiting LGBTQ discrimination.

Despite the local rule, Walker ruled that no government can force people to make any speech against their will. Nelson’s photos are considered speech.

Walker also ruled that requiring Nelson to take photos goes against her religious beliefs.

“Just as gay and lesbian Americans cannot be treated as social outcasts or as inferior in dignity and worth,” the judge wrote, “neither can Americans ‘with a deep faith that requires them to do things passing legislative majorities might find unseemly or uncouth.'”

Last year, Nelson asked the Louisville District Court to issue an injunction so that she would not have to comply with the city’s Fairness Ordinance, which bans discrimination against LGBTQ customers.

According to Raw Story, she made the request in order to protect herself from being sued if the city became aware of her refusal to take photos of shoot same-sex marriages. Walker’s ruling states she can’t be punished for advertising on her website or social media that she only photographs and blogs about opposite-sex ceremonies.

https://www.newsmax.com

Sea of troubles: Tensions flare across Mediterranean as world powers jockey for power

Guy Taylor -September 2, 2020

The Mediterranean — an on-again, off-again geopolitical hot spot since before the pyramids were built — is emerging anew as a sea of division and instability, with powers including Russia, China, Turkey and Israel jostling aggressively for influence, natural resources and military advantage.

Moscow is eyeing a possible military base along the oil-rich shores of Libya. China is seeking investment deals across the region. Turkey is clashing with NATO partner Greece over drilling rights and militarized islands. Newly discovered offshore natural gas deposits have nations scrambling to stake their claims.

Even the Trump administration on Wednesday partially lifted an arms embargo with Cyprus in what was widely interpreted as a shot across Turkey’s bow.

Analysts generally agree that NATO is failing to ease regional tensions. The U.S., despite multiple interests, lacks leverage in many of the disputes, with President Trump accelerating a U.S. pullback begun under President Obama that opened a power vacuum that others are now scrambling to fill.

While a range of unsavory players are making moves — Iran, Hezbollah and the Islamic State are among those seeking to exploit the situation — many in Europe and Washington are pointing the finger at Turkey for escalating the crisis by threatening to use force to take possession of natural gas finds beneath a string of Mediterranean islands that most in Europe say belongs to Greece.

The two NATO member states are now locked in a dangerous maritime standoff that is shaking the alliance to its core, with mediation attempts by Germany and others in the European Union so far going nowhere while the Trump administration warily monitors the situation.

https://www.washingtontimes.com

UK-EU Post-Brexit Talks: There’s Just 30% Chance of Clinching Trade Deal, British Media Says

– September 4, 2020

In late July, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier blamed Britain for failing to show a “due level of engagement” in the post-Brexit trade talks between Brussels and London.

Senior UK government officials were quoted by The Times as saying on Friday that there is only 30% to 40% chance that Britain and the EU will conclude a trade agreement before the end of this year.

The officials pointed to the current impasse in the talks over state aid rules-related issues.

The British government has repeatedly refused to comply with state aid rules, insisting that Brexit’s essence stipulates the UK alone deciding its own regulations.

Also adding pessimism over the EU-UK trade deal is UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s recent proposal aimed at British fishermen doubling the volume of their catch from the country’s coastal waters.

Brussels responded by rejecting the proposal which it claimed would result in the loss of one in three fishing boats in Europe.

The British officials’ reported prediction comes a few weeks after EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier voiced his disappointment and concern about the latest round of post-Brexit talks between Brussels and London, saying that “the British negotiators have not shown any real willingness to move forward”.

Barnier added that in order to get a deal, Britain should come with “clear and constructive proposals” during the next round of talks scheduled for 7 September in London.

At the same time, the EU chief negotiator said that some progress on technical issues had been made during the talks which must be concluded to have the full legal text be ready by October.

The two sides currently remain at odds over the post-Brexit trade talks as Barnier and his UK counterpart David Frost blame each other for the stalemate.

https://sputniknews.com

Return Of The Dust Bowl? The “Megadrought” In The Southwest Is Really Starting To Escalate

– August 28, 2020

Much of the southwestern portion of the United States has been gripped by a drought that never seems to end, and there is a tremendous amount of concern that patterns that we witnessed back during the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s may be starting to repeat.  In a previous article, I discussed the extreme heat that we have been seeing in the region lately.  Phoenix has never had more days in a year when the high temperature has hit at least 115 degrees, and other southwestern cities have been smashing records as well.  At the same time, precipitation levels have been very low, and the combination of these two factors is starting to cause some major problems.

A couple of weeks ago, NASA posted an article on their official website about the horrible drought conditions that we are now witnessing…

As the United States moves into the last weeks of climatological summer, one-third of the country is experiencing at least a moderate level of drought. Much of the West is approaching severe drought, and New England has been unusually dry and hot. An estimated 53 million people are living in drought-affected areas.

Since NASA posted that article, things have gotten even worse.  If you go to the U.S. Drought Monitor website, you will instantly see why so many experts are deeply concerned.  The latest map shows that nearly the entire southwestern quadrant of the country is now gripped by either “severe” or “extreme” drought.  Needless to say, this is not good news at all for farmers and ranchers in the region.

Colorado is one of the states that is being hit the hardest.  At this point, more than 93 percent of the entire state is experiencing very serious drought conditions…

According to United States Drought Monitor, drought conditions have gotten significantly worse in Colorado in recent days and weeks.

Last week, approximately 72 percent of Colorado was experiencing “severe” drought conditions or worse. This has now jumped to just over 93 percent.

http://endoftheamericandream.com

New Chinese Tick-Borne Virus Outbreak Kills 7, Infects 60 And Scares The World

Strange Sounds – August 9, 2020

A new infectious disease caused by a tick-borne virus has killed over seven people and infected 60 others in China, official media here reported on Wednesday, warning about the possibility of its human-to-human transmission.

More than 37 people in East China’s Jiangsu Province contracted with the SFTS Virus in the first half of the year. Later, 23 people were found to have been infected in East China’s Anhui province, state-run Global Times quoted media reports.

A woman from Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu, who suffered from the virus showed onset of symptoms such as fever, coughing. Doctors found a decline of leukocyte, blood platelet inside of her body. After a month of treatment, she was discharged from the hospital.

At least seven people have died in Anhui and East China’s Zhejiang province due to the virus, the report said. SFTS Virus is not a new virus. China has isolated pathogen of the virus in 2011, and it belongs to the Bunyavirus category.

Virologists believe that the infection may have been passed on to humans by ticks and that the virus can be transmitted between humans, it said.

Sheng Jifang, a doctor from the first affiliated hospital under Zhejiang University, said that the possibility of human-to-human transmission could not be excluded; patients can pass the virus to others via blood or mucous.

https://strangesounds.org

At Least 500 Ethiopian Christians Reported Slaughtered in Relentless Attacks Since June

– September 4, 2020

An Ethiopian Christian leader called for an international inquiry into the slaying of hundreds of Christians, including pregnant women, children and whole families, in ongoing Oromo Muslim extremist attacks in the parts of the Oromia regional state, extending south, south-east and east of Addis Ababa, since the end of June. According to reports, more than 500 were killed.

The coordinated killings, targeting Christians from a wide range of ethnicities including Oromo Christians, began soon after the alleged assassination of a popular Oromo singer, Hachallu Hundessa, who was shot dead on 29 June, while driving in the outskirts of the capital.

The attackers are from the Oromo ethnic group, which has traditionally been Muslim, and are members of Qeerroo (meaning, “bachelors”), an Oromo male youth movement.

In door-to-door attacks on Christian households the Qeerroo extremists arrived in cars and, armed with guns, machetes, swords and spears, sought out and slaughtered Christians. Children were forced to witness their parents being brutally murdered with machetes.

https://christiannews.net

New teen comedy ‘Unpregnant’ seems to suggest that abortion is nothing but a barrel of laughs

Michael McCaffrey – August 31, 2020

The trailer for HBO Max’s Unpregnant appears to ignore the moral complexity of abortion in favor of promoting an insidious amorality on the issue. This is a poor message to send out to impressionable young girls.

Unpregnant is the controversial new abortion buddy comedy movie set to premiere on HBO Max on September 10.

The film, based on the novel of the same name, tells the story of Veronica, a pregnant 17-year-old girl, and her friend Bailey, as they go on a wild and wacky road trip from Missouri to New Mexico so that Veronica can get an abortion.

In its trailer, Unpregnant sells itself as a zany road picture where hilarity ensues when a goofy odd couple of teenage girls steal a car and try to hop a train on their epic odyssey down the yellow brick road to abortionland.

The road picture narrative is a long time Hollywood staple. Think Bing Crosby and Bob Hope with their numerous “road to” musical comedies of the ’40’s and ’50’s… except in Unpregnant, Crosby and Hope are teenage girls crossing state lines to get an abortion. Hilarious!

It is easy to see why pro-life advocates are up in arms over Unpregnant, as the trailer makes the film appear to be a piece of pro-abortion agitprop specifically designed to antagonize them by making light of abortion and demonizing Veronica’s Catholic parents as “Jesus freaks.”

2020 has been a banner year for decidedly pro-abortion films with Unpregnant, the critically acclaimed drama Never Rarely Sometimes Always and the indie dramedy Saint Frances, which all have an amoral attitude toward abortion, all being released.

Notice I described these films as ‘pro-abortion’ and not ‘pro-choice’, and that is because pro-choice implies a grappling with the moral gravity of the abortion decision, whereas pro-abortion removes any moral dimensions at all, and reduces abortion to being akin to getting a nose piercing.

https://www.rt.com

Mamma Mia! NASA Tracking Asteroid Nearly Double the Diameter of Roman Colosseum Approaching Earth

Sputnik News – August 31, 2020

The so-called ‘Near-Earth Object’, classified as such by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), was first discovered by astronomers in 2010, and is set to cross Earth’s orbit on Sunday.

NASA is tracking a massive, 270 metre-wide asteroid that’s nearly double the diameter of the Great Roman Colosseum, and almost twice the height of Egypt’s iconic Pyramid of Giza.

The asteroid, formally known as object ‘465824 (2010 FR)’, is making its way toward Earth’s orbit at an incredible speed of approximately 50,530 km per hour (or 14 km per second), or over 1.5 times faster than what scientists call high-hypersonic speed.

The object, known as an ‘Apollo’ asteroid because it crosses Earth’s orbit, is not believed to be a threat to life on the planet, according to astronomers from NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.

Nevertheless, scientists are monitoring space rocks such as 465824 (2010 FR) due to the effects of the gravitational pull of the planets of our solar system, as well as the Sun, which can alter their trajectory.

The asteroid is expected to hit Earth’s orbit on September 6, and will be just one of about ten near-Earth orbit flybys next month. Two such asteroids – 2020 QG5 and 2011 ES4, will arrive on Tuesday. Two more, 2020 PG6 and 465824 (2010 FR) will arrive on September 2 and 6, respectively. NASA expects ten more asteroid flybys in October.

Russia’s space agency Roscosmos commented on 2011 ES4’s approach on Sunday, promising that the planet “won’t die” from the 25 meter diameter space rock as it zips by the planet at a distance closer to Earth than our Moon. According to Roscosmos’s figures, about 80 similar asteroids approached Earth in August.

Astronomers don’t manage to spot every single asteroid that approaches Earth ahead of time. Earlier this month, a 3 by 6 meter asteroid zipped past Earth just 2,950 km above the Indian Ocean.

https://sputniknews.com

ARMAGEDDON Pakistani minister threatens India with nuclear attack in ‘the bloody last war’ and says only Muslims will survive

– August 21, 2020

A PAKISTANI minister has threatened India with a nuclear attack in “the bloody last war” and says only Muslims will survive.

Sheikh Rashid made the threat of nuclear war, claiming that Pakistan has very precise weapons which are “small and perfect” and are able to target specific regions.

The federal minister warned that Pakistan will have no option in a conventional war and “if something will happen, it will be the end”, indicating a nuclear war of mass destruction.

“If Pakistan gets attacked by India, there is no scope for conventional war. This will be a bloody and nuclear war,” he said during an interview with Pakistani media channel Samaa TV on Wednesday.

“It will be a nuclear war for sure. We have very calculated weapons which are small and perfect.

“Our weapons will save Muslim lives and will only target certain regions.

“Pakistan’s range now even includes Assam. Pakistan has no option in conventional war; therefore India knows if something happens, it will be the end”.

https://www.thesun.co.uk

Hurricane Laura Leaves Trail of CAT-4 Destruction, Looks like 100 Tornadoes struck

Ricky Scaparo – August 27, 2020

(ETH) – Hurricane Laura is being called one of the strongest hurricanes ever to strike the US is and is moving North and East after pounding the Gulf Coast. Although Laura has reportedly been downgraded to a tropical storm, it has left hurricane damage that stretches for hundreds of miles.

The report from CBN is indicating that streets are flooded, power lines toppled, homes destroyed, and trucks have been tossed like toys. At least three people have been reported to have been killed by falling trees in Louisiana.

Brett Geymann in Moss Bluff, just north of Lake Charles, testified that his family’s OK but “there’s destruction all around”. “It looks like 1,000 tornadoes” came through, he said, with some houses “totally gone.” The report states that destruction extended West across the state line from Louisiana into Texas.

The devastating storm has also produced a large chemical fire that has sent a potentially dangerous cloud over Lake Charles, Louisiana, and has residents being advised to shelter in place. Over half a million people in Texas and Louisiana were forced to evacuate as the storm rapidly strengthened into a catastrophic Category 4 storm in the Gulf of Mexico.

https://www.christianpost.com