News Weakly - 5/18/19

Jurisprudence
You've heard "innocent until proven guilty." It is the law of the land. Well, it was. Now it's "guilty until proven innocent" in some cases and, in growing numbers, "guilty regardless of any evidence." Think "she claimed sexual harassment" and you know, regardless of who he is, he's guilty with no chance of recovery. Lost reputation, lost jobs, lost families ... oh, yeah, and maybe even a trial at some point. Well, it's getting worse. The quintessential example of sexual harassment today is Harvey Weinstein. He is currently on trial. Of course, he has already lost his job, etc. But the court is out to determine if he's innocent. (We've already determined that he's guilty.) The latest news, however, is that his lawyer is being fired for representing him. "Harvard will not renew the appointment of Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. and his wife Stephanie Robinson when their term ends on June 30." Why? Students were upset that he was practicing law by being on Weinstein's legal team. You know, like the Constitution holds: everyone has the right to representation. Not in American jurisprudence. Not in this social climate.

A Thinking Approach
In response to Georgia's new law protecting the living, Alyssa Milano has come up with a bright idea. "Join me by not having sex until we get our bodily autonomy back." Huh? Yes. "Until women have legal control over our own bodies we just cannot risk pregnancy." Well, now, she's thinking, and that's what I like. If women who do not want to get pregnant stopped getting pregnant, I bet there would be a drastic drop in babies killed as a birth control. I like it.

Why Is It ...
when Attorney General William P. Barr refuses to testify in front of Congress he's an evil man, but when Bradley Chelsea Manning refuses he/she is a hero?

Filed Under "Is This Trip Really Necessary?"
You may or may not be aware of Arthur, a PBS children's animation coming to its 22nd season. It is an educational series for children ages 4-8 starring Arthur, an aardvark, and his friends and family. It has taken on such issues as dyslexia, cancer, diabetes, and autism. Oh, and now gay mirage. One of the male characters comes out as "gay" and then "marries" a male. Because one thing that every 4-8 year-old needs to know is the insanity of marriage without definition and the erasure of morality in your sex life. I mean, right?

No Justice
Author Natasha Tynes did the inexcusable. She reported a black Metro employee who was eating on the train in violation of the Metro rules. When she approached the woman about it, she was told, "Worry about yourself." Clearly the only reason this Jordanian-American woman did such a thing was because the woman in question was black. And, justly or not, she has lost her book deal over it. "We ... have no desire to be involved with anyone who thinks it's acceptable ..." the publisher said. I'm impressed with the level of commitment a book publisher has to high moral values ... which, of course, I expect is pure bunk. More like, "We're not going to think about it, examine it, and definitely not going to take any heat for it." The woman that was breaking the company rules will not face any consequences and the woman who reported it pays the price. Seems completely fair. Entirely based on the premise that the only reason a person would report a black person for anything is racism and racism alone.

Defying God
The "acceptable" god of this age is Science, with its infinite knowledge and infallibility. Okay, so that was sarcastic, but you get the idea. "Don't talk to me about your religion," they will tell us. "We have Science now." Except, of course, when it comes to things like human reproduction. While parts of the country are plunging toward more readily executing humans, a few are trying to save them. The argument is "If we have a live human being, we protect that live human being." So Alabama is on the verge of passing their own "heartbeat" bill. And the rest of the world applauds because Science tells us unequivocally that the human life begins at conception and ends at death and everything in between is a continuum of that human life. Oh, wait ... no. They're not applauding. Why? Because when it comes to Science versus "my convenience," the god, Science, loses. No applause for what is deemed "the country's most restrictive abortion ban" when Science calls it "human life." The governor signed it, but the ACLU will certainly sue to end babies' lives as quickly as possible. And, of course, I'm pretty sure the Supreme Court will side with "a woman's privacy" and the idea of a "non-person human being" over the rights of human life that gets in the way, but we'll have to see. It is a shame to see this kind of blasphemy perpetrated toward Science, isn't it?

A Busy Abortion Week
In similar news the headline reads, "Missouri Senate passes bill to ban abortions at 8 weeks" when, if Science was heeded, it should read, "Missouri Senate passes bill to protect more human lives." The story says, "Democratic Sen. Jill Schupp told colleagues. 'We cannot paint with a broad brush and interfere by putting a law forward that tells them what they can and cannot do.'" Really? I thought that's what laws were for. This one still needs to go through the House before it goes before the governor ... before being attacked by Planned Parenthood and the ACLU and shot down by the courts.

According to the CDC, in 2017 the leading cause of death among children from birth to 4 was unintentional injury, totaling 1,267. For the year. A 2017 CNN report said that in the U.S., guns kill 1,300 children each year. Over a year. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) there are over 3,000 abortions per day in the U.S. Per day. In a year we terminate over a million human lives with legal abortion. So while we scrabble for better gun control and call for safer conditions for our children, we demand the right to continue murdering the youngest humans at will. And they tell us it's just because of patriarchy -- "owning women." They say that conservatives are evil because they won't pass stricter gun control laws. What should we conclude about the pro-abortion crowd that applauds ending a million lives a year primarily as a birth control measure?

The Unknown Goal
At the Cannes Film Festival this week Julianne Moore assured us that in order to achieve gender parity it will be necessary to have quotas. Now, mind you, I wasn't aware that the goal of business and industry was gender parity. No one told me that the reason we have companies is so that we can have parity. I guess if they want to have more female plumbers, engineers, professional sports players and the like, they should see to it. And I suppose that the gender parity folks will be getting to work on insuring that 48% of nurses (90% of nurses are female), elementary and middle school teachers, HR managers, social workers, counselors, and more will be men, given the overwhelming lack of parity on those fields. If we want to make a more efficient economy, we will need to have more diversity. And I'm pretty sure that we'll need to continue that correction of disparity when it comes to race as well, so you should expect quotas in that form, too. I'm sure. Am I saying I'm opposed to diversity or more women in the workplace? Not at all. I'm saying that we seem to have lost our way when it comes to the purpose of Hollywood or other jobs. We will need a complete redesign of parity as the goal and not, you know, employing people and making money.

Not the Ordinary
This is good. What does the Bible say about itself? Jared Wilson gives a listing book by book. Maybe not news and certainly not "weakly," but I thought you might benefit from it.