The Priest Who Faced Down the Federal Government—and Won

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Photo Credit: Nancy Reynolds for The Star-Ledger

Photo Credit: Nancy Reynolds for The Star-Ledger

The Rev. Ray Leonard knew not to wear the clerical collar identifying him as a Roman Catholic priest. It almost certainly would have gotten him deported.

He knew not to celebrate Mass, hear confession or baptize a child. The acts might have resulted in harassment—or worse, arrest and imprisonment—for the families Leonard cared about.

During a decade spent teaching and helping the needy in some of China’s most impoverished and oppressed regions, the New Jersey priest learned what it was like to live in a land without religious freedom.

It kindled a greater appreciation for his liberties at home. Which is why Leonard, 51, bristled at the U.S. government when it told him he couldn’t hold services at a Georgia naval base during October’s government shutdown. Leonard, a civilian contractor on the base, wasn’t deemed an “essential” employee.

In a case that made headlines across the country, Leonard filed suit against the Department of Defense, contending the directive violated his freedom of speech and his right to religious expression.

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Antarctica Sets Record of -135.8

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Photo Credit: 23am.com

Photo Credit: 23am.com

Feeling chilly? Here’s cold comfort: You could be in East Antarctica which new data says set a record for “soul-crushing” cold.

Try 135.8 degrees Fahrenheit below zero; that’s 93.2 degrees below zero Celsius, which sounds only slightly toastier. Better yet, don’t try it. That’s so cold scientists say it hurts to breathe.

A new look at NASA satellite data revealed that Earth set a new record for coldest temperature recorded. It happened in August 2010 when it hit -135.8 degrees. Then on July 31 of this year, it came close again: -135.3 degrees.

The old record had been -128.6 degrees, which is -89.2 degrees Celsius.

Ice scientist Ted Scambos at the National Snow and Ice Data Center said the new record is “50 degrees colder than anything that has ever been seen in Alaska or Siberia or certainly North Dakota.”

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Research: Exercise Most Effective Lifestyle Choice for Preventing Dementia

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Photo Credit: Vince Alongi/flickr

Photo Credit: Vince Alongi/flickr

Taking regular exercise is the most effective single lifestyle choice people can make to reduce their risk of dementia, according to one of the most extensive studies yet into people’s long-term health outcomes.

The 35-year investigation, carried out by researchers at Cardiff University, found that consistently following just four out of five key behaviours could reduce dementia risk by 60 per cent, while also cutting the chance of heart disease and stroke by 70 per cent.

Of the five behaviours – exercise, not smoking, having a low bodyweight, a healthy diet and low alcohol intake – exercise was found to be the most effective at improving long-term physical and mental health.

Although the five factors will be familiar to almost everyone, researchers said they were “really amazed” by quite how beneficial they had proved to be.

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Xbox Live Among Game Services Targeted by US and UK Spy Agencies

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Photo Credit: The Guardian

Photo Credit: The Guardian

To the National Security Agency analyst writing a briefing to his superiors, the situation was clear: their current surveillance efforts were lacking something. The agency’s impressive arsenal of cable taps and sophisticated hacking attacks was not enough. What it really needed was a horde of undercover Orcs.

That vision of spycraft sparked a concerted drive by the NSA and its UK sister agency GCHQ to infiltrate the massive communities playing online games, according to secret documents disclosed by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The files were obtained by the Guardian and are being published on Monday in partnership with the New York Times and ProPublica.

The agencies, the documents show, have built mass-collection capabilities against the Xbox Live console network, which has more than 48 million players. Real-life agents have been deployed into virtual realms, from those Orc hordes in World of Warcraft to the human avatars of Second Life. There were attempts, too, to recruit potential informants from the games’ tech-friendly users.

Online gaming is big business, attracting tens of millions of users worldwide who inhabit their digital worlds as make-believe characters, living and competing with the avatars of other players. What the intelligence agencies feared, however, was that among these clans of elves and goblins, terrorists were lurking.

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Another Challenge To The Contraception Mandate Brought in Federal Court

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

Another challenge to the Health and Human Services contraception mandate landed in federal court Monday in a case brought by the group Priests for Life, along with some individual plaintiffs.

They argue that being forced to provide no-cost access to all forms of contraception, including those they believe actually induce abortions, would violate their religious freedom.

After Monday’s hearing, Father Frank Pavone, National Director of PFL, said, “What we just saw in that courtroom is of Biblical proportions.”

The Obama administration doesn’t see it that way. Government attorneys have argued that there are exemptions for entities that are truly operating as religious organizations and can prove it.

However, the plaintiff’s attorneys argue that even if they are able to qualify, they are still under an unacceptable burden: facilitating employee access to the contraception via a third-party vendor.

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Rep. McCaul: ‘Drones Alone Are Not Going to Kill an Ideology’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: CNSNews.com/Penny Starr

Photo Credit: CNSNews.com/Penny Starr

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, in an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Candy Crowley, said that while drones are good for going after high value targets, “drones alone are not going to kill an ideology.”

“I think drones are a good tool to go after high value targets. I think good intelligence, special forces. I don’t think occupying countries is really the way to go. I do think that the smart ways to do it, but the problem is drones alone are not going to kill an ideology,” McCaul said.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezoz said his company has been working on a secret project to use drones to deliver products to customers in 30 minutes. Amazon “Prime Air” will be available to customers in four to five years, he told CBS’ Charlie Rose.

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Cruz Releases Report Slamming President’s ‘Lawless Acts’ in Implementation of ObamaCare

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U.S. Senator Cruz speaks during the fifth annual Washington Ideas Forum at the Newseum in WashingtonTed Cruz may no longer be the solicitor general of Texas, but the Republican senator has penned a legal memo about the White House’s “lawless acts on Obamacare.”

The Daily Caller was provided an early look at the memo, set for release Monday. This is the second time Cruz has released a report for his “The Legal Limit: The Obama Administration’s Attempts to Expand Federal Power” series.

Senator Cruz on Obamacare

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Just a PR Problem? ObamaCare Architect Claims ‘Big PR Campaign’ Needed

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Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

The federal health care overhaul was central to President Obama’s two campaigns for the White House, and has been the defining achievement — for better or worse — of his presidency.

But one of the architects of ObamaCare, in a heated interview on “Fox News Sunday,” argued that the reason young people are not signing up in droves for coverage under the law is the administration hasn’t promoted it.

Ezekiel Emanuel, a former health adviser to the president (and the brother of former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel), argued the administration has been too caught up with fixing HealthCare.gov to give the law the proper promotional push.

“No one has launched a big PR campaign to get these people signed up because of the problems with the federal website,” he told “Fox News Sunday.” “We are about to launch a big PR campaign, and that, I think, is going to persuade a lot of people to sign up.”

He noted the administration still has “four more months to go until the end of March,” when penalties kick in for those who haven’t gotten coverage.

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5 Days Left: Congress Races Against Deadlines as Doc Cuts, Price Spikes Loom

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Payments to doctors, the price of milk, long-term jobless benefits and more are all on the line this week as lawmakers scramble to beat several end-of-year deadlines — and all by Friday.

Though Dec. 31 is still a few weeks away, congressional sources say the House plans to adjourn at the end of this week. With the Senate returning from its latest recess on Monday, that leaves just five days when both chambers are in session.

The chances for resolving any or all of these issues is unclear. After a year in which little was accomplished even by congressional standards, the deadlines are piling up — and lawmakers are also facing a Jan. 15 deadline to pass a budget or risk another partial government shutdown. On top of that, several lawmakers, and President Obama, are rearranging their schedules to attend memorial services this coming week for the late South African leader Nelson Mandela.

Ahead of a very busy week, congressional leaders got to work trading blame for the lack of progress to date.

Republicans have “made good faith, serious efforts to Senate Democrats” to resolve differences on year-end issues, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said. “When will they learn to say `yes’ to common ground?”

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Iran Announces Refusal to Recognize Israel at United Nations Session

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Photo Credit: Screenshot

Photo Credit: Screenshot

As the United Nations General Assembly met to approve the credentials of member states on Thursday, Iran took the floor to announce its refusal to recognize the State of Israel.

The only nation to comment for the record on the routine procedure, Iran’s representative said that although the country voted in favor of the motion, it should not be seen as the Islamic Republic’s acknowledgement of Israel’s existence.

“My delegation has just voted in favor of this report, however, we would like to reiterate my government’s position that our support for this document should in no way be considered as the recognition of the Israeli regime,” she said.

In a statement provided to The Algemeiner, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, said that the statement was typical of Iran.

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