ACLU Sues To Force Removal Of Ohio Middle School’s 65-Year-Old Jesus Portrait

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Photo Credit: Fox NewsTwo advocacy groups have gone to court to force the removal of a large portrait of Jesus Christ which has hung inside a rural southern Ohio middle school since 1947.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and the Freedom from Religion Foundation filed the lawsuit on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Columbus, reports the Columbus Dispatch.

The suit claims that the portrait hanging in Jackson Middle School violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause by endorsing Christianity.

“The maintenance and display of the portrait has the effect of advancing and endorsing one religion, improperly entangling the State in religious affairs, and violating the personal consciences of plaintiffs,” the lawsuit claims, according to Fox News.

There are three plaintiffs in the suit. One plaintiff is a student at the middle school; the other two are parents of children at the school. The plaintiffs are reportedly only identified as “Sam Doe.”

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Tea Party Changes Tack To Hit McConnell

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Photo Credit: Tom WilliamsSome individuals in the tea party movement will try anything to undermine Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, even going so far as to question the Republican’s tenacity in bringing money back to Kentucky.

It’s an unusual stance for a conservative movement best known for opposing federal spending on just about everything. But McConnell has long been a target of anti-establishment conservatives, and their latest attack on his failure to secure funding for a deteriorating bridge over the Ohio River would seem to bring them closer to President Barack Obama’s position on federal infrastructure spending.

After all, Obama used the Brent Spence Bridge as a backdrop for a September 2011 event in an attempt to pressure Republicans to back more infrastructure spending. That Obama picked a “functionally obsolete” bridge which carries motorists between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Ky., for the photo-op was no surprise. It connects the congressional district of Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, with McConnell’s Kentucky.

Despite the notoriety the president brought to it, efforts to upgrade the bridge remain delayed. So last month, a former Northern Kentucky Tea Party leader named Cathy Flaig used the deferred construction to criticize McConnell, questioning, “What has he done for Kentucky?”

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EPA Moves Forward With ‘Climate Change’ Protection Plan

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Photo Credit: DonkeyHoteyThe Environmental Protection Agency is formally moving forward with its Climate Change Adaptation Plan.

Beginning Friday, the EPA is accepting comments on its draft plan, which calls for the agency to amend its operations — including the promulgation of new regulations — to account for increasingly rapid global warming. The effort comes in response to a 2009 government-wide directive via President Obama’s Council on Environmental Quality, requiring agencies to plan this year for future climate change.

“It is essential that EPA adapt to anticipate and plan for future changes in climate,” according to the 55-page plan, which carries a 2012 date but was put forth now for public consideration. “It must integrate, or mainstream, considerations of climate change into its programs, policies, rules and operations to ensure they are effective under future climatic conditions.”

Rising sea levels, loss of snowpack and drought linked to climate change will likely require the agency to take additional steps to protect watersheds, wetlands and water supplies, the report argues.

Increasing temperatures and more frequent extreme weather events, meanwhile, will demand measures to protect public safety and adapt emergency response plans, it says.

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National Poll: Obama Approval Sinks After Reelection

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Photo Credit: John Althouse CohenFebruary 8, 2013 – Hillary Clinton Is Most Popular National Figure, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Obama Approval Sinks After Reelection.

President Barack Obama defeated Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, but today the former Senator and Secretary of State is more popular, with a 61 – 34 percent favorability rating among American voters, compared to the president’s 51 – 46 percent favorability, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.

President Obama has a split 46 – 45 percent job approval, according to the independent Quinnipiac (KWUIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll, down from 53 – 40 percent approval among registered voters in December, a month after his re-election. Today’s figure is closer to the president’s negative 45 – 49 percent job approval in July, in the middle of his reelection campaign, and similar to his job score for much of his first term.

Ms. Clinton’s favorability is higher than those measured for other national figures:
46 – 41 percent for Vice President Joseph Biden;
25 – 29 percent for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, with 45 percent who don’t know enough about him to form an opinion;
20 – 42 percent for House Speaker John Boehner;
27 – 15 percent for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, with 57 percent who don’t know enough;
34 – 36 percent for U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan;
43 – 33 percent for new Secretary of State John Kerry;
14 – 18 percent for Defense Secretary nominee Chuck Hagel, with 67 percent who don’t know enough about him.

“Hillary Clinton ends her term as Secretary of State and the bruising inquiry into the Benghazi murders as easily the most popular actor on the American political stage today,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

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Navy: USS Abraham Lincoln Refueling Delayed, Will Hurt Carrier Readiness

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Photo Credit: USNIThe U.S. Navy will delay the refueling of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) for an unknown period because of the uncertain fiscal environment due to the ongoing legislative struggle, the service told Congress in a Friday message obtained by USNI News.

Lincoln was scheduled to be moved to Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Newport News Shipyard later this month to begin the 4-year refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of the ship.

“This delay is due to uncertainty in the Fiscal Year 2013 appropriations bill, both in the timing and funding level available for the first full year of the contract,” the message said.
“CVN-72 will remain at Norfolk Naval Base where the ships force personnel will continue to conduct routine maintenance until sufficient funding is received for the initial execution of the RCOH.”

Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) chairman of the House Armed Services Seapower subcommittee released a statement denouncing the need for decision.

Forbes called the delay, “another example of how these reckless and irresponsible defense cuts in Washington will have a long-term impact on the Navy’s ability to perform its missions. Not only will the Lincoln be delayed in returning to the Fleet, but this decision will also affect the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) defueling, the USS George Washington (CVN-73) RCOH, and future carrier readiness.”

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Guard Shoots Boy, 15, At FDA Office

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A security guard opened fire and wounded a 15-year-old boy at a FDA’s Food and Drug Administration regional facility in Bothell early Friday, according to police.

It was around 7 a.m. when two security officers approached a teen acting suspiciously in the building’s parking lot, said Shari Ireton with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

The teen ran away, but then came back a short time later and got into a car in the parking lot. As the security officers approached the car, the teen backed out and struck one of the security officers, who in turn fired at the car, Ireton said.

Bothell Police Sgt. Cedric Collins said earlier the teen crashed into another vehicle about a mile away on the Bothell-Everett Highway, but Ireton said officers found the teen at a home.

The teen had a gunshot wound to his foot and minor cuts to his face, Ireton said. He was taken to a a local hospital for treatment and was later released into police custody.

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Levin to Rove: ‘Bring It On, Doughboy. Bring On Your Little Whiteboard!’ (+audio)

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Photo Credit: Daily CallerThe back-and-forth verbal jabs between former Bush White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, his deputies at American Crossroads and some of the conservative movement’s so-called “critically important figures” took another intense turn on Mark Levin’s radio show on Thursday, with Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King entering the fray.

“[L]et me put something to you folks about Karl Rove — what a propagandist this man is,” Levin said at the end of his program. “He keeps bringing up Christine O’Donnell. Karl Rove has lost more races that he’s been involved in than Christine O’Donnell. She has lost one. Rove has lost scores. And as soon as she was nominated, he went on TV on the ‘Hannity’ show and started smearing her.”

“And he put out emails to all the pseudo-conservatives inside the beltway trashing her. He wanted her defeated,” Levin continued. “He wanted Mike Castle to win — Mike Castle, anti-conservative, pro-abortion, pro-big spending, on and on and on. He’s also up there with that stupid little third-grade whiteboard of his, with his fourth-grade writing style, talking about how they committed $30 million to tea party candidates. Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve had to fight through these primaries to get the tea party conservatives nominated. And then his group has put money into the race.”

Levin, the author of “Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America,” urged American Crossroads’ donor to put their money elsewhere in the future if they are indeed interested in promoting conservative candidates.

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Fox News Poll: Voters Back Spending Cuts To Boost Economy By Huge Margins

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Photo Credit: J Pat CarterBy massive margins, voters say they would rather see the government cut spending than increase it as a way to boost the nation’s economy, according to a Fox News poll that showed, in hindsight, voters largely saying the 2009 stimulus did not work.

The poll showed that, by a 60-34 percent margin, voters say President Obama’s $800 billion strategy for pulling the American economy out of its one-and-a-half year long recession did not deliver on its promise. While more than half of Democrats said they thought the stimulus worked, 87 percent of Republicans and 58 percent of Independents said they thought it did not.

Opposition to another round of stimulus runs two-to-one, according to the poll. This could be because 73 percent of voters polled say cutting government spending would be more likely to help strengthen the nation’s economy — as opposed to just 15 percent who believe increasing spending would do the trick.

While Obama reportedly has said he doesn’t believe the government has a spending problem, the poll showed that out of 13 issues tested, more voters are “extremely” concerned about government spending than any other issue.

Even a majority of Democrats — 55 percent — agreed that cutting spending is the way to help the economy. Ninety-one percent of Republicans held that view.

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Report: White House Set To Cut Nuclear Arsenal By One-Third

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Photo Credit: Glyn Lowe PhotoworksPresident Obama is poised to sign off on a new internal review of U.S. nuclear weapons strategy that would reduce the arsenal by one-third, resulting in billions in savings to the Pentagon and Energy Department.

The recommended reductions were included in a draft version of a classified decision directive compiled by top defense and national security officials inside the White House, according to a report by the Center for Public Integrity issued Friday.

While the president has yet to officially approve the directive, including the recommended one-third cut to the nuclear arsenal, sources tell CPI Obama has voiced no objection to the directive’s findings.

Representatives from State Department, Strategic Command, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the office of Vice President Biden also played a part in drafting the directive.

White House officials had pushed to get the new directive finalized late last year, according to the CPI report. However, the administration pushed back against that plan.

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Massachusetts Governor Declares State Of Emergency, Institutes Travel Ban (+video)

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Photo Credit: Paul and Linda MorrisGov. Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency in Massachusetts Friday afternoon for the blizzard that could bring up to 3 feet of snow.

He also announced he has signed an executive order to ban all travel on all roads in the state starting at 4 p.m. Friday.

There are some exceptions to the ban, including emergency workers, those who work in hospitals and media, and others required to be at their jobs.

The governor said rapid snowfall of 2-3 inches per hour will make for, “extremely dangerous conditions,” and will “make safe travel nearly impossible.”

This is the first time that a Massachusetts governor has issued an executive order like this since the Blizzard of 1978.

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