Obama coal crackdown sends message to industry
A move by the Environmental Protection Agency to revoke the long-standing permits for a mammoth coal mine in West Virginia sends a strong signal that President Obama plans to implement key parts of his agenda even though newly empowered Republicans can block his plans in Congress.

77% of Americans Prefer Cuts to Higher Taxes
Americans strongly prefer cutting spending to raising taxes to reduce the federal deficit. While 77 percent prefer to cut spending, just nine percent call for raising taxes. Another nine percent want to do both.

Government Spending Threat to Economic Freedom
The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal released the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom, and while the news is good for many countries, it is depressing for the United States. All told, 117 countries, mainly developing and emerging market economies, improved their Economic Freedom Index score. Meanwhile the U.S. dropped to 9th place, remaining “mostly free,” weighed down by the burden of President Obama’s spending spree.

Dragon Week as Obama Bows to the Chinese
Exaggerating Chinese prowess encourages bad U.S. policy. The first step toward a coherent strategy with respect to the PRC is a better understanding of their true capabilities.

Stuxnet joint U.S./Israeli project — ordered by Bush
The worm itself now appears to have included two major components. One was designed to send Iran’s nuclear centrifuges spinning wildly out of control. Another seems right out of the movies: The computer program also secretly recorded what normal operations at the nuclear plant looked like, then played those readings back to plant operators, like a pre-recorded security tape in a bank heist, so that it would appear that everything was operating normally while the centrifuges were actually tearing themselves apart.

Priebus Knocks Out Steele for RNC Chair
The Republican National Committee on Friday elected Reince Priebus as its chairman after four hours and seven secret ballots.

EU Calendar Omits Christian Dates
A student calendar for the 2011-2012 school year, published by the European Union, has conspicuously omitted Christian holidays, while retaining Jewish and Muslim holidays, reports the Catholic News Agency.

Mexican Gunmen Fire into US
At least one Mexican gunman fired a high-powered rifle across the border at four U.S. road workers Thursday in an isolated ghost town east of Fort Hancock, Hudspeth County sheriff's officials said.

DHS Axes Bush-Era 'Virtual Fence' Project
The Department of Homeland Security today officially scrapped a Bush-era program designed to use radar technology to detect illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a DHS official and a congressional source. The project, called "Virtual Fence," was rolled out under the Bush administration in 2006 with much fanfare about how technology could help secure the border. Illegal immigrants crossing the border would be detected by radar and picked up by remote cameras, which were monitored by border patrol agents.

Feds come knocking for home inspections
A sanitation district in Pennsylvania has notified homeowners that its representatives will be making personal visits to every structure served by its network of drainpipes because that's what the federal Environmental Protection Agency is demanding.

Tucson Shooting Victim Arrested at Town Hall Event
A victim of the Arizona shootings who had been widely quoted in the news media as blaming the massacre on rhetoric from Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin is a known liberal activist who has previously campaigned against Beck. The victim, James Eric Fuller, was arrested yesterday at a Tuscan town hall meeting after shouting "You're dead!" at Tucson Tea Party spokesman Trent Humphries. He was charged with making threats, intimidation and disorderly conduct and was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation, said Pima County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jason Ogan.

The Rambling Rant of a Lunatic
Rambling and agitated, Tucson shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner strode through Pima Community College, camera in hand — alternately laughing and voicing anger at his "genocide school," which he called "one of the biggest scams in America" in a video released by college officials late Friday.

While US Embraces Liberal Health Care, Brits Change
Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday waded into terrain where past British governments have foundered, promising fundamental changes to the country's expensive and over-stressed public health care system.

Hawaii governor can't find Obama birth certificate
Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie suggested in an interview published today that a long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate for Barack Obama may not exist within the vital records maintained by the Hawaii Department of Health. Abercrombie told the Honolulu Star Advertiser he was searching within the Hawaii Department of Health to find definitive vital records that would prove Obama was born in Hawaii, because the continuing eligibility controversy could hurt the president's chances of re-election in 2012.

Police Firefighters Laid Off in Crime Ridden Camden
Some firefighters turned in their helmets and police officers their badges Tuesday as part of deep municipal layoffs destined to further erode the quality of life in Camden, already one of the nation’s most impoverished and crime-ridden cities. About 335 workers, representing one-sixth of the local government work force, lost their jobs, according to Mayor Dana Redd. It was worst in the public safety departments, where nearly half the police force and close to one-third of the city’s firefighters were laid of.

Local & state governments shouldn’t be bailed out
Our founders — being federalists, after all — believed in the rights of states and localities to make their own decisions. Today, it seems most Americans trust folks at the local level to know, much better than our federal overlords, what works for their communities. This makes common sense. And without question, it’s what our founders contemplated when they conceived and drafted the Constitution.

Conservatives Pick New Leader in France
France's National Front crowned founder Jean-Marie Le Pen's daughter Marine its new leader Sunday, looking to soften the anti-immigrant party's image before next year's presidential polls. While sharing many of her father's far-right views, the 42-year-old blonde brings with her a less provocative, more telegenic image which the party hopes will give it an electoral breakthrough against President Nicolas Sarkozy.

National March for Life, Washington D.C., January 22, 23, 24

Complete Coverage of the March for Life
EWTN on TWC in Kansas City is Channel 190

Kansas Day, Topeka KS, January 28 and 29

Culture: Why Dr. King Still Matters
When you watch old films of Dr. King speaking, you notice that he really sang his speeches more than he spoke them. Christianity is a religion preoccupied with the power of the Word, for Christians know that God’s Word became flesh in Jesus. May a new generation of Christian leaders arise who learn from King how to use language to move people’s hearts.

Blacks Face Racial Challenge From Abortion
As the nation pauses to remember the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., black Americans face a racial threat from a much different source than the ones King confronted: abortion. The Census Bureau, as of 2009, indicates black Americans comprise 12.4 percent of the total population of the United States, but Guttmacher, the research arm of Planned Parenthood, reveals approximately 30 percent of the abortions in the United States are done on black women. The abortion rate for black women is almost five times more than for white women.

Pope John Paul II Takes Step Towards Sainthood
The beatification for Pope John Paul II will be May 1, Divine Mercy Sunday. While some secular news programs are calling John Paul II's Beatification his "beautification", World News Tonight does a decent job in explaining the meticulous process that is required before someone is beatified or declared a saint due to their intercession on the behalf of someone with an incurable illness.

New Miss America Says God Gives Her a Purpose
The former Miss Nebraska said she believes her faith was an advantage in the competition, since she didn't have to think through and sort out her convictions beforehand. Scanlan said, "That's the whole purpose behind who I am. I'm defined by what God has created me to be."

What NOT to Do on a First Date
In many years working with singles, I have been privy to hearing about thousands of first date experiences. So I have learned a thing or two about what you should or should not do on a first date. What to do is the easy part. Be friendly, be courteous, be considerate, be open-minded, and mind your manners. And be yourself! What not to do is the harder part. It’s harder primarily because what you should not do is subjective. The fact is there are some objective things you just should not do on a first date.

Hope for Infertility with Naprotechnology
Heidi suffered from advanced endometriosis, blocked fallopian tubes, and possible polycystic ovarian disease. She was told that her chances of conceiving and bearing a child were slim and was told by a doctor that IVF was their only option but was convicted against IVF by her Catholic faith, Heidi was introduced to the new reproductive science NaProTechnology. She was sent to Nebraska for surgery with Dr. Hilgers, who has pioneered specialized microsurgical techniques to heal women’s reproductive systems. Only one month after the surgery, Pierre and Heidi conceived their “miracle baby” Daniel Raymond Joseph Desrochers, who was born August 11, 2009.

Mom Unplugs Teens for 6 Months
Susan Maushart decided to unplug the family because the kids — ages 14, 15 and 18 when she started The Experiment — didn't just "use media," as she put it. They "inhabited" media. "They don't remember a time before e-mail, or instant messaging, or Google," she wrote. As Maushart explains in a book released in the U.S. this week called "The Winter of Our Disconnect" (Penguin, $16.95), she and her kids rediscovered small pleasures — like board games, books, lazy Sundays, old photos, family meals and listening to music together instead of everyone plugging into their own iPods.

L.A. Attorney: Many Abuse Claims Against Priests are 'Entirely False'
Priests terribly abused minors, and bishops failed to stop the harm. Yet major media outlets have largely ignored a major element to the entire Catholic abuse scandal narrative. Wall Street Journal writer Dorothy Rabinowitz writes: "People have to come to understand that there is a large scam going on with personal injury attorneys, and what began as a serious effort has now expanded to become a huge money-making proposition." One retired F.B.I. agent who investigated many claims in the Clergy Cases stated, "About ONE-HALF of the claims made in the Clergy Cases were either entirely false or so greatly exaggerated that the truth would not have supported a prosecutable claim for childhood sexual abuse".

Baby Death Panels
In just a single year, from 2008-09, Planned Parenthood received $363.2 million in government grants and contracts, a $13.6 million increase from the previous year, which resulted in 324,800 abortions. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, asked more than a year ago: "Why should people of conscience be forced to participate in any aspect of abortion?" Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1809 at the end of his presidency, "The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government."

Teen Sacrifices His Life to Save His Brother
John 15:13: "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." A teenager who was scared of water drowned in the Queensland floods after begging rescuers to save his younger brother first.

The “Gift” of Being Blind
John Blambitt became blind and found his talent of painting.

Green Energy Opponents Are the Real Job Killers
When are the White House and the Democratic leadership going to come out swinging? The real job killers are the Republicans. Do you think rejecting science is good for economic and technological innovation? Do flat-earthers generate economic growth? Let's get serious about communicating our clean energy vision and solutions to the broad American public.

Gospel - Mk 2:23-28

23 And it came to pass again, as the Lord walked through the corn fields on the sabbath, that his disciples began to go forward, and to pluck the ears of corn. 24 And the Pharisees said to him: Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? 25 And he said to them: Have you never read what David did when he had need, and was hungry himself, and they that were with him? 26 How he went into the house of God, under Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the loaves of proposition, which was not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave to them who were with him? 27 And he said to them: The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord of the sabbath also.

Lest anyone doubt the strength of the entrepreneurial spirit in Texas, since November the state has raised approximately $2.5 million in revenues through the auction of about 33,000 specialty license plates (of a new 7-letter variety) via a 5-year contract with auctioneer My Plates that guarantees the state $25 million over the deal, after revenue sharing with various charities, according to the Dallas Morning News:

Darryl Roberts, a dedicated Longhorns fan from Weatherford, spent $10,500 for a GO HORNS license plate – the highest bid for a college-themed plate at the state's specialty tag auction Thursday night. [...] Roberts was among the 400 people who turned out for Texas' first-ever auction of 33 specialty license plates at Cowboys Stadium. The event was coordinated by My Plates, a private contractor that produces personalized tags and shares the revenue with the state. [...] Top dollar was fetched for FERRARI – at $15,000, the biggest sale of the night – to a donor who declined to be interviewed. COWBOYS, another big sale, roped in $11,500. Most plates raked in about $2,000. [...] Auction organizers hoped the high-profile event – featuring appearances by the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, tours of the locker room and a Ford Mustang car show – would spur Texas' specialty plate market, which lags behind most states. From November 2009 through the first week of this month, My Plates has sold more than 33,000 plates, nearly a third in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In that time, more than $2.5 million in revenue has gone to the state's general fund. My Plates' contract guarantees $25 million to the state in five years. Some lawmakers and DMV board members have expressed concern that the company may fall short of its financial target but My Plates says it will make that goal. [...] The plates are good for 25 years and can be resold legally. Proceeds were shared on a sliding scale between My Plates and the state, and five charities, including the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, also took home a portion of My Plates' share.