Top Stories

Supreme Court Begins New Session with Many Big Issues to be Decided

Remember how big the Supreme Court decision was on the president’s health care law?  We may have to do it again.  The Supreme Court opened session yesterday, their first since the landmark decision in June, and they’re leaving open the possibility for more challenges.  The big issue then was the individual mandate.  This latest challenge by Liberty University is over the employer mandate.  That’s just one of 45 other lawsuits still pending over the affordable care act.  Some of the top issues on the court’s docket this session include voting rights, the use of race in college admissions, and possibly same-sex marriage.

US Confirms Some Government Computers Hacked

The White House is partly confirming a report that some government computers, including those used by the military for nuclear commands, have been hacked by the Chinese.  A phishing scam was revealed on Monday, but we still don’t know what information, if any, was breached.  The attack came in an e-mail with corrupt links in it.

Loose Seats Ground Planes

American Airlines has grounded eight jets after another flight was found with loose seats on it.  The first incident happened on a flight from Boston to Miami, which had to be diverted.  The latest issue was on a New York to Miami flight.  Both American Airlines and the FAA are looking into it.

Hong Kong Ferry Sinks, Killing 25

Twenty-Five people have died after a ferry collided with a tug boat and then sank south of Hong Kong.  Rescue crews were on the scene early this morning, pulling survivors out of the water.  The BBC says at least forty were taken to area hospitals.

Honda Recalls Accords

Honda is recalling about 600-thousand Accords in the U-S and Canada because of a faulty power steering hose that can leak and cause a fire.  It affects the 2003 through 2007 model years.  Honda.com has more.

Yahoo! CEO Delivers Baby, Soon to Deliver New Company Plan

Back in the summer when the news broke that Yahoo was hiring Marissa Mayer away from Google to be their new CEO, we also found out she was pregnant.  And on Sunday, she gave birth to a bouncing baby boy.  Still no name for the little guy yet.  And now mom and dad begin the process of trying to balance parenthood with business.  Her husband is a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley.  Mayer is getting ready to unveil her blueprint for Yahoo in the next few weeks.

Faith

Pastors and Politics and The Pulpit

Has your pastor picked a politician yet?  Chances are they haven’t, and they won’t.  A new poll from LifeWay shows that almost 90-percent of pastors don’t believe in endorsing candidates for public office from the pulpit, although 44-percent say they do it personally, outside of their church role.  That survey comes just as the Alliance Defending Freedom gears up for this week’s “Pulpit Freedom Sunday”, which is meant as a challenge to the IRS ban on endorsements.

An App for Getting the Bible into Closed Countries

Some Bible apps are now becoming available in countries that have historically been closed to the Gospel.  Scandinavia Publishing has made 85 children’s Bibles available as apps for the iPhone and iPad, and they’re working on Android and Kindle formats.  In some of these countries, Christian symbols aren’t even permitted – and in just 1 day more than 300 Bibles were downloaded.

Family & Relationships

California Governor Vetoes “Multi Parent” Bill

California will NOT have a new law on the books that allows a child to have more than two parents.  Governor Jerry Brown vetoed that bill this week, saying there would be too many unintended consequences.  He did not close the door to signing it in the future.

Work

Study: More Authority = More Stress

“It’s lonely at the top.”  That may be so, but it’s also less stressful.  New research out of Stanford and Harvard suggests more authority means less stress.  They say the feeling of being in charge of your life helps offset the added responsibility that comes with being in leadership.

Finances & Economy

Retailers Already Looking Forward to Christmas

It looks like America can’t wait for Christmas, if for no other reason than we want some good news.  The National Retail Federation says they expect us to spend about 4-percent more this year than in 2011.  That’s the good news.  Unfortunately that’s more than a point lower than we’ve seen in each of the last two years.  These are just projections, but they can have a big impact on what retailers do as they depend on the holidays to help them turn a profit.

2012 US Debt Already Exceeds 2011 Level

The Treasury Department says the government’s debt climbed by 1.275 trillion dollars in fiscal 2012, which ended Sunday.  That means the federal government borrowed close to an additional 11-thousand dollars per household over the last 12 months, pushing it to over 136-thousand dollars per household.  In 2007, the debt was a little less than half that.

Manufacturing Indicator Shows Decline

New orders for manufactured goods fell in August, taking their biggest dip in 3.5 years.  According to the Commerce Department, August orders for durable goods were down 13.2 percent, even after July’s figures were revised downwards.  These goods include everything from toasters to jets, basically anything that’s expected to last more than 3 years.

Health

New Benefits of Vitamin D

That vitamin D you’re taking may help more than your knees.  Researchers in Denmark say people with low levels of vitamin D may have a higher risk of heart attack.  The study involved 10,000 Danes and found that the 5-percent with the lowest vitamin D levels had a 40-percent higher risk of heart disease, and an 81-percent higher risk that they’d die from it.

Parents Key to Kids Health

If you really want your kids to be healthy, jump on the treadmill yourself.  A company called American Specialty Health helps provide exercise programs for insurance companies, and they say their research shows that parental involvement – not new health laws – are the key to overcoming the obesity problem.

Baby Boomers Out of Shape

Baby Boomers are in bad shape, and getting worse.  Three universities in Australia have completed the first stage of a study comparing boomers to their parents generation, and found obesity among boomers is more than double – and they had a 700-percent greater chance of having at least three chronic conditions.