Ongoing

A few snippets from this morning's news:

Request for Stay of Judgment Denied:

Judge Robert Shelby

The 10th Circuit has denied the State of Utah's request for a stay of Judge Shelby's decision pending his own decision in their request to him for a stay:

Judges Jerome Holmes and Robert Bacharach, in an order signed by court clerk Elisabeth Shumaker for the court, held that the because the state’s request “does not meet the requirements of the Federal or local appellate rules governing a request for a stay,” the court was denying the motion.

“Defendants-Appellants acknowledge that they have not addressed, let alone satisfied, the factors that must be established to be entitled to a stay pending appeal,” the court held. The factors include a showing by the party asking for a stay that they are likely to succeed on appeal, that they would suffer “irreparable injury” if they do not get a stay, that other parties would not injure other parties, and an assessment of where the “public interest” lies.

The judges wrote that the state could refile a similar motion at a later point so long as it complied with the court’s rules.

Apparently, the State's legal strategy here is the old "conservative" stand-by: Rules are for other people.

(I added the picture of Judge Shelby because he's awfully attractive. And an attractive man is never out of place.)

Via Box Turtle Bulletin, which has the dirt on the two judges.

Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty Is Still a Nonentity:

Timothy Kincaid echoes my feelings on this whole flap admirably. I'm grateful to him for spending the time on this, which I certainly didn't want to do. A sample:

So if you ask the long-haired wild-bearded Southern hillbilly redneck biker-wannabe Jesus freak from the reality show about long-haired wild-bearded Southern hillbilly redneck biker-wannabe Jesus freaks about gays, it turns out he has long-haired wild-bearded Southern hillbilly redneck biker-wannabe Jesus freak opinions. Who’d a thunk it?

But the whole thing was actually a nefarious plot by the notably liberal A&E. Really. Truly.

This whole thing is going to be worth millions to the Robertson clan. I mean, when you've got Bristol Palin rooting for you. . . .

Be Careful Who You Fire:

Especially if you're Archbishop Peter Sartain of Washington. It seems that the latest example of a Catholic school exercising its "religious freedom" didn't go over well with the student body:

Bradley Strode, the president of the senior class, told ABC News that out of the 600 students who attend Eastside Catholic, more than 450 walked out of class. Bradley:

“The Catholic teaching is to unconditionally love and support all members of a global community, people from all backgrounds, as Christ did in the gospels. If Jesus were here, he would have been sitting in with us at Eastside Catholic because we are sticking up for what we believe in and not just abiding by institutional laws.”

Sister Mary Tracy met with the students explaining:

“It was clear that this is the teaching of the church. I know what we need to do.”

The students were unimpressed.

Click through and read the article -- it's an excellent summary of events to date.

People Not Attending the Sochi Winter Olympics:

That number now includes UK PM David Cameron, in addition to EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding, French President Francois Hollande, German President Joachim Gauck, and US President Barack Obama.

The US delegations, however, will include two openly gay Olympic medalists, Caitlin Cahow and Brian Boitano, and tennis legend Billie Jean King. I think we're sending a message there.

I may add more, but I think that's enough for now.