Well, for the last 50 years nothing. The National Prayer Breakfast is one of the most well attended events in Washington attracting the President, members of Congress and foreign diplomats. But this year, a little controversy has colored this otherwise peaceful gathering. Gay rights and religious groups claim that the sponsor of the prayer breakfast, a clandestine evangelical Christian network called The Family, has ties to legislation in Uganda that imprisons and even executes homosexuals. Protesters were urging President Obama to boycott the breakfast this morning. The President attended but called Uganda’s policies towards homosexuals odious.
While city officials and the consults they employ painstakingly put together an outline for a meandering, complicated bike plan for southland cyclists, a group of bike enthusiasts have put together an innovative plan of their own. Imagine a network of long-distance bike routes (call them mini-freeways) with relatively few traffic lights and stop signs. I bet they can get from the valley to the Westside in twenty minutes. Ready to give up your car?
For the first time ever the New Orleans Saints are in the Super Bowl, and Saints fans are beyond excited. But this historic moment has more meaning in the wake of Katrina. Drew Brees and the Saints have not only lifted spirits but have captured much-needed attention for some of the forgotten areas of New Orleans. We find out how locals in the Big Easy are parlaying a Super Bowl appearance into help for their city.
You can say this much for R. Rex Parris, the Mayor of Lancaster—he doesn’t mince words and he stands by his beliefs. Last week Mayor Parris made waves beyond his desert community when, in his state of the city address, he called for Lancaster to grow as a “Christian community” and asked for voters to support a city ballot measure that would authorize daily prayers at city council meetings. Facing a barrage of criticism Mayor Parris has stood by his speech, accusing naysayers of seeking their “15 minutes of fame” at his expense. The Mayor is up for reelection in April—if his constituents in Lancaster do indeed prefer the city to grow as a Christian community, is that their right and the right of Mayor Parris to say as much?
A report out from the Guttmacher Institute shows that teenage pregnancies and abortions began to rise in 2005 after more than a decade on the decline. Proponents of comprehensive sex education say it’s clear evidence of the failure of President Bush’s abstinence-only sex education in public schools, while abstinence-only advocates blame the sex-saturated media culture of today and claim the Guttmacher study is overly simplistic. What’s causing the trend and will new Obama administration policies reverse it?
Patt Morrison is known for its innovative discussions of local politics and culture, as well as its presentation of the effects of national and world news on Southern California.
