This is a week old, but there is a major push in China to destroy churches and anything to do with Christianity.

China ‘BANS’ Christmas as cities tear down festive lights, trees and decorations amid crackdown on churches

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8053500/china-bans-christmas-crackdown-festive-lights-trees/

Pro-Lifers 'Infuriated' after Judge Rules Kansas Can't Stop Women from Getting 'Webcam Abortions'

A Kansas judge ruled Monday the state cannot stop so-called telemedicine abortions, also called "webcam abortions." The decision comes after attempts by state lawmakers to prevent doctors from providing pregnancy-ending pills to women they see by remote video conferences.

District Judge Franklin Theis called the law, which is set to take effect this month, an "airball" stating it has no legal force. The law was state legislators' third attempt in outlawing telemedicine abortions.

http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2019/january/pro-lifers-infuriated-after-judge-rules-kansas-cant-stop-women-from-getting-telemedicine-abortions

Heshmat Alavi

Heshmat Alavi

@HeshmatAlavi

·

28m

#BREAKING

#Iran's Guardian Council rejects the Financial Action Task Force convention on combating the financing of terrorism.

(link: https://www.radiofarda.com/a/iran-guardian-council-dismmissed-the-faft-realated-bill/29686888.html) radiofarda.com/a/iran-guardia…

Meaning Tehran will continue funding Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, Assad, Iraqi militias

Here's the link, but the article is not in English:

https://www.radiofarda.com/amp/iran-guardian-council-dismmissed-the-faft-realated-bill/29686888.html?

Heavy fog causes 30-plus vehicle collision near Austin early Tuesday

First responders treated 56 people following a crash just after midnight New Year's Day involving more than 30 vehicles near Austin.

The Austin Police Department reports 32 vehicles, including two semi-trucks, were involved in wrecks on Texas 130 near Harold Green Road shortly before 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.

https://www.chron.com/news/local/texas/article/Heavy-fog-causes-20-plus-vehicle-collision-in-13501698.php?

NASA space explorer beams back first look at object a billion miles past Pluto

LAUREL, Md. (AP) — NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has survived humanity's most distant exploration of another world.

Ten hours after the middle-of-the-night encounter 4 billion miles away, flight controllers in Laurel, Maryland, received word from the spacecraft late Tuesday morning. Cheers erupted at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, home to Mission Control.

https://www.circa.com/story/2019/01/01/science/nasa-space-explorer-beams-back-first-look-at-object-a-billion-miles-past-pluto?

Department of State

Department of State

@StateDept

·

1m

Today,

@SecPompeo

met with

@IsraeliPM

@Netanyahu

in Brasilia, Brazil. Read their remarks before the meeting:

https://go.usa.gov/xEgDC

More on the Secretary's trip to Brazil and Colombia: https://go.usa.gov/xEgcm

Chief Justice Roberts: More Work To Be Done About Sexual Harassment In Courts

Chief Justice John Roberts praises efforts made by federal judges to stamp out sexual harassment in the workplace over the past year.

Roberts made those comments on Monday, but said there is still much work left to be done. Moving forward into the new year, the Chief Justice wants to make further policy revisions that will obligate federal judges and court employees to report any misconduct they witness.

This comes after an internal review found instances of inappropriate workplace conduct happens more often than previously thought.

Roberts is optimistic the new Office of Judicial Integrity, set to open this month, will create a safer work environment.

https://www.oann.com/chief-justice-roberts-more-work-to-be-done-about-sexual-harassment-in-courts/

Year 1 a mixed bag for businesses in California's pot market

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It was supposed to be a great year for marijuana entrepreneur Brian Blatz.

When California broadly legalized pot on Jan. 1, the lawyer with a background in banking and health care had been working for a year to set up a trucking company that would whisk fragrant marijuana buds, infused juices and other products from fields and production plants to store shelves.

On its website, Long Beach-based Verdant Distribution said the company's goal was to be the United States' pre-eminent business for transporting cannabis.

But it's all gone. The trucks were sold to cover debt, a warehouse vacated, its license expired.

The choppy rollout of California's legal market saddled the company with costly delays, but it was undone by an abrupt state rule change that allowed just about any marijuana business to become its own distributor, undercutting the need for stand-alone companies like Verdant.

The illegal market continues to flourish — by some estimates, up to 80 percent of the sales in the state still are under the table, snatching profits from legal storefronts.

A promised state tax windfall has yet to arrive, while businesses complain about hefty tax rates that can approach 50 percent in some communities. The number of testing labs remains tight. Meanwhile, shifting rules and start-up costs are taking a toll.

(cont)

https://www.circa.com/story/2018/12/30/nation/year-1-a-mixed-bag-for-businesses-in-californias-pot-market?