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Religion
Midwinter Break
Spoiler Warning: This is also a movie review. MIDWINTER BREAK starts with a 60+ man and woman, who were Irish, but live in Glasgow, Scotland. Over several minutes in the opening scenes, they crabbed with each other without any explanation. The setting changes when she buys plane tickets to Amsterdam for a midwinter break to escape the boredom. She drags him to museums, which he doesn’t enjoy, and to churches, which he enjoys even less....
Public Policy
ICE (not Bad Weather)
The reorganization of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security created the ICE in 2002. They are allowed to: interrogate, arrest w/o a warrant if they see a violation or have a “reason to believe” that an illegal immigrant is about to escape, and to search at the borders without a warrant. Within the country, they use an “administrative” warrant rather than a “judicial” warrant. That does NOT include authority to enter a home without a judicial warrant. Recent Supreme Court rulings have allowed them to make stops based on “reasonable...
Politics
The President Takes a Hit
A combination of issues resulted in a very low approval rating in the polls of only 38% across the board in most polls. His rating caused him to take a conciliatory tone with negotiations on approving the budget. He agreed to pull the budget for the Department of Homeland Security as long as the Democrats would approve all the other budgets. As a consequence, the Senate approved those budgets and sent them to the House of Representatives...
LGBTQ+
LGBT Center of Raleigh
The Center moved into its 5th location in 15 years last fall. It now has a 15-year lease. I have followed it through many of those locations, each which had advantages and problems. Some had more space and some had better visibility for street traffic. This time they have large windows, plenty of space, and free parking across the street. The Grand Open House was held last month...
Travel
Historic Kinston NC
Kinston has been the County Seat of Lenoir County since 1791. Prior to the English settlement, the area was inhabited by the Neusick people along the Neuse River. Richard Caswell introduced the bill forming the city and later became the first Governor of the state of North Carolina. I have toured his home, Harmony Hall, which is now a museum...
General
Some New Netflix Bets Are Good
Netflix has acquired the complete James Bond catalog, and the films are running on streaming service. Just enter “James Bond” and then the decade of the film that you want to watch. The films are listed by decade, but you can search for the specific film that you want to view. They have not announced how long the catalog will be available....