3:00 p.m.: 25 states continue their battle against Obama's Immigration Executive Actions
U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen of the Southern District of Texas has scheduled a hearing for Jan. 9 on the request for an injunction filed by 25 states against President Obama's immigration amnesty plan.
In a nationally televised speech on Nov. 20, Obama announced (and began implementing) the executive actions. The original lawsuit was filed on Dec. 3, and the states requested an injunction hearing by Dec. 31 "or as soon as practicable thereafter."
The lawsuit claims that Obama has "unilaterally suspend[ed] the immigration laws as applied to 4 million of the 11 million" illegal aliens in the United States.
Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, joins me from Washington, D.C.
3:30 p.m.: Dallas County District Attorney Susan Hawk joins me about her plans for 2015
Susan Hawk became Dallas County's new district attorney Thursday morning at a induction ceremony in which she emphasized the importance of doing what's right, even if it means taking on "the harder job, the uncomfortable job, the complicated job."
Speaking to several hundred of her new employees, she warned against judging the success of the district attorney's office by its conviction rate and encouraged prosecutors to take on the "impossible case ... as long as it is for what you believe is just and right."
Hawk, a former prosecutor and judge who in November unseated incumbent Craig Watkins, was sworn in by her friend, Justice Molly Francis of the 5th District Court of Appeals. She becomes Dallas County's first female district attorney and the first Republican to hold a countywide office in 10 years.
4:00 p.m.: The top 3 anti-Christian bigotry stories of the week.
a. State of Washington goes after a Christian florist who declined to provide flowers for a homosexual wedding.
b. Arizona town says religious speech has less value than other types of speech
c. Atheists try to keep Hawaii churches from renting at public schools.
4:30 p.m.: Publishing giant HarperCollins omits Israel from maps in Mideast schools, citing "local preferences".
Don Feder, Jewish columnist and author, joins me from Boston.
5:00 p.m.: A new study out today indicates that pornography is to blame for declining marriage rate.
A recent study suggests there is a significant culprit in the decline of marriage rates among young adults-pornography.
According to the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), the rise of easily accessible and free pornographic content on the Internet and the declining marriage rate isn't necessarily just a coincidence. The group concluded that porn "is negatively associated with marriage formation."
The IZA, a German organization, realized that there is a wealth of information about how porn damages existing marriages, but very little regarding whether it can prevent or delay marriage in the first place.
Jessica Mockett, Director and Producer of a new documentary entitled "The Heart of the Matter: Finding Light in the Darkness of Pornography and Addiction", joins me.
Listen to my podcast with the producer Nathan Lee who talks about his own 13-year addiction to pornography.
5:30 p.m.: There is a petition drive underway to overturn Plano's pro-homosexual ordinance.
Supporters hope to gather at least 3,822 signatures by the January 20th deadline to force the Plano City Council to either repeal the ordinance or let the voters decide. Learn more at PlanoEqualRights.com.
Dave Welch, Executive Director of Texas Pastor Council, joins me from Houston.
6:00 p.m.:
Great news! 73 abortion mills were shut down in 2014
A new survey conducted by Operation Rescue of all abortion facilities in the United States has confirmed that the abortion clinic closure trend continued strongly in 2014. Operation Rescue is the only pro-life organization that maintains a listing of abortion facilities and tracks clinic closures and its extensive research has provided the most accurate accounting of abortion facilities known to exist.
In all, 73 abortion facilities shut down for all or part of the year. The total number of all remaining abortion clinics in the US is currently 739. Surgical abortion facilities account for 551 of that total while the number of medication-only abortion facilities stands at 188.
Out of 60 surgical abortion clinic closures, 47 were permanent. This represents a 23% decline in surgical abortion facilities over the past five years.
Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Policy Director for Operation Rescue joins me from Wichita, Kansas
6:30 p.m.: The new shopping bag ordinance is now in effect for the second day here in Dallas.
Customers will have to pay 5 cents per bag extra at the cash register if they opt to use plastic bags. What do you think? Great idea or just plain annoying?
