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Incoming House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Tuesday that the long-awaited legislation ought to clear the House in coming days. The bill, which passed the U.S. Senate last week, was designed as a backstop to the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, known as Obergefell v. Hodges. He attributed the shift partly to the fact that such marriages had ceased to be unusual in the United States since the Supreme Court legalized them. "The sky didn't fall because same-sex marriage began happening," said Raushenbush, who is in a same-sex marriage himself. The amendment's support from various religious groups that are theologically opposed to same-sex marriage reflects the fact that attitudes have changed, said Tim Schultz, the president of the 1st Amendment Partnership, which advocates for religious liberty.

REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Passage of a bill protecting federal recognition of same-sex marriages that has the support of both LGBT advocates and religious groups, has been delayed in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill, which passed the U.S. Senate last week, was designed as a backstop to the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, known as Obergefell v. Hodges. The bill, which was spearheaded by a group of Democratic and Republican senators, gained the backing of several national religious groups. "The sky didn't fall because same-sex marriage began happening," said Raushenbush, who is in a same-sex marriage himself. Other religious groups, such as the Southern Baptist Convention, strongly opposed the legislation even after the religious freedom protections were added.

The Respect for Marriage Act, which passed the U.S. Senate last week, was designed as a backstop to the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, known as Obergefell v. Hodges. The bill, which was spearheaded by a group of Democratic and Republican senators, gained the backing of several national religious groups. He attributed the shift partly to the fact that such marriages had ceased to be unusual in the United States since the Supreme Court legalized them. "The sky didn't fall because same-sex marriage began happening," said Raushenbush, who is in a same-sex marriage himself. Other religious groups, such as the Southern Baptist Convention, strongly opposed the legislation even after the religious freedom protections were added.

☆ Live Results: Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker face off in the Georgia Senate runoff
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker are fighting to the finish in Georgia's Senate runoff. Warnock is seeking a full 6-year term, while Walker hopes to knock off the incumbent Democrat. Both parties see the Senate runoff as a proving ground in advance of the 2024 presidential election. Before Warnock and Ossoff won their races last year, a Democrat hadn't won a US Senate seat in Georgia since Zell Miller in 2000. Walker has raised $58.3 million, spent $48.5 million, and has $9.8 million left to spend, as of November 16.

☆ Trump faces yet another reckoning in Georgia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Donald Trump is 0-for-an awful lot in Georgia since 2016. The Georgia Senate runoff represents Trump’s final opportunity to recast a painful midterm season in which his election-denying candidates flopped in swing states, casting a shadow over his nascent 2024 presidential bid. Georgia is the epicenter of American politicsThe Senate runoff in Georgia caps an extraordinary two years in which the state has emerged, somewhat unexpectedly, as the most competitive battleground in the nation. In a call on January 2, 2021, Trump asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” sufficient votes to overturn Biden’s victory. On the eve of the Senate runoffs in January 2021, Trump returned to Georgia to campaign for then-Sens.

☆ Live Updates: Georgia Voters Head to Polls for Final Say on Warnock vs. Walker
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Jonathan Weisman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +11 min

Mr. Warnock consolidated Democratic voters, while Mr. Walker struggled to rally his party behind him. Mr. Walker was wrapping up a campaign that appears to have failed to consolidate the disparate wings of his party. Image Mr. Warnock spoke on Monday in Atlanta at the SWAG Shop barbershop with Killer Mike, the rapper. Credit... Nicole Craine for The New York TimesMr. Kemp kept some distance from Mr. Walker during the general election. Mr. Mathews said he planned to cast his ballot Tuesday for Mr. Walker.

☆ LGBTQ students wrestle with tensions at Christian colleges
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

“It’s kind of a tightrope,” said John Scarano, campus ministry director at John Carroll University, a Jesuit school near Cleveland with “safe zone trainings” as part of its ministry to LGBTQ students. Last year, 33 LGBTQ students or former students at federally funded Christian schools filed a class-action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education, claiming the department’s religious exemption allows schools that receive federal dollars to unconstitutionally discriminate against LGBTQ students. In May, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights launched a separate investigation for alleged violations of the rights of LGBTQ students at six Christian universities — including Liberty University. A high-stakes clash between students, faculty and the school’s board of trustees over hiring LGBTQ faculty is unfolding at Seattle Pacific University, a 131-year-old school affiliated with the Free Methodist Church. “I find that tragic.”To students like Fisher in Minnesota, concrete actions will show if LGBTQ people can truly be welcomed on Christian campuses.

☆ Senate candidates make last pitch in Georgia midterm election runoff
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Nathan Layne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Republican U.S. Senate candidate and former football player Herschel Walker speaks during an event ahead of the runoff election against Senator Raphael Warnock in Warner Robins, Georgia, U.S., December 2, 2022. Democrats secured effective control of the Senate in the Nov. 8 general election, while Republicans won the U.S. House of Representatives. The early vote is expected to have leaned Democratic, political experts from both parties say, meaning the Walker campaign goes into Tuesday with a sizeable deficit. It is not an insurmountable lead, Hicks said, noting that while Warnock edged past Walker in the Nov. 8 election by 49.44% to 48.49%, Walker won Election Day by some 220,000 votes. ADVANTAGE WARNOCKThe Senate runoff is the second in Georgia in two years.

☆ Herschel Walker isn't the only pro-footballer-turned-politician. Here are 16 others who've tossed the pigskin into the political arena.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Kayla Gallagher | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Georgia's upcoming runoff election will determine whether GOP candidate Herschel Walker will enter the US Senate. Here are other prominent politicians and government officials who've transitioned from a career football to politics. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Meet 16 other political and governmental figures who played or otherwise participated in pro football before entering public office:

☆ Herschel Walker isn't the only pro-footballer-turned-politician. Here 16 others who've tossed the pigskin into the political arena.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Kayla Gallagher | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

☆ Black leaders on Buffalo’s East Side are building markets to address food insecurity
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Claretta-Bellamy-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Claretta Bellamy | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

The only supermarket on the East Side is Tops, where a white gunman killed 10 Black residents in May. AHRIE / African Heritage Food Co-op“It’s about gainful employment,” Wright, 43, said in October of his future grocery store. African Heritage Food Co-Op“That’s why I don’t call this a food desert,” Wright said. One organization, the Buffalo Black Billion, is led by a local pastor, Michael Chapman of St. John and Gethsemane Missionary Baptist churches. African Heritage Food Co-OpBy providing healthy food, Chapman said he also wants to increase the lifespan of Black residents in the community, for whom health disparities are all too familiar.

Latino voters are expected to be consequential in determining who Georgia will send to the Senate. Latino voters provided a roughly 80,000-vote net advantage for Warnock on Election Day, according to Barreto. On the GOP side, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is trying to give Walker an edge with Latino voters through its Operación ¡Vamos! Canvassers from GALEO, a Latino nonprofit, knock on doors in Georgia ahead of the Senate runoff election on Tuesday. Ahead of the Senate runoff election, Voto Latino identified 175,000 Latinos in Georgia who are young, low-propensity voters who participated in the last election.

☆ Obituary: China's Jiang Zemin confounded doubters, mended U.S. ties
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/5] A security guard stands next to a portrait of China's former President Jiang Zemin at an exhibition to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing, China, July 7, 2011. Under Jiang, China weathered the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001 and won the bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. "Jiang Zemin was more ready to be natural, even though sometimes it could be perceived as vulgar, not very sophisticated." At celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the People's Republic in 1999, floats carried giant portraits of Mao, Deng and Jiang past Tiananmen Square. Jiang, like Mao, wore his trousers well above his waist and brushed his hair straight back.

Morehouse CollegeWhen Morehouse College made history by launching its first class in the metaverse last spring, Hamilton was one of 11 professors to teach students using virtual reality technology. Partnering with the VR tech company VictoryXR, Hamilton is creating his first full course in the metaverse on Black history. Morehouse College history professor Ovell Hamilton. “You can do that in virtual reality.”Muhsinah Morris is the director of the Virtual Reality Project at Morehouse College. Morehouse College students attending a “Meditation Mondays” event in space within the metaverse.

☆ China’s Xi attempts to claim diplomatic victory in battle for global influence after summit whirlwind
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Chinese leader Xi Jinping attends the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia on Wednesday. Since taking office, Biden has shored up relations with allies and partners to counter China’s growing influence. In a rare, candid moment caught on camera, Xi chided Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, accusing him of leaking details of a brief conversation between them. He also attended the Group of 20 dinner, where he shook hands and chatted with leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Apart from the Dutch Prime Minister, Xi also invited US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italy’s newly elected Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to visit Beijing early next year.

☆ Faith groups split over bill to protect same-sex marriage
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Among U.S. faith leaders and denominations, there are sharp differences over the bill advancing in the Senate that would protect same-sex and interracial marriages in federal law. Meanwhile, many left-of-center faith leaders are cheering the bill, including some who planned a Thursday morning rally at the U.S. Capitol. A final Senate vote is expected soon, and the measure — if approved — would then return to the House for consideration of Senate changes. An opinion at that time from Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that an earlier high court decision protecting same-sex marriage could also come under threat. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, an American Baptist pastor who is president of Interfaith Alliance and is part of a same-sex marriage.

☆ The Visions of Octavia Butler
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Lynell George | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +27 min

As a science fiction writer, Butler forged a new path and envisioned bold possibilities. Mural with a portrait of Octavia Butler and her name, composed of dots of various densities in 3-D space. In 1995, she became the first science fiction writer to be awarded a MacArthur “genius” grant. “‘Kindred’ was a story of ordinary people trapped in fantastic circumstances,” Butler wrote in a 1988 notebook. Her point of view was one not traditionally found in science fiction and, simply by writing, she demanded a larger world.

☆ Evangelical pastor and longtime Trump ally says he won't endorse Trump unless he wins the GOP nomination
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Robert Jeffress is an evangelical pastor and longtime supporter of former President Donald Trump. He told Newsweek that he will not endorse Trump until the Republican Party nominates him. Jeffress said the GOP is "headed toward a civil war" and that he doesn't want to be involved. "Donald Trump was a great president, and if he becomes the GOP nominee in 2024, I will happily support him," Robert Jeffress, told Newsweek. Jeffress is the senior pastor of a 14,000-strong megachurch in Dallas, Texas, and one of Trump's most vocal evangelical supporters.

☆ Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff says the difference in competence between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker is the 'most dramatic that I have ever seen in electoral politics'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff said fellow Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock is "an asset to the nation." Ossoff told Insider that Warnock stood above his opponent in "qualifications, competence and quality." Warnock is locked in a competitive Dec. 6 Senate runoff election with Republican Herschel Walker. "The contrast between Senator Warnock and his opponent in terms of preparedness, in terms of qualifications, competence and quality, is the most dramatic that I have ever seen in electoral politics," Ossoff told Insider. In the November general election, Warnock led Walker 49.4%-48.5%, with the incumbent Democrat receiving 1,946,139 votes to 1,908,424 for Walker, per Insider and DDHQ.

☆ Lindsey Graham says critics of Georgia GOP Senate nominee Herschel Walker are 'trying to destroy' him to 'deter young men and women of color' from joining the party
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Lindsey Graham said critics of Herschel Walker sought to "deter" young minorities from embracing the GOP. "If they destroy Herschel, it will deter people of color from wanting to be a conservative Republican," he said. Walker will Sen. Raphael Warnock in Georgia's hotly-contested Senate runoff election on Dec. 6. They're trying to destroy Herschel to deter young men and women of color from being Republicans," Graham said. "If they destroy Herschel, it will deter people of color from wanting to be a conservative Republican because you just have your life ruined.

☆ Robert Kern Made Generators Light and Affordable
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( James R. Hagerty | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Robert Kern , the son of a Baptist minister from Iowa, set up shop with five employees in a garage in Wales, Wis., in 1959 to make portable generators. Soon all kinds of people were buying his generators under the Craftsman brand at Sears stores. Mr. Kern diversified his range to include permanently installed generators for homeowners worried about power outages. Generac also developed equipment providing backup electricity for telecom networks, hospitals and other facilities. The Y2K scare yielded a rush of demand, as did hurricanes and tornadoes.

☆ 'Start adding zeroes': Big money expected to pour into Georgia midterm runoff
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Nathan Layne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"Just start adding zeroes and stop when you feel like it," said Chuck Clay, a former state Republican chair and former state senator. If the parties split those seats, the runoff in Georgia will determine control of the upper chamber. For a midterm, that ranks second to the $372 million spent on this year's Senate race in Pennsylvania. The most expensive race ever was the $515 million contest between Georgia Republican Senator David Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff, which Ossoff won in a runoff in January 2021. Some Republican voters said they hoped popular Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who had somewhat distanced himself from Walker during the general election, would provide support.

☆ 'Mattress Mack' turned $5,000 in savings into a Texas furniture empire known for generous promotions, and recently won $75 million in the largest payout in sports-betting history
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Over time, McIngvale continued making million-dollar sports bets. During the 2019 World Series, McIngvale travelled the country by private jets to place bets on Astros winning at betting sites in three different states. When the Houston Astros lost to the Washington Nationals, McIngvale lost at least $11.6 million in wagers. He has also made bets on Houston sports teams playing in the NFL playoffs, the Kentucky Derby, and the Superbowl. McIngvale signs a basketball used during the 2019 NBA Playoffs between Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors.

☆ Midterm elections live updates: Pennsylvania races, New Hampshire Senate race too early to call
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Brandy Zadrozny | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Sahil-Kapur-Headshot.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +109 min

Share this -Link copiedWisconsin Senate and governor's races too early to call It is too early to call the Senate and gubernatorial races in Wisconsin, according to NBC News. Share this -Link copiedNew Hampshire Senate race too early to call The Senate race in New Hampshire is too early to call, according to NBC News. Share this -Link copiedPennsylvania Senate and governor races are too early to call After polls closed at 8 p.m. While Maricopa County election officials initially categorized the problem as a “hiccup,” it took hours before a solution was identified early Tuesday afternoon. In Columbus County, election officials allegedly were harassed by an “observer following one-stop workers” and photographing or filming the workers, it said.

While Maricopa County election officials initially categorized the problem as a “hiccup,” it took hours before a solution was identified early Tuesday afternoon. According to the poll, 46% of voters said their family’s financial situation is worse than it was two years ago. Civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP, filed a similar complaint Friday against state election officials. The app and portal had been down for part of the morning and the state's election hotline also briefly experienced issues. In Columbus County, election officials allegedly were harassed by an “observer following one-stop workers” and photographing or filming the workers, it said.

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