A week to celebrate, or not?

Churches across the nation should have been celebrating today for the First Amendment victories this past week. But that probably didn't happen because so many congregations have members who only listen to MSNBC, CNN and NPR lie to the nation. The rest have jaded members (like me) who already know that it's a game of whack a mole with the colleges and universities. Their massive DEI bureaucracies for racism in academe won't give up and the "shop for a judge" political hacks will continue to sue the little baker and candlestick maker who doesn't have the resources to fight back.

Freedom of religion (establishment and free exercise) is first among the Firsts. Without it, nothing else matters, and the founders knew it.

 
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

In 21st century America the bureaucracy just gets a non-government agency to deprive people of their Constitutional rights.

Happy July 4.

Biden v. Nebraska (22-506)
The Secretary of Education does not have authority under the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 (HEROES Act) to establish a student loan forgiveness program that will cancel roughly $430 billion in debt principal and affect nearly all borrowers. I won't need to pay off someone's student loans.

Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (20-1199)
The admissions programs at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Asians being discriminated against; end of affirmative action supposedly.

GERALD E. GROFF, PETITIONER v. LOUIS DEJOY, POSTMASTER GENERAL
Mr. Groff, a Christian, not required to work on Sunday.

CREATIVE LLC ET AL. v. ELENIS ET AL. (21-476)
Lorie Smith, graphic artist, Christian, does not need to serve same sex couples in wedding celebration.

Obesity, is it racism?

 In the United States, everything that is bad is blamed on racism.  Especially health issues.  And racism of course, is blamed on the history of African slavery and Jim Crow within the U.S.  But what about Britain? Overweight adults - GOV.UK Ethnicity facts and figures (ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk)

• in the year to November 2021, 63.5% of adults (people aged 18 and over) were overweight or living with obesity – up from 62.8% the previous year
• 72.0% of adults from black ethnic groups were overweight or living with obesity – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
• 37.5% of adults from the Chinese ethnic group were overweight or living with obesity – the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups
• compared with the year ending November 2016, the percentage of adults who were overweight or living with obesity went up in the white British ethnic group (from 62.1% to 64.5%), mixed ethnic group (from 53.9% to 59.5%) and 'other' ethnic group (from 58.9% to 66.2%)
• the percentages were broadly similar to those from the year ending November 2016 for all other ethnic groups

Their ethnic census list is even more complicated than the U.S.  Our government continues to break down the country into race categories.

The UK ethnic groups for the Obesity Survey were:

Asian or Asian British

Indian
Pakistani
Bangladeshi
Chinese
Any other Asian background

Black, Black British, Caribbean or African

Caribbean
African
Any other Black, Black British, or Caribbean background

Mixed or multiple ethnic groups

White and Black Caribbean
White and Black African
White and Asian
Any other Mixed or multiple ethnic background

White

English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British
Irish
Gypsy or Irish Traveller
Roma
Any other White background

Other ethnic group

Arab
Any other ethnic group

In Wales, ‘Welsh’ is the first option in the White category. See the article for how race is recorded in Ireland.

In the USA, obesity is also a problem. 

Obesity in the United States from Statista, Obesity rates U.S. adults by race/ethnicity 2021 | Statista 

 Unless the definition of overweight/obesity is different, it looks like the Brits are fatter than the Americans! The Statista data represent adults who reported having a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 25.0 kg/meters squared.

"Obesity is a present and growing problem in the United States. An astonishing 32 percent of the adult population in the U.S. is now considered obese. Obesity rates can vary substantially by state, with around 41 percent of the adult population in West Virginia reportedly obese, compared to 25 percent of adults in Hawaii. The states with the highest rates of obesity include West Virginia, Kentucky, and Alabama.

Diabetes 

Being overweight and obese can lead to a number of health problems, including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Being overweight or obese is one of the most common causes of type 2 diabetes, a condition in which the body does not use insulin properly, causing blood sugar levels to rise. It is estimated that just over eight percent of adults in the U.S. have been diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes is now the eighth leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for three percent of all deaths.

Obesity rate by race/ethnicity

White 31.5%

Black 43.9%

Hispanic 36.7%

Asian/Pacific Islander 13.2%

Native American/Alaskan Indian 38.6%

Other 32.9%

The CDC provides additional information on obese Americans.

• The US obesity prevalence was 41.9% in 2017 – March 2020. (NHANES, 2021)
• From 1999 –2000 through 2017 –March 2020, US obesity prevalence increased from 30.5% to 41.9%. During the same time, the prevalence of severe obesity increased from 4.7% to 9.2%. (NHANES, 2021)
• Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer. These are among the leading causes of preventable, premature death.
• The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the United States was nearly $173 billion in 2019 dollars. Medical costs for adults who had obesity were $1,861 higher than medical costs for people with healthy weight.

Here's a shocking statistic from CDC:  "Over a ten-year period [1998-2008], the number of states with 40 percent or more of their young adults who were overweight or obese went from 1 to 39." MR_Too_Fat_to_Fight-1.pdf (missionreadiness.org)