THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI AND THE CITIZENS: August 2014

Tuesday, 26 August 2014

Anti-abortion ice bucket ire

By BBC Trending What's popular and why 20:08 UK time, Monday, 25 August 2014

The Ice Bucket Challenge has been spreading across social media, raising over $50m (£30.16m) for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

But while everyone from Bill Gates to Justin Bieber has participated in the project, some are contentiously sitting out.
Abortion opponents in the US, including leaders of the Roman Catholic clergy, have discouraging participation in the Ice Bucket Challenge.
That's because the ALS Association, where participants are asked to send their donations, supports embryonic stem-cell research.
Since those cells are harvested from an embryo that is then discarded, pro-life groups say the process destroys human life.

RHONJ's Victoria Gotti drops a bomb as she informs her co-stars just who Teresa Aprea's husband cheated on her with (and you'll never guess!)

Everyone knows that the Real Housewives Of New Jersey love a good gossip.

But even they were left speechless by a startling revelation during Sunday night's episode.

When Victoria Gotti decided to share some rather private information with friends Teresa Giudice
and Amber Marchese, they were shocked beyond belief at the damning claim that could be enough to end a marriage.

What the?! Amber Marchese (left) and Teresa Giudice were left stunned and speechless by a juicy bit of gossip during Sunday night's episode of The Real Housewives Of New Jersey

Sitting down with her pals at her home after the trio met up during an appearance for Teresa's Fabellini sparkling wine label, Victoria divulged the sordid story about newcomer Teresa Aprea's husband, Rino.

Beginning by explaining that they met some years ago while she was dining at his restaurant, she went on to reveal that after only two weeks of knowing him, he gifted her a diamond Rolex watch
as she was recovering from surgery in the hospital.

While she admits she thought him to be 'insane', their friendship continued nonetheless.

However, one evening he divulged a secret to her that she just couldn't help but share with her fellow housewives.

'One night we were all out as a group in his restaurant. He started talking about his divorce and he tells me this crazy story,' she begins.

Troublemaker! Victoria Gotti couldn't resist letting her friends in on the salacious story about their new co-stars

'He said, "It's something that she will never forgive me for"... and I said, "You cheated?" And he went, "Yeah."

'I said, "If the love is strong enough she'll get over it" and he went, "No." I went, "So you cheated more than once?" And he said, "No, it's who I cheated with... Her mother."'

Bewildered by what they just heard, the women at first don't know how to respond.

Teresa than asks: 'Was he drunk?'

'I don't necessarily know if it's true or not,' Amber gave him the benefit of the doubt, adding, 'but the thought that Rino slept with Santa, it would have been better if I would have heard Rino slept with Nicole. I get that, it's not too shocking. Twins, it's understandable.'

Like deer in the headlights: The two women were a captive audience, unable to tear themselves away as their pal informed them about Teresa Aprea's husband Rino's cheating

For her part, Victoria wasn't entirely sure either if Rino was being serious or not.

'I don't know if he was pulling our leg, but I wasn't the only one that heard this,' she said. 'He just looked at me and went, "I’m not joking."'

With her troubled history with Teresa Aprea and her twin sister Nicole Napolitano - the trio having
got into a physical fight that saw them pulling each other's hair - Amber decided to stay out of the discussion as much as possible.

Speaking to the camera, she explained: 'Nicole and Teresa, they have a lot of family issues, and
now here I am being told something yet again. This is twice now. I don't want to hear any of this!'

Meanwhile, in another part of town, the couple in question - Teresa and Rino Aprea - were enjoying
a lovely romantic Valentine's Day dinner, completely oblivious to the fact that their marriage was such a hot topic of discussion.

Speaking of their most fond memories together, Teresa told her husband, 'My first sweet moment was when Rino you first met me. It was at Angelo's. I went to the restroom and the restroom attendant was like, "You're going to marry Rino upstairs."'

'He started talking about his divorce and he tells me this crazy story': Victoria divulged that Rino admitted to her that he cheated on his wife with her mother, saying, 'He said, "It's something that she will never forgive me for"'

'I don't necessarily know if it's true or not': Trying to stay out of it following her bad blood with Teresa and her twin sister Nicole Napolitano, Amber did say, 'The thought that Rino slept with Santa, it would have been better if I would have heard Rino slept with Nicole. Twins, it's understandable'

During her confessional, Teresa delved into the intricacies of her marriage, clearly aware of the fact that her husband had slept with other women - though presumably not her own mother.

'I was with Rino when I was 18 years old and we were divorced at 28,' she explained. 'I know we took each other for granted, but you know what? Rino and I got married again because he always loved me and I always loved him.'

She went on to reveal that Rino 'screwed every stripper possible' during their divorce, though she didn't care because 'he's a guy'.

Clearly hurt and angered by his longtime friend's confession, Rino took to Twitter following the episode to issue a statement.

'This is a salacious story that has been manufactured to cause hurt to my family. I will not play into this! My wife and son are my life!'

'Was he drunk?' Teresa was unconvinced about the situation, unsure if Rino was joking when he told Victoria, clearly shocked to hear that he could have slept with his mother-in-law of all people

The calm before the storm: While everyone was talking behind their backs, Teresa and Rino were enjoying a romantic Valentine's Day meal, blissfully unaware of the revelation that had just come out about their marriage

Monday, 25 August 2014

Summer Skate: Boston Bruins

Jared Wickerham/Getty ImagesAt just 21 years old, defenseman Dougie Hamilton has yet to reach his maximum potential.

Although the weather outside doesn't necessarily make us think of winter pursuits, it's a good time to take the temperature of every NHL team. Hockey Prospectus will guide us through the leaguewide tour, spotlighting one player trending up and one player trending down for each club, as well as a key statistic as we look ahead to the 2014-15 season. References will be made to goals versus threshold (GVT), a Hockey Prospectus proprietary statistic; for more on GVT, click here. All other advanced stats are courtesy of Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com.

From the first puck drop until the end of the regular season, the Boston Bruins were the best team in the Eastern Conference -- and it was not close. They won the Atlantic Division by 16 standings points and had a better goal differential than the next best team in the East, by 42. Boston's superstars had superstar seasons, bringing home the Vezina and Selke trophies and earning a Norris nomination to boot. Heading into the playoffs, they were the runaway favorites to represent the East. But the Bruins ran into a hot Montreal Canadiens team that knocked them out of the second round in seven games.
Boston heads into 2014-15 with a roster nearly identical to last season's and equally high expectations. With the Bruins' current core of talent still in its prime, it will be a disappointment if Boston walks away with anything less than the Stanley Cup.

Should Tony Stewart skip the rest of the NASCAR season?

Just when will Tony Stewart drive in a NASCAR race again?
Stewart will miss his third straight race since the Aug. 9 incident in which he struck and killed driver Kevin Ward Jr. during a sprint-car race on a dirt track in upstate New York, and it is unclear when he will return. “Stewart’s plans for upcoming Sprint Cup races have yet to be determined,” his Stewart-Haas team announced Wednesday. Stewart, 43, has been in seclusion since Ward’s death and Jeff Burton will again drive his No. 14 car Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Stewart was indulging in his love of returning to his roots by racing on a dirt track in Canandaigua, N.Y., when he collided with Ward, knocking his car into the wall. Ward exited the car during a caution flag and walked toward Stewart as he rounded the track, angrily gesturing toward him. Stewart’s car knock him down and ran over him, killing him nearly instantly. An autopsy determined that Ward’s death was due to blunt force trauma and, although no charges are pending against Stewart, an investigation into the incident by Ontario County, N.Y., authorities is ongoing. Last week, Sheriff Philip C. Povero said he expected it to take up to two weeks.
Clearly, Stewart isn’t going to drive until that is concluded and some are questioning whether he should drive again at all this season, even though fans and his fellow drivers have been supportive. Stewart, who is in seclusion, is coming to terms with what happened and “grieving,” according to Stewart-Haas Vice-President Brett Frood. He is not thinking about NASCAR’s Chase, Frood said as he discussed Stewart’s mental state.
“I’ll be honest, the Chase is of the lowest priority as it relates to Tony right now,” Frood told the Sporting News. “Right now it’s about getting Tony in a better place than he is. When he’s ready to do that, he’ll get back in the car.”
In order to recover, Stewart should take four steps now, according to Jeff Owens of the Sporting News: take time off from racing, explain what happened at Canandaigua, honor Ward in some fashion and think long-term about how to make sprint-car racing safer. From Owens:

Regardless of the outcome, Stewart must live for the rest of his life with the harsh reality that he was involved in an accident that took a 20-year-old driver’s life. That is one of the heaviest burdens anyone can bear, the reality that their actions, whether intentional, accidental or completely unavoidable, took another person’s life.
Stewart already is facing an impossible battle in the court of public opinion, with many blaming him for the accident and convicting him not with evidence but with innuendo, speculation and his history of temper tantrums and confrontations with other drivers.
No matter what Stewart does for the rest of his career, this horrible tragedy will haunt him the rest of his life — which may be worse than any legal punishment or lawsuit he may face.
Stewart’s challenge is not only to clear his name, but to set things right in a manner that brings some relief and closure to this terrible tragedy.

That’s a process that is going to take an indeterminant amount of time.

Sunday, 24 August 2014

Kate Middleton Concerned About Queen’s Health And Miscarriage Rumors Addressed

Kate Middleton has become an instant celebrity, with eyes affixed to her every movement, similar to the way Princess Diana was idolized. In her short time as a princess and member of the Royal Family, she has been the victim of rumors and debate over her relationship with the Queen and the whether or not she is pregnant. Finally, there may be answers to both debates.
Queen Elizabeth and Kate Middleton come from quite different backgrounds, upbringings, and are members of completely different generations. So, assuming that they will be best friends or worst enemies is rather unfair. They will not always see eye to eye, but assuming that they are bitter enemies is unfounded. In reality, Kate Middleton sees Queen Elizabeth as the glue that keeps the family together, and fears that her support is essential to maintaining the tight knit family. According to Celeb Dirty Laundry, the relationship between Kate and the Queen is quite supportive both ways.

“Things may get tense at times, like when Kate get’s photographed half-naked, but the love is still there and Kate realizes that after the 88-year old monarch dies she will have few family members really in her corner. Kate and Prince William are trying to get pregnant now – as they have made clear since their trip to Australia and New Zealand, so Queen Elizabeth’s support is more important than ever.”

All in all, Kate Middleton is compared to Princess Diana in every aspect. The unjust comparison creates an imaginary perception that Kate and the Queen are bitter enemies, but we really cannot be sure how their relationship unfolds behind closed doors. The Queen, undoubtedly, loved her grandchildren and great grandchildren, so it can only be assumed that she would love and welcome their spouses into the family as well.
Another rumor that has been spreading is the pregnancy, miscarriage, and naming of Kate Middleton’s unborn child. Celeb Dirty Laundry tackled this issue as well, and presented onlookers with some common sense.

“Kate suddenly started making more public appearances over the last two weeks, and her bloat and weight gain suddenly disappeared. She started looking like herself again, which in turn sparked the miscarriage rumors. Now, this one I’m more hesitant to believe, only because I don’t think Will and Kate would have the enthusiasm to be making public appearances if Kate just suffered a miscarriage – and they are making a LOT of public appearances recently.”

Kate has shown that the first trimester of pregnancy plagues her with morning sickness, which would prevent her from any serious travel. Even if a new pregnancy did not muster the sickness, doctors would surely err on the side of caution. With upcoming travel plans, we can assume that she is not currently pregnant, or they would not attempt attending the wedding in Italy. We will most likely be informed of a pregnancy before the end of the year, as Kate plans to extend her family, but without solid proof of a miscarriage or current pregnancy, we can put those rumors to bed.
Why do you think the world cares so much about Kate and the fairy tale life she leads?

William Shatner Exposes Backstabbing, Egos, And Infighting At TNG

Star Trek TNG doc, presented by William Shatner

William Shatner shows the conflict-ridden, crazy first two years of production for Star Trek: The Next Generation in the new documentary William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge. The documentary takes an especially in-depth look at the role of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry.
And Shatner’s documentary is already being applauded by critics.
The Sun called it “a rich, raucous look at the messy birth of TV’s most famous utopian future, and the two years that nearly ended the whole thing before it started.”
And Shatner himself says this is “really, the best thing I’ve done.” High praise from a man who became the icon of the entire franchise.
In Chaos on the Bridge, William Shatner conducts candid interviews with TNG cast members like Sir Patrick Stewart, Denise Crosby, Jonathan Frakes, and John de Lancie, which reveal a situation of confusion. The cast didn’t seem sure they should even be making a new Star Trek series at all.
Patrick Stewart was not anyone’s first choice to sit in the captain’s seat, while the American cast members were causing ruckus off-screen.
However, nothing seems as noteworthy as the struggle in the writer’s room.
Shatner originally presented the idea for the documentary under the name Wacky Doodle, because writers described the first two years as insanity.
In an interview with Larry King, William Shatner described the problems with the writing process, saying:

“Roddenberry said there’s no conflict in 2400, there’s no conflict. And the writer’s said, what do you mean, drama is conflict. Everybody gets along. So they had to write a show with no conflict.”

There may have been no conflict in the year 2400, but in the writing room there obviously plenty. Twenty-four writers quit during the first three seasons of Star Trek: TNG, nearly triple the normal attrition rate for a TV show like Star Trek.
Most startling seems to be William Shatner’s presentation of Gene Roddenberry.
According to the book, Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek, he was struggling with health problems of the brain such as cerebrovascular disease that led him to abuse a variety of drugs including marijuana and cocaine. The drug abuse was compounded by the deteriorating effects of diabetes and high blood pressure.
Despite all of this, he took a hands-on approach in creating the first two seasons of Star Trek until he ultimately let go by the third season.
For his part, William Shatner says he didn’t know Roddenberry that well when he was playing Captain Kirk.
William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge will debut Monday, August 25, at 9 pm ET/MT on HBO Canada.

Northern California rocked by magnitude 6.0 earthquake

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit northern California’s San Francisco Bay area Sunday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Leslie Gordon of the USGS says the tremor struck just before 3:30 a.m. Sunday about 10 miles northwest of American Canyon, which is about 6 miles southwest of Napa. The USGS says it's the largest tremor to shake the Bay Area since the 1989 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta quake, which reportedly led to 63 deaths.

Officials say widespread power outages have been reported in Sonoma County, but there have been no immediate report of injuries.
Jennifer Jones Lee, who lives in the earthquake area, told Fox News the tremor “felt like someone just picked up the house, shook it for a while, then dropped it. It was incredibly violent.”
Arik Housley, who owns two grocery stores in the area, said he was awakened at about 3:30 a.m. by the shaking. “It was very jolting and probably went for 20 seconds . . . it was shaking pretty good,” said Housley, whose brother is Fox News senior correspondent Adam Housley.
Arik Housley said he passed a mobile home park where multiple fires could be seen as he drove to one of his stores to assess the damage. Housley said the shelving in his store had moved 2 feet to 3 feet from the wall, and much of his inventory had fallen to the floor, including $200 bottles of wine. Many merchants in the area forgo earthquake insurance because it’s too expensive, he said. A quake about 14 years ago resulted in about $30,000 in damage, he told Fox News.
The extent of the damage wasn't immediately clear. Two major injuries have been reported, and hospitals have been very busy with moderate injuries, Napa Division Fire Chief John Callanan said.
The 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck just before 3:30 a.m. about 10 miles northwest of American Canyon, which is about 6 miles southwest of Napa, in California wine country, Leslie Gordon of the U.S. Geological Survey said. It's the largest earthquake to shake the Bay Area since the 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta quake in 1989, the USGS said.
"There's collapses, fires," said Napa Fire Capt. Doug Bridewell, standing in front of large pieces of masonry that broke loose from a turn-of-the-century office building where a fire had just been extinguished. "That's the worst shaking I've ever been in."
Bridewell, who said he had to climb over fallen furniture in his own home to check on his family before reporting to duty, said he was starting to see more reports of injuries.
The tremor set off car alarms and had residents of neighboring Sonoma County running out of their houses in the middle of night.
The USGS says the depth of the earthquake was just less than 7 miles, and numerous small aftershocks have occurred in the Napa wine country.
A member of Napa County dispatch tells The Associated Press that there has been one report of structural damage, but additional details were not available.
“There’s fires, debris all over the streets, everywhere,” Napa resident Karen Hunt told “Fox & Friends.”
Hunt said her husband, who is an engineer, shut off the gas line to their home to guard against explosions, then went to neighbors’ homes to do the same.
“Right now we’re just waiting for the aftershocks,” she said. She said she had not felt any, but reportedly there has been two, one at magnitude 2.5.
Hunt has said she has felt other earthquakes, but “this is way on top of anything I’ve ever felt.”
Hunt, who has lived in Napa since 1996, owns a winery. She said she heard from her partner that her 2011 and 2012 vintages had been destroyed.
“That’s pretty devastating if that’s the case,” she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Man's Subway Stunt Lands Job Interviews, Internet Fame

It can be challenging to get an interview for a new job, especially straight out of college.

After applying for 300 jobs and not getting a single favorable response, one young man decided to take a different approach.

Alfred Ajani, 22, stood in a London subway station during rush hour with a sign that said he recently graduated with a 2.1 bachelor of honours degree in marketing and offered up his résumé.

He posted a picture of himself holding the sign onto his Twitter page, which quickly gained hundreds of retweets, got him trending in London, and also brought in some promising prospects.

Ajani told us via Skype that at first, he was feeling nervous, but as he got more comfortable, more people approached him in the Waterloo subway station to take his résumé and give him some business cards.

He was able to secure a job interview right away, but the real impact happened when people started to retweet the picture that he posted. Companies have reached out to him via Twitter, email and LinkedIn. He's even enlisted the help of family and friends to help keep up with all the messages.

If he were to do something differently, Alfred says he would have picked a different subway station, one with an even greater potential for business prospects.

Sometimes people get frustrated during the job hunting process, and Alfred found an interesting way to use social media to empower himself in his search.

Have you taken an unconventional approach to getting a job interview? If you follow Alfred's example, tweet us a picture @YahooTrending and we'll retweet it to our followers. Let us know how it works out for you in the comments below.

7 Things the Most Interesting People All Have in Common

Most Interesting Man Takes Land Mine Role — Boston Globe/Getty Images

I’ve posted a lot of research from experts on getting people to like you, being influential and having great conversations.

What’s the best way to use all this information to be more interesting?

1) First, Don’t Be Boring

Sometimes the best offense is a good defense. Look at it like the Hippocratic Oath of conversations: Do no harm.

We’re all terrible at realizing when we bore others because, well, we all think we’re just fascinating.

The #1 tip for never boring anyone comes from Scott Adams: Be brief, be positive.

If you’re always to the point and stay upbeat, it’s extremely hard for anyone to accuse you of being poor company.

But sometimes you do need to speak a little longer to make sure things don’t get stilted.

The Art of Civilized Conversation offers another good tip: Is anyone asking you questions about what you’re saying?

If not, maybe it’s time to end the story or ask the other person a question.

(More rapport building techniques are here.)

2) The Most Captivating People Are Often Good Listeners

Impressing people can be great but it can also devolve into status jockeying, one-upmanship and envy.

People love to talk about themselves and there are a dearth of good listeners.

Let the other person talk. It gives their brain as much pleasure as food or money:

Talking about ourselves—whether in a personal conversation or through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter—triggers the same sensation of pleasure in the brain as food or money…

You can make an excellent impression by saying amazingly little. Ironically, the people we like the most often say the least.

(Learn how to listen like a hostage negotiator here.)

3) Talk About The Other Person’s Interests

This is straight from Dale Carnegie and if you’re not that socially adept, this is as straightforward as it gets.

Why struggle to guess what most people might find generically interesting?

Ask people what they’ve been up to or what their hobbies are. Then talk about that. You’re now 80% of the way there.

If you know about the subject the similarity will bond you.

If you don’t, ask them to explain and be a great listener as they talk about something they love.

(More on the science behind Dale Carnegie’s classic here.)

4) Have Three Good Stories

Comedians don’t just talk about anything when they’re onstage. They have their act rehearsed.

You don’t just trot into a job interview and say whatever’s on your mind.

Always have three good stories on hand that reliably entertain, inform or engage.

Another tip from Scott Adams: People are generally more interested in stories about people rather than things.

Drama, gossip and reality TV are successful for a reason. We all find human behavior fascinating.

On the other hand, most people don’t want to hear about the features on your new iPhone.

(More on how to tell good stories here.)

5) Don’t Forget Charisma

It’s not all about the words. Some people are engaging but if what they said was transcribed, it would be unimpressive.

When you’re speaking emotionally, the words only account for 7% of what get conveyed. Seven percent.

Voice tone and body language are far more important.

Via The Heart of Social Psychology: A Backstage View of a Passionate Science:

One often quoted study (Mehrabian & Ferris, 1967) found that of all the information conveyed to another person when we say something that is emotional (not informational), only 7 percent is contained in the actual meaning of the words we use.

Laugh. Smile. Be passionate. Gesture. Modulate your voice. Don’t just sweat the words.

(Here’s how to be charismatic.)

6) Be Somewhere Interesting

Got a say in where you’ll be at, as with a date or meeting?

Pick someplace stimulating. Context matters.

In general, we’re lousy about realizing where our feelings are coming from.

Research shows excitement from any source is often associated with the person you’re with — even if they’re not the cause of it.

Why do people find musicians so captivating? The music and the crowd stimulates emotions — and we viscerally associate those with the band.

MIT Behavioral Economist Dan Ariely recounts a relevant study he did:

Why does this happen? Ariely thinks it might have something to do with “misattribution of emotions”: “Sometimes we have an emotion and we don’t know where it’s coming from, so we kind of stick it on something that seems sensible.” In other words, your strong feelings about the music might make you think you’re having strong feelings about the lead singer.

(More on the power of context here.)

7) And Most Importantly: Live An Interesting Life

Remember the theme of Don Quixote: If you want to be a knight, act like a knight.

If you don’t read, watch and think about generic things, generic things are less likely to come out of your mouth.

This doesn’t need to be expensive or difficult. Hang out more often with the most interesting people you know.

The friends you spend time with dramatically affect your behavior — whether you like it or not.

The Longevity Project, which studied over 1000 people from youth to death had this to say:

The groups you associate with often determine the type of person you become.

In The Start-up of You, Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha talk about how the best way to improve particular qualities in yourself is to spend time with people who are already like that.

The best and most reliable way to appear interesting is to live an interesting life.

And to pursue that ends up being far more rewarding than merely making a good impression on others.

White House Rolls Out New Birth Control Accommodation For Nonprofits

The Obama administration announced on Friday a new accommodation for religious nonprofits that object to covering the full range of contraceptives in their employee health care plans.
The new accommodation will allow religious nonprofits, such as Catholic schools and hospitals, to opt out of covering birth control by notifying the Department of Health and Human Services of their objections. HHS and the Department of Labor will then arrange for a third-party insurer to pay for and administer the coverage for the nonprofits' employees so that women still receive the contraceptive coverage guaranteed to them by the Affordable Care Act.
“Women across the country deserve access to recommended preventive services that are important to their health, no matter where they work,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell. “Today’s announcement reinforces our commitment to providing women with access to coverage for contraception, while respecting religious considerations raised by non-profit organizations and closely held for-profit companies."
The original accommodation required religious nonprofits to directly ask a third-party insurer to pay for and administer the contraception coverage if the nonprofit objected to covering it. But several nonprofits sued the administration over the rule, claiming that the act of filling out a form violated their religious beliefs by serving as a "permission slip" for its employees to use contraceptives.
The administration developed the new accommodation to pre-empt those lawsuits, which legal experts expected the Supreme Court to take up next year.
The court already ruled in June against the administration's contraception coverage rule, which requires most employers to cover the full range of 20 contraceptives approved by the Food and Drug Administration at no out-of-pocket cost to women. The court decided that closely-held for-profit corporations like Hobby Lobby, a craft-supply store owned by a family of Christians, should be able to opt out of covering birth control for religious reasons.
The administration said Friday that it is currently soliciting comments on how to develop an accommodation for closely-held companies, but that it still hopes Congress will pass a legislative fix to ensure that women affected by the Hobby Lobby decision receive the same coverage as other women.
UPDATE: 4:35 p.m. -- The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing several religious nonprofits in their cases against the administration, said it is currently evaluating whether the accommodation adequately respects the religious freedom of its clients.
"This is latest step in the administration’s long retreat on the HHS Mandate," said Lori Windham, senior counsel for the Becket Fund. "It is the eighth time in three years the government has retreated from its original, hard-line stance that only 'houses of worship' that hire and serve fellow believers deserve religious freedom. Ninety percent of religious ministries challenging the mandate have received relief from the courts, and we are hopeful the administration’s new rule will reflect the robust protections that have always been given to religious individuals in this country."