On the Radar 
Losing My (Job Over) Religion
The Trump administration has revealed a proposal that would allow federal contractors to make employment decisions “consistent with their sincerely held religious tenets and beliefs.”
The Labor Department said “the proposed rule would clarify that religious organizations may make employment decisions consistent with their sincerely held religious tenets and beliefs without fear of sanction by the federal government.”
Rachel Laser, the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, argued the new rule means "a government contractor could cite religion to refuse to hire a single mom or someone who is LGBTQ."
“And now any for-profit corporation that claims it’s religious can take taxpayer dollars and fire someone who is a religious minority – so fire me, for example, because I’m Jewish," Laser said.
Should federal contractors be allowed to use religion as a criterion for hiring and firing?
Surgeon's General Warning
The Food and Drug Administration is proposing 13 new warning labels for cigarette packs that depict graphic images of the effects of smoking, including cancerous neck tumors, diseased lungs and feet with amputated toes.
“When you look at the current warnings on the side of cigarette packs, they are virtually invisible. The diseases embedded in these images will improve public understanding of the negative consequences of cigarette smoking," said FDA's tobacco director Mitch Zeller.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco spokeswoman Neassa Hollon countered that they "firmly support public awareness of the harms of smoking cigarettes, but the manner in which those messages are delivered to the public cannot run afoul of the First Amendment protections that apply to all speakers, including cigarette manufacturers.”
Do you support graphic warning labels on cigarettes?
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