The U.S. Supreme Court has just upheld an Arizona law that sets statewide policies on immigrants' rights. The law penalizes companies who hire undocumented immigrants, and dictates how employers are to verify potential employees' eligibility to work. There are already federal laws covering all of this, but five justices didn't have any problem with individual states making their own regulations concerning the best way to restrict the rights of non U.S. citizens.
And in case you missed it, last Monday the court ruled that police officers didn't really need search warrants if they decided there was an emergency:
The case came from Lexington, Ky., where police pursuing a drug suspect banged on the door of an apartment where they thought they smelled marijuana. After loudly identifying themselves, police heard movement inside, and suspecting that evidence was being destroyed, kicked in the door. There they found Hollis Deshaun King, smoking marijuana. Police also found cocaine inside the apartment.
As it turned out, King was not the suspect police had been looking for, but the drug evidence in the apartment was more than enough to charge him with multiple crimes. King was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
But the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that the drugs found in the apartment could not be used as evidence because the only emergency circumstances were those created by the police loudly alerting those inside. The state court said that instead of banging on the door and letting the inhabitants know the police were there, the police should have requested a warrant, a procedure that usually takes only a matter of minutes.
The U.S. Supreme Court, however, disagreed with the state court.
Um, I get it that we all hate brown people and people who smoke pot (at least brown people who smoke pot), but uh, the broader implications of these two cases are pretty staggering.
Basically, the Supreme Court decided to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the freedom rides by expanding states' rights and limiting the right to due process. Whoops!
Not content to contain their anti-abortion crusade to restricting access to the procedure, the House GOP has now passed a measure that bans federal funds being used to teach health care providers how to perform abortions:
The House has passed legislation that would bar teaching health centers that receive federal funds under the new health care act from using the money to teach abortion techniques.
...[The] proposal was offered as an amendment to a bill that puts funding restrictions on a teaching program in President Barack Obama's health care act.
The amendment passed 234-182, over the objections of some Democrats who said it would prevent medical residents from learning a basic procedure in women's health care.
This piece of shit legislation was sponsored by North Carolina Republican Representative Virginia Foxx, who said it must be "crystal clear" that taxpayer dollars aren't being used to teach medical providers how to perform abortions—never mind that the majority of taxpayers support the continued legality of this standard medical procedure.
Hopefully this shit will die the quick legislative death it deserves in the Senate.
So "progressive" MSNBC host Ed Schultz called conservative commentator Laura Ingraham a "right wing slut." In response, MSNBC suspended him for a week, but not before Schultz used his show last night to apologize.
These, then, are the two takeaway lessons from this event:
1. Male commentators will probably only apologize for engaging in vicious misogyny against female public figures if they face serious consequences by their employer.
2. "Liberal" news network MSNBC will only threaten serious employment consequences if that vicious misogyny was directed at conservative women. But if youwant tohave at Hillary Clinton, go for it!
Chris Matthews has, of course, long been the most egregious offender in the MSNBC line-up of saying inappropriate things about Clinton (and other progressive women), but let us also recall that, during the last presidential campaign, David Shuster also went after Hillary Clinton with impunity, once playing with, on-air, a "Jabber Jaw Pen" of Clinton laughing, referring to the laugh as "the refrain of Hillary cackling," for example.
Another time, Shuster accused Clinton of "pimping" her daughter, Chelsea, on the campaign trail, for which he later offered an on-air apology, but only after Clinton's campaign staff had to call to complain and her communications director had to threaten to refuse future debates on the network.
President Obama, still on his British Isles "vacation," takes a break from chugging 40s to be introduced to garbage pop group Jedward, aka John and Edward Grimes. The look on his face is absolutely priceless, lol.
"All righty. What's going on up there?" his expression seems to say, as he gazes nonplussedly upon one of the Jedwardii's blond shock of standy-uppy locks.
Think Progress' Igor Volsky has posted a great video of Newt Gingrich promising to answer reporters' questions at an event, only to disappear and leave his aide to inform them, "No more questions!" Well, refusing to answer questions will make for a fun campaign!
I was even more interested, however, in Gingrich's response to a reporter who asks him (at 0:20), in reference to his six figure tab at Tiffany's, "Do you feel like working families will be able to relate to you when they hear about the Tiffany account?" Gingrich replies, "No, I feel like you are far more fascinated by that than most Americans. Normal Americans ask about jobs; they ask about energy; they ask about all sorts of things that affect their lives."
"Normal Americans." A group of which the press—at least members of the press who ask him questions he doesn't like—are not a part.
The Othering of ideological opponents, or responsible media, as "not real Americans" or "not normal Americans" is hardly a new habit, especially among conservatives, but Gingrich is truly audacious in his naked hostility toward anyone Not Like Him. And why not?—it's a keen and effective silencing strategy, especially for managing the Villagers, who fear not just discontinued access to highly placed sources but also being branded part of a liberal media, not a normal American, if they cross a power-player like Gingrich.
He may well be right that "normal Americans" don't ask about his extraordinary account at Tiffany's, though I daresay it's not because they don't care about such things, but because they virtually never hear about them—thanks to a media largely populated by people obliged to keep secrets in exchange for a place at the table.
Jared Loughner, the man accused of shooting Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and more than a dozen other people in January, leaving six dead, has been found not competent to stand trial by a federal judge.
Judge Larry Burns issued his ruling moments after U.S. Marshals dragged Loughner out of the courtroom because of an angry outburst. As survivors of the deadly January attack looked on, Loughner had lowered his head, raised it and said what sounded like "Thank you for the freak show. She died in front of me."
His words were loud but mumbled, and it wasn't clear who he was talking about.
Loughner will be hospitalized in a facility in Springfield, Mo., to receive treatment. He could remain hospitalized indefinitely if he does not get well but remains a danger to himself or others.
Video Description: Matilda tumbles around the floor of my office after some random bit of plastic garbage (i.e. BEST TOY EVER), looking like a complete goofball with her lion cut and fuzzy Uggs.
Representative Rob Woodall (R-Eallyclueless), part the first:
"Hear yourself, ma'am. Hear yourself," Woodall told the woman. "You want the government to take care of you, because your employer decided not to take care of you. My question is, 'When do I decide I'm going to take care of me?'"
Representative Rob Woodall (R-Eallyclueless), part the second:
"You take government-subsidized health care, but you are not obligated to take that if you don't want to," Democratic activist Ilene Johnson told Woodall. "Why aren't you going out on the free market in the state where you are a resident and buy your own health care?"
"It's because it's free," Woodall replied. "It's because it's free. The same reason I went out to Walgreens and bought Activon when I don't have any arthritis pain. Because it's free. Folks, if you give people things for free, don't blame them for taking them."
So I guess his platform can be summed up as: If you want government to pay for your health care, you're a no-good SOCIALIST leech who doesn't know how to take care of hirself. However, I rather enjoy my government health care because I don't have to pay anything. Wheeeeee!!
Oh - and for the record, Woodall, your health care isn't free. We all pay for it, asshole.
"I always thought he would be useful, but I had no idea he was going to be president."—First Lady Michelle Obama, on her first impressions of her husband, President Barack Obama. She really cracks me the hell up sometimes.
Just for the hell of it, once again here is one of my favorite ever pictures of the First Couple, whose relationship seems really cool:
The First Lady also had some excellent relationship advice for the girls to whom she was speaking about her husband: "Reach for partners that make you better. Do not bring people in your life who weigh you down. And trust your instincts. Good relationships feel good, they feel right."
Ten million points for the use of the gender nonspecific "partners."
I have no incisive commentary on the end of an era being marked today by Oprah Winfrey's last show. There are things I like and admire about Oprah (her strength, resilience, intellect) and things I don't so much like or admire about Oprah (her promotion of aspirational consumption, her promotion of the odious Dr. Phil), and her show was a sort of thing that's never held much appeal for me, so I'm not particularly lamenting its end. Nor celebrating its end, for that matter.
I stand in awe of Oprah Winfrey as a powerhouse trailblazer and juggernaut of professional success who carved out her own path and defined much of her career to this point on her own terms. But she's not disappearing off the face of the earth; she's just changing up her game.
So, I guess all I've really got to say is to wish Oprah well on whatever she sets her sights on in the future.
New Guttmacher research finds that abortion rates declined among most groups of women between 2000 and 2008. However, one notable exception was poor women (those with family incomes less than 100% of the federal poverty level).
...The authors suggest that the ongoing economic recession may have made it harder for poor women to obtain contraceptive services, resulting in more unintended pregnancies. In addition, when confronted with an unintended pregnancy, women who might have felt equipped to support a child or another child in a more stable economic climate may have decided that they were unable to do so during a time of economic uncertainty.
"That abortion is becoming increasingly concentrated among poor women suggests the need for better contraceptive access and family planning counseling. It certainly appears these women are being underserved," says study author Rachel K. Jones. "Antiabortion restrictions and cuts to publicly funded family planning services disproportionately affect poor women, making it even more difficult for them to gain access to the contraceptive and abortion services they need."
Of course Sam Raimi will be directing Oz: The Great and Powerful, because that is perfect director-choosing (no sarcasmo). And of course James Franco has been cast as the Wizard, no doy, because James Franco. He's practically a wizard in real life already.
Disney has staked out the weekend of March 8, 2013 to release the Sam Raimi-directed 3D Oz: The Great and Powerful. The film is still casting, but James Franco stars as the title character, with Mila Kunis playing Theodora, Michelle Williams in talks to play Glinda and Rachel Weisz in talks to play Evanora. The film begins production late July in Michigan. Franco plays the charlatan circus magician whose balloon is blown off course. It lands in Oz, where he's treated as a real wizard by the colorful citizens who see him as the man to rid the lands of a wicked witch.
I'll bet in this version, the Wicked Witch is a metaphor for SLEEPING.
Alexander Chee's essay "Fanboy" appears both at his blog and at The Morning News, where he is now a contributing writer. Racism, chronic illness, American imperialism—this piece covers so much so deftly that I couldn't find a pullquote sufficient to give a true taste of the whole. Just read it.
So, this guy married a lady and had a couple of kids. At some point, the guy and the lady got a divorce. These things happen. Then, at some subsequent point in time, the guy married a second, different lady. None of the guy's relatives much liked the second lady. The first lady shared this sentiment.
Anyhow, the guy died a tragic death, which what with the government and all, entitles said guy's family to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Normally, that money would go to the second lady, who is the guy's widow. However, other people think the money should go to the kids and OMG NOT TO THE SECOND LADY.
Lawsuits ensued.
The first court to hear the case recently ruled against Nikki Araguz, the widow.
Ms. Araguz had a vagina, and her late husband, Thomas Araguz III (presumably) had a penis, so you'd totally think that their property arrangement would be cool in the eyes of the State of Texas.
However, the couple married in August 2008. Ms. Araguz had a penis until October 2008. Since Mr. Araguz also had a penis during this time period (although I haven't seen the documentation for that little tidbit), the court ruled that the marriage between Nikki and Thomas was never valid.
Marriage is a property arrangement that implies sex. Because the State of Texas (along with most of the United States) is run by bigots, marriage is therefore not an arrangement that two bepenised individuals can enter into. This contrasts with, say, Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch.
Okay then.
According to this reading of the law: individuals do not determine their gender, but rather genitals do the work for them, there are precisely two genders, marriage is *special* (love you too, honey!) as property arrangements go, and people with reasonably similar genitals cannot enter into it.
I'm assuming you knew that already. However, if you were looking for a story to bring the arbitrary and hateful nature of those laws into focus, this would appear to do the trick.
Firefighters and rescue workers who arrived in Joplin, MO, found that the deadly tornado that hit the state Sunday had left a "barren, smoky wasteland" in its path. Rescue workers worked through more storms in an effort to find potential survivors, even as the death toll rose to at least 119. President Obama pledged full support to the state Monday, telling survivors, "We're here with you. We're going to stay by you."
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), however, said that before Congress approved federal funds for disaster relief, it had to offset the spending with cuts to other programs. The Washington Times reports:
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Monday that if Congress passes an emergency spending bill to help Missouri's tornado victims, the extra money will have to be cut from somewhere else.
"If there is support for a supplemental, it would be accompanied by support for having pay-fors to that supplemental," Mr. Cantor, Virginia Republican, told reporters at the Capitol. The term "pay-fors" is used by lawmakers to signal cuts or tax increases used to pay for new spending.
...UPDATE: Cantor posted an update on Twitter, saying, "Our hearts are w/ victims of #Joplin tragedy. House #GOP ready to help & has found offsets for emergency $$$."
Well, at least we can all rest assured that the cuts aren't coming from tornado forecasting funding...because the GOP-led House already voted to "eliminate funding to replace the environmental satellites that help make our forecasts a reality."
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Of course Sam Raimi will be directing Oz: The Great and Powerful, because that is perfect director-choosing (no sarcasmo). And of course James Franco has been cast as the Wizard, no doy, because James Franco. He's practically a wizard in real life already.
