Deeky is taking a break, because work is super busy at the moment and just because he needs one, so I'll be doing In The News for awhile.
Here is some stuff!
[Content Notes: Death; racism; misogyny; homophobia.]
A packed passenger train has derailed outside Paris; at this point, at least 7 people are believed to have died and several more injured, but that is still very preliminary.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is leaving the DHS to head the University of California system. I can't wait to see who Obama nominates! In other breaking news, whoever it is, the Republicans already object!
The Hubble Telescope has spotted an azure blue planet where it rains glass. WHUT. That is amazing!
Kevin Drum has "the Latest in Race-Baiting Conspiracy Theories From the Right." File under things you definitely don't want to read, but probably should.
The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that it's totes cool to fire a woman for being "too attractive." Neat!
Finally! Today is the National Gay Blood Drive, a nationwide demonstration against the ban on blood donation by men who have sex with other men.
In The News
Fuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Sorry I disappeared, everyone. The latest in our AC adventure: The AC guy left the back gate open and the dogs got out. They are now home safely, but it has been a nightmare couple of hours.
I have spent the last few hours being a total basketcase, basically. But Dudley and Zelda are now home, and no worse for the wear.
I am supremely grateful to my friend Ari, who came right over to help, and to a nice man who helped and let me give him a hug even though I had what Ari described as the reddest face she's ever seen and was covered in mud and leaves and probably poison ivy from running around in the woods, lolsob.
"What?"
More Transcript Updates
Holy mackerel, ya'll, I have ninety-nine volunteers for transcript work. I'm pretty sure that if we haven't broken some kind of Volunteer Transcripting Feminist Brigade then we will soon if I keep getting more folks on board. SOMEONE CALL GUINNESS.
I have sent codenames to everyone who sent me an email offering to help. If you haven't got one, send me another email 'cause yours got lost in the intertubes.
I have also sent out videos 3-10 as of last night. ABOUT WHICH I AM VERY EXCITED. What is really awesome about having lots of volunteers is that I can break the videos up into 10 minute chunks instead of 15 minutes ones, which means I can churn out more videos faster. Yeeeeah!
Also cool: If you were wondering what happened to Sarah Slamen after state troopers hauled her away, she is fine and well and doing AWESOME television interviews, raising awareness about both TX and NC. Now that's a big teaspoon.
[Note from Liss: As ever, Jess has your latest action items and an explanation of what's happening today in Texas.]
Republicans Think People Aren't Entitled to Food
Yesterday, I noted that the farm bill had passed the House with no funding for food stamps. The expectation was that Republicans were wrenching the two apart in order to attack the food stamp program with deep cuts. And so it begins:
House approval of a scaled-back farm bill is setting up what could be an even bigger fight over food stamps and the role of domestic food aid in the United States.The GOP is divided, once again, over how cruel to be. Part of the caucus supports cruelty; another part of the caucus supports extreme cruelty.
... Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., has pushed the idea of a split bill for more than a year. A farmer, he has maintained that Congress should consider food stamps by themselves.
"By splitting the bill, we can give taxpayers an honest look at how Washington spends our money," he said.
If a bill to cut food stamps reaches the House floor, it could be the first major debate over the role of the program, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, in decades.
... Proposals to reduce the program have ranged from what was in the original farm bill, a 3 percent cut and changes in eligibility, to an overhaul of the program that would take a fraction of the federal money now spent and give it to the states to administer. Others have proposed putting an expiration date on the program, which is now permanent, so Congress would have to take a look at it every few years.
Republicans have already supported an amendment to the original farm bill that would have put broad new work requirements on food stamps.
...The GOP caucus is divided over how much to cut. Many Republicans praised the 3 percent cut to SNAP in the original House farm bill and the changes in eligibility. But others said it didn't go far enough and voted against the bill, leading to the legislation's defeat.
If that sounds like hyperbole, well, I don't know what else to call a proposal that wants to institute work requirements for access to food in the middle of an economy with widespread unemployment. It's not like members of the Republican caucus don't know what's happening in this country; they sure know the unemployment numbers well enough when they want to blame them on the President. It is a deliberate strategy of nutritional denial to attach food access to work, while work is elusive.
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY THINKS PEOPLE ARE NOT ENTITLED TO FOOD.
They think people are not entitled to jobs. They think people are not entitled to healthcare. They think people are not entitled to homes. They think people are not entitled to education. They think people are not entitled to safety. They think people are not entitled to equality. They think people are not entitled to vote. They think people are not entitled to agency. They think people are not entitled to any of what the baseline security of being a citizen in a wealthy democracy should guarantee.
They think people are entitled to guns and bootstraps, and that's about it.
Unless those people are corporations, robber barons, military contractors, or members of the Republican Congressional Caucus. And then they are entitled to everything for which they could ever ask, no matter the cost to the rest of us.
Question of the Day
What is the most interesting gift you've gotten recently? Or not recently. Not necessarily a tangible item. Define "gift" however you like.
For my birthday (in May), Iain gifted me a tattoo, which was a great idea, and of which I made use earlier today. Also for my birthday, Paul the Spud got me the most amazing bag, which, on one side, says, "Nice girls don't wear cha cha heels!"—a quote from John Waters' film Female Trouble—and, on the other side, has what I call the Shroud of Divine.
Spudsy and I are both huge Divine fans; one of the very early conversations in our friendship that bound us together was talking about how Divine was so integral to Spudsy's coming out and so integral to my body acceptance. So this bag has a very special meaning to me and I love it. Is what I'm saying.
This Might Be the Best Thing You See All Day
Astronaut Karen Nyberg demonstrates how she washes her hair on the International Space Station:
Video Description: Expedition 36 Crew Member Karen Nyberg, a thin white woman, floats in the International Space Station, her long hair floating straight up above her head. She says she is frequently asked how she washes her hair in space, so she's giving a demonstration. She first shows what she needs: A packet of warm water, no-rinse shampoo, a towel, a comb, and a mirror. All the items are velcroed to the wall so they don't float away. She squirts the warm water onto her scalp, and bits of the water float away; she catches as much as she can and puts it on her scalp. She then squirts some shampoo on her scalp and rubs it in, rubbing it through to the ends of her hair. She uses the towel "to help get some of the dirt out." Then she squirts more water onto her scalp and runs her hands through her hair to the ends of her hair, straight up above her head. She dries her hair with the dry part of the towel. She then explains: "And now, as my hair dries, as the water evaporates from my hair, it will become humidity in the air, and then our air conditioning system will collect that into condensate, and then it won't be long and our water processing system will turn that into drinking water." She does a "final comb-through" of her hair, and that is that!
[H/T to Jordan.]
Compassionate Conservatives
The Republican Party is utterly devoid of decency. I know that's not exactly breaking news, but they just passed the farm bill without funding for food stamps, promising to get back to it later:
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives defied a White House veto threat and passed a farm bill on Thursday that expands the taxpayer-subsidized crop insurance system but omitted food stamps for the poor.Of course that's the plan. Because, like their last nominee, the Republican Party doesn't believe people are entitled to food. People on food stamps are "takers, not makers." They're too lazy to work (and please pay no attention to the millions of workers behind the curtain who are working their asses off for greedy megacorps who won't pay them enough to not need food stamps). If people reliant on government aid are so darn hungry, they should just eat their bootstraps. Etc.
Lawmakers passed the 608-page bill, unveiled by Republican leaders late on Wednesday night, on a 216-208, party-line vote after two hours of debate in which no amendments were allowed.
Republican leaders said food stamps, traditionally part of the farm bill, would be handled later and that, for now, they needed a way to start negotiations with the Senate over a compromise bill.
Democrats said the real intent of the action was to isolate food stamps for large cuts in funding.
"A vote for this bill is a vote to end nutrition programs in America," said Rose DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat.That their constituents will starve if it means Republicans will protect them from kissing boys and feminist abortionists and scary brown immigrants. Except whooooooooops public support for same-sex marriage, abortion, and immigration reform that includes amnesty is up. Too bad corporations can't vote! Although I'm sure SCOTUS will take care of that oversight soon.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said, "You are taking food out of the mouths of your own poor constituents. What are you thinking?"
At latest count, 47.6 million people, or nearly one in seven Americans, received food stamps at an average of $132 a month, equal to $4.25 a day.The pricetag is unbearable. But starving USians isn't. Raising taxes on corporations and the wealthiest people in the country is unbearable. But starving USians isn't. Acknowledging that the federal deficit alarmism is unmitigated horseshit being mendaciously used to undermine funding of the social safety net is unbearable. But starving USians isn't.
Enrollment has doubled since 2004 and the cost of the program, $74 billion last year, has tripled. Fiscally conservative lawmakers say the pricetag is unbearable when the federal deficit must be reduced.
The Republican Party is ethically bankrupt. They are criminals who scheme against the basic welfare of their own constituents, in order that banks and box stores can make more money.
Headline of the Day
[Content Note: Violence; racism.]
They "painted" him that way, huh? I guess they're into photo-realism.
Frankly, Zimmerman's lucky if they only painted him as an angry vigilante, since he's actually a fearful, dangerous, cold-blooded, eliminationist killer.
In The News
[Content note: Racism, homophobia]
Thursday:
A Detroit area school district has erupted in protest over the discarding of a historic book collection that is said to contain more than 10,000 black history volumes, included films, videos, and other artifacts.
William Orbit says the new Britney Spears album is awesome.
They will kill us all!
Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane says she won't defend the state's ban on gay marriage in court.
Food: Not everyone eats tacos and burritos. Whut.
Sony Picture Classics has acquired the North American rights to Frank Pavich's documentary, Jodorowsky's Dune.
This is really just fucking scary and awful. [Note: Animal cruelty.]
I'm Not Surprised; I'm Contemptuous
Olivia Marshall and Samantha Wyatt at Media Matters: On Cable News, Women's Health Experts Noticeably Absent From Women's Health Debate.
Cable news channels hosted only four women's health experts during two weeks of coverage on a Texas bill that would restrict women's constitutional right to safe and legal abortions and that experts claim would "erode women's health."Emphasis mine.
I highly encourage you to go read the whole thing.
Blog Note
I'm going to be indisposed for part of this afternoon while work begins on fixing the AC. Just wanted to give you a heads-up so no one worried I had exploded like an overripe tomato when things slowed down on the front page. :)
Daily Dose of Cute
Legs akimbo + grody beef tongue = Dudley, inimitably.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. LOL.
(You can see on the bottom where his two wee front teeth got pulled at the doggy dentist.)
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Zimmerman Jury Allowed to Consider Lesser Charge of Manslaughter
[Content Note: Violence; racism.]
This is important trial news [note: video begins to play automatically at link]:
The judge in the Trayvon Martin murder case agreed Thursday to instruct jurors to consider the lesser charge of manslaughter when they begin deliberations.So, basically, the prosecution decided not to roll the dice with a single charge, because if the jury decided the prosecution hadn't proved second-degree murder, they would be forced to acquit Zimmerman. Adding the manslaughter charge as an alternative means that the jury can find the prosecution didn't prove second-degree murder and acquit on that charge, but still convict Zimmerman of manslaughter. They can also, of course, find Zimmerman not guilty of all charges, but adding this lesser charge increases the chances of a conviction.
George Zimmerman had been charged only with second-degree murder. Judge Debra Nelson did not immediately rule on a prosecution request that a third-degree murder count would be added.
Zimmerman's attorneys had objected to adding any lesser charges, and Judge Debra Nelson held a hearing on the issue Thursday morning. The jury still has the option of convicting Zimmerman, 29, of the second-degree murder charge that prosecutors sought when the trial began.
...Second-degree murder in Florida carries a possible life sentence. If convicted of manslaughter, Zimmerman could get up to 30 years.
Jury deliberations will begin tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
Photo of the Day
[Content Note: Cancer]
A receiving line for Prom King Rick "Supergross" Santorum forms on the floor of the Texas Senate today.
Immediately after everyone got their picture taken with Rick, the Senate decided to adjourn for the day in memory of the wife of a staffer. The woman had died from breast cancer at 35, which is (as some of you might have heard!) one of the breast cancers that Planned Parenthood and other Texas clinics devoted to women's reproductive health specifically screens for.
What a perfect state government I have!
[Note: Please recall that name bullying and disablist rhetoric is not allowed in this space.]
This Is Only Happening Now?
[Content Note: Clergy abuse.]
Pope Francis makes child abuse a crime in the Vatican:
Pope Francis has laid down a law making it a crime to abuse children sexually or physically on Vatican grounds, the Holy See announced Thursday.Good job, Pope Francis, for doing WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE LIKE A THOUSAND YEARS AGO.
The acts were already crimes under church law, but are now specifically outlawed within the Vatican city-state, which is home to hundreds of people.
The legislation also covers child prostitution and the creation or possession of child pornography.
Now, if any member of the Catholic clergy in Vatican City found to have abused a child actually gets prosecuted under these BRAND NEW laws at any point, I'll be really impressed.
[Commenting Guidelines: Please take the time to make sure any criticisms are clearly directed at the Catholic Church leadership and not at "Catholics," many of whom are themselves critical of the failures of Church leadership.]
Just a Perfect Idea from a Terrific Guy
Charles Koch, one-half of the infamous Koch Brothers duo, conservative corporatists worth around $50 billion who are seeking to turn the US into a giant playground for exploitative corporateers and the 1%, has a super plan to help the poor:
We want to do a better job of raising up the disadvantaged and the poorest in this country, rather than saying 'Oh, we're just fine now.' We're not saying that at all. What we're saying is, we need to analyze all these additional policies, these subsidies, this cronyism, this avalanche of regulations, all these things that are creating a culture of dependency. And like permitting, to start a business, in many cities, to drive a taxicab, to become a hairdresser. Anything that people with limited capital can do to raise themselves up, they keep throwing obstacles in their way. And so we've got to clear those out. Or the minimum wage. Or anything that reduces the mobility of labor.Anything that reduces working class mobility—like the minimum wage!
This would be fucking hilarious if it weren't so horrific. Koch actually believes that a minimum wage impedes financial security—and no wonder, really, because corporate douchebags like him treat it like a maximum wage. "Well, if the government is going to force me to pay my workers some amount, that's all I'm going to pay them. I would totally pay them more, but I'm mad at the government for telling me what I have to pay them, so I'm going to punish workers by paying them only what the stupid government requires."
That is the sad and dishonest mantra of robber barons across the country, who claim to want to pay workers more, but pay them the bare minimum out of spite. Or so they claim. But if business owners were as generous as they assert, or would be if the stinky government stopped telling them what to do, there wouldn't be a need for a minimum wage in the first place.
It's the same bullshit argument conservatives make about the social safety net as a whole. "This isn't government's role! Charities should be doing this work!" Okay, players. I'm sure you'd just be funding charity (secular charity, that doesn't make, say, Bible classes a requirement for access to help) left and right if only the government just did away altogether with food stamps and Social Security.
Such garbage.
The problem with the minimum wage isn't that it exists. The problem with the minimum wage is that it isn't a livable wage.
