What’s Really Going on Behind Texas SB 5

The endgame is simple - Perry and the GOP are looking for another showdown on Roe v. Wade
Opinion • Views: 46,437

Texan Wendy Davis thwarted Gov. Rick Perry and the GOP legislature’s attempt to cram SB 5 through after carrying on with a historic filibuster last night that resulted in the First Special Session ending without the ability to vote on the bill.

Republicans, when not attempting to fool around with the time stamps, complained that the filibuster was fascist or showed a lack of decorum or other such niceities. It took them a bit to even admit that the session ran out before they could act.

The problem for them is that the bill they’re seeking to enact is a vicious and heinous bit of legislative skullduggery. Gov. Rick Perry has called for another special session on July 1 with the expectation of getting this passed. Indeed, I think he’s going to keep calling special sessions until the bill gets enacted, regardless of the consequences.

It would require doctors to maintain hospital privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the facility and demand that the facility have certain other requirements. Moreover, it would require that beginning September 1, 2014, the minimum standards for an abortion facility must be equivalent to the minimum standards adopted under Section 243.010 for ambulatory surgical centers.

That latter provision would eliminate clinic access across most of the state - and add the efforts in neighboring states, and someone in parts of the state might have to travel hundreds of miles to find a clinic.

Consider that when you think back to if you’ve ever tried to find a local doctor in your neighborhood when you’re sick (and haven’t had a doctor before) Better yet, think back on trying to find a specialist that is near your home and with a schedule that you can deal with. Know how hard that is? Now imagine how tough these folks are making it on women seeking access to abortions.

The main claims by proponents are that these abortion restrictions are necessary for the health and safety of the women seeking abortions in the state. The problem is that abortion procedures are exceedingly safe. In fact, the morbidity and mortality statistics on women seeking abortion procedures is something that any medical profession would wish to have and is something that proponents of SB 5 simply ignore.

Via the CDC statistics for the nation:

In 2007, most (62.3%) abortions were performed at ≤8 weeks’ gestation, and 91.5% were performed at ≤13 weeks’ gestation. Few abortions (7.2%) were performed at 14—20 weeks’ gestation, and 1.3% were performed at ≥21 weeks’ gestation. During 1998—2007, the percentage of abortions performed at ≤13 weeks’ gestation remained stable; however, abortions performed at ≥16 weeks’ gestation decreased by 13%—14%, and among the abortions performed at ≤13 weeks’ gestation, the percentage performed at ≤6 weeks’ gestation increased 65%.

That’s out of a total of 827,609 abortions reported to CDC for 2007.

And what were the outcomes for the women? The morbidity and mortality rate was a grand total of six women who died as a result of having an abortion procedure.

Six. That translates in to a rate of one fatality in more than 137,000 procedures.

For comparison, the fatality rate in natural childbirth or c-sections is 12.7 per 100,000 in 2010 or nearly 13 times worse.

Plastic surgery? We’re not even in the same ballpark. 1 in 137,000 is vastly more safe than the morbidity and mortality rates in a wide range of cosmetic surgical procedures, many of which are now done in settings outside of hospitals. And the other studies’ figures bear that out too. Indeed, plastic surgery death rates are about 20 times greater - 19.1 per 100,000.

If Gov. Perry and the Texas GOP were really interested in womens’ safety, they’d be looking to shut down plastic surgeons and tightening restrictions on hospitals and other medical centers to get the rates down.

But it’s not about womens’ health or safety.

Of course, these GOPers will retort and fixate on the lives of the fetuses being aborted by the 10s of thousands, and care not one whit about the women seeking the procedures or why they may be seeking them. Or why they may need beyond 20 weeks to seek the procedures. That’s irrelevant to their determination to eliminate access to abortions. They figure that if they can not only reduce availability by imposing stricter standards on facilities and reduce the time frame in which someone can seek a legal abortion, they’ll reduce the numbers of abortions and eliminate the procedure over time. This, despite being ruled legal in Roe.

It’s about rolling back Planned Parenthood v. Casey and Roe v. Wade.

To do so, they’ve got to develop a legal challenge that results in a split of authority among the Circuits. That would necessitate the Supreme Court taking up the cases to resolve the difference in Circuits.

Jump to bottom

327 comments
1 majii  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 4:59:56pm

These folks don’t need no stinking facts to carry out their agenda. You’re absolutely right, lawhawk, what they want is to take the issue of abortion rights before the current Supreme Ct., and they’re betting that the conservatives on the court will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.

2 Kragar  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 9:46:23pm

This bill has nothing to do with health or good governance and evertyhing to do with controlling women and pushing their religion.

3 Joanne  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 9:48:40pm
4 Joanne  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 9:54:46pm
5 Joanne  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 9:56:59pm
6 Joanne  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:02:06pm

Are you fucking kidding? GOP wants an ultrasound before getting birth control? This *has* to be a joke!

7 Joanne  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:06:19pm
8 dragonath  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:06:55pm

re: #6 Joanne

Are you fucking kidding? GOP wants an ultrasound before getting birth control? This *has* to be a joke!

Wow. If that’s correct, page it.

9 Joanne  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:10:14pm
10 Joanne  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:10:41pm

re: #8 dragonath

Wow. If that’s correct, page it.

I can’t. I’m on my phone.

11 dragonath  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:11:19pm

Looking up some of this stuff in Ohio now.

Ohio Abortion Bill Contains Unprecedented Restrictions

The Ohio House of Representatives is considering an anti-abortion omnibus bill that would force doctors to tell their patients how much personal income they would lose if they did not perform abortions.

Holy shit.

The bill also makes ultrasounds mandatory for any woman seeking an abortion, requires doctors to give women medically disputed information about pain felt by fetuses and mention the debunked link between abortion and breast cancer, lengthens the mandatory waiting period before an abortion, and threatens physicians with a felony and an unprecedented fine of up to $1 million if they fail to comply with the laws.

Holy shit.

12 Kragar  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:15:28pm

re: #11 dragonath

Looking up some of this stuff in Ohio now.

Ohio Abortion Bill Contains Unprecedented Restrictions

Holy shit.

Holy shit.

I’ll drive women to CA if they pass that shit.

13 Targetpractice  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:15:50pm

That’s been the situation for awhile now, but more so in recent years, the drive to get at least one of these laws all the way to SCOTUS in the hopes of finally getting RvW overturned. It’s why we’ve heard so many Republicans natter on in recent years about RvW being “bad law,” because in their minds that court overstepped its authority and they think it’s time to get another Court to undo that “mistake.”

14 EPR-radar  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:19:01pm

re: #11 dragonath

And the mask falls off. The GOP proponents of this abomination simply hate women. The taint of this reaches all of the voters who elected these misogynists.

15 piratedan  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:19:03pm

re: #11 dragonath

Looking up some of this stuff in Ohio now.

Ohio Abortion Bill Contains Unprecedented Restrictions

Holy shit.

Holy shit.

Just in time to dovetail with the new GOP Outreach to women…. How do you know when there’s new legislation in the GOP pipeline to fuck your constituency, The GOP National Chair goes on TV to announce that they’re “reaching out”. Apparently that’s a euphemism for “fucking you over”

16 Joanne  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:22:35pm

re: #14 EPR-radar

And the mask falls off. The GOP proponents of this abomination simply hate women. The taint of this reaches all of the voters who elected these misogynists.

They don’t hate us. They think we’re mighty fine property. The uterus alone is worth thousands!

These assholes want women subservient and dependent upon men for everything. If we make less money, have to carry all pregnancies to term and then deal with starving kids…well, that’ll put us sluts in our rightful places.

17 Kragar  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:23:39pm

GOP Women’s outreach slogans:

“Shut up and do what we tell you.”

“If you disagree with us, you’re probably just having your period.”

“Just lie back and vote for us.”

18 EPR-radar  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:28:31pm

re: #16 Joanne

They don’t hate us. They think we’re mighty fine property. The uterus alone is worth thousands!

These assholes want women subservient and dependent upon men for everything. If we make less money, have to carry all pregnancies to term and then deal with starving kids…well, that’ll put us sluts in our rightful places.

We’re probably both right. RWNjs like the idea of women as subservient property. They hate the idea of women as independent agents. Women who act according to these roles are used or hated accordingly.

19 Joanne  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:29:26pm

re: #17 Kragar

20 Targetpractice  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:32:19pm

re: #18 EPR-radar

We’re probably both right. RWNjs like the idea of women as subservient property. They hate the idea of women as independent agents. Women who act according to these roles are used or hated accordingly.

What they like is the idea of returning things to before the sexual revolution, even before suffrage, when a woman’s part in voting was simply to offer an opinion to hubby and then be told that she simply doesn’t have the smarts to participate in the “men’s world.” When they could court the male vote without worry that they might be hurting themselves with female voters. Because after all, it’s hard as hell to gut the social safety net when you have women whining about the children and single mothers and all that “emotional” rubbish.

21 dragonath  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:33:58pm

re: #15 piratedan

I sure as fuck hope the overreach come back and hits them hard. It’s somewhat encouraging that support for gay rights increased after the so-cons pushed through a spate of gay marriage bans through states and congress back in the 90s.

Somewhat related:

I came across a pregnant lady reading a book with anti-vax propaganda, which relied on debunked data and plain-as-day lies.

I’ll never really understand how these fly-by-night publications are still in vogue in fucking 2013. But I guess that’s what happens when half the country alleges that the government is a conspiracy.

22 Kragar  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:35:15pm

re: #19 Joanne

“When we say We the people, we don’t mean “You People”.”

23 freetoken  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:37:24pm

For being a state that Democratic Obama carried, somehow the GOP has found a way to totally control the Ohio house and senate. In Indiana or Kentucky, neighboring states, I can see how that was done, but how did it happen in OH?

24 jamesfirecat  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:38:26pm

re: #19 Joanne

Which means you’re not pregnant so you don’t need an abortion!

25 Kragar  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:41:39pm

#GOPOutreachSlogans

“There is only room for one Jesus in our party.”

26 Joanne  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:41:42pm

re: #22 Kragar

Keep em coming. I’m tweetin em.

27 dragonath  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:44:31pm

re: #23 freetoken

The deterioration of the unions didn’t help. You’d be surprised too, how well Alex Jones fills the void of mainstream religion in some of the working class.

28 piratedan  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:46:15pm

GOP Outreach, when we say Love, Honor and Obey, we really just mean Obey.

29 Kragar  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 10:51:46pm

“We’ve got a big tent, but we don’t let your kind in.”

30 Kragar  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 11:01:39pm

“Teach the women in your life a lesson, vote Republican.”

31 piratedan  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 11:05:13pm

GOP Outreach to Women:

Hate your gender, we do too!

32 Targetpractice  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 11:08:11pm

GOP Outreach to Women:

Pulling them to within smacking distance.

33 Joanne  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 11:17:03pm

Tweeted every one. Good job!

Night all. I’m really pissed about this. I’m going to go calm down by reading “Manhunt” about bin Laden. That’ll cheer me up. :-)

34 freetoken  Wed, Jun 26, 2013 11:18:21pm

re: #27 dragonath

I suppose the “rust belt” has caused a schizophrenic polity, where there is still a lot of drifting resentment that any skilled opportunist like Alex Jones can exploit.

This is the problem with trying to make the Democratic Party the “progressive” party. Remember, for the first 50 years or so it was the GOP who were the progressives, and only the Great Depression really started to rearrange things on a large scale.

Ohio has a long history of being important to the GOP so I am hardly surprised that the GOP still controls the legislature there.

My feeling is that the nature of what is wanted by those who believe in feminism (that’s generic, not a code word for any famous group/person) still rubs many Americans the wrong way. Our social order is built upon the patriarchy endemic in Christian Europe of the 18th century, which was encoded into our founding documents and laws. Remember, women didn’t even get to vote (nationally) in this country until 1920. That’s less than a century ago.

35 freetoken  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 12:26:32am

It’s interesting to look at the arguments over the 19th amendment, from less than a hundred years ago.

In light of this week and all that has happened - VRA partial set aside, the Texas abortion fiasco, and the DOMA and Prop 8 rulings, I think we can learn quite a bit by looking at the arguments over the 19th Amendment. Today’s arguments over the hot-button issues sound suspiciously like those of a hundred years ago.

Some places to get started:

Image: 001dr.jpg

and this article from the NYT in 1919:
fordham.edu

and very interestingly, this argument from the Chief justice of the NC supreme court, in favor of the 19th Amendment:
docsouth.unc.edu

[…]

There are those who assert that in the South to allow the women to vote will bring out the negro women and overwhelm us. The truth is that in North Carolina the white population is 70% and the negro 30%, hence there are 50,000 more white women than all the negro men and negro women put together, and their admission to the suffrage could not possibly jeopardize white supremacy. Besides, if the white men are able to prevent the colored cook’s husband from voting they ought to be able to prevent the cook herself voting. Equal Suffrage will strengthen and not jeopardize White Supremacy.

[…]

And so forth. Most the arguments against are based on that good old term “states rights”. That’s always been the last crutch of the bigot.

36 freetoken  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 12:37:36am

On the foodie front - I tried one of Haagen Dazs new Gelato product - the dark chocolate with chocolate chip. The local supermarket was running a special promo, buy two of the regular HD 14oz products and get a Gelato 14oz product free.

Compared to the original HD Chocolate Chocolate Chip the new Gelato, which is almost identical, is inferior. They’ve cut the cost by cutting the cream, adding more sugar (including corn syrup.) I guess they think they can add a fancy Italian name to it and convince people it’s as good as the original, but it’s not.

37 freetoken  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 12:40:30am
38 freetoken  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 12:55:13am

It’s the middle of the night - good time for some Rachmaninoff:

MP3 Audio

39 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 1:45:32am

NC is intent on doing huge damage to women’s rights, minority rights, and introducing every other reactionary piece of legislation they can push down our throats. They are making this state toxic to anyone with half a brain, and too many of our Dems are half-assed. We are just so fucked, but too many wouldn’t listen and be warned about Pat McCrory, a weakling who can be manipulated by his corporate overlords led by Art Pope who he named as budget director. There is a huge wealth gap in this state, a lot of it based on race and the yahoos in Raleigh are doubling down. ncjustice.org

And I just can’t imagine the State house in NC being lit up like this in this century. legislature.state.oh.us

40 Dr. Matt  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 4:38:49am
41 A Mom Anon  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 4:42:55am

I’ll hand it to the Republicans, they’ve managed to recruit some really devious and sneaky fuckers to run the show for them.

I’m not sure what the next steps are, but what we are seeing now is the result of plans that began when I was a kid. I know this because there were GOP meetings in my parents’ house when I was around 8 or 9(in the late 1960’s). I may have been a kid, but I sort of understood what was happening. As I got older, I never forgot what I heard. They were planning to take over city councils, school boards, any local and state level offices they could get to. And they did it, as we see. I’m not sure how to go about undoing all that without making the same pointed efforts in targeted areas, just like the GOP did over 40 yrs ago. The thing is, I don’t believe we have 40 yrs, if this crap continues, we’re not going to have a lot left to fight over.

42 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 4:50:43am

re: #41 A Mom Anon

If education continues to be gutted, and university far too expensive for so many, it probably won’t matter in the long run. Not too many will possess critical thinking skills and will just care about how they’re entertained as climate change takes over. I already see a lot of this where I live.

43 thedopefishlives  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 4:56:07am

Morning Lizardim.

44 Bubblehead II  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 4:59:48am

Morning Lizards.

45 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 5:12:18am

Good morning Lizards.

Is the Pittsburgh Pirates having the best record in baseball a sign of the Apocalypse? Or do I simply have to worry about the Cubs winning the World Series?

46 thedopefishlives  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 5:17:20am

re: #45 Feline Fearless Leader

Good morning Lizards.

Is the Pittsburgh Pirates having the best record in baseball a sign of the Apocalypse? Or do I simply have to worry about the Cubs winning the World Series?

Nah. Baseball win/loss records come and go, but the Cubs are forever lost.

47 A Mom Anon  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 5:19:08am

re: #42 Justanotherhuman

I know, but giving up is not an option. I’m in GA, I see the direct results of the slash and burn approach to public education(my own recent high school grad in the house has horrible grammar and little to no knowledge of geography, to name but a couple of deficits) and GOP led division and lies.

In the short term, what I see happening is an underground railroad sort of network forming, where activists raise money and help women go to other places to get health services that are being denied to them. Of course that’s only one of many problems that need work, which is why it is SO important not to give up. This is precisely what the GOP wants, for people to despair and forget about trying.

48 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 5:30:58am

re: #47 A Mom Anon

Yes, I get that, and it’s pretty obvious to me, as a resident of an extremely conservative, church-centered county (with a lot of backward ideas), that local elections do matter, but what can be done if we can’t get more forward thinking people to crack into local politics?

I’m too old to run for anything, besides having no connections, and while this formerly rural county is developing into a bedroom community for Charlotte, the newbies are mostly fleeing the city because of their own prejudices. If I could afford to move into a location with a better balance and an even chance for more progressive types, I would, but until then, I’m just seen as a malcontent.

49 A Mom Anon  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 5:44:10am

re: #48 Justanotherhuman

I think it’s going to take literally taking over the Democratic organizations in each red state to get anything done. Dems in many of these areas are simply there for the paycheck and going along with the status quo out of fear of losing their comfy place. The GOP did this, started small and worked up to take over their state level Republican party organizations. Dems have to do the same thing in a very organized and really surgical fashion. The lack of investment of money and time has been the downfall of the Democrats in red states, they have given up and you see a lot of this “Fuck the South” stuff that doesn’t help either.

50 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 5:45:19am

Should it surprise anyone that the first tweet I received in regards to this post (and thanks Charles for the promotion) is:


Which is exactly what I said would happen:

Of course, these GOPers will retort and fixate on the lives of the fetuses being aborted by the 10s of thousands, and care not one whit about the women seeking the procedures or why they may be seeking them.

51 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 5:52:54am



Amen George. Amen.

52 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 5:59:51am

re: #49 A Mom Anon

Yes, you’re right. In my cong district, Dems didn’t even bother supporting a Dem candidate or putting a bit of effort into either the last, or previous campaigns. And the Dem party in this state can be pretty conservative about a lot of things, esp on cultural issues.

53 Dr. Matt  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:00:43am

The New Right-Wing “ObamaCars” Conspiracy Theory Is Heinously Dumb
motherjones.com


Ugh, the stupid….it hurts.

54 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:04:10am

re: #53 Dr. Matt

Claim: The immigration bill includes free “Obamacars,” motorcycles or scooters.

Truthiness: FLAMING LIES

An amendment by Sanders to the immigration bill would provide a youth jobs program that includes the possibility of transportation and child care services. That prompted conservative news outlets to make claims such as, “New Immigration bill has taxpayer subsidized Obamacars for youths.”

Sanders’ amendment doesn’t define in detail what the transportation services would entail. Ultimately if the bill passes, local workforce boards would propose jobs programs that would be signed off by the states and approved by the U.S. Labor Department. There is no proof to support the idea that the program would include free car, motorcycle or scooter giveaways. In fact, that such a process would end up allowing car giveaways seems laughable.

We are putting the brakes on this rumor. Pants on Fire!

You know the claims are nothing but Breitbart smears and RWNJ/TP hot air when even Marco Rubio is debunking them.

55 Eclectic Cyborg  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:07:00am

GOP outreach: Ladies, vote Republican! (After you finish making us our sandwiches that is)

56 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:09:07am
57 kirkspencer  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:13:43am

re: #56 Vicious Babushka

er, largest city in the US to do this. I believe Tokyo, for one, is larger, and Japan (like most of Europe, and indeed most of the world’s economically developed nations) already requires paid sick leave.

58 Mattand  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:18:56am

re: #54 lawhawk

Claim: The immigration bill includes free “Obamacars,” motorcycles or scooters.

Truthiness: FLAMING LIES

You know the claims are nothing but Breitbart smears and RWNJ/TP hot air when even Marco Rubio is debunking them.

One of the great advantages of this blog is that it gives you a heads up as to when the next idiotic GOP/Tea Bag/conservative rumor is coming down the pike.

59 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:21:59am

re: #58 Mattand

One of the great advantages of this blog is that it gives you a heads up as to when the next idiotic GOP/Tea Bag/conservative rumor is coming down the pike.

Why not start a rumor that the sports shoes popular with children that have the pressure-sensitive blinking light send out subliminal pro-Sharia Morse Code messages?

// ;p

60 Mattand  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:22:25am

re: #59 Feline Fearless Leader

Why not start a rumor that the sports shoes popular with children that have the pressure-sensitive blinking light send out subliminal pro-Sharia Morse Code messages?

// ;p

Halal Keds.

61 Interesting Times  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:29:26am
62 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:30:15am

re: #61 Interesting Times

Because more Americans know who Paula Deen is compared to Scalia?
/ (half)

63 thedopefishlives  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:30:18am

re: #56 Vicious Babushka

It’s a bit nonsensical to me to not offer paid sick leave. I tend to take the view offered by my company (which can afford to do this because we are very small) - as long as the work is done on time and under budget, who really cares how much time off our employees take in the meantime or for what reason?

64 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:31:15am

re: #63 thedopefishlives

It’s a bit nonsensical to me to not offer paid sick leave. I tend to take the view offered by my company (which can afford to do this because we are very small) - as long as the work is done on time and under budget, who really cares how much time off our employees take in the meantime or for what reason?

Especially for workers in the food industry, it becomes a public health issue.

65 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:31:23am

re: #63 thedopefishlives

It’s a bit nonsensical to me to not offer paid sick leave. I tend to take the view offered by my company (which can afford to do this because we are very small) - as long as the work is done on time and under budget, who really cares how much time off our employees take in the meantime or for what reason?

Because it’s money out of your pocket not to treat them like moochers who deserve nothing but gruel, sodomy, and the lash.
///

66 Interesting Times  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:32:50am

re: #63 thedopefishlives

It’s a bit nonsensical to me to not offer paid sick leave.

Utterly worthless Voldemort-lookalike FL gov Rick Scott outright banned paid leave. It would be rather fitting if, the next time he goes to a restaurant, a server forced to be there despite being sick with the flu coughs all over his food.

67 thedopefishlives  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:37:54am

re: #65 Feline Fearless Leader

Because it’s money out of your pocket not to treat them like moochers who deserve nothing but gruel, sodomy, and the lash.
///

And for this, I blame our corporate culture. Really, American corporate culture is terribly unhealthy and, to be perfectly blunt, counter-productive. Watching full-time employees of my client grumble about the under-the-table “mandatory” 48-hour work week is painful.

68 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:38:37am

re: #64 Vicious Babushka

Especially for workers in the food industry, it becomes a public health issue.

This came out in a comedy - but why are the band-aids used in kitchens blue? Because there is no blue food.*

* - Some obvious exceptions, but for most kitchen work and food prep a fair assessment, especially compared to most of the other colors.

69 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:39:31am

re: #68 Feline Fearless Leader

This came out in a comedy - but why are the band-aids used in kitchens blue? Because there is no blue food.*

* - Some obvious exceptions, but for most kitchen work and food prep a fair assessment, especially compared to most of the other colors.

Blueberries are blue food.

70 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:41:49am

re: #67 thedopefishlives

And for this, I blame our corporate culture. Really, American corporate culture is terribly unhealthy and, to be perfectly blunt, counter-productive. Watching full-time employees of my client grumble about the under-the-table “mandatory” 48-hour work week is painful.

We seem to have enshrined management-labor as an adversarial relationship, or at least a zero sum game, in our popular culture. And a lot of folk have taken it to heart since it’s often easier and has less emotional cost to treat everyone as competitors or replaceable cogs.

71 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:42:15am

re: #62 Feline Fearless Leader

That’s really sad. : (

72 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:43:12am

re: #69 Vicious Babushka

Blueberries are blue food.

One of the obvious exceptions. And I think pasta and dishes using squid ink range into the blue/purple as well. But compared to tans, greens, reds, etc. light blue is pretty rare.

73 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:51:16am

Good for her! You have to see this.

Tammy Duckworth Does Not Suffer Phony Disabled Vets Gladly gawker.com

74 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:51:49am

re: #73 Justanotherhuman

Good for her! You have to see this.

Tammy Duckworth Does Not Suffer Phony Disabled Vets Gladly gawker.com

paged here.

75 thedopefishlives  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:52:41am

re: #70 Feline Fearless Leader

We seem to have enshrined management-labor as an adversarial relationship, or at least a zero sum game, in our popular culture. And a lot of folk have taken it to heart since it’s often easier and has less emotional cost to treat everyone as competitors or replaceable cogs.

And this is why I’ve stayed with my current company. I get paid less than market rates, but the corporate culture is way different. My boss isn’t my enemy, he’s a coworker who has seniority. I’m not a peon, I’m a person with valuable skills. Also, the benefits are excellent and the aforementioned PTO policy is unheard of.

76 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:52:59am

In the not-so-amusing department the elder Feline Overlord has decided that the kitchen counters are now fair game to be explored for the purpose of knocking things around. She will jump down if yelled at, but will soon return for further adventures.*

This has led to me taking extra care regarding sharps and also finding non-mobile containers for storing small objects. I expect that this is just the beginning of an ongoing campaign.

Last night also included a foraging expedition. She knocked a loose lid off a partially full can of cat food and then knocked that off the counter to the kitchen floor. Younger Overlord took advantage of the situation to get a late evening snack. Which did reduce my clean-up work.

* - Yelling, squirt-gun, etc. are only teaching her to not do it when I’m there. I will have to work out a deterrent that is there even when I am not. I am thinking of a double-sided tape minefield as the initial step. Due to layout locking them out of the kitchen area is not a viable step.

77 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:54:57am

re: #75 thedopefishlives

And this is why I’ve stayed with my current company. I get paid less than market rates, but the corporate culture is way different. My boss isn’t my enemy, he’s a coworker who has seniority. I’m not a peon, I’m a person with valuable skills. Also, the benefits are excellent and the aforementioned PTO policy is unheard of.

There are a lot of good workplaces. But our popular culture seems to treat them as oases in a desert of pointy-headed bosses, The Office, and Jobs From HELL. Plus Walmart.

78 thedopefishlives  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 6:56:51am

re: #77 Feline Fearless Leader

There are a lot of good workplaces. But our popular culture seems to treat them as oases in a desert of pointy-headed bosses, The Office, and Jobs From HELL. Plus Walmart.

To be fair, there do seem to be a lot more of those than there are good workplaces. I’ve found it’s mostly older companies who, true to form, are resistant to change.

79 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:02:56am

re: #74 Vicious Babushka

Thank you! I somehow missed that. : (

80 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:07:14am

Watched Wendy Davis interview on CBS this morning and she very appropriately derided what Perry and the Texas legislature want to do as “big government” and “intrusive government”, and interfering in the personal decisions of women. About time someone threw that back in the wingnuts’ faces.

81 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:15:39am

My new granddaughter has a name!

NORTH WEST! (just kidding)

Chaya Moussiya, which in our community is the equivalent of Emma or Sophie. She has 4 cousins with the same name. (My kids are totally not creative about naming their kids)

Welcome little Moussiya.

82 piratedan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:15:40am

re: #50 lawhawk

Should it surprise anyone that the first tweet I received in regards to this post (and thanks Charles for the promotion) is:


Which is exactly what I said would happen:

and a fetus without it’s mother is like a day without sunshine, as if the mother has ceded her identity because of the existence of a fetus. But no health care for the poors to prevent it and no health care for the poors if she carries it.

83 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:17:37am

re: #50 lawhawk

But the legislation is all about “protecting women’s health”.

//

84 piratedan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:18:59am

re: #83 Bulworth

But the legislation is all about “protecting women’s health”.

//

we had to close the clinics in order to save them….

85 GunstarGreen  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:20:20am

re: #47 A Mom Anon

I know, but giving up is not an option. I’m in GA, I see the direct results of the slash and burn approach to public education(my own recent high school grad in the house has horrible grammar and little to no knowledge of geography, to name but a couple of deficits) and GOP led division and lies.

In the short term, what I see happening is an underground railroad sort of network forming, where activists raise money and help women go to other places to get health services that are being denied to them. Of course that’s only one of many problems that need work, which is why it is SO important not to give up. This is precisely what the GOP wants, for people to despair and forget about trying.

Let’s be honest here: Georgia is beyond saving. I live in this state too, and other than the semi-oasis of Atlanta (which still has lots of problems), this state is a barren wasteland of backwater trash.

Wilcox County High School finally desegregated their prom — just this year. Let that sink in for a minute. Segregated proms until the year 2013.

We also just recently decided that having a special day of the week where you couldn’t purchase alcoholic products (except in certain venues) was moronic. So we decided that you can now buy alcohol on Sundays during certain hours of the day.

Georgia is an unsalvageable hellhole, and the only reason educated people live here is because of the prohibitive cost (either financially or emotionally due to family ties) of moving elsewhere.

86 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:21:47am

That’s Rich Lowry, who has no problem as editor of National Review working with the likes of racists including Derbyshire (until he was forced to fire him when the racism got a little too public).

And his argument is based solely on position taken on gay marriage, rather than the fact that the conservative wing engaged in the same kind of activist jurisprudence when they struck down Section 4 of the VRA. That, Lowry and the rest of the NR staff, appear okay with (well, did you expect anything different).

But really let’s look at what happened at the Court in the span of two days.

You had the conservative wing slash and burn its way through the VRA and limit voter protections claiming that Congress needs to act to modernize the formulas on preclearance.

You had the Court’s liberal wing turn around and extend equal protection rights and protections to gay couples by killing DOMA.

The effect on heterosexual couples who are married: NONE
The effect on heterosexual couples who might be getting married: NONE
The effect on churches who preach that being gay is bad: NONE (they get to keep on doing what they’ve been doing).

No one is being forced to get gay married (unless you’re fabulous and want to). No one is forcing groups to marry gay couples (religious protections still exist).

There is no comparison here. In the VRA case, the Court struck down laws that highlight their necessity when hours after it was struck down, states that formerly required preclearance are rushing through laws that will effectively reduce the ability of its citizens to vote. Congress will have to act to resolve this, but with this Congress and this House GOP in particular, the chances of fixing this anytime soon is remote at best.

In the DOMA, the Court extended rights previously enshrined in the Constitution to SSM couples, eliminating a piece of bigoted law from affecting federal benefits and rules on couples who lawfully married under the laws of their individual states. Fact is, this decision is faithful to the 10th Amendment in a way that the right wing typically fawns over - the Court found that the feds engaged in legislative overreach. But, because this extends rights to gays, the right wing and social conservatives are claiming the sky is falling and the end times are near.

87 abolitionist  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:22:23am

re: #70 Feline Fearless Leader

We seem to have enshrined management-labor as an adversarial relationship, or at least a zero sum game, in our popular culture. And a lot of folk have taken it to heart since it’s often easier and has less emotional cost to treat everyone as competitors or replaceable cogs.

“Bite banana, push button” was a line I heard from one of the newer guys in the IT/management heirarchy of a small company where I last worked.

88 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:26:06am

So long Tony, and thanks for all the folks sleeping with the fishes.

Funeral services are currently being held for James Gandolfini at St. John the Divine in Manhattan.

89 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:27:43am

In other news, my bank checkcard was declined this morning when I tried to pay for my dry cleaning. Called bank and discovered my card had been put on hold due to suspicious purchases. Two $90 purchases from Wal-mart were made with my card number. I can’t remember when I last shopped at Wal-mart. So I informed the bank those purchases were not legitimate. After filing an affadavit stating the same I now await a new card.

Not sure why the two purchases from Walmart were flagged, though. I assume they were online purchases since my card is still in my posession. The bank person I spoke to says suspicion was raised by the purchase amounts being made back to back. But not sure I really get that. Anyway, glad they flagged it.

90 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:29:06am

re: #86 lawhawk

Lowry, NRO, and Scalia, among other wingnuts, have contempt for most Americans, not to mention contempt for foreigners.

91 HappyWarrior  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:34:14am

You got to love the conservative mind. Loves the strike down on VRA but thinks DOMA being oveturned shows Kennedy’s contempt for Americans. You want contempt, Rich? Read about the plaintiff in the original case and tell me why she shouldn’t be able to have the same benefits and equal rights under the law just because her partner was a woman? And you and the whole NRO have the nerve to whine about big government. And as lawhawk already put it, you had no problem employing a hypocritical racist scumbag in Derbyshire until his views became too much of an embarrassment to your rag.

92 Bubblehead II  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:34:47am

SCOTUS pissing off the socons again today.

Court rejects gay rights cases from Ariz., Nev.

The justices let stand an appeals court ruling striking down an Arizona law that said only married state employees were eligible for health benefits and withdrawing domestic partner benefits for unmarried state workers.

The Nevada case was an attempt to bypass the 9th circuit

93 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:34:54am

re: #90 Bulworth

To be fair to Scalia, he, along with Roberts, Ginsberg, Breyer, and Kagan found no standing in the Prop 8 case, restoring SSM in CA.

94 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:35:40am

re: #86 lawhawk

I edged closer to simply unfriending a fraternity brother on FaceBook for lamenting the back-to-back court decisions in how the DOMA decision hurt Americans and was judicial overreach without really remarking on the VRA effects. Though the Looking Glass style of remarks.

I have been tolerating him primarily as a way to keep tabs on “other side” viewpoints. But his born-again homophobia is getting pretty outrageous. And it’s like I am reading remarks from a totally different person than the one I knew thirty years ago.

95 HappyWarrior  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:38:25am

re: #94 Feline Fearless Leader

I edged closer to simply unfriending a fraternity brother on FaceBook for lamenting the back-to-back court decisions in how the DOMA decision hurt Americans and was judicial overreach without really remarking on the VRA effects. Though the Looking Glass style of remarks.

I have been tolerating him primarily as a way to keep tabs on “other side” viewpoints. But his born-again homophobia is getting pretty outrageous. And it’s like I am reading remarks from a totally different person than the one I knew thirty years ago.

That’s too bad. I actually had the opposite experience with someone I went to school with and took classes where we’d have to argue our views on subjects like this one.

96 Whack-A-Mole  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:38:31am

re: #81 Vicious Babushka

Congrats!

97 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:43:22am

re: #93 lawhawk

Fair point. He’s just so, well, contemptious sounding towards those who’s opinions differ from his own.

98 Bubblehead II  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:43:44am

A first for the Boise Zoo, and todays first cuteness break.

Snow leopard babies born at Zoo Boise

BOISE — Zoo Boise is welcoming two baby snow leopards to their animal family. These are the first snow leopard cubs ever to be born in Boise.

99 Lidane  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:44:10am

re: #91 HappyWarrior

You got to love the conservative mind. Loves the strike down on VRA but thinks DOMA being oveturned shows Kennedy’s contempt for Americans.

100 HappyWarrior  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:45:40am

re: #99 Lidane

Yeah I saw him do that last night. Yeah because overturning a state decision has never happened before. And what does Bryan said to those minority voters who voted against Prop-8. His attempts to suggest that liberal marriage equality supporters are somehow bigots is disgusting but what do I expect from a man who fancies himself a Holocaust victim.

101 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:46:58am

re: #99 Lidane

Oh look, Bryan cares about African-American votes.

//

102 piratedan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:48:30am

re: #99 Lidane

guess he’s willing to admit there’s an issue with the Gore/Bush decision then.

103 Lidane  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:48:40am

AMERICA IZ DOOMED, part herpty derp:

104 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:49:32am

re: #100 HappyWarrior

It takes a lot of work, and you have to really try hard, to reach the level of asshole Bryan Fischer achieves every day.

105 Targetpractice  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:50:16am

re: #103 Lidane

AMERICA IZ DOOMED, part herpty derp:

“Losing freedom”? Who is losing the freedom to do what? Other than bigots convinced that this decision means they can no longer to be absolute assholes because it’s illegal.

106 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:50:50am

re: #103 Lidane

Yeah, that’s what all those cheering, hugging, crying-with-joy people last night were celebrating—the loss of Freedom. //

107 HappyWarrior  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:51:28am

re: #104 Bulworth

It takes a lot of work, and you have to really try hard, to reach the level of asshole Bryan Fischer achieves every day.

I know. His tweets are some of the few things in politics these days that actually get me angry. Someone like Beck. His antics amuse me but Fischer does his best daily to make Jerry Falwell look like a mild mannered man with his constant attempts to call the left Nazis and liken support of gay rights to Nazism and claim being anti gay rights makes him somehow close to those who suffered in the Third Reich. It’s enough to make me sick.

108 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:51:35am

re: #103 Lidane

He means white christianist, abortion-hating, kid-starving, racist, homophobic, misogynistic reactionaries, of course.

109 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:52:48am

GOP Logic

110 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:53:13am

re: #108 Justanotherhuman

Who haven’t lost any Freedom either, except the “freedom” to have reality conform to their beliefs and desires.

111 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:55:48am

re: #103 Lidane

AMERICA IZ DOOMED, part herpty derp:

Someone needs to send Rick a copy of the Declaration of Independence. You know, America being about “the right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

112 HappyWarrior  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:55:49am

Then Santorum can list a least one freedom he lost yesterday. I am sure it wouldn’t be hard. But there he goes last year’s GOP runner-up proving why his party and ideology are going to be hopeless on this issue until their leadership stops with this homosexual version of the Southern Strategy.

113 thedopefishlives  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:56:21am

re: #112 HappyWarrior

Then Santorum can list a least one freedom he lost yesterday. I am sure it wouldn’t be hard. But there he goes last year’s GOP runner-up proving why his party and ideology are going to be hopeless on this issue until their leadership stops with this homosexual version of the Southern Strategy.

The freedom to tell other people how to live their lives. WINNING.

114 HappyWarrior  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:57:20am

re: #113 thedopefishlives

The freedom to tell other people how to live their lives. WINNING.

He’d be doing that if gay marriage was legal everywhere.

115 GunstarGreen  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:58:45am

re: #105 Targetpractice

“Losing freedom”? Who is losing the freedom to do what? Other than bigots convinced that this decision means they can no longer to be absolute assholes because it’s illegal.

Losing the freedom to discriminate against their fellow citizens who happen to be gay.

Remember that the right-wing concept of RELIGIOUS FREEDOM™ is a trademark, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the actual definition of the word “freedom”. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM™ is the right of christian fundamentalist extremists to impose their theocracy on the rest of the country. This is why you do not hear about RELIGIOUS FREEDOM™ when the building of a mosque is denied for no reason other than because ‘we don’t likes the muslimz’.

Consider the ravings about being ‘forced’ to marry teh gayz. Even in such a scenario, churches would not be ‘forced’ to do anything — they would simply lose their tax-exempt status if they choose to make their place of worship political by discriminating against same-sex couples when it comes to perform marriage rites. Nobody’s freedom is being infringed, they’re simply paying taxes like every other business does — and let us be clear, churches are businesses. They sell religious worship facilities in exchange for tithes or other favors. But RELIGIOUS FREEDOM™ doesn’t have anything to do with actual freedom.

116 Dr. Matt  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 7:59:26am

Just a few short weeks ago the teatards were on cloud nine about the so-called “scandals”. Things are not so glorious in teahadist land now that the “scandals” have been debunked and DOMA and Prop 8 have been smashed.

117 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:00:14am

LNYHBT is full of the MOAST DERPY DERP on TEH HOLE TWITTERZ

118 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:00:37am

Wingnuts like quotes from the Founders and other great Americans.

They should remember this from Lincoln:

I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Abraham Lincoln, Independence Hall, Philadelphia, February 22, 1861

I have often inquired of myself, what great principle or idea it was that kept this Confederacy so long together. It was not the mere matter of the separation of the colonies from the mother land; but something in that Declaration giving liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but hope to the world for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights should be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance. This is the sentiment embodied in that Declaration of Independence. Independence Hall, Philadelphia, February 22, 1861

119 Targetpractice  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:02:30am

re: #116 Dr. Matt

Just a few short weeks ago the teatards were on cloud nine about the so-called “scandals”. Things are not so glorious in teahadist land now that the “scandals” have been debunked and DOMA and Prop 8 have been smashed.

Yeah, “Scandal-palooza” has fallen hard. Remember when the TPers were declaring loudly that Benghazi/IRS/AP/NSA would be enough for articles of impeachment?

120 Stephen T.  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:02:34am

re: #69 Vicious Babushka

Blueberries are blue food.

Blueberries are purple when served.

121 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:02:44am

DERP

122 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:03:18am

re: #120 Stephen T.

Blueberries are purple when served.

And when mixed with raspberries.

123 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:03:19am

re: #117 Vicious Babushka

That’s a lot of hashtags.

Also, too: Supreme Court Announces America’s Death Sentence
So he’s upset about Tuesday’s VRA ruling? //

Also, too, again: Why are those hashtagging let-not-your-heart-be-troubled so obviously troubled?

124 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:03:53am

re: #115 GunstarGreen

Even the religious bigots aren’t losing the freedom to deny marriages at their churches or religious centers. They’ve got protections that mean they can’t be forced or coerced into holding gay marriages that go against their religious beliefs, so even on that ground they’ve still got freedoms.

The DOMA case outcome doesn’t deny anyone their freedom. It isn’t disenfranchising. It shows that Congress passed a law that was unconstitutional (and the Courts have done that in the past, and will do so into the future). That’s all part of judicial review - a key component to the Court’s legal jurisprudence.

125 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:04:45am

re: #123 Bulworth

That’s a lot of hashtags.

Also, too:


So he’s upset about Tuesday’s VRA ruling? //

Also, too, again: Why are those hashtagging let-not-your-heart-be-troubled so obviously troubled?

And it’s not a support group to help each other’s hearts not be troubled.

126 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:05:14am

re: #116 Dr. Matt

Last Week: Obomo Train Wreck!!!

Today: Waaaaaaaaahhhh

127 HappyWarrior  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:07:38am

Some people just can’t be reasoned with on this issue. They really think it’s end times because the court struck down a federal law- funny how now they want the feds involved.

128 Justanotherhuman  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:08:08am

See The Amazing SF Chronicle Front Page That Accidentally Forgot About Gay Marriage! wonkette.com

129 GunstarGreen  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:08:49am

re: #124 lawhawk

Even the religious bigots aren’t losing the freedom to deny marriages at their churches or religious centers. They’ve got protections that mean they can’t be forced or coerced into holding gay marriages that go against their religious beliefs, so even on that ground they’ve still got freedoms.

The DOMA case outcome doesn’t deny anyone their freedom. It isn’t disenfranchising. It shows that Congress passed a law that was unconstitutional (and the Courts have done that in the past, and will do so into the future). That’s all part of judicial review - a key component to the Court’s legal jurisprudence.

As I said — freedom vs. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM™.

The American Right has a well-documented history of supporting Judicial Review when it gets rid of laws they don’t like, and saying that Judicial Review is judiciary tyranny when it gets rid of laws they do like.

See also: None of the shitguzzlers that are whining about DOMA and Prop 8 had anything to say about overturning provisions of the VRA. It’s literally the exact same thing: taking a law that was passed through the normal process, and striking down parts of it that the court finds to be unconstitutional.

130 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:10:36am

In other, more other news, this Aaron Hernandez case is just really bizarre. The murder victim apparently angered Hernandez by talking “to the wrong people”, people Hernandez didn’t like or had some beef with. Seriously? I guy who has everything, materially and professionally, decides to wack somebody for that? I imagine there’s more to it, there has to be, but even then, it’s just crazy.

131 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:10:48am

re: #129 GunstarGreen

It’s literally the exact same thing: taking a law that was passed through the normal process, and striking down parts of it that the court finds to be unconstitutional.

Except it’s not. The Supreme Court didn’t find the VRA to be unconstitutional, that’s why everyone’s so mad about it. They found the law to be ineffective, and decided they knew better than Congress on that score.

132 GunstarGreen  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:12:26am

re: #127 HappyWarrior

Some people just can’t be reasoned with on this issue. They really think it’s end times because the court struck down a federal law- funny how now they want the feds involved.

SMALL GUB’MINT™ and “state’s rights” has never been, is not, and will never be about reducing the size of the federal government. It’s about having the feds enforce christian theocratic law, or having the feds do nothing so the states can enforce christian theocratic law. For them it IS the end times because America loses its “God’s Favorite Nation” status if it is not enforcing christian theocratic law.

133 GunstarGreen  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:14:07am

re: #131 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

Except it’s not. The Supreme Court didn’t find the VRA to be unconstitutional, that’s why everyone’s so mad about it. They found the law to be ineffective, and decided they knew better than Congress on that score.

Either way: Stripping out part of the law that the court doesn’t like. “Usurping the will of the people”, as the right wingers like to call it when it happens with laws they like.

134 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:14:25am

re: #129 GunstarGreen

As I said — freedom vs. RELIGIOUS FREEDOMTM.

The American Right has a well-documented history of supporting Judicial Review when it gets rid of laws they don’t like, and saying that Judicial Review is judiciary tyranny when it gets rid of laws they do like.

See also: None of the shitguzzlers that are whining about DOMA and Prop 8 had anything to say about overturning provisions of the VRA. It’s literally the exact same thing: taking a law that was passed through the normal process, and striking down parts of it that the court finds to be unconstitutional.

They are mentioning it. The VRA changes was stopping the Federal government from interfering with state laws. The DOMA/Prop 8 decision was the judiciary messing with laws supported by the *People*.

Nothing about who is/was actually being affected and in what ways. A simplistic defense based upon “principles” that are instantly turned on their head in order to support what they want right now as compared to any consistency regarding popularity, state’s rights, etc.

135 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:16:58am

DERP

If you actually drill down into the article you will find this paragraph embedded:

The internet metadata of the sort NSA collected for at least a decade details the accounts to which Americans sent emails and from which they received emails. It also details the internet protocol addresses (IP) used by people inside the United States when sending emails - information which can reflect their physical location. It did not include the content of emails.

136 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:17:07am

re: #131 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

Except it’s not. The Supreme Court didn’t find the VRA to be unconstitutional, that’s why everyone’s so mad about it. They found the law to be ineffective, and decided they knew better than Congress on that score.

Ineffective enough that once a section was invalidated a slew of states with known histories of voter suppression efforts against minorities (and a major cause for the VRA being passed in the first place) immediately push forward with currently sidelined stringent voter ID laws that are expected to effectively act to suppress minority voter turnout.

:p

137 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:18:05am

Dear wingnutz, if you want to be mad about something, be mad about this: There’s a Big Brother Season 15 coming to prime time television soon. I’ve seen previews. If Amercia survives that, it will survive anything.

138 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:18:09am
139 Mattand  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:18:26am

re: #94 Feline Fearless Leader

I edged closer to simply unfriending a fraternity brother on FaceBook for lamenting the back-to-back court decisions in how the DOMA decision hurt Americans and was judicial overreach without really remarking on the VRA effects. Though the Looking Glass style of remarks.

I have been tolerating him primarily as a way to keep tabs on “other side” viewpoints. But his born-again homophobia is getting pretty outrageous. And it’s like I am reading remarks from a totally different person than the one I knew thirty years ago.

Unfriend him. I’ve mentioned before about dumping one of my GF’s college friends after watching him go full metal wingnut. This guy posted a cartoon of Obama which claimed he was knowingly working with Al Queda. Literally had a Glenn Beck mindset.

As for people changing: it happens. There’s a guy I’ve known since 7th grade, who I was good friends with for years. Best man at his wedding. Like your guy, he’s gone complete conservative, replete with racist remarks that he claims are just “politically incorrect.”

The breaking point for me was sitting around with him and some other guys at the start of the 2nd Iraq War. They switched over to the live broadcast of the Baghdad bombing on Fox, cracked some beers, and laughed their asses off. People are dying on the screen and these guys are treating it like a football game.

It really wasn’t a hard decision to make. It was also when I started to become aware that conservatives were starting to go off the deep end.

140 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:21:21am

re: #139 Mattand

Unfriend him. I’ve mentioned before about dumping one of my GF’s college friends after watching him go full metal wingnut. This guy posted a cartoon of Obama which claimed he was knowingly working with Al Queda. Literally had a Glenn Beck mindset.

As for people changing: it happens. There’s a guy I’ve known since 7th grade, who I was good friends with for years. Best man at his wedding. Like your guy, he’s gone complete conservative, replete with racist remarks that he claims are just “politically incorrect.”

The breaking point for me was sitting around with him and some other guys at the start of the 2nd Iraq War. They switched over to the live broadcast of the Baghdad bombing on Fox, cracked some beers, and laughed their asses off. People are dying on the screen and these guys are treating it like a football game.

It really wasn’t a hard decision to make. It was also when I started to become aware that conservatives were starting to go off the deep end.

Watching bombing or military action on TV is sort of like that. It is very easy to get the disconnect between the entertainment of the TV coverage and the fact that it reflects *real* people be killed.

Lots of things to blame it on, but that it happens doesn’t surprise me. The bloodthirsty barbarian is not buried that far down under the thin civilizing veneer.

141 Romantic Heretic  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:21:22am

re: #70 Feline Fearless Leader

We seem to have enshrined management-labor as an adversarial relationship, or at least a zero sum game, in our popular culture. And a lot of folk have taken it to heart since it’s often easier and has less emotional cost to treat everyone as competitors or replaceable cogs.

That’s because, in my opinion, our idea of the working world is based on feudalism. Serfs work, lords prosper and any attempt to change this is against the will of God and the free market.

What they fail to realize is a 12th Century social structure can only support a 12th Century economic structure and all of the fancy technology in the world will not change that.

142 efuseakay  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:22:00am

re: #76 Feline Fearless Leader

In the not-so-amusing department the elder Feline Overlord has decided that the kitchen counters are now fair game to be explored for the purpose of knocking things around. She will jump down if yelled at, but will soon return for further adventures.*

This has led to me taking extra care regarding sharps and also finding non-mobile containers for storing small objects. I expect that this is just the beginning of an ongoing campaign.

Last night also included a foraging expedition. She knocked a loose lid off a partially full can of cat food and then knocked that off the counter to the kitchen floor. Younger Overlord took advantage of the situation to get a late evening snack. Which did reduce my clean-up work.

* - Yelling, squirt-gun, etc. are only teaching her to not do it when I’m there. I will have to work out a deterrent that is there even when I am not. I am thinking of a double-sided tape minefield as the initial step. Due to layout locking them out of the kitchen area is not a viable step.

If you can find some of those clear old-school car mats with the spiked bottoms, set those on the counter with whatever you normally keep out right smack dab in the middle, just out of reach.

143 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:23:37am

re: #141 Romantic Heretic

That’s because, in my opinion, our idea of the working world is based on feudalism. Serfs work, lords prosper and any attempt to change this is against the will of God and the free market.

What they fail to realize is a 12th Century social structure can only support a 12th Century economic structure and all of the fancy technology in the world will not change that.

There’s lots of other currents running in that. The whole Protestant Work Ethic is there. The myth of the independent yeoman farmer settling the new lands of America. Every man as his own boss, owning his own home, (smoking the right cigarette), etc. etc. Lots of cultural baggage added on.

144 Bubblehead II  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:24:02am

THE APOCALYPSE IS UPON US!

Mariners to fly rainbow flag in support of same-sex marriage

SEATTLE - The Mariners will become the first Major League team to fly the rainbow gay pride flag at a game this weekend, in a show of support for same-sex marriage.

First it was Scouting, now it’s Baseball! We’re doomed I say, dooooooommmmmeeeeddd!

145 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:24:31am

re: #142 efuseakay

If you can find some of those clear old-school car mats with the spikes bottoms, set those on the counter with whatever you normally keep out right smack dab in the middle, just out of reach. :)

I got a big one of those in the office. Could flip it over as kitchen entrance minefield.

146 Mattand  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:24:45am

re: #140 Feline Fearless Leader

Watching bombing or military action on TV is sort of like that. It is very easy to get the disconnect between the entertainment of the TV coverage and the fact that it reflects *real* people be killed.

Lots of things to blame it on, but that it happens doesn’t surprise me. The bloodthirsty barbarian is not buried that far down under the thin civilizing veneer.

The sheer delight they were getting from it is what freaked me out.

147 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:26:37am

re: #146 Mattand

The sheer delight they were getting from it is what freaked me out.

I’ve seen too many 30s, 40s, and 50s war movies and other literature where killing the “other” was extolled. So I am not surprised at the lack of empathy.

148 Ian G.  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:26:49am

re: #144 Bubblehead II

Mariners to fly rainbow flag in support of same-sex marriage

SEATTLE - The Mariners will become the first Major League team to fly the rainbow gay pride flag at a game this weekend, in a show of support for same-sex marriage.

Well, that’s the sociamulist hellhole that is Seattle, so of course they hate ‘murrica and celebrate sodom and gomorrah. /////

BTW, how come when wingnuts blame the implosion of Detroit on “liberals”, they don’t also attribute the success of a place like Seattle (transformed over time from a gritty mill town into a tech hotbed) on liberals too? I mean, I don’t see too many wingnuts running things there.

149 abolitionist  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:29:10am

re: #135 Vicious Babushka

DERP

If you actually drill down into the article you will find this paragraph embedded:

Please note the wording: It [the metadata] did not include the content of emails.

One cannot correctly interpret that statement as a flat denial that the NSA was getting email content also. But many people will.

150 HappyWarrior  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:29:29am

re: #148 Ian G.

Well, that’s the sociamulist hellhole that is Seattle, so of course they hate ‘murrica and celebrate sodom and gomorrah. /////

BTW, how come when wingnuts blame the implosion of Detroit on “liberals”, they don’t also attribute the success of a place like Seattle (transformed over time from a gritty mill town into a tech hotbed) on liberals too? I mean, I don’t see too many wingnuts running things there.

It doesn’t fit their agenda. Cool for the Mariners though. O’s fan here but I love watching King Felix pitch.

151 HappyWarrior  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:30:59am

re: #147 Feline Fearless Leader

I’ve seen too many 30s, 40s, and 50s war movies and other literature where killing the “other” was extolled. So I am not surprised at the lack of empathy.

I think then that hits on why All Quiet on the Western Front is such a great war novel and later movie because really by the end of reading that, I had forgotten that the protagonist and his comrades were part of a country who we were at war with. But I too remember moments like this in the lead up to Iraq where we’d be debating the issue in class and people would actually suggest nuking Iraq.

152 Gus  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:31:52am

re: #135 Vicious Babushka

DERP

If you actually drill down into the article you will find this paragraph embedded:

Notice the pic of Obama next to, ZOMG! BUSH!!!!!111ty

153 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:32:10am

As I noted yesterday, one poll does not make a race. Weiner was shown to be ahead of Quinn in NYC in one poll yesterday. Today, another poll shows essentially a 3-way race between Weiner, Quinn, Thompson is a dead heat.

Quinn 19%
Weiner 17%
Thomspon 16% (Thomspon had nearly beaten Bloomberg in the last election, with no money and media giving him no chance btw).

Can’t wait for the NY Post headlines for that one:

After surging, Weiner flaccid after new poll.
Weiner off after poll shows dead heat.

154 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:33:04am

re: #135 Vicious Babushka

METADATA!!!!!!

NSAASSAULT!!!!

NSA haz RECORDZZZ

155 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:33:44am

re: #152 Gus

But METADATA will kill uz all!!!!!

156 Bubblehead II  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:33:45am

re: #148 Ian G.

“BTW, how come when wingnuts blame the implosion of Detroit on “liberals”, they don’t also attribute the success of a place like Seattle (transformed over time from a gritty mill town into a tech hotbed) on liberals too? I mean, I don’t see too many wingnuts running things there.”

//// Unions. Detroit was rife with them and they sucked the blood out of the automotive industry. Seattle, well we don’t talk about Seattle.

157 Gus  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:34:17am

THIS CAN ONLY MEAN ONE THING! OBAMA IS BUSH! ZOMG!!

[Starts building giant puppet of Obama-Bush-Hitler.]

158 CarleeCork  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:34:31am

re: #76 Feline Fearless Leader

There’s also a product called ScatMat. It’s very effective.

159 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:35:03am

re: #156 Bubblehead II

“BTW, how come when wingnuts blame the implosion of Detroit on “liberals”, they don’t also attribute the success of a place like Seattle (transformed over time from a gritty mill town into a tech hotbed) on liberals too? I mean, I don’t see too many wingnuts running things there.”

//// Unions. Detroit was rife with them and they sucked the blood out of the automotive industry. Seattle, well we don’t talk about Seattle.

HEAR IZ A PICTURE OF A SLUM, LIBRULZ!!11!!

(Many of the slums in Detroit are owned by the Bridge Troll)

160 GeneJockey  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:36:32am

re: #146 Mattand

The sheer delight they were getting from it is what freaked me out.

There was a video that came out sometime in the mid ’00s, night vision footage of a couple truck full of supposed insurgents in Iraq, which showed individuals being shot to pieces with the 20mm cannon of an attack helicopter. This got a lot of play on the archery forum I frequented, and it made me real uncomfortable, the backslapping and cheering that went on among the folks there.

There was apparently a limit, however. The same guy who posted that little bit of war porn later posted a picture of an insurgent who’d been killed by a sniper’s head shot. Apparently the reality of that was too much for them.

I think the night vision stuff was like a video game, but seeing a real dead guy with his head actually exploded in daylight and full color was too real. At least for some of them. I know others thought it was cool, because he was a bad guy. Or so they’d been told.

*shudder*

161 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:37:17am

re: #160 GeneJockey

I remember the “Gaza Rooster” threads over here in 2006.

162 Bubblehead II  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:37:21am

re: #159 Vicious Babushka

(Many of the slums in Detroit are owned by the Bridge Troll)

Didn’t they throw his ass into jail awhile back for contempt?

163 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:37:33am

re: #151 HappyWarrior

I think then that hits on why All Quiet on the Western Front is such a great war novel and later movie because really by the end of reading that, I had forgotten that the protagonist and his comrades were part of a country who we were at war with. But I too remember moments like this in the lead up to Iraq where we’d be debating the issue in class and people would actually suggest nuking Iraq.

Precisely. And AQOTWF also included the scenes when the protaganist is in the shell crater with the French soldier he bayoneted. So he gets to see the soldier’s paybook, photos, and letter from home. A much closer identification with another man since they are remarkably the same other than the color of their uniform.

And note that the book was banned and burned in Nazi Germany.

164 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:38:24am

re: #162 Bubblehead II

Didn’t they throw his ass into jail awhile back for contempt?

Yeah, for not performing required maintenance on the Bridge (North America’s busiest international border crossing WHICH HE TOTALLY OWNS).

165 HappyWarrior  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:38:46am

re: #163 Feline Fearless Leader

Precisely. And AQOTWF also included the scenes when the protaganist is in the shell crater with the French soldier he bayoneted. So he gets to see the soldier’s paybook, photos, and letter from home. A much closer identification with another man since they are remarkably the same other than the color of their uniform.

And note that the book was banned and burned in Nazi Germany.

Yeah the scene with the French soldier is powerful and you’re right the Nazis did burn the book and launched a smear campaign against Remarque.

166 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:40:59am

I don’t know how we’re supposed to enjoy yesterday’s SSM victories for freedom when the METADATA is all around us. //

167 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:41:09am

TROUBLED HEARTS

168 Bubblehead II  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:41:12am

re: #161 Vicious Babushka

I remember the “Gaza Rooster” threads over here in 20069.

Yep. Quite the debate on the use of white phosphorous by the IDF if I remember correctly.

169 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:42:11am

re: #167 Vicious Babushka

Ghouls I tellz ya

170 HappyWarrior  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:42:23am

re: #160 GeneJockey

There was a video that came out sometime in the mid ’00s, night vision footage of a couple truck full of supposed insurgents in Iraq, which showed individuals being shot to pieces with the 20mm cannon of an attack helicopter. This got a lot of play on the archery forum I frequented, and it made me real uncomfortable, the backslapping and cheering that went on among the folks there.

There was apparently a limit, however. The same guy who posted that little bit of war porn later posted a picture of an insurgent who’d been killed by a sniper’s head shot. Apparently the reality of that was too much for them.

I think the night vision stuff was like a video game, but seeing a real dead guy with his head actually exploded in daylight and full color was too real. At least for some of them. I know others thought it was cool, because he was a bad guy. Or so they’d been told.

*shudder*

I think I remember a quote I saw in the early Call of Duty games for the PC that “War is only wonderful to those who have not experienced it.” My grandfather came out of Korea very skeptical about war. He didn’t become a hippie protester during Vietnam heh but unlike many men of his generation I think he understood why they didn’t want to go to war.

171 HappyWarrior  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:43:31am

There they go insisting that we like abortion. Yeah we’re the sick and demented ones.

172 piratedan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:44:14am

re: #167 Vicious Babushka

TROUBLED HEARTS

u people are heartless! how can you turn women into nothing more than incubators!!!!

gee that was easy

173 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:44:31am

re: #167 Vicious Babushka

Americans Won’t Give Up Their Guns, Law Or Not! …

Cuz everyone knows the gun-grabbing immediately follows the forced gay marriages. //

174 Gus  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:44:53am

re: #167 Vicious Babushka

TROUBLED HEARTS

HITLER USED THE GREENS AND NAZIS LOVED NATURE AND ANIMALS THEREFORE ALL ENVIRONMENTALISTS (LIBRULS) ARE NAZIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

175 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:45:34am

re: #173 Bulworth

Cuz everyone knows the gun-grabbing immediately follows the forced gay marriages. //

THEN THEY WILL FORCE EVERY HETEROSEXUAL CHRISTIAN TO GAY MARRY AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT!!!11!!!!!!CONFIRMED. FACT!!!!

176 Romantic Heretic  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:46:02am

re: #147 Feline Fearless Leader

I’ve seen too many 30s, 40s, and 50s war movies and other literature where killing the “other” was extolled. So I am not surprised at the lack of empathy.

That’s why my favorite war movie is a German one: Stalingrad. It didn’t pull any punches. There were no good guys or bad guys. It had one of the most horrific battle scenes I’ve ever watched.

Note: Don’t watch this if you have a weak stomach.

Youtube Video

War is sometimes necessary, but it should never, ever be fun.

177 NJDhockeyfan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:46:17am
178 HappyWarrior  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:46:36am

re: #176 Romantic Heretic

That’s why my favorite war movie is a German one: Stalingrad. It didn’t pull any punches. There were no good guys or bad guys. It had one of the most horrific battle scenes I’ve ever watched.

Note: Don’t watch this if you have a weak stomach.

[Embedded content]

War is sometimes necessary, but it should never, ever be fun.

I need to see that.

179 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:48:47am

Very curious….


If Boehner’s indeed backing off the Hastert rule on the immigration bill, that tells you just how screwed up the GOP caucus is and that he’s willing to cut a deal to move the immigration bill over the his party’s right wing and xenophobic objections.

180 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:50:39am

OH NOEZ WEEEERE DOOMED!!!!

181 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:51:45am

ANOTHER TROUBLED HEART

182 Gus  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:52:12am

re: #180 Vicious Babushka

OH NOEZ WEEEERE DOOMED!!!!

See, that’s not journalism. He’s trying to steer his audience.

183 Gus  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:53:33am

You “must confront!” Who is he, Dr. Phil?

184 kirkspencer  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:53:40am

Can I force you to give blood? Should I be able to do so?

Can I force you to donate a kidney? Should I be able to do so?

Can I force you to act as an active transfusion host for a surgery; to lay on the table next to the patient, connected by tubing from artery to vein?

No. No, I cannot. I cannot force you to do anything that requires medical sacrifice to keep another alive, not even if it’s a blood relative, not even if it’s your own child. Because it’s your body, dammit.

Except, apparently, when it’s a fetus. An embryo. A blastocyst. A potential human which may spontaneously miscarry, which may be unable to survive after birth. It’s not even a person yet, but you want to violate the principle of “your body, dammit.”

No. No, I will not agree. It’s her body, dammit. She gets to decide. If it can survive pre-term and it can be removed without harm to her or it and someone is willing and able both to do the removal and take up responsibility for care then I’m in principle willing to agree to that ruling. But while it can’t and won’t get such care, no. It’s her body, dammit.

185 Romantic Heretic  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:55:59am

re: #178 HappyWarrior

I need to see that.

It’s very good. As an amateur historian who’s especially interested in WWII I didn’t once go, “Bzzzt! Wrong!”

On the subject of All Quiet On The Western Front I always remember this little poem from it.

Give them all the same grub,
And all the same pay,
Well, the war would be over,
and done in a day.

186 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:56:50am

re: #184 kirkspencer

We can’t even get agreement on whether we should switch the organ donation rules so that you have to opt out, rather than opt in. And that’s for organ donations upon death - which could save the lives of a bunch of people waiting on various transplant lists. Because people understand that the person gets to decide what happens to their own body - even upon and after death.

187 piratedan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:57:19am

re: #180 Vicious Babushka

OH NOEZ WEEEERE DOOMED!!!!

I”M STILL RELEVANT!!!! I’M STILL RELEVANT!!!!!!!

188 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:57:52am

re: #180 Vicious Babushka

Can’t Glenn be happy for a moment for what happened yesterday?

189 Gus  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:58:28am
190 Mattand  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 8:59:51am

re: #189 Gus

. @GovernorPerry says @WendyDavisTexas was a “teenage mother herself” and it’s unfortunate “she hasn’t learned from her own example.”

Wow. Go fuck yourself, Perry.

191 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:00:19am

re: #189 Gus

What was she supposed to learn, exactly?

192 Gus  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:00:58am

re: #191 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

What was she supposed to learn, exactly?

Ask him.

193 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:01:03am

re: #191 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

What was she supposed to learn, exactly?

That she shouldn’t rise above her station in life, and never make it to the Statehouse, of course. /

194 Backwoods_Sleuth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:01:06am

re: #191 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

What was she supposed to learn, exactly?

That she should have known her place: still in the trailer park birthing more babies…
//

195 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:01:11am

re: #191 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

Yeah, I don’t get it.

196 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:01:13am

re: #191 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

What was she supposed to learn, exactly?

How to hold an aspirin between her knees, apparently.

197 Bubblehead II  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:01:58am

re: #191 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

What was she supposed to learn, exactly?

Abortion evil.

198 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:02:04am

re: #195 Bulworth

Yeah, I don’t get it.

You were expecting more from the guy who couldn’t remember 3 things?

199 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:03:42am

If she was a teenage mother, doesn’t that mean she didn’t have an abortion?

She graduated from Richland High School in 1981, marrying shortly thereafter at age 18 and having a daughter named Amber. A year later, Davis was divorced and a single mother. After learning about a two-year paralegal program from a co-worker, Davis enrolled at Tarrant County College and later transferred to Texas Christian University, where she graduated first in her class with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. Before and during college, Davis worked as a waitress at the Stage West Theatre café. After becoming the first person in her family to graduate from college, Davis went on to earn her law degree with honors from Harvard Law School.

Sounds like she learned she kicks some serious ass. I guess is he trying to say that having a child at 18 didn’t completely derail her life? I still don’t get it.

200 NJDhockeyfan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:05:01am
201 darthstar  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:05:55am

Love this.

facebook.com

202 Targetpractice  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:06:00am

re: #199 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

If she was a teenage mother, doesn’t that mean she didn’t have an abortion?

Sounds like she learned she kicks some serious ass. I guess is he trying to say that having a child at 18 didn’t completely derail her life? I still don’t get it.

Only conclusion I can reach is he thinks she should have “learned” that sex outside of marriage is bad, and if it wasn’t happening then abortion wouldn’t be necessary.

203 Gus  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:07:25am
204 Joanne  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:08:48am

re: #11 dragonath

Looking up some of this stuff in Ohio now.

Ohio Abortion Bill Contains Unprecedented Restrictions

The Ohio House of Representatives is considering an anti-abortion omnibus bill that would force doctors to tell their patients how much personal income they would lose if they did not perform abortions.

Holy shit.

The bill also makes ultrasounds mandatory for any woman seeking an abortion, requires doctors to give women medically disputed information about pain felt by fetuses and mention the debunked link between abortion and breast cancer, lengthens the mandatory waiting period before an abortion, and threatens physicians with a felony and an unprecedented fine of up to $1 million if they fail to comply with the laws.

Holy shit.

Paged.

205 piratedan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:09:30am

re: #203 Gus

think Gov. Goodhair needs a new nickname, how does Gov. Reprehensible Fuck sound?

206 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:09:35am

re: #204 Joanne

We need a ‘pre-clearance’ dealio for abortion laws too.

207 darthstar  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:09:52am

Willie Nelson weighs in on Marriage Equality
Image: 625592_10201097781910098_2146174759_n.jpg

208 Gus  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:11:14am
209 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:11:23am
210 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:12:09am

re: #191 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

211 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:14:14am
212 Joanne  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:14:52am

re: #180 Vicious Babushka

OH NOEZ WEEEERE DOOMED!!!!

Anyone eager to claim that Obama stopped all email metadata collection in 2011 must confront the actual evidence guardian.co.uk

Notice how this went from being able to capture everything you think as you type it to now being meta data.

213 darthstar  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:16:37am
214 Joanne  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:17:52am
215 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:18:05am

TROUBLED HEARTS…

216 piratedan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:18:42am

re: #212 Joanne

if GG was a brand, he’d be up for a discussion with the Consumer Protection Agency for false advertising. I have no intention of buying his product, he’s damaged goods. When you say that you have the STORY OF THE YEAR and find out that you’ve been aiding and abetting a traitor, I think a healthy dose of STFU would be in order, but hey GG still has cards, he’s bought back into the game and he’s doubling down with his pair of threes.

217 Gus  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:19:21am

re: #215 Vicious Babushka

TROUBLED HEARTS…

Is that a new Twitter list? “Troubled hearts.”

218 piratedan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:19:57am

re: #217 Gus

Is that a new Twitter list? “Troubled hearts.”

yeah, troubled hearts, demented minds

219 BigPapa  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:20:11am

Rebranding. Working as well as the Big Tents campaign.

220 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:21:07am

re: #217 Gus

Is that a new Twitter list? “Troubled hearts.”

It’s LNYHBT “Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled” even MOAR DERP than TGDN.

221 Minor_L  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:21:35am

The GOP’s rush to have Roe and Casey overturned tells me one thing: Republicans and Democrats are not the same. It’s so easy for the likes of Greenwald, a male, to sit in his ivory tower and tell me, a female, that Obama (or the next Dem candidate) is worse than Bush and that I should vote for Jill Stein or whatever. He doesn’t have to worry about Supreme Court appointments that could impinge on his reproductive autonomy.

222 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:23:02am

re: #215 Vicious Babushka

“Bush gave us Obama”?

223 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:24:14am

re: #215 Vicious Babushka

Gay Pride in Military

He says that like he thinks it’s a bad thing….

224 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:25:48am

IT WAS JUST SATIRE!!1

225 Gus  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:26:04am

Day 2 of forced gay marriage!!!

226 Bubblehead II  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:26:08am

Looks like Rand Paul is trying to walk back his comments from yesterday.

Rand Paul bestiality comment ‘sarcasm,’ office says.


(CNN) - Sen. Rand Paul’s criticism of Wednesday’s same-sex marriage ruling, which included a rhetorical question about bestiality eventually being made legal, was sarcasm, the Kentucky Republican’s office says.

// Sure it was.

227 blueraven  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:26:25am
228 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:26:41am

re: #226 Bubblehead II

So he was making fun of people like Santorum?

Sure.

229 Bubblehead II  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:27:06am

re: #224 Vicious Babushka

20 seconds difference. Scary.

230 Dr Lizardo  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:27:11am

re: #176 Romantic Heretic

That’s why my favorite war movie is a German one: Stalingrad. It didn’t pull any punches. There were no good guys or bad guys. It had one of the most horrific battle scenes I’ve ever watched.

Note: Don’t watch this if you have a weak stomach.

War is sometimes necessary, but it should never, ever be fun.

Or as my father once told me, “There may come a time in life you may have to kill a man to save your own life. But you should never feel good about it.”

231 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:27:29am
232 GunstarGreen  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:27:48am

You ever notice how it’s always polygamy and then beastiality, in that order, when going for the slippery slope argument?

That’s kinda weird.

233 Bear  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:27:51am

I do not know if I like this. Note that one of the pictures shows the car parked at home not on the street or highway-road. cironline.org

234 Dr. Matt  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:28:07am

re: #225 Gus

Day 2 of forced gay marriage!!!

There won’t be a day 3 because the destruction of America is coming any minute.

235 Targetpractice  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:28:39am

re: #232 GunstarGreen

You ever notice how it’s always polygamy and then beastiality, in that order, when going for the slippery slope argument?

That’s kinda weird.

I’ve had wingnuts add a third ring by going “Polygamy, bestiality, pedophilia.”

236 dragonath  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:28:55am

re: #232 GunstarGreen

Perhaps they’re going for things the base can relate to.

237 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:29:00am

Paul Ryan not “conservative” enough for the “Troubled Hearts”

238 geoffm33  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:29:24am

re: #234 Dr. Matt

There won’t be a day 3 because the destruction of America is coming any minute.

Any minute? Guess I’ll stop waiting by the mailbox for my forced gay marriage partner assignment card.

239 Dr. Matt  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:29:39am

re: #232 GunstarGreen

You ever notice how it’s always polygamy and then beastiality, in that order, when going for the slippery slope argument?

That’s kinda weird.

The political thread on Justice Kennedy has de-evolved into a strawman about polygamy and none of the teatards will answer the simple question: what does gay marriage have to do with polygamy?

240 Dr Lizardo  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:30:05am

re: #221 Minor_L

The GOP’s rush to have Roe and Casey overturned tells me one thing: Republicans and Democrats are not the same. It’s so easy for the likes of Greenwald, a male, to sit in his ivory tower and tell me, a female, that Obama (or the next Dem candidate) is worse than Bush and that I should vote for Jill Stein or whatever. He doesn’t have to worry about Supreme Court appointments that could impinge on his reproductive autonomy.

The GOP’s rush to have Roe and Casey overturned tells me they believe - consciously or not - that time is not on their side.

241 darthstar  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:30:25am
242 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:30:50am

re: #239 Dr. Matt

The political thread on Justice Kennedy has de-evolved into a strawman about polygamy and none of the teatards will answer the simple question: what does gay marriage have to do with polygamy?

Polygamy is sanction in the Bible, why are the wingnuts afraid of it?

243 Dr. Matt  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:30:53am

re: #238 geoffm33

Any minute? Guess I’ll stop waiting by the mailbox for my forced gay marriage partner assignment card.

And I stocked up on ungodly amounts of KY for nothing.

244 Targetpractice  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:31:03am

re: #237 Vicious Babushka

Paul Ryan not “conservative” enough for the “Troubled Hearts”

Immigration reform is claiming victims left and right. Rubio’s pretty much toast, Paul did damage to his brand even though he now says he won’t vote for it, and Ryan is the latest on the chopping block.

245 Joanne  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:32:20am

re: #240 Dr Lizardo

The GOP’s rush to have Roe and Casey overturned tells me they believe - consciously or not - that time is not on their side.

A little time goes a long way to many people suffering…lifetimes for some.

246 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:33:17am

re: #234 Dr. Matt

I’m just worried because noted truth-telling straight-talking Tony Perkins said that “time isn’t on the side of those wanting to redefine marriage”. Tony’s been right about so many things, I can’t help believe he’s knows what he’s talking about here. So it’s only a matter of time until…something.

//

247 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:33:18am

re: #244 Targetpractice

RINOs. All of them. Anyone that strays from that very narrow TP/GOP playbook is automatically branded RINO.

248 dragonath  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:35:15am

Think of this the next time Greenwald talks about Russia.

Airport Official In Russia’s Far East Murdered For Being Gay

249 darthstar  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:35:23am
250 Joanne  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:37:01am

re: #249 darthstar

If you read the blog at wftv.com the racist shit being said about this girl is stunning.

251 darthstar  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:37:40am
252 darthstar  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:38:02am

re: #250 Joanne

If you read the blog at wftv.com the racist shit being said about this girl is stunning.

No interest in giving them clicks.

253 GunstarGreen  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:38:02am

re: #239 Dr. Matt

The political thread on Justice Kennedy has de-evolved into a strawman about polygamy and none of the teatards will answer the simple question: what does gay marriage have to do with polygamy?

Well I can understand — not support, but understand — their line of reasoning. To wit: If we let people marry others of the same sex, we’re broadening the list of ‘what you can legally marry’, so what stops it there?

Their reasoning is flawed, of course, because it doesn’t take into account the legal basics of the situation. For purposes of the law, marriage is more or less a contract of sorts, hence why there’s a process you have to go through to formally recognize or de-recognize it, rather than just saying ‘we’re hitched’ and filling out ‘married’ on your tax forms. And you can’t make contracts with minors. Or non-humans. The basic test to apply is ‘consenting adult human’. Gay marriage doesn’t lead to marrying your dog because you can’t make any other sort of legal contract with your dog either. Nobody can sell a car to a dog.

Now this does get a bit interesting in the case of polygamy, but only in that case. If you can contract with another consenting adult human, why can’t several consenting adult humans form a group contract? Personally, I don’t see many good reasons why not — assuming of course that the ‘consenting adult human’ test is consistently applied. Polygamy traditionally has problems where it’s one man with many wives, several of whom didn’t actually have a full and proper choice in the matter. Polygamy is usually a feature of patriarchal societies that treat women as property and don’t give them much of a say. But I think it could work, so long as ‘consenting adult human’ was applied in every case — in other words, for a three-person polyamorous relationship, it would only be recognized and valid if each of the three consented to be involved with the other two as a unit.

This does of course lead to the remaining issues with polygamy, which would be how to handle disputes when things go wrong. Can one of the trio divorce a single person while remaining wed to the third? What happens to shared property and resources in that case? I think it’s challenging and would require a lot of serious, honest thought to come to a consensus on how to handle it.

254 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:39:27am

re: #247 lawhawk

Ryan gains 2016 GOP nomination.

GOPteabag faithful ecstatic, trumpet Ryan’s long history of severe conservatism.

Ryan loses 2016 general election

GOPteabag faithful lament failure of GOP to run Pure Conservative candidate.

255 Dr Lizardo  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:39:42am

re: #245 Joanne

A little time goes a long way to many people suffering…lifetimes for some.

I know. But I think one of the reasons for a lot of the recent hysteria - for lack of a better term - we’ve seen in the SoCons (especially) is that they recognize time is working against them. The world is changing, and they are frantic to lock their status quo into place before it irrevocably slips away from them.

They can do a hell of a lot of damage before that finally occurs, unfortunately. And they certainly strike me as inclined to blow it all up on the grounds of “if I can’t have _______________ the way I want it, then no one can.” A childish mentality, to be sure.

256 Walking Spanish Down the Hall  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:40:06am

re: #214 Joanne

That rocks!

Those two are your president and vice president 2016.

257 Dr. Matt  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:41:16am

re: #253 GunstarGreen

Well I can understand — not support, but understand — their line of reasoning. To wit: If we let people marry others of the same sex, we’re broadening the list of ‘what you can legally marry’, so what stops it there?

Until there is a movement to legalize polygamy, it’s a strawman. Prop 8 and DOMA both targeted marriage equality/gay marriage. Neither lawsuit against Prop 8 or DOMA were fighting for polygamy. It’s a leap further than the grand canyon to go from marriage equality/gay marriage to polygamy.

258 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:41:39am

re: #250 Joanne

The only racism there is you people pointing out our racism!!

259 Joanne  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:41:50am

re: #252 darthstar

No interest in giving them clicks.

It’s a news site. They are playing the trial live and there is a blog embedded. You’re not giving assholes clicks. The news site/tv news has been pretty even handed on its analysis.

260 Dr. Matt  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:42:59am

re: #250 Joanne

If you read the blog at wftv.com the racist shit being said about this girl is stunning.

wftv targets Brevard county, i.e., ‘Georgia’ of the Florida coast.

261 Minor_L  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:44:30am

re: #257 Dr. Matt

I don’t really care if people practice polygamy, as long as they are consenting adults who have full knowledge of what they’re doing. The problem with polygamy, however, is that many (most?) of those who practice it are forcing the marriages, including to minors, and are doing other awful things along with it (child molestation, incest, etc). I think it ends up that outlawing it is better than trying to regulate it. None of that is true with gay marriage.

262 darthstar  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:45:19am

re: #259 Joanne

It’s a news site. They are playing the trial live and there is a blog embedded. You’re not giving assholes clicks. The news site/tv news has been pretty even handed on its analysis.

Gotcha…

263 darthstar  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:47:05am
264 geoffm33  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:49:05am

Well, one way to get me to drink more water is to eat more Indian food.

265 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:49:39am

re: #263 darthstar

I get what the defense team is trying to do. They’re trying to establish timeline and witness inconsistencies, but this appears to be more antagonistic than it need be and is likely to annoy the jurors (the only opinions here that count).

266 Gus  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:51:14am
…Who are we to say that children born into the worst of circumstances can’t grow to live successful lives?

In fact, even the woman who filibustered the Senate the other day was born into difficult circumstances, the daughter of a single mother and a teenage mother herself. She managed to eventually graduate from Harvard Law School and serve in the Texas Senate.

It’s just unfortunate that she hasn’t learned from her own example: that every life must be given a chance to realize its full potential; that every life is precious…

governor.state.tx.us

267 NJDhockeyfan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:51:36am
268 HappyWarrior  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:53:04am

re: #266 Gus

governor.state.tx.us

God Perry’s a dick.

269 NJDhockeyfan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:53:33am

Ecuador offers U.S. rights aid, waives trade benefits

(Reuters) - Ecuador’s leftist government thumbed its nose at Washington on Thursday by renouncing U.S. trade benefits and offering to pay for human rights training in America in response to pressure over asylum for former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

270 Targetpractice  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:54:24am

re: #265 lawhawk

I get what the defense team is trying to do. They’re trying to establish timeline and witness inconsistencies, but this appears to be more antagonistic than it need be and is likely to annoy the jurors (the only opinions here that count).

That’s my impression, West is belaboring several points in the interest of catching her contradicting herself. What’s telling is what she’s offered up, such as that Trayvon’s mother was in the room when she first spoke to DLR and that testimony was rephrased or omitted to avoid upsetting her, and just in the last half-hour the bit about how she insists Trayvon would have told her if he intended to confront Zimmerman and saw nothing suspect about repeated attempts to contact him going unanswered.

271 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:54:30am

The girl who had the lung transplant after her parents appealed to HSS and UNOS to change the rules (and which did eventually grant an exemption) has had a setback though doctors are optimistic for a long term recovery.

Sarah Murnaghan, the Philadelphia girl who underwent a lung transplant this month after a court battle, struggled after a breathing tube was removed Wednesday, so doctors “sedated and re-intubated” the girl, her mother said through a family representative.

“It’s been an excruciating day. We extubated Sarah and her body could not handle the reduced support,” Janet Ruddock Murnaghan said in a statement issued by a representative. “It was impossibly painful watching her struggle to breath and panic.

“I have cried quite a bit, I just wish everything wasn’t so ridiculously hard for her,” the mother said.

Doctors have assured the family “that this does not change her long-term outcome but just means she needs more time to regain her strength,” the mother said. “One day Sarah will take that first glorious breath and we will celebrate!”

The 10-year-old girl remains on a ventilator and has been unable to talk, but she can nod and shake her head in response to questions, said Tracy Simon, a family spokeswoman, this week.

Before her transplant surgery, Sarah, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, was put in a medically induced coma to allow her body to rest.

It’s heartbreaking for her family, which has done everything possible to get her on the transplant list, and this setback may hopefully be temporary.

But it again highlights the risks of transplants, and just how few people get them because of a lack of donors and that technology hasn’t reached a point where we can either cure CF or create artificial organs like lungs.

272 abolitionist  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:55:11am

re: #267 NJDhockeyfan

Place and Date of Issue: London, 22 June 2013

273 Gus  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:55:19am
274 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:56:18am

re: #269 NJDhockeyfan

Ecuador offers U.S. rights aid, waives trade benefits

I wonder how long he’s going to stay in Ecuador before he gets homesick.

275 NJDhockeyfan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:57:43am

re: #274 Vicious Babushka

I wonder how long he’s going to stay in Ecuador before he gets homesick.

When his bank account runs dry.

276 Bubblehead II  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:57:51am

SCOTUS still pissing off the socons.

Supreme Court Boots Anti-Abortion Law Case Back To Oklahoma Court

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court is sending back to state court a case about an Oklahoma anti-abortion law that bans off-label use of certain abortion-inducing drugs.

277 Weet  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 9:57:53am

re: #180 Vicious Babushka

OH NOEZ WEEEERE DOOMED!!!!
Anyone eager to claim that Obama stopped all email metadata collection in 2011 must confront the actual evidence

I see Greenbeck is not even trying to cover up his yellow journalism now.

278 NJDhockeyfan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:00:05am

Obama won’t ‘wheel and deal’ for NSA leaker Snowden

(CNN) — While saying he is enormously concerned about what secrets self-avowed NSA leaker Edward Snowden may yet spill, President Barack Obama said Thursday he’s not going to take extraordinary measures to capture him.

“I’m not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker,” he told reporters during a news conference in Senegal, his first stop on a tour of several African nations.

Obama also said he hadn’t talked to the leaders of China and Russia about Snowden, in part because he didn’t want to amp the issue into one in which he would have to start “wheeling and dealing” with foreign leaders on other issues in an effort to get Snowden behind bars.

279 engineer cat  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:01:26am

bitchy resting face

some people suffer from talky moron brain

280 Joanne  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:02:10am

re: #260 Dr. Matt

wftv targets Brevard county, i.e., ‘Georgia’ of the Florida coast.

Have you followed them? While their audience might be the conservatives in Brevard, I found the coverage admirable. Not a lot of out there opinions. What do you think?

281 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:03:01am

re: #239 Dr. Matt

The political thread on Justice Kennedy has de-evolved into a strawman about polygamy and none of the teatards will answer the simple question: what does gay marriage have to do with polygamy?

That’s obviously good news for the Romney Campaign.
//

282 Weet  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:03:02am

re: #271 lawhawk

But it again highlights the risks of transplants, and just how few people get them because of a lack of donors and that technology hasn’t reached a point where we can either cure CF or create artificial organs like lungs.

I have not seen it reported anywhere, but lung transplants only last 5 years, on average. My nephew has CF, and we are well acquainted with all of the facts. His goal is to avoid a lung transplant as long as possible.

283 Joanne  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:03:06am

re: #263 darthstar

OMFG! She was fixing her hair! No, she wasn’t fixing her hair! If the bangs don’t flit, you must acquit! #zimmermantrial

That is freaking hysterical!!

284 Joanne  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:04:44am

re: #265 lawhawk

I get what the defense team is trying to do. They’re trying to establish timeline and witness inconsistencies, but this appears to be more antagonistic than it need be and is likely to annoy the jurors (the only opinions here that count).

That’s how I am taking it, but I keep trying to put on my I Don’t Know Anything hat, and stop remembering that a kid is dead for no good reason. No gun, no dead kid. A fight, perhaps one resulting in assault charges, but unlikely that someone would have died.

My hat keeps failing me.

285 Gus  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:06:47am

Ecuador inserting itself into this mess with a stereotypically Latin American response.

286 darthstar  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:07:28am

re: #283 Joanne

That is freaking hysterical!!

Legal counsel in the age of reality TV…fucking pathetic.

287 Interesting Times  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:08:34am
288 Eventual Carrion  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:09:00am

re: #257 Dr. Matt

Until there is a movement to legalize polygamy, it’s a strawman. Prop 8 and DOMA both targeted marriage equality/gay marriage. Neither lawsuit against Prop 8 or DOMA were fighting for polygamy. It’s a leap further than the grand canyon to go from marriage equality/gay marriage to polygamy.

Hell I thought these nutbags wanted to go back to the 1800’s, and polygamy was not illegal then.

289 engineer cat  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:09:23am

zimmerman

ultimately they are trying to put forth the proposition that you can stalk a random pedestrian, confront them while pointing a loaded gun at them, and expect everything to be hunky-dory

i don’t care how good the lawyer is, it ain’t gonna fly

290 engineer cat  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:10:36am

bitchy resting face

i suffer from ‘supervisors-who-are-morons-or-assholes-can-tell-exactly-what-i-think-of-them’ face

i need surgery stat

291 Joanne  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:12:22am

re: #289 engineer cat

zimmerman

ultimately they are trying to put forth the proposition that you can stalk a random pedestrian, confront them while pointing a loaded gun at them, and expect everything to be hunky-dory

i don’t care how good the lawyer is, it ain’t gonna fly

It’s Florida. In a pretty conservative area. The dead kid is black. And the prime witness is young, doesn’t want to be there, is showing aggression by being beat up over stupid shit like hair. She doesn’t speak like a bunch of white women.

I don’t care how bad your lawyer is (and Don West is not a terribly good attorney, IMHO. Disclosure, my ex is a criminal defense atty.) …it’s not a stretch by any means that Zimmerman walks.

292 Interesting Times  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:14:32am

Cue Nelson Ha-ha:


(ya think? Prior to her filibuster, she had only 1100 twitter followers. As of the time I’m typing this, she’s at 102,603)

293 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:15:37am


Drought continues throughout half the country. Pretty much everything West of the Mississippi is in drought conditions from mild to extreme. And this is an ongoing condition for the better part of the last couple of years.

294 NJDhockeyfan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:16:03am

Al-Qaeda Changing Its Ways After Leaks

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence agencies are scrambling to salvage their surveillance of al-Qaida and other terrorists who are working frantically to change how they communicate after a National Security Agency contractor leaked details of two NSA spying programs. It’s an electronic game of cat-and-mouse that could have deadly consequences if a plot is missed or a terrorist operative manages to drop out of sight.

…Two U.S. intelligence officials say members of virtually every terrorist group, including core al-Qaida members, are attempting to change how they communicate, based on what they are reading in the media, to hide from U.S. surveillance. It is the first time intelligence officials have described which groups are reacting to the leaks. The officials spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak about the intelligence matters publicly.

The officials wouldn’t go into details on how they know this, whether it’s terrorists switching email accounts or cellphone providers or adopting new encryption techniques, but a lawmaker briefed on the matter said al-Qaida’s Yemeni offshoot, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, has been among the first to alter how it reaches out to its operatives.

The lawmaker spoke anonymously because he would not, by name, discuss the confidential briefing.

Glenn Greenwald was unavailable for comment.

295 Interesting Times  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:17:33am

Talk about summing up the entire week in one tweet:

296 NJDhockeyfan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:18:26am
297 Political Atheist  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:19:11am

re: #291 Joanne

If any physical evidence at all keeps him out of jail it will be the visible multiple hits the back of his head took on the (alleged) concrete, as compared to the non gunshot injuries on Trayvon.

Missing data-
What injuries did Trayvon have apart from the gunshot? Any? Was anyone’s hands or knuckles bruised from punching? How did the non gunshot injuries compare between the two of them?

298 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:19:39am

DERP
Wow Ann you totally suck.

299 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:20:37am


Not a particularly persuasive argument when the GOP has done everything imaginable to hold back those same low-wage Americans from advancing, by thwarting health care reform (or fixing actual problems with the PPACA rather than tilt at windmills by demanding repeal of everything) or suggesting measurable improvements that would enhance the program. Same with labor laws, workplace safety rules, and environmental rules and regs that affect the health of everyone (but siting of many environmental hazards falls on the economically disadvantaged).

300 darthstar  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:20:38am
301 Walking Spanish Down the Hall  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:20:46am

10 Ways the repeal of DOMA affects traditional marriage.

huffingtonpost.com

302 Targetpractice  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:22:05am

re: #300 darthstar

Indeed, airline tickets to HK, several days in a posh hotel suite, and the ticket to Russia. The last could be on Wikileaks dime, but the first two don’t seem like something that came out of Snowden’s pocket.

303 darthstar  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:22:26am
304 darthstar  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:23:10am

re: #301 Walking Spanish Down the Hall

10 Ways the repeal of DOMA affects traditional marriage.

huffingtonpost.com

BENGHAZI!

305 NJDhockeyfan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:23:27am
306 Ian G.  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:23:48am

re: #189 Gus

Wow. What an absolute moron this guy is.

307 blueraven  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:23:55am

re: #297 Political Atheist

If any physical evidence at all keeps him out of jail it will be the visible multiple hits the back of his head took on the (alleged) concrete, as compared to the non gunshot injuries on Trayvon.

Missing data-
What injuries did Trayvon have apart from the gunshot? Any? Was anyone’s hands or knuckles bruised from punching? How did the non gunshot injuries compare between the two of them?

According to the autopsy, Martin had no injuries or swelling to his hands.

308 darthstar  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:24:04am

re: #302 Targetpractice

Indeed, airline tickets to HK, several days in a posh hotel suite, and the ticket to Russia. The last could be on Wikileaks dime, but the first two don’t seem like something that came out of Snowden’s pocket.

I read somewhere that he was actually staying in a “safe house” in Hong Kong…Chinese or Russian, I don’t know.

309 NJDhockeyfan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:24:08am

Heh.

310 Joanne  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:24:18am

re: #297 Political Atheist

If any physical evidence at all keeps him out of jail it will be the visible multiple hits the back of his head took on the (alleged) concrete, as compared to the non gunshot injuries on Trayvon.

Missing data-
What injuries did Trayvon have apart from the gunshot? Any? Was anyone’s hands or knuckles bruised from punching? How did the non gunshot injuries compare between the two of them?

Read this last night concerning how Zimmerman might have gotten those injuries. I don’t know if it is true, but those wounds on his head in no way say cement.

I didn’t catch most of the crime scene tech’s testimony as I was on a conf call, so I don’t know if they even brought up Trayvon’s hands. Nor did the prosecution mention how little damage there was to Zimmerman who was in fear for his life.

311 darthstar  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:24:25am

re: #305 NJDhockeyfan

I hope he gets Zimmerman’s lawyer.

312 Joanne  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:24:37am

re: #298 Vicious Babushka

DERP
Wow Ann you totally suck.

But minimum wage? SOCIALISM!!

313 Ian G.  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:24:55am

re: #305 NJDhockeyfan

Not saying Tsarnaev should spend the rest of his life anywhere but prison, but what the hell is up with the “weapons of mass destruction” charge? A crude bomb in a pressure cooker is the same thing as sarin gas or anthrax?

314 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:24:56am

re: #302 Targetpractice

Indeed, airline tickets to HK, several days in a posh hotel suite, and the ticket to Russia. The last could be on Wikileaks dime, but the first two don’t seem like something that came out of Snowden’s pocket.

If he worked at Booz Allen for 3 months for $62/hr he would have some nice cash to play around with.

315 Targetpractice  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:25:52am

re: #314 Vicious Babushka

If he worked at Booz Allen for 3 months for $62/hr he would have some nice cash to play around with.

Guess that would explain why the people owning the house he and his girlfriend were living in wanted them out so they could sell the place.

316 NJDhockeyfan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:31:03am
317 Joanne  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:32:38am

re: #308 darthstar

I read somewhere that he was actually staying in a “safe house” in Hong Kong…Chinese or Russian, I don’t know.

Snowden not staying at the airport “Capsule” hotel. Maybe he is staying in a Sleep Box at the airport.

Where’s Waldo continues.

318 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:33:06am

re: #301 Walking Spanish Down the Hall

Some of those reasons are pretty attractive ones.

319 lawhawk  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:33:39am

re: #313 Ian G.

Not saying Tsarnaev should spend the rest of his life anywhere but prison, but what the hell is up with the “weapons of mass destruction” charge? A crude bomb in a pressure cooker is the same thing as sarin gas or anthrax?

I’ve covered this elsewhere, but the short answer is that federal law dealing with explosives and terror related crimes expands the definition of WMD to include conventional explosives, as well as what conventional wisdom considers WMD - chemical, biological, or nuclear.

320 blueraven  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:33:46am

re: #307 blueraven

According to the autopsy, Martin had no injuries or swelling to his hands.

Actually I take that back…he did have one very small (1/4 x 1/8”) abrasion to the left hand.

hlntv.com

321 Bulworth  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:34:01am

re: #299 lawhawk

hope to provide its own low-income citizens w/ lives of dignity or economic security.

Hahahahahahahahhahahahahha

That was a good one, Ann. //

322 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:34:41am

re: #297 Political Atheist

If any physical evidence at all keeps him out of jail it will be the visible multiple hits the back of his head took on the (alleged) concrete, as compared to the non gunshot injuries on Trayvon.

Missing data-
What injuries did Trayvon have apart from the gunshot? Any? Was anyone’s hands or knuckles bruised from punching? How did the non gunshot injuries compare between the two of them?

Trayvon’s hands are unscathed, with no marks of any significance on them. They are not hands that delivered 20 or 30 punches as Zimmerman claimed. And if Zimmerman’s head had been smacked into the concrete hard there’d be contusions. There aren’t.

What has really shocked me is that Zimmerman referred to Trayvon as a ‘punk’ even after he’d killed him.

323 Whack-A-Mole  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:36:28am

re: #295 Interesting Times

The tweet is right I think. The GOP is dying and that’s not a good thing. We need a functional second party to act as a counterweight to excess by the other.

I think that we outside of the conservative movement need to start highlighting the sane Republicans, giving them positive press, and empowering them. We need to help the voters who don’t follow politics that closely see that those are politicians worth voting for.

In all reality, those red districts are going to (for the most part), stay red no matter what, at least in the short term. It would be so much better to have it be a sane red than a batshit-crazy shade.

324 Weet  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:37:27am

re: #307 blueraven

According to the autopsy, Martin had no injuries or swelling to his hands.

The DNA evidence will be big, IMO. There is none of Zimmerman’s DNA on Martin’s hands, yet Zimmerman claims that he was punches 25 to 30 times by Martin. And you are right, no scrapes, bruises, swelling — nothing on Martin’s hands. (I’m not paying attention to the trial other than what’s posted here, but I did see a lengthy article weeks back about the DNA evidence.)

325 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:40:08am

re: #324 Weet

Also, all of the physical evidence was found on the grass— the phone, the shell casing, and the flashlight. Near the walkway, but not on it.

326 piratedan  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 10:47:27am

re: #298 Vicious Babushka

DERP
Wow Ann you totally suck.

when has the GOP given a fuck about low wage workers? ever? other than as a source of cheap labor.

327 CarleeCork  Thu, Jun 27, 2013 11:01:40am

re: #205 piratedan

think Gov. Goodhair needs a new nickname, how does Gov. Reprehensible Fuck sound?

I’ve been using Prick Perry.


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