Friday, July 26, 2013
Left Side of the Aisle #118
Left Side of the Aisle
for the week of July 25-31, 2013
This week:
Good news: Westboro Baptist Church gets satirized
http://www.thegauntlet.com/article/28311/The-Satanic-Temple-Performs-Same-Sex-Ceremony-At-Westboro-Baptist-Church-Leaders-Family-Gravesite
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/18/pink-mass-westboro-baptist-church-gay-satanists_n_3616642.html
http://www.vice.com/read/satanists-turned-the-founder-of-the-westboro-baptist-churchs-mom-gay
Good news: North Dakota anti-choice law blocked
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/22/north-dakota-abortion-ban_n_3635386.html
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/9053416/#.Ue_u6G1nB6I
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=201429
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/23/brian-nieves_n_3640587.html
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/06/24/2201171/texas-legislator-claims-rape-kits-are-a-form-of-abortion/
Good news: landmark sex discrimination decision in NJ Supreme Court
http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2013/07/22/male-ups-worker-calls-out-sexism-lawsuit/
Good news: medical marijuana comes to New Hampshire
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/23/new-hampshire-medical-marijuana_n_3641365.html
Clown Award: Rep. Steve King of Iowa
http://dreamact.info/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/19/steve-king-univision_n_3623695.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/19/steve-king-univision_n_3626086.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/24/steve-king-immigrants_n_3643879.html
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/king-norquist-attacks-immigration/2013/07/18/id/515882
Outrage of the Week: McDonald's impossible "budget" for low-wage workers
http://www.alternet.org/mcdonalds-budget-employees-get-second-job-turn-your-heat
http://lowpayisnotok.org/mcdonalds/
http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/mcdonalds/documents/McD_Journal2.pdf
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/12/12/1322231/mcdonalds-worker-one-million-hours/
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-12/mcdonald-s-8-25-man-and-8-75-million-ceo-shows-pay-gap.html
The little thing: USC "reviewing" its policies on sexual violence on campus - 41 years after Title IX enacted
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/22/usc-rape-investigation_n_3607954.html
http://www.dol.gov/oasam/regs/statutes/titleix.htm
Guns: Gun nuts protest memorial for the dead at Aurora
http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/martharosenberg/gun-lovers-will-torment-bereaved-colorado-memorial-service
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/20/colorado-aurora-shootings_n_3627813.html
http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/20/aurora-theater-shooting-memorial-attracts-strange-bedfellows/#ixzz2ZzjlK7m5
http://www.theblogmocracy.com/2013/07/20/aurora-no-more-names-protest/
That Rolling Stone cover
Friday, July 19, 2013
Weekly reminder
As of July 17, at least 6,246 people had been killed by gunfire in the US since Newtown, at least 65 of them in Massachusetts.
Left Side of the Aisle #117 - Part 7
Update: Texas passes new abortion restrictions
A couple of weeks ago, I gave a Hero Award to Texas state Senator Wendy Davis for her 11-hour filibuster of a special legislative session that prevented passage of new, more severe, restrictions on abortion in the state, including banning abortions after 20 weeks and imposing new requirements that would force most abortion clinics in the state to close down.
I also noted that Gov. Rick "Oops" Perry had already said he was going to call another special session to ram through his bill.
Well, he did, and despite the best efforts of opponents, opponents that, significantly but unimportantly to the wackos, included the Texas Medical Association, the Texas Hospital Association, and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, that bill has passed.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/13/texas-senate-abortion-bill_n_3587745.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/12/tampons-confiscated-texas_n_3588177.html
A couple of weeks ago, I gave a Hero Award to Texas state Senator Wendy Davis for her 11-hour filibuster of a special legislative session that prevented passage of new, more severe, restrictions on abortion in the state, including banning abortions after 20 weeks and imposing new requirements that would force most abortion clinics in the state to close down.I also noted that Gov. Rick "Oops" Perry had already said he was going to call another special session to ram through his bill.
Well, he did, and despite the best efforts of opponents, opponents that, significantly but unimportantly to the wackos, included the Texas Medical Association, the Texas Hospital Association, and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, that bill has passed.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/13/texas-senate-abortion-bill_n_3587745.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/12/tampons-confiscated-texas_n_3588177.html
Left Side of the Aisle #117 - Part 6
Update: Egypt
On another front, I said last week that people power does not always produce justice. Egypt continues to show that, as the military-controlled government continues to clamp down on dissent.
The public prosecutor has ordered the arrest of seven senior Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist figures over violence between Brotherhood supporters and opponents in the days before and after Mohamed Mursi was deposed as president.
The latest charges accuse them of "inciting violence, funding violent acts, and thuggery."
Now, the new cabinet in Egypt has been sworn in. It's comprised of what are called "relative liberals," but what that means in the context of Egypt is not immediately clear except that they are acceptable to the military. The Islamists who were elected last year shut out entirely.
Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood continues to protest. Like I said last week, watch this space.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/15/egypt-muslim-brotherhood-leaders-arrest_n_3599047.html
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/16/19500526-egypt-swears-in-new-liberal-cabinet-shutting-out-islamist-parties?lite
On another front, I said last week that people power does not always produce justice. Egypt continues to show that, as the military-controlled government continues to clamp down on dissent.The public prosecutor has ordered the arrest of seven senior Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist figures over violence between Brotherhood supporters and opponents in the days before and after Mohamed Mursi was deposed as president.
The latest charges accuse them of "inciting violence, funding violent acts, and thuggery."
Now, the new cabinet in Egypt has been sworn in. It's comprised of what are called "relative liberals," but what that means in the context of Egypt is not immediately clear except that they are acceptable to the military. The Islamists who were elected last year shut out entirely.
Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood continues to protest. Like I said last week, watch this space.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/15/egypt-muslim-brotherhood-leaders-arrest_n_3599047.html
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/16/19500526-egypt-swears-in-new-liberal-cabinet-shutting-out-islamist-parties?lite
Left Side of the Aisle #117 - Part 5
Update: Moral Monday
We've got a few updates on things we've talked about here before.
Last week, I mentioned the Moral Monday protests in North Carolina. They are still going on. This week, that is, July 15, more than 100 protesters, two-thirds of them women, were arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience in the 11th consecutive weekly rally. Over 800 have been arrested for civil disobedience so far.
This week, the turnout was partly prompted by another right wing attempt to restrict abortion rights. I mentioned last week that the GOPpers had with neither notice nor debate attached such restrictions to an "anti-Sharia law" bill; this week they did it again to a bill about motorcycle safety.
Gov. Pat McCrory has said he'll sign it despite a campaign promise to oppose any new abortion restrictions.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/16/moral-monday-protests_n_3604046.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/12/pat-mccrory-motorcycle-abortion-bill_n_3588466.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/11/north-carolina-motorcycle-abortion_n_3582006.html
We've got a few updates on things we've talked about here before.Last week, I mentioned the Moral Monday protests in North Carolina. They are still going on. This week, that is, July 15, more than 100 protesters, two-thirds of them women, were arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience in the 11th consecutive weekly rally. Over 800 have been arrested for civil disobedience so far.
This week, the turnout was partly prompted by another right wing attempt to restrict abortion rights. I mentioned last week that the GOPpers had with neither notice nor debate attached such restrictions to an "anti-Sharia law" bill; this week they did it again to a bill about motorcycle safety.
Gov. Pat McCrory has said he'll sign it despite a campaign promise to oppose any new abortion restrictions.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/16/moral-monday-protests_n_3604046.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/12/pat-mccrory-motorcycle-abortion-bill_n_3588466.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/11/north-carolina-motorcycle-abortion_n_3582006.html
Left Side of the Aisle #117 - Part 4
Some news on same-sex marriage
Indiana officials are making a big point of saying that it's a felony in the state to submit false information on a marriage license application.
Because the applications include the designations “male applicant” and “female applicant,” no same-sex couple could truthfully fill out the form, and some folks - including me - suspect that the state is trying to head off suits challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage. You see, such suits are often initiated by filing for a marriage license and being denied - and by raising the possibility of three years in prison for filing a "fraudulent" license application, the state may be hoping to intimidate couples into backing off from a challenge.
The fact that this is happening at the same time that the right-wing-dominated legislature is trying to get a bill through to put a "marriage is one man-one woman" amendment to the state constitution on the November 2014 ballot adds to the suspicion, since the anti-justice forces may be thinking they don't need to stop a suit, just forestall it in the hope that the amendment will pass because striking down an amendment would be far harder than striking down a law.
That may work, it may not: The Prop8 case only directly affects California because the Supreme Court did not decide the case but rather let the Appeals Court ruling stand. But the original trial judge's findings of fact and opinion found that constitutional bans against same-sex marriage violate the US Constitution and Prop8 lawyer David Boies has argued that this ruling now applies nationwide.
Recent polls say a majority of Hoosiers oppose the proposed constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage and civil unions, but such majorities have faded before in the face of the fear-mongers, so watch this space.
On a happier note, the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage – and Pennsylvania state Attorney General Kathleen Kane has announced that she won’t be defending the law.
Kane cited the Pennsylvania Constitution’s ban against discrimination and said, “It is now the time here in Pennsylvania to end another wave of discrimination.”
The governor and other right wingers in the state are of course furious with Kane, but she argues in response that if she is convinced that a law is unconstitutional under either the state or the federal constitution, she is bound by ethical standards to not defend it.
The ACLU is filing similar lawsuits in North Carolina and Virginia, and plans to do so in more states soon.
Finally, on the best news here, British lawmakers have passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in England and Wales. It only requires the signature of the Queen, which is really a formality and could happen by the end of the week.
The first same-sex weddings are expected to take place by next summer.
Sources:
http://www.care2.com/causes/in-indiana-applying-for-a-gay-marriage-license-is-a-felony.html
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/penalties-await-gay-couples-trying-to-marry-in-indiana/article_3cca22e7-9915-5d26-b0b2-3980aa91afaa.html
http://www.care2.com/causes/pennsylvania-ag-refuses-to-defend-states-gay-marriage-ban.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/07/11/sources-pa-attorney-general-wont-defend-states-gay-marriage-ban/
http://www.aclupa.org/pressroom/aclupaacluandhangleyaronch.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/07/16/britain-same-sex-marriage-legalized/2522911/
http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-britain-gay-marriage,0,7549767.story
Indiana officials are making a big point of saying that it's a felony in the state to submit false information on a marriage license application.Because the applications include the designations “male applicant” and “female applicant,” no same-sex couple could truthfully fill out the form, and some folks - including me - suspect that the state is trying to head off suits challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage. You see, such suits are often initiated by filing for a marriage license and being denied - and by raising the possibility of three years in prison for filing a "fraudulent" license application, the state may be hoping to intimidate couples into backing off from a challenge.
The fact that this is happening at the same time that the right-wing-dominated legislature is trying to get a bill through to put a "marriage is one man-one woman" amendment to the state constitution on the November 2014 ballot adds to the suspicion, since the anti-justice forces may be thinking they don't need to stop a suit, just forestall it in the hope that the amendment will pass because striking down an amendment would be far harder than striking down a law.
That may work, it may not: The Prop8 case only directly affects California because the Supreme Court did not decide the case but rather let the Appeals Court ruling stand. But the original trial judge's findings of fact and opinion found that constitutional bans against same-sex marriage violate the US Constitution and Prop8 lawyer David Boies has argued that this ruling now applies nationwide.
Recent polls say a majority of Hoosiers oppose the proposed constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage and civil unions, but such majorities have faded before in the face of the fear-mongers, so watch this space.
On a happier note, the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage – and Pennsylvania state Attorney General Kathleen Kane has announced that she won’t be defending the law.
Kane cited the Pennsylvania Constitution’s ban against discrimination and said, “It is now the time here in Pennsylvania to end another wave of discrimination.”
The governor and other right wingers in the state are of course furious with Kane, but she argues in response that if she is convinced that a law is unconstitutional under either the state or the federal constitution, she is bound by ethical standards to not defend it.
The ACLU is filing similar lawsuits in North Carolina and Virginia, and plans to do so in more states soon.
Finally, on the best news here, British lawmakers have passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in England and Wales. It only requires the signature of the Queen, which is really a formality and could happen by the end of the week.
The first same-sex weddings are expected to take place by next summer.
Sources:
http://www.care2.com/causes/in-indiana-applying-for-a-gay-marriage-license-is-a-felony.html
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/penalties-await-gay-couples-trying-to-marry-in-indiana/article_3cca22e7-9915-5d26-b0b2-3980aa91afaa.html
http://www.care2.com/causes/pennsylvania-ag-refuses-to-defend-states-gay-marriage-ban.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/07/11/sources-pa-attorney-general-wont-defend-states-gay-marriage-ban/
http://www.aclupa.org/pressroom/aclupaacluandhangleyaronch.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/07/16/britain-same-sex-marriage-legalized/2522911/
http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-britain-gay-marriage,0,7549767.story
Left Side of the Aisle #117 - Part 3
Outrage of the Week: Faux News spreads racial fears
The Outrage of the Week this week comes from one of our regular sources, Fox News.
So Fox News - or Faux News, as they would properly be called - wanted to have someone on to comment on Zimmerman's acquittal. So who did they pick? A notorious race-baiting right-wing conspiracy-monger named J. Christian Adams. This nutjob was the one who claimed that the DOJ dropped voter intimidation charges dating from an incident in 2008 against two members of the New Black Panther Party because of the "radical racial agenda" of the Obama administration and not because of the actual fact that there was no evidence anyone was intimidated.
But Fox has never given up harping on the New Black Panthers, regarding them as a convenient tool to stir racial fears - even though the group is a fringe of a fringe and seems to consist mostly of a relative handful of guys with baseball bats and a leather fetish.
So you can guess what happened here. Adams not only charged that the NAACP has "teamed up with" the New Black Panthers because the NAACP has called for the DOJ to prosecute Zimmerman, he insisted that the New Black Panthers "were the spark behind" the investigation into Trayvon Martin's death, that the whole thing only happened because the New Black Panthers "went down there and threatened people" and "the Justice Department responded to their demands."
Faux News host Steve Doofus then wondered aloud why "the Department of Justice is taking their marching orders from the New Black Panther Party" before Adams renewed his old claim of "a radical racial agenda" on the part of Attorney General Eric Holder.
At a time when you would think racial tensions might be a little higher than usual as the African-American communities of America watch as the killer of another young black man walks away free, at a time when those communities are being told that they are the ones who must show restraint, they are the ones who must remain calm, they are the ones who must control their emotions, that they are the ones, in short, who have to suck it up, Faux News is about the business - its usual business - of stoking racial fears.
It is foul, it is disgusting, it is evil - and it is an outrage.
Sources:
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/fox-new-black-panthers-were-spark-behind-z
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/07/15/fox-promotes-conspiracy-theory-that-new-black-p/194873
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/some-odd-reason-fox-goes-silent-abou
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2000/fall/snarling-at-the-white-man
The Outrage of the Week this week comes from one of our regular sources, Fox News.So Fox News - or Faux News, as they would properly be called - wanted to have someone on to comment on Zimmerman's acquittal. So who did they pick? A notorious race-baiting right-wing conspiracy-monger named J. Christian Adams. This nutjob was the one who claimed that the DOJ dropped voter intimidation charges dating from an incident in 2008 against two members of the New Black Panther Party because of the "radical racial agenda" of the Obama administration and not because of the actual fact that there was no evidence anyone was intimidated.
But Fox has never given up harping on the New Black Panthers, regarding them as a convenient tool to stir racial fears - even though the group is a fringe of a fringe and seems to consist mostly of a relative handful of guys with baseball bats and a leather fetish.
So you can guess what happened here. Adams not only charged that the NAACP has "teamed up with" the New Black Panthers because the NAACP has called for the DOJ to prosecute Zimmerman, he insisted that the New Black Panthers "were the spark behind" the investigation into Trayvon Martin's death, that the whole thing only happened because the New Black Panthers "went down there and threatened people" and "the Justice Department responded to their demands."
Faux News host Steve Doofus then wondered aloud why "the Department of Justice is taking their marching orders from the New Black Panther Party" before Adams renewed his old claim of "a radical racial agenda" on the part of Attorney General Eric Holder.
At a time when you would think racial tensions might be a little higher than usual as the African-American communities of America watch as the killer of another young black man walks away free, at a time when those communities are being told that they are the ones who must show restraint, they are the ones who must remain calm, they are the ones who must control their emotions, that they are the ones, in short, who have to suck it up, Faux News is about the business - its usual business - of stoking racial fears.
It is foul, it is disgusting, it is evil - and it is an outrage.
Sources:
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/fox-new-black-panthers-were-spark-behind-z
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/07/15/fox-promotes-conspiracy-theory-that-new-black-p/194873
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/some-odd-reason-fox-goes-silent-abou
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2000/fall/snarling-at-the-white-man
Left Side of the Aisle #117 - Part 2
Clown Award: Juror B37
Now for the Clown Award, given as always for acts of meritorious stupidity.
The big red nose this week goes to juror B37 in the George Zimmerman trial, the woman who went on TV and declared how she wanted to acquit Zimmerman from the get-go because "his heart was in the right place” and who planned to do a tell-all book about the trial until even she had to admit that was too tacky.
“I think George Zimmerman is a man whose heart was in the right place, but just got displaced by the vandalism in the neighborhood and wanting to catch these people so badly,” she said. He was just a good boy who made an honest little mistake because he just cared so much.
None of it was his fault. Even though the police dispatcher told Zimmerman not to keep following Martin, the dispatcher actually “kind of egged him on,” according to B37.
What's more, she declared that Martin probably threw the first punch, that "he got mad and attacked him," that is, Zimmerman. Which she maintained despite already having said “Nobody knows exactly what happened.” That is, nobody knows but it was all Trayvon Martin's fault, that Trayvon Martin “played a huge role in his death.” That is, it was his own fault that he got killed. Apparently, it was George Zimmerman and not Trayvon Martin was the one just walking home with a can of iced tea and a pack of Skittles.
Oh, and by the way, race had absolutely nothing to do with any of it, she insisted. Nosiree. Whoever it was - "Spanish, white, Asian" - then Zimmerman "would have reacted the same way.”
As for the gun, she said “I think it’s everybody’s right to carry a gun as long as you are responsible and use it the way you should be using it” - which, apparently, in her mind is just what George Zimmerman did.
She was far enough out there that four of the other jurors issued a statement bashing her for, they said, leading the country to believe she spoke for the whole group. Her opinions, they said, were "not in any way representative" of theirs.
The acquittal of George Zimmerman, as ethically and morally outrageous as it is, may have been legally necessary due to the twisted nature of Florida's laws. But to turn this into "poor George," to turn the stalker, to turn the shooter, into the good boy with the good heart victimized by an attacker, is the act of a complete clown.
Sources:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/07/george-zimmerman-juror-says-his-heart-was-in-the-right-place/
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/juror-b37-drops-trayvon-case-book-pitch-article-1.1400096
Now for the Clown Award, given as always for acts of meritorious stupidity.The big red nose this week goes to juror B37 in the George Zimmerman trial, the woman who went on TV and declared how she wanted to acquit Zimmerman from the get-go because "his heart was in the right place” and who planned to do a tell-all book about the trial until even she had to admit that was too tacky.
“I think George Zimmerman is a man whose heart was in the right place, but just got displaced by the vandalism in the neighborhood and wanting to catch these people so badly,” she said. He was just a good boy who made an honest little mistake because he just cared so much.
None of it was his fault. Even though the police dispatcher told Zimmerman not to keep following Martin, the dispatcher actually “kind of egged him on,” according to B37.
What's more, she declared that Martin probably threw the first punch, that "he got mad and attacked him," that is, Zimmerman. Which she maintained despite already having said “Nobody knows exactly what happened.” That is, nobody knows but it was all Trayvon Martin's fault, that Trayvon Martin “played a huge role in his death.” That is, it was his own fault that he got killed. Apparently, it was George Zimmerman and not Trayvon Martin was the one just walking home with a can of iced tea and a pack of Skittles.
Oh, and by the way, race had absolutely nothing to do with any of it, she insisted. Nosiree. Whoever it was - "Spanish, white, Asian" - then Zimmerman "would have reacted the same way.”
As for the gun, she said “I think it’s everybody’s right to carry a gun as long as you are responsible and use it the way you should be using it” - which, apparently, in her mind is just what George Zimmerman did.
She was far enough out there that four of the other jurors issued a statement bashing her for, they said, leading the country to believe she spoke for the whole group. Her opinions, they said, were "not in any way representative" of theirs.
The acquittal of George Zimmerman, as ethically and morally outrageous as it is, may have been legally necessary due to the twisted nature of Florida's laws. But to turn this into "poor George," to turn the stalker, to turn the shooter, into the good boy with the good heart victimized by an attacker, is the act of a complete clown.
Sources:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/07/george-zimmerman-juror-says-his-heart-was-in-the-right-place/
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/juror-b37-drops-trayvon-case-book-pitch-article-1.1400096
Left Side of the Aisle #117 - Part 1
On the George Zimmerman verdict
I have to talk about the trial of George Zimmerman. Of course I do. You knew I would. But I've been finding this hard to do, to organize what I want to say, because there is so much I want to say and I can't find a cohesive way to go from a to b to c and so on.
So instead of that, I'll start with my bottom-line assessment of the verdict: George Zimmerman got away with murder. Or, if you want to be legally technical, what I say he really got away with was manslaughter: the reckless, unnecessary, unjustifiable killing of a human being.
Unfortunately, it appears that in Florida you can do that. At least, if your victim is black and you can claim you were just so terrified, so threatened, by the overwhelming power of an unarmed black teenager that you had to kill him to save your own life.
That's true even if you are the one following him because you think they're "suspicious" and "on drugs or something." That's true even if you continue to follow him because "these assholes always get away" even after the police dispatcher tells you not to. That's true even if, according to your own statements, when confronted you don't identify yourself, you don't say anything about the Neighborhood Watch, you just demand "What are you doing?" Because if any kind of scuffle ensues, and if at any moment you think you are losing that fight, if you fear harm, you can just pull out your gun and blow him away.
In Florida, that, apparently, is legal, and several legal analysts have said the jury had "no choice" but to acquit given the sick nature of Florida's laws - especially after the judge refused to clarify her muddled explanation of manslaughter. As John Oliver said on the Daily Show, the real outrage here was not that the system was broken but that the system worked - that it intended for George Zimmerman to walk free.
And now, Justice Department officials say that Zimmerman is unlikely to face federal civil rights charges because it would be difficult to prove he acted out of racial bias, which would be necessary to get a conviction.
I don't know to talk about that. I also don't know how to talk about a system that never took the matter seriously until public outcry made them have to do something. Do not forget that initially, police took at face value Zimmerman's claim of self-defense. The cops drug-tested the dead victim but not the live shooter. They did a background check on the dead victim but not on the live shooter. Instead, they let the live shooter walk free without charge, without arrest.
How do you talk about that? How do you talk about a system so ethically corrupt, so astonishingly amoral, so rigged in favor of the killer over the killed?
But as is often true in cases such as this - and there have been so many others, from Oscar Grant in Oakland to Kimani Gray in Brooklyn to Wendell Allen in New Orleans to Terrance Franklin in Minneapolis, and countless others - what is often true is that the details of the particular case are less revealing than the reactions.
There were, for example, numerous attempts to smear Trayvon Martin as "a thug" - in fact one cop called him "a thug who deserved to die" - and a drug dealer with a history of violence, all based pretty much on vapor. There were menacing pictures of him, increasingly menacing pictures, some of them so menacing that they weren't even him. All of it intended to whitewash the crime, intended to make it okay for Trayvon Martin to be dead, intended to make it okay for George Zimmerman to have shot him - because in too many minds it couldn't have been wrong for him to have killed a black kid.
In the wake of the verdict, the right-wingers and other assorted bigots were alight with joy - except that, perversely (well, not actually), they seemed disturbed, even disappointed, that riots had not broken out in minority neighborhoods across the country. That reaction, too, is revealing, more revealing than the actual case.
So right now, I'm not talking about George Zimmerman, in fact at this point I don't even care about George Zimmerman. There are a lot of indications that George Zimmerman is a racist, including a long history of calling police to complain about "suspicious" African-Americans - but even if he's not, it doesn't matter. That broader reaction still matters and it still shows our society and it still shows it in a very unhappy light.
We are a society suffused with racism, infused with racism, infected with racism, a society in which a young black man - and yes, Zimmerman described Martin as black - is "suspicious" simply by virtue of being a young black man. More, not just "young" and not just "man." Black bodies - simply by virtue of being black - are associated with behavior and actions that are deemed threatening, regardless of what they actually do.
Consider the case of 14-year-old Tremaine McMillan, who on May 30 was slammed to the ground and choked by two Miami-Dade Police officers because they claim the teen gave them a “dehumanizing stare” and "clenched his fists," which they say created "an immediate threat" which they had to "neutralize." Two grown men, two armed cops, so threatened by a 14-year-old child giving them a dirty look that they had "no choice" but to slam him down and choke him until he urinated on himself.
Children, men, women, all regarded with suspicion and fear because of their color, their very bodies a mark against them.
You want an example? Last year, John Derbyshire, writing in the National Review, described "the talk" he would have with his children about dealing with black people. Among his bits of advice, beyond saying that the average black person is much less intelligent than the average white person, were these:
- Avoid concentrations of blacks not all known to you personally.
- Stay out of heavily black neighborhoods.
- Do not attend events likely to draw a lot of blacks.
- If you are a public event at which the number of blacks suddenly swells, leave as quickly as possible.
- Do not settle in a district or municipality run by black politicians.
- Do not act the Good Samaritan to blacks in apparent distress.
- If accosted by a strange black in the street, smile and say something polite but keep moving.
To be black is to be suspected, to be dangerous.
That's certainly the attitude in New York City, with its infamous "stop and frisk" policy. Under Mayor Mike "The billionaire" Bloomberg, there have been over 5 million stop-and-frisks, over 86 percent of them on black or Latino individuals. To stop a person lawfully, a cop must have reasonable suspicion that the person has committed, is committing or is about to commit a crime. Despite that, 88 percent of the stops did not result in an arrest or summons, and of course an even smaller proportion ever lead to a conviction. Which means that the cops, who are supposed to be suspecting a crime, were wrong over 90% of the time.
But none of that matters to Bloomberg or Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, who insist that "nobody racially profiles" and in fact, Blooming-idiot said, "I think we disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little."
Black and Latino males aged 14 to 24 made up less than 5% of New York's population in 2011, but made up nearly 42% of those stopped and frisked. But nobody racially profiles in New York. Of course.
Which moves me toward another point: Consider the case of Henry Louis Gates. You remember that one. Gates had to force his way into his house. The police got a call. A cop went to investigate. He confronted Gates. At some point Gates produced ID to show that he was in his own home. None of that was in dispute.
What also happened, though, was that there was some kind of argument between the two, as the result of which Gates was arrested on the classic bogus "disturbing the peace" charge, an arrest that happened because, as everyone seems to agree, Gates mouthed off to the cop, who took his cheap revenge.
And again, we have the revealing reaction: In a surprising number of comments on the matter, Gates was criticized as foolish or as blundering or making "a rookie mistake" by arguing with the cop. "Everybody knows you don't do that," we were told, it's "unwise," it "just gets you into trouble." it is "crazy" to defy a cop.
That is, black people are supposed to approach every encounter with police thinking that this person, this cop, is prepared to abuse their authority, to violate the law, to violate their rights, perhaps even to go off the deep end and turn violent - so they must maintain the right "attitude," they must be respectful, passive, obedient, subservient, they are supposed to act like serfs on the feudal estate, shuffling their feet, tugging at their forelocks, casting their eyes downward in the presence of the lord of the manor, even if they themselves are a highly-respected tenured professor in their own home.
Because to do otherwise, to act otherwise, is "crazy." And there are enough dead black people with police bullets in them to justify the claim. Because if you are black, you are a suspect, you are dangerous, you are a threat - and so in every encounter you must be more than innocent, more than harmless, you must instead be less of a person, you must shrink and become smaller, lesser, than you are. And you are simply supposed to accept that, to say that's the way it is, for your own safety - because, in fact, that's the way it is.
You want to know how it is? I'll show you how it is. Look at the graph. I have to explain this to you. Research was done to see if there was a measurable impact in court cases made by stand your ground laws. That's what the graph is about but it shows something else quite clearly. Understand: The standard used was the acquittal rate for self-defense claims in white-on-white violence, that is, cases where a white person was charged with killing another white person. These are in comparison to that.
So what does it say? First, if it's a case of a black person killing a black person, a self-defense claim is about 25% less likely to succeed than in a case of a white killing a white. If it's a black killing a white, a self-defense claim is about 75% less likely to succeed. But if it's a white person accused of killing a black person, a claim of self-defense is nearly two and a-half times more likely to succeed than if the victim was white - and if you invoke stand your ground, you are three and a-half times more likely to get off. Black lives matter less than white lives; black victims matter less than white victims.
As Paul Campos wrote at Salon,
Our record on this is a shameful one. It may not be the worst, it may not even be all that bad compared to some other nations. That doesn't change the fact that it is shameful.
So I don't want to hear a single breath, a single hint, a single whisper, they we are are a "post-racial society." Anyone who says that to you is lying, either to you or to themselves, I don't know which. But the fact is that we are suffused with racism along with sexism and homophobia - we are steeped in our bigotry until it penetrates our souls.
Yes, it's getting better. Yes, it has been worse in the past. Yes, we can see an impact, we can see how bigotry now is usually expressed more with a wink and a nod, with dog whistles, not with overt filth of the old sort.
But if you as an adult sitting there reading this think, if you want to argue to me that racism has nothing to do with why Trayvon Martin is dead and George Zimmerman is still walking around free, then I want nothing to do with you nor should any decent person of decent conscience with two synapses to rub together.
Sources:
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/13/19441838-jury-finds-george-zimmerman-not-guilty?lite
http://daisysdeadair.blogspot.com/2013/07/florida-rules-that-stalking-and-killing.html
http://abcnews.go.com/US/george-zimmerman-jury-asks-manslaughter-clarification/story?id=19657201#.UeVwYW1nB6K
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/qotd-jury-instructions.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/16/john-oliver-reacts-to-zimmerman-verdict_n_3603714.html
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-zimmerman-justice-20130717,0,5160145.story
http://forusa.org/blogs/john-lindsay-poland/impunity-oakland
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/23/kimani-gray-funeral-stop-and-frisk_n_2941145.html
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2013/03/family_of_wendell_allen_fatall.html
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/05/30/news/terrance-franklin-shot-in-back-of-head
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/14/most_disgusting_reactions_to_zimmerman_acquittal/
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2013/07/trayvons_ghost.php
http://www.care2.com/causes/cops-choke-black-boy-holding-puppy-for-giving-them-dehumanizing-stares.html
http://newsone.com/2514992/tremaine-mcmillan-miami-police-brutality/
http://takimag.com/article/the_talk_nonblack_version_john_derbyshire#axzz1rflvuJxj
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/national-review-writer-race_n_1409413.html
http://www.salon.com/2013/03/14/nypd_make_5_millionth_stop_and_frisk_under_bloomberg/
http://gawker.com/bloomberg-on-stop-and-frisk-i-think-we-stop-minoritie-610142398
http://blog.metrotrends.org/2012/03/stand-ground-laws-miscarriages-justice/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/criminal-justice/is-there-racial-bias-in-stand-your-ground-laws/
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/14/zimmerman_saga_was_all_about_race/?source=newsletter
I have to talk about the trial of George Zimmerman. Of course I do. You knew I would. But I've been finding this hard to do, to organize what I want to say, because there is so much I want to say and I can't find a cohesive way to go from a to b to c and so on.So instead of that, I'll start with my bottom-line assessment of the verdict: George Zimmerman got away with murder. Or, if you want to be legally technical, what I say he really got away with was manslaughter: the reckless, unnecessary, unjustifiable killing of a human being.
Unfortunately, it appears that in Florida you can do that. At least, if your victim is black and you can claim you were just so terrified, so threatened, by the overwhelming power of an unarmed black teenager that you had to kill him to save your own life.
That's true even if you are the one following him because you think they're "suspicious" and "on drugs or something." That's true even if you continue to follow him because "these assholes always get away" even after the police dispatcher tells you not to. That's true even if, according to your own statements, when confronted you don't identify yourself, you don't say anything about the Neighborhood Watch, you just demand "What are you doing?" Because if any kind of scuffle ensues, and if at any moment you think you are losing that fight, if you fear harm, you can just pull out your gun and blow him away.
In Florida, that, apparently, is legal, and several legal analysts have said the jury had "no choice" but to acquit given the sick nature of Florida's laws - especially after the judge refused to clarify her muddled explanation of manslaughter. As John Oliver said on the Daily Show, the real outrage here was not that the system was broken but that the system worked - that it intended for George Zimmerman to walk free.
And now, Justice Department officials say that Zimmerman is unlikely to face federal civil rights charges because it would be difficult to prove he acted out of racial bias, which would be necessary to get a conviction.
I don't know to talk about that. I also don't know how to talk about a system that never took the matter seriously until public outcry made them have to do something. Do not forget that initially, police took at face value Zimmerman's claim of self-defense. The cops drug-tested the dead victim but not the live shooter. They did a background check on the dead victim but not on the live shooter. Instead, they let the live shooter walk free without charge, without arrest.
How do you talk about that? How do you talk about a system so ethically corrupt, so astonishingly amoral, so rigged in favor of the killer over the killed?
But as is often true in cases such as this - and there have been so many others, from Oscar Grant in Oakland to Kimani Gray in Brooklyn to Wendell Allen in New Orleans to Terrance Franklin in Minneapolis, and countless others - what is often true is that the details of the particular case are less revealing than the reactions.There were, for example, numerous attempts to smear Trayvon Martin as "a thug" - in fact one cop called him "a thug who deserved to die" - and a drug dealer with a history of violence, all based pretty much on vapor. There were menacing pictures of him, increasingly menacing pictures, some of them so menacing that they weren't even him. All of it intended to whitewash the crime, intended to make it okay for Trayvon Martin to be dead, intended to make it okay for George Zimmerman to have shot him - because in too many minds it couldn't have been wrong for him to have killed a black kid.
In the wake of the verdict, the right-wingers and other assorted bigots were alight with joy - except that, perversely (well, not actually), they seemed disturbed, even disappointed, that riots had not broken out in minority neighborhoods across the country. That reaction, too, is revealing, more revealing than the actual case.
So right now, I'm not talking about George Zimmerman, in fact at this point I don't even care about George Zimmerman. There are a lot of indications that George Zimmerman is a racist, including a long history of calling police to complain about "suspicious" African-Americans - but even if he's not, it doesn't matter. That broader reaction still matters and it still shows our society and it still shows it in a very unhappy light.
We are a society suffused with racism, infused with racism, infected with racism, a society in which a young black man - and yes, Zimmerman described Martin as black - is "suspicious" simply by virtue of being a young black man. More, not just "young" and not just "man." Black bodies - simply by virtue of being black - are associated with behavior and actions that are deemed threatening, regardless of what they actually do.
Consider the case of 14-year-old Tremaine McMillan, who on May 30 was slammed to the ground and choked by two Miami-Dade Police officers because they claim the teen gave them a “dehumanizing stare” and "clenched his fists," which they say created "an immediate threat" which they had to "neutralize." Two grown men, two armed cops, so threatened by a 14-year-old child giving them a dirty look that they had "no choice" but to slam him down and choke him until he urinated on himself.
Children, men, women, all regarded with suspicion and fear because of their color, their very bodies a mark against them.
You want an example? Last year, John Derbyshire, writing in the National Review, described "the talk" he would have with his children about dealing with black people. Among his bits of advice, beyond saying that the average black person is much less intelligent than the average white person, were these:
- Avoid concentrations of blacks not all known to you personally.
- Stay out of heavily black neighborhoods.
- Do not attend events likely to draw a lot of blacks.
- If you are a public event at which the number of blacks suddenly swells, leave as quickly as possible.
- Do not settle in a district or municipality run by black politicians.
- Do not act the Good Samaritan to blacks in apparent distress.
- If accosted by a strange black in the street, smile and say something polite but keep moving.
To be black is to be suspected, to be dangerous.
That's certainly the attitude in New York City, with its infamous "stop and frisk" policy. Under Mayor Mike "The billionaire" Bloomberg, there have been over 5 million stop-and-frisks, over 86 percent of them on black or Latino individuals. To stop a person lawfully, a cop must have reasonable suspicion that the person has committed, is committing or is about to commit a crime. Despite that, 88 percent of the stops did not result in an arrest or summons, and of course an even smaller proportion ever lead to a conviction. Which means that the cops, who are supposed to be suspecting a crime, were wrong over 90% of the time.
But none of that matters to Bloomberg or Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, who insist that "nobody racially profiles" and in fact, Blooming-idiot said, "I think we disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little."
Black and Latino males aged 14 to 24 made up less than 5% of New York's population in 2011, but made up nearly 42% of those stopped and frisked. But nobody racially profiles in New York. Of course.
Which moves me toward another point: Consider the case of Henry Louis Gates. You remember that one. Gates had to force his way into his house. The police got a call. A cop went to investigate. He confronted Gates. At some point Gates produced ID to show that he was in his own home. None of that was in dispute.
What also happened, though, was that there was some kind of argument between the two, as the result of which Gates was arrested on the classic bogus "disturbing the peace" charge, an arrest that happened because, as everyone seems to agree, Gates mouthed off to the cop, who took his cheap revenge.
And again, we have the revealing reaction: In a surprising number of comments on the matter, Gates was criticized as foolish or as blundering or making "a rookie mistake" by arguing with the cop. "Everybody knows you don't do that," we were told, it's "unwise," it "just gets you into trouble." it is "crazy" to defy a cop.
That is, black people are supposed to approach every encounter with police thinking that this person, this cop, is prepared to abuse their authority, to violate the law, to violate their rights, perhaps even to go off the deep end and turn violent - so they must maintain the right "attitude," they must be respectful, passive, obedient, subservient, they are supposed to act like serfs on the feudal estate, shuffling their feet, tugging at their forelocks, casting their eyes downward in the presence of the lord of the manor, even if they themselves are a highly-respected tenured professor in their own home.
Because to do otherwise, to act otherwise, is "crazy." And there are enough dead black people with police bullets in them to justify the claim. Because if you are black, you are a suspect, you are dangerous, you are a threat - and so in every encounter you must be more than innocent, more than harmless, you must instead be less of a person, you must shrink and become smaller, lesser, than you are. And you are simply supposed to accept that, to say that's the way it is, for your own safety - because, in fact, that's the way it is.
You want to know how it is? I'll show you how it is. Look at the graph. I have to explain this to you. Research was done to see if there was a measurable impact in court cases made by stand your ground laws. That's what the graph is about but it shows something else quite clearly. Understand: The standard used was the acquittal rate for self-defense claims in white-on-white violence, that is, cases where a white person was charged with killing another white person. These are in comparison to that.So what does it say? First, if it's a case of a black person killing a black person, a self-defense claim is about 25% less likely to succeed than in a case of a white killing a white. If it's a black killing a white, a self-defense claim is about 75% less likely to succeed. But if it's a white person accused of killing a black person, a claim of self-defense is nearly two and a-half times more likely to succeed than if the victim was white - and if you invoke stand your ground, you are three and a-half times more likely to get off. Black lives matter less than white lives; black victims matter less than white victims.
As Paul Campos wrote at Salon,
Trayvon Martin was stalked by George Zimmerman because he was black. Trayvon Martin is dead because he was black. George Zimmerman was acquitted of killing Trayvon Martin because the boy Zimmerman killed was black.When are we going to admit to ourselves that racism and bigotry, that rancid, putrid, vomit-inducing ignorance and paranoia is alive and thriving in our society and have been since the beginning? And yes, not only against blacks: Hispanics are just the latest target of our isolationist xenophobia. We can trace that back generation by generation, group by group, target by target. Asians, Poles, Italians, Irish, Jews, Catholics: Any wave of immigrants that was in any way "different" - to be blunt, that wasn't a WASP - any time there was a wave of "different" people, we heard the same things: It's going to destroy the country, undermine it, these foreigners, they're dirty, they're filthy, they're all the rest of this nonsense. We can trace this right back to Native Americans, who weren't even immigrants.
If you deny these things, you are either a liar or an idiot, or possibly both.
Our record on this is a shameful one. It may not be the worst, it may not even be all that bad compared to some other nations. That doesn't change the fact that it is shameful.
So I don't want to hear a single breath, a single hint, a single whisper, they we are are a "post-racial society." Anyone who says that to you is lying, either to you or to themselves, I don't know which. But the fact is that we are suffused with racism along with sexism and homophobia - we are steeped in our bigotry until it penetrates our souls.
Yes, it's getting better. Yes, it has been worse in the past. Yes, we can see an impact, we can see how bigotry now is usually expressed more with a wink and a nod, with dog whistles, not with overt filth of the old sort.
But if you as an adult sitting there reading this think, if you want to argue to me that racism has nothing to do with why Trayvon Martin is dead and George Zimmerman is still walking around free, then I want nothing to do with you nor should any decent person of decent conscience with two synapses to rub together.
Sources:
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/13/19441838-jury-finds-george-zimmerman-not-guilty?lite
http://daisysdeadair.blogspot.com/2013/07/florida-rules-that-stalking-and-killing.html
http://abcnews.go.com/US/george-zimmerman-jury-asks-manslaughter-clarification/story?id=19657201#.UeVwYW1nB6K
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/qotd-jury-instructions.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/16/john-oliver-reacts-to-zimmerman-verdict_n_3603714.html
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-zimmerman-justice-20130717,0,5160145.story
http://forusa.org/blogs/john-lindsay-poland/impunity-oakland
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/23/kimani-gray-funeral-stop-and-frisk_n_2941145.html
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2013/03/family_of_wendell_allen_fatall.html
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/05/30/news/terrance-franklin-shot-in-back-of-head
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/14/most_disgusting_reactions_to_zimmerman_acquittal/
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2013/07/trayvons_ghost.php
http://www.care2.com/causes/cops-choke-black-boy-holding-puppy-for-giving-them-dehumanizing-stares.html
http://newsone.com/2514992/tremaine-mcmillan-miami-police-brutality/
http://takimag.com/article/the_talk_nonblack_version_john_derbyshire#axzz1rflvuJxj
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/national-review-writer-race_n_1409413.html
http://www.salon.com/2013/03/14/nypd_make_5_millionth_stop_and_frisk_under_bloomberg/
http://gawker.com/bloomberg-on-stop-and-frisk-i-think-we-stop-minoritie-610142398
http://blog.metrotrends.org/2012/03/stand-ground-laws-miscarriages-justice/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/criminal-justice/is-there-racial-bias-in-stand-your-ground-laws/
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/14/zimmerman_saga_was_all_about_race/?source=newsletter
Left Side of the Aisle #117
Left Side of the Aisle
for the week of July 18-24, 2013
This week:
On the George Zimmerman verdict
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/13/19441838-jury-finds-george-zimmerman-not-guilty?lite
http://daisysdeadair.blogspot.com/2013/07/florida-rules-that-stalking-and-killing.html
http://abcnews.go.com/US/george-zimmerman-jury-asks-manslaughter-clarification/story?id=19657201#.UeVwYW1nB6K
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/qotd-jury-instructions.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/16/john-oliver-reacts-to-zimmerman-verdict_n_3603714.html
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-zimmerman-justice-20130717,0,5160145.story
http://forusa.org/blogs/john-lindsay-poland/impunity-oakland
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/23/kimani-gray-funeral-stop-and-frisk_n_2941145.html
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2013/03/family_of_wendell_allen_fatall.html
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/05/30/news/terrance-franklin-shot-in-back-of-head
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/14/most_disgusting_reactions_to_zimmerman_acquittal/
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2013/07/trayvons_ghost.php
http://www.care2.com/causes/cops-choke-black-boy-holding-puppy-for-giving-them-dehumanizing-stares.html
http://newsone.com/2514992/tremaine-mcmillan-miami-police-brutality/
http://takimag.com/article/the_talk_nonblack_version_john_derbyshire#axzz1rflvuJxj
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/national-review-writer-race_n_1409413.html
http://www.salon.com/2013/03/14/nypd_make_5_millionth_stop_and_frisk_under_bloomberg/
http://gawker.com/bloomberg-on-stop-and-frisk-i-think-we-stop-minoritie-610142398
http://blog.metrotrends.org/2012/03/stand-ground-laws-miscarriages-justice/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/criminal-justice/is-there-racial-bias-in-stand-your-ground-laws/
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/14/zimmerman_saga_was_all_about_race/
Clown Award: Juror B37
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/07/george-zimmerman-juror-says-his-heart-was-in-the-right-place/
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/juror-b37-drops-trayvon-case-book-pitch-article-1.1400096
Outrage of the Week: Faux News spreads racial fears
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/fox-new-black-panthers-were-spark-behind-z
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/07/15/fox-promotes-conspiracy-theory-that-new-black-p/194873
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/some-odd-reason-fox-goes-silent-abou
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2000/fall/snarling-at-the-white-man
Some news on same-sex marriage
http://www.care2.com/causes/in-indiana-applying-for-a-gay-marriage-license-is-a-felony.html
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/penalties-await-gay-couples-trying-to-marry-in-indiana/article_3cca22e7-9915-5d26-b0b2-3980aa91afaa.html
http://www.care2.com/causes/pennsylvania-ag-refuses-to-defend-states-gay-marriage-ban.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/07/11/sources-pa-attorney-general-wont-defend-states-gay-marriage-ban/
http://www.aclupa.org/pressroom/aclupaacluandhangleyaronch.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/07/16/britain-same-sex-marriage-legalized/2522911/
http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-britain-gay-marriage,0,7549767.story
Update: Moral Monday
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/16/moral-monday-protests_n_3604046.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/12/pat-mccrory-motorcycle-abortion-bill_n_3588466.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/11/north-carolina-motorcycle-abortion_n_3582006.html
Update: Egypt
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/15/egypt-muslim-brotherhood-leaders-arrest_n_3599047.html
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/16/19500526-egypt-swears-in-new-liberal-cabinet-shutting-out-islamist-parties?lite
Update: Texas passes new abortion restrictions
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/13/texas-senate-abortion-bill_n_3587745.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/12/tampons-confiscated-texas_n_3588177.html
Friday, July 12, 2013
Weekly reminder
As of July 10, at least 6,022 people had been killed by gunfire in the US since Newtown, at least 61 of them in Massachusetts.
Left Side of the Aisle #116 - Part 8
Guns: what you don't see can hurt you
Well, here’s a bit of news to make you feel all warm and fuzzy. The Illinois legislature has just overriden Gov. Pat Quinn’s conditional veto, thus making the Land of Lincoln the 50th and final state to allow concealed carrying of firearms.
That’s right: Now, everywhere you go in this great nation, from sea to shining sea, the person muttering to themselves as they walk by you on the street, the person getting uncomfortably loud at the next table in the restaurant, the obnoxious fan at the ball game with a few too many beers in them, the driver leaning on their horn, the old guy shouting “hey you kids, get off my lawn,” they, any and everyone of them, could be packing heat.
Doesn’t that make you feel oh so safe?
In fairness to the legislators, they were, you’ll pardon the expression, under the gun: In one of those bizarre “guns are my master, must obey guns” rulings, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals had declared the state’s ban on carrying a concealed weapon to be an unconstitutional infringement on the sacred 2nd Amendment. The court gave the state until July 9 to come up with a new law. Lawmakers feared that failure to act would mean that as of midnight there would have been no gun control of any kind in the state. Whether that was actually true or not - whether, for example, it would have obviated local ordinances - was arguable, but enough members of the state House and Senate were concerned enough to go along.
Rep. Brandon Harris called it “a historic, significant day for law-abiding gun owners” who “finally get to exercise their Second Amendment rights,” because apparently if you can’t carry a concealed weapon, the 2nd Amendment does not exist.
The law does have a list of places off-limits to guns, including schools, libraries, parks, and mass transit buses and trains. But here’s a question: If the guns are concealed, exactly how does anyone propose to enforce this short of, say, searching everyone who wants to get on a bus or go into a library?
Now, of course, one place they can get searched is at an airport. And more and more, people are trying to get on planes carrying loaded guns.
The TSA started keeping records of this in 2011. In 2012, TSA found 1,549 firearms on passengers attempting to go through screening, up 17% from 2011. Eighty-five percent of those guns were loaded. In the first six months of this year, they found 894 guns in carry-on bags, purses, pockets, even in a boot. That is a 30% increase over the same period last year. The TSA set a record in May for the most guns seized in one week: sixty-five in all, 45 of them loaded and 15 of those with bullets in the chamber, ready to be fired. That was 30% more than the previous record of 50 guns, which had been set just two weeks earlier.
The most common excuse? “I forgot it was there.” Either you are so addicted to carrying your gun, carrying it has become so vital to you, that you’re no longer aware of it or you are lying through your damn teeth, attempted to illegally carry a loaded weapon onto a plane.
I don’t find either of those alternatives reassuring.
Sources:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/override-votes-make-illinois-last-state-in-the-nation-to-allow-carrying-of-concealed-weapons/2013/07/09/54a9e766-e8f5-11e2-818e-aa29e855f3ab_story.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/02/more-passengers-guns-airports_n_3536446.html
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2012/12/gun_death_tally_every_american_gun_death_since_newtown_sandy_hook_shooting.html
Well, here’s a bit of news to make you feel all warm and fuzzy. The Illinois legislature has just overriden Gov. Pat Quinn’s conditional veto, thus making the Land of Lincoln the 50th and final state to allow concealed carrying of firearms.That’s right: Now, everywhere you go in this great nation, from sea to shining sea, the person muttering to themselves as they walk by you on the street, the person getting uncomfortably loud at the next table in the restaurant, the obnoxious fan at the ball game with a few too many beers in them, the driver leaning on their horn, the old guy shouting “hey you kids, get off my lawn,” they, any and everyone of them, could be packing heat.
Doesn’t that make you feel oh so safe?
In fairness to the legislators, they were, you’ll pardon the expression, under the gun: In one of those bizarre “guns are my master, must obey guns” rulings, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals had declared the state’s ban on carrying a concealed weapon to be an unconstitutional infringement on the sacred 2nd Amendment. The court gave the state until July 9 to come up with a new law. Lawmakers feared that failure to act would mean that as of midnight there would have been no gun control of any kind in the state. Whether that was actually true or not - whether, for example, it would have obviated local ordinances - was arguable, but enough members of the state House and Senate were concerned enough to go along.
Rep. Brandon Harris called it “a historic, significant day for law-abiding gun owners” who “finally get to exercise their Second Amendment rights,” because apparently if you can’t carry a concealed weapon, the 2nd Amendment does not exist.
The law does have a list of places off-limits to guns, including schools, libraries, parks, and mass transit buses and trains. But here’s a question: If the guns are concealed, exactly how does anyone propose to enforce this short of, say, searching everyone who wants to get on a bus or go into a library?
Now, of course, one place they can get searched is at an airport. And more and more, people are trying to get on planes carrying loaded guns.
The TSA started keeping records of this in 2011. In 2012, TSA found 1,549 firearms on passengers attempting to go through screening, up 17% from 2011. Eighty-five percent of those guns were loaded. In the first six months of this year, they found 894 guns in carry-on bags, purses, pockets, even in a boot. That is a 30% increase over the same period last year. The TSA set a record in May for the most guns seized in one week: sixty-five in all, 45 of them loaded and 15 of those with bullets in the chamber, ready to be fired. That was 30% more than the previous record of 50 guns, which had been set just two weeks earlier.
The most common excuse? “I forgot it was there.” Either you are so addicted to carrying your gun, carrying it has become so vital to you, that you’re no longer aware of it or you are lying through your damn teeth, attempted to illegally carry a loaded weapon onto a plane.
I don’t find either of those alternatives reassuring.
Sources:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/override-votes-make-illinois-last-state-in-the-nation-to-allow-carrying-of-concealed-weapons/2013/07/09/54a9e766-e8f5-11e2-818e-aa29e855f3ab_story.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/02/more-passengers-guns-airports_n_3536446.html
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2012/12/gun_death_tally_every_american_gun_death_since_newtown_sandy_hook_shooting.html
Left Side of the Aisle #116 - Part 7
Outrage of the Week: coerced sterilization in California prisons
According to a new report by the Center for Investigative Reporting, between 2006 and 2010, doctors in California prisons illegally sterilized at least 148 female inmates. And there are perhaps 100 more dating back to the late 1990s.
Doctors coerced the women into getting tubal ligations which were conducted without required state approvals and which targeted women that the staff thought were “likely to return to prison in the future.”
Dr. James Heinrich, an OB-GYN who did or oversaw a number of the procedures, naturally denied ever pressuring the women, insisting instead that he was providing an important service, an attitude that can only be described as condescendingly paternalistic and which was echoed by Daun Martin, the top medical manager at California’s Valley State Prison from 2005 to 2008, who creepily characterized the surgeries as an empowerment issue for the women. This despite the fact that she admitted that when she learned that the procedure required approval by the state on a case-by-case basis, she and Heinrich tried to find ways around the regulations, such as labeling a tubal ligation as a “medical emergency.” How that “empowers women” remains a mystery.
We had a name for this kind of brutality in years past: We called it eugenics, where we decided that certain types of people were inferior and should not be allowed to reproduce. At one time, 32 states had compulsory sterilization laws directed at minorities, the poor, the disabled, the mentally ill, and prisoners. It wasn’t until 1979 that California banned the practice.
And if you have any doubt that this is what is going on here, consider the words of Dr. Heinrich, who said any woman who now claims she didn’t want the surgery is lying and is, quoting him, “somebody looking for the state to give them a handout” and who just, quoting again, “wants to stay on the state’s dole somehow.”
Told of the nearly $150,000 the state had paid to local contract doctors for the surgeries, he called it minimal, especially, quoting again, “compared to what you save in welfare as they procreated more.”
So here’s the thing: If you do not find those words to be those of a bigot, if you do not find this whole business a sordid, foul, stinking outrage, you should stop watching this show and spend that time trying to figure out where your moral development went so disastrously wrong.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/female-inmates-sterilized-california_n_3561564.html
http://jezebel.com/female-prisoners-sterilized-illegally-and-often-throug-699103380
http://cironline.org/reports/female-inmates-sterilized-california-prisons-without-approval-4917
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/07/07/california-prisons-illegally-sterilized-hundreds-female-inmates.html
According to a new report by the Center for Investigative Reporting, between 2006 and 2010, doctors in California prisons illegally sterilized at least 148 female inmates. And there are perhaps 100 more dating back to the late 1990s.Doctors coerced the women into getting tubal ligations which were conducted without required state approvals and which targeted women that the staff thought were “likely to return to prison in the future.”
Dr. James Heinrich, an OB-GYN who did or oversaw a number of the procedures, naturally denied ever pressuring the women, insisting instead that he was providing an important service, an attitude that can only be described as condescendingly paternalistic and which was echoed by Daun Martin, the top medical manager at California’s Valley State Prison from 2005 to 2008, who creepily characterized the surgeries as an empowerment issue for the women. This despite the fact that she admitted that when she learned that the procedure required approval by the state on a case-by-case basis, she and Heinrich tried to find ways around the regulations, such as labeling a tubal ligation as a “medical emergency.” How that “empowers women” remains a mystery.
We had a name for this kind of brutality in years past: We called it eugenics, where we decided that certain types of people were inferior and should not be allowed to reproduce. At one time, 32 states had compulsory sterilization laws directed at minorities, the poor, the disabled, the mentally ill, and prisoners. It wasn’t until 1979 that California banned the practice.
And if you have any doubt that this is what is going on here, consider the words of Dr. Heinrich, who said any woman who now claims she didn’t want the surgery is lying and is, quoting him, “somebody looking for the state to give them a handout” and who just, quoting again, “wants to stay on the state’s dole somehow.”
Told of the nearly $150,000 the state had paid to local contract doctors for the surgeries, he called it minimal, especially, quoting again, “compared to what you save in welfare as they procreated more.”
So here’s the thing: If you do not find those words to be those of a bigot, if you do not find this whole business a sordid, foul, stinking outrage, you should stop watching this show and spend that time trying to figure out where your moral development went so disastrously wrong.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/female-inmates-sterilized-california_n_3561564.html
http://jezebel.com/female-prisoners-sterilized-illegally-and-often-throug-699103380
http://cironline.org/reports/female-inmates-sterilized-california-prisons-without-approval-4917
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/07/07/california-prisons-illegally-sterilized-hundreds-female-inmates.html
Left Side of the Aisle #116 - Part 6
Laugh so as not to weep
There is a sort of footnote to this, an example of “I laugh for fear of crying” courtesy of New York Times columnist David Brooks.
In a column last week defending the coup, Brooks declared that “It’s not that Egypt doesn’t have a recipe for a democratic transition. It seems to lack even the basic mental ingredients.”
That’s right, according to David Brooks, Egypt’s difficulties in establishing a real democracy are not due to decades of repressive government, not due to inexperience in self-government, but because the people of Egypt don’t possess the cognitive capacity to handle it.
And it’s not just Egypt, he says; indeed, Islamists in general “lack the mental equipment to govern. ... Incompetence is built into their intellectual DNA.” They are, he said, “incapable of running a modern government.”
As evidence, he cites the cases of Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Gaza, Palestine, and Algeria. Okay, forget Egypt: You can’t cite as evidence the very thing you’re trying to prove, which is that the coup was justified by the failings of the Egyptians. What of the rest?
Well, Turkey and Iran have both shown dramatic economic improvements, including in the lives of the poor, over the past 10 years. You can condemn both the increasing authoritarianism of the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the repression by the mullahs in Iran but you can’t call them incompetent.
In Gaza, Hamas actually has a solid reputation for being very good at delivering social services - again, there is no need to approve of a government to recognize its competency.
Finally, neither Palestine nor Algeria has or ever has had an Islamist government.
As is all too often true, David Brooks has no idea what the heck he is talking about. The man is a complete jackass - and when I think he is a regular columnist for the New York Times, I laugh so I don’t cry.
Sources:
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/05/david_brooks_bigoted_rant/
http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/07/05/david-brooks-mental-equipment/
There is a sort of footnote to this, an example of “I laugh for fear of crying” courtesy of New York Times columnist David Brooks.In a column last week defending the coup, Brooks declared that “It’s not that Egypt doesn’t have a recipe for a democratic transition. It seems to lack even the basic mental ingredients.”
That’s right, according to David Brooks, Egypt’s difficulties in establishing a real democracy are not due to decades of repressive government, not due to inexperience in self-government, but because the people of Egypt don’t possess the cognitive capacity to handle it.
And it’s not just Egypt, he says; indeed, Islamists in general “lack the mental equipment to govern. ... Incompetence is built into their intellectual DNA.” They are, he said, “incapable of running a modern government.”
As evidence, he cites the cases of Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Gaza, Palestine, and Algeria. Okay, forget Egypt: You can’t cite as evidence the very thing you’re trying to prove, which is that the coup was justified by the failings of the Egyptians. What of the rest?
Well, Turkey and Iran have both shown dramatic economic improvements, including in the lives of the poor, over the past 10 years. You can condemn both the increasing authoritarianism of the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the repression by the mullahs in Iran but you can’t call them incompetent.
In Gaza, Hamas actually has a solid reputation for being very good at delivering social services - again, there is no need to approve of a government to recognize its competency.
Finally, neither Palestine nor Algeria has or ever has had an Islamist government.
As is all too often true, David Brooks has no idea what the heck he is talking about. The man is a complete jackass - and when I think he is a regular columnist for the New York Times, I laugh so I don’t cry.
Sources:
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/05/david_brooks_bigoted_rant/
http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/07/05/david-brooks-mental-equipment/
Left Side of the Aisle #116 - Part 5
Egypt and American mythology
Two things should have become clear from events in Egypt, two treasured notions of American mythology brought into serious question: One, that elections equal freedom and two, that people power equals justice.
After the dictator Hosni Mubarek was brought down by, yes, people power backed up with some military support, Egypt had its first free elections. The outcome was the election of President Mohammed Morsi and domination of the parliament by the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.
A new constitution was then drafted by an assembly chosen by the parliament and thus also dominated by Islamists - who, despite repeated their assurances of respect for religious and political minorities in Egypt, tried to ram through a document that made civil government subservient to Sharia law, that is, to fundamentalist Muslim religious law.
The assembly was controversial enough that the non-Islamists involved eventually just gave up and walked away and courts were considering whether to disband it. But Morsi decreed that they could not as his allies finalized the draft. The final version, with its strong Islamist flavor, passed in a referendum with around 60% of the vote but in an election with a turnout of only around 30%.
So first: Do not forget that Morsi had been democratically elected in Egypt’s first free election, an election that people power ultimately helped bring about. But the overall result was not freedom - not unless you think the word can comfortably be applied to a constitution and a government that was more oriented toward theocracy than democracy.
Dissatisfaction with Morsi’s rule grew until it finally exploded into the streets in an odd coalition of liberals, Christians, Mubarak supporters, Salafists, Al-Azhar scholars, and the military. People power again filled Tahrir Square with tens, hundreds of thousands demanding Morsi go.
And the result? Justice? Not what you would call it. It was a military coup that has arrested hundreds of Morsi supporters as well as shooting down more than 50 of them in one of the worst single incidents of bloodshed in the whole 2-1/2 years of turmoil. (And a coup which, by the way, the US refuses to call a coup because to do so would require cutting off the $1.3 billion in military aid that goes to Egypt each year, and no way does the US government want to do that).
People power is not in charge in Egypt, the military is. And the military has set up its own timetable for drafting yet another constitution and elections for yet another parliament, all within the next 6-1/2 months, the quick pace apparently intended to soothe the ruffled feathers of Western governments.
But there is where it gets extra interesting: Under the timetable issued Monday by interim president Adly Mansour, two appointed panels would be created. One, made up of judges, would come up with amendments. The other, larger body consisting of representatives of society and political movements would debate the amendments and approve them, with a referendum to follow.
Now, aside from the question of who gets to decide what “representatives of society and political movements” get to take part and how much say each of them has, the fact is that the judges who run Egypt's courts made their careers under Hosni Mubarak, and now they are the ones who will come up with the proposed amendments that the other panel will debate.
So do elections equal freedom? Not when they become the classic “tyranny of the majority.” Does people power produce justice? Not when it starts by saying the necessary “no” - and never goes beyond it.
Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood has rejected the whole new deal, calling it an attack on democracy and has called on its supporters to rise in protest. Which they have. As the saying goes, watch this space.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/09/egypt-political-roadmap_n_3565902.html?utm_hp_ref=world
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/egyptian-army-firing-at-crowd_n_3561467.html?utm_hp_ref=world
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/08/world/meast/egypt-coup/index.html
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/egypt-transitional-government-pulls-in-mubarak-old-guard-and-salafists-a-910266.html#ref=nl-international
Two things should have become clear from events in Egypt, two treasured notions of American mythology brought into serious question: One, that elections equal freedom and two, that people power equals justice.After the dictator Hosni Mubarek was brought down by, yes, people power backed up with some military support, Egypt had its first free elections. The outcome was the election of President Mohammed Morsi and domination of the parliament by the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.
A new constitution was then drafted by an assembly chosen by the parliament and thus also dominated by Islamists - who, despite repeated their assurances of respect for religious and political minorities in Egypt, tried to ram through a document that made civil government subservient to Sharia law, that is, to fundamentalist Muslim religious law.
The assembly was controversial enough that the non-Islamists involved eventually just gave up and walked away and courts were considering whether to disband it. But Morsi decreed that they could not as his allies finalized the draft. The final version, with its strong Islamist flavor, passed in a referendum with around 60% of the vote but in an election with a turnout of only around 30%.
So first: Do not forget that Morsi had been democratically elected in Egypt’s first free election, an election that people power ultimately helped bring about. But the overall result was not freedom - not unless you think the word can comfortably be applied to a constitution and a government that was more oriented toward theocracy than democracy.
Dissatisfaction with Morsi’s rule grew until it finally exploded into the streets in an odd coalition of liberals, Christians, Mubarak supporters, Salafists, Al-Azhar scholars, and the military. People power again filled Tahrir Square with tens, hundreds of thousands demanding Morsi go.
And the result? Justice? Not what you would call it. It was a military coup that has arrested hundreds of Morsi supporters as well as shooting down more than 50 of them in one of the worst single incidents of bloodshed in the whole 2-1/2 years of turmoil. (And a coup which, by the way, the US refuses to call a coup because to do so would require cutting off the $1.3 billion in military aid that goes to Egypt each year, and no way does the US government want to do that).
People power is not in charge in Egypt, the military is. And the military has set up its own timetable for drafting yet another constitution and elections for yet another parliament, all within the next 6-1/2 months, the quick pace apparently intended to soothe the ruffled feathers of Western governments.
But there is where it gets extra interesting: Under the timetable issued Monday by interim president Adly Mansour, two appointed panels would be created. One, made up of judges, would come up with amendments. The other, larger body consisting of representatives of society and political movements would debate the amendments and approve them, with a referendum to follow.
Now, aside from the question of who gets to decide what “representatives of society and political movements” get to take part and how much say each of them has, the fact is that the judges who run Egypt's courts made their careers under Hosni Mubarak, and now they are the ones who will come up with the proposed amendments that the other panel will debate.
So do elections equal freedom? Not when they become the classic “tyranny of the majority.” Does people power produce justice? Not when it starts by saying the necessary “no” - and never goes beyond it.
Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood has rejected the whole new deal, calling it an attack on democracy and has called on its supporters to rise in protest. Which they have. As the saying goes, watch this space.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/09/egypt-political-roadmap_n_3565902.html?utm_hp_ref=world
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/egyptian-army-firing-at-crowd_n_3561467.html?utm_hp_ref=world
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/08/world/meast/egypt-coup/index.html
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/egypt-transitional-government-pulls-in-mubarak-old-guard-and-salafists-a-910266.html#ref=nl-international
Left Side of the Aisle #116 - Part 4
Clown Award: MA State Police Colonel Timothy Alben
Now for the Clown Award, given for acts of meritorious stupidity.
This week the big red nose goes to State Police Col Timothy Alben, who, because he handled a lot of the press relations, stands in for the entire security complex at this year’s Fourth of July events at the Esplanade.
Forces from the Boston police, the Cambridge police, the Transit Police, the state police, the FBI, and the National Guard were out there by the hundreds, in unprecedented numbers, because they wanted to, in Alben’s words, make people “feel like this is a safe place to come.”
To that end, beyond the swarms of cops and troops, there were what was said to be “an exponentially larger” number of surveillance cameras watching your every move. There was a special number where you could anonymously (supposedly) text tips to the cops about anything or anyone you thought suspicious. There were fewer open entrances to the Esplanade, new security checkpoints on the Esplanade, and tough new bans that prohibited visitors from carrying in backpacks, coolers on wheels, cans, glass containers, premixed beverages, liquids greater than two liters, or any sharp objects. All to make you feel safe.
In fact, people were made to feel so safe that a lot of them decided not to go at all. Turnout was down by an estimated 40% over previous years.
Officials made all sorts of excuses for the low turnout. When a Boston Globe photo of the area in front of the Hatch Shell, taken at about 5:30 p.m., showed what the paper called “an unusual amount of green space,” Steve MacDonald of Boston4 Productions, which produces the event, predicted “a late-arriving crowd” and “a large influx of people” after the sun went down.
Alben blamed the temperature, as did Governor Deval Patrick, who claimed that an aerial view showed the outline of the crowd matched the outline of the shade - which is a pretty bizarre argument since the event takes place at night, when shade would not seem to be an issue.
Obviously realizing the crowd was proving embarrassingly small as the day wore on, officials kept encouraging people to come. It’ll be great, they said, it’ll be wonderful, come one, come all! Never mind the soldiers, the searches, the cameras, the restrictions. Come celebrate America!
Alben actually summed it up rather well, admittedly unintentionally: “We want you all to come and enjoy this celebration which is at the heart of America,” he said.
Unfortunately, to an increasing extent, that is true.
Sources:
http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2013/07/03/police-announce-huge-presence-more-cameras-for-the/CvgHGRVHMnUJFOBRwn2rrJ/story.html
http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2013/07/04/fourth-july-revelers-begin-arrive-boston-esplanade/4cDweMptMsgkz6Nf7lBwUL/story.html
http://www.telegram.com/article/20130704/NEWS/130709853/1116
http://www.wcvb.com/news/local/metro/attendance-appears-down-at-boston-july-4-events/-/11971628/20846004/-/745nh2z/-/index.html
Now for the Clown Award, given for acts of meritorious stupidity.This week the big red nose goes to State Police Col Timothy Alben, who, because he handled a lot of the press relations, stands in for the entire security complex at this year’s Fourth of July events at the Esplanade.
Forces from the Boston police, the Cambridge police, the Transit Police, the state police, the FBI, and the National Guard were out there by the hundreds, in unprecedented numbers, because they wanted to, in Alben’s words, make people “feel like this is a safe place to come.”
To that end, beyond the swarms of cops and troops, there were what was said to be “an exponentially larger” number of surveillance cameras watching your every move. There was a special number where you could anonymously (supposedly) text tips to the cops about anything or anyone you thought suspicious. There were fewer open entrances to the Esplanade, new security checkpoints on the Esplanade, and tough new bans that prohibited visitors from carrying in backpacks, coolers on wheels, cans, glass containers, premixed beverages, liquids greater than two liters, or any sharp objects. All to make you feel safe.
In fact, people were made to feel so safe that a lot of them decided not to go at all. Turnout was down by an estimated 40% over previous years.
Officials made all sorts of excuses for the low turnout. When a Boston Globe photo of the area in front of the Hatch Shell, taken at about 5:30 p.m., showed what the paper called “an unusual amount of green space,” Steve MacDonald of Boston4 Productions, which produces the event, predicted “a late-arriving crowd” and “a large influx of people” after the sun went down.
Alben blamed the temperature, as did Governor Deval Patrick, who claimed that an aerial view showed the outline of the crowd matched the outline of the shade - which is a pretty bizarre argument since the event takes place at night, when shade would not seem to be an issue.Obviously realizing the crowd was proving embarrassingly small as the day wore on, officials kept encouraging people to come. It’ll be great, they said, it’ll be wonderful, come one, come all! Never mind the soldiers, the searches, the cameras, the restrictions. Come celebrate America!
Alben actually summed it up rather well, admittedly unintentionally: “We want you all to come and enjoy this celebration which is at the heart of America,” he said.
Unfortunately, to an increasing extent, that is true.
Sources:
http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2013/07/03/police-announce-huge-presence-more-cameras-for-the/CvgHGRVHMnUJFOBRwn2rrJ/story.html
http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2013/07/04/fourth-july-revelers-begin-arrive-boston-esplanade/4cDweMptMsgkz6Nf7lBwUL/story.html
http://www.telegram.com/article/20130704/NEWS/130709853/1116
http://www.wcvb.com/news/local/metro/attendance-appears-down-at-boston-july-4-events/-/11971628/20846004/-/745nh2z/-/index.html
Left Side of the Aisle #116 - Part 3
Good news 3: Walmart feels the heat
One final bit of good news-bad news.
Walmart, as I’ve discussed here before, continues to face a mounting labor movement as exploited workers come to feel they have nothing to lose by standing up for themselves.
A union-backed group called OUR Walmart has been conducting a campaign called Making Change at Walmart to push for improved hours, pay, and benefits for its workers. Many of Walmart's 1.5 million employees earn just above the minimum wage, and rely on food stamps and other government aid to get by.
The corporation is notoriously anti-union, even flying in teams of union-busters to stores at the first hint of union activity. This May, Walmart posted a job listing for a director of Labor Relations, whose job was described as maintaining a “continued union-free workplace.” Those who do try to organize face retaliation: According to OUR Walmart, 11 workers involved in the movement were fired last month alone.
Walmart insists the labor activism is trivial and baseless, that, in the words of corporate flunky Randy Hargrove, "our associates have chosen to remain union-free." But the good news is that it turns out that some of the company’s large investors just aren’t buying it any more.
Two large European pension funds have announced that they would no longer invest in Walmart, charging that the company does not treat its employees in accordance with international standards of freedom of association, and has failed to respond to their concerns.
This comes after five years of efforts to get Walmart to adopt the standards of the International Labour Organization. In a media release Monday, one of the pension funds called Walmart's efforts to block workers from unionizing as "contrary to fundamental principles and rights at work." When a final request for the company to acceptinternational standards was met with a response that it just wasn’t even going to be considered, it was, in the words of an executive of one of the funds, "the final straw that broke the camel's back."
This is not the first such case: Last year, the Netherlands' largest pension fund divested from Walmart for failing to comply with the United Nations' Global Compact, which outlines values related to labor, human rights, corruption, and the environment.
Again, the good news is that this is happening; the bad news is that it’s necessary.
As a footnote to this, even as pressure slowly builds on Walmart from one direction, the corporation is looking to another, apparently reluctantly realizing that it’s image could, well, use some polishing.
Nearly 20 North American retailers - including Walmart - have agreed to a 5-year safety plan for Bangladesh garment factories that would include inspecting every factory within a year. This comes in the wake of the fire in November that killed 112 people in one Bangladesh garment factory and the over 1100 who were crushed in the collapse of another in April.
Unfortunately, this won’t actually do much, as the companies declined to join an agreement worked out in May among mostly European firms that is a)binding and b)includes requirements for independent inspections and for the signatories to stop doing business with any firm that fails to meet the standards, none of which is true of the one just announced. It is, that is, little more than apple-polishing. But still, it does mean that Walmart, which initially denied it had anything to do with or any responsibility for, the dangerous conditions under which the workers of Bangladesh must labor so we can save a couple of bucks on socks, Walmart is feeling the pressure. And that’s a good thing.
Sources:
http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2013/07/03/pension-funds-blacklist-walmart/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/10/bangladesh-factory-safety-plan-walmart_n_3573209.html
http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/10/news/companies/walmart-bangladesh-agreement/index.html
http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/13/news/companies/hm-bangladesh-safety/index.html?iid=EL
One final bit of good news-bad news.Walmart, as I’ve discussed here before, continues to face a mounting labor movement as exploited workers come to feel they have nothing to lose by standing up for themselves.
A union-backed group called OUR Walmart has been conducting a campaign called Making Change at Walmart to push for improved hours, pay, and benefits for its workers. Many of Walmart's 1.5 million employees earn just above the minimum wage, and rely on food stamps and other government aid to get by.
The corporation is notoriously anti-union, even flying in teams of union-busters to stores at the first hint of union activity. This May, Walmart posted a job listing for a director of Labor Relations, whose job was described as maintaining a “continued union-free workplace.” Those who do try to organize face retaliation: According to OUR Walmart, 11 workers involved in the movement were fired last month alone.
Walmart insists the labor activism is trivial and baseless, that, in the words of corporate flunky Randy Hargrove, "our associates have chosen to remain union-free." But the good news is that it turns out that some of the company’s large investors just aren’t buying it any more.
Two large European pension funds have announced that they would no longer invest in Walmart, charging that the company does not treat its employees in accordance with international standards of freedom of association, and has failed to respond to their concerns.This comes after five years of efforts to get Walmart to adopt the standards of the International Labour Organization. In a media release Monday, one of the pension funds called Walmart's efforts to block workers from unionizing as "contrary to fundamental principles and rights at work." When a final request for the company to acceptinternational standards was met with a response that it just wasn’t even going to be considered, it was, in the words of an executive of one of the funds, "the final straw that broke the camel's back."
This is not the first such case: Last year, the Netherlands' largest pension fund divested from Walmart for failing to comply with the United Nations' Global Compact, which outlines values related to labor, human rights, corruption, and the environment.
Again, the good news is that this is happening; the bad news is that it’s necessary.
As a footnote to this, even as pressure slowly builds on Walmart from one direction, the corporation is looking to another, apparently reluctantly realizing that it’s image could, well, use some polishing.
Nearly 20 North American retailers - including Walmart - have agreed to a 5-year safety plan for Bangladesh garment factories that would include inspecting every factory within a year. This comes in the wake of the fire in November that killed 112 people in one Bangladesh garment factory and the over 1100 who were crushed in the collapse of another in April.
Unfortunately, this won’t actually do much, as the companies declined to join an agreement worked out in May among mostly European firms that is a)binding and b)includes requirements for independent inspections and for the signatories to stop doing business with any firm that fails to meet the standards, none of which is true of the one just announced. It is, that is, little more than apple-polishing. But still, it does mean that Walmart, which initially denied it had anything to do with or any responsibility for, the dangerous conditions under which the workers of Bangladesh must labor so we can save a couple of bucks on socks, Walmart is feeling the pressure. And that’s a good thing.
Sources:
http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2013/07/03/pension-funds-blacklist-walmart/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/10/bangladesh-factory-safety-plan-walmart_n_3573209.html
http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/10/news/companies/walmart-bangladesh-agreement/index.html
http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/13/news/companies/hm-bangladesh-safety/index.html?iid=EL
Left Side of the Aisle #116 - Part 2
Good news 2: Moral Monday
Here’s another good news-bad news deal; this time the good news comes first.
For the past two months there have been demonstrations every week at the state capitol in Raleigh, North Carolina. The weekly protests are known as “Moral Monday” and they are intended to show opposition to the increasingly-reactionary actions of the state legislature, which seems determined to plunge the state headlong into the 19th century.
The numbers have ranged from dozens to 3,000 and the focus of protests have ranged from legislation that rejected the expansion of Medicaid to the working poor, slashed benefits to the unemployed, and eliminated jobs in public education, as well as addressing not-directly-economic issues like natural gas drilling, school vouchers, and voting rights.
Over 700 people have been arrested in nonviolent civil disobedience over the weeks and there doesn’t seem to be any indication that the protests are going to stop.
One of the biggest turnouts was this week, in the wake of the state Senate’s underhanded passage last week of new restrictions on access to legal abortion. The body had been considering a ban on the “application of foreign law” in family courts, an “anti-Sharia Law” bill that many opponents say is a thinly veiled attempt at stoking anti-Muslim sentiment in the state.
Then at the last minute, with no public notice, no hearings, and no debate, the troglodyte majority added to the bill a series of requirements that abortion clinics conform to the same safety standards as ambulatory surgical centers, a totally medically unnecessary requirement intended to force most clinics to shut down for lack of funds to meet the new demands. It was all done in less than 24 hours, a period even GOPper Gov. Pat McCrory said was unfairly rushed.
Come Monday, 2,000 people jammed the capitol and 64 were arrested for refusing to leave.
The protest may have had some impact: Leaders in the state House say said they are going to consult more with state regulators before deciding whether to vote on the new regulations and state Health and Human Services Secretary Aldona Wos has already said that if safety is the issue, as proponents lyingly claim, state funding for more frequent inspections of abortion clinics would do a better job.
If the bill isn’t passed before the current session ends, which could be as soon as next week, the legislature will have to wait until January to revisit the issue.
State Senator Earline Parmon accurately noted that "It's a small victory," but it’s still a victory.
And the protests, the Moral Mondays, go on. To know that people have not given up, that people are prepared to be on the streets, to put their bodies on the line, that people are prepared to keep the fire lit, that is - to me at least - really good news.
What’s the bad news part? It’s necessary. The protests, the disobedience, the fight - it’s all necessary, now more than ever. And that is depressing.
Footnote: Worth mentioning is the fact that among the people arrested was Rev. Frederick Battle. The last time he was arrested was in 1962 when he took part in the historic Woolworth’s department store sit-in in Greensboro. If you don’t know about that, look it up.
Sources:
http://www.thenation.com/blog/175160/sixty-four-arrested-moral-monday-abortion-access-protest-north-carolina#
http://www.wral.com/-moral-monday-protest-bolstered-by-abortion-restriction-outrage/12638680/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/09/north-carolina-abortion-bill_n_3569509.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/moral-monday-rally-nc-abortion-bill-protest-arrests_n_3564506.html
http://swampland.time.com/2013/07/01/moral-mondays-religious-progressives-protest-north-carolina-policies/
Here’s another good news-bad news deal; this time the good news comes first.For the past two months there have been demonstrations every week at the state capitol in Raleigh, North Carolina. The weekly protests are known as “Moral Monday” and they are intended to show opposition to the increasingly-reactionary actions of the state legislature, which seems determined to plunge the state headlong into the 19th century.
The numbers have ranged from dozens to 3,000 and the focus of protests have ranged from legislation that rejected the expansion of Medicaid to the working poor, slashed benefits to the unemployed, and eliminated jobs in public education, as well as addressing not-directly-economic issues like natural gas drilling, school vouchers, and voting rights.
Over 700 people have been arrested in nonviolent civil disobedience over the weeks and there doesn’t seem to be any indication that the protests are going to stop.
One of the biggest turnouts was this week, in the wake of the state Senate’s underhanded passage last week of new restrictions on access to legal abortion. The body had been considering a ban on the “application of foreign law” in family courts, an “anti-Sharia Law” bill that many opponents say is a thinly veiled attempt at stoking anti-Muslim sentiment in the state.
Then at the last minute, with no public notice, no hearings, and no debate, the troglodyte majority added to the bill a series of requirements that abortion clinics conform to the same safety standards as ambulatory surgical centers, a totally medically unnecessary requirement intended to force most clinics to shut down for lack of funds to meet the new demands. It was all done in less than 24 hours, a period even GOPper Gov. Pat McCrory said was unfairly rushed.
Come Monday, 2,000 people jammed the capitol and 64 were arrested for refusing to leave.The protest may have had some impact: Leaders in the state House say said they are going to consult more with state regulators before deciding whether to vote on the new regulations and state Health and Human Services Secretary Aldona Wos has already said that if safety is the issue, as proponents lyingly claim, state funding for more frequent inspections of abortion clinics would do a better job.
If the bill isn’t passed before the current session ends, which could be as soon as next week, the legislature will have to wait until January to revisit the issue.
State Senator Earline Parmon accurately noted that "It's a small victory," but it’s still a victory.
And the protests, the Moral Mondays, go on. To know that people have not given up, that people are prepared to be on the streets, to put their bodies on the line, that people are prepared to keep the fire lit, that is - to me at least - really good news.
What’s the bad news part? It’s necessary. The protests, the disobedience, the fight - it’s all necessary, now more than ever. And that is depressing.
Footnote: Worth mentioning is the fact that among the people arrested was Rev. Frederick Battle. The last time he was arrested was in 1962 when he took part in the historic Woolworth’s department store sit-in in Greensboro. If you don’t know about that, look it up.
Sources:
http://www.thenation.com/blog/175160/sixty-four-arrested-moral-monday-abortion-access-protest-north-carolina#
http://www.wral.com/-moral-monday-protest-bolstered-by-abortion-restriction-outrage/12638680/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/09/north-carolina-abortion-bill_n_3569509.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/moral-monday-rally-nc-abortion-bill-protest-arrests_n_3564506.html
http://swampland.time.com/2013/07/01/moral-mondays-religious-progressives-protest-north-carolina-policies/
Left Side of the Aisle #116 - Part 1
Good news 1: Jeffrey David Olson
A couple of good news-bad news stories to start us off.
Jeffrey David Olson of San Diego was angered by the Bank of America’s immoral, unethical, and illegal treatment of people caught in their web of mortgage and foreclosure intrigue, even more so by the fact that none of this seemed of any concern to federal law enforcement or regulators.
He started a message campaign because "Wall Street banks nearly drove our economy into the ditch" and that “there was basically a criminal racket operating on my block, and I didn't find that acceptable."
So he took to writing statements on the sidewalk in front of three of BoA’s branches in SD. He used children’s sidewalk chalk, the type that washes away in the rain or scuffs off after maybe a couple of days. Between April and August of last year he left 13 such messages, saying thing like "No thanks, big banks" and "Shame on Bank of America."
As a result, after the local security officer for Bank of America prodded the City Attorney's office, Olson was charged with the 13 counts of vandalism, each of which could hypothetically cost him a year in prison and a $1000 fine.
The case got some attention for two reasons beyond the simple absurdity of the charges: One is that the statute requires that something was "maliciously defaced” to qualify as vandalism. Since there was no physical damage and the chalk, again, could easily be removed at minimal cost - or even no cost, if it rained - the only possible application of “malicious” would be to the content of his messages, which would seem to make it an open-and-shut case of free speech.
Which brings up the second reason it got attention: The judge, one Howard Shore, granted a prosecutorial motion to forbid Olson from citing in his defense the phrases "First Amendment," "free speech," "free expression," "public forum," "expressive conduct" or "political speech." The law, he said, “does not mention First Amendment rights," thereby placing a local law about graffiti above the Constitution.
Shore later imposed a gag order on Olson, barring him from talking to the media about his case - remember, this is a misdemeanor case. So according to the city prosecutor, you can potentially face 13 years in prison for expressing your opinion with washable chalk if a giant corporation wants it so and according to “Judge” Shore, you can be banned from complaining that you've been forbidden to argue that being threatened with those 13 years in prison is a violation of your free speech rights.
So what’s the good news?
First, people rallied around him, including writing messages about free speech on the sidewalk around the Hall of Justice, where the trial was held.
Second, last week he was acquitted on all 13 counts, as the jury showed much more sense than the police, the prosecutors, or the judge did. And to make it all the sweeter, San Diego Mayor Bob Filner condemned the City Attorney's Office, calling the whole prosecution a waste of time.
Footnote: After the acquittal, “Judge” Shore condemned the media for sensationalizing the case. Which is not surprising: Vampires do their best work in the dark.
Sources:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/01/1220409/-Ding-San-Diego-Chalker-Acquitted-and-Idiot-Prosecutor-Condemned-by-Mayor#20130701205410
http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/06/30/chalk-another-one-up-to-free-speech-hypocrisy/
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/news-ticker/2013/jun/25/chalking-the-plank-judge-wont-allow-bank-protester/
http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18062-san-diego-jury-acquits-on-all-counts-occupy-chalk-protestor-targeted-by-bank-of-america
http://www.10news.com/news/rally-held-to-show-support-for-jeff-olson-man-charged-in-chalk-vandalism-case-06292013
http://www.10news.com/news/verdict-in-san-diego-chalk-vandalism-case-070113
A couple of good news-bad news stories to start us off.Jeffrey David Olson of San Diego was angered by the Bank of America’s immoral, unethical, and illegal treatment of people caught in their web of mortgage and foreclosure intrigue, even more so by the fact that none of this seemed of any concern to federal law enforcement or regulators.
He started a message campaign because "Wall Street banks nearly drove our economy into the ditch" and that “there was basically a criminal racket operating on my block, and I didn't find that acceptable."
So he took to writing statements on the sidewalk in front of three of BoA’s branches in SD. He used children’s sidewalk chalk, the type that washes away in the rain or scuffs off after maybe a couple of days. Between April and August of last year he left 13 such messages, saying thing like "No thanks, big banks" and "Shame on Bank of America."
As a result, after the local security officer for Bank of America prodded the City Attorney's office, Olson was charged with the 13 counts of vandalism, each of which could hypothetically cost him a year in prison and a $1000 fine.
The case got some attention for two reasons beyond the simple absurdity of the charges: One is that the statute requires that something was "maliciously defaced” to qualify as vandalism. Since there was no physical damage and the chalk, again, could easily be removed at minimal cost - or even no cost, if it rained - the only possible application of “malicious” would be to the content of his messages, which would seem to make it an open-and-shut case of free speech.
Which brings up the second reason it got attention: The judge, one Howard Shore, granted a prosecutorial motion to forbid Olson from citing in his defense the phrases "First Amendment," "free speech," "free expression," "public forum," "expressive conduct" or "political speech." The law, he said, “does not mention First Amendment rights," thereby placing a local law about graffiti above the Constitution.Shore later imposed a gag order on Olson, barring him from talking to the media about his case - remember, this is a misdemeanor case. So according to the city prosecutor, you can potentially face 13 years in prison for expressing your opinion with washable chalk if a giant corporation wants it so and according to “Judge” Shore, you can be banned from complaining that you've been forbidden to argue that being threatened with those 13 years in prison is a violation of your free speech rights.
So what’s the good news?
First, people rallied around him, including writing messages about free speech on the sidewalk around the Hall of Justice, where the trial was held.
Second, last week he was acquitted on all 13 counts, as the jury showed much more sense than the police, the prosecutors, or the judge did. And to make it all the sweeter, San Diego Mayor Bob Filner condemned the City Attorney's Office, calling the whole prosecution a waste of time.
Footnote: After the acquittal, “Judge” Shore condemned the media for sensationalizing the case. Which is not surprising: Vampires do their best work in the dark.
Sources:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/01/1220409/-Ding-San-Diego-Chalker-Acquitted-and-Idiot-Prosecutor-Condemned-by-Mayor#20130701205410
http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/06/30/chalk-another-one-up-to-free-speech-hypocrisy/
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/news-ticker/2013/jun/25/chalking-the-plank-judge-wont-allow-bank-protester/
http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18062-san-diego-jury-acquits-on-all-counts-occupy-chalk-protestor-targeted-by-bank-of-america
http://www.10news.com/news/rally-held-to-show-support-for-jeff-olson-man-charged-in-chalk-vandalism-case-06292013
http://www.10news.com/news/verdict-in-san-diego-chalk-vandalism-case-070113
Left Side of the Aisle #116
Left Side of the Aisle
for the week of July 11-17, 2013
This week:
Good news 1: Jeffrey David Olson
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/01/1220409/-Ding-San-Diego-Chalker-Acquitted-and-Idiot-Prosecutor-Condemned-by-Mayor#20130701205410
http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/06/30/chalk-another-one-up-to-free-speech-hypocrisy/
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/news-ticker/2013/jun/25/chalking-the-plank-judge-wont-allow-bank-protester/
http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18062-san-diego-jury-acquits-on-all-counts-occupy-chalk-protestor-targeted-by-bank-of-america
http://www.10news.com/news/rally-held-to-show-support-for-jeff-olson-man-charged-in-chalk-vandalism-case-06292013
http://www.10news.com/news/verdict-in-san-diego-chalk-vandalism-case-070113
Good news 2: Moral Monday
http://www.thenation.com/blog/175160/sixty-four-arrested-moral-monday-abortion-access-protest-north-carolina#
http://www.wral.com/-moral-monday-protest-bolstered-by-abortion-restriction-outrage/12638680/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/09/north-carolina-abortion-bill_n_3569509.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/moral-monday-rally-nc-abortion-bill-protest-arrests_n_3564506.html
http://swampland.time.com/2013/07/01/moral-mondays-religious-progressives-protest-north-carolina-policies/
Good news 3: Walmart feels the heat
http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2013/07/03/pension-funds-blacklist-walmart/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/10/bangladesh-factory-safety-plan-walmart_n_3573209.html
http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/10/news/companies/walmart-bangladesh-agreement/index.html
http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/13/news/companies/hm-bangladesh-safety/index.html?iid=EL
Clown Award: MA State Police Colonel Timothy Alben
http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2013/07/03/police-announce-huge-presence-more-cameras-for-the/CvgHGRVHMnUJFOBRwn2rrJ/story.html
http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2013/07/04/fourth-july-revelers-begin-arrive-boston-esplanade/4cDweMptMsgkz6Nf7lBwUL/story.html
http://www.telegram.com/article/20130704/NEWS/130709853/1116
http://www.wcvb.com/news/local/metro/attendance-appears-down-at-boston-july-4-events/-/11971628/20846004/-/745nh2z/-/index.html
Egypt and American mythology
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/09/egypt-political-roadmap_n_3565902.html?utm_hp_ref=world
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/egyptian-army-firing-at-crowd_n_3561467.html?utm_hp_ref=world
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/08/world/meast/egypt-coup/index.html
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/egypt-transitional-government-pulls-in-mubarak-old-guard-and-salafists-a-910266.html#ref=nl-international
I laugh so as not to weep
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/05/david_brooks_bigoted_rant/
http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/07/05/david-brooks-mental-equipment/
Outrage of the Week: coerced sterilization in CA prisons
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/female-inmates-sterilized-california_n_3561564.html
http://jezebel.com/female-prisoners-sterilized-illegally-and-often-throug-699103380
http://cironline.org/reports/female-inmates-sterilized-california-prisons-without-approval-4917
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/07/07/california-prisons-illegally-sterilized-hundreds-female-inmates.html
Guns: what you don't see can hurt you
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/override-votes-make-illinois-last-state-in-the-nation-to-allow-carrying-of-concealed-weapons/2013/07/09/54a9e766-e8f5-11e2-818e-aa29e855f3ab_story.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/02/more-passengers-guns-airports_n_3536446.html
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