July 1, 2014

Buffer zone buffoonery

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Perhaps the Court justices fear protesters allowed to get too close to them might resort to tactics that aren’t “gentle.” Or the justices would feel intimidated about doing their jobs if, as they entered their workplace, random strangers were allowed to get within kissing distance of them to say directly into their ears, “Jesus doesn’t want you to do this.” And Supreme Court justices, like the rest of us, are also free to make all personal health-care decisions—except one—without interference from those who object to their options.

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http://twitpic.com/e5y9gr

July 1, 2014

"You can't really heal if people are telling you that it's your fault. But that's what Will did."

Exclusive: The Sexual Assault Survivor George Will Dismissed Responds
Lisa Sendrow: "I Absolutely Have Not Received Any Privileges From Sexual Assault"

"No one wants to hear that you brought this on yourself," she said, while discussing her reaction to Will's piece. "No one wants to relive the experience or tell that story, when they haven't really had a chance to reflect. You can't really heal if people are telling you that it's your fault. But that's what Will did."

...................

Sendrow told Media Matters she received violent threats after the Philadelphia article was published. One threat said that she and the other women quoted in the story "deserved to be stoned." Others said "I should be raped again, or 'really' raped, that I was a slut, you know, using my sexual background to say I deserved it."

For Sendrow, most upsetting about Will's column was that "he was politicizing sexual assault, he's a conservative columnist, but why should sexual assault be political?" She criticized him for putting the term sexual assault in quotation marks, implying doubt in survivors' stories, and for using her personal story to "describe the experience of all survivors, and (making])it seem very small." She added, "it was mostly upsetting because I don't feel like survivors' voices were heard."

Will's full column, Sendrow said, made it feel "as if women don't have a voice. Anything bad that happens to a woman, it doesn't matter, because we're the ones who are at fault. And this is already what we're told every single day," she concluded. "We're raised all our lives to think this isn't an issue. But this is an issue. This is why people are triggered, this is why people have PTSD. People will go through their lives thinking rape culture isn't real."

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"What if (Will's) daughter -- I don't know if he has a daughter -- but would he say to her, that this didn't happen?" she asked. "If she came to him crying, or even not crying, but if she came to him and told him this story, would he just say it wasn't real?"

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/07/01/exclusive-the-sexual-assault-survivor-george-wi/199937

July 1, 2014

Happy Canada Day!!!

Here’s What Happens When Americans Try To Label The Country Of Canada

“Is Toronto a province?”

check this out:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/tanyachen/americans-fail-canada-again

July 1, 2014

Sen. Bernie Sanders criticized a “very troubling” Supreme Court ruling toda

From www.sanders.senate.gov:

Sen. Bernie Sanders criticized a “very troubling” Supreme Court ruling today that lets some business owners opt out of an Affordable Care Act requirement that they cover contraceptives for women workers.

“Bosses should not be able to impose their religious beliefs on their employees. This ruling is another attack on the rights of working people by the 5-4 conservative majority on the Supreme Court,” said Sanders.

“At a time when tens of millions of women use birth control, there is no valid reason to restrict a woman’s access to safe, widely-used preventive services simply because her employer does not approve of what should be her private medical decisions. This ruling undermines the government’s interest in providing women access to preventive health care, including contraceptive coverage,” Sanders said.

Sanders had joined a group of senators in a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that a religious freedom law did not extend rights to for-profit corporations.http://www.sanders.senate.gov/

July 1, 2014

Judge dismisses Zimmerman's lawsuit against NBC

Judge dismisses Zimmerman's lawsuit against NBC
By By Mike Schneider June 30, 2014

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A Florida judge on Monday dismissed the defamation lawsuit filed by George Zimmerman against NBC and three reporters, saying the former neighborhood watch leader failed to show the network acted with malice.

Judge Debra Nelson said the malice standard was appropriate because Zimmerman became a public figure after he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford in February 2012, generating a national conversation about race and self-defense laws.

Zimmerman was acquitted last year for Martin's shooting. He said he shot Martin in self-defense when the teenager attacked him. Martin was black. Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic.

MORE:
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2014-06-30/judge-dismisses-zimmermans-lawsuit-against-nbc

July 1, 2014

Don't Forget: Hobby Lobby Invested In Numerous Abortion And Contraception Products While Claiming...

Hobby Lobby Invested In Numerous Abortion And Contraception Products While Claiming Religious Objection
4/01/2014 @ 5:01PM 350,189 views

In what just may be the most stunning example of hypocrisy in my lifetime, Mother Jones has uncovered numerous investments on the part of Hobby Lobby’s retirement fund in a wide variety of companies producing abortion and contraception related products.

Hobby Lobby is currently seeking relief from certain contraception benefit requirements of Obamacare in a United States Supreme Court case that promises to be a landmark decision on the rights of corporations and the extension of personal religious protections to corporate entities. In the case of the Hobby Lobby corporation, the company is closely held by the Green family who purport to have strong religious objections to certain types of contraceptive devices and are suing to protect those religious rights.

Remarkably, the contraceptive devices and products that so offend the religious beliefs of this family are manufactured by the very companies in which Hobby Lobby holds a substantial stake via their employee 401(k) plan.

As I suspect many readers will find this as hard to believe and digest as I, the data can be confirmed by reviewing the company’s 2012 Annual Report of Employee Benefit Plan as filed with the Department of Labor. http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1099360-savings-incentive-and-profit-sharing-plan-for.html

MORE:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2014/04/01/hobby-lobby-401k-discovered-to-be-investor-in-numerous-abortion-and-contraception-products-while-claiming-religious-objection/

July 1, 2014

If men could get pregnant, Birth Control Would Be Bacon Flavored!

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/06/30/3454501/hobby-lobby-bait-and-switch/

July 1, 2014

Religious Narcissists and Ruth Bader-Ginsburg’s 8 best lines in her dissent

Today, the religious narcissists got another shot of narcissistic supply. They are sitting high and straight and “puffed up”. This won’t be the last time they get their hit as long as this Supreme Court is composed by these members. Note that the three women justices are all on the losing end of each ruling. It should be clear now that the government is being conscripted to dismantle any autonomy that women have. If they can be forced to pay additionally for their reproductive protection, there’s really no limit what can be forced on women in the name of religion. Why are they working outside the home at all? Do they really need as much money as a man? Men support families. Women also support families but only bad women support families on their own. Men have authority, therefore, they should be bosses. Women aren’t supposed to speak in congregation according to Paul. If my corporation is “closely held” and religious, isn’t that like a congregation? Can’t this congregation make rules to suit it without the interference of the government?

It’s coming.

But, like I said earlier, it’s not all religions that behave this way. The mainstream protestant churches, especially those who ordain women, don’t seem to behave this way. I hope we hear from them soon. It’s only the fundamentalist sects and fringe elements that attract a disproportionate number of narcissists that we need to worry about. Nevertheless, it’s time we start to take on the religion industry in this country and one of the first places to start is by making a big stink over the faith based initiatives. There’s no reason we need to give the religious narcissists more power with tax payer money. I don’t care who is in the White House. Find another, more ethical way to win elections.

We, on the other hand, must learn to identify the narcissist in religious clothing and make them feel unwanted and unpopular even at the risk of incurring their wrath. And, yes, they will get very, very angry. But better an angry genie in a bottle than a content one on the loose wrecking havoc.

Deploy your shields.



In the meantime, Ruth Bader-Ginsburg writes that the court has “ventured into a minefield” with this ruling. Among her best lines from her dissent are:

“Approving some religious claims while deeming others unworthy of accommodation could be ‘perceived as favoring one religion over another,’ the very ‘risk the (Constitution's) Establishment Clause was designed to preclude.”

and

“It bears note in this regard that the cost of an IUD is nearly equivalent to a month’s full-time pay for workers earning the minimum wage.”

MORE:
http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/2014/06/30/religious-narcissists-and-ruth-bader-ginsburgs-8-best-lines-in-her-dissent/

June 30, 2014

KRUGMAN On KANSAS --- "There’s an important lesson here — but it’s not what you think."

Charlatans, Cranks and Kansas





MORE:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/opinion/paul-krugman-charlatans-cranks-and-kansas.html?ref=opinion&_r=1

June 30, 2014

Try to remember the times when you were little and I would read the same story night after night...

My dear girl, the day you see I'm getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I'm going through. If when we talk, I repeat the same thing a thousand times, don't interrupt to say: "You said the same thing a minute ago"... Just listen, please. Try to remember the times when you were little and I would read the same story night after night until you would fall asleep.

When I don't want to take a bath, don't be mad and don't embarrass me. Remember when I had to run after you making excuses and trying to get you to take a shower when you were just a girl?

When you see how ignorant I am when it comes to new technology, give me the time to learn and don't look at me that way ... remember, honey, I patiently taught you how to do many things like eating appropriately, getting dressed, combing your hair and dealing with life's issues every day... the day you see I'm getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I'm going through.

If I occasionally lose track of what we're talking about, give me the time to remember, and if I can't, don't be nervous, impatient or arrogant. Just know in your heart that the most important thing for me is to be with you.

And when my old, tired legs don't let me move as quickly as before, give me your hand the same way that I offered mine to you when you first walked. When those days come, don't feel sad... just be with me, and understand me while I get to the end of my life with love. I'll cherish and thank you for the gift of time and joy we shared. With a big smile and the huge love I've always had for you, I just want to say, I love you ... my darling daughter.


Original text in Spanish and photo by Guillermo Peña.
Translation to English by Sergio Cadena