… If you know whether a state was part of the Confederacy, it is possible to make a reasonably accurate guess about where it stands on a range of seemingly unconnected matters, from party politics to gay marriage. …
Today, only five states have no minimum-wage laws; all were Confederate 150 years ago. Of the ten states that lock up the highest proportion of their citizens, seven were Confederate. …
The 11 states of the Confederacy were Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia.
I was in Alabama last year. Very nice. I saw no visible signs of the legacy of slavery. I’m headed for Texas next week.
… a small group of artists installed a tribute to NSA-leaker Edward Snowden in a Brooklyn park.
The Snowden bust stands atop a column at the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene Park, a site built to honor more than 11,000 American prisoners of war who died aboard British ships during the American Revolutionary War. …
Of course, the statue was quickly removed. But it did bring attention again to Snowden. Timing was perfect as simultaneously people were watching his comedy interview with John Oliver.
About 41% of Canadians would support abolishing the Senate, Ottawa’s greatest wellspring of gossip, scandal and outrage. Another 45% want it reformed, while only 14% think it should be left as it is, according to an Angus Reid Institute poll.
I want it abolished. Only the NDP is calling for abolishment.
This is still as funny today as it was when this satire was first aired. Gundamentalists agree with Archie. There’s no reasoning with them. Or with Archie Bunker.
The NRA wants open carry in schools, churches and playgrounds … but for their own National convention?
“All guns on the convention floor will be nonoperational, with the firing pins removed, and any guns purchased during the NRA convention will have to be picked up at a Federal Firearms License dealer, near where the purchaser lives, and will require a legal identification.”
You run a storefront business. Should you have the right not to sell to women? To visible minorities? To Norwegians?
I don’t think so.
What’s the difference between this woman …
… and this guy?
I believe in freedom. But not freedom to discriminate.
Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana should stay closed. Instead of selling pizza only to heterosexuals, owners can live off donations from the homophobes. (Over $800,000 donated, so far. This stunt turned out to be very profitable, even if the owners are in hiding.)
Ten Republicans have joined House Democrats in narrowly defeating a proposal to permit concealed weapons on college campuses.
The Montana House failed Senate Bill 143 on a vote of 49-51 Tuesday. …
Opponents say only seven states allow concealed carry on campuses …
Republican Rep. Jeffrey Welborn said he voted against the proposal at the request of the parents of a Montana Tech student who was shot and killed by another student in 1982.
Allowing guns on campus would be more dangerous than not. Firearm accidents and stupidity would far exceed those incidents where some student stops a crime.
The issue of Gay marriage is actually not very important to me. (Marriage is not important to me.)
But I do like to watch bigoted Tea Party types squirm. Love to see racists called out. Love it when regular voters want to ask Ted Cruz – “Do you hate Gays?” 🙂
Gallup polling confirms that the number of Americans who believe homosexuality is “morally acceptable” is at an all-time high at just under 60 percent, up from around 40 in the early 2000s. This support is even more pronounced among millennials.
Mike Pence just lobbed a grenade into the Republican presidential field.
The Indiana governor’s religious freedom law has ignited yet another controversial culture war debate that has Republican contenders juggling awkward questions about issues they would just as soon not touch.
This time around, the policy issue isn’t same-sex marriage — it’s about nondiscrimination laws and whether they should accompany Religious Freedom Restoration Acts like the one just passed in Indiana.
But regardless, Republicans are getting pummeled over gay rights issues of all sorts — and face the familiar dilemma of whether a conservative stance that makes for good politics in a GOP primary will hurt them in a general election. …
To Joan Crockatt, my current Member of Parliament:
Hello Joan,
I will be actively campaigning in your riding against the Conservative Party in the upcoming election.
Born in Calgary, a fiscal conservative, still I cannot support your military mission in Iraq. It’s a waste of money. And will likely backfire, making Canada a more prominent target for any Canadian extremist or kook. It’s making me and my family less safe, not more.
… more than 2,100 documented cases of suicide bombings from 1980 to 2009 and concluded that most of the perpetrators were acting in response to U.S. intervention in the Middle East. …
The Canadian military should be Peace Keepers.
My other main issue is online privacy. I’m almost certainly going to be strongly against the coming omnibus public safety bill (Bill C-51). The NSA has proven that method doesn’t work. It’s not at all the best way to find terrorists in Canada.
Rick McCharles
Sarcee Meadows, Glamorgan
P.S.
I do like your work for women’s rights, by the way. But not enough to offset my disgust with your Party bombing and shooting innocent women and children in the Middle East.
Sergeant Andrew Joseph Doiron was killed by friendly fire in Iraq___
Joan Crockatt did not reply. Not even a form letter.
___
So I bought a $10 Liberal Party membership.
Justin Trudeau:
We will not be supporting the government’s efforts to deepen this combat mission and expand it into Syria.
He’s totally against same sex marriage. Extremely against a woman’s right to choose abortion.
FREEDOM for Cruz does not include those freedoms. I’m always astonished how politicians who speak most about “liberty” are so intolerant of anyone who’s not exactly like them.
He’s 100% for the NRA. His base is the Christian Right.
• first Hispanic or Cuban American to serve as a U.S. Senator from Texas
• he’s a Constitutional expert
• very familiar with American Law. Believes in the rule of law.
• he’s outspoken, willing to speak against the Republican Party line. I admire that. No doubt his corporate paymasters consider him too much a loose cannon.
Rick McCharles 