Yes, I haven't posted in a loooooong time, and it's very frustrating because some interesting stuff has been going down (the excuse is work — I'm covering for a sick co-worker and it has been time-consuming).

The MOST interesting story, as far as I am concerned, came from Arizona and SB1062, the "religious freedom" pro-bigotry bill which would permit businesses to discriminate against homosexuals for "religious" reasons.  Issues of religious freedom have been cropping up lately everywhere — see, for example, the debate about Catholic hospitals not providing insurance which includes birth control — but SB 1062 was a fantastic example of the rubber meeting the road.  It was brazen in its attempt to codify discrimination — bigotry, to be exact — in the name of religious freedom.

Arizona governnor Jan Brewer last night vetoed the bill.  Sadly, she didn't do it because it was morally repugnant.  She did it because of pressures from the business community.  The NFL was considering moving the Supre Bowl from Arizona.  Major League Baseball weighed in.  As did Intel and other large corporations.  Even companies that didn't reside in Arizona threatened to move their corporate get-away conventions from that state.  Suddenly, when it came to massive loss of business revenue, "religious freedom" didn't seem so important.

And Arizona's reputation had been further damaged.

Sadly, this is not over.  Georgia is looking to pass the same law.

Fools.