Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, was standing in the parking lot selling CDs as he had for years when two white cops arrived on Tuesday night. By Wednesday morning he was dead and protesters were in the city’s streets. Calls erupted from Congress and the NAACP for an independent investigation into the shooting, which the Justice Department announced within … Read More
Carlson Sues Ailes For Sexual Harassment At Fox News
Fox News former anchor and host Gretchen Carlson, who departed the network just a few weeks ago, has filed a sex harassment lawsuit against Fox supremo Roger Ailes. For those who don’t follow the intricacies of the Fox News world, Carlson wasn’t just any talking head. She was a big star on the network. The facts alleged are about as … Read More
Fourth of July Flashback
At around 50 seconds into the video, the four-year old on my shoulder starts singing a patriotic song that she made up. Something about “America” and how the fireworks appear every day and every night….
NC State Senate Moves $500K From Disaster Relief Fund To Defend Anti-LGBT Hate Bill
The Associated Press reports: North Carolina lawmakers took steps Thursday to set aside a half-million dollars for the legal defense of a law limiting protections for LGBT people as a judge sought to streamline a cluster of lawsuits it has inspired. Republican lawmakers were mapping out the end of the session, including possible changes to the law known as House … Read More
SCOTUS Strikes Down Oppressive Abortion Restrictions
This morning, the Supreme Court struck down parts of a restrictive Texas law that could have reduced the number of abortion clinics in the state to about 10 from what was once a high of roughly 40. The 5-to-3 decision was the court’s most sweeping statement on abortion rights since Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992. It applied a skeptical … Read More
What Atrios Said
This is great: WHEN TEXAS SECEDES…. The conversation with Uncle Sam will be something like: You aren’t going to close your military bases, are you? Well, yes. You aren’t going to close the borders and enact border checks, are you? Well, yes. You aren’t going to require visas for Texan patriots to visit the US, are you? Quite possibly. You … Read More
You Can Now Make Star Trek Movies….
… and you won’t get sued for copyright infringement, as long as you follow these guidelines, just released by CBS and Paramount: Guidelines for Avoiding Objections: The fan production must be less than 15 minutes for a single self-contained story, or no more than 2 segments, episodes or parts, not to exceed 30 minutes total, with no additional seasons, episodes, … Read More
Lady Dynamite: A Review
I have had a girlfriend with bipolar issues, and another who has since developed identity diffusion disorder* (formally known as multiple personality disorder). I’ve worked with informal counselling of families and friends of people stricken with mental illness. Because of that, I can attest to the fact that it is no picnic to be in their shoes, or anywhere near … Read More
Breaking: Scotus Decisions
Three big cases remain outstanding on the SCOTUS docket: one on abortion, one on immigration, and one on affirmative action. The last one was just handed down moments ago. FISHER v UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS Facts of the case In 1997, the Texas legislature enacted a law requiring the University of Texas to admit all high school seniors who ranked in … Read More
This Is Slightly Obscene
I saw “Hamilton” with the original cast (except Anthony Rannells was substituting for J Groff) last October, a couple of months after it opened. I knew it would be big and a tough ticket to get in a few months, but I had no idea. Check this out. Of course, these are tickets for one week from now, and Lin-Manuel … Read More
RNC Deletes LGBT Reference In Its Orlando Statement
In its original statement following the Orlando shootings, the Republican National Committee made an attempt to acknowledge that the attack specifically targeted LGBT Americans—a sad attempt, but an attempt nonetheless. But meh, who really cares about that aspect anyway? So they finally just edited gays out altogether. Rebecca Ruiz reports on the line that was just too dangerous to include: “Violence against any group of … Read More
Net Neutrality Win
This might get unnoticed, but it shouldn’t. It will have long-standing repercussions about the Internet: WASHINGTON — High-speed internet service can be defined as a utility, a federal court has ruled, in a sweeping decision clearing the way for more rigorous policing of broadband providers and greater protections for web users. The two-to-one decision from a three-judge panel at the … Read More
Tony Nominations 2016: Hamilton Is The Show Where It Happens
To almost nobody’s surprise, Hamilton took the most nomination this year at the Tonys, with a record-breaking 16. The Best Featured Actor in A Musical has 3 of the five nominees from Hamilton. I saw Allegiance, which I thought was fairly good, so I am surprised it didn’t get a nod anywhere. Would have loved to have seen George Takei … Read More
Video: Slow Jam The News With Obama
The guy has comic chops
Lord Gets Served
For nearly a 20 minutes Tuesday night, CNN political commentator and Donald Trump supporter Jeffrey Lord tried to defend the presumptive GOP nominee’s racist rant against a federal judge. It didn’t go well at all. Instead, seven other panelists raked Lord over the coals. Asked whether he would denounce what Trump said as racism, Lord said, “It wasn’t racism. He is calling attention … Read More