In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Anti-choice terrorism] New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan is expected to sign a bill passed by the state senate "to create a 25-foot buffer zone around clinics that provide abortion services. SB 319 was filed in response to over 60 complaints by patients of Planned Parenthood of Manchester since the start of 2013. The complaints detailed verbal harassment, intimidation, and passage-blocking by anti-choice protesters. It had largely bipartisan support when it was introduced." GOOD. Although 25 feet is hardly enough.

[CN: Carcerality; abuse] A whistleblower raises the red flag on inadequate healthcare in Arizona's prisons, and an investigation finds "dozens of cases of neglect in Arizona'€™s privatized prison health care system. ...Since the state privatized its prison health care, medical spending in prisons dropped by $30 million and staffing levels plummeted, according to an October report from the American Friends Services Committee, a Quaker social justice organization. It also found a sharp spike in the number of inmate deaths. In the first eight months of 2013, 50 people died in Arizona Department of Corrections custody, compared with 37 deaths in the previous two years combined."

[CN: Carcerality; coercion; racism; class warfare] Manhattan Federal Judge Jed Rakoff makes the case that harsh mandatory minimum sentences are creating a system in which innocent people take plea deals just to avoid long sentences. Naturally, "many federal defendants face the same problem, with poor black and Hispanic defendants bearing the brunt of it," and, notes David Patton, executive director at the Federal Defenders of New York, which provides lawyers for defendants who can't afford to hire their own, "the charges that carry mandatory minimums tend to be the type that involve poor people: drug, firearms cases. These are where you have the most coercive situations."

[CN: Misogyny; objectification; hostility to consent] Men Who Read Magazines That Objectify Women Are Less Likely to Respect Sexual Boundaries: "The researchers point out it's certainly possible that guys who already have 'dismissive' attitudes toward women are drawn to reading magazines that objectify women. But they also suggest that the media can contribute to larger cultural attitudes about sexual relationships." Culture: This is how the fuck it works.

[CN: Misogyny; body shaming] A Utah high school arbitrarily edited female students' yearbook photos in order to make them more "modest." Because of course they did.

[CN: Discussion of disease] So, apparently a bunch of dudes have started drinking breast milk, because they believe it's like the best energy drink ever. Jan Barger, a lactation consultant, is doubtful: "Since it's designed to feed infants, she pointed out, it has a tenth of the nutrients a 200-pound man would need. When I mentioned Anthony's breast-milk rationale, she laughed. 'Well,' she said. 'We can talk ourselves into just about anything!'"

LeVar Burton launched a Kickstarter to raise funds to bring back Reading Rainbow, and they raised over $1 million in a single day! Here is a video of LeVar Burton watching the donations hit $1 million, and it might make you cry! If you are anything like me!