Link Me Up, Scotty - Clown Cars and Klingon Edition

Monday, July 20, 2015
It seems that Texas is being sued because they refuse to issue birth certificates to American citizens. This blatant violation of the 14th Amendment is taking place because - wait for it - the parents of the babies in question are in this country illegally. So even though the children are by definition American citizens, the Office of Vital Statistics is trying to use obscure regulations to deny them their birthright. Because I guess the Constitution doesn't apply to brown people? Or to the babies of brown people? "Real Americans" my pasty white ass. Hypocrisy, thy name is Texas government. Jerkwads.
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The Welsh government decided to respond to a report of a UFO at Cardiff Airport in Klingon. There's nothing not to love here.
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Professional historian, Smart Man and Platonic Boyfriend David weighs in on marriage equality from an historical perspective. My favorite part:
Justice Scalia’s main point – at least as far as I got into his opinion, since after the first few pages it began to get more than a little tiresome – is that “a majority of the nine lawyers on the Supreme Court” has somehow dared to determine what the Constitution actually means and how it applies to the law, and Justice Scalia finds this unacceptable.  I’m not sure how a sitting Supreme Court Justice can be so bone-ignorant about the proper role and function of the American judiciary and still draw a paycheck, but there it is.  Further, the fact that this complaint was repeatedly echoed in Chief Justice Roberts’ dissent is profoundly disturbing.  To be honest, Scalia’s opinion made me question his basic fitness for the job.  It’s pretty clear that he has abandoned all pretense of judicial professionalism and is simply there to present an extreme partisan viewpoint. 

Nowhere in his dissenting opinion, for example, does Scalia explain how the majority of the nine lawyers on the Court is illegitimate in this particular case, where Scalia is notably in the minority, and yet perfectly legitimate in other cases where Scalia is in a similarly narrow majority.  Just off the top of my head, I would inquire as how he would apply this dubious reasoning in such cases as DC v. Heller (which overturned centuries of legal precedent and the express intent of the Founding Fathers in order to declare gun ownership an individual rather than collective right), or the single most grotesque parody of a judicial decision of the last half century, Bush v. Gore (which appointed to the presidency a Republican with half a million fewer popular votes than his Democratic opponent, without even so much as an investigation into the widespread and substantial allegations of electoral fraud that gave that Republican his semblance of victory in the Electoral College).  But those cases furthered Scalia’s partisan agenda, and were thus somehow acceptably decided by that newfound terror in the legal system, “a majority of the nine lawyers on the Supreme Court.”
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A woman live-Tweets her account of a most horrendous first date taking place at the next table in a coffee shop. The money quote:
Responses to my bad date live-tweet Men: you're so mean and I bet you made this up anyway Women: I have been on this exact date.
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An article providing a different point of view on Why Israel, Saudi Arabia and Neocons Hate the Iran Deal. The money quote:
"What Netanyahu and King Salman want Obama to do is to wage war against Iran—or, more to the point, to fight their wars against Iran for them. That is why they so virulently oppose U.S. diplomacy with Iran—because the more we talk with Iran’s leaders, the less likely we are to go to war with them."
Hm, yes. Just so. While I recognize and appreciate Israel's position in terms of considering Iran an existential threat (a prudent point of view, given the history and the rhetoric), I think we should all just be honest about the situation, at least with one another. Invading Iran would mean spending America's blood and treasure, and as a country, we need to make that decision based on what is best for the United States, not what is best for Israel. For the most part, every country makes decisions regarding the implementation of foreign policy based on their own self-interest - this is not a radical suggestion. While I want Israel and the United States to remain allies, that should not mean becoming Israel's beck-and-call-girl every time they snap their fingers. It's not seemly, and it's not in our best interests.

H/T Brother Eric
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A Texas Librarian and the Library Advisory Board voted to retain two LGBT children's books when bigots wanted them banned.  See, THIS is why choosing Library Board members carefully is important. Proud of my fellow Library Board members!
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Disabled veterans sign up to be photographed for a pin-up calendar by photographer Michael Stokes. Rowr.

H/T Brother Larry
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I've never been asked any of these questions during a job interview, but I understand it's far more common that I thought. 

2 comments:

David said...

The Welsh government decided to respond to a report of a UFO at Cardiff Airport in Klingon.

Having grown up in an area of the US originally settled by Welsh Quakers who named most of the roads and natural features in their own language, I have to ask how anyone could tell the difference.

Anne C. said...

I've been on that date. Every single thing I've ever done, he did more of or better.