- The Cost of Equality
- [Feminist Law Professors - Tony Infanti]
The New York Times web site today includes an article highlighting some of the costs associated with same-sex couples’ recent victory in their fight for marriage equality under the federal tax laws. The article is interesting but misses the larger context—because these costs are a natural concomitant of a piecemeal approach to marriage equality and are in no sense either unique or new…
(Not to mention that many IRS employees do not seem to be aware of this policy change, which means that [same-sex couples will have to provide a lot of explanation for their tax returns]. This problem is likely the result of the IRS’s wholesale refusal to provide generally applicable, public guidance to same-sex couples…)
- A National Internet ID? The U.S. Commerce Department Responds
- [SocialTimes.com - Katie Kindelan]
We took your concerns, questions and comments to the U.S. Commerce Department, the federal agency authorized to oversee the administration’s efforts in this area, for an in-depth interview with Ari Schwartz, senior advisor for Internet policy at the department.
[Bookmarking to read later. This is jargon-o-riffic and abstract. -L]
- Worm Sex [video]
- Sperm cells come in all sorts of shapes. After watching hours of hermaphroditic flatworm sex, researchers came up with a theory why: Sexual behavior determines the shape of sperm.
- Want to share Learn WordPress.com?
- [WordPress.com News - Erica Johnson]
Click here for a printer-friendly version of the entire Learn WordPress.com tutorial.
- Pregnancy Policing
- [Echidne of the Snakes]
"…A bar in suburban Roselle could end up in a legal battle after forcing a woman to leave because she was eight months pregnant…"
What these two stories share is the idea of singling out pregnant women. It is pregnant women who should somehow be able to detox their bodies, all on their own! If they don't do that, add to the mother-guilt.
- Payroll Tax Cuts: In Numbers
- [White House.gov Blog - Jesse Lee]
Less than a month after President Obama signed the tax cut compromise, millions of American workers are already seeing the impact show up in their paychecks from the payroll tax cut – here are some numbers on just that cut alone: [bullet points]
…not only can it help them make ends meet as the economy continues to recover, but as they spend it on things they need that will pump fuel directly into America’s larger economic engine.
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- In Times of National Trauma, the Nation Looks to the President
- [New Deal 2.0 - David Woolner]
Roosevelt historian David Woolner shines a light on today’s issues with lessons from the past.
"…the president of the United States is much more than merely the head of government. He is also our head of state — the national figure we look to for guidance and comfort in times of national trauma."
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- Mean people suck
- [MOMocrats™ - Karoli ]
Set aside all the blamecasting that's gone on over the past five days and think about what Michelle Obama is saying here in her open letter to all parents:…
Call me crazy, but haven't we all had thoughts like this, no matter whether liberal or conservative? Wasn't your first instinct when you heard about that sweet little NINE-YEAR OLD girl to grab your kids and pull them tight to you?…
This is why it is so difficult to see the knee-jerk reaction of right-wing bloggers to a letter which has not even one iota of politics in it.
….claiming that Mrs. Obama's letter is somehow politicizing the Tucson events by blaming them on the political climate of our times. I would appreciate it if someone could please point me to that section.
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- Big Bank Bailout Redux
- Central to the Tea Party revolt was a fierce reaction against the bailout of the big banks.
Will the Republican Congress now…push through another bailout, this time by overturning centuries of property law and nationalizing what has always been governed by state law?…
[Hey, only the House of Reps is currently controlled by the GOP. -L]
The Third Way, one of a gaggle of outlets for the corporate wing of the Democratic Party, has just published a paper "Fixing Foreclosure-gate" urging that Congress take over [because] …local courts are choking on the reality that the banks trampled all property law in their rush to market mortgage backed securities. Now…they can't establish who has the right to foreclose [on millions of homeowners]… The bank [and Third Way] position is…let us foreclose anyway.
Good reporting on this has been done by Yves Smith, Mike Konczal, Marcy Wheeler, and David Dayan. Mike Lux calls out the Third Way in the HuffPo. [link-o-rama]
- Sing it, Newt! Gingrich and Allies Promote Criminal Justice Reform
- [ACLU blog - Inimai Chettiar & Rebecca McCray]
It might seem hard to find something the left and right agree on these days, but we're thrilled to see both sides of the political spectrum reaching an important consensus when it comes to our country's correctional system.
…Newt Gingrich and Pat Nolan, president of Justice Fellowship, the criminal justice reform division of Prison Fellowship Ministries, put out a call in The Washington Post for their Republican brethren to pave the way to reduced prison populations and costs and join their "Right on Crime" campaign (read our take on the campaign's launch here). [link link and link]
- The Civility Diversion
- [Balloon Juice - mistermix]
James Fallows has solicited suggestions on how we can have a more civil political dialog in the wake of the Tucson shootings. Fallows’ project has merit, and as a consistently civil and reasonable person, he’s the right guy to take it on. But if I had a choice between a more civil discourse and a more honest one, I’d pick honesty every time.
…It’s an exaggeration to say that the whole Tea Party movement is built on lies, but not by much. And the beltway media is complicit in those lies, because they were so goddam eager to have a narrative of populist anger about healthcare that they conveniently neglected to emphasize that most of that anger was based on utter bullshit. The only way that’s going to change is if the same DC media decides they can call out liars and the lies they tell…
[In case it needs to be said: I don't agree with every word of everything I link to. Signal boosts are awesome! --L.]
The Of interest (Fri, Jan 14th, 11am) by Lee Salazar, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Terms and conditions beyond the scope of this license may be available at leesalazar.com.