Pantsless Progressive

Awesome: Trent Franks, the Arizona Republican who proposed a 20-week abortion ban in Washington, DC and then barred DC’s pro-choice female delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton from speaking out against the measure has a new problem on his hands: a flood of DC residents who are bringing their municipal complaints directly to the Congressman, who they’re calling “Mayor.” From potholes to rodent problems to public transportation complaints, DC residents have followed Franks’ lead and begun funneling their problems to him rather than the city’s own government. […] The protest was a cooperative effort between Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington DC and a group called DC Vote, which aims to secure representation for DC in Congress. Today, about 50 DC residents eagerly waited outside of Rep. Franks’ door, ready to let “Mayor Franks” know how he could make his newly claimed city better. According to the Huffington Post’s Laura Bassett, some carried plastic rats, some toted pictures of the potholes they wanted Mayor Franks to fill, and some brought disputed parking tickets. Do not mess with the uteri of DC.

Awesome:

Trent Franks, the Arizona Republican who proposed a 20-week abortion ban in Washington, DC and then barred DC’s pro-choice female delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton from speaking out against the measure has a new problem on his hands: a flood of DC residents who are bringing their municipal complaints directly to the Congressman, who they’re calling “Mayor.” From potholes to rodent problems to public transportation complaints, DC residents have followed Franks’ lead and begun funneling their problems to him rather than the city’s own government. […]

The protest was a cooperative effort between Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington DC and a group called DC Vote, which aims to secure representation for DC in Congress.

Today, about 50 DC residents eagerly waited outside of Rep. Franks’ door, ready to let “Mayor Franks” know how he could make his newly claimed city better. According to the Huffington Post’s Laura Bassett, some carried plastic rats, some toted pictures of the potholes they wanted Mayor Franks to fill, and some brought disputed parking tickets.

Do not mess with the uteri of DC.

Source jezebel.com

“Transparency is a necessary precondition of well-functioning markets, but it is also the enemy of profit. It’s not that Wall Street is smarter than us or the government; it’s that they know so much that we do not. It is dangerous, valuable knowledge they hoard, and it is quite literally why they make the big bucks.” - Chris Hayes

Source MSNBC

“I’m not a birther. I believe the president was born in Hawaii — or at least I hope he was. But my responsibility as secretary of state is to make sure the ballots in Arizona are correct and that those people whose names are on the ballot have met the qualifications for the office they are seeking.” - Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, attempting to go full Arpaio, says he has contacted Hawaii state officials to verify President Obama’s birth certificate. Bennett says he’s not a birther, claiming requests from constituents led him to investigate whether or not Obama should appear on Arizona’s ballot in November. In a recent radio interview, when asked if he would exclude Obama from the ballot if Hawaii doesn’t respond to his request, he replied, “That’s possible. Or the other option would be I would ask all of candidates, including the president, maybe to submit a certified copy of their birth certificate. But I don’t want to do that.” Since, you know, the President has never shown proof of his birth and Hawaii has never responded to this inquiry before.

“I’m not a birther. I believe the president was born in Hawaii — or at least I hope he was. But my responsibility as secretary of state is to make sure the ballots in Arizona are correct and that those people whose names are on the ballot have met the qualifications for the office they are seeking.” - Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, attempting to go full Arpaio, says he has contacted Hawaii state officials to verify President Obama’s birth certificate.

Bennett says he’s not a birther, claiming requests from constituents led him to investigate whether or not Obama should appear on Arizona’s ballot in November. In a recent radio interview, when asked if he would exclude Obama from the ballot if Hawaii doesn’t respond to his request, he replied, “That’s possible. Or the other option would be I would ask all of candidates, including the president, maybe to submit a certified copy of their birth certificate. But I don’t want to do that.”

Since, you know, the President has never shown proof of his birth and Hawaii has never responded to this inquiry before.

“Most people have hobbies: golf, model trains, restoring old cars, whatever. A year after Ron Paul announced his Republican presidential bid, I have concluded that his supporters must not do these things. They can’t possibly have the time. While others are at rest or at play, Paul’s supporters are on the Internet, googling his name and diving into the comments sections of news articles to register their opinions. Maybe it’s a measure of their dedication or their web savvy, or both. I don’t know.”

Best comment of the week, from Adam Sorensen, on Ron Paul fans.

Source TIME

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In Kansas, your local neighborhood drug store pharmacist can now refuse to fill your doctor-issued contraception prescription, or any drug he or she thinks might be used to terminate a pregnancy, or be used in conjunction with pregnancy termination, all on the grounds of “religious liberty” and “conscience protection.” Not only that, but anyone who ”reasonably believes” a drug prescription they are filling or “reasonably believes” an action they are taking — say, administering a drug — might result in the termination of a pregnancy is allowed to refuse under Republican Governor Sam Brownback‘s new law.


The so-called “Health Care Rights of Conscience Act,” which curiously exists in several states under the same name (perhaps an ALEC creation?), applies to pharmacists and even nurses and doctors — anyone who is related to the process of pregnancy termination. The drugs could include both abortion-inducing medications, and even emergency contraception like the so-called “morning-after pill,” but also could include drugs used for life-saving reasons — the pharmacist would only have to trust their gut, not the doctor’s orders.

”

In Kansas, Your Pharmacist Can Now Refuse To Fill Your Contraception Prescription

Source thenewcivilrightsmovement.com

“I’m (expletive deleted) starving.”

Celebrity chef Mario Batali • Discussing the diet he’s currently on — he’s eating like he’s on food stamps (an average of $1.48 per meal, or $31 per week) in protest of potential cuts to the federal food stamps program. His family was nice enough to join him in what he calls a conversation starter about being hungry in the U.S. Unlike most people on food stamps, he knows ways to make the best of a bad situation, smartly sticking to foods like lentils, apples, rice, beans, peanut butter and jelly. But the problem is, eating good on a diet like this is tough, so many do not. Think his family’s experiment will be effective? (via shortformblog)

(via apsies)

Source hosted.ap.org

Reblogged from ShortFormBlog

Bristol Palin thinks President Obama’s decision to support same-sex marriage makes him an inferior parent. Via POLITICO: “While it’s great to listen to your kids’ ideas, there’s also a time when dads simply need to be dads. […] In this case, it would’ve been helpful for him to explain to Malia and Sasha that while her friends parents are no doubt lovely people, that’s not a reason to change thousands of years of thinking about marriage. Or that – as great as her friends may be – we know that in general kids do better growing up in a mother/father home. Ideally, fathers help shape their kids’ worldview.” Yes, Bristol, it would be detrimental to change marriage laws if it undoes the status quo. I welcome Ms. Palin to raise her own children in the interest of regressive, narrow-minded social values. “Sometimes dads should lead their family in the right ways of thinking. In this case, it would’ve been nice if the President would’ve been an actual leader and helped shape their thoughts instead of merely reflecting what many teenagers think after one too many episodes of Glee.” It is obtuse, at best, to suggest that a man is not a strong father figure if his opinions evolve at the consideration of his children. If anything, I’d say that makes one a stronger parent.

Bristol Palin thinks President Obama’s decision to support same-sex marriage makes him an inferior parent. Via POLITICO:

“While it’s great to listen to your kids’ ideas, there’s also a time when dads simply need to be dads. […]

In this case, it would’ve been helpful for him to explain to Malia and Sasha that while her friends parents are no doubt lovely people, that’s not a reason to change thousands of years of thinking about marriage. Or that – as great as her friends may be – we know that in general kids do better growing up in a mother/father home. Ideally, fathers help shape their kids’ worldview.”

I welcome Ms. Palin to raise her own children in the interest of regressive, narrow-minded social values.
“Sometimes dads should lead their family in the right ways of thinking. In this case, it would’ve been nice if the President would’ve been an actual leader and helped shape their thoughts instead of merely reflecting what many teenagers think after one too many episodes of Glee.”
It is obtuse, at best, to suggest that a man is not a strong father figure if his opinions evolve at the consideration of his children. If anything, I’d say that makes one a stronger parent.