Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….
- NASA confirms July 8 for last shuttle launch – The Denver Post – sigh
- What’s The Matter With Florida? – If it was just Floria, one might brush it off. But these sorts of things are going on in their own way in Texas, in Ohio, in Indiana, in Wisconsin, and in smaller ways everywhere else the TPers and their GOP-backing Corporate Overlords are getting into power. Privatize, slash, and pray to Jesus. Just what you want your government to be doing, right?
- Feature: Inside Google+: how the search giant plans to go social – On the one hand, I like Google as a company a lot more than, say, Facebook, and I’d love to see something / someone eat Facebook’s lunch. On the other hand, I really don’t feel the need for yet another social network, and, failing some massive series of gaffes on FB’s part, I can’t imagine how Google can leverage this to any to level of popularity.
- Honey I shrunk my negotiating position in the deficit talks – “So basically, the Republicans keep saying ‘no’ and the White House keeps offering them more and more cuts to programs, and fewer and fewer tax increases, while the Republicans simply keep saying ‘no.'” Cloud-cuckoo land …
- RNC Chair Thinks Americans Will Applaud U.S. Defaulting On Its Debts – Remember how many of these same GOPers were wholeheartedly behind tightening the screws on US bankruptcy laws, with many moral wags of the finger over how evil not paying one’s debts is?
- Cameramail: sending disposable cams through the post with a note asking posties to take pix – That’s awesome.
- NY Clerk Refuses To Sign Same-Sex Marriage Licenses, Says She Doesn’t Know Any Gay People – Dear Ms MacEwen: Unless you mean to tell me that you personally approve of every marriage license you are asked to sign, and refuse to sign any where you disapprove, then you’re being a bigot. And, in either case, unless the law requires you to approve, I suggest you go find another occupation where you won’t be compelled by the job requirements to do something you are morally opposed to.
- Quote Of The Day – David Frum – Why people think two people of the same gender getting married will somehow devalue or destabilize all other marriages has never made any sense to me.
- Netflix for Theaters: MoviePass Lets You Watch Unlimited Movies in Theaters [Movies] – An interesting idea.
- Working in a Spam Factory Is Brutal [Food] – And we’re talking about how the pigs are treated. It reminds me of a Grand Guignol / David Lynch version of “Lucy at the Candy Factory.” Yeesh.
- Obama Capitulates to GOP and Withdraws Labor Protection from Colombia Trade Deal – “I know I shouldn’t be surprised by Republican’s sheer cynicism anymore. But with this move they have effectively demanded–and Obama has agreed–that our workers should have to compete against workers in a country who may well be murdered if they stand up to management.” Well, how do you expect the corporate overlords to turn a profit exporting jobs to Columbia if the Columbian workers can organize? Priorities, man!
- Did CDC ban those airline blankets? : The Pump Handle – No, in fact, they did not.
- Bag Closure Power Strip Organization Hack – There are a ton of clever cable organizers out there on the market. I’m not sure I’ve seen one that was so simple and functional and free before.
- The Battle Beneath the Battle: Do Gay People Exist? | Sexuality/Gender | Religion Dispatches – “Is this not love? Do I not know my own heart? Is my love not that of one human being for another? Not lust or perversion or sin, but love? When straight people really see gay people, when they allow themselves to look, they see that we are people, that our love is love. Similar in some ways, different in others, not necessarily better or worse—but real. We exist.”
- Why Liberal Religious Arguments Fail | Politics | Religion Dispatches – Not that I expect this to change my argumentative nature. At least on the Internet.
- All Three Of Kansas’ Abortion Clinics May Soon Close | ThinkProgress – By hook or by crook.
- After Arizona Medicaid Cuts, Man Earns $12 Too Much To Get Coverage For Heart Surgery | ThinkProgress – “In no other wealthy country would a man be told he can’t afford a life-saving surgery.”
- Beyond the Miniskirt-Wearing Nun: What Catholic Reform Looks Like | Religion Dispatches – “In spite of efforts to downplay the significance of the Second Vatican Council, for many American Catholics it provided the theological justifications to demand sophisticated religious education, to engage ritually in the sacraments, to be accepting of non-Catholics, and to uphold cultural pluralism. It gave Catholics permission to publicly and constructively express disagreement and dissent, and most importantly, it created an atmosphere of spiritual and social flexibility essential to meeting the challenges of the twenty-first century.” Thus the effort to downplay or retcon it.
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