![quickhits:
Wisconsin Gov. Walker joins War on Women.
ThinkProgress: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has thrown his support behind an anti-abortion measure that’s currently moving through the state legislature, saying he will sign the bill into law if it makes it to his desk. SB 206 would require women to undergo an ultrasound before getting an abortion — which would mandate an invasive transvaginal probe for some of the women who seek early abortions in their first trimester — and force one of the state’s last abortion clinics to close its doors.
“I don’t have any problem with ultrasound,” Walker told reporters on Tuesday in Milwaukee. “I think most people think ultrasounds are just fine.”
Forced ultrasound bills mandate a medically unnecessary procedure that would otherwise be left up to the discretion of a woman and her doctor. Medical experts, including the largest national group representing thousands of OB-GYNs across the country, are opposed to this type of legislation because they say it interferes with their work and compromises their relationships with patients. “All of a sudden, the Senate is full of doctors,” Wisconsin Sen. Tim Cullen (D) said in reference to SB 206′s advancement.
You know, I would very much like Scooter to explain to me exactly what it is that women supposedly don’t know about their pregnancies. What new information would an ultrasound give them? What bit of ignorance about their own bodies is this supposed to clear up? Be specific please: just how incredibly stupid do you anti-choicers believe that women are?
The truth is that they’re simply a roadblock to getting an abortion; just one more hoop to jump through, in the hopes that some women will think it’s not worth the effort. In short, the explanation for why this unnecessary procedure should be required are lies. As always, the most fanatically religious among us are the biggest liars and the least trustworthy Americans.
Of course, this is just Walker’s way of shoring up his conservative bona fides before a possible presidential run. He’s hoping that attacking women will excite the base enough to look past his inexcusably gross economic incompetence. But if we’ve learned one thing in recent years, it’s that this War on Women stuff may get you through the GOP primaries, but that this level of extremism will keep you out of the White House.
And thank goodness for that. Scott Walker is unfit to lead a sing-along, let alone a nation.
[photo via Wikimedia Commons]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/0753449f6bb06b7df813dfab9a7aedac/tumblr_moaixsA70p1qfengno1_500.jpg)
Wisconsin Gov. Walker joins War on Women.
ThinkProgress: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has thrown his support behind an anti-abortion measure that’s currently moving through the state legislature, saying he will sign the bill into law if it makes it to his desk. SB 206 would require women to undergo an ultrasound before getting an abortion — which would mandate an invasive transvaginal probe for some of the women who seek early abortions in their first trimester — and force one of the state’s last abortion clinics to close its doors.
“I don’t have any problem with ultrasound,” Walker told reporters on Tuesday in Milwaukee. “I think most people think ultrasounds are just fine.”
Forced ultrasound bills mandate a medically unnecessary procedure that would otherwise be left up to the discretion of a woman and her doctor. Medical experts, including the largest national group representing thousands of OB-GYNs across the country, are opposed to this type of legislation because they say it interferes with their work and compromises their relationships with patients. “All of a sudden, the Senate is full of doctors,” Wisconsin Sen. Tim Cullen (D) said in reference to SB 206′s advancement.
You know, I would very much like Scooter to explain to me exactly what it is that women supposedly don’t know about their pregnancies. What new information would an ultrasound give them? What bit of ignorance about their own bodies is this supposed to clear up? Be specific please: just how incredibly stupid do you anti-choicers believe that women are?
The truth is that they’re simply a roadblock to getting an abortion; just one more hoop to jump through, in the hopes that some women will think it’s not worth the effort. In short, the explanation for why this unnecessary procedure should be required are lies. As always, the most fanatically religious among us are the biggest liars and the least trustworthy Americans.
Of course, this is just Walker’s way of shoring up his conservative bona fides before a possible presidential run. He’s hoping that attacking women will excite the base enough to look past his inexcusably gross economic incompetence. But if we’ve learned one thing in recent years, it’s that this War on Women stuff may get you through the GOP primaries, but that this level of extremism will keep you out of the White House.
And thank goodness for that. Scott Walker is unfit to lead a sing-along, let alone a nation.
In North Carolina, Working America members are fighting attacks on our right to vote. Our Republican-controlled state legislature is proposing drastic changes to voting, including cutting early voting days, ending same-day registration, and implementing voter ID laws. All of these measures simply restrict access to the polls, hitting seniors and low income earners the hardest.
Right now, North Carolina has 17 days set aside for early voting. During the 2012 election, more than 50 percent of ballots cast occurred prior to Election Day. Craig Alston, a Working America member, is especially concerned for what shortening early voting days means for him and his community. “Having more than 2 weeks of early voting is beneficial in order to find time to cast my ballot,” Craig says. “I work 12 hour shifts, and having these multiple options enables me to vote.”
The state legislature also wants to require everyone to have a state-issued ID, such as a driver’s license, to be able to vote. According to the Board of Elections, about 10 percent of North Carolinians don’t have a driver’s license–many of them being seniors, low-income folks, and people with disabilities. Requiring everyone to have a picture ID is unnecessary and unfair. It imposes a cost on the simple act of voting, including travel to the DMV and the cost associated with getting necessary documents like a birth certificate.
Florence Price-Harrell says voter ID laws would restrict access to voting for people in her own life. “One of my best friends is sick and is in a wheelchair,” Florence says. “She has not driven for 11 years. With her limited transportation, requiring her to have a picture ID would make it even harder for her to vote. Like her, there are many voters across our state that would struggle to access and afford transportation to the DMV in order to obtain a picture ID.”
Our members have gathered petitions to Governor McCrory, written letters to the editor, and spoken out to defend the right to vote. And they’re not alone: The North Carolina NAACP has been organizing protests in Raleigh against to the state legislature’s attacks on voting rights. The protests have been drawing thousands of people from across the state, gaining national attention.
North Carolinians like Craig and Florence are committed to defending everyone’s right to vote.
If you are not around people who will look at you like you are crazy when you make stupid claims about other people’s experiences, then you tend to keep saying stupid things about other people’s experiences. It is not enough to pay a political price, or even to be shamed into silence. You have to come to believe — in your heart — that sincerity itself is not the same as accurate information. It is not enough for you to not be “the party of stupid” or to “stop saying stupid things” you must show some active commitment toward being less stupid.
I just wanted everyone to know that in Europe, Cool Ranch chips are called Cool American.
Two bits we’ll find Brooklyn hipsters snacking on these by tomorrow.
This car performs better than anything we’ve ever tested before. Not just the best electric car, but the best car.
—Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports’ director of testing on the Tesla Model S. (via parislemon)
The West Fertilizer plant blast killed 15 and injured 200, while demolishing the factory and some of the neighborhood. The plant was in a county that could have had a fire code, unlike 173 counties in Texas. Even after the April blast, the Legislature failed to change the law that allows codes only in counties with more than 250,000 people or and in adjacent counties.
Victoria County, a little slice of the Texas chemical coast, has nearly 39 million pounds of concoctions that can poison and nearly 11 million pounds that can catch fire.
“A potential for a catastrophic event” is how one federal agency described the risk if they leak. A temptation for terrorists, added another.
But Victoria County cannot use a firefighter’s basic tool for preventing industrial disaster: a fire code.
Texas won’t let the county adopt one.
In piney-woods southeast Texas, nearly 250,000 people within 25 miles of a paper mill could breathe chlorine or chlorine-dioxide gas after a worst-case fire or accident. Some could die.
But Texas won’t let Jasper County adopt a fire code.
And on the Panhandle plains of Parmer County, 10 companies keep 2.3 million pounds of anhydrous ammonia on hand to fertilize crops or refrigerate meat. If ammonia leaks, it forms a killing cloud.
But Texas won’t let Parmer County adopt a fire code.
Those counties are the Texas norm.
Despite the lessons from the West Fertilizer Co. fire and explosions about the value of fire prevention, site security and safe storage of dangerous goods, Texas prohibits nearly 70 percent of its counties from having a fire code.
Fire codes aren’t just for fires. They also contain rules for managing explosive or toxic chemicals, including specific guidelines for ammonium-nitrate fertilizer, the substance that exploded and killed 15 people and injured 200 in West on April 17.
Fire code rules emerge from tragic history.
“We have these rules and regulations because of past experience,” said Dallas County Fire Marshal Robert De Los Santos, who enforces the fire code in the county’s unincorporated areas.
“It’s just like a stoplight. Most places don’t have them until we have so many fatalities and so many wrecks.
“It’s a shame that it has to be that way.”
Not allowed
Yet for 173 of Texas’ 254 counties, adopting rules based on that experience is illegal. They are either below 250,000 in population or don’t touch a county of that size.
Having fewer people doesn’t mean less risk. Those counties contain some of the most dangerous chemicals and industrial processes in Texas, The Dallas Morning News found.
“It’s not 1956 anymore,” said Jasper County Judge Mark Allen, whose county, while mostly rural, has multiple potential sources of industrial risks.
“It’s not 1964 or ’65,” Allen said. “We’re not Mayberry. We have life-threatening events every day.”
But 85 percent of the code-prohibited counties have no full-time professional fire department anywhere in the county, The News found. Only a few bigger industries have their own specially trained and equipped in-house fire brigades.
Training and gear for chemical emergencies are beyond the reach of most volunteer fire departments. In the 173 counties that cannot adopt a fire code, 21 have established local emergency-services districts, but few of those provide enough money even to cover the basics.
With a state-mandated tax cap of 10 cents per $100 in assessed property value, a $100,000 home provides an emergency-services district with no more than $100 a year.
Standard turnout gear for a volunteer firefighter can cost thousands. Many departments rely on fish-fry fundraisers and coin jars on local store counters just for essentials.
can we stop blaming poor people for buying cheap products that were made in sweatshops? can we stop acting like alternatives to products that are made through things like child labor are always accessible and/or affordable? can we stop talking like participation in the game of capitalism is always a choice made willingly and not something poor people are forced to play a part in even when they don’t want to?
A job posting at the prestigious foreign policy magazine for an editorial assistants job.
They want you to write, pitch, fact-check and research, five days a week, for at least 35 hours a week. A full-time job, in other words.
How much are they willing to pay? Nothing at all. They want your labor, for free. And what do they offer in return? Experience. That’s it.
If you’re wondering why it’s hard to find people from low-income backgrounds in elite journalism—which, disproportionately, means people of color—look no further than this. The only people who can afford to work full-time for free come from wealth, and generally, if you’re wealthy in America, you’re white.
It’s a barrier to entry that keeps the field closed to everyone but our affluent, (almost certainly) Ivy-educated elites. That’s a problem.
Important comment above. (Also relevant.)
Wow. That job description includes pitching stories, blogging, writing print pieces, proofreading, editing, and fact-checking. That isn’t even entry-level journalism shit. An associate-level editor wouldn’t be doing all of those things. Shame on this outlet for even suggesting someone should do this FOR FREE. Shame on the entire journalism industry for using unpaid scabs to do REAL WORK.
I’m against unpaid internships as a principle, but if you must use unpaid interns, you have them do things like approve comments on the website or other maintenance-type stuff. Maybe writing a short blog post every now and then. Some grunt work for the higher-ups, like sending PR pitches or rounding up potential source for a story. This, on the other hand is absolutely egregious.
