Bigotry

-“This is just another example of [Maher’s] casual racism and anti-Muslim bigotry,” Hooper told ThinkProgress. “It has become part of his public persona, and that’s unfortunate.” Has Bill Maher Finally Gone Too Far? (via @ThinkProgress)

Police Brutality

– “It’s not black America’s problem, it’s yours. Racism is your problem, not because white people are uniquely predisposed to racial bigotry (it’s a horrible trait we all share), but because the power structure of White Supremacy upholds it. It’s your system and whether or not you personally built it, you live in it, maintain it, and benefit from it. It is your house, and you need to clean it.” What You Can Do Right Now About Police Brutality (via @IjeomaOluo)

– “What sounds more realistic? That Thabo Sefolosha, whose off-court reputation is pristine, decided to bum-rush a police officer whose back was turned, or that a pissed-off cop, adrenalized over a melee involving a stabbed NBA player, chose to get aggressive with the other black NBA player on the premises?” A Police Story Unravels: How Did the NYPD Break an NBA Player’s Leg? (via @EdgeofSports)

Health

– “If people of normal weight have shorter lifespans than those who are overweight, why do we call them normal? Surely we should call them “mildly underweight”, at which point we would have to call people who are now considered overweight “normal”.” Why being ‘overweight’ means you live longer: The way scientists twist the facts (h/t @stavvers)

Reproductive Health

– “We argue in our paper that the exercise of conscientious objection (CO) is a violation of medical ethics because it allows health-care professionals to abuse their position of trust and authority by imposing their personal beliefs on patients. Physicians have a monopoly on the practice of medicine, with patients completely reliant on them for essential health care. Moreover, doctors have chosen a profession that fulfills a public trust, making them duty-bound to provide care without discrimination. This makes CO an arrogant paternalism, with doctors exerting power over their dependent patients—a throwback to the obsolete era of “doctor knows best.” Why We Need to Ban ‘Conscientious Objection’ in Reproductive Health Care (via @rhrealitycheck)

– “The legislation, which redefines the dilation and evacuation procedure as “dismemberment abortion,” is part of a campaign by anti-abortion advocates to influence public opinion by using graphic language. Abortion rights proponents, on the other hand, say the procedure is often the safest and most compassionate way to terminate a pregnancy in the second trimester. They have argued that the bill would force abortion providers to consider methods that are less safe.” Kansas Becomes First State To Ban Common Form Of Abortion (h/t @laurenarankin)

– “Hold on a second: Her mother gave her birth control but would be shocked that she had sex? Clearly Jerry’s lesson here—the reason he needed to drop that the girl had been on birth control but that when she got pregnant, they didn’t tell her mother—was supposed to be this: Birth control fails. It fails all the time. And sex is so shameful that if you get pregnant, you can’t get prenatal care. You have to hide the pregnancy. In shame.” I Sat In on My Son’s Sex-Ed Class, and I Was Shocked by What I Heard (via @strangerslog)

Sexual Assault

– “The sketch may have been meant as a commentary on the subject coming on the heels of a week’s worth of articles about notorious teacher Mary Kay Letourneau, who is trying to return to teaching a decade after marrying her former student (and serving time in jail for it). Or maybe the sketch just went over our heads and was meant to be a reflection of media coverage and how the media under-reacts to underage males having sex with women in positions of authority? Either way, it wasn’t funny.” This ‘Teacher Trial’ Rape Sketch On SNL Failed Miserably (via @Gothamist)

– “Jameis Winston . . . has proven time and time again to be an entitled athlete who believes he can take what he wants,” Kinsman’s attorney, John Clune, said in a statement. “He took something here that he was not entitled to and he hurt someone. There are consequences for that behavior and since others have refused to hold him accountable, our client will.” Erica Kinsman sues NFL prospect Jameis Winston (h/t @scATX)

Environment

– ““Data from NASA satellites show that the total amount of water stored in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins — that is, all of the snow, river and reservoir water, water in soils and groundwater combined — was 34 million acre-feet below normal in 2014. That loss is nearly 1.5 times the capacity of Lake Mead, America’s largest reservoir,” writes Jay Famiglietti of NASA.” R.I.P. California (1850-2016): What We’ll Lose And Learn From The World’s First Major Water Collapse (h/t @sarahkeendzior)

Family

– “I think it’s really hard to be a parent, and I think when parents are confronted with people who glibly say, “I don’t have children because I’d rather hit the snooze button or take expensive vacations,” it’s offensive and upsetting. What I want to do is shine a light on the reasons people make this choice. I’ve never met anyone in my life who was earnestly making the decision between having a kid and having a Porsche and chose the Porsche.” I don’t want kids and it’s not because I’m selfish (h/t @werenothavingababy

Racism

– ““As Rafi points out, regardless of what photos were available of the black suspects, the white suspects definitely had mugshots taken. In trying to justify the discrepancy, The Gazette explained they must make a formal request in order to get mugshots, yet they were clearly willing to take that extra step when it came to the black suspects.”” Charged with same crime, Iowa paper shows black suspects’ mug shots but whites get yearbook pics (via @RawStory)

– “But rather than keep things private, Lui wants to have a real dialogue with Starbucks and, potentially, the employee. “I have the right to be someone who rages against a corporation,” he said, “but I want to see real change from Starbucks, because they’re the ‘big man’ [in the coffee industry]. I really want to see them follow through in terms of the integrity of their corporate leadership.”” Asian American Man Says Starbucks Employee Accused Him of Wanting to Steal Company Secrets to Take to China (H/t @FakeDanSavage)

Reproductive Health

– “Sterilization coerced by the legal system evokes a dark time in America, when minorities, the poor, and those deemed mentally unfit or ‘‘deficient’’ were forced to undergo medical procedures that prevented them from having children.” Nashville prosecutors require sterilization as part of plea deals (h/t @JessicaValenti)

– “Ultimately, Patel didn’t fit other people’s ideas of how a proper grieving mother should behave — which would hardly be the first time that prosecutors have pushed to level charges against women deemed to be “bad mothers.”” More Shitty News from Indiana (via @shakestweetz)

Homophobia

– “These bills rationalize injustice by pretending to defend something many of us hold dear. They go against the very principles our nation was founded on, and they have the potential to undo decades of progress toward greater equality.” Tim Cook: Pro-discrimination ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous (h/t @splcenter)

– “If you do that, you will find that the Indiana statute has two features the federal RFRA—and most state RFRAs—do not. First, the Indiana law explicitly allows any for-profit business to assert a right to “the free exercise of religion.” The federal RFRA doesn’t contain such language, and neither does any of the state RFRAs except South Carolina’s; in fact, Louisiana and Pennsylvania, explicitly exclude for-profit businesses from the protection of their RFRAs.” What Makes Indiana’s Religious-Freedom Law Different? (h/t @dliebelson)

Labor

– “Bob Donegan, Ivar’s president and CEO, said that the Lake Union restaurant will be the only location of his restaurant chain to introduce the no-tipping system. Ivar’s will follow the city’s new minimum-wage ordinance for its fast-food seafood bars, but is immediately raising wages to $15 an hour for everyone who works in its full-service restaurant. “We are testing different models in different divisions,” says Donegan.” Ivar’s Salmon House Is Going Tipless (h/t @goldyha)

– “A fair wage for all McDonald’s workers would be one that allowed them to get by without food stamps and other public assistance. Research indicates that half of fast-food workers rely on public aid, with an estimated $1.2 billion a year in taxpayer dollars going to supplement low wages at McDonald’s. That is money that should be coming out of corporate coffers and going into worker pay.” McDonald’s Minimum Raise (h/t @fightfor15)

Police Violence

– “He said he believes it is best to let police departments “make informed decisions based on the facts at hand,” rather than adhering to a 60-day period like the one laid out by the bill.” Arizona governor vetoes bill that would have hidden names of police officers who shot people (h/t @WesleyLowety)

– ““I don’t know where you’re coming from, where you think you’re appropriate in doing that; that’s not the way it works. How long have you been in this country?” Cherry, who is white, barked at the driver after pulling him over in an unmarked car with flashing lights, according to video of the encounter.” Cop caught berating Uber driver in xenophobic rant is NYPD detective, police sources say (h/t @ryanjreilly)

– “Agustin Ayala of Ayala Towing said he was driving down Grape Street in his tow truck when he saw two police cars on the street and two officers trying to handcuff a man…The two officers, including a K9 officer, handcuffed the suspect and brought him to the ground, he said. Ayala said he asked the officers to stop because he was concerned for the man’s welfare.” Witness: NJ police punched, kicked, allowed dog to bite Phillip White before he died in custody (h/t @shaunking)

Family

– “What does make a difference? Mom’s “social status resources”, like her level of education and family income. But chiding women for being bad parents is far more popular than working to provide all families with support structures and resources like parental leave and affordable child care.” Don’t stress out. Our kids are just fine when their mothers work late (via @JessicaValenti)

Celebrity

– “Chill out. Your fave is problematic. Deal with it. I don’t care who your fave is. It’s true for all of them. The fact that your fave is problematic isn’t a big deal — the big deal is if we ignore it.” Admit It: Your Fave Is Problematic (via @IjeomaOluo)

Racism

– “I do atypical work for a white person, which is that I lead primarily white audiences in discussions on race every day, in workshops all over the country. That has allowed me to observe very predictable patterns. And one of those patterns is this inability to tolerate any kind of challenge to our racial reality. We shut down or lash out or in whatever way possible block any reflection from taking place.” Why White People Freak Out When They’re Called Out About Race (h/t @sallyt)

– “Nobody really wants to talk about racism with people who haven’t gotten their morning joe yet. But if a white barista really hands a black person like me a latte and expects her to talk about race, she’d better not have to pay for the coffee. And the first time a customer says “you people” to a group of black baristas, there had better be guidelines for whether they still have to serve the damn coffee, or if the customer has to pay twice – and it’s definitely not togetherness if the customer gets to come back the following week and act like nothing happened.” Starbucks wants to make baristas talk about race. Show them the money (via @Ijeomaoluo)

– “Novella Coleman, the ACLU attorney, had already filed a complaint about the practice in 2012, to no avail, Coleman said on Thursday. She filed another complaint based on Singleton’s experience, and on Thursday the two women said that the agency had agreed to conduct anti-discrimination training sessions with its officers to avoid what they called racial profiling of hair.” TSA agrees to stop singling out black women for screening based on their hairstyles (h/t @thewayoftheid)

– “Sibley said he placed the bomb on the trail as a “patriot” because he felt that no one is paying attention to the world, and if someone found the explosive device they would understand that a bomb could be placed anywhere, according to the criminal complaint.” Georgia ‘patriot’ plants real bombs and fake evidence trying to blame the Muslim community (via @DailyKos)

– “A Long Island woman’s insistence that President Obama follows her on Twitter made doctors at the Harlem Hospital psych ward think she was delusional and suffering from bipolar disorder — but she was actually telling the truth, a lawsuit charges. Kam Brock’s frightening eight-day “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” ordeal at the mental facility included forced injections of powerful sedatives and demands she down doses of lithium, medical records obtained through her suit filed in Manhattan Federal Court show.” L.I. woman says psych ward doctors believed she was delusional for insisting Obama follows her on Twitter (h/t @allisonkilkenny)

Sexism

– “I deleted my original tweet after the game, before all hell broke loose, to make amends for any genuine offense I may have committed by describing play as “dirty.” (Of course, other people, including my uncle who is a chaplain, also expressed fear that the athletes would be hurt badly. But my uncle wasn’t told he was a smelly pussy. He wasn’t spared because of his profession; being a male sports fan is his immunity from abuse.)” Forget Your Team: Your Online Violence Toward Girls and Women Is What Can Kiss My Ass (via @AshleyJudd)

– “I understand that when the white men see their guns disappear into thin air before their very eyes—a fate that most certainly awaits them, due to the actual existence of an actual gun vaporizer over which I have complete actual control—they may feel distress or sadness. This is why my evil matriarchal regime will be collecting white men’s tears during the vaporization process, for research purposes and also to sweeten the beverage of my people: a strong tea brewed of oppression and misandry. It is, of course, naturally very bitter.” I Made a Joke About Guns and a Man Threatened to Assault Me (via @andreagrimes)

Labor

– ““We were never interviewed for these articles and we did not close our … location due to the new minimum wage,” Kounpungchart and Frank said in an email. “We do not know what our colleagues are doing to prepare themselves for the onset of the new law, but pre-emptively closing a restaurant seven years before the full effect of the law takes place seems preposterous to us.”” Truth Needle: Is $15 wage dooming Seattle restaurants? Owners say no (via @seattletimes)

Classism

– “The barriers to inclusion will not be removed at Wash. U., or other leading colleges, until an aggressive policy of affirmative action based on social class is added to existing affirmative-action programs. Your new “commitment” is a travesty of that essential policy.” Class Bigotry at Washington University in St. Louis: A Resignation (h/t @sarahkendzior)

Sports

– “He said he made his decision after consulting with family members, concussion researchers, friends and current and former teammates, as well as studying what is known about the relationship between football and neurodegenerative disease.” SF’s Borland quits over safety issues (h/t @jordanbks)

Reproductive Health

– “Cisgender people, particularly white individuals, have the privilege when seeking health care of being able to present as their authentic selves without fear. Transgender people, especially people of color, do not. Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler, an Oakland, California-based filmmaker, writer, and scholar who is also a Black transgender man, told me that for himself and other trans men he knows, the experience of accessing medical services is fraught with bodily exposure and the risk of discrimination.” Cisgender Women Aren’t the Only People Who Seek Abortions, and Activists’ Language Should Reflect That (h/t @christinedavitt)

– “Young was tasked with lifting boxes as heavy as 70 pounds in her job as a UPS worker. When she got pregnant, her midwife recommended that she not lift more than 20 pounds, and wrote a note asking her employer to put her on light duty. Had Young been written a similar note because Young broke her arm carrying boxes, or suffered from a disability, UPS would have put her on what is known as “light duty.” But UPS wouldn’t do it for Young on account of her pregnancy. The alternative was to take unpaid leave without medical benefits.” Supreme Court Sides with Pregnant Workers in Discrimination Case (h/t @msfoundation)

Policing

– “The act would bar law enforcement, as well as all government entities, from releasing an officer’s name for 60 days following the incident. If the officer has a disciplinary record, or is disciplined as a result of the shooting, his name may still not be released for the full 60 days.” Arizona Legislature Passes Bill to Keep Cops’ Names Secret After They Shoot Civilians (via @Slate)

Homophobia

– “Sure, it is cleverly labeled with a market-tested name (the Religious Freedom bill), but please don’t be fooled: This is nothing more than a government endorsement of discrimination. Yes, in this land of liberty, our state’s government is prepared to push into law a measure allowing one group of people to tell others that they are not equal and not welcome at their businesses.” Tully: Statehouse Republicans embarrass Indiana. Again. (h/t @JohnGreen)

– “If you’re a person who criticizes sanctions against foreign nations because you understand that they harm the people of the nation more than the government, but then turn around and advocate boycotting states, you’re not a progressive—you’re a fauxgressive. And if you understand that this “religious freedom” bill was a reactionary act by people who were angry that the federal government did something they didn’t like (force them to legalize same-sex marriage), then you should understand that a reactionary act by people angry at our state government because they did something you didn’t like (codify bigotry) is just part of the same damn problem. Stop. (via @shakestweetz)

– “The fact that legislation like this is so widespread probably gave Pence some confidence in signing the bill, despite the controversy in Arizona last year over its bill that was ultimately scrapped, and in other states, like Georgia, which are considering similar measures this year (the NCSL found 13 additional states are considering their own RFRA legislation).” 19 states that have ‘religious freedom’ laws like Indiana’s that no one is boycotting (h/t @sarahkendzior)