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)

Classism

– ” One USDA pilot program in Massachusetts provides a credit of 30 cents for every SNAP dollar spent on fruits and vegetables. The preliminary data shows the program resulted in a 25 percent increase in produce consumption. A similar program that doubles SNAP expenditures at farmers markets—you get $2 worth of fresh produce for every SNAP dollar you spend—has shown similar promise.” People on Food Stamps Make Healthier Grocery Decisions Than Most of Us (via @MotherJones)

Racism

– “I’m sure a white man who despises black people enough to sing about violently harming them can be a perfectly great dude to other white people. Why wouldn’t he be? He thinks white people are superior and deserving of his respect.” “He is a good boy.”

Climate Change

– “DEP officials have been ordered not to use the term “climate change” or “global warming” in any official communications, emails, or reports, according to former DEP employees, consultants, volunteers and records obtained by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting. The policy goes beyond semantics and has affected reports, educational efforts and public policy in a department with about 3,200 employees and $1.4 billion budget.” In Florida, officials ban term ‘climate change’ (h/t @das_kunk)

Sexism in Tech

– “I found that 18 percent had characters whose gender was not identifiable (i.e., potatoes, cats or monkeys). Of the apps that did have gender-identifiable characters, 98 percent offered boy characters. What shocked me was that only 46 percent offered girl characters. Even worse, of these 50 apps, 90 percent offered boy characters for free, while only 15 percent offered girl characters for free.” I’m a 12-year-old girl. Why don’t the characters in my apps look like me? (h/t @JessicaValenti)

Labor

– “Anne McLeer, Director of Research & Strategic Planning at SEIU Local 500, says: “There’s no question there’s a role for adjunct faculty and professionals with outside experience coming in to teach a class or two. But the problem is a disproportionate number of classes, especially in the humanities, being taught by adjuncts who don’t have any job security or opportunity to advance up the levels.”” I was a professor at four universities. I still couldn’t make ends meet. (h/t @greenhousenyt)

Police

– “Anthony, who valiantly and publicly struggled with mental illness and bipolar disorder, was walking and rolling around on the ground in his apartment complex completely naked. Clearly having some type of psychotic episode, witnesses observed Anthony and called police to help him. He threatened no one.” The tragically unnecessary police murder of Anthony Hill (via @ShaunKing)

– “Computer users identified by Capital as working on the NYPD headquarters’ network have edited and attempted to delete Wikipedia entries for several well-known victims of police altercations, including entries for Eric Garner, Sean Bell, and Amadou Diallo. Capital identified 85 NYPD addresses that have edited Wikipedia, although it is unclear how many users were involved, as computers on the NYPD network can operate on the department’s range of IP addresses.” Edits to Wikipedia pages on Bell, Garner, Diallo traced to 1 Police Plaza (h/t @kellyweill)

– “Leutz made contact with three separate women outside of police business, including romantic advances (”did u feels something when we locked eyes” is an actual text he sent to a woman he stopped and then pursued for a month) including one woman who he thought might be the victim of domestic violence.” SPD fires officer who should probably have been fired a while ago (via @Seattlish)

Government Overreach

– “The Apple research is consistent with a much broader secret U.S. government program to analyze “secure communications products, both foreign and domestic” in order to “develop exploitation capabilities against the authentication and encryption schemes,” according to the 2013 Congressional Budget Justification. Known widely as the “Black Budget,” the top-secret CBJ was provided to The Intercept by Snowden and gives a sprawling overview of the U.S. intelligence community’s spending and architecture.” I Spy: The CIA Campaign to Steal Apple’s Secrets (via @jeremyscahill)

– “The petition calls for criminal charges against 47 senators who “committed a treasonous offense” in writing a menacing letter to the government of Iran, now in the middle of negotiations with President Obama aimed at reaching a nuclear energy agreement.” White House petition to try 47 Republican senators for treason goes viral (h/t @jaythenerdkid)

Injustice

– “The deal has another effect: it all but confirms a two-tier justice system in which senior officials are slapped on the wrist for serious violations while lesser officials are harshly prosecuted for relatively minor infractions.” Patraeus Plea Deal Reveals Two Tier Justice System Leaks (via The Intercept)

Sexism in Tech

– “There are all kinds of studies and surveys and reports that utterly contradict what Mayer is saying, that gender is, in fact, “an issue” in the tech industry—especially viewed through an intersectional lens that reveals the lack of equitable opportunities for women of color and women with disabilities.” Today in LOLOLOLOL WHUT (via Shakesville)

– “Adria trusted Ronson to tell her story, to do it justice, only to have Ronson draw a false equivalence between her, a woman challenging inappropriate sexual jokes at a tech conference (at which everyone had signed a photo disclosure form), and the man who was making those inappropriate sexual jokes. And to draw a false equivalency between her, a woman challenging sexism in a professional space for technology workers, and Justine Sacco, a woman casually making racist jokes under her real name while employed as a senior director of corporate communications for tech company IAC.” The Falsest of False Equivalencies (via Shakesville)

War on Drugs

– “Rhonda was sitting quietly in a windowless courtroom between two lawyers last week, her jaw set and her fate unclear. Her lawyer, and the lawyers representing her son and daughter-in-law, were doing their best to make their case in spite of being legally prohibited from making their case. Instead, the lawyers painted the family as honest and hardworking, calling them “salt of the earth people.” Obviously, they couldn’t say what they wanted to say, what Rhonda wishes she could shout at the jury: The plants were for medical use. Washington State has a medical marijuana law.” A Stunning Overreach from the DEA Is Playing Out in Eastern Washington (h/t @FakeDanSavage)

Misogyny

– “Young people need a clear understanding of what sexual assault is through a curriculum devised by experts, a comprehensive explanation of enthusiastic consent, and a roadmap for how to deal with a culture that victim-blames and is generally decades behind where it should be.” College is too late to start teaching students about sexual assault (via @JessicaValenti)

– “It is actively unhelpful for Kristof to be using a discussion of unconscious bias in order to suggest that conscious, active, harm-objective racism and misogyny isn’t all that common. It’s an argument that gaslights every woman and every person of color who reports lived experiences that suggest otherwise.” Nicholas Kristof Is Being “Helpful” Again (via Shakesville)

– “It also paints a fairly inaccurate – and transactional – picture of female desire. Despite terrible gift books to the contrary, most women don’t get off on men vacuuming or picking up socks (not that there’s anything wrong with those that do). What turns women on is what turns men on: good sex.” Women don’t need ‘choreplay’. They need men to do some chores (via @JessicaValenti)

Worker Rights

– “The cutbacks have been so drastic in some places that they virtually guarantee injured workers will plummet into poverty. Workers often battle insurance companies for years to get the surgeries, prescriptions and basic help their doctors recommend.” The Demolition of Workers’ Comp (via @ProPublica)

Racism

– “For example, few Seattleites seem to be aware of the large role our city has played in re-segregating America’s schools. In 2007, courtesy of a suit brought by a group of predominantly white Seattle parents (Parents Involved In Community Schools v. Seattle School District), the Supreme Court dealt a huge blow to education equity when it declared U.S. schools could not seek to achieve/maintain integration by taking account of student race.” Time to shed the ‘progressive mystique’ and confront racism in Seattle (h/t @StrangerSlog)

That Dress

– “Conformity is now hand-picked. You can find the people who support your version of reality, and use them to battle the people who don’t. You don’t have to wonder whether you are right or wrong; you just have to find the people or the evidence that agrees with you.” Why The Dress Matters (h/t @ChiefElk)

Classism

-“Why do people think they’re entitled to decide how food stamps, in particular, are used? Not all government benefits elicit such feelings. When we give people assistance through the home-mortgage interest deduction, we don’t feel entitled to tell them what house to buy or what neighborhood to live in; when we subsidize a college education through student loans, we don’t tell students what school to go to or what to major in.” Why Do Americans Feel Entitled to Tell Poor People What to Eat? (h/t @deray)

Sex Work and Feminism

– “Both the abolitionist movement and the anti-choice movement cast women as victims, often unwitting victims who think they’ve independently chosen to do sex work or have an abortion, but are actually seriously deluded or naïve—they don’t realize they’re under the coercive sway of patriarchy, capitalism, men, or the “culture of death.” Or maybe they’re just too poverty-stricken or drug-addicted to do anything but be a passive victim because they have “no choice.”” Cozy Bedfellows: Prostitution Abolitionists and Anti-Abortionists (h/t @pastachips)

White Feminism

– “And before you say “But, Blue, she said women not just white women,” let me be blunt: If you say black people need to stand up for you – that means you are asking every person in the room who is both black and a woman to choose her gender over her race in order to suit your agenda. It’s a very subtle form of feminist segregation that I’ve heard about for a few years now. And it’s complete b.s.” Dear Patricia Arquette: Blacks and gays owe white women nothing (h/t @allisonkilkenny)

– “I’m not here for kumbaya feminism. Kumbaya feminism demands that Black women take a backseat to whatever interest of the day white women deem most important. Kumbaya feminism castigates as “divisive” any Black woman who dares speak out against the White Feminist Industrial Complex. Kumbaya feminism is little more than trickle-down feminism.” The Road to Structural Erasure Is Paved With Well-Intentioned White Ladies (via @AngryBlackLady)

Worker Rights

– “Right-to-work legislation, which is aimed at gutting union membership by ending requirements that workers have to pay dues in workplaces that are organized, likely wouldn’t affect the NFLPA directly. But the statement noted that many stadium workers at Lambeau Field, the home of the Green Bay Packers that was renovated in 2003 with an all-union workforce, will feel the effect of the law.” Why The NFL Players Association Is Taking On Scott Walker (via @ThinkProgress)

Irony

– “Google is, of course, ignoring all of his 23 requests via the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to remove stories linking him to reports on how horrible a person he is and how sleazy his website was—before the FTC shut him down.” Revenge Porn Dude Wants His Personal Info Removed From Internet Lolol (h/t @AngryBlackLady)

Student Loans

– ““Corinthian took advantage of our dreams and targeted us to make a profit,” the so-called Corinthian 15 wrote in a letter to the Education Department. “You let it happen, and now you cash in. We paid dearly for degrees that have led to unemployment or to jobs that don’t pay a living wage. We can’t and won’t pay any longer.”” A dangerous revolt: People are refusing to pay back student loans (h/t @rustyheadedgirl)

Misogynoir

– “Why is it so hard for everyone else to give her that control over her own life? Why are we hellbent on forcing people to surrender their autonomy to the fickle flow of where we want to place them in service to our own wants?” Jessica Williams Doesn’t Need Your Permission: How White Feminists Hurt Everyone By Trying To Lead Women Of Color (via @Karnythia)

Injustice

– “Reed’s defenders have long maintained that Reed was set up by Fennell for his fianceé’s murder, likely after Fennell found out about the illicit relationship. In a recent article about the case, The Intercept chronicled Fennell’s history of violence, including allegations of stalking and rape. Indeed, Fennell is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman while on duty and in uniform.” “Oh My God, This is Way Off”: New Investigation Shows Texas Is Likely Set to Kill an Innocent Man (h/t @LilianaSegura)

– “While it appears that modern thinking about the meaning of “cruel and unusual” is focused on the actual methods of execution, the gentlest method of execution for someone who is actually innocent is the gravest form of injustice and cruelty possible.” Did you know the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that it’s legal to execute an innocent person? (via @ShaunKing)

Reproductive Health

– “Another formerly incarcerated women said she was shackled throughout her entire childbirth experience in 2010. On a press call to announce the findings of the report on Thursday, she told reporters that she was cuffed to the bed and unable to sit up, even as her daughter was moving through the birth canal. Maria Caraballo, who has since become an advocate for women in prison, said she remained shackled while she was being stitched up post-delivery.” New York Prisons Are Illegally Shackling Inmates During Labor, Harrowing Report Finds (h/t @MsFoundation)

Policing

– “Smith said he’s repeatedly told some of his members—particularly “the ones who complain about it”—the following: “You applied here. And you have to treat people all the same. You have to serve the community. If you don’t like the politics here, then leave and go to a place that serves your worldview.” The tough talk, Smith said, usually continues with him saying something like this: “They hired you because they thought you were going to be able to work in a diverse community. And if you can’t, well then, I guess there are still places across the country that aren’t diverse, so go work there. But those won’t last forever.”” Seattle Police Union President to Cops: Get With the Times or Get Out of This City (via @strangerslog)

Capitalism

– “Mitchell said that she was skeptical that Consumers Energy cared about its elderly customers, even after it responded to her father’s death by setting aside $9 million in profits for heating assistance. “I think it might be a front,” she argued. “If you are sorry, why did you shut off the heat for a 69-year-old man? I understand that every business has to be concerned about profit, but they have to be concerned about the customers too. Maybe gas companies should take account of what people earn. That would be helpful.”” 69-Year-Old Vietnam Vet with Throat Cancer Freezes to Death After Company Shuts off His Gas (h/t @Are0h)

Environment

– “Concerns have also been raised about the potential contamination of local water-treatment facilities, after officials noted that at least one of the derailed tanker cars fell into the Kanawha River. The area is about 30 miles from the location where 10,000 gallons of a coal industry chemical called crude MCHM spilled and tainted the drinking water supply a little over one year ago.” West Virginia In State Of Emergency After Massive Oil Train Explosion (via @ThinkProgress)

Biology

– “When genetics is taken into consideration, the boundary between the sexes becomes even blurrier. Scientists have identified many of the genes involved in the main forms of DSD, and have uncovered variations in these genes that have subtle effects on a person’s anatomical or physiological sex. What’s more, new technologies in DNA sequencing and cell biology are revealing that almost everyone is, to varying degrees, a patchwork of genetically distinct cells, some with a sex that might not match that of the rest of their body.” Sex redefined (h/t @stavvers)

Vaccines

– “No matter what other lofty ideas of toxins and vaccine-related injury anti-vaxxers try to float around in their defense, that’s really what all of this is about: we’re facing a massive public health crisis because a disturbing number of people believe that autism is worse than illness or death. My neurology is the boogeyman behind a completely preventable plague in the making. I’m Autistic, And Believe Me, It’s A Lot Better Than Measles (h/t @allisonkilkenny)

– “You know what vaccines protect your children from? Pain. Suffering. Irreparable harm. Death. And you would be the first to line up if you had an inkling of what the death of a child feels like. You would be crawling through the streets on your hands and knees, begging, begging to get that vaccine into your precious babies because that is what I would have done, if I could, to save my daughter.” My 15-Day-Old Son May Have Measles (h/t @BreeSmithWx)

Islamophobia

– “As such, the shooter was portrayed as an irrational, lone killer who does not represent atheists. However, the shooter — who was transparent in his contempt for religion and religious people — was undoubtedly inspired by the Islamophobic rhetoric espoused by radical anti-theists communities represented by Dawkins, among others.” How the ‘Muslim Menace’ Steals Muslim Lives (via @roqchams)

Sports

– “But if Edelman was checked, it likely did not conform to the establish protocol. Shortly after the hit, Edelman was still in the game and scored the go-ahead touchdown.” Doctors Told Patriots That Wide Receiver Should Be Checked For A Concussion, But He Stayed In Game (via @ThinkProgress)

Labor

– “Gentles, who had Asperger’s syndrome, “experienced severe emotional distress” following the incident, according to the lawsuit. Three days later, he killed himself by jumping from the roof of a hotel.” Target workers claim ‘walk of shame’ that allegedly led to a suicide is a widespread practice (h/t @jordanbks)

Recreational Substances

– “Media reports and anti-pot legalization advocates have hyped the idea that “drugged driving” would wreak havoc on the roads now that states are beginning to legalize marijuana. In fact, highway fatalities have gone down since Colorado legalized marijuana.” Marijuana Doesn’t Make You More Likely To Crash Your Car (via @ThinkProgress)

Health Care

– ““The prohibition on physician-assisted dying infringes the right to life, liberty and security of the person in a manner that is not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice,” the high court said in a unanimous ruling.” Canada’s high court legalizes physician-assisted suicide (h/t @ACLU_WA)

Immigration

– “There is not one family that doesn’t send money back home. It is a part of our culture to take care of our relatives, no matter how distant they may be,” explains Ahmed, “My little brother and sister have nothing to do with terrorism. They deserve to eat and to go to school. The money we send helps with that. Now they no longer have access to that.” Why Seattle Should Give a Damn About Somali Remittances (via @strangerslog)

Police Brutality

– “Surveillance footage first obtained by Northeast Ohio Media Group showed Tajai running to her brother’s side after Timothy Loehmann fired two shots at the boy, who was carrying an airsoft-style gun. As the girl neared her brother, Loehmann’s partner, Frank Garmback confronted her and forced her to the ground. Loehmann rushed over, and the two knelt beside her as she rolled on the ground. Eventually the officers handcuffed the girl and placed her in the back of the police cruiser, less than 10 feet from her dying brother.” Tamir Rice’s sister says Cleveland police lacked ‘decency’ and ‘respect’ in detaining her after shooting (h/t @Copwatch)

War

– “The destruction I took part in suddenly intersected with news that our reasons for waging war were untrue. The despicable conduct of those at Abu Ghraib was made more unforgivable by the honorable interactions I had with Iraqi civilians, and, together, it fueled the post-traumatic stress I struggle with today. My war was completely different than Chris Kyle’s war. That doesn’t mean his war is wrong, and mine was right. But it does mean that no one experience is definitive.” I was an American sniper, and Chris Kyle’s war was not my war (ht @saladinahmed)

Racism

– Suffragettes Who Sucked: White Supremacy And Women’s Rights (h/t @stavvers)

– “When the answer to solving interpersonal violence doesn’t include a harsher crackdown by law enforcement, mainstream feminism has trouble coping. It also tends to have negative attitudes about giving power back to tribal governments, because their idea is that Indigenous women need to be rescued by the benevolence of white women from scary, savage brown men on reservations.” There is No “We”: V-Day, Indigenous Women and the Myth of Shared Gender Oppression (via @ChiefElk)

– “The stars are really aligned at this moment to make major improvements in our accountability system,” Daugaard said. “There’s a social movement demanding it, the guild has shown a new pragmatism and openness, there’s a consent decree in effect and a federal judge who has expressed a keen interest in seeing accountability improved, and we have nearly unanimous recommendations from public bodies that were charged with reviewing the existing system.” Officer Cynthia Whitlatch’s Conduct Shows SPD Needs Systemic Reform (h/t @heidigroover)

Islamophobia

– “”I automatically felt as if she was not comfortable around me, and this is really difficult to deal with as a Muslim woman in America.” Hider recounted that the woman finally turned to her and said, “This is America!” Her husband overheard the conversation and told the woman to turn around before a ticket agent allegedly intervened. Hider says she was shaken and was approached by a Delta ticket agent, who was onboard the flight helping passengers. Hider says she asked her, “What’s the problem!?” After listening to what the mother had to say, the Delta agent directed her to “get your kids and change seats” and threatened to kick the family off of the plane says Hider.” Muslim mother says she was discriminated against on Delta flight (h/t @roqchams)

Vaccines

– “We are experts in what our children like to wear to bed, and what toy they’re favoring. We know their smiles, their sleep sounds and the way they mess up putting on their sneakers. But despite the platitudes thrown at mothers – that we’re doing the hardest job in the world and that motherhood is also being a chef, chauffeur and doctor – the truth is that we do not know everything about our children and what is best for them. That’s why we have real doctors. And no matter how condescended one feels by the medical establishment – and I’ve had that feeling myself – it does not excuse putting other children’s lives at risk.” Your feelings about vaccines don’t trump another child’s medical reality (via @JessicaValenti)

– “Over the next year or so, Russo allowed the pediatrician to give her daughter a few shots — though not the vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella. A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds no link between the number of vaccinations a young child receives and the risk of developing autism spectrum disorders. Then, when Vivian was nearly 3, Russo decided her daughter should get all her vaccines. By that time, Russo says, it was pretty clear that Vivian had autism, caused by something other than a vaccination.” Once A Vaccine Skeptic, This Mom Changed Her Mind (via @nprnews)

– “Parents could no longer cite personal beliefs or religious reasons to send unvaccinated children to private and public schools under the proposal introduced Wednesday after dozens of people fell ill from a measles outbreak that started in the state’s Disneyland resort. Indeed the only exemptions would be for children who could be at risk due to allergic responses or a weakened immune system caused by serious illness.” Strict vaccine law introduced in California following measles outbreak (via @ajam)

Sexism

– “The court’s reasoning in this case echoes old Supreme Court pronouncements that discriminating against pregnant women at work isn’t sex discrimination because both men and women can be non-pregnant,” Sherwin wrote. “Congress long ago rejected this ridiculous reasoning when it passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. It’s disheartening to see it resurface again.” Woman out of appeals after trial court says her firing for breastfeeding not sexist since men can lactate (h/t @deray)

– “In math, the girls outscored the boys in the exam graded anonymously, but the boys outscored the girls when graded by teachers who knew their names. The effect was not the same for tests on other subjects, like English and Hebrew. The researchers concluded that in math and science, the teachers overestimated the boys’ abilities and underestimated the girls’, and that this had long-term effects on students’ attitudes toward the subjects.” How Elementary School Teachers’ Biases Can Discourage Girls From Math and Science (h/t @oanacarja)