What's It All About Then

For years some of us crazy dirty hippies have been trying to tell people that it isn't about abortion, it's about women not being punished for unapproved fucking. The Lords of Slate and others told us we were crazy, that if only Teh Left could admit that abortion was icky then Teh Right would support all kinds of awesome measures to help ensure that the wimmenz would not have unwanted pregnancies, and we could all get together and have a toast like tipandronnie used to do and live happily ever after.

What's it all about then?

Monday Night

Oh crap it's Monday!!!

I Didn't Do This

But sometimes the little things make you laugh.

All Blowed Up Sir

It was a couple of laptops ago so I can't remember which model it was, but I had one which would occasionally go into a weird overheating mode when charging so that it was like nuclear hot when you touched it. Never blew up, fortunately.

Busy

Actually had to do some work today. What's going on?

Is It Happy Hour Yet?

Afternoon Thread

Here's Echidne on the Hobby Lobby case. And this from the decision itself:

Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito argued that contesting
Hobby Lobby’s claim that contraception is the same thing as abortion — an idea that has been refuted time and again by medical providers and associations — “in effect tells the plaintiffs that their beliefs are
flawed.”

h/t Gummo

Well, yeah,  dumbass.

Edited to remove bogus returns.

Lunch Thread

enjoy

Religious Freedum

As an atheist/agnostic/whatever I've long understand that my religious beliefs are pretty far down the list of beliefs which are likely to actually have court/legal protection when the moment comes. I'm not playing victim here, just making the point that Samuel Alito made clear today: some religions are more equal than other, and some religious beliefs are more equal than others. Because religious freedom.

What's It All About Then

Supreme Court affirms that sincerely held religious beliefs are limited to the disapproval of unapproved fucking by women.

This decision concerns only the contraceptive mandate and should not be understood to mean that all insurance mandates, that is for blood transfusions or vaccinations, necessarily fail if they conflict with an employer's religious beliefs.

As we've been saying for some time.

Supremo Hell Morning

The question isn't whether the rulings will be bad. The question isn't whether the rulings will be horrible. It's "how horrible."


...get your smarter commentary elsewhere, but Harris decision not as bad as expected.

What's The Matter With

Krgthulu's in my intertubes stealing my unwritten columns.

Two years ago Kansas embarked on a remarkable fiscal experiment: It sharply slashed income taxes without any clear idea of what would replace the lost revenue. Sam Brownback, the governor, proposed the legislation — in percentage terms, the largest tax cut in one year any state has ever enacted — in close consultation with the economist Arthur Laffer. And Mr. Brownback predicted that the cuts would jump-start an economic boom — “Look out, Texas,” he proclaimed.

But Kansas isn’t booming — in fact, its economy is lagging both neighboring states and America as a whole. Meanwhile, the state’s budget has plunged deep into deficit, provoking a Moody’s downgrade of its debt.

The Week Ahead

Iraq Was Going Great Until That Darn Obama Came Along

 Via The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Just weeks before Blackwater guards fatally shot 17 civilians at Baghdad’s Nisour Square in 2007, the State Department began investigating the security contractor's operations in Iraq. But the inquiry was abandoned after Blackwater's top manager there issued a threat: "that he could kill" the government’s chief investigator and “no one could or would do anything about it as we were in Iraq,” according to department reports

.....

The shooting was a watershed moment in the American occupation of Iraq, and was a factor in Iraq’s refusal the next year to agree to a treaty allowing United States troops to stay in the country beyond 2011.

Sunday Afternoon

Watch some international sportsball.

Some

The Economist gets weird things wrong too frequently.

In fact, he argues, other levels of government are going to have to find the money required. This is starting to happen. Some states add their own petrol taxes to the federal government’s one.

Not the most important thing, but "some" should be replaced with "all."

California Drinking

If El Niño doesn't show up to save the world there could be serious trouble.

Not too long ago in this season of California’s massive and extended drought, climate experts saw a small glimmer of hope on the horizon: Predictions for a wet El Niño season coming in the winter that would bring badly needed rain and relief to a parched state.

Now that glimmer is fading fast, and the drought has gotten even worse

Or We Could Spend That Money Helping People

If we just deport a few more people CIR will happen I'm sure.

The Obama administration, in a dramatic escalation of its border control strategy, will seek $2 billion in emergency funds to help stem an influx of Central American women and children entering the country illegally and new measures to more quickly deport those already here, the White House confirmed Saturday.

Maybe we can cut food stamps some more to pay for it, because everything has to be paid for!

Late Night Thread

Enjoy

Saturday Evening

Rock on.