April 29, 2013 - Pensito

The Rich are Getting Richer and the Poor are Getting Screwed

April 29, 2013 Buck Banks

28%

Amount the mean net worth of households in the upper 7% of the wealth distribution rose, while the mean net worth of households in the lower 93% dropped by 4%, from 2009 to 2011, as the economy began to emerge from the financial crisis, a new Pew Social Trends report finds.

Basketball’s Jason Collins Steps Up to Be First Professional Player to Come Out

April 29, 2013April 29, 2013 Trish

The coming out manifesto from free agent NBA center Jason Collins, published by Sports Illustrated, shows how far the struggle for equality and dignity for people of all sexual orientations has come.*

Collins waited for another major league team sports professional to be the first to tell the world he or she was gay. None have.

I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport…I wish I wasn’t the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, “I’m different.” If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I’m raising my hand.

Collins says he decided the time was right after becoming a free agent, after the Boston marathon bombings, and after watching his straight friend, Rep. Joe Kennedy, march in a gay rights parade — while he stood on the sidelines.

I’m seldom jealous of others, but hearing what Joe had done filled me with envy. I was proud of him for participating but angry that as a closeted gay man I couldn’t even cheer my straight friend on as a spectator. If I’d been questioned, I would have concocted half truths. What a shame to have to lie at a celebration of pride.

He also wanted to beat the gossip sites to the punch.

My maternal grandmother was apprehensive about my plans to come out…She worries that I am opening myself up to prejudice and hatred. I explained to her that in a way, my coming out is preemptive. I shouldn’t have to live under the threat of being outed. The announcement should be mine to make, not TMZ’s.

Read the whole piece.

*Update: A search on Twitter for the words, “Jason Collins faggot” shows how far we have yet to go.

Off His Bicycle

April 29, 2013 Buck Banks

He’s been kind of liberal since he was just a tike.
Appointed to SCOTUS by Clinton, what’s not to like?
But Justice Stephen Breyer
Might fare a little better
If he’d just sit on the bench and stay off his bike.

White House Correspondents Dinner Gets the Gawker Treatment

April 29, 2013 Buck Banks

Tomorrow evening, the cream of our nation’s mainstream media celebrities, political celebrities, and celebrity celebrities will put on tuxedos and evening gowns and gather in a ballroom in Washington, DC to mutually give one another handjobs, in a mostly metaphorical sense. This is because the most powerful elements of our nation’s DC press corps are all ‘on the same team’ as the people they cover (politicians) and the people they idolize (celebrities). This is called the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, and it is the single most revolting annual gathering of pseudojournalistic cocksuckery in all the land.

— Gawker, stating the obvious.

Krugman Quick to Remind Us He was an Early Anti-Bushist

April 29, 2013 Buck Banks

I’ve been focused on economic policy lately, so I sort of missed the big push to rehabilitate Bush’s image; also, as a premature anti-Bushist who pointed out how terrible a president he was back when everyone else was praising him as a Great Leader, I’m kind of worn out on the subject. … But it does need to be said: he was a terrible president, arguably the worst ever, and not just for the reasons many others are pointing out.

— Paul Krugman, writing in the New York Times.

Large Majority Wanted Senate to Pass Gun Bill

April 29, 2013 Buck Banks

65%

Of Americans say the U.S. Senate should have passed the measure that would have expanded background checks for gun purchases,a new Gallup Poll finds, while 29% agree with the Senate’s failure to pass the measure.

Iowa Lawmakers Seek to Punish Judges for Gay Marriage Ruling

April 29, 2013 Buck Banks

If the justices are going to behave like legislators, they ought to receive lawmakers’ pay.

— Iowa state Rep. Larry Sheets (R), member of the group of Iowa Republican lawmakers that has attached an amendment to a judicial branch budget bill that would reduce the salaries of the four remaining justices who were part of the groundbreaking case to legalize same-sex marriage in the state, the Sioux City Journal reports. Their salaries would be reduced from about $163,000 annually to $25,000, the amount legislators are paid.</h2>

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Day: April 29, 2013

The Rich are Getting Richer and the Poor are Getting Screwed

28%

Amount the mean net worth of households in the upper 7% of the wealth distribution rose, while the mean net worth of households in the lower 93% dropped by 4%, from 2009 to 2011, as the economy began to emerge from the financial crisis, a new Pew Social Trends report finds.

Basketball’s Jason Collins Steps Up to Be First Professional Player to Come Out

Off His Bicycle

White House Correspondents Dinner Gets the Gawker Treatment

— Gawker, stating the obvious.

Krugman Quick to Remind Us He was an Early Anti-Bushist

— Paul Krugman, writing in the New York Times.

Large Majority Wanted Senate to Pass Gun Bill

65%

Of Americans say the U.S. Senate should have passed the measure that would have expanded background checks for gun purchases,a new Gallup Poll finds, while 29% agree with the Senate’s failure to pass the measure.

Iowa Lawmakers Seek to Punish Judges for Gay Marriage Ruling

If the justices are going to behave like legislators, they ought to receive lawmakers’ pay.

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“They’ve invested heavily in AI labs. They’ve invested heavily in data centers. So, the first family has a financial stake in this industry, and as a result, the president of the United States is compromised.”

— “Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) on Monday said President Trump will likely not heed calls from technology leaders to implement guardrails on the development of artificial intelligence because of his family’s investments in the industry,” NewsNation reports.

— Jane Haman

“We’re working through some political issues in Israel. I think we agree with them on the end state. They just have a crazy election, and that makes them a little irrational in certain regards.”

— Jared Kushner, quoted by CBS News, on the lack of progress in Gaza.

Numerati

470

Reuters has documented at least 470 targets of retribution under Trump’s leadership – from federal employees and prosecutors to universities and media outlets. The list illuminates the sweeping effort by the president and his administration to punish dissent and reshape the government.

$184 million

50%

38%

31%