1 WHAT’S THERE TO SAY? A gun-toting yahoo was acquitted of murdering the unarmed 17-year-old black kid he followed, argued with, scuffled with then fatally shot in Florida. There are protests across the United States. More here, here and here. The U.S. federal department of justice is reviewing the case and considering further prosecution of Zimmerman, so that’s one piece of not-terrible news, I guess. Want to talk about how the verdict reflects a racist justice system and society that presumes the guilt of black males? Want to say something about how people shouldn’t be allowed to carry handguns? Want to discuss the gargantuan contradiction of Zimmerman going free (and even getting his gun back) and the case of the Florida woman who fired “warning shots” yet was sentenced to 20 years after she DIDN’T kill her abusive husband? Want to draw parallels between black teens in America and First Nations kids in Saskatchewan? Have at ‘er in the comments.
2 CRAAAAAVAN It was apparently “tame“. “Tame”? Sounds kind of like an insult to all the hard-working party people, to me!
3 VARIOUS THINGS HAPPENED Lac-Megantic mourns, there’s ongoing hunger strikes over shitty conditions in California prisons, the Conservative government plans a Monday shuffle, Nelson Mandela is getting better, Egypt freezes Muslim Brotherhood assets, A Glee star died and will be autopsied on Monday, and there was some very large hail in Saskatchewan this weekend.
4 EVIL TEXAS REPUBLICAN MORONS, RANT, HISS, FUME, SPIT, SPUTTER, ARRRRRGH Okay.Okay. Calm. Breeeathe. (Foosh…) In case you somehow missed it, that horrible, stupid, misogynist-politician-filled place in Amur’ca finally passed the jackasstastic anti-abortion bill they all had Bible-boners for. I guess it’s no surprise from the holy-rollin’ Southern state with an outgoing governor whose idea of disaster relief was prayer (p.s., it didn’t work).
In fact, Texas’ Republican legislature passed the bill despite being so scared of women it had security confiscate their tampons. For real. Not making this up.
Yeeearrrgh!
Okay, As always, there’s a caveat: there’s nothing wrong with someone being personally opposed to abortion for religious reasons. It’s weird, it’s kind of dumb but it’s permissible. But legally forcing such irrational, mystical, religious beliefs on others, as is continually happening in the United States, is garbage. (And it kills women, too. Lots of women.) Didn’t anyone ever read Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery? That’s where this Texas-paved hell-road eventually leads. So thank goodness that changing demographics will put an end to this stupidity. Eventually. Okay, in 2024. Sigh.
In the meantime, it’s… I mean, I can’t even… arrrgh! What kind of a miserable fucking hellhole farce of a place criminalizes a woman’s uterus while hardcore supporting gun rights? I am so very angry. So let’s just watch this awesome woman get kicked out of her own state’s legislature because Conservatives troglodytes want to control her reproductive decisions. The video shall make us furious but also proud.
