Affordable Care Act UPHELD

Posted on June 28, 2012 by lisafindley

Health care for everyone! I was disappointed Democrats aimed low when they passed the law and essentially gave a whole lotta money to corporations, but it is still worlds better than what we had before. People who are uninsured, poor, young; people with pre-existing conditions; people with uteri… people across the country benefit from the Affordable Care Act, and that is the victory here.

Obama’s chances vs. Romney’s come November is also a big deal, but should not be the main focus in this win for people’s health.

(But ok, for what it’s worth: Republicans will now say “I’ll repeal the law” rather than come up with a new plan, which is easier for them. They’ll say, “See, Obama DID raise taxes!” and that’s not great for Obama either. But Obama’s centerpiece legislation remains, and that’s going to do a lot for his chances, I think.)

Food for Thought

Posted on May 26, 2011 by lisafindley

Food for Thought

Not a proper GBS, but here are a couple neat things I’ve found on the Internets lately:

Two easy-to-read infographics on why health care in the US costs more than any other developed nation. I think my favorite part is the angel halos around the “Truth!” bullets in that second one, and also the fact that they say outright that lack of regulation is what allows providers and insurance to charge more here than they would be able to in countries that keep that kind of thing in check.

The ever-brilliant Rebecca Traister has been watching and commenting on the last week of Oprah’s network talk show. This article is a great reminder of why Oprah matters so much — she started out with just about nothing and now is one of the most powerful women in the country. (Funny how she’s not often held up as the example of the American Dream by politicians and media pundits. I’m sure her gender and race have nothing to do with that.) Her departure will remind Americans of just how white and male the rest of the media landscape is, and what a loss that is for all of us.

Personal Notes

Also, thanks to all who have made suggestions for where the twins and I should vacation this fall! We’ve never had a sisters-only vacation before and we’re pretty psyched. I’ll keep you updated on what we choose.

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, who is inviting me to their Memorial Day BBQ this Monday?? It promises to be a hot and sunny day, and I promise to bring tasty beverages. Let’s do it.

The Good, The Bad, and The Silly

Posted on March 4, 2011 by lisafindley

The Good

Obama has finally removed most of the provisions of the infamous Bush-era “conscience clause,” so now pharmacists can’t say, “nope, sorry, no birth control for you, I don’t believe in it.” They’ll have to do their job instead, which is providing quality care to all their patients.

Some good news for LGBTs in Wyoming: a proposed constitutional amendment to bar the state from recognizing same-sex marriages performed out of state was dropped in the House because it was unlikely to pass. (However, the bill to amend the constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman is still pending.)

Read this heartwarming story about how the military is tentatively stepping out into this new post-DADT world and treating same-sex spouses of deceased servicemembers with respect.

Women are an integral part of the revolutions sweeping the Middle East and northern Africa, and it is quite inspiring.

A great piece from the former state treasurer of Michigan on why Walker’s destroying his state by not bargaining with unions.

The Bad

Walker is instituting layoffs, smuggling in ringers to his budget speech, falling prey to crank calls that reveal his dastardly motives quite clearly, hides the even scarier provisions of his budget bill, and just generally is the worst. Kudos to all the Wisconsinites who continue to stick it to him, including the protesters, the few media people reporting honestly on it (ahemnotFoxahem — how is that legal?), and the Democrats who brought their desks outside in the winter weather so they could meet with their constituents after they were locked out of the Capitol.

Gaddafi is doing his damnedest to destroy Libya, and staging an all-out attack on his own people. That’s the bad part. The good part is that Obama has called for him to step down, and the UN is imposing sanctions on him. Vive la revolution! And thoughts for those who have died and those who have lost loved ones in the battle.

Bahrain is also not handling its people’s peaceful protests well.

Military servicemembers have sued the Pentagon for ignoring, downplaying, and otherwise mishandling the thousands of cases of sexual assault reported in military ranks every year (and this doesn’t even take into account the unreported cases). Good luck to them.

In the popular understanding, women trick their men into getting them pregnant so they can keep them and have control over them. But the reality is that it works the opposite way; recent studies show that reproductive coercion is a big problem. One study reported that 1 in 4 women calling a domestic violence hotline said they did not want to be pregnant but their partner removed their access to contraceptives, pressured them to get pregnant, or forced unprotected sex on them. Amanda Marcotte takes a look at this issue and its connection to the shelved (for now) South Dakota law allowing people to murder those who provide abortions to their family members.

Okay let’s look at all the states doing horrific things in the name of “pro-life”:

Virginia is now regulating abortion clinics as hospitals, which means even first-trimester abortions will become almost impossible to perform due to the huge increase in liability insurance costs, building and grounds modifications costs, etc. (oh and cosmetic surgeons don’t have to follow these new rules).
Rep. Franklin in Georgia wants to treat all women as criminals and have them file a police report when they miscarry so that it can be investigated and the miscarriages weren’t actually purposeful abortions (many horrific things here, not the least of which is that miscarriage is often a traumatic experience anyway). Jill Filipovic has a hilarious response to this horrifying suggestion–mail in a photo of your used tampon as proof that you didn’t kill anyone this month.
Americans United for Life is the group behind the expansion of justifiable homicide laws in South Dakota (currently shelved), Nebraska, and Iowa. The lawmakers agreeing to introduce the bills aren’t even always aware of what AUL stands for or how far their reach is, which seems like a troubling lack of research when talking about life and death.

The Silly

Happy National Grammar Day!

The Good, The Bad, and The Silly

Posted on January 14, 2011 by lisafindley

The Good

Older news now, but Obama’s Administration has changed the rules for all hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid: people can now choose their hospital visitors, including same-sex partners.

Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor is making public her objections to the Court refusing to hear appeals from criminal defendants. She’s laying the groundwork for the Court to hear such appeals in the future.

Jimmy Johns, a tasty sandwich company with awful political connections, has been trying to block its employees from forming a union, but the workers have just won a big legal victory in getting the company-rigged union elections nullified so they can continue organizing. The best part about this is how the union is focusing on a “10 Point Program” to improve worker conditions across the fast food industry as a whole. I know a lot of people are wary of unions, and much has been made of abuses by union bosses and the like, but the fact is that every study done of union versus non-union workers in comparable industries shows a much higher quality of life for union workers, and that is an American dream we should all be able to get behind.

An organization called Common Ground is making huge progress to eliminate homelessness in major cities across the nation. It’s an exciting project and one that works because they get out on the street and talk to homeless people as if they’re people, rather than numbers, which is the only way to do it.

I vaguely knew that the 14th Amendment was fought over by white feminists and abolitionists, but I did not know the greater context of the legal implications of using “he” but never “male” in the Constitution. Maria Bustillos has a great piece up on how the lack of a gender-neutral pronoun in English figures prominently in American history, and how that figures into Scalia’s repugnant discussion of the 14th Amendment today. (Also, by the way, I disagree that “he” should be the gender-neutral pronoun norm, but I’ve never heard of academics using “she” instead. What’s wrong with “s/he,” which is what I was taught to use?)

The Bad

You know, the Illinois legislature is passing a huge state income tax increase so that we can find money for the basics, but somehow the state of Kentucky, which is surely in dire financial straits as well, has found $43 million for creationist theme park.

The Wall Street Journal published an upsetting article about “why Chinese mothers are the best kind,” and Latoya Peterson and other authors take the whole thing apart brilliantly.

97.5% of women with HIV/AIDS in Brazil have experienced violence, which is a staggering and sickening number. Feministing has some links to actions you can take to help.

I forgot to include this in last week’s G, B, S segment about the plutocracy we live (as opposed to the democracy we think we live in): Nicholas Kristof wrote about it from his perspective as an international journalist back in November.

The Silly

Who knew an interview with a lawyer about island law and the history of bird poop could be so fascinating?

A fun imaginary game: what would season 2 of Freaks and Geeks have looked like? I love the Nick-as-minor-local-celebrity-for-a-week idea; I can totally see him thinking it’s bigger than it is and buying a new jacket to fit his new cool rock star persona, only to be crushed when his popularity fades.

Here’s an interesting read on how comedy is the only effective remedy for one writer’s depression. The healing power of humor, etc. Here’s the longer cut of the interviews she did with stand-up comedians.

The Good, The Bad, and The Silly

Posted on January 7, 2011 by lisafindley

The Good

It wasn’t all bad last year! Feministing rounds up some good news from 2010.

Michelle Obama’s new chief of staff sounds pretty cool. Congrats, Tina Tchen!

Two major anti-racist groups file a formal complaint with the US Department of Education against the curriculum standards of Texas. Texas’s curriculum standards unfortunately affect much of the country, since they buy so many textbooks that whatever textbooks they buy become the main ones in the US. I hope the Department of Ed takes action.

The Bad

A cop assaulted a transgender woman, and when she defended herself, she was arrested.

I got an email from Barack Obama’s Organizing for America group saying we must stand firm on the health care bill and not let it get repealed on the same day I read this article, in which Obama preemptively caves on the end-of-life planning part of the health care bill. Sounds to me like caving and I don’t like it.

An older and a newer piece on the plutocracy we’re living in — it is just mathematically true that the rich now are far richer than the poor than ever before in American history. Disgusting.

Forget everyone’s “Kanye’s record is #1!” top ten lists; his video for “Monster” is terrifying, and not in a ghosts n ghouls kinda way.

The Silly

Here’s a great piece on a man living with schizophrenia who prepares daily for the apocalypse he can see unfolding in his mind. Also, scary effects of LSD!

Here’s a wonderful round-up of some hilarious humor pieces from 2010. I especially like “Et Tu, Brooklyn?” and “Funny Women #1.”

The Good, The Bad, and The Silly

Posted on December 10, 2010 by lisafindley

The Good

I didn’t even know there wasn’t an official US stance against child marriage before, but at least there is now! (And PS, how fantastic and lovely are the girls in that photo?)

I wish stories like this would get more press: Obama rights some past wrongs on behalf of the US.

Another terrific Sady Doyle piece, this one on women action heroes and just how important they are for young girls and women alike. I dream someday she will read my Headley Surprise series and we will become friends and talk about books and movies and the power of the all caps function.

A community organization in Ohio is making huge strides in saving homeowners from foreclosure, and saving banks money in the process. A good model that lending agencies across the country would be wise to look to. (Thanks to Mike for the link.)

Remember how last week I shared a link that highlighted more excellent activism from Rosa Parks? Here’s a quick piece on a teenage girl who, several months before Rosa Parks and with none of her community organizing backing, refused to give up her seat on a bus. And it turns out it wasn’t her first time standing up against injustice, either. Kudos to Claudette Colvin of Montgomery, Alabama.

The Bad

The House voted to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, but the Senate did not, despite a couple key senators previously having stated they would vote to repeal and then changing their minds at the last minute. That kind of trickery isn’t just bad politics, it’s bad faith to show your constituents that you can’t be trusted to do as you say. Reid may bring up the vote again in this lame duck session, so fingers crossed senators’ consciences kick in and we can get this vile piece of law outta here.

The dire economy continues to hit people hard the nation over: Arizona is now dropping people from organ transplant lists if they can’t pay for the operation themselves. There has got to be a better way to deal with funding cuts.

Our tax dollars paid for child prostitution in Afghanistan. Sure, there are a few more steps along the way in there, but when shady companies like DynCorp get hired over and over again despite charges of serious misdeeds and criminal behavior, you have to start phrasing it in the starkest terms for people to pay attention. Just because it’s veiled in backroom negotiations and technically legal moves, doesn’t make it right. (Via.)

The Silly

No words, just an actor, black and white film, and a score that’s aiming for Hitchcockian: the results are a mix of moving scenes and slow-mo Oscar bait.

Here are some cool aerial shots of cities around the world. I can’t wait to visit them! Thanks to my dad for the link.