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.