Remember during the 2011 Texas Legislature when state Rep. Bill Zedler, R-Arlington, proposed legislation that essentially validates academic fraud, then did himself no favors by defending the bill in an interview with Mother Jones? That was fun. And now, Round 2: Zedler is back, filing the exact same creationism bill ahead of the 2013 legislative […]
TFN
‘Dinosaurs and Denial’
That’s the headline to a piece by New York Times columnist Charles Blow. Blow suggests that confusing comments by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, about his thoughts on the age of Earth are just another example of modern American conservatism trapped in the grip of anti-intellectual zealots. Money quote: This anti-intellectualism is antediluvian. No wonder […]
The Consequences of the ‘War on Birth Control’ in Texas
Texas lawmakers in 2011, engaged in what one right-wing legislator openly called a “war on birth control,” cut $73 million from family planning services for poor and uninsured women. What are the consequences of that foolishness? From the Texas Tribune: “The latest Health and Human Services Commission projections being circulated among Texas lawmakers indicate that […]
‘What It Really Means to Be a Woman’?
Penny Nance, president of the religious-right group Concerned Women for America, is angry that TIME magazine is considering Sandra Fluke for its Person of the Year. Fluke has been an outspoken advocate of the Obama administration’s new rule that contraception be covered in the health insurance plans offered by most employers. Right-wing politicians, activists and […]
U.S. Senate Republicans Cite Home-Schoolers for Rejecting Treaty on Rights of the Disabled
Texas Senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison joined with other fellow Republicans today in voting down ratification of an international treating protecting the rights of the disabled. Ratification failed 61-38. It needed 67 votes to pass. Talking Points Memo describes the treaty: “The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities essentially makes the […]
