Rachel Ford is a programmer, and since 8:00 to 5:00 doesn't provide enough opportunity to bask in screen glare, she writes in her spare time. She was raised a very fundamentalist Christian, but eventually "saw the light." Rachel's personal blog is Rachel's Hobbit Hole, where she discusses everything from Tolkien to state politics.
After decades of legal battles between marriage equality advocates and self-styled “defenders of marriage,” the Supreme Court is finally going to take up the question in a case that could bring same-sex marriages to the entire country. The Court is set to review a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that upheld a combination of marriage bans and bans on recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages. Read more
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) is on a long list of politicians who are politely — and wrongly — referred to by media organizations as science “skeptics.” He, for instance, thinks he knows more than 97% of climate scientists on the “so-called scientific theory” of climate change (spoiler alert: it’s not real!); plus, you know, it’s cold out in winter, so the earth can’t be warming, amirite? And while these beliefs, in conjunction with his government-closing chronic-ACA-repeal-advocating antics, might make him a “gold mine” in the eyes of comedians, they should absolutely disqualify him from being considered a serious voice on matters of science. Read more
You know what America needs a little more of? That same fanaticism that drives ISIS. Or so Dr. Ben Carson seemed to imply in (well received) comments to a Republican National Committee meeting in San Diego. Carson, who has gone from feeling the fingers of God pushing him to run for President to fending off charges of plagiarism in the last few months, started on safe ground… then quickly abandoned it. Read more
After a first term of stewardship that has left Kansas with a “nearly $900 million budget hole,” largely because of tax cuts that were supposed to generate revenue that never came in, Governor Sam Brownback (R) was sworn in to a second term on Monday. And his inaugural speech indicates that he is in no hurry to shake the wishful thinking that has already contributed to his state’s woes. Read more
We’re used to hearing the LGBT community blamed for a lot of things. An earthquake strikes? Some pious bigot will invoke God’s wrath against homosexuals. Birds die? A True Believer will clue you into it being gay people wanting marriage rights that did it. Hurricane Katrina? There’s a homophobe waiting to remind you: gay parade, duh. Volcanic eruptions? Yeah, still gay people. Ebola? Also gay people. 9/11? Also, apparently, the fault of LGBT people, according to some bloviating believers. There are many more examples where those came from. In fact, there’s not much that gets attributed to LGBT folks that surprises me anymore, no matter how absurd. But, I have to admit, Russia managed to find one. Traffic accidents. Yeah, for real (I wish I was joking). According to the Russian government, transgender and transsexual people suffer from disorders that contribute to high accident rates. Read more
