The remarkable passivity of Americans

The last couple of years have been quite turbulent in terms of public agitation and protests. Apart from the uprisings of the Arab Spring, more recently we have had the massive protests in Turkey over plans to develop a public park that have escalated into larger protests against the governments attempts to chip away at that country’s secular framework. Then we have the huge protests in Brazil that started in opposition to hikes in the cost of public transit but have also escalated into criticisms of corruption and of government policies that seem to emphasize spending on showy projects like hosting the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 while money is needed for basic social services and infrastructure. [Read more…]

California moves fast to allow same-sex marriages to resume

The ever-reliable SCOTUSblog reports:

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court on Friday afternoon lifted a year-old order blocking same-sex marriages in California, apparently clearing the way for county clerks across the state to start issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. The one-sentence order immediately nullified a stay order issued last June by the Circuit Court in the “Proposition 8″ case — Hollingsworth v. Perry.

Almost immediately state officials issued statements that same-sex marriage ‘”is now legal in California and that marriage licenses must be issued to same-sex couples immediately.”

There is no going back. Californian becomes the 13th state to legalize same-sex marriage and since this is the most populous state, it add a huge demographic weight to the movement for equality.

One of NPR’s courtier journalists weighs in on the Snowden affair

Tom Gjelten is an honored member of the courtier journalist class who seems to see his role as to be a press conduit for the US government. I was curious to see how he would report on the Snowden case and he did not disappoint, fully living up to my expectations of him and dutifully playing his role of government propaganda distributor by smearing Snowden. [Read more…]

Cartwright and Snowden

Via commenter slc1, I learned of news reports that say that a now-retired four-star Marine general James E. “Hoss” Cartwright has been targeted as the source for leaking to New York Times reporter David Sanger highly classified information about the Stuxnet virus that the US and Israel used to try and impede Iran’s nuclear centrifuges.

Juan Cole gives a list of ten ways in which coverage of the Cartwright case will differ from that of the Snowden case. (#4: David Gregory will not ask that David Sanger be prosecuted for espionage because he aided and abetted Cartwright’s leaking.)

What makes up ‘the press’ and who is a ‘journalist’?

Times are hard for the mainstream media. They are suddenly waking up to the fact that they are not such an exclusive and desirable club after all and that people do not need them that much anymore. In response they are trying to desperately reserve the label of ‘journalist’ only to those who belong to their club. It is amusing to see how some courtier journalists like David Gregory are forced to interview people like Glenn Greenwald and yet try to avoid at all costs calling him a journalist, instead referring to him as a blogger, columnist, activist, lawyer, and the like. [Read more…]

The practical consequences of the same-sex court decisions

While yesterday’s Supreme Court decisions undoubtedly advanced the movement towards full equality for same-sex couples, there are still many practical matters that need to be addressed. NPR had a good segment where they looked at how the court rulings will affect a whole list of things such as immigration, taxation, social security, armed forces, etc., especially in those states that still do not recognize same-sex marriages. This is because some federal regulations are tied to state laws, and that will cause complications that need to be unentangled. [Read more…]