• “New Report Shows New York Prisons Are Still Illegally Shackling Pregnant Inmates.”
That’s from Feministing. I’ve seen this report discussed and this practice condemned by a host of feminist blogs, websites, organizations and advocates — sources that reliably speak up on behalf of safety and dignity for pregnant women. Perhaps somewhere this practice is also being challenged by “pro-life” groups who also claim to be concerned about the safety and dignity of pregnant women. But I haven’t seen that, have you?
• Today is February 16. Yvette Smith was unarmed when killed by police one year ago today.
• “Hedge fund manager Bill Browder, once the largest foreign investor in Russia, estimates Russian President Vladimir Putin’s wealth at $200 billion — which would make him by far the richest man in the world.”
I have no idea if that’s even close to being true. But let’s say Browder’s guess is wildly off and Putin is only worth a tenth of that, giving him a net worth of around $20 billion. Do you think he’s spending any of that money trying to influence American elections? Do you think there are adequate safeguards in our post-Citizens United world to prevent him from doing that?
• “To establish their non-nerd bonafides, they broke things.” And if you want to watch them breaking things, for Jesus, see this.
• Brewton Parker College is a Southern Baptist school in Georgia. When the school’s board of trustees learned about racist and derogatory language used by an official at the college, they acted swiftly to fire … another official, the one who brought the matter to their attention.
Those familiar with the terms “Southern Baptist” and “Georgia” probably aren’t surprised by this.
• “The server would not accommodate my request to eat my meal while lashed to the pine tree outside. He lacks wildness in his soul, this server. I sat instead in a chair, which is only the memory of a tree.”
• This is fun. I totally wish this were a real series now streaming on Netflix. (via Open Culture)
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