"Birth control is for people who don’t necessarily want to act responsibly."

Here’s some Grade-A mansplaining from Alaska State Senator Pete Kelly, who thinks the way to battle Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is to distribute pregnancy tests in bars:

For MS patients, medical marijuana succeeds where other alternative medicines fail

Marijuana May Ease Some Symptoms of MS, New Guidelines Find


For MS patients, medical marijuana succeeds where other alternative medicines fail
Maggie Koerth-Baker at 7:14 am Tue, Mar 25, 2014

A review of alternative treatments for multiple sclerosis found that most don't actually work. One that does: An oral cannabis spray that seems to help reduce muscle spasms.

Image: Sativex ALMIRALL VIA AFP - GETTY IMAGES

Sativex, a drug derived from cannabis used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms. It;'s not available in the United States but new American Academy of Neurology guidelines say there is evidence it can help.

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/marijuana-may-ease-some-symptoms-ms-new-guidelines-find-n60626
http://boingboing.net/2014/03/25/for-ms-patients-medical-marij.html

Great. Kick the people getting laid off: SCOTUS Rules Severance Payments Are Taxable

US Supreme Court rules severance payments are taxable wages in a win for the IRS - @Reuters
http://www.breakingnews.com/item/2014/03/25/us-supreme-court-rules-severance-payments-are-taxa/

Obama: Tacos And Tequila Are 'Not Punishment'

The World Cup has a way of bringing out the patriot in most people. So when President Barack Obama spoke with Univision’s radio program "El Bueno, La Mala, y El Feo" ("The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly&quot on Monday, interviewer Andrés Maldonado made a proposition:

The NRA interviews Surgeon General candidates

25 Years After Exxon Valdez, BP Was the Hidden Culprit - By Greg Palast

25 Years After Exxon Valdez, BP Was the Hidden Culprit

By Greg Palast — Two decades ago I was the investigator for the legal team that sold you the bullshit on the crackup of the Exxon Valdez. Now, on the 25th anniversary of that disaster, it's all set to happen again.

....

Two decades ago I was the investigator for the legal team that sold you the bullshit that a drunken captain was the principal cause of the Exxon Valdez disaster, the oil tanker crackup that poisoned over a thousand miles of Alaska’s coastline 25 years ago on March 24, 1989.

The truth is far uglier, and the real culprit—British Petroleum, now BP—got away without a scratch to its reputation or to its pocketbook.

And because BP’s willful negligence, prevarications and fraud in the Exxon Valdez spill cost the company nothing, its disdain for the law, for the environment and for the safety of its workers was repeated in the Gulf of Mexico with deadly consequences, resulting, two decades later, in the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Just this month, the Obama administration authorized BP to return to drilling in the Gulf.



Way more here:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/25_years_after_exxon_valdez_the_hidden_culprit_was_bp_20140323

It Saves Millions To Simply Give Homeless People A Place To Live

Rumsfeld bashes Obama on Afghanistan, says ‘a trained ape’ could do better

Rumsfeld bashes Obama on Afghanistan, says ‘a trained ape’ could do better

"A trained ape could get a status of forces agreement. It does not take a genius. And we have so mismanaged that relationship."

-- Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, quoted by the Washington Post, attacking President Obama for failing to secure a status of forces agreement with Afghanistan.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/03/25/rumseld-bashes-obama-on-afghanistan-says-a-trained-ape-could-do-better/

Blaming poverty on the mysterious influence of “culture” is a convenient excuse for doing nothing

It’s much easier to say that culture is ultimately to blame. But since there’s no step-by-step procedure for changing a culture, we end up not doing anything./blockquote]

BY: Eugene Robinson



Blaming poverty on the mysterious influence of “culture” is a convenient excuse for doing nothing to address the problem.

That’s the real issue with what Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said about distressed inner-city communities. Critics who accuse him of racism are missing the point. What he’s really guilty of is providing a reason for government to throw up its hands in mock helplessness.

The fundamental problem that poor people have, whether they live in decaying urban neighborhoods or depressed Appalachian valleys or small towns of the Deep South, is not enough money.

Alleviating stubborn poverty is difficult and expensive. Direct government aid — money, food stamps, Medicaid, housing assistance and the like — is not enough. Poor people need employment that offers a brighter future for themselves and their children. Which means they need job skills. Which means they need education. Which means they need good schools and safe streets.



The rest:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-paul-ryans-culture-attack-is-an-excuse-to-do-nothing-about-poverty/2014/03/24/f650fc0e-b397-11e3-8cb6-284052554d74_story.html?hpid=z2

Rick Scott’s Top Latino Fundraiser Leaves Campaign After Campaign Staff Allegedly Made Racist Jokes

Rick Scott’s Top Latino Fundraiser Leaves Campaign After Campaign Staff Allegedly Made Racist Jokes
BY ADAM PECK ON MARCH 24, 2014 AT 10:46 AM


.......................


Tensions between Scott’s campaign staff and Fernandez had been building for weeks. And the last straw, according to people within the campaign who spoke with the Miami Herald this weekend, was an incident in which several of Scott’s campaign staffers allegedly began joking around in a cartoonish, over-the-top Mexican accent while on the way to a Mexican restaurant.

Fernandez, who is Cuban, reportedly shot off an angry email to campaign leadership after word of the incident leaked out. In statements made to the press following his departure, he didn’t address the controversy at all, instead pointing to disagreements with the direction of the campaign and shouldering some of the blame himself.

But the charges of racism by members of his staff comes at a delicate time for Scott, who has been on something of an Hispanic outreach kick in recent weeks. He came out in favor of allowing in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants earlier this month, and selected Carlos Lopez-Cantera as his lieutenant governor in January, the first time a Latino has held that position in Florida.

Complaints of racial insensitivity by people in his employ could further undermine Scott’s efforts to attract more Hispanic voters in November. Republicans on the national and state level have been very public about their minority outreach in states like Florida, where non-white voters make up a huge percentage of the eligible voter population, but they continue to alienate even their own minority employees.


the rest:
http://thinkprogress.org/election/2014/03/24/3417977/rick-scott-hispanic-fundraiser/#