Marriage equality foes have launched a last-ditch effort to be heard in court, days before oral arguments that could land a death blow on Oregon's gay marriage ban. Arguments in two cases challenging the law are scheduled for tomorrow afternoon in Eugene, and will be decidedly one-sided since Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum says she won't defend it. The National Organization for Marriage wants an opportunity to make arguments in the case, and is requesting proceedings be delayed until May while it sharpens its knives.
Speaking of impactful decisions, the Supreme Court says it's fine for Michigan to do away with Affirmative Action in public university admissions. "It is today’s Plessy v. Ferguson ruling."
Fresh evidence Kelly Vern Mark Swoboda was exactly as dangerous as his stereotypically creepy actions (following high schoolers in his van) suggested. In newly available grand jury testimony surrounding the shootout that left Swoboda dead in March, cops describe finding notes about 17 girls in the man's pockets, including a numerical rating system and with license plate numbers taken down. That's hardly a shock. Cops say Swoboda had kidnapped a tanning salon employee earlier this year (the woman escaped after jumping from her captor's moving van).
Crimea These Days: All shuttered McDonald's and mournful stray dogs and ghost hotlines where no bureaucrat ever answers and enormous, static lines outside of government offices. Life in good old Russia!
The Boy Scouts of America pull the plug on a Seattle troop because its scoutmaster is gay.
The US has pounded Yemen with drone strikes in recent days, killing a reported 55 militants. That includes, maybe, one much-sought bomb maker.
Why can't Portland have an enormous subterranean drill? The antics of Seattle's "Bertha" never cease to entertain me. It just won't work!
It wasn't just cowardice and dereliction of duty on display by crew members in the tragic sinking of a South Korean ferry last week. Some cowardice, sure. Probably quite a bit of dereliction. But there was courage, too.
If you defy all medical expectations by surviving a flight to Hawaii in a jet's wheelwell, you should at least get to kick it in Hawaii for a while, right? Not just be immediately sent back to San Jose.
Alaska will vote on legalizing marijuana in November. Oregon will probably be along for the ride, but activists have a lot of signatures to gather, first.
Happy Earth Day, everyone! It's going to be moderately unpleasant in this fecund corner of Earth.
Here's a quick and necessary refresher:
