Tag Archives: gunsafety
War On Women
The Latest Extreme Anti-Abortion Trend
A record number of new abortion restrictions — 135 in all — were put in place during 2011 and 2012. The GOP nominated someone who has advocated for so-called “personhood” measures and co-sponsored a bill to redefine rape as their vice presidential candidate. Republican senatorial candidates made highly offensive and inexplicable comments about rape. All of this and the numerous other assaults on women’s health help explain why the 2012 election featured a historic gender gap.
Now Republicans are starting off 2013 with another major anti-abortion push in the states. This time the push is around so-called “fetal heartbeat” bills — bills that attempt to ban abortion as soon as a fetal heartbeat can be detected. This means abortion could be banned after just six weeks, which is before many women even know they are pregnant.
ThinkProgress’ Tara Culp-Ressler rounds up just the latest unconstitutional effort to restrict access to abortion:
– OHIO: Anti-choice lawmakers in Ohio first advanced a heartbeat bill in 2011. After the measure was stalled in the state senate for over a year, abortion opponents pressured the legislature to take up the issue again during their lame duck session after the 2012 elections. But ultimately, the bill didn’t come up for a vote because the state Senate leader, Tom Niehaus (R-OH), acknowledged it was too controversial even among abortion opponents. Niehaus said he wanted to wait until lawmakers anti-choice communityreached consensus on the measure — which means it could be back on the agenda sometime this year.
– MISSISSIPPI: About a week into the new year, GOP lawmakers in Mississippifiled a fetal heartbeat bill virtually identical to the one that failed to make it out of committee during the state’s last legislative session. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) has already made it clear that he would sign such a bill if it ever reaches his desk. At a private anti-abortion event at the beginning of January, the governor confirmed that he supports banning abortion as soon as a fetal heartbeat can be detected. “It would tell that mother, ‘Your child has a heartbeat,’” Bryant said.
– WYOMING: About two weeks ago, state Rep. Kendell Kroeker (R) introduced a measure to supersede the medical definition of viability. Current state law says abortions are prohibited after a fetus has “reached viability,” and Kroeker sought to replace those words with “a detectable fetal heartbeat.” The Republican lawmaker said the idea for his heartbeat bill just came to him one day because “it became clear that if a baby had a heartbeat, that seemed simple to me that it’s wrong to kill it.” On Monday, a House panel struck down Kroeker’s bill because it was too medically vague. But if Ohio and Mississippi are any indication, this likely won’t be the last time that fetal heartbeat legislation shows up in Wyoming.
– ARKANSAS: Republicans in Arkansas also hopped on the fetal heartbeat train this week, but they went a step further — state Sen. Jason Rapert’s (R) proposed heartbeat bill would prosecute the doctors who perform abortionsafter the arbitrary cut-off with a Class D felony, punishable by up to six years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. And thanks to the strong Republican majorities in Arkansas’ legislature, this piece of legislation has a good chance of advancing. It easily passed out of committee on Wednesday and is now headed to the state Senate, where 19 of the chamber’s total 35 members have already signed onto it as co-sponsors.
– NORTH DAKOTA: Like Arkansas, the anti-choice politicians in North Dakota want to prosecute the doctors who perform abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected — and their heartbeat ban was part of the “flurry” of anti-abortion bills that lawmakers rushed to introduce around last week’s Roe v. Wade anniversary. A House committee is currently considering the measure, along with an even more radical “personhood” proposal. North Dakota has already imposed some the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the nation, and women’s health advocates in the state warn that the passage of these new bills “would be tantamount to banning abortion” altogether.
Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed
GOP gubernatorial candidate resurrects Mitt Romney’s offensive 47 percent attack.
Sean Hannity doesn’t like it when he gets called out by ThinkProgress.
Prominent conservatives just as anti-immigrant as ever.
Republican compares Obamacare to the Holocaust.
San Francisco 49er makes anti-gay comments days before Super Bowl.
States lose $600 MILLION a year because of one worthless corporate tax break.
Royal Dutch Shell and ConocoPhillips made $35 BILLION last year.
There was another school shooting today.
NRA lobbyist’s bodyguards roughed up reporters on Capitol Hill yesterday.
Share this:
Google Science Fair: Looking for the next generation of scientists and engineers to change the world
Posted: 30 Jan 2013 07:21 AM PST
At age 16, Louis Braille invented an alphabet for the blind. When she was 13, Ada Lovelace became fascinated with math and went on to write the first computer program. And at 18, Alexander Graham Bell started experimenting with sound and went on to invent the telephone. Throughout history many great scientists developed their curiosity for science at an early age and went on to make groundbreaking discoveries that changed the way we live.Today, we’re launching the third annual Google Science Fair in partnership with CERN, the LEGO Group, National Geographic and Scientific American to find the next generation of scientists and engineers. We’re inviting students ages 13-18 to participate in the largest online science competition and submit their ideas to change the world.
For the past two years, thousands of students from more than 90 countries have submitted research projects that address some of the most challenging problems we face today. Previous winners tackled issues such as the early diagnosis of breast cancer, improving the experience of listening to music for people with hearing loss and cataloguing the ecosystem found in water. This year we hope to once again inspire scientific exploration among young people and receive even more entries for our third competition.
Here’s some key information for this year’s Science Fair:
- Students can enter the Science Fair in 13 languages.
- The deadline for submissions is April 30, 2013 at 11:59 pm PDT.
- In June, we’ll recognize 90 regional finalists (30 from the Americas, 30 from Asia Pacific and 30 from Europe/Middle East/Africa).
- Judges will then select the top 15 finalists, who will be flown to Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. for our live, final event on September 23, 2013.
- At the finals, a panel of distinguished international judges consisting of renowned scientists and tech innovators will select top winners in each age category (13-14, 15-16, 17-18). One will be selected as the Grand Prize winner.
Prizes for the 2013 Science Fair include a $50,000 scholarship from Google, a trip to the Galapagos with National Geographic Expeditions, experiences at CERN, Google or the LEGO Group and digital access to the Scientific American archives for the winner’s school for a year. Scientific American will also award a $50,000 Science in Action prize to one project that makes a practical difference by addressing a social, environmental or health issue. We’re also introducing two new prizes for 2013:
- In August, the public will have the opportunity to get to know our 15 finalists through a series of Google+ Hangouts on Air and will then vote for the Inspired Idea Award—an award selected by the public for the project with the greatest potential to change the world.
- We also recognize that behind every great student there’s often a great teacher and a supportive school, so this year we’ll award a $10,000 cash grant from Google and an exclusive Google+ Hangout with CERN to the Grand Prize winner’s school.
Lastly, we’ll also be hosting a series of Google+ Hangouts on Air. Taking place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, these Hangouts will feature renowned scientists including inventor Dean Kamen and oceanographic explorer Fabien Cousteau, showcase exclusive behind-the-scenes tours of cutting-edge labs and science facilities, and provide access to judges and the Google Science Fair team. We hope these Google+ Hangouts will help inspire, mentor and support students throughout the competition and beyond.
Visit www.googlesciencefair.com to get started now—your idea might just change the world.
Posted by Sam Peter, Google Science Fair Team
Share this:
Another Chance … Emily J. Martin, National Women’s Law Center
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Share this:
Police killed our roommate
 |
|||
When our roommate and close friend Paulie was killed by Officer Heimsness, he was just trying to come home. Paulie had moved in only a few days before, and in the dark he mistook the nearly identical house two doors down for ours. Our neighbor recognized him and tried to make sure he made it home safely. His wife, unsure of what was going on, decided to call the police as a precaution. Paulie never made it home. Officer Heimsness shot Paulie even though he was unarmed and, according to eyewitness accounts, backing away with his hands up. We’re devastated that Paulie is dead. Then we found out that Officer Heimsness has a dangerous pattern of taking violent force too far. We don’t feel safe with Heimsness or other officers with records like his on the streets, so we started a petition demanding that the Madison Police Chief take Officer Heimsness off the streets and review the department’s policy on use of force. Click here to sign our petition. Paulie was one of our best friends. When he decided to move back to Madison after 8 years in New York, we were thrilled. Paulie was your go-to guy for lending a helping hand or repairing broken stuff: your car, your computer, your heart. He played music with our daughter and read to her. Officer Heimsness ran onto the scene without identifying himself as a police officer, with his gun already drawn. Despite years of training in non-lethal tactics, he shot Paulie three times in the chest. His backup officer, by contrast, had just arrived with her Taser — not a gun — drawn. Heimsness’ record of allegedly using excessive force stretches back to 2001. He’s apparently even gone so far as to beat one man into a bloody pulp. We don’t trust someone with this record of poor judgment to patrol the streets of Madison. Police most effectively keep neighborhoods safe when they have the trust of those they protect. Thanks to Heimsness’ reckless actions, that trust has been seriously eroded. Megan O’Malley, our neighbor who called the police that night, told one reporter, “I feel terrible I called the police. I wouldn’t call them again.” Please join us in calling on the Madison Police Chief to do everything in their power to take Officer Stephen Heimsness off the streets and to review the Madison Police Department’s use of force policy so no more people needlessly die at one of their officers’ hands. Thanks for your help, Nathan and Amelia Royko Maurer |
Be a Seed for Change 
You must be logged in to post a comment.