The Louisiana Senate is considering a bill this week that would treat violence against police, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians as a hate crime. It’s been dubbed the “Blue Lives Matter” bill, and it is a civil rights nightmare waiting to happen.
After a two year battle, MPs have passed a law that now outlaws paying for sex in France, with a penalty of almost €4,000 for offenders—but unlike legislation in other countries like the U.S., the “offenders,” in this case are clients, not sex workers.
For years, we’ve been hearing about a backlog of rape kits plaguing cities—in January 2011, the Los Angeles Police Department made its way through over 6,000 untested kits; in 2013, Memphis, Tennessee somehow lost almost 15,000 kits; multimillion dollar budgets have been put toward ameliorating the backlog in cities…
The Florida House of Representatives has decided to move forward with several bills that would all but ban abortions in the state, including one that would make performing an abortion a felony.
On Wednesday, every licensed physician in the state of Oklahoma received an email from the Oklahoma Medical Board reminding them about HB 1409, a law requiring all doctors either performing an abortion or referring their patient to abortion services, to obtain “informed consent” at least 72 hours before the abortion…
The Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015, a crucial piece of environmental legislation that will phase out and eventually ban microbeads from soaps and cosmetics, has flown surprisingly easily through the Republican-controlled Congress over the past few weeks.
The California State Assembly approved legislation which would allow terminally ill patients to be prescribed medication to end their lives. This was the second attempt to pass the bill, following the 2014 case of Brittany Maynard. Last November, Maynard, who was diagnosed with brain cancer, decided to move from…
The French Parliament passed a measure Friday banning the use of excessively thin models on the runway. Part of a larger Health Bill, the measure won a majority vote in the National Assembly lower house of Parliament and will move on to the Senate next week. Other countries, including Spain and Israel, have passed…
A bill proposed by Oklahoma state Sen. Anthony Sykes (R) would mandate that all couples seeking a marriage license undergo a blood test "for the discovery of syphilis and other communicable or infectious diseases."
Is this animal, Nyctereutes procyonoides, best referred to as an Asiatic raccoon or as a raccoon dog? The answer to that question is actually more complicated than you might think — and could determine whether this animal will be killed for its fur or not.
A most excellent bill was signed into law by California's governor Jerry Brown today — one that requires California public schools to respect students’ gender identity and makes sure they can fully participate in all school activities, sports teams, programs, and facilities that match their gender identity.
As testimony for and against the Texas abortion bill continues, we have a new contender for most badass speech yet. Meet Texas resident Sarah Slamen, the soon-t0-be New Yorker brilliantly calls out her state's legislators, thanking them for finally doing their bullshit dirty work in the public eye for everyone to…
Good news, lovers of furry domestic mammals! The House of Representatives introduced legislation on Tuesday that would require Amtrak (the government-subsidized rail system that brings so much joy to so many commuters along the Northeastern corridor) to let passengers bring their dogs or cats on specially-designated…
A group of almost comically deluded and ineffectual legislators in Florida are bringing up sex- and race-selective abortions in the state. They make the same ol' specious arguments about abortion providers of intentionally targeting black people with such conviction, you have to stop for a minute to fact check their…
In a New York Times' Op-Ed entitled "A Senate in the Gun Lobby’s Grip", Gabby Giffords' joins Obama in unleashing hell on the Republicans (and four Democrats) who filibustered the bipartisan gun background-check proposal earlier today: "Senators say they fear the N.R.A. and the gun lobby. But I think that fear must…
A new bill in Florida would make it a felony to publish online nude photos or videos of a person without his or her permission and with his or her identifying information. That's a step in the right direction towards slowing the proliferation of the exceedingly icky "revenge porn" Internet sewage spill that has made…
Tennessee. What's up, friend? Quick question: How can the state that houses the happiest place on earth, aka Dollywood, be so fucking daft?
Heads-up, women who enjoy being topless in North Carolina, your (boobs') time (in the warm southern sun) may soon come to an end. A GOP-backed bill is headed to NC's House that would amend the current indecent exposure law to expand the definition of "private parts". Under the new bill, "private parts" explicitly…
An Atlantan man was denied his 1st, 2nd, AND 3rd choices for his vanity plate. James Cyrus Gilbert III wanted his vanity plate to read 4GAYLIB, GAYPWR, or GAYGUY. State officials denied his request saying none of those were available. Gilbert thought that sounded a little suspicious, so he got a lawyer.
Well, if Paul Ryan does run in 2016, we know he'll be going full speed with the crazy, making it impossible for him to win, and Hillary will be president, and then everyone will win. Well, except for the American politics, which has been stripped of the effective multiple-party system it needs to evolve and thrive.
