“Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life; it does not mean we will all define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow the same precise path to happiness. Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time – but it does require us to act in our time. ”
—Hey Congress, this part was directed to you.
Obama's Brain
According to an article on the front page of this morning’s New York Times, the Obama Administration is planning to seek three billion dollars from Congress to map the human brain’s activity. Here, Gary Marcus looks at five of the most fundamental unsolved questions in neuroscience that this investment should address: http://nyr.kr/12YVXqL
“The children of north-west Pakistan, it seems, are not like our children. They have no names, no pictures, no memorials of candles and flowers and teddy bears. They belong to the other: to the non-human world of bugs and grass and tissue.”
—(read here: x)
George Monbiot on Obama’s drone strikes and the damage they have caused in north-west Pakistan.
“So, in Barack Obama's administration, it's perfectly acceptable to abuse an American citizen in detention who has been convicted of nothing by consigning him to 23-hour-a-day solitary confinement, barring him from exercising in his cell, punitively imposing "suicide watch" restrictions on him against the recommendations of brig psychiatrists, and subjecting him to prolonged, forced nudity designed to humiliate and degrade. But speaking out against that abuse is a firing offense. Good to know. As Matt Yglesias just put it: "Sad statement about America that P.J. Crowley is the one being forced to resign over Bradley Manning." And as David Frum added: "Crowley firing: one more demonstration of my rule: Republican pols fear their base, Dem pols despise it.”
—Glenn Greenwald: WH forces P.J. Crowley to resign for denouncing the conditions of Bradley Manning’s detention as “ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid”“Lost children, children over there with parents over here, and basically broken families. I am one of them. My family is there. They stayed. I have not seen my son in seven years. By chance one day I saw my son using the internet, and he asked, [English] "Yo, Daddy, when are you going to get back?" I say, "I'm sorry, Son. I can't right now." [subtitled transl.] Why? Because I can't. Why not? I have no response for him.”
—Pedro, an immigrant from Honduras who was deported and separated from his family because [edited] of deportation. From In Mexico City Protesters Denounce Obama Deportations.
“Appearing before Planned Parenthood’s annual convention last Friday, President Obama pledged his continuing support for women’s reproductive rights. In a speech before the National Academy of Sciences on Monday, Mr. Obama promised to keep science a sphere “not subject to politics” or “skewed by an agenda.” On Wednesday, his administration betrayed both reproductive rights and science. The Justice Department announced that it would appeal a federal court ruling that would make morning-after pills available without a prescription for girls and women of all ages. The administration’s continued stubbornness may please some conservative groups critical of the president. But it will hurt girls and women and is bound to undermine Mr. Obama’s credibility when he calls for principled, evidence-based policy-making on other issues, like global warming. ”
—From the New York Times Editorial Board today.
I, too, am deeply disappointed in President Obama’s administration today.
The President has again and again vowed to restore scientific evidence to its rightful place in guiding public policy.
Here’s what the medical/scientific experts say on access to Plan B:
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (The College) and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM) oppose the U.S. Department of Justice’s May 1 decision to appeal a recent U.S. District Court ruling requiring that emergency contraception products be made available over-the-counter without age restriction. The medical organizations stand behind their support of the Court’s ruling, citing strong scientific evidence on the safety and efficacy of emergency contraception for all women of reproductive age.
