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Adding nuance to the abortion debate

Coleman Hughes
Quillette
Tue, 21 May 2019 00:01 UTC
my body my choice protest sign
Last Tuesday, the Governor of Alabama signed the most restrictive anti-abortion bill in America into law. The new law bans abortions even in the case of rape and makes performing an abortion a Class A felony, punishable by up to 99 years in prison. Despite the low probability of this law going into effect, it has provoked a slew of commentary from both sides of the aisle. To call it "commentary," however, suggests that people are engaging in thoughtful attempts to persuade one another. In reality, the abortion debate has had all the intellectual rigor and emotional maturity of a pissing contest.

In an effort to be part of the solution, I'd like to explain why I'm pro-choice. Without doubt, my position will put me at odds with pro-lifers. But it will also put me at odds with many pro-choicers. Indeed, part of the reason I feel motivated to defend my position is because of how unpersuasive I find the central argument of the pro-choice movement. It's painful to watch a movement use bad reasons to defend a position when good ones are available.

Comment: Good on the author for bringing some much-needed nuance to the debate. Despite some of his arguments relying on hypotheticals that would benefit from some statistical back-up (most women who get abortions already have kids? Do we know this for sure?), the author, at the very least, seems to have a handle on arguments from both sides and avoids painting one side or the other as unreasonable monsters.

See also:

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NPC

Bill Nye is mentally ill, suffering from chronic "climate anxiety" - and wants you to feel the same way

Ethan Huff
Natural News
Wed, 22 May 2019 00:00 UTC
Bill Nye

Bill Nye is now the 'Climate Crisis!' guy
Even though much of the country has been recently freezing due to abnormally cold temperatures for this time of year, Bill Nye, the washed-up pseudoscience guy, thinks that global warming has already caused our planet to spontaneously burst into flames- meaning he's pretty much gone completely insane.

While spewing a lengthy diatribe during a recent appearance on HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Bill Nye about started to foam at the mouth while confessing some of his craziest conspiracy theories about climate change, which include his insane belief that "the planet's on f****** fire!"

Citing as "scientific evidence" Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (AOC) famously imbecilic Green New Deal, which states that cow flatulence is going to cause the end of the world in the next 12 years, Bill Nye ranted on and on and on about how Earth is supposedly heating up like an oven due to carbon dioxide (CO2), the "greenhouse gas" that maintains all plant life.


Comment: Beware Agenda 21 And Its Green New Deal: Plundering The World Under The Guise of 'Sustainable Development'


"By the end of this century, if emissions keep rising, the average temperature on Earth could go up another four to eight degrees," Bill Nye screamed, chastising everyone who disagrees with his completely made-up "facts."

Comment: See: Tucker Carlson induces cognitive dissonance in Bill Nye the Science Guy over climate change

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Bizarro Earth

UK: Grooming gang victim raped by more than 100 men but police arrested her first

Geraldine McKelvie
Mirror
Sat, 18 May 2019 20:19 UTC
model silhouette
© Alamy Stock Photo
Cassie is now in police protection (picture posed by model)
As a vulnerable, lost teenager, Cassie Pike was raped by more than 100 men.

Yet it was Cassie - not her string of vile attackers - who police repeatedly arrested.

The nightmare that began when she was a troubled 11-year-old eventually drove her to attempt suicide.

But for five hellish years, the authorities turned a blind eye.

Comment: See also:

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X

Tennessee Pastor who repeatedly raped daughter, 14, gets light sentence because Jesus

Michael Stone
Progressive Secular Humanist
Mon, 13 May 2019 00:01 UTC
Dave Richards
Nothing says "good Christian man" like rape and incest: Tennessee Pastor David Richards received a light sentence after being convicted of repeatedly raping his 14-year-old daughter.

In a despicable miscarriage of justice, Judge Steven Sword sentenced Pastor Richards to only 12 years in prison for repeatedly raping his 14-year-old daughter over the course of several years. In court, prosecutors argued the severity and heinous nature of the crimes deserved a minimum of 72 years in prison, but Judge Steven Sword felt otherwise.

Judge Sword, showing sympathy and empathy for the rapist, while minimizing the human suffering caused by Pastor Richards, cited the "good work" the rapist and incestuous pedophile had done in the community in an attempt to justify the light sentence.
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NPC

Feelings rule: Nearly half of college students polled believe First Amendment should not protect hate speech

Jonathan Turley
Ron Paul Institute
Wed, 22 May 2019 18:55 UTC
hate speech
We have previously discussed how speech codes and regulations are changing the way students are viewing free speech. There is now a steady message for students from elementary school to college that speech must be regulated and that even people can be punished for not just hate speech but the ill-defined category of "microaggressive" speech. Past polls showed that one-third of students believed that violence is justified in dealing with some exercises of speech. Now a survey of college students found almost half do not believe that hate speech is protected by the First Amendment - a chilling indication of the collapsing support for traditional free speech values on our campuses.

The Knight Foundation conducted the survey that showed that 41 percent of college students believe hate speech should not be protected under the First Amendment. The survey also showed that the support for free speech is lower among women with 53 percent believing that hate speech should not be protected.

Of course, these polls do not press students on how should decide what speech is hateful and what speech is merely controversial. The polling shows the success of various faculty members who have been waging a war on free speech in preventing opposing views to be heard on campuses or enforcing speech codes.

Comment: Why banning 'hate speech' will only make it stronger
Free speech defenders such as myself tend to focus most heavily on the idea that if we allow free speech to be whittled away, before long, government will be able to stifle dissent by placing increasingly expansive swaths of speech into the banned category. As such, the more narrowly we define the First Amendment, the more susceptible our society becomes to a totalitarian state down the road. While I completely agree with this argument and think it's central to why free speech is so important, there's another less discussed threat. Specifically, I believing banning certain types of speech will actually make them more powerful and subversive. Hateful thought which is pushed underground can fester and strengthen without the light of day and public debate exposing it for the demented ideology it is.
See also: Jordan Peterson: Hate speech will be policed by 'last people in the world you would want'

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Bad Guys

India probe finds Monsanto abused dominant position in market

Madhvi Sally
The Economic Times
Wed, 22 May 2019 18:48 UTC
monsanto
© News Target
The investigation arm of the competition watchdog has found Mahyco MonsantoNSE -0.48 % Biotech Ltd (MMBL) has abused its dominant position in the market for Bt Cotton technology by charging unfair licence fee and entering into pricing agreements directly aimed at overcharging farmers who use Bt Cotton seeds.

MMBL is an equal joint venture of Maharashtra-based seed company Mahyco and Monsanto Holding Pvt Ltd which has been acquired by German drugmaker Bayer. It sells genetically modified seeds to many Indian companies and charges a licensing fee called 'trait fee', or technology fee.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has asked the company and the complainants, including government of India, Telangana government, All India Kisan Sabha and Nuziveedu, to file their replies. The commission will consider the report of the investigation arm as well as the response of various parties before taking a view on the matter.
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Shoe

Nike withdraws latest shoe after Panama's indigenous Guna protest unauthorized use of traditional 'mola' design


Fashion Network
Wed, 22 May 2019 00:00 UTC
Nike Air Force 1 'Puerto Rico' 2019 - Nike Inc

Nike Air Force 1 'Puerto Rico' 2019 - Nike Inc
US sportswear giant Nike said Tuesday it was withdrawing its latest shoe after Panama's indigenous Guna community accused it of "pirating" a protected traditional design.

Lawyers for the Guna said the special-edition Air Force 1 model shoe sports a traditional "mola" design without their permission, flouting their intellectual property rights.

They had demanded the company pull out of a planned June 6 launch of the $100 shoe.

After being contacted by AFP, a Nike spokesperson said: "We apologize for the inaccurate representation of the design origin for the Nike Air Force 1 'Puerto Rico' 2019. As a result, this product will no longer be available."

Guna lawyer Aresio Valiente told AFP the indigenous people were not just seeking the product's withdrawal, but also damages as the shoe "is part of the spirituality of the Guna people."
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Snakes in Suits

Penn State professor accused of kidnapping multiple women while working as Uber driver


ABC News
Tue, 21 May 2019 19:53 UTC
Richard Lomotey uber driver kidnapper
A Penn State professor with a side job as a Pittsburgh Uber driver who was arrested this month for allegedly kidnapping two women is now accused of kidnapping a third woman that same night.

The third woman spoke with police on May 16, saying that on May 11, she was outside at a nightclub when she saw a car with an Uber decal and jumped in the front passenger seat, according to a criminal complaint filed on Monday.

She hadn't used the Uber app but gave her address and $10 cash to the driver, later identified as 36-year-old Richard Lomotey, according to the criminal complaint.

As he drove, the woman said Lomotey kept asking about her relationship status. She said she replied that "she was engaged and did not want to participate in any sexual activities with him," but claimed Lomotey held and grabbed her wrist during the ride, according to court documents.

The passenger said every time she unlocked the car doors, Lomotey would lock them, the documents said.
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Attention

Washington state goes full greentard, allows composting of human remains

Gene Johnson
Associated Press
Tue, 21 May 2019 18:20 UTC
Katrina Spade
© AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File
In this April 19, 2019, file photo, Katrina Spade, the founder and CEO of Recompose, a company that hopes to use composting as an alternative to burying or cremating human remains, poses for a photo in a cemetery in Seattle, as she displays a sample of compost material left from the decomposition of a cow using a combination of wood chips, alfalfa and straw. On Tuesday, May 21, 2019, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill into law that allows licensed facilities to offer "natural organic reduction," which turns a body, mixed with substances such as wood chips and straw, into soil in a span of several weeks. Th law makes Washington the first state in the U.S. to approve composting as an alternative to burying or cremating human remains.
Ashes to ashes, guts to dirt.

Gov. Jay Inslee signed legislation Tuesday making Washington the first state to approve composting as an alternative to burying or cremating human remains.

It allows licensed facilities to offer "natural organic reduction," which turns a body, mixed with substances such as wood chips and straw, into about two wheelbarrows' worth of soil in a span of several weeks.

Loved ones are allowed to keep the soil to spread, just as they might spread the ashes of someone who has been cremated - or even use it to plant vegetables or a tree.
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Arrow Down

Clueless BBC unveils unbearably cringey 'Tonight With Vladimir Putin' chat show


RT
Wed, 22 May 2019 18:21 UTC
bbc putin satire show
© BBC
British taxpayers, shield your eyes now. The BBC has just unveiled its new "semi-scripted comedy chat show format," Tonight With Vladimir Putin, presented by a horrific CGI adaptation of the Russian president.

Early details indicate that not only will the British public be subjected to some truly awful writing and voice acting courtesy of Natt Tapley, of Have I Got News For You fame, but the BBC has also managed to dredge up some top-tier guests such as the Labour Party's former communications chief Alastair Campbell, former MTV host June Sarpong, I'm a celebrity: Extra Camp presenter Joe Swash and presenter of the Guilty Feminist podcast Deborah Frances-White. The less said about that line up, the better.

Comment: Just when you think commercial tv has hit bottom.

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