I have been enjoying Last Week Tonight, John Oliver’s new comedy show, which airs on HBO on Sunday evenings. Last week, Oliver did a funny segment on the Hobby Lobby case prior to the Supreme Court’s issuing its ruling the following day. As Mike Spindell said of Oliver’s show “it occupies a niche of intelligence in the news that is sorely lacking in our country.” I also appreciate Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert for humorously providing their perspectives on news and politics. For today’s post, I have the three above-mentioned comedians’ perspectives on the Hobby Lobby Case.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Hobby Lobby (HBO)
It has come to my attention via author/editor Charlton Stanley that for some reason, Bitdefender, maker of the popular (and quite good) firewall/anti-virus program Defender Pro has wrongly blacklisted Flowers for Socrates as follows:
This site represents a money loan scam
Money Loan scams are a form of fee fraud where victims are presented with different low-risk funding opportunities that require no credit history or income documents. However, in order to obtain the loan, they have to make a small deposit for different fees. The loan is never delivered and the deposit is stolen. Also, these websites are know to require several confidential information, such as social security numbers, contact details, bank account numbers and so on.
Since this is patent nonsense (as any regular reader of this blog can attest), I am currently working with the helpful tech support team at Bitdefender to resolve the issue. Just so you know, I’ve checked the site with a whole host of other security services including but not limited to AVG Threat Labs, Google Webtools, Norton/Synamtec, Sucuri and McAfee.
None of these security companies found a single problem with the site.
If you are a user of Defender Pro or user other Bitdefender products, we apologize for the inconvenience. We will get the issue resolved as quickly as possible.
Gene Howington, Editor-in-Chief
P.S. On a personal note, I’d like to apologize for my absence recently and in the near future. Family matters require attention and I’ve had little time for reading the news much less commenting on it (and there has been so much!). Thank you for reading Flowers for Socrates and I leave you in the more than capable hands of my fellow authors until I can return to regular commentary.
This place could use an infusion of energy. I have the solution. If you can listen to this all the way through without grinning, you need help.
Annette Stean is the vocalist with the Nashville based group Venus Hum. Mix Venus Hum with The Blue Man group and you get pure joy.
If you have good speakers this is really good. I am feeding it through Klipsh speakers in the library. When I was in college, I worked at a radio station. The station owner was good friends with Paul Klipsch, who was both genius and a madman. We had a full sized Klipschorn at the radio station. That was when I fell in love with a wooden cabinet.
Today is Jeff Beck’s 70th birthday! As a guitarist, it is hard to underestimate the influence Jeff Beck has had on me and hordes of other string benders. Versatile in genre, he is always a pleasure to listen to because it often seems less like playing than an intimate dialog between him and his instrument. Happy Birthday, Jeff! Many happy returns.
In celebration, one of my favorites, the ethereal oh so slightly atonal “Suspension” from 2001’s You Had It Coming.
“A Day In The House” from 1998’s Guitar Shop.
“Beck’s Bolero” from 1968’s Truth. Rare b-side single version with backward guitar ending. Other notable musicians on this track are Jimmy Page (12 string rhythm), John Paul Jones (bass), Keith Moon (drums) and Nicky Hopkins (piano).
If the war against women’s rights concerns you, avoid Louisiana. In yet another strike against the rights of women, a bill came before Gov. Bobby Jindal this week that is truly horrifying. Of course, he is expected to sign it. Submitted by state Rep. Austin Badon (D), House Bill 1274 specified that if a woman is at least 20 weeks pregnant, the doctor must keep her on mechanical support unless her will specifically states that she wants to be taken off life support if she is pregnant. This language concerning living wills was added when the bill originally went to the State Senate as was language putting the decision power in the hands of the family (submitted by State Sen. J.P. Morrell, (D) New Orleans), but as is increasingly the case, “compromise” was required by those in the “living women have less rights than potential persons” contingent and the language about the patient’s will and family was dropped. The doctors will have to notify family members about the continuing life support, but the law is now silent on those two important matters. This is naturally an invitation to future litigation (and an example of the powers of the silence and editing). However, there is another reason this is a bad idea that may not be readily apparent on the surface.
Maya Angelou—poet/writer/activist/teacher—published many literary works during her lifetime. Her most notable work—I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings—is her 1969 autobiography about her early years. Angelou died at her home in North Carolina on May 28th. She was eighty-six years old. Yesterday morning, members of her family, her friends, and dignitaries gathered together at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for a memorial service in honor of Angelou.
A couple of weeks ago, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey announced his plan to use more than $2.43 billion that had been earmarked for public worker pension funding to balance his state’s ailing budget. Salvador Rizzo of The Star-Ledger said that Christie’s plan “threatens to derail one of Christie’s signature accomplishments in Trenton: a major revision to replenish New Jersey’s strained pension fund over the long term.” Rizzo added that Christie’s plan “would solve an immediate crisis for the governor, who has to find more than $2 billion somewhere to cover budget shortfalls for the current and incoming fiscal years.” The New Jersey governor has ruled out other alternatives—such as “raising the state income tax or cutting funds for schools and Medicaid.” Maggie Haberman of Politico said that it was “a striking move by the Republican governor, who had championed a public employees’ pension fund reform deal that he struck in 2011.”
Writing for Salon on May 22nd, David Sirota said that Governor Christie “depicted the maneuver as a matter of financial necessity, as if he had no other choice but to effectively use New Jersey retirees’ money to balance the state’s books.” Sirota noted, however, that what was lost in the “noise about whether the governor is a true fiscal conservative was any discussion of the two choices his administration has made — choices that are at the root of the budget crisis.”
Judge John Murphy of Brevard County, Florida, challenged veteran public defender Andrew Weinstock to a fight on Monday. In court. On camera. The disagreement? Weinstock refused to waive his client’s right to trial. “Judge” Murphy allegedly punched Mr. Weinstock in the head, but most of the action took place off screen although you can clearly hear the sounds of a fight. The video was reported by WFTV.
According to Blaise Trettis, public defender of the 18th Judicial Court, “The attorney said that immediately upon entering the hallway he was grabbed by the collar and began to be struck. There was no discussion, no talk, not even time for anything. Just as soon as they’re in the hallway, the attorney was grabbed.”
Two deputies broke up the fight. Murphy wasn’t arrested. It doesn’t appear charges will be filed. The public defender’s office did say the incident will be reported to the Florida Bar and that Weinstock was immediately reassigned to another area so he and the judge would not have to interact with each other.
Here’s my problem with this: Murphy should have been arrested on the spot. He should have been charged. And although it is a possible outcome, it is not a likely outcome that he should be disbarred and removed from the bench. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. This kind of behavior is unacceptable in any workplace, but in a court of law – instigated by the alleged judge no less – this kind of behavior is why I think public servants in positions of trust should have the full penalty of law used against them when they abuse their office. There is no argument to be made that this wasn’t an abuse of office and the public trust. He not only physically attacked an officer of the court, he did so because the attorney was refusing to waive a client’s Constitutional rights.
John Murphy isn’t fit to be a judge, let alone a member of the bar.
Political news website The Hill is reporting that Obama allegedly told a group at a fundraiser that he might be in a “strong position” to amend the Constitution. The supposed aim? To undo the damage done to democracy by the odious and (to the minds of more an just me) manifestly unconstitutional Citizens United ruling. According to an an excerpt from Big Money by journalist Ken Vogel, originally obtained by Mother Jones, he made the comments at a closed-door, high-dollar 2012 fundraiser in Seattle.
“Now, I taught constitutional law. I don’t tinker with the Constitution lightly. But I think this is important enough that citizens have to get mobilized around this issue, and this will probably be a multiyear effort. [. . .] After my reelection, my sense is that I may be in a very strong position to do it.”
Later that year, the president publicly endorsed a constitutional amendment that would overturn the controversial Citizens United decision that allowed unlimited political spending by outside groups.
President Obama, at this point, your track record for keeping manifest promises let alone speculation is not very good. Some would say dismal. In fact, I know more than one lawyer of the opinion that despite teaching Constitutional Law, you don’t seem to understand or respect it very well in action. Actions speak louder than words, Mr. President. Will you stand up for the legal principle that rights are inherent to people and not legal fictions or will you continue to ignore the lie in principle that underpins Citizens United and helps undermine democracy? Time will tell, but that clock? She is a tickin’.
Could this be something substantive? Some have speculated he’s planning a big move second term to secure his legacy. Is this it? Or have the corporatist/fascists (whom he has a record of siding with on other matters) already won? Me? I’ll believe it when it’s up for ratification.
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