An open thread to kick off a long weekend right.
- Hmmm...the Ohio School Board is considering teaching kids creationism in schools. Daily Kos emerita Kaili Joy Gray:
Um, no. No, wrong, fail, and no. While proponents of creationism like to say that it is simply another “theory” that should be taught side-by-side with evolution, it isn’t. Evolution is an actual theory with actual scientific evidence to support it. Creationism has, um, people who believe stuff, but, like, believe it really really really a lot. While that apparently passes for “science” among, for example, 20 percent of Pennsylvania’s science teachers, actually, it isn’t.
- The Florida teenager who is being prosecuted for having a same-sex relationship with a younger girl is rejecting a harsh plea agreement:
Florida teen Kaitlyn Hunt, who has been charged with a felony for having a sexual relationship with her younger girlfriend, has rejected a plea deal that would have included two years of house arrest and having to register as a sex offender. A statement released by her lawyers argued that she is being selectively prosecuted for having been in a same-sex relationship when she turned 18.
Precisely: If this had been a heterosexual relationship, it would not have been prosecuted. Still--facing trial is a bold move.
- Employees at Centerplate, the subcontractor that provides vending at San Francisco Giants games, are striking today. As someone from Los Angeles, I can personally testify to how morally superior many Giants fans feel about their baseball team--so hopefully, those in attendance at AT&T Park will stand with UNITE-HERE Local 2 and show solidarity with the striking workers at AT&T Park.
- For those who missed it, Los Angeles elected new citywide elected officials this past Tuesday. DNC member Eric Garcetti won the election, and will be our new mayor starting on July 1st. He will be the city's first elected Jewish mayor (his ancestry became a campaign topic, as he is Jewish and Latino with an Italian last name), and he will be the youngest mayor in over a century. But that's not the only history LA has made: by electing Ron Galperin as City Controller, we just elected our first-ever openly LGBT candidate to citywide office in Los Angeles.
There is a downside to this past week's results: no citywide elected official, nor any one of the 14 sitting councilmembers, will be women when the new council is seated on July 1. That will change quickly, as the two candidates in a runoff for a vacant seat in the Northeast San Fernando Valley are both women. But 1 of 15 is far too low for a city like Los Angeles.
- More progress, all the time:
The Puerto Rican House of Representatives on Friday (24 May) approved a sweeping nondiscrimination bill that protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in employment, housing, governmental services, public accommodations and private entities.
The Senate has already approved the bill and Governor Alejandro García Padilla has vowed to sign the legislation into law.
The vote occurred as similar legislation - the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) - remains stalled in the US Congress.
- Here, have a handy structurally deficient bridge infographic.