
- My silence on weapons of mass destruction is only because I am so frightened.
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- More than 1,300 people have died during the hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage, in Saudi Arabia’s heat. The temperature there recently passed 120 degrees.
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If I were moderating the upcoming presidential debate, I would make climate a major part of the questioning—that and the future of democracy. Both are, in fact, intertwined because, in each case, the Republican candidate for president and large swaths of the party he has molded to his will all deny basic, undeniable truths.
Climate and democracy are the most significant threats we face because if we don’t fearlessly tackle them, we will cease to have the means to address all else that ails us. The repercussions will echo for generations to come.
- Thanks to Jill Dennison for the referral to…lost it.
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- LGBTQ+ veterans who were discharged from the military due to their sexuality got a win this week when a judge denied the Department of Defense’s motion to dismiss the case.The lawsuit represents gay and bi veterans who were discharged because of rules like Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell that barred them from serving in the military. The federal complaint, which was filed last year, said that 35,081 veterans were discharged or otherwise separated from the military “because of real or perceived homosexuality, homosexual conduct, sexual perversion or any other related reason” from 1980 to 2011.
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- MAJOR FLOODS IN THREE MIDWEST STATES–Hey, I live in the midwest! Enough’s enough.
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LIFE IN SMALL TOWNS TODAY: No traffick crush. You meet folks you know at the farmer’s market, the Scottish dance class, and my daughter’s doctor’s brother used to live in my basement when he was a student.