Cheney.me: A Mess Of Stuff!!

1. 4
   8
   Feb
   
   America's Prison Spree Has Brutal Impact
2. 19
   8
   Feb
   
   Voting Rights of the Once-Incarcerated

   abbyjean:

   It was encouraging to see the Domestic Policy Council’s Heather Higginbottom say in a White House chat last week that the Obama administration is supportive of a federal law restoring ex-felons’ voting rights. The messy patchwork of laws we currently have for the once-incarcerated is one of the least appealing aspects of the modern American practice of democracy. It doesn’t have to be this way.

   The way that the ex-felons are treated on Election Day isn’t right — all the more so because it varies so wildly from state to state. Take Maine. There, you can vote from your prison cell. But if you sold the same amount of marijuana in Florida, you’ll most likely never vote again. Even after you’ve formally repaid what society has said is the debt incurred by your crime. According to the Sentencing Project, 35 states prohibit the once-incarcerated from voting while they are on parole. All but five of them also prevent felons from voting while on probation.

   We end up with broken places like Providence, Rhode Island, where 1 in 5 black men there can’t vote, according to a 2004 report. We incarcerate so many people that in the U.S. as a whole, 13 percent of black men can’t vote. That’s a problem for everything from representative democracy to the damage it does to how these men and women (and others like them) think about themselves, their communities, and their country.

3. 73
   8
   Feb
   

   Do you believe in systemic injustice?

   robot-heart-politics:

   squashed:

   Progressives are often accused of wanting to spend other people’s money on things they value. “Spend money on social programs,” the critics say, “but spend your own money. Charity is great, but it should be voluntary.” If social programs were charity, I would agree. But they are not.

   Social programs are a societal response to the problems caused by our society. Our decisions affect others. With my decision to buy conventionally grown bananas, I’ve contributed to somebody’s use of the pesticides that caused birth defects in the children of the people who picked the bananas. The money I spent to fill my gas tank helps prop up some of my least favorite governments. The land I call my yard is land somebody else can’t grow food on. My fear of paying more for electricity means everything from more coal-miners with lung diseases from lax safety standards to the spectrum of tragedy global warming will wreak.

   Private charity is a good thing—but it does not confront injustice. If my neighbor drunkenly crashes her car into a tree, I might, out of charity, give her a ride to the grocery store. If another neighbor’s house burns down, I’ll let him stay in my extra bedroom while he’s sorting things out. Neither of these problems is caused by injustice.

   Charity is also a necessary response to injustice—but it isn’t sufficient. Systemic injustice requires systemic response.

   • social problems
   • justice
4. 11
   8
   Feb
   
   

   azspot:

   Rate of job loss, Bush v Obama

   • economy
   • job loss
   • charts
5. 8
   8
   Feb
   
   Witnesses to beating dead wrong about man charged with attempted murder; he was hundreds of miles away

   abcsoupdot:

   “Mixed in with the 2:30 a.m. melee outside Noche Nightclub in Palm Beach Gardens, the 24-year-old Fusco joined in the beating of Chris Bell, she said. Kari Kryda repeatedly told a detective she was certain she saw Fusco — whom she knew from high school — kicking Bell in the head and torso.  At 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 8, however, Joe Fusco was nowhere near Noche Nightclub. That fact is documented in a host of records from a cell phone, a SunPass transponder, a credit card and purchase receipt. In addition, in sworn affidavits, five people present at the beating said Joe Fusco wasn’t there, and five others said they were with Fusco at the time. With him, in Eastman, Ga. — on a hunting trip where Fusco had spent the entire weekend.”

   Yet another story about mistaken eyewitness identifications. The story goes on to note, “Mistaken IDs are far and away the leading cause of wrongful convictions in the United States. Nearly three out of every four prisoners who have been released after being exonerated by DNA evidence had an eyewitness identifying them.”

   via robot-heart-politics:frothyparadise

6. 251
   8
   Feb
   
   

   crashintome9:

   Tumblr, I need your help.

   This beautiful little girl on the right is my 14 year old sister Brandi.

   Brandi was in an ATV accident Sunday February 7th 2010, she was life flighted to Children’s Hospital of Atlanta, with a fractured skull, and brain swelling. Among other injuries.

   She is listed in critical condition. The doctors are telling us she may be blinded in her left eye and have permanent brain damage. The next 24-72 hours are critical.

   Brandi does not have medical insurance.

   Please donate to help pay for medical expenses, or reblog to help get the word out there.

   Any amount can help.

   If you have any questions feel free to ask.

   <3 Thank you all. I will try to update as much as I can.

   Crashintome9 / Kristen

   • health insurance
7. 45
   8
   Feb
   
   

   piscesinpurple:

   (via brooklynmutt)

   Oh my.

   • Sarah Palin
8. 1079
   7
   Feb
   
   

   bmckinney:

   thedailywhat:

   Crib Notes of the Day: During the Q & A portion of Sarah Palin’s appearance at last night’s Tea Party Convention, she was caught on camera reviewing response cues pre-written on her hand. Enhanced images confirm that Palin indeed had the words “Energy”, “Tax cuts” and “Lift American Spirits” scribbled on her palm.

   Let us put aside the fact that this proves that her softball questions were screened in advance, and that she needed help answering pre-screened softball questions — and focus on the fact that she has a clearly visible POW/MIA bracelet with her son Track’s name on it.

   What is that about?

   [fark.]

   LOL LOL LOL MORON!!!

   • Sarah Palin
   • OMFG
   • FAIL
9. 19
   5
   Feb
   
   Why Homicide Declined in American Cities during the First Six Months of 2009

   robot-heart-politics:

   azspot:

   The inauguration of the first black president and the passing of the Bush administration re-legitimized the government in the eyes of most Americans for the first few months of 2009. African Americans and other racial minorities, who live disproportionately in America’s cities, were especially affected by these events. Their greater trust in government and the political process and their positive feelings about the new president led to lower rates of urban violence.

   I read this a while ago, don’t know if I linked to it or not. Ah, well. Great article.

10. 39
    4
    Feb
    

    "You actually have Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck as your spokesmen. Rush Limbaugh? Are you serious? Even the NFL didn’t want Limbaugh. And Beck… Glenn Beck? When people use the expression ”nuttier than a fruitcake” Glenn Beck is the main ingredient. The Republican Party of yesteryear was respectable. You were all about a small government that carried a big stick. Now you are just despicable. You used to be the Party of Lincoln and now – honest to God – you make Archie Bunker look progressive. If it wasn’t for Fox News you would be irrelevent. That’s right. You have become a party that owes its entire existence to a cable news channel owned by an Aussie. Your mascot should be a kangaroo instead of an elephant. After all, the last guy you sent to the White House arrived there thanks to a kangaroo court ruling rather than an election. He then spent the next 8 years bringing our nation to its knees. How about sitting down and shutting your damn pie holes long enough to see if the guy in office now can actually clean up your mess. Honestly, you are embarrassing yourself."

    -

    The Elephant in the Room is a Kangaroo (via azspot)

    
    YES!!!

    This was the first post I saw in my dashboard this morning and it made my day. Smackdown!

• Photo via savagemike
  
  Photo via savagemike
• Photo via abbyjean
  

  in Johannesburg (wooster)

  Photo via abbyjean
• Photo via fuckyeahtattoos
  

  Just a little reminder of whats really important.

  Photo via fuckyeahtattoos
• Photo via inothernews
  

  ‘PHANT LEGS A female elephant calf has her first public outing at the Melbourne Zoo. (Photo: EPA...

  Photo via inothernews