The Cheat Sheet

Front Page - June 19, 2013

1. Lisa Murkowski Backs Gay Marriage: “I support the right of all Americans to marry the person they love … It keeps politicians out of the most private and personal aspects of people’s lives—while also encouraging more families to form and more adults to make a lifetime commitment to one another.” 

2. Obama Defends NSA Surveillance: During his first presidential trip to Berlin, on Wednesday Barack Obama took time to quell concerns from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her country’s citizens about his administration’s intentions with the recently revealed NSA spying program.  

3. FBI Uses Surveillance Drones in U.S.: FBI director Robert Mueller told the Senate judiciary committee that his agency uses surveillance drones in the U.S. Asked about the FBI’s use of drones, Mueller said that the agency does use them, but “in a very, very minimal way, very seldom.” 

4. House Passes ‘Fetal Pain’ Bill: House Republicans on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” a far-reaching bill that would limit abortions after 20 weeks of conception. 

5. World Bank: Climate Change a Threat: It believes climate change poses short-term risks and has begun dedicating billions of dollars to water management, flood prevention, and other projects to help “hotspots” like Bangkok, Jakarta, and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where the threat of damage from climate change is exceptionally high.

Photo: Kabul, Afghanistan: NATO soldiers take cover from dust and debris from a UH-47 Chinook helicopter landing to pick them up after the security handover ceremony. By Omar Sobhani/Reuters, via Landov

michaelhayes:

melodykramer:

Edie Windsor, IBM, 1965.

Boss.

Meet Edie Windsor, the widow taking on DOMA. 

Justice Antonin Scalia is in hot water after comparing laws against homosexuality to laws against murder (which he later walked back). But this isn’t the first time he’s sparked controversy on the subject.

Back in 2004, Scalia was participating in a panel discussion at NYU Law School when the subject of his famously scathing dissent in Lawrence v. Texas, a case about laws criminalizing sodomy (Scalia wrote in dissent, i.e. for keeping anti-sodomy laws legal) came up.

When the time came for audience questions, a student named Eric Berndt stood up in the packed auditorium and pressed Scalia to explain his dissent, particularly his opinion as to whether it was constitutional for the government to peer into the bedrooms of consenting adults and punish them for what goes on in there. When Scalia did not answer to the student’s satisfaction, Berndt asked him, “Do you sodomize your wife?”

And Scalia was all like…

(Photo: Jessica Hill / AP Photo)

Gay marriage, marijuana, and Les Miz flash mobs, oh my! 

nedhepburn:

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner writes passionate plea in support of gay marriage.

Cool. 

Well played, Boston Phoenix. (h/t @GrahamDavidA)

gifhound:

Newsweek’s art dept. released six alternative versions of this week’s ‘First Gay President’ cover that were cut. Check out Andrew Sullivan’s cover story here: Why Gay Marriage Is Good For Straight America.

(Via Newsweek)

gif’d!

Frontpage: Monday, May 14th

1. Majority Supports Same-Sex Unions: A week after President Obama announced his personal support for same-sex marriage rights, a new CBS/New York Times poll shows that 38 percent of Americans believe gay couples should be allowed to marry, while another 24 percent support same-sex civil unions. Thirty-three percent of Americans feel there should be no legal recognition available for gay couples at all. 
2. Plane Crash in Nepal Kills 15: A plane carrying 21 people, most of them Indian nationals, crashed into a hillside Monday as it descended to land at a Nepalese airport. Many of the passengers were en route to the Muktinath temple, a religious site in the mountainous region.
3. Ina Drew Out at JPMorgan: Masters of the universe, perhaps not. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Ina Drew, the top-earning chief investment officer at JPMorgan Chase who put her stamp on the trades that went bust, resigned Monday. CEO Jamie Dimon said in a statement that Drew’s “vast contributions to our company should not be overshadowed by these events.”
4. Papoulias Prepares Final Appeal: Greek President Karolos Papoulias prepared for another meeting with leaders of the country’s main political parties Monday in a final effort to forge a unity government that may stave off Greece’s exit from the euro. His chances of success, however, looked slim.
5. Obama Knocks Mitt’s Bain Record: Barack Obama’s camp takes aim at Romney’s corporate experience with a 2-minute ad out Monday, and as tales of corporate bloodsucking go, this one could have been penned by Bram Stoker. The ad revisits the closure of a plant owned by GST Steel, which was acquired by Romney and Bain Capital and then shut down. “They made as much money off it as they could and they closed it down, they filed for bankruptcy, without any concern for the families or the communities,” says former steelworker Joe Soptic in the ad. 

Photo: Roy Lichenstein’s “Ohhh…Alright…” (1964) More of Lichtenstein’s gallery, or watch Blake Gopnik, our art critic, discuss his work. 

© Estate of Roy Lichtenstein / Courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago