April 28, 2013

Washington State Republicans Want To Legalize LGBT Discrimination

To be clear, discrimination against gays, lesbians and other members of the LGBT community is already legal, as in, there are no laws prohibiting this form of bigotry. But Republican lawmakers in Washington state would like to take it a step further. They want a law on the books that explicitly allows prejudice and intolerance against LGBT people.

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April 15, 2013

Concealed-Carry Gun Laws To Extend Across State Lines?

Last week the Senate started debate on the bi-partisan gun bill championed by Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA). Expanded background checks is the biggest gun control provision, but we need to pay special attention to something else in the bill, national reciprocity of concealed-carry permits. It means gun owners with proper permits (in states that allow concealed-carry) would be allowed to cross state lines with their concealed firearm.

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July 27, 2012

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos pledges $2.5 million in support of same-sex marriage in Washington

Well this makes me feel good about the years of patronage I’ve given to Amazon. Billionaire Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, has pledged $2.5 million in an effort to keep same-sex marriage legal in the state of Washington. Earlier this year Washington passed a law that legalized same-sex marriage but the law is being challenged and will be put on the ballot in November. This means the rights of a minority group will be put to a popular vote. It should be noted that same-sex marriage has failed every time it has been put to a popular vote in other states. This is why we should never put rights to a vote. Rights are not something that we decide. That’s why they are rights. Hmm, I hear Rachel Maddow’s voice in my head right now. Anyway, the $2.5 million pledge from Bezos doubles the amount of money that proponents of same-sex marriage have available to protect the rights of same-sex couples in Washington state. It also doesn’t hurt that it’s coming from a high-profile business owner.

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May 5, 2012

Connecticut Senate Passes Medical Marijuana Legislation

Early Saturday the Connecticut Senate passed a bill that would allow the use of medical marijuana in the state. The measure already passed the state House and now awaits the approval of Governor Dannel Malloy. Malloy has indicated he will sign the bill into the law. If that happens, Connecticut will join the District of Columbia and sixteen other states in the legal use of marijuana for medical purposes.

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