DC Supreme Court Rejects Gay Marriage Appeal
The Supreme Court of Washington, DC, rejected an appeal from gay marriage opponents who want to overturn the law allowing same sex couples to wed, the AP reports. Led by Bishop Harry Jackson, a Maryland pastor, the opponent group is trying to introduce a ballot measure to allow DC residents to define marriage as between a man and a woman. The district’s Board of Elections and Ethics refused to put the initiative on the ballot on the grounds that it would authorize discrimination.
At Least 60 Killed in Iraq Bombing
McClatchy Newspapers reports that the worst terrorist attack in Iraq in months claimed at least 60 lives and wounded 150 on Tuesday. A suicide bomber attacked a gathering of police recruits in Tikrit, a city north of Baghdad, detonating a vest rigged with explosives as officials warned the recruits not to gather near the entrance. A previous bombing in August killed more than 50 at a similar event.
Obama to Review “Excessive” Regulations
President Obama will sign an executive order to cut ineffective regulations that hinder the economy, according to The Hill. In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, Obama wrote that the country’s complicated and often redundant regulations impede job growth and place unnecessary burdens on small businesses. His executive order will cut excessive paperwork and ensure that the government does more of its work online.
Rand Paul to Reveal Budget Proposal
Rand Paul will soon lay out a proposal for an annual federal budget, Politico says. His proposal aims to eliminate $500 billion in one year, about five times as much as the House Republicans previously promised to cut, and target programs at every federal agency. It would also cut the entire Department of Education. Paul will likely reveal his proposal next week.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
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