Bad week for…. everything

With the impending Supreme Court nomination that is sure to be gut-wrenchingly, mind-numblingly terrible, and the recent torrent of anti-human Supreme Court rulings, like their decisions on racist gerrymandering in Texas, the indefensible upholding of Trump’s travel ban,  and Janus v. AFSCME, New York Times editorial board (fake news!) gives some pithy advice that any hope for man and womankind in America is at the ballot box.

In unrelated news, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will be visiting our fair Capitol city next month to hear testimony about the myriad of collateral consequences facing people when they leave prison.  Topics will include barriers to employment including restrictions on professional licenses, and severely limited access to public benefits like housing assistance and SNAP.  Talk about things (like food, a place to live, steady income) that can easily be taken for granted….

Another even less appreciated problem for people when they leave prison is bad teeth, in part because of limited dental services in prison and also pre-incarceration, a likelihood of being among the 74 million Americans who lack dental coverage.

Dark days for sure, so feel free to just watch this slightly dated video from John Oliver's all-dog supreme court.  

Three for the road

If you're trying to make sense of WV Governor Jim Justice's high profile party switch and what that means for WV, good luck--and you're in good company. Here's some basic reporting by Brad McEllhenny of WV MetroNews. And I think the Gazette-Mail's Phil Kabler hit most of the right notes with his column.

If you are up for some more amusing WV related news, check out this item from Vanity Fair that talks about the WV ACLU's hilarious brief about coal baron Bob Murray,  who made good on his threat to sue Comedy Central's John Oliver after somewhat less than reverent treatment on the tube. Giant Squirrel fans, you're going to love it.

Finally, it looks like Christianity minus the whole Jesus thing is alive and well in the USA. Sad.