It’s been 5 months since the last piece of evidence was presented in the federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, but there is still one final act to be made in the landmark case on Proposition 8. This morning lawyers will be making their closing arguments in the case and specifically addressing several questions from Chief District Court Judge Vaughn Walker who gave each side 27 clarifying questions to answer. Judge Vaughn wants lawyers to discuss “choice” in sexual orientation; he asks whether gays and lesbians should be treated identically under the Equal Protection Clause; and he asks the supporters of Prop. 8 how same-sex marriage would have negative social consequences and how it would drastically change marriage as an institution. Even while we discuss the outcome of this case remember that no matter how it’s decided it will be going to the Supreme Court—and should courts or voters be making the ultimate decisions on equal rights?
What do you get when you give a chef a pen? Sorry, no crème brûlée. Instead of a traditional cookbook, Anthony Bourdain threw us into the intense and sometimes downright masochistic world of a cook with his first memoir, <i>Kitchen Confidential</i>. Now a famous cookbook author and star of the Travel channel’s <i>No Reservations</i>, Bourdain takes another look into professional cooking with his newest memoir <i>Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook</i>. From television cooking stars to world-renowned chefs, Bourdain lays out his heroes and villains and critiques food trends, relishing in his past experiences with a perfect meal.
Appointments of all kinds, from judges to agency heads, held up due to partisan bickering in the Senate; legislation from both sides of the aisle with potentially significant impact dies in committees without ever getting consideration from the full Congress; special interests loading down bills with self-serving amendments. Welcome to the modern U.S. Congress, gridlocked on the most important issues and bitterly partisan in every step. Enter Common Cause, the political advocacy group that has worked hard to limit the influence of money in politics and to encourage responsible leadership in Congress, that is launching a new program to break perpetual gridlock in Washington. The centerpiece of their proposal is the elimination of a sacred part of the legislative process—killing the filibuster and all its potential misuse in the Senate. While their goals may be worthy, are they realistic?
A major up-tick in drug-related violence and President Felipe Calderon’s meeting last month with President Obama garnered Mexico’s drug war, which has claimed more than 23,000 lives since 2006, some much-deserved attention, but after returning home and the most recent explosion of unabating violence—85 people killed in a 24-hour period—President Calderon is naming names. In a 5,000-word editorial published nation-wide in Mexico this week, he calls out Mexico’s neighbor to the north as “the biggest drug addict in the world,” and blames the U.S. for funding Mexican drug cartels with upwards of $25 billion a year, all of which he claims vastly overshadows the $1.3 billion the U.S. has pledged in aid to Mexico to train police, reform courts and supply drug-sniffing dogs, armored cars, night-vision goggles and Black Hawk military helicopters. How large of a role does the U.S. play in this ongoing bloodbath and how is the criticism being received?
In the sequel to his wildly popular cult classic novel <i>Less Than Zero</i>, author Bret Easton Ellis follows those main characters through their middle-aged lives in his new book <i>Imperial Bedrooms</i>. From the tortured and brutal world of drugs, sex and confusion of <i>Less Than Zero</i>, Ellis continues the journey into the human psyche and what it looks like 25 years later. <i>Less Than Zero</i> explored the uncertainty and fragility of the teenage years; now <i>Imperial Bedrooms</i> reveals that not much changes in middle-age. Can a character really mature with the author?
Patt Morrison is known for its innovative discussions of local politics and culture, as well as its presentation of the effects of national and world news on Southern California.
