Bob Collins1) Same -sex marriage came roaring back into Minnesota’s political debate yesterday when three couples sued to overturn Minnesota’s ban on gay marriage. In the gubernatorial campaign four years ago, DFLers tried to derail the issue of a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman by saying there’s already a law against same-sex marriage in Minnesota. Yesterday’s action shows why the constitutional amendment issue will be back shortly.
But there are at least five myths about homosexuality to be debunked in a scientific way and Live Science does that today. “Gay parents aren’t as good as a father and a mother” is one of them, according to the writer:
The bottom line is that the science shows that children raised by two same-gender parents do as well on average as children raised by two different-gender parents,” said Timothy Biblarz, a sociologist at the University of Southern California. “This is obviously inconsistent with the widespread claim that children must be raised by a mother and a father to do well.”
Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby says the federal government has already decided what marriage means:
To be sure, an individual state is free to adopt an irregular definition of marriage — or anything else — for purposes of state law. But it doesn’t have a constitutional right to impose that definition on the rest of the nation. Massachusetts could decide to recognize martial-arts studios as institutions of higher education, and to make them eligible for state-subsidized education loans. Plainly, that anomalous definition of “higher education” would not be binding on the federal student loan program. By the same token, Massachusetts can decide (or be required by its supreme court) to treat same-sex partners as married spouses. But it can hardly insist that its definition of “married spouses” trumps that of the federal government and 45 other states.
2) Arizona is at the center of a racial firestorm, again. The governor has signed a law which bans ethnic studies in state schools. The bill says:
Prohibits public schools from including courses or classes, which promote the overthrow of the U.S. government or resentment towards a race or class of people, and specifies rules pertaining to pupil disciplinary proceedings are not to be based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin or ancestry.
The job of the public schools is to develop the student’s identity as Americans and as strong individuals,” the state school’s chief said last year. “It’s not the job of the public schools to promote ethnic chauvinism.”
Courses about Native American history are excluded. They’re protected by federal law.
3) Take us to DEFCON-1, we’ve got a real crisis here. Intelsat has lost control of the satellite Galaxy 15. It might smash into another satellite. That satellite contains programming for cable TV.
4) Today’s timewaster: Strange signs from abroad.
5) You can have your kestrel that eats moths at Target Field. I’ll take the nearby animated face on the water tower.
Bonus: The sign man has a job!
TODAY’S QUESTION
A Philadelphia police officer used a stun gun last week against a teenager who ran onto the field during a Phillies game. In Minnesota, a complaint alleges that a man was shocked with a Taser after shouting at authorities in the Sherburne County jail. When is it appropriate to use a stun gun?
WHAT WE’RE DOING
Midmorning (9-11 a.m.) – First hour: Author Laura Munson was married for a decade, and raising two children with her husband when he said he wanted out of the relationship. She has a surprising reaction to his request that she says actually kept her family together. (Originally aired on 4/28)
Second hour: Single at age 40, writer Lori Gottlieb started to wonder if looking for the perfect mate was the best approach to dating. Her new book chronicles her attempts to find Mr. “good enough.” (Originally aired on 2/12)
Midday (11 a.m. – 1 p.m.) – First hour: Chris Farrell on the economy.
Second hour: Civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis, speaking recently at the 50th anniversary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Talk of the Nation (1-3 p.m.) – First hour: NPR political editor Ken Rudin.
Second hour: New research shows that the family values divide between red states and blue
states is real, but there’s a paradox. The redder the state, the more traditional the family values, the higher the divorce rate, and the more teen pregnancies. There are differing interpretations as to why
All Things Considered (3-6:30 p.m.) – MPR’s Tim Pugmire is tracking the budget debate at the Capitol.
Employers who provide health insurance to early retirees can begin applying for money under the new federal health care law next month. That program aims to encourage employers who provide such benefits to keep doing so. The $5 billion program will reimburse companies, state, local governments, and non-profits, a portion of the money they pay out in claims for their retirees. MPR’s health care reform reporter Elizabeth Stawicki will have the story.
From NPR: Wealthy students in the Middle East have long come to the United States for their college education. Nowadays, American universities are coming to them.
