Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

Today the Supreme Court handed down two decisions: The first is a monumental, headline-grabbing defeat for anti-abortion groups. The second is a highly technical case about gun rights that’s being mostly overlooked.

In the dissenting opinion for the latter case, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas argues that convicted domestic abusers have been defrauded of their right to deadly weapons.

At-issue in Voisine v. United States is a technical question of whether two men with convictions for “reckless” domestic assault fall under a federal law prohibiting people convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” from possessing a firearm. The law prohibiting domestic abusers from possessing firearms wasn’t the question under discussion — instead, the question was how far that law reached over certain states’ differing domestic assault laws.

Justice Thomas, however, was very concerned in arguments about the broader law that domestic abusers at large can’t have guns — breaking 10 years of silence on the Court to complain at arguments in February.

“Give me […]

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Christy Sheats

The husband of a Texas woman who fatally shot her two daughters in a quiet suburb outside Houston before she was killed by a police officer had begged her not to kill them, saying: ‘Don’t do this. They’re our kids.’

Christy Sheats, 42, shot her daughters Madison, 17, and Taylor Sheats, 22, after a family dispute spilled out of their home and onto the street in Fulshear on Friday evening.

Neighbors said Jason Sheats, 45, had watched in horror as his wife shot their children on his birthday.

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Do you expect your husband to help with household chores? If you do, you won’t have a happy marriage according to an ultra-conservative Christian editor at the Quiverfull blog, Ladies Against Feminism. Lori Alexander recently posted this photo of a handwritten note on her Facebook page, “Always Learning.”

“… you won’t have a happy marriage because expectations destroy relationships. If he helps, great, and if not, do your housework cheerfully as unto the Lord.”

Lori is a Titus 2 woman: an older Christian mentor who’s “calling” is to teach the younger women to be good, obedient housewives and prolific babymakers for Jesus.

“Remember,” she wrote, “you didn’t marry your husband to help with the household chores. You married him to be your protector and provider. …. Make his life as easy and as happy as you can.”

Lori’s post quickly garnered almost 70,000 shares … and not because Facebook users “liked” her quaint proposal for a happy Christian marriage.

“Yes, I had a post go viral. It didn’t go viral because the women loved what I said in the post. […]

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Sysco Corp will be the first major company to switch completely to cage-free eggs in its entire supply chain in the U.S. by 2026. The company supplies food to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, hotels and inns and hospitality businesses nationwide so this is a huge victory for animal rights activists.

“What this means is that distributors are going cage-fee,” David Coman-Hidy, executive director of The Humane League, told EcoWatch. “It’s going to impact the entire country.” The label, “cage-free,” might have its issues, but it is definitely a step in the right direction. The majority of eggs we see through the U.S. come from hens confined in battery cages.

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CERN’s Hadron Collider

Physicists in the UK are coming to terms with the shock decision taken by the UK electorate to leave the European Union (EU). The withdrawal follows yesterday’s national referendum, which resulted in 51.9% of voters choosing to leave. The dramatic verdict throws up many deep and worrying questions about how UK physics will fare as a non-EU member.

Voters in the UK referendum were asked one simple question: “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?” Now that the UK has voted to leave, the UK’s prime minister will be expected to notify the European Council of the UK’s intention to withdraw. This will then set in place Article 50 of the EU’s governing Lisbon Treaty that will give the remaining 27 member states up to two years to decide on the arrangements for the withdrawal, including details of the UK’s future relationship with the EU.

Many scientists and officials – both within the UK and Europe – have voiced their fears about the […]

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