Federal ruling allows Texas to deny birth certificates to some US-born children.  Not sure why the validity of the parents’ identification documents matters.  These children are US citizens, whoever their parents are and whatever their status, and their birth certificates belong to them and no one else.

David Brat’s appearance on Meet the Press last week apparently annoyed some conservatives as much as it did me, though perhaps for different reasons.  My chief complaint: his repeated claim that “the American People” support his Freedom Caucus priorities.

David Neiwert is one of the best writers out there on white supremacists, domestic terrorism and…orcas.  This rundown of the way rhetoric in the US promotes Islamophobia is worth a read.  I can also recommend his Rush, Newspeak, and Fascism (PDF), an important “journalistic survey of the academic literature on fascism” how it relates to American politics.

Booman thinks Vice President Biden should run for President.  I disagree.  The conversation Bernie Sanders has started is the one the Democratic Party needs to have, and I think he and Hillary are the right candidates to have it.  (Psst…Hillary…maybe a “join the official campaign” screen designed to capture my email address isn’t what you want new visitors to see when they visit your website.)

And finally…One of many reasons why I am slowly migrating to Apple products.