Rowan County Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis won’t issue marriage licenses. Issuing licenses is one of her several functions, but it’s one she refuses to fulfill. Why? Same sex marriage offends her … and in these United States she has First Amendment rights. U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court have all disagreed with Ms. Davis, but she’s pressing on. Details are in Why the Kentucky Clerk’s Last Stand Won’t Make Her a Right-Wing Hero by Amanda Marcotte for TalkingPointsMemo.com.
How can anyone ignore a story with the title, The Plot against Planned Parenthood and John Boehner? Written by Russell Berman for Atlantic Monthly, it’s an excellent backgrounder for what we can expect when Congress returns after Labor Day. And even as I wrote the last sentence, it occurred to me that it’s been a fine and pleasant month, what with the crew we elected to Congress “on vacation.”
China’s Economic Slowdown: How Bad Is It? ought to be the issue on every serious person’s mind. John Cassidy for the New Yorker provides thoughtful analysis, although no one can really know what’s going on. What we do know, though, is that we’re all wrapped up in gay marriage, Planned Parenthood, etc., and maybe shutting down our government. Serious times, and the only serious person I see in Washington is President Obama.
Dr. Oliver Sacks was an extraordinary man. Here’s his last published piece, Urge, on line at the New York Review of Books and scheduled for its September 24 issue.
Today our burger brings to mind Clara Peller and her cry, “where’s the beef?” Brooks Headley, rock star pastry chef—and rocker, too—has opened Superiority Burger in lower Manhattan. The place is vegetarian only. Here’s Pete Wells’ fine review from yesterday’s New York Times, along with a picture:
The Superiority Burger
P.S. No, I did not read Willie and the Weed Factory by Chris Heath for GQ. I’m a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory guy, but if your pleasures include herbs (or Willie Nelson), this piece might be for you.