Washington state has legalized same-sex marriage. Washington’s legislature passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage Wednesday by a 55-43 vote, making Washington the 7th state to do so.
Gov. Chris Gregoire says she will sign the legislation into law next week.
Washington joins Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont (and Washington D.C.) in granting marriage licences to same-sex couples.
State Rep. Jamie Pedersen (D-Seattle), who is gay, spoke on behalf of the approved bill:
“I would like for our four children to grow up understanding that their daddy and their poppa have made that kind of a lifelong commitment to each other. Marriage is the word that we use in our society to convey that idea.”
The Web according to Samuel Rubenfeld, a journalist published in The Wall Street Journal, WSJ.com, Dow Jones Newswires, Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle, Midland (Texas) Reporter-Telegram, The Hill, Village Voice, Newsday, Times of Middle Country and my alma mater's campus newspaper, The Hofstra Chronicle.
I'm 24 and living in Astoria, Queens. I listen to a ton of music and read a lot about politics, public policy, the news media and the future of journalism. I also am a big fan of the Knicks, Jets and Mets. Expect a heavy dose of things to read. • Ask me anything
Samuel Rubenfeld's Tumblr
I'm 24 and living in Astoria, Queens. I listen to a ton of music and read a lot about politics, public policy, the news media and the future of journalism. I also am a big fan of the Knicks, Jets and Mets. Expect a heavy dose of things to read. • Ask me anything
Samuel Rubenfeld's Tumblr
Most Americans Want a Walkable Neighborhood, Not a Big House
The symbol of American success often involves having the biggest house possible, but our outsized fantasies seem to be shifting. According to a new survey, more than three quarters of us consider having sidewalks and places to take a walk one of our top priorities when deciding where to live. Six in 10 people also said they would sacrifice a bigger house to live in a neighborhood that featured a mix of houses, stores, and businesses within an easy walk.
(Source: azspot, via nedhepburn)
“You can follow someone on Twitter, friend them on Facebook, quote or be quoted by them in a newspaper article, but until you taste their bread, you don’t really know them.”
Treasury, IRS Issue Proposed FATCA Rule - Corruption Currents - WSJ
The U.S. Treasury Department’s proposed rule implementing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, published Wednesday, yielded some concessions to critics but still requires new work by financial institutions.
FATCA , passed in 2010, requires foreign institutions to start reporting detailed information about foreign account holders to the Internal Revenue Service. The 388-page proposed rule gives a graduated roadmap for full compliance, culminating in 2017 when foreign financial institutions would be required to report not just on the value of an account but its gross proceeds. Those institutions that don’t comply face a 30% tax penalty under the statute.
Financial institutions have decried the law as overly burdensome since its passage, and have spent the last two years trying to weaken it, if not kill its enforcement outright. The proposed rule acceded to one key demand: That such reporting could violate privacy regulations in several countries, and it could cause the financial institutions to become an extension of the U.S. tax authorities.
Matt Hirji shot this aerial photo of the world’s largest dodgeball game.
It all went down a few days ago at the University of Alberta. Intense, but fun!
“Nobody is telling male reporters to stay home despite the fact that they have been beaten, kidnapped, and killed globally.”
— Lauren Wolfe, journalist and director of Women Under Siege, in my interview with her (which can and should be read in full here). (via thepoliticalnotebook)
(via thepoliticalnotebook)
A hash tag we can get behind: #JournoSpeak
Our cover story this week, by Graham Rayman:
The NYPD’s stop-and-frisk program has targeted more than 4 million New Yorkers since 2004. Most are males ages 15 to 24. 85 percent are Black or Latino. Only 9 percent of stops yield arrests. Now, lawsuits and an unlikely activist are trying to end the NYPD’s Frisky Business.
Taking street photographs in New York City? The New York Times reports that photographers are facing more obstacles when shooting in public.
“Ever since Sept. 11, a photographer’s lot in the most photographed city in America has been one of increasing frustration. Police officers, security agents and private guards try to stop journalists and members of the public who are standing in the public way from taking pictures of public events and publicly visible scenes. Almost every time they do so, they are wrong.”
Read the full article: A Reporter With a Camera Is Confronted on Second Avenue - NYTimes.com
Newspaper Blackout Horoscopes for February 2012 by Austin Kleon
Not your sign? Read yours→
Am I a bruise-fixer or a bruise-creator? You tell me.
I’m an avowed Boston Celtics fan, but damn if I don’t start watching the Knicks for their star of the moment, point guard Jeremy Lin.
He sleeps on his brother’s couch.
Fincen Requires Non-Bank Mortgage Lenders To Develop AML Programs - Corruption Currents - WSJ
The U.S. Treasury Department’s financial criminal intelligence arm issued a rule Tuesday that will require non-bank mortgage lenders and originators to establish anti-money laundering and suspicious activity reporting programs.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or Fincen, said in a statement that the new regulations will help mitigate some risks and minimize vulnerabilities to fraud that criminals have exploited in the non-bank residential mortgage sector.
“Fincen is closing a regulatory gap by requiring non-bank mortgage lenders and originators to develop anti-money laundering programs and file suspicious activity reports,” said James H. Freis Jr., director of Fincen, in the statement.
India, Iran Agree On Crude Payment Mechanism - Corruption Currents - WSJ
ndia and Iran worked out a new agreement on New Delhi’s crude purchases as sanctions by the U.S. and Europe threatened to disrupt the current method of payment, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Indian companies will pay 45% of their oil imports from Iran in rupees while the two countries figure out how to pay for the rest of the purchase, the Journal report said, citing Sayed Mehdi Nabizadeh, Iran’s ambassador to India.
The arrangement allows India to continue purchasing Iran’s oil despite sanctions from the U.S. that punish anyone doing business with Iran’s central bank, which routes most of the country’s oil payments.
The Ninth Circuit court of appeals on Tuesday declared California’s Proposition 8, which bans gay marriage in the state, unconstitutional. The decision sets up what is almost certain to be a Supreme Court ruling on the matter. Of course California isn’t the only state wrestling with the issue of marriage equality. Here’s a look at where things stand across the country.
It’s important to note that today’s filing was an opinion, not an order. An order is needed to lift a stay that is currently preventing same-sex couples from marrying in California; as it stands now, county clerk offices are still not issuing marriage licenses to those couples.
