Links, Fun and Reading for Friday

I've been watching the news coverage and the increasing number of red avatars on Facebook and Twitter with a good deal of trepidation. The Supreme Court decision on Hollingsworth v. Perry (which will determine whether Prop 8 in California is unconstitutional because it discriminates against gay and lesbian citizens) could take awhile, but in the meantime, Courtney Milan's got a condensed comedic summary of the transcript which is both hilarious and sad: 

ROBERTS: Since when does California get to decide questions of federal standing?

COOPER: Uh…

SOTOMAYOR: Because, you know, officers like the attorney general take oaths to uphold and defend the Constitution, whereas these assholes—I mean, the people bringing this case have no such duties.

COOPER: The Court has never held that.

SOTOMAYOR: We’ve never had a case like this.

COOPER: Still.

BREYER: I’m going to ask you an extremely long question riddled with nonspecific nouns, and you’re going to have to guess what I mean by it.

COOPER: I’m pretty sure the answer is no? But let’s stop talking about whether I should be allowed to talk, and get on to what I’m going to be talking about. Which is: nostalgia. Nostalgia for the good old days of traditional, bedrock values. Man, back in 1971, this Court said there was no federal question as to same-sex marriage. Those were the fucking days.

GINSBURG: The Supreme Court hadn’t even recognized gender-based classifications then.

COOPER: Are you harshing on my nostalgia?

It's awful and funny, and churns up my stomach some more. As I've said before, someday our children will look at the history of gay marriage in America and wonder what the hell was wrong with us, the way I look at a lunch counter and wonder why black people couldn't eat there. 

Thanks to Kate H. for sending me the link and proclaiming it brilliant, because it is. 

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Sweet mother of Abraham Lincoln, Penguin has decided to lend more ebooks to libraries: 

Currently, Penguin offers its titles to libraries through a pilot program through vendors 3M and Baker & Taylor. With the change, all frontlist e-books will now be offered through those two companies under the same terms as existed in the pilots, basically one-year licenses. The publisher, however, still does not work with OverDrive, the leading vendor in the library e-book lending space, after dumping them in 2011 in part due to OverDrive’s partnership with Amazon to enable Kindle lending.

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It's Passover, and Bryn has hooked me up with Buzzfeed's “The Story of Passover as Told by Cats.” Found our Hagaddah for next year! 

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And finally, there is DABWAHA voting going on! WOO! Don't forget to vote…and drive…and vote some more from all the free WiFi spots in your area. And yes, you totally deserve a milkshake at the diner with the free WiFi.