Your Tuesday Random-Ass Roundup: No, You Can’t Touch This.

Sure. Justin Bieber may have down some of his mentor’s dance moves. He has a nice crossover dribble (ask Common about it). And he apparently makes a home in Atlanta.

But his temporary hood pass might have already gotten revoked:

Via AJ’s Headspace.

Bad move, Biebs.

Now for something even more random – a roundup:

1. Kevin Drum reminds that if unions lose, the middle class will lose as well. “Organized labor has become a shell of its former self, and the working class doesn’t have any institutional muscle in Washington. As a result, the Democratic Party no longer has much real connection to moderate-income voters. And that’s hurt nearly everyone.” (Blackink)

2. Scott Walker’s actually trying to auction off the entire state of Wisconsin. (Monica)

3. People from around the world are ordering pizza for the protesters in Madison, Wisconsin. Solidarity pizza. (Monica)

4. Speaking of union rights, New York City officials recently got to hear from Wal-Mart employees who reminded them that the retailer’s low prices come at the expense of the workers. (Blackink)

5. In case you haven’t had your faith in the justice system shaken today, we got you. A  judge in Pennsylvania is facing 12-15 years in prison for his role in the notorious “cash for kids” scandal. Kids charged with minor offenses would stand before Judge Mark Ciavarella, who would hand down unusually harsh sentences. (One high school sophomore received 90 days in jail and was led out of the court in handcuffs for making fun of her school’s vice principal on MySpace.) But it was later discovered Ciavarella was taking money from a developer who was building two private detentions centers for juvenile offenders — in essence, being paid to send kids to jail to create a market for more juvenile prisons. The prosecution decided to focus mostly on the money trail in the Ciavarella case, which angered many of the defendants who were sentenced by the judge, who felt as if their horror stories were being overlooked. (Avon)

6. Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi’s most-recent TV appearance must be seen to be believed. This isn’t going to end well. But you already knew that. (Blackink)

7. The sexual assault of CBS reporter Lara Logan was a reminder that her case is the exception: most cases we never hear or read about. (Blackink)

8. The EEOC is trying to figure out if some companies are weeding out job applicants who are unemployed. (Melissa)

9. The U.S. is the worst of the worst among the IMF’s advanced economies.  In what category?  Almost all of them. (Nicole)

10. If you’ve been sleeping on American Radio Works … don’t.  They’ve done some great episodes on education, and are now delving into race relations in the US- including two great episodes on massive resistance in Mississippi and the racial implications of transportation policy. (Nicole)

11. Texas is ready to pass a bill that will allow students and professors to carry guns on campus. (Avon)

12. Mark Bittman thinks we should label genetically modified foods. (Nicole)

13. Speaking of GMOs (genetically modified organisms), via Tom Philpott, Samuel Fromartz takes down James McWilliams‘ (you remember him, don’t you?) latest piece of nonsense.  McWilliams argues on The Atlantic’s Food Channel that the deregulation of GMO alfalfa isn’t all that bad. (Nicole)

14. A LGBT Black History Quiz. (Avon)

15. A graph from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing the gender gap in pay by industry. (Blackink)

16. Here’s a relatively happy ending: A puppy that was rescued when its owner tried to mail it has a new home. People, don’t mail your pets. (Monica)

17. Abby Aguirre spent an afternoon doing some wedding shopping with Hugh Hefner’s latest bride-to-be. (Blackink)

18. TNC looks at some of the vitriol aimed at  Michael Vick. (Avon)

19. Don’t get too excited, Knicks fans. Nate Silver thinks trading for Carmelo Anthony will limit the club’s upside. (Blackink)

20. And in case you missed it, Blake Griffin’s dunk was pretty awesome.  He signed the car. (Nicole)

Until next week, keep your hands to yourself.

Joel

Joel Anderson —blackink —  writes about sports, politics, crime, courts, and other issues far beyond his competence at BuzzFeed. He has worked at media outlets in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Atlanta and contributed to a number of publications, including The Root and The American Prospect, among many others.
  • seriously, haven’t all white people gotten this memo yet? don’t touch folks’ persons without their permission. wtf???

    • we need to cc: everybody else in on that too. since ive been home lots of strangers have touched my hair w/o invitation. none of them have been white.

      • fair enough.

      • Shauna

        I’m not white and I often want to touch people’s hair (regardless of race, depends on texture). I also often always want to touch people’s fur coats. However, I realize both of these things are creepy and wrong, so I keep my hands to myself! Why is that so hard for other people to understand?

  • Jamey

    Re: Justin:

    Wait. He did the WHUT now?