Progressive News Feeds

According to researchers from the American Heart Association (AHA) , a staggering 80 percent of U.S. teens have diets high in salt, sugar, and fat, but low on fruits and vegetables — placing them squarely on the road to developing heart disease

Tags: #abortion, auto, black, economy, girls, health care costs, heart-disease, left-bottom, media, public-health, science

Supporters of public television’s “Sesame Street” plan to protest Mitt Romney’s commitment to defund PBS with a “ Million Muppet March ” at the National Mall on November 3. The program “received $445 million of $3.8 trillion in federal budget outlays in 2012.” Should the government end its commitment to public broadcasting, “stations with narrower supporter bases, often those that serve poorer or rural communities, will disappear as public networks in urban areas with a large pool of donors to draw from will [likely] survive.”

Tags: economy, election, facebook, flash, girls, mitt-romney, news, progressive news, tweets, yahoo

Chow with her partner, Sarah Morningstar, and their daughter Cheryl Chow served on the Seattle City Council. She was a school principal and a school board member. And before she dies, Chow wants to do one more public service: Come out, and encourage others to feel more comfortable to do the same

Tags: black, civil-rights, election, girls, health, lgbt-rights, marriage, media, politics, sexuality, transgender

I had a lovely time at SXSW talking Islam and pop culture this spring, and I’m hoping to head back next year.

Tags: action, alyssa, author, bizarre, election, facebook, girls, lgbt, security, sex

In a long piece on Parks and Recreation as part of Deadline’s look at Emmy-contending shows, I was struck by this section on what made the show successful, and how it’s influenced the television landscape: Producer Daniel Goor says that finetuning Poehler’s character was essential to assure viewers that she was not just a female version of Steve Carell’s self-absorbed Michael Scott of The Office .

Tags: bizarre, black, economy, entertainment, girls, marriage equality, movies, tweets, yahoo

The Department of Justice on Friday uncovered a so-called “School-to-Prison pipeline” in Mississippi, where teachers and principals are shipping off children into the criminal justice system for infractions as small as a dress code violation . Schools in the city of Meridian, MS, have an established practice of sending students, particularly black and disabled students, to prison for minor disciplinary problems — in clear violation of the Constitution

Tags: arizona, attorney, author, economy, election, feeds, girls, media, politics, pregnancy, progressive news

Welcome to Justiceline, ThinkProgress Justice’s morning round-up of the latest legal news and developments. Remember to follow us on Twitter at @TPJustice More than a year after a Supreme Court decision requiring it to relieve prison overcrowding, California’s efforts to reduce the prison population have slowed to the point that they are unlikely to be able to comply with the order

Tags: climate, conspiracy, economy, election, elections, facebook, girls, health, texas, tweets

George Washington, who probably didn’t have much of an opinion at all about cell phones A California state legislator railed against a proposed $10 “texting and driving” fine increase in an appropriations committee hearing Wednesday, arguing that “policing ourselves” is “what the founders intended.” If passed, the bill would increase the base fine for texting and driving from $20 to $30 , with the $10 increase to be used for a public awareness program. Assemblyman Tim Donnelly (R-59), however, warned that such an increase would cause George Washington to roll over in his grave: DONNELLY: And I think the fact that you might cause a death, someone else’s death or your own, is such a powerful prohibiter of that, that we really don’t need to be increasing the fine. And I don’t think we need to have the cops pulling people over and giving them texting tickets

Tags: california, economy, election, girls, health, pregnancy, security, tenthers, thinkprogress, yahoo

Earlier this week, Missouri’s Amendment 2 ballot measure — dubbed the “right to pray” amendment — passed the state legislature with 83 percent of the vote. The amendment’s backers claim it puts important protections in place for Missouri’s Christians, who they say are often “public targets” despite the fact that Christians currently represent 80 percent of the state’s population

Tags: action, author, director, election, girls, health, lgbt, media, science

A Vermont man’s lawsuit alleging a state penitentiary forced him to work against his will has been allowed to move forward. A three-judge panel of the U.S

Tags: action, economy, election, facebook, girls, health, lgbt, slavery, war