There’s so much news, I had to squeeze in another Feminist Files this week!

• Legislative Pre-game: The always-on-it Desert Beacon has a quick and dirty preview of some of the bills already proposed for the next session of the Nevada Legislature, which starts Feb. 4. (Look for another shot at comprehensive sex education this session, too!)
• State of the State: The folks at ProgressNow Nevada and PLAN have joined forces to present a progressive State of the State (one week before Gov. Brian Sandoval presents his), at 6 p.m. on Jan. 9 at PLAN’s offices 708 S. 6th Street. They will be livestreaming as well. It’s a potluck (those darn progressives and their sharing), so you can sign up here.
• Call it in the air: Jon Ralston shares his 2013 predictions for Nevada politics. (Perhaps some required reading for the teacher’s union?)
• Keep away: In a bid to screw their workers out of federally mandated health care coverage, Taco Bell and Wendy’s are cutting worker hours to avoid covering benefits. Here’s hoping those CEOs don’t eat where they shit on their workers. ‘Cause you don’t want someone pissed at you making your food. (P.S. How much do I love Nathan Fillion — of Firefly and Castle fame — for not only tweeting the Wendy’s story but saying, “I just boycotted Wendy’s. And broke up with Wendy.”)
• #TransDocFail: If you want to get your daily outrage fix in one easy shot, just check out the twitter hashtag #TransDocFail for stories of incredible injustice and humiliation that trans individuals have endured by the medical profession.
• Guns and Walmart: The White House has announced a much broader look at gun control than we thought. It’s being reported that a team led by Vice President Joe Biden is working on provisions that would require universal background checks and national tracking of gun movement and sales. This is far more than just looking at reinstating the ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. In addition, President Obama is looking to get support from NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Walmart, which is the largest gun dealer in America. Moms Rising is seizing the opportunity to force Walmart’s with this petition.
• War on Blacks: In a recent interview (video here), Quentin Tarantino talks about the link between the War on Drugs and a disproportionately high rate of incarceration of African-American men. (Blacks are 10 times more likely to be arrested for drug use, but research shows whites, Hispanics, and Native Americans are more likely to abuse drugs.) He likens it to a kind of modern slavery, stemming from the same fear of the black man as was common in America’s slave-trading days. Others have already been calling the War on Drugs the modern-age Jim Crow Law. Indeed, even those not inclined to agree with such “liberal logic,” have noticed this is trend, as in this Forbes piece from last year.
• Mmm… Bacon: Did you know that Americans spend almost as much each year on bacon (and related breakfast sausage products) as they do on ice cream? Or, that we spend as much on TV and music as we do on gasoline? Find out more about the buying trends of Americans with this entertaining infographic.