Morning Twitter Messages -- June 6

Several of these in the #YouCantMakeThisUp category...

Oh, by the way, Virginia's Republican Lt. Governor candidate thinks yoga is Satanic nymag.com/daily/intellig…
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) June 6, 2013

@jonathanchait To be fair a lot of evangelicals do too, which is why this exists: praisemoves.com
— Michelle Goldberg (@michelleinbklyn) June 6, 2013

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RT @ajelive: BREAKING: Istanbul share index fell 4.24 pct by 1234 GMT, lira weakened to 1.8914 against the US$ following Erdogan's comments.
— Nervana Mahmoud (@Nervana_1) June 6, 2013

Stock market after Erdogan started speaking. Incredible -- look at this: twitter.com/BenjaminHarvey…
— Benjamin Harvey (@BenjaminHarvey) June 6, 2013

PHOTO: Turkish protesters paint the town red. goo.gl/L0n7h Go Turkey!
— Khaled Diab (@DiabolicalIdea) June 6, 2013

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The Trustworthiness of Beards - a handy guide to facial hair. tinyurl.com/7y6g727
— Matthew Rosenberg (@mrosenbergNYT) June 6, 2013

(Go to the link for larger, easier to see version.) 

This is why @jeremyscahill is the best, guys youtu.be/37c6oqbD2l8 @citizenradio @dirtywars
— allisonkilkenny (@allisonkilkenny) June 6, 2013

Deval Patrick, like all other Massachusetts residents, got "quite drunk" after the Marathon manhunt. bostonherald.com/news_opinion/l…
— Kevin Robillard (@PoliticoKevin) June 6, 2013

The first rule of lawmaking should be: Assume the douchiest guy in your homeowner's association will have this power.
— Tony Woodlief (@tonywoodlief) June 6, 2013

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.@jacobsullum vs. Operation 'Flush the Johns' soa.li/Kn7uQLG
— Josh Greenman (@joshgreenman) June 6, 2013

Rice defends punishing these men for words they allegedly said to fake prostitutes by arguing that she is thereby protecting real prostitutes from risk.

“Sex workers are often vulnerable victims of traffickers and pimps,” she said in a press release on Monday. “Yet they too often remain the prime targets in prostitution investigations while the johns who fuel the exploitation are treated as mere witnesses. My office and the police department are turning the tables on the illogical and immoral nature of that equation.”

Talk about illogical and immoral. The prostitution ban that Rice enthusiastically enforces makes sex workers vulnerable to abuse by traffickers, pimps and customers because it drives their trade underground, where the assistance of the legal system is hard to come by.

Indeed, as Rice herself notes, prohibition makes sex workers vulnerable to abuse by the police and courts as well. In this lawless environment, important distinctions — between adults and minors, between employees and slaves — are apt to be disregarded

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Blessed are the leakmakers. MT @theatlantic: Why the person who exposed the NSA spying is a hero theatln.tc/13cIlVs
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) June 6, 2013

I hope Glenn Greenwald used good methods for concealing his and his source's tracks for that big NSA scoop. Likely they will come after him.
— Jay Rosen(@jayrosen_nyu) June 6, 2013

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Conspiracy theorists are more likely to doubt climate science:bit.ly/11jtsOM
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) June 6, 2013

A new study by the Pew Research Center finds 

that the GOP is alienating scientists to a startling degree.

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Syria descends into madness, there are no good guys left nblo.gs/LW3zf
— Steve Hynd (@SteveHynd) June 6, 2013

The original pro-Democracy protesters in Syria have been tortured, killed, or fled the country. The rebels are a vicious,  Mostly jihadist bunch. Assad is a thug. Anyone with half a brain would stay away and let the participants club each other bloody. But no, Russia is sending jets and weapons and the US is sending F-16s and Patriot missiles to Jordan. The outside powers, including Arab nations, don’t care about pro-Democracy protesters they only care about their interests. The revolution has been betrayed and blood is on many hands indeed.The chances of a region-wide war increase daily. There are no good guys left.

Bob Morris, the webmaster of Politics in the Zeros, is interested in the political ramifications of cleantech, climate change, and the economic crisis as well as leftie, antiwar, and social justice issues.