This week, all eyes are on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor as the Senate confirmation hearings rule the media (and not just sleep-inducing C-SPAN, for once). This is a historic time for the United States, as Sotomayor may become the first Hispanic and only the third woman to serve on the Supreme Court.

But what do we know about this woman?

To help you stay informed, we’ve filtered through the media’s deluge of reports on Sotomayor and have compiled this handy fact sheet, summarizing her rulings and positions on some important issues:

On affirmative action

The Verdict: Supports it

Sotomayor ruled to uphold a lower court’s decision that found in favor of affirmative action in the New Haven, CT fire department. In an earlier case, Gant v. Wallingford Board of Education, Sotomayor dissented from the decision, finding that racial discrimination had occurred when a black student was demoted from the first grade to kindergarten.

On strip searches

The Verdict: Against them

In a 2004 case that upheld the legality of strip searches of girls at juvenile detention centers in CT, Sotomayor wrote a dissent emphasizing the intrusive and humiliating nature of strip searches. Sotomayor made similar points in a dissent to the decision in a case concerning the strip search of a 13 year-old middle school student in Arizona.

On abortion

The Verdict: Position unclear

Sotomayor has heard few cases involving abortion, so her position is unclear. In one case, she denied a claim by an abortion rights group that sought to challenge an anti-abortion Bush policy. However, she has said that she considers the issue of abortion rights to be “settled law” and believes that there is a constitutional right to privacy.

On gun/weapon control

The Verdict: Supports it

Sotomayor denied a claim by a New York man that his state’s ban on a martial arts weapon violated his Second Amendment rights. She explained that the Second Amendment only applies to the federal government; he had a case only if it had been the federal government banning the weapon. Sotomayor has also agreed with the notion that the right to possess a gun is not a fundamental right.

On the environment

The Verdict: Supports environmental protection efforts

Sotomayor ruled that the EPA could not use cost-benefit calculations in deciding whether to require power plants to change to eco-friendly practices. Essentially, the EPA cannot weigh cost as a factor in the protection of aquatic life from nearby power plants.

What would her confirmation mean for the Supreme Court?
Despite the old Republican talking point, Sotomayor is not expected to be an activist judge or lean to one end of the political spectrum completely, even if many of her positions are considered liberal. Both liberals and conservatives support her, and it should be noted that she was nominated to be a federal district judge by Republican President George H. W. Bush. Many pundits expect her to be almost exactly in-line with Justice David Souter, whom she was nominated to replace. Souter’s record shows a tendency to vote with the the liberal bloc, even though he was nominated as a conservative.

When Sotomayor was nominated to the Circuit Court of Appeals in 1997, she had this to say on the role of the court: “I don’t believe we should bend the Constitution under any circumstance. It says what it says. We should do honor to it.”

So now you’ve got all the facts.
What do you think about Sotomayor?

Now, I love my fiction, but sometimes I just get a hankering for a real fact-filled, non-fiction book. I was watching MTV Canada one day saw Rodrigo Bascunan, the author of a fantastic book called “Enter the Babylon System,” being interviewed. On a whim, I decided to get it from the library (if MTV likes him, then he must be bad ass, right?) and boy was I impressed!

Now, before you go grab this book yourself and stare blankly at the cover thinking “WTF is this sh*t?” let me explain something: the book is about guns.

Yeah, I know that you probably have no interest in guns, their history, or their evolution, but hear met out; the  book was seriously great.

Even if you have absolutely NO interest in guns, “Enter the Babylon System” will still entertain and inform you. I have no affiliation or opinion on guns and gun culture and was surprised by how easy the book was to understand despite this. Not to mention how interested I was in the topic once I began learning about it.

I learned so much, from the history of guns to their central role in the hip hop and rap industry today. Within this culture, most carry weapons, sometimes illegally, and many fatal shootings occur because of this easy access to firearms. The authors, who look more like the gang members they discuss than the scholarly men that they are, are vehemently opposed to this new gun culture and use their unique access and perspective to share their reasoning with the world.

I found the authors’ point of view the most interesting part of the book. It’s really nice to see two individuals who had many opportunities to immerse themselves in gun culture take a stance and tackle a national and international issue. They know what they are talking about and it shows, forcing many readers to give real thought to a topic they never considered before. It is a mature and thoughtful book, but as I said, one that can benefit even the least interested or knowledgeable in the topic. And I’m proud to say I now know who rappers are talking about when they name-drop Smith & Wesson or Colt.

Anyone who is looking for an informative, smart, yet entertaining summer read should pick up “Enter the Babylon System.” You’ll need something to make you think a bit after 8 hour days answering phones at that summer job and this book will give it to you in a way that isn’t dry or boring. I found it engrossing and unbiased and I highly recommend it for the non-fiction buff like myself.

The mother of four (soon to be six), along with her live-in boytoy Brad Pitt, is currently residing in a palatial French mansion, and preparing to give birth to twins. Despite rumors that Ms. Jolie will not be giving birth until August, word is out that a team of nurses from L.A. have already hopped over the pond to France.

Her protective “instincts” are obviously on high alert, and Angie is definately ready to kick the ass of anyone who tries to tangle with her (seems to be an odd admittance, given her stature as a goodwill ambassador to the UN, don’t you think?).

She told the Daily Mail, “Brad and I are not against having a gun in the house, and we do have one. And yes, I’d be able to use it if I had to. I could handle myself.”

So basically, what she’s doing is telling the world not the f*ck with her.

Besides, Jolie has pretty much made a career out of being a hot action star — and action stars get a lot of practice when it comes to giant weapons of destruction. If I were a thief, I think I’d steer clear of that nice little French mansion and find another family that isn’t so educated in the art of shooting bullets.

Here in Texas, now the site of the second-and-third most deadly mass shootings on American soil, people from students to doctors are arguing passionately for their right to carry a gun. Many conservative pundits (check out nationalreview.com for coverage of the pro-gun debate) are suggesting that it may be essential for every student to carry a gun in order to protect themselves should something happen in a classroom, or anywhere, for that matter.

I never really consider if anyone around me is carrying a gun; I don’t think I’ve even ever seen a real gun up close, besides on a police officer. But it is frightening to think that more people than I could imagine have weapons in their homes, their cars or actually on them.

And the thought of guns in the classroom, well, it makes me not want to go to class. Ever. I value safety and security, but not to the point where the pursuit of it causes me to live in fear of my lab partner’s semi-automatic going off in class.

I’ve never heard a positive story about a gun “saving” someone’s life or acting in a heroic manner. To be a hero you have to use your brain, not a gun– the two don’t mix, especially in a school setting. What do you think– would you carry a gun to class? It may seem like a ridiculous question, but it could become a real option.