Wednesday Links

• Oregon's gays and lesbians would win the benefits of marriage and protections against discrimination under landmark bills approved Tuesday by the Oregon House. The two measures are expected to win approval in the Senate and be forwarded to Democratic Governor Kulongoski, who plans to sign both bills.

• Stanford students have pledged to fast until the university commits to a living wage without restrictions. Student activism at its best. Check Mother Jones for regular updates on their progress.

• The House marked Tax Day on Tuesday by approving new protections against some of the modern-day dangers facing taxpayers, including identity theft, deceptive Web sites and loan sharks.

• Latinos and immigrant-support groups said they are appalled at a University of Iowa College Republicans event Thursday that would pit "illegal immigrants" against the "border patrol" in a game of capture-the-flag. Should they really be shocked? Republicans, no matter how old they are, can't help but be anti-Latino.

• The tax burden in the U.S. is shifting away from the rich, to the point where in a few years it could change from being progressive to effectively flat, a new study says. Just how Bush, the GOP, and their corporate cronies like it.

• This NYT editorial takes Bush to task for having "reneged on his promises to Katrina’s victims."

• New York City officials announced that the city will be providing free software to doctors who treat hundreds of thousands of people. And defying the usual pattern of wealthy patients benefiting first from technological advances, the city is starting with the poor.