Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Pop quiz: if a black man who lives in a white neighborhood sees a black man and thinks" what's he doing here?" Is he racist?

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Had so much fun the other night that I'll have to do it again next week.
Matt Taibbi project that Imani talked about shuts down thunderclap

Monday, December 19, 2011

Justice Department Avoids Decision On Warrantless Cell Phone Tracking » Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union

Justice Department Avoids Decision On Warrantless Cell Phone Tracking » Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union

Whether the government needs a warrant will depend on which judge is on duty. This is not how the justice system is supposed to work.

The Justice Department persists in its strategy of not appealing cell tracking losses even though lower court judges have practically begged for the government to do so. Way back in 2005, a judge expressed “the full expectation and hope that the government will seek appropriate review by higher courts so that authoritative guidance will be given the magistrate judges who are called upon to rule on these applications on a daily basis.” Other judges have issued similar calls more recently, but to no avail. (The sole time the government did appeal a loss, the results were decidedly mixed.)

The American people deserve better. The government tracks cell phones all the time and all over the country, and whether it can do so without a warrant is a crucial Fourth Amendment question.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Grant Hill responds to Jalen Rose uncle Tom comments

I love it! I don't even know who this Rose character is. I'm assuming that Fab five refers to the Michigan team that Chris Webber was a part of. I do know who Grant Hill is, even though I don't follow basketball at any level. If memory serves, they all left school to go to the NBA. I wonder if they went back and got their degrees, especially Rose.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Principal blames black students for school's low scores

A principal at an East Texas middle school has been reprimanded for blaming the school’s poor test scores on Black students.

Now, this story doesn't give me all the details, but if he called the entire black population down and they weren't universally on the bottom of the entire school's scores, well he's a dumb ass. If he called every student in the bottom x percent, and they happened to be black, that's one thing. But to lay the blame down on black kids is reckless and counter to solving the problems.

Since he was reprimanded, I'm going to guess he didn't give himself that political cover. Although I could be wrong.

Hello! Friends, Romans, countrymen.

It's good to see that we are still playing nicely together. I am once again burning the candles at both ends for a while, bit I thought I'd try to get back to posting. I'll try to respond to comments too. But there is great joy to be had just watching you guys mix it up. Right now I've just got a few email services that send me headlines ( which I mostly delete before I get a chance to read but I've got a few that have piqued my ire, curiosity, or interest. So, without further ado...

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

I miss you all. Working my way back.

Rachel Gillespie

December 13, 2010                                                                                                                                                                                                                        703-894-1776, ext. 25

WASHINGTON, D.C.— The Bill of Rights Institute announces a new initiative to raise awareness of the rights protected in the Bill of Rights. As part of this new initiative they are asking Americans to pledge 10 minutes to read the Bill of Rights on December 15,which has been the federal day of observance for the Bill of Rights since 1941.

To help Americans celebrate and remember the freedoms embodied in the first 10 Amendments, the Bill of Rights Institute has created a new website for Bill of Rights Day. Americans are encouraged to explore the text of the first 10 Amendments, landmark Supreme Court cases and decisions based on those Amendments, and various resources and games on the website.

The Institute asks all Americans to join together and pledge to take 10 minutes to read through the Bill of Rights on December 15, and to visit BillofRightsDay.com to sign the pledge.  The Bill of Rights Institute is urging all employers to give their employees 10 minutes to read the Bill of Rights either on their own, or together.

“The celebration of Bill of Rights Day encourages Americans to think about how vital the Bill of Rights is to the future of our country,” said Bill of Rights Institute Board of Directors member Todd Zywicki. “By thinking about how our rights are evident in our Founding documents, Americans will begin to see how their own lives are affected by the Bill of Rights and how their actions are important in supporting the experiment in self-government started by our Founders.”   

Bill of Rights Day is sponsored by the Bill of Rights Institute, a nonprofit educational organization. More information on Bill of Rights Day can be found at www.BillofRightsDay.com.

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The Bill of Rights Institute, founded in 1999, is a nonprofit educational organization. The mission of the Bill of Rights Institute is to educate young people about the words and ideas of America's Founders, the liberties guaranteed in our Founding documents, and how our Founding principles continue to affect and shape a free society.