On the CBS Evening News, Bob Schieffer just made the point that no matter what the polls say, everything ultimately depends on voter turnout, and that Republicans have been better with turning out their supporters in recent elections. This really worries me. I am not registered with a party but I am, philosophically, a liberal. I believe put those policies are best for America and so I nearly always vote Democratic. But I must confess that in this election my interests are also personal.
I worry Republican advances in Congress will jeopardize aspects of the new health care law. Provisions of the law are still coming into effect, so many people don’t realize how beneficial it is. Rollbacks will have minimal impact on me as a resident of Massachusetts, but I spent last year in another state and I can assure you, this system is better. I’m still cleaning up some of the financial mess from an inadequate insurance plan last year.
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Tag Archives: politics
SAR Academic Freedom Media Review, March 24 – 30, 2012
The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.
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Civil society demands inquest into student’s death, more academic freedom
University World News, 3/30
Academics, journalists vow to work for freedom
Pravit Rojanaphruk, The Nation, Thailand, 3/29
Mixing politics and science doesn’t help students learn
R. Matthew Poteat, Newsleader, 3/29
Indian Police Round Up Tibetan Exiles Before Hu Visit
Voice of America, 3/28
Saudi Arabia: Stop Arbitrary Arrests, Travel Bans on Opposition
Human Rights Watch, 3/28
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Interesting Post: One Victim of the Toulouse Assassin Buried in Morocco
In a blog post on March 22 Rachid Aadnani points out an element of the terrible story of the “Toulouse Killer” in France that I was not aware of.
The remains of Imad Ben Ziaten, the 31 year old paratrooper who was gunned down by the “Toulouse Killer” were laid to rest in Morocco this past Tuesday. His family had requested he be burried in his hometown of Md’iq a short distance from the city of Tetouan in Northern Morocco.
The other alleged victims of the assassin were a rabbi and he three young children. The murder of children is always shocking. What could a 3 year old, or even a 7 year old have done to justify being murdered in cold blood. That is what is so gut-wrenching about the story of Robert Bales, the US soldier who committed the massacres in Afghanistan on March 11. We want to see our men in uniform as heroes, to the point that we overlook a lot. But shooting innocents at home, that is only possible when the enemy has been completely dehumanized.
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Academic Freedom Media Review – February 25 – March 2, 2012
The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.
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Virginia court rejects sceptic’s bid for climate science emails
Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian, 3/2
Yale Professors Want Singapore Campus to Protect Human Rights
Oliver Staley, Bloomberg News, 3/2
Excellence – but those missing out don’t see it that way
Frances Mechan-Schmidt, Times Higher Education, 3/1
African leader wants end to ‘slave trade’ in education /
Phil Baty, Times Higher Education, 3/1
Student singled out for punishment over Willetts protest
Judith Welikala, The Cambridge Student, 3/1
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CAIR Asks South Dakota Governor to Veto Anti-Sharia Bill
CAIR Asks South Dakota Governor to Veto Anti-Sharia Bill.
Have you heard about this bill? Well it’s pissing me off and South Dakota isn’t the only state with one in process! I urge you to click on the link above and read what the Council on American-Islamic Relations has to say about it. I’m not angry about it because it once again demonstrates the appalling lack of understanding and intolerable amount of prejudice must be endured by Muslims in the United States. That deeply saddens me more than it pisses me off. As an educator, I will do my best to fight against this kind of ignorance. Americans are innately curious and open-minded, there is simply so much misinformation that has so massively skewed perceptions.
I am annoyed, ok a little pissed off, that not only South Dakota, but approximately two dozen other state legislatures are wasting time on such frivolous bills when there are so many other pressing issues facing the states and our nation as a whole. What’s all this talk I keep hearing about budget crunches, fiscal austerity, and cutbacks? Both Virginia and West Virginia have debated this kind of a law, as well. These people, our elected representatives, don’t even understand our system of government, it seems. They pass frivolous, unnecessary legislation to prevent things that are already impossible, instead of dealing with real issues.
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The Diva and the Army Private
To the author of the following Facebook post:
Whitney Houston had a drug problem, went to rehab, died in her bathtub and got recognized on the news and internet. NJ governor ordered the flags half mast on Saturday as a tribute to Whitney. 24 year old Army Pfc. Cesar Cortez, assigned to 5th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, Fort Bliss, Texas, died the exact same day serving during Operation Enduring Freedom and I, personally, haven’t heard his name until now. If you believe that the people who are dying daily for your and my freedom are the true American heroes and deserve more respect than any celebrity, then copy and post.
I am declining to repost this on my Facebook page. It is a mean and faulty argument that unnecessarily brings two very different issues into competition. But before I explain that, let me point out that it makes an absolute and prejudicial statement that you cannot possibly know is true, and that I wouldn’t repost without changing that anyway. It’s the concluding statement that’s the problem. As a teacher of writing I tell my students to try and avoid absolute statements unless they are sure they are true.
An Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Pfc. Cesar Cortez Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012 at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Cortez, 24, of Oceanside, Calif. , died Feb. 11, 2012 in Bahrain.
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Which Side of History?
Dear Virginia,
I am proud to be a Virginian. I’ve not been a full time resident for a while, but I miss it immensely. Many of my family and friends are there, and I have so many fond memories of my childhood, youth and college. It’s a beautiful state, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Appalachian Mountains, and it has a rich history. Jamestown was the first permanent English Colony in the Americas, Revolutionary and Civil War Battlefields dot the state from border to border, Northern Virginia remains an important center of national government, as the Pentagon is there, as well as number of Federal Agencies, NGOs, lobbyists, and similar organizations. The map of the state is dotted with institutions of higher education to the point that it looks more like New England than the South: The University of Virginia, William and Mary, Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth University… The state does not do enough to highlight it’s artistic heritage, which is rich. Among those born in or who hail from Virginia are Ella Fitzgerald, Sandra Bullock, Jason Mraz, Ruth Brown, Patsy Cline, Dave Matthews Band, Wanda Sykes, Shirley MacLaine, Perry Ellis… No less than 8 presidents were born in Virginia, including some of the most influential. Where would the US be if not for George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison or Woodrow Wilson?
And yet my state has a dark history, as well. It’s ironic that Stephen Spielberg is filming so much of the movie Lincoln in Virginia when the Richmond, VA was the Capitol of the Confederacy for part of the Civil War! Virginia was solidly on the wrong side in that one. We’ve been on the wrong side a lot! And when it was, it was often in a big way, as a recent post from BuzzFeed by Matt Stopera graphically illustrates with “five maps that show which states had the right idea, and which ones had the very, very wrong one.”
Here, for your consideration, are the first and last.
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NDAA and the Soul of America
Something momentous will very likely happen this week, something ominous. So ominous that the kid that grew up reading mythology, medieval literature and fantasy, will somehow find it hard to believe if the sky doesn’t darken or the earth become sick as nature herself reproaches the nation for the wrongfulness of the path it has started down. I am referring to the potential signing of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). No one wants to hold up funding for the military, but it contains other provisions that are simply contrary to the very essence of the American nation’s soul. I get a lump in my throat and tight chest every time I think about this bill.
President Obama, once the hero of the narrative who came to office President Obama who “came into office pledging his dedication to the rule of law and to reversing the Bush-era policies” (Andrew Rosenthal, “Politics of Principle,” NYT, Dec. 15, 2011), is likely to sign the law making indefinite detention of American citizens a permanent fixture of American law. They will also be subject to military tribunals. Maybe we’re not quite at the point of using the Bill of Rights for toilet paper, but we’re at least using it as a dinner napkin.
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Congress Busy on 220th Anniversary of the Bill of Rights
US Senate voted 86 to 13 in favor of the NDAA for FY 2012
On this, its 22oth anniversary, Congress was once again in session, theoretically doing the peoples business, though I am not so sure that is what they were doing. Here are two things that marked the day for them. You be the judge.
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Just Ignore Him, Maybe He'll Go Away. Ron Paul and the Media
Watch this video from the CBS Evening News last Sunday, December 4. At this point it was clear that Herman Cain was ending his run for the presidency and a new Des Moines Register poll had just shown that Newt Gingrich was the new front runner. Iowa is one of the first states to select its convention delegates, and thus it is closely watched by all involved in and interested in politics.
So according to the report, it’s now a three way race between Gingrich and Romney. This in spite of the fact that second place in the Des Moines Register poll went not to Romney, but to Ron Paul. He’s pretty much ignored in this report. I first noticed the phenomenon when it was pointed out on The Daily Show on August 15, 2011 just after the Iowa straw poll and Pawlenty dropped out of the race. In this clip, Jon Stewart notes the media’s reluctance to treat Paul as a serious candidate, even on ultra-conservative Fox News.
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