Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Requiem for the Dream Ticket
It is perverse irony that Barack Obama probably feels his struggle, ambitions and dreams for the Whitehouse were snatched in an instant by a young usurper who came out of nowhere and overshadowed his celebrity and air of inevitability and destiny. Sound familiar?
Friday, April 25, 2008
Why Rev. Wright is Not Wrong
Perhaps going public will hurt the media and the political attack dogs Hillary Clinton and the Republican Right Wing have set on this man. Reverend Wright is still a Man of God, who has much greater moral authority than those who have publicly used him for their purposes. By all accounts, he has a lifetime of achievement and community service that reflect the best in our nation. ABC News and most other mass media are too exploitative to honestly report his sermons and life's work in context, and are too cowardly to defend him on the basis of the First Amendment their profession is charged to protect. That same First Amendment guarantees our right to religious freedom, freedom of religion and freedom to assemble. The Rev. Wright persecution and exploitation challenges all of these core values and is a test our the wisdom of our nation and our times. Bill Moyers is one of the few remaining TV journalists with integrity, and the Editors of CaliLaw Review have only praise for his courage to remind us what the First Amendment means, and how the scourge of McCarthyism is very much alive in our country. It has no place in our Democracy, and we should all hold the highest contempt for those who strive to resurrected it.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
8th Amendment and the RIAA verdict
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), won a case against Jammie Thomas, a Minnesota resident, Ojiibwa tribe native and mother of two. The fine of $220,000 plus legal fees made Ms. Thomas not only the first individual in the U.S. convicted in trial of music piracy, but a striking reminder of how justice can be perverted when large corporations seek to make an example of individual citizens with less means to defend themselves. Is the 8th Amendmend of the United States Constiutution ignored in today's legal system? It reads:
"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."
As much as the Jena 6, this case brought attention to unequal prosecution in America, the Jammie Thomas case shows our courts are increasingly neither fair, or just. The freedoms we hold dear are in peril, and it can only be hoped this is appealed on 8th Amendment grounds, to the U.S. Supreme Court if needed. Towards that end, we encourage donations at http://freejammie.com.
"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."
As much as the Jena 6, this case brought attention to unequal prosecution in America, the Jammie Thomas case shows our courts are increasingly neither fair, or just. The freedoms we hold dear are in peril, and it can only be hoped this is appealed on 8th Amendment grounds, to the U.S. Supreme Court if needed. Towards that end, we encourage donations at http://freejammie.com.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Free Speech and the Taser Incident
Sentator Kerry's website invites comments on this topic, but doesn't post any of them. Therefore, I submit my post to the Senator here:
One website expressed a view I've heard over and over as the incident becomes a free speech debate. The view was that intervening -- telling the officers to STOP isn't something a politician would do, but it's what a man would do. I do not know what kind of man you are, sir, but I voted for you in 2004. I wasn't naive to think of you as some sort of hero, but I believed you had the courage of your convictions, and would do more to safeguard the Consitutional freedoms we hold so dear. I was deeply troubled that none of that courage surfaced when it was tested by this seemingly innocuous event. I remember Kent State. This was not it, but you saw the face of Fascism only a few feet away, and blithly turned away.
One website expressed a view I've heard over and over as the incident becomes a free speech debate. The view was that intervening -- telling the officers to STOP isn't something a politician would do, but it's what a man would do. I do not know what kind of man you are, sir, but I voted for you in 2004. I wasn't naive to think of you as some sort of hero, but I believed you had the courage of your convictions, and would do more to safeguard the Consitutional freedoms we hold so dear. I was deeply troubled that none of that courage surfaced when it was tested by this seemingly innocuous event. I remember Kent State. This was not it, but you saw the face of Fascism only a few feet away, and blithly turned away.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Civil Liberities In the Election
Will the mid-term rise of the Democratic congress change the prospects of improved respect for Civil Liberties or revision of the Patriot Act? See article and have your say!
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Saturday, September 30, 2006
The Self Defeating War -- Bush, an American Nero
George Soros wrote perhaps the most succinct assessment of the worst policy since Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD):
http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20060930/cm_huffpost/030591
At least the proposition of MAD was that insanity could be a deterrent. The Bush/Rice/Rumsfield "war on terror" is all incompassing foreign/domestic policy that seems to have blinded the current administration to the inevitable conclusion of our present course, which is no less than the destruction of our Republic. Our future is burning as never before, and History will judge whether our Democracy prevails or we have doomed ourselves to repeat failures of past Empires by ignoring its lessons.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20060930/cm_huffpost/030591
At least the proposition of MAD was that insanity could be a deterrent. The Bush/Rice/Rumsfield "war on terror" is all incompassing foreign/domestic policy that seems to have blinded the current administration to the inevitable conclusion of our present course, which is no less than the destruction of our Republic. Our future is burning as never before, and History will judge whether our Democracy prevails or we have doomed ourselves to repeat failures of past Empires by ignoring its lessons.
Monday, September 05, 2005
What Did Bush Know and When Did He Know It?
"When we get the big hurricane and there are 10,000 people dead, the city government's been relocated to the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain, refugee camps have been set up and there $10 billion plus in losses, what then?'" - Shea Penland, geologist and professor at the University of New Orleans - Risk & Insurance Article December, 2000
PBS: Now, with Bill Moyers -- City in A Bowl, September, 2002
PBS: Now, with Bill Moyers -- City in A Bowl, September, 2002
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Reuters AlertNet - Brain dead American woman gives birth to girl
Reuters AlertNet - Brain dead American woman gives birth to girl
Stranger then Fiction Concept idea: this could be the basis of a sci-fi horror tail of a group that discovers a market to artificially inseminate brain-dead women to give live births...
Stranger then Fiction Concept idea: this could be the basis of a sci-fi horror tail of a group that discovers a market to artificially inseminate brain-dead women to give live births...
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Why Terri Schiavo Matters
Bloomberg.com: Top Worldwide
At 25, Terri became incacpacitated after less than 5 years of marriage. The 15 years since has brought her husband another woman and children, and he should not have rights to make life or death decisions on her behalf. We will be judged as a civilsation by how we treat severely disabled and aged. There are thousands of like this poor woman. A system that says mercy killing is illegal but allows state sponsored death by starvation is a monstrous horror.
At 25, Terri became incacpacitated after less than 5 years of marriage. The 15 years since has brought her husband another woman and children, and he should not have rights to make life or death decisions on her behalf. We will be judged as a civilsation by how we treat severely disabled and aged. There are thousands of like this poor woman. A system that says mercy killing is illegal but allows state sponsored death by starvation is a monstrous horror.
Saturday, January 01, 2005
Saturday, December 04, 2004
Friday, August 27, 2004
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Induce Act: Antipiracy bill gains new ally
The Induce Act may outlaw all forms of peer-to-peer networking. See:
Antipiracy bill gains new ally - News - ZDNet
Antipiracy bill gains new ally - News - ZDNet
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
New Electronic Discovery Forum for Judges
The first-ever discussion forum for judges was announced today by discoveryresource.org, a premium electronic portal for the legal industry.
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