Monday, January 10, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
CRIME - Shooting: Rep Gifford Critical 6 Dead, 12 Wounded
Gabrielle Giffords shooting in Tucson: Did it stem from state of political discourse?
Pardon me for a totally different take on this whole situation, Tragic? Of course. But trying to pin the cause on Tea Party, Palin, Beck, et al, is absurd. There will always be crazies. People talking to voices, or seeing Hitler marching down the street.
All of us rightfully worry about the surveillance under which we live, justified by the flimsiest of government justifications. Founders, in their constructing the Constitution, did not in their wildest dreams, have any idea of how the Fourth Amendment could possibly fail to protect the privacy of citizens. Stifling the hate purveyors who dominate much of the media is no guarantee of protection against the crazies. As a nation, we must somehow find the balance between the technological protections available to us, versus are right to be free from the prying eyes of government.
This will always be a constantly shifting and ever changing fine edge balanced between remaining unseen and unknown, against the protection which professionally managed technology can provide. if for example, YouTube had a built-in capability to identify word or audio combinations suggested in that the submittal was by someone who was potentially dangerous, we might have been warned in advance that this assailant was someone who should be carefully monitored. Yet, all of us are concerned, and rightfully so, that the NSA has the technological capability, and engages in precisely the same activity, deployed against American citizens.
Does any of this answer the question of privacy? No. That said, it is that question which should be asked.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
OPED Revising history through writing
WHEN the new House of Representatives convened on Thursday, the Republican leadership kept its promise to start the session by reading the text of the Constitution aloud. This break from Congressional tradition had a polemical purpose: Representative Robert Goodlatte, the Virginia Republican who came up with the idea, remarked that “lots of my constituents have said that Congress has gone beyond its powers granted in the Constitution.”
OPED Revising history through writing
WHEN the new House of Representatives convened on Thursday, the Republican leadership kept its promise to start the session by reading the text of the Constitution aloud. This break from Congressional tradition had a polemical purpose: Representative Robert Goodlatte, the Virginia Republican who came up with the idea, remarked that “lots of my constituents have said that Congress has gone beyond its powers granted in the Constitution.”
CRIME Nebraska School Shooting
The new year is barely a week old, but the nation has already recorded its first deadly school shooting.
On Wednesday, a 17-year-old student opened fire at Millard South High School in Omaha, sending students rushing to the kitchen to seek safety. The vice principal, Vicki Kaspar, was killed and the principal, Curtis Case, was seriously injured. The gunman, Robert Butler Jr., was later found dead in a car not far from the school, an apparent suicide.
On Wednesday, a 17-year-old student opened fire at Millard South High School in Omaha, sending students rushing to the kitchen to seek safety. The vice principal, Vicki Kaspar, was killed and the principal, Curtis Case, was seriously injured. The gunman, Robert Butler Jr., was later found dead in a car not far from the school, an apparent suicide.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Anonymity and the Dark Side of the Internet
"[Recently written] is a new set of essays on the dark side of the Internet titled 'The Offensive Internet.'The question that drives the volume is 'what can be done about irresponsible information' spread by the Internet, a medium that allows slander to 'be done with a few keystrokes, with complete anonymity, and . . . with no fear that the Internet provider on whose website the slur is found will somehow be held responsible for incorrect . . . or defamatory statements'? In the course of the volume the Internet is characterized as a cesspool, a porn store, a form of pinkeye, a raunchy fraternity, a graffiti–filled bathroom wall, a haven for sociopaths, and the breeder of online mobs who are no better than 'masked Klan members' in their determination to 'interfere with victims’ basic rights.'”
Monday, January 3, 2011
The Upward Mobility Gap
College-educated Americans live in a different country than high school dropouts. The best way to mend the divide is by providing access to a decent education.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
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