February 2012
26 posts
2 tags
3 tags
Sacrificing a little convenience for privacy
In last month’s United States v Jones Supreme Court decision invalidating warrantless surveillance using GPS tracking, Justice Sam Alito mused that there is a privacy-convenience trade-off, and that people may be willing to sacrifice some of their privacy for the convenience that technology provides.
Since the 1960s the Supreme Court has relied on the reasonable expectation of privacy...
3 tags
2 tags
Politicalprof: Separating Church and State →
politicalprof:
This year’s Republican primary has brought the return of the culture war: the war between those who some allege to be godly against others presumed to be ungodly; the war between those who insist they are moral against those who are found to be immoral. Front and center in the culture war this…
Prison to keep execution drug →
kohenari:
This story is amazing, really. Sick and amazing. I’d advise someone to use it as a plot element in a novel, except that the reader would say, “Nah, that’s just not believable.” Here’s the short version:
Nebraska needs execution drugs, but said drugs are no longer manufactured in the U.S.;
Nebraska contacts broker in India, who procures drugs from shady source and imports them...
4 tags
And I thought the Girl Scouts just brought us thin...
Be warned! Hot off the press! The Girl Scouts promote homosexuality, abortion, and they are a front for Planned Parenthood, and communism! Wow. And I thought they just made cookies. You know, samoas and thin mints. Apparently not, according to Indiana House representative Bob Morris, who wrote the following in a letter opposing a resolution honoring GSA on its 100th birthday.
...
1 tag
1 tag
3 tags
Warrantless GPS Surveillance, Privacy, and the... →
Join me for a discussion about the implications of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in United States v. Jones, which ruled that police must get a warrant before using GPS to track a suspect.
I’ll be posting segments of my talk as I finish it here first.
4 tags
Close the Tamms Supermax Prison
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn announced plans to close 14 government facilities, including two prisons, Dwight Correctional Center (a women’s maximum security facility in Livingston County), and the Tamms Super-Max Prison in far southern Illinois. While I think the arguments for closing Dwight are far from persuasive, a strong case can be made to shutter Tamms. We can start with the...
ahandsomestark asked: Do you mind if I repost your "Who does Congress Represent" post as a photo post. I'll still include your commentary but put the chart at the top in near full size instead.
2 tags
Who Does Congress Represent?
Twenty years ago I first read a book with this title - “The Best Congress Money Can Buy,” and today it is more relevant and out of control than ever.
Professor William Domhoff provides a great deal of data on wealth distribution in the United States, but I want to focus on just one chart:
We supposedly live in a democratic Republic, yet, 42% of the House and 43% of the US...
2 tags
3 tags
1 tag
Hmmm... I am apparently a climate scientist, at...
According to Rick Santorum anyway, since
Santorum told voters in eastern Ohio on Monday that science is on the side of those who want to aggressively produce more oil and natural gas in America. He said the notion of global warming is not climate science but “political science.’’
Santorum said Obama and his allies want to frighten people about new oil-exploration technologies so they can get...
Birth Control as an Election Issue. Welcome to... →
Good piece. With all the talk about religious freedom, I’d like to know what happened to the establishment clause, the step-child of the First Amendment.
And how have we turned back the clock to the 1950s?
4 tags
2012 Possibilities. You Can't Even Make This Up.
As I look at the two possible outcomes of the GOP primaries, it strikes me as amazing that here are the most likely scenarios.
1) Rick Santorum actually wins, and the nation will actually have a debate over Santorum’s natural law and 14th Century moral codes, further boosting the Catholic Bishops (who seem to live in that same world) in their opposition to contraception, gay rights,...
2 tags
“You know, the power of evil is going to try any way that it can to get a hook...”
– Youtube from Right Wing Watch, via Daily Kos
DID HE really say “violently oppose”?
2 tags
The Wisdom of Barry Goldwater
Did I just say the Wisdom of Barry Goldwater? Yes, I did. And here is why…
“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t...
3 tags
Religious Freedom and Contraception
I have been following the debate on contraception closely the past week or so, and I have to admit, I am frustrated by the way the Catholic Bishops are taking the argument of “religious freedom” and twisting and distorting it. There is no war on religious freedom. Its a hollow argument. As an former Catholic, it might seem that I just want to “attack” the hierarchy — I have had plenty of...
