The Obama Administration and many Democratic leaders have made “fake news” a rallying cry for more government and private regulation of the Internet — as well as a rationale for the devastating loss of Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump. Below is a column exploring the dangers of this new justification for speech regulation, which are already becoming evident in various countries around the world. I recently discussed the issue as part of an interesting segment with Ted Koppel.
Continue reading “THE REAL DANGER OF FAKE NEWS”
Category: Society
There is a controversy at the University of Oregon that embodies our long debate over the free speech rights of employees over statements and conduct in their private lives. Law professor Nancy Shurtz triggered a firestorm after she wore blackface to a Halloween party. She was dressed as Dr. Damon Tweedy, the author of Black Men In A White Coat. The school launched a formal investigation and found that, while there was no “ill intent”, Shurtz violated the school’s anti-discrimination policies. That has caused a debate over the extension of such rules to the conduct of faculty or students off campus and off hours.
Best wishes to everyone celebrating Christmas. Continue reading “MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!”
There is a basic rule about “talking points”: you follow them but do not quote them as talking points. That lesson seems to have escaped former House Speaker and Trump confidant Newt Gingrich who has caused a stir by revealing that President-elect Donald Trump is now disclaiming his pledge to “drain the swamp.” Instead, Trump is focusing on working with Congress to get his priorities through in rapid succession from opening up new drilling to rescinding Obamacare. Update: Donald Trump has denied Gingrich’s representation and Gingrich now says that he simply got it wrong.
I am in Chicago for the holiday and was struck by a recent report that shows that my native state is losing more people than any other state. It is a combination of factors to be sure but I have been critical of the politicians in Illinois (and particularly Chicago, my home town) for years in bankrupting the state and driving up taxes on every possible group. This is the third consecutive years for Illinois in leading the decline.
Continue reading “Illinois Leads Nation For Third Year In Population Decline”
If being bitten by the donkey at a “live nativity” Christmas scene was not bad enough, consider being run over by a Christmas float (not the one shown here). That is the holiday memory from this year for Miriam Miss, 59, who stepped into the street to retrieve a free throw and was struck down by a float
Continue reading “Florida Woman Run Over By Christmas Float”
There is an interesting first amendment case filed in Georgia where a police sergeant is contesting his termination after flying the Confederate flag at her home. It is of course perfectly legal to fly a confederate flag and Silvia Cotriss, a 20-year-veteran of the police, said that she was simply celebrating her heritage. However, her neighbors found the flag offensive and complained.
Yasmin Seweid, 18, a Baruch College student, raised a national controversy after she reported being harassed on the New York City subway by supporters of President-elect Donald Trump. She has now been arrested for fabricating the story and filing a false report as well as obstructing governmental administration.
There is a fascinating new law in Italy that seems a victory for the growing population of polyamorists around the world. Italy may drop the promise for couples to remain faithful in marriage as a commitment that may be viewed as outdated or objectionable by many modern couples who do not view sexual “fidelity” as a precondition for marriage.
Continue reading “Italy Moves To Remove The Promise Fidelity As A Condition For Marriage”
This year passed a milestone for law schools. For the first time, women make up a majority of law students with just over 50 percent of the seats at accredited law schools in the United States. It is a particularly poignant moment for those of us at George Washington Law School where Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood graduated and ultimately became not only one of the very first female lawyers in the United States but the first woman admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. The incoming class owes a debt of gratitude to pioneers like Lockwood who bravely fought entrenched discrimination and ignorance to reach this incredible moment in history.
Continue reading “Women Outnumber Men in Law Schools For The First Time In History”
There is a hopeful report out this week that the cost of solar energy has dropped so dramatically that it is not cheaper than wind power in emerging markets like China and India. Indeed, Popular Mechanics is now calling solar energy the “cheapest energy” option. In Chile, electricity is being produced by solar power for $29.10 per megawatt hour–half the price of power produced by coal. These countries are seeing the benefits in the investment into alternative energy sources in both cost and the environment. The pledge of the Trump Administration to expand drilling and “clean coal” use runs against the trend in other countries.
Continue reading “Cost of Solar Power Dropping Globally As “The World’s Cheapest Energy””
Phelan Moonsong, 56, has achieved something that no pagan or non-pagan has ever achieved before him. He has been allowed to wear his ceremonial goat horns as a religious garment for his Maine driver’s license. If anything, they should eliminate any difficulty recognizing the Pagan priest.
Continue reading “Pagan Priest Wins Right To Wear Horns For Maine Driver’s License Photo”
We have long dealt with the plague of fake news, a particular problem on the blogosphere where stories are picked up and replicated. Sometimes however questionable stories arise from allegedly false claims rather than false reporters. The Knoxville News Sentinel has suggested that it may have been hoodwinked in a bizarre and disturbing account by a professional “Santa” who recounted how he granted a dying boys heart-wrenching final wish: to die in the arms of Santa. Eric Schmitt-Matzen gave his emotional account of how the boy died in his arms as the family looked on in a hospital. The problem is that reporters have not been able to verify that the boy existed and Schmitt-Matzen has said that he is withholding the family name out of a concern for their privacy. The New Sentinel posted a warning that it could no longer stand by the story.
Continue reading “Newspaper Suggests That Touching Santa Story Is A Hoax”
We have previously discussed the alarming rollback on free speech rights in the West, particularly in France (here and here and here and here and here and here) and England ( here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here). Much of this trend is tied to the expansion of hate speech and non-discrimination laws. We have seen comedians targeted with such court orders under this expanding and worrisome trend. (here and here). Even politicians have been charged under the ever-widening standard of criminalized speech. Now Spain has made clear that it is committed to the same trend of curtailing free speech. In a moment worthy of Franco, Spanish police arrested five Catalan independence activists for allegedly burning photos of King Felipe VI. Much like arrests in Russia, destroying or disrespecting the image of the national leader is all that is required in Spain.
Continue reading “Spain Arrests Five Activists For Burning Picture Of King Felipe VI”
We have previously discussed the move to expand the pronouns used at schools and allow students to chose a gender but also a pronoun. Indeed, at George Washington University where I teach, the school is asking faculty to list their preferred pronouns so I recently received an email from a colleague with “Pronouns: he, him, his” after his name. Over the weekend, stories appears in various sites that Oxford University has asked its faculty and students to stop using “he” or “she” entirely in favor of “ze.” It now appears that the story was based on a policy to encourage the use of correct pronouns and not any mandate.
Continue reading “Ze Has Arrived? Oxford Union Denies That It Barred Using “She” or “He”[UPDATED]”