Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)- Guest Blogger
I guess I should not be surprised when I read of certain states trying to “cleanse” the voting rolls under the guise of voter fraud. However, I was saddened to read that the State of Pennsylvania was joining the growing list of so-called Red and some not so Red states that are taking steps to disenfranchise voters prior to the November National elections. The State of Pennsylvania is poised to possibly disenfranchise almost 10 percent of its voting population. “Pennsylvania’s new voter ID law, which will take effect for the first time this November, may prevent 758,939 otherwise eligible voters, who do not currently have an acceptable ID, from voting.” Think ProgressContinue reading “Et Tu Pennslyvania?”→
I am a regular subscriber to the website WhoWhatWhywritten by investigative journalist Russ Baker. Recently he ran a response by one of his readers, Dave Parker, to a video Russ posted of Nick Hanuer, a billionaire venture capitalist who gave a talk atTED, which is an acronym for the non-profit, Technology, Entertainment and Design, TED holds conferences around the world on business/societal issues that relate to its theme. In his talk Mr. Hanuer dispelled the idea that the Rich create wealth and instead said it was really the middle-classes that drove the economy. He disparaged the idea that it is the entrepreneurs who are the “job creators”. Although the talk was well received by the conference attendees, TEDcuriously chose not to publicize it as it usually does with other such talks. Perhaps their decision was because Mr. Hanuer’s thesis goes against the current widely accepted mythology regarding job creation and entrepreneurship. Here is a video of his talk:
“an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work is vast, covering many aspects of the human experience.”
My reading Dave’s article was the type of moment where you can imagine me slapping my head and exclaiming: “Damn, why didn’t I think of that”. Indeed, I’ve read all of Campbell’s books and seen all of his famed PBS series of interviews, done with Bill Moyers. What follows is my jumping off from Mr. Parker’s excellent comments and any credit for what I’m writing here goes to him for his perception. In applying Campbell to Mr. Hanuer’s comments, Dave solidified a concept for me that’s been playing in my head for years about the 1%’s need to increase the disparity between themselves and everyone else . The Rich are trying to create a new kind of feudalism where Lordships are won not on battlefields, but in corporate boardrooms. The rest of us need to be impoverished because without serfs to worship them, having everything ultimately becomes boring. Some of the 1% no doubt are less ego-driven and have empathy for those not on their level, but even they are beneficiaries of a mythology in creation. I believe that this mythology is the result of a campaign waged since the supporters of Barry Goldwater went down to an inglorious defeat. Continue reading “Mythology and the New Feudalism”→
Louisiana state Representative Valarie Hodges, R-Watson, was an enthusiastic support of Governor Bobby Jindal’s school voucher program, until a Muslim school applied for a share of the spoils. Hodges reportedly said: “I actually support funding for teaching the fundamentals of America’s Founding Fathers’ religion, which is Christianity, in public schools or private schools.”
Hodges’ sense of Christian privilege has led her to wishfully imagine that the founding fathers share her religious sentiments.
One of the most enduring questions of the child rape scandal at Penn State is what role did head football coach Joe Paterno play in the decision to grant his ex-right-hand man, Jerry Sandusky, carte blanche to prey on children. In a statement immediately after the scandal broke last November, Joe Paterno claimed that he reported what little he knew, did what he could, and that he wasn’t fully aware of the gruesome particulars:
When you are accused of getting drunk and killing your dog, this is not the mug shot you want to take at the Galveston police station. Bill Cody Omer, 23, pulled up intoxicated in front of Amanda Harding’s house with a dead pit bull in car. She called police who arrested Omer. Omer is reportedly a college student.
South Carolina Judge Michael Nettles has imposed a novel sentence on Cassandra Tolley, 28, for DUI. Tolley has been ordered to read and write a summary of the Old Testament book of Job. I have been an outspoken critic of such novel punishments for years (here and here). The order to read and summarize a religious book is not simply an affront to our legal system but a danger to the separation of church and state.
For years, politicians around the country have striven to allow families to leave public schools and attend religious (largely Christian) schools through voucher programs. However, many people are alarmed by the call of Rep. André Carson (D-Indiana), a Muslim member of Congress, that our schools should be modeled on Islamic schools or Madrassas. As a staunch supporter of public schools and an educator, I strongly oppose the intermingling of religion with our public schools. I also do not find Madrassas to be a particularly compelling model for education in the United States.
Bahawalpur Pakistan was the scene of a horrific crime after thousands of Muslims were told by religious leaders to raid a police station and punish a man accused of ripping pages out of a Koran. The mentally ill man was accused of blasphemy, but never saw a courtroom. The mob pulled him from the police station, beat him to death and then set his body on fire.
For the record, the Turley firework display last night for the neighborhood went off without a hitch –even with the oppressive heat. We were a bit more successful than San Diego’s “Big Bay Boom” after a glitch triggered all of the fireworks to explode at the same time. A twenty minute shows was reduced to 15 seconds.
First alcohol-free beer and now “highless” marijuana. Israeli researchers have developed a medicinal marijuana that can ease the symptoms of some ailments without producing the euphoric high of pot. For many this may seem like tasteless cake or non-alochoiic vodka, but the discovery could lead to some interesting legal and political issues.
Despite the recent pressures on the legal industry, lawyers still rank fifth in top paying jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) broke down average salaries and the top 15 may surprise you:
A colleague sent me the link to the new ACLU App designed to allow citizens to more easily record police on their cellphones and to make it more difficult for police to delete the recording. It is a bold action in light of the trend of police arresting citizens who videotape them in public and efforts like prosecutors like Anita Alvarez in Cook County to put citizens in jail for such recording.
