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Secret
- 
US
- 
Foreign
- 
Government- 
Intelligence
- 
Surveillance
- 
Journalists
- 
Academics
- 
Telephone
- 
Internet
- Civil
Liberties - 
Law
- 
Politics
- 
Michigan
- "Court
orders dismissal of U.S. wiretapping lawsuit: A divided
appeals court says plaintiffs weren't harmed by surveillance program."
... "A U.S. appeals court has ordered the dismissal of a lawsuit against
the U.S. National Security Agency for a wiretapping program because it
said the plaintiffs haven't been hurt by the agency's actions." ... "A
divided three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
ruled today that the lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union
and a group of journalists, lawyers and academics, be sent back to a district
court judge to be dismissed. In August 2006, Judge Anna Diggs Taylor of
the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan ruled
the NSA program, which monitored telephone and Internet communications
without court-ordered warrants, was illegal." ... "Judge Ronald Lee Gilman
disagreed with the two-judge majority, arguing that the NSA program violates
FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court], which establishes wiretapping
procedures, including warrants. "When faced with the clear wording of FISA
... the conclusion becomes inescapable that [the program] was unlawful,"
he wrote." ... "The appeals court ruled that the plaintiffs could not sue
because they can't prove they were affected by the program, and at the
same time, ruled that details about the program, including who was targeted,
are state secrets." (1, 2)
-By Grant Gross
-Computerworld
John
G Roberts
- Race
- Politics
- 
Children
- Education
- 
History
- "Justices
reject school integration efforts: The 5-4 ruling
amid strong dissent suggests a sharp change in direction for the Supreme
Court and education policies." ... "In a decision that may herald a new
era in the long struggle over racial integration in public education, the
Supreme Court declared Thursday that officials may not use race to assign
children to schools, even if the goal is greater diversity." ... "Some
lawyers following the case said the ruling could spell trouble for racial
guidelines in as many as 1,000 school districts across the nation. But
each district's program differs, and it is unclear how sweeping the effect
of Thursday's ruling will be." ... "The ruling also raised questions about
how the high court, with its [Republican] conservative bloc strengthened
by the addition of [John] Roberts as chief justice in 2005, will deal with
the legacy of the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education decision that ignited
half a century of struggle over busing and other efforts to promote racial
integration in schools." ... "The court's four [Democratic] liberal justices
accused the majority of turning its back on Brown and the promise of racial
integration." ... ""This is a decision that the court and the nation will
come to regret," Justice Stephen G. Breyer said in a long dissent delivered
in the courtroom." ... "Breyer delivered a 68-page dissent that accused
Roberts and the majority of reaching out to strike down policies that were
bringing about greater equality." ... "Calling the Brown decision "this
court's finest hour," he said: "The last half-century has witnessed great
strides toward racial equality, but we have not yet realized the promise
of Brown."" (1, 2)
-By David G. Savage -LAtimes
Torture
- 
Terrorism
- Detainees
- Human
Rights - Law
- Education
- Teens
- "Scholars
urge Bush to ban use of torture." ... "[Republican]
President Bush was presented with a letter Monday signed by 50 high school
seniors in the Presidential Scholars program urging a halt to "violations
of the human rights" of terror suspects held by the United States." ...
"The handwritten letter said the students "believe we have a responsibility
to voice our convictions."" ... ""We do not want America to represent torture.
We urge you to do all in your power to stop violations of the human rights
of detainees, to cease illegal renditions, and to apply the Geneva Convention
to all detainees, including those designated enemy combatants," the letter
said." -AP
via -SeattlePI
US
- 
Vietnam
- 
Military
- History
- 
France
- Academic
- Mitt
Romney
- 2008
Election - Politician
- 
Utah
- "Mormon
church obtained Vietnam draft deferrals for Romney, other missionaries."
... "As the Vietnam War raged in the 1960s, Mitt Romney received a deferment
from the draft as a Mormon "minister of religion" for the duration of his
missionary work in France, which lasted two and a half years." ... "Before
and after his missionary deferment, Romney also received nearly three years
of deferments for his academic studies. When his deferments ended and he
became eligible for military service in 1970, he drew a high number in
the annual lottery that determined which young men were drafted. His high
number ensured he was not drafted into the military." ... "The exemption
for Mormon missionaries created controversy at the time. Non-Mormons in
Utah filed a lawsuit against the federal government in 1968. The suit was
still in court two years later, at a time when "the church and the Selective
Service System work hand-in-hand in deferring the missionaries," according
to an article from the period published by The New York Times." ... "Richard
Leedy, the lawyer who brought the suit, said in a telephone interview that
he did so because "the substantial number of deferments to missionaries
made the likelihood of us non-Mormons going to Vietnam a lot more likely.""
-By Michael Kranish
-Boston/Globe
Education
- 
Science
- Politics
- Parents
- "Voucher
Students Show Few Gains in First Year: D.C. Results
Typical, Federal Study Says." ... "Students in the D.C. school voucher
program, the first federal initiative to spend taxpayer dollars on private
school tuition, generally performed no better on reading and math tests
after one year in the program than their peers in public schools, the U.S.
Education Department said yesterday." ... "The report, released by the
Education Department's Institute of Education Sciences, examined test scores
from more than 2,000 students who entered a lottery for admission to the
voucher program. Scores from students accepted in the program were compared
with scores from those who weren't. The study followed two groups of students
in their first year in the program, 2004-05 and 2005-06." ... "The report
also found no evidence that students in the program were safer than their
counterparts, even though their parents thought they were." (1, 2)
-By Amit R. Paley and Theola Labbé with contributions
by Magda Jean-Louis -WashingtonPost
Poverty
- 2008
Election - 
Music
- 
Entertainer
- 
Food
- 
Health
- Education
- 
Water
- "ONE
Vote to launch anti-poverty campaign." ... "The anti-poverty
campaign of U2 [music entertainer] frontman Bono is promoting a $30 million
effort to pressure [2008 election] Republican and Democratic presidential
candidates to make the oft-forgotten issue a priority." ... "Dubbed ONE
Vote '08, the bipartisan political push aims to get [Republican] President
Bush's successor to commit to taking concrete steps in the first 100 days
to combat hunger and disease while improving access to education and water
across the globe." -AP
via -USATODAY
"ONE
Vote '08"
Monica
Goodling - 
Tim
Griffin - 
Alberto
Gonzales - 
Paul
McNulty
- 
Karl
Rove
- 
Harriet
Miers
- 
Noteworthy
- US
Attorneys - Military
- Students
- Race
- Politics
- Law
- 2004
Election - 
Arkansas
- 
Florida
- "Raging
Caging: What the heck is vote caging, and why should
we care?" ... "Last week, in her testimony before the House judiciary committee,
[Republican] Monica Goodling referred several times to "vote caging" possibly
done by Arkansas' soon
to be ex-interim, never-confirmed [Republican] U.S. Attorney Tim Griffin.
Yet Goodling was questioned about this almost not at all, nor did the media
do much more than report the words of the former liaison between the [Republican
President Bush's] White House and [Republican] Alberto Gonzales (why a
"liaison" is required between two institutions with no boundaries between
them is incomprehensible, but perhaps another story). Meanwhile, liberal
talk radio, Robert
F. Kennedy Jr., and the blogosphere went nuts. So, which is it: Is
vote caging the most underreported part of this U.S. attorneys scandal
or the most over-hyped?" ... "One of the reasons the mainstream news reports
(including mine [Dahlia Lithwick])
barely touched the vote-caging story was that nobody had any idea what
Goodling was talking about. "Vote caging, what's that?" we e-mailed each
other at Slate. The confusion seemed to extend to Goodling herself. The
subject came up in her testimony about former Deputy Attorney General Paul
McNulty. In saying he had not been forthright with the House judiciary
committee in his testimony on the firing of the U.S. attorneys, she cited
three areas, one of which was McNulty's failure "to disclose that he had
some knowledge of allegations that Tim Griffin had been involved in 'vote
caging' in the president's 2004 [election] campaign," when he spoke to
Congress." ... "Vote caging is an illegal trick to suppress minority voters
(who tend to vote Democrat) by getting them knocked off the voter rolls
if they fail to answer registered mail sent to homes they aren't living
at (because they are, say, at college or at war). The Republican National
Committee reportedly stopped the practice following a consent
decree in a 1986 case. Google the term and you'll quickly arrive at
the Wizard of Oz of caging, Greg Palast, investigative reporter and author
of the wickedly funny Armed
Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans—Sordid Secrets and Strange Tales
of a White House Gone Wild. Palast started reporting allegations
of Republican vote caging for the BBC's
Newsnight
in 2004. He's been almost alone on the story since then. Palast contends,
both in Armed Madhouse and widely through the liberal
blogosphere, that vote caging, an illegal voter-suppression scheme,
happened in Florida in 2004 this way:"
Food
- Poverty
- Government
- 
Money
- School
- Children
- Health
- Politics
- Religious
- 
Oregon
- "Oregon
Gov. Will Live On Food Stamp Diet: For One Week,
As He Battles Proposed Cuts In Federal Program." ... "This is Hunger Awareness
Week in Oregon, and for the next seven days, [Oregon Democratic Governor
Ted] Kulongoski and [his wife, Mary] Oberst will be cutting way back –
down to the budget one would live on if relying on food stamps – a diet
they hope others will also follow for a few days to better understand the
plight of those who have no choice." ... "It won't be easy, but the less
than bountiful fare is for a cause, reports CBS News correspondent Stephan
Kaufman, as Kulongoski begins lobbying Congress against cuts in the
food stamp program proposed by the Bush administration." ... "The Oregon
governor is also a strong advocate of school breakfast and lunch programs.
"When the federal government cuts back on them," says Kulongoski, "you're
actually depriving children of opportunity to basically have a healthy
life and at the same time, to be able to learn while they're in school.""
... "Oregon's first couple are the most-high profile people so far to take
part in a "food stamp challenge," a growing trend sponsored by religious
groups, community activists and food pantries across the country. The goal
is to walk the proverbial mile in the steps of those who rely on food stamps
to feed a family, to kindle both awareness, and, hopefully, empathy." (1,
2)
-AP via -CBSNews
Virginia
- University
- Mental
Health - "Police:
Cho taken to mental health center in 2005." ... "Cho
Seung-Hui was referred to a mental health facility in 2005 after officers
responded to accusations he was suicidal and stalked female students, police
said Wednesday." ... "Authorities received no more complaints about the
23-year-old English major until Monday when he killed at least 30 people
before taking his own life on the Virginia Tech campus, university police
Chief Wendell Flinchum said." ... "The gun owner who sold him the Glock
9 mm, one of the guns used in the rampage at Norris [Hall], said the resident
alien from South Korea easily passed a background check last month before
purchasing the weapon." -CNN
Iraq
- School
- Children
- Mental
- Health
- "70%
of Iraqi schoolchildren show trauma-related symptoms."
... "About 70% of primary school students in a Baghdad neighborhood suffer
symptoms of trauma-related stress such as bed-wetting or stuttering, according
to a survey by the Iraqi Ministry of Health." ... "The survey of about
2,500 youngsters is the most comprehensive look at how the war is affecting
Iraqi children, said Iraq's national mental health adviser and author of
the study, Mohammed Al-Aboudi." ... "The study "shows the impact of the
violence and insecurity on the children and on children's mental health,"
said Naeema Al-Gasseer, the Iraqi representative of the WHO [World Health
Organization]. "They have fear every day."" -By James
Palmer with contributions by Brian Winter and Emily Bazar
-USATODAY
Imus
- Racist
- Gay
- 
Woman
- Journalist
- Politician
- 
Radio
- Business
- University
- Women's
- Sports
- Opinion
- "[Howard]
Kurtz: "Imus made fun of blacks, Jews, gays, politicians. He called them
lying weasels. This was part of his charm"." ...
"On April 12, during a report on the controversy sparked by Don Imus' remarks
about the Rutgers University women's basketball team, ABC's World News
aired comments by Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz, in
which he said: "Over the years, Imus made fun of blacks, Jews, gays, politicians.
He called them lying weasels. This was part of his charm." Kurtz's quote
aired shortly after CBS Radio announced
it would discontinue broadcasting Imus in the Morning." ... "Despite
Imus' propensity for incendiary remarks, Kurtz has previously been a guest
on the Imus program, a fact he acknowledged in his April 12 Washington
Post column.
Kurtz wrote: "Journalists like me who have gone on Imus's show have done
so because we enjoyed the opportunity to talk about politics and media
without the stuffiness of so many other programs. And it's probably true
that too many of us looked the other way when he went over the line with
some of his cruder comedy bits." Yet, as Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
documented,
Kurtz wrote in his 1996 book, Hot Air (Crown) that "Imus's sexist,
homophobic, and politically incorrect routines echo what many journalists
joke about in private."" -MediaMatters.org
Radio
- 
TV
- Business
- Opinion
- University
-Women's
- Sports
- 
People
- Gay
- Religion
- Politics
- Don
Imus - "It's
not just Imus." ... "On April 11, NBC News announced
that it was dropping MSNBC's simulcast of Imus in the Morning in the wake
of the controversy that erupted over host Don Imus' reference to the Rutgers
University women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." The following
day, CBS president and CEO Leslie Moonves announced
that CBS -- which owns both the radio station that broadcast Imus' program
and Westwood One, which syndicated the program -- has fired Imus and would
cease broadcasting his radio show. But as Media Matters for America has
extensively documented, bigotry and hate speech targeting, among other
characteristics, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and ethnicity
continue to permeate the airwaves through personalities such as Glenn
Beck, Neal
Boortz, Rush
Limbaugh, Bill
O'Reilly, Michael
Savage, Michael
Smerconish, and John
Gibson." -MediaMatters.org
Don
Imus - Radio
- Media
- University
- Women's
- Sports
- People
- Politics
- "CBS
Fires Don Imus Over Racial Slur: Dismissal Caps Week
Of Uproar Over Radio Host's Comments About Rutgers Women's Basketball Team."
... "CBS announced Thursday that it has fired Don Imus from his
radio program, following a week of uproar over the radio host's derogatory
comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team." ... ""There has been
much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people,
particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society,"
CBS
President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves said in
announcing
the decision." ... "One of those discussions took place at noon today
with a coalition of leaders from the civil rights and women's movements,
who said it was time for Imus to go, reports CBS News correspondent
Nancy Cordes." ... "Losing Imus will be a financial hit to CBS Radio,
which also suffered when shock jock Howard Stern departed for satellite
radio early last year. The program is worth about $15 million in annual
revenue to CBS, which owns Imus' home radio station, WFAN-AM in
New York, and manages Westwood One, the company that syndicates the show
across the country. CBS Corp. is also the parent company of CBSNews.com."
(1, 2)
-AP -CBSNews
Don
Imus - TV
- Radio
- 
Employee
- University
- Women's
- Sports
- Civil
Righs - Advertising
- Politics
- "MSNBC
Drops Imus Program Amid Furor Over Remarks." ...
"MSNBC said Wednesday it will drop its simulcast of the "Imus in the Morning"
radio program. The decision comes amid growing outrage about radio host
Don Imus' demeaning comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team."
... "Imus triggered the uproar on his April 4 show when he referred to
the mostly black Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos."
His comments have been widely denounced by civil rights and women's groups."
... "The program originates from New York radio station WFAN and is syndicated
to other radio stations by CBS Radio. Both, like CBSNews.com, are part
of CBS Corp." ... "MSNBC's decision to drop the simulcast came after a
growing list of sponsors — including American Express Co., Staples Inc.,
Procter & Gamble Co., and General Motors Corp. — said they were pulling
ads from Imus' show for the indefinite future."
-WCBStv.com
John
Edwards
- Free
Speech - 2008
Election - Don
Imus - Media
- Entertainment
- Business
- Politics
- Language
- Women
- University
- Sports
- "Edwards
On Imus Spat: 'I Believe In Forgiveness: Presidential
Candidate Stays Mum On Future Imus Appearances." ... "Democratic Presidential
candidate John Edwards' spoke exclusively to CBS 2 on Wednesday morning
about the Don Imus and Rutgers University controversy, and though he feels
Imus deserves a second chance, he wasn't so sure about his future on Imus'
popular radio show." ... ""I believe in redemption, I believe in forgiveness,"
Edwards said of Imus, who was suspended earlier in the week after calling
the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy headed hos."" ... "Unlike candidates
Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, who say they will continue to appear on
Imus' radio show, Edwards says he hasn't seen enough from the shock jock
to make that decision just yet." ... ""What he said is wrong because it's
wrong. It has to be condemned, we have to speak out when people use this
kind of language," Edwards said. "This is a very serious matter, it should
be taken very seriously."" -By Marcia Kramer
-WCBStv.com
2008
Election - Don
Imus - Media
- Television
- 
Humor
- Business
- Employee
- Language
- Censorship
- Politics
- Women
- University
- Sports
- Daughters
- Human
Rights - People
- 
Illinois
- "Obama:
Fire Imus: [Illinois Democratic Senator and Democratic
Presidential candidate] Obama [is] First White House Contender to Call
for Imus' Firing Over Racial Slur." ... "In an interview with ABC News
Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., called for the firing of
talk radio host Don Imus. Obama said he would never again appear on Imus'
show, which is broadcast on CBS Radio and MSNBC television." ... ""I understand
MSNBC has suspended Mr. Imus," Obama told ABC News, "but I would also say
that there's nobody on my staff who would still be working for me if they
made a comment like that about anybody of any ethnic group. And I would
hope that NBC ends up having that same attitude."" ... "Obama said he appeared
once on Imus' show two years ago, and "I have no intention of returning.""
... ""He didn't just cross the line," Obama said. "He fed into some of
the worst stereotypes that my two young daughters are having to deal with
today in America. The notions that as young African-American women — who
I hope will be athletes — that that somehow makes them less beautiful or
less important. It was a degrading comment. It's one that I'm not interested
in supporting."" ... "Tuesday, the basketball team held a press conference."
... ""I think that this has scarred me for life," said Matee Ajavon. "We
grew up in a world where racism exists, and there's nothing we can do to
change that."" ... ""What we've been seeing around this country is this
constant ratcheting up of a coarsening of the culture that all of have
to think about," Obama said." ... ""Insults, humor that degrades women,
humor that is based in racism and racial stereotypes isn't fun," the senator
told ABC News." ... ""And the notion that somehow it's cute or amusing,
or a useful diversion, I think, is something that all of us have to recognize
is just not the case. We all have First Amendment rights. And I am a constitutional
lawyer and strongly believe in free speech, but as a culture, we really
have to do some soul-searching to think about what kind of toxic information
are we feeding our kids," he concluded." (1, 2)
-By Jake Tapper with contributions by Clayton Sandell
-ABCNEWS.com
School
- Children
- Internet
- Messaging
- Law
- Politics
- Foley
- Florida
- "FBI
Opens "Preliminary Investigation" of Foley." ...
"The FBI has opened a "preliminary investigation" of disgraced former [Florida
Republican] Congressman Mark Foley over the sexually explicit Internet
messages he sent to congressional pages, all male high school students
under the age of 18." ... "It's possible Foley could be prosecuted under
laws he helped to enact, as the co-chairman of the House Caucus on Missing
and Exploited Children." -By Brian Ross
-ABCNEWS.com
George
Allen - Virginia
- College
- Sports
- Political
- Terrorism
- History
- 2008
Election - 2006
Election - "New
'N Word' Woe For George Allen: Well-Known Professor
Says Va. Senator Used Racial Slur; Allen Denies It." ... "A noted political
scientist joined one of [Virginia Republican] Sen. George Allen's former
college football teammates in claiming the senator used a racial slur to
refer to blacks in the early 1970s, a claim Allen dismisses as "ludicrously
false."" ... "Larry J. Sabato, one of Virginia's most-quoted political
science professors and a classmate of Allen's in the early 1970s, said
in a televised interview Monday that Allen used the epithet." ... "Sabato's
assertion came on the heels of accusations by Dr. Ken Shelton, a radiologist
who was a tight end and wide receiver for the University of Virginia in
the early 1970s when Allen was quarterback. He said Allen not only used
the n-word frequently but also once stuffed a severed deer head into a
black family's mailbox." ... "Separately, the Washington Post reported
that Christopher Taylor, 59, an anthropologist at the University of Alabama,
said that during a visit to Allen's Virginia home in 1982, Allen referred
to turtles in a pond on his property and said that only "the [racial slur]
eat them."" ... "Allen, a Republican, has been mentioned as a possible
presidential candidate in 2008. Questions about racial insensitivity have
dogged him during his [2006] re-election bid against Democrat Jim Webb."
-AP via
-CBSNews
Secret
- US
- International
- Government
- Terrorism
- Intelligence
- Law
- Free
Speech - Privacy
- Telephone
- Internet
- Civil
Righs - Journalists
- Educators
- Michigan
- "NSA
eavesdropping program ruled unconstitutional: Justice
Department says it will appeal judge's decision." ... "A federal judge
on Thursday ruled that the U.S. government's domestic eavesdropping program
is unconstitutional and ordered it ended immediately." ... "The Justice
Department said it would appeal the ruling, saying the program was "a critical
tool that ensures we have in place an early warning system to detect and
prevent a terrorist attack."" ... "In a 44-page memorandum and order, U.S.
District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, -- who is based in Detroit, Michigan
-- struck down the National Security Agency's program, which she said violates
the rights to free speech and privacy. (Read
the complete ruling -- PDF)" ... "The defendants "are permanently enjoined
from directly or indirectly utilizing the Terrorist Surveillance Program
(TSP) in any way, including, but not limited to, conducting warrantless
wiretaps of telephone and Internet communications, in contravention of
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and Title III," she wrote." ...
"She further declared that the program "violates the separation of powers
doctrine, the Administrative Procedures Act, the First and Fourth amendments
to the United States Constitution, the FISA and Title III."" ... "She went
on to say that "the president of the United States ... has undisputedly
violated the Fourth in failing to procure judicial orders."" ... "The lawsuit,
filed January 17 by civil rights organizations, lawyers, journalists and
educators, "challenges the constitutionality of a secret government program
to intercept vast quantities of the international telephone and Internet
communications of innocent Americans without court approval."" -With
contributions by Bill Mears and Andrea Koppel
-CNN
US
- World
- Government
- Intelligence
- Free
Speech - Privacy
- Civil
Liberties - Journalists
- Scholars
- Michigan
- "Judge
nixes warrantless surveillance." ... "A federal judge
ruled Thursday that the government's warrantless wiretapping program is
unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it." ... "U.S. District
Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit [Michigan] became the first judge to
strike down the National Security Agency's program, which she says violates
the rights to free speech and privacy as well as the separation of powers
enshrined in the Constitution." ... ""Plaintiffs have prevailed, and the
public interest is clear, in this matter. It is the upholding of our Constitution,"
Taylor wrote in her 43-page opinion." ... "The American Civil Liberties
Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of journalists, scholars and lawyers
who say the program has made it difficult for them to do their jobs. They
believe many of their overseas contacts are likely targets of the program,
which involves wiretapping conversations between people in the U.S. and
people in other countries." -By Sarah Karush
-AP via -HoustonChronicle.com
Kids- Behavior
- 
Enforcement
- 
Texas
- Drugs
- "At
schools, less tolerance for 'zero tolerance'." ...
""Zero tolerance" discipline policies that are enforced widely in U.S.
schools are backfiring: They may be promoting misbehavior and making students
feel more anxious, the American Psychological Association (APA) said Wednesday."
... "The group called for more flexibility and common sense in applying
the policies, reserving zero tolerance for the most serious threats to
school safety." ... "Zero-tolerance policies spread in the 1990s as a tool
to fight drug use and violence on campuses. Schools often suspend or expel
students for having weapons or drugs, which can include over-the-counter
medicine, says educational psychologist Cecil Reynolds of Texas A&M
University. Verbal threats, fighting or sexual harassment also can get
kids booted, he says. "There are cases such as the kindergarten boy who
hugged two classmates. His teacher reported him for sexual harassment,
and he was suspended."" ... ""The 'one-size-fits-all' approach isn't working.
Bringing aspirin to school is not the same as bringing cocaine. A plastic
knife isn't the same as a handgun," Reynolds says. He led an APA panel
that summarized research on the topic." -By Marilyn
Elias -USATODAY
Kansas
- School
- Religion
- Science
- History
- Law
- "Evolution’s
Backers in Kansas Start Counterattack." ... "God
and Charles Darwin are not on the primary ballot in Kansas on Tuesday,
but once again a contentious schools election has religion and science
at odds in a state that has restaged a three-quarter-century battle over
the teaching of evolution." ... "Less than a year after a conservative
Republican majority on the State Board of Education adopted rules for teaching
science containing one of the broadest challenges in the nation to Darwin’s
theory of evolution, moderate Republicans and Democrats are mounting a
fierce counterattack. They want to retake power and switch the standards
back to what they call conventional science." ... "The Kansas election
is being watched closely by both sides in the national debate over the
teaching of evolution. In the past several years, pitched battles have
been waged between the scientific establishment and proponents of what
is called intelligent design, which holds that nature alone cannot explain
life’s origin and complexity." ... "Several moderate Republican candidates
have vowed, if they lose Tuesday, to support the Democratic primary winners
in November." ... "The acrimony in the school board races is not limited
to differences over the science curriculum but also over other ideologically
charged issues like sex education, charter schools and education financing.
Power on the board has shifted almost every election since 1998, with the
current conservative majority taking hold in 2004." (1, 2)
-By Ralph Blumenthal -NYTimes
Science
- Government- Religion
- Politics
- "Public
Schools Perform Near Private Ones in Study." ...
"The Education Department reported on Friday that children in public schools
generally performed as well or better in reading and mathematics than comparable
children in private schools. The exception was in eighth-grade reading,
where the private school counterparts fared better." ... "The report, which
compared fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math scores in 2003 from
nearly 7,000 public schools and more than 530 private schools, found that
fourth graders attending public school did significantly better in math
than comparable fourth graders in private schools. Additionally, it found
that students in conservative Christian schools lagged significantly behind
their counterparts in public schools on eighth-grade math." -By
Diana Jean Schemo -NYTimes
Government
- Military
- 
Computer
- Database
- Identity
Theft - People
- 
Homes
- Education
- Consumer
- "Data
on 2.2M Active Troops Stolen From VA: Pentagon Says
Data on About 2.2 Million Active-Duty Troops Among Material Stolen From
VA Employee." ... "Nearly all active-duty military, Guard and Reserve members
about 2.2 million total may be at risk for identity theft because their
personal information was among those stolen from a Veterans Affairs employee
last month." ... "In a new disclosure Tuesday, VA Secretary Jim Nicholson
said the agency was mistaken when it said over the weekend that up to 50,000
Navy and National Guard personnel were among the 26.5 million veterans
whose names, birthdates and Social Security numbers were stolen on May
3." ... "The number is actually much higher because the VA realized it
had records on file for most active-duty personnel because they are eligible
to receive VA benefits such as GI Bill educational assistance and the home
loan guarantee program." (1, 2)
-Hope Yen -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
Parents
& Teens - College
- Money
- Politics- Consumer
- Labor
- "Despite
Pledge, Taxes Increase for Teenagers." ... "The $69
billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates
for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge
to veto any tax increase." ... "Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to
17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents,
not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had
been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that
had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent."
... "Mr. Bush pledged in 1999 to veto any bill that raised taxes." -By
David Cay Johnston -NYTimes
Canada
- Woman
- Mother's-Day
- Financial
- Education
- 
Accounting
-Family
- Politics
- "Want
to move up? Marry down." ... "Unlike many others,
Christine Ellison has risen to the top of her field while still being able
to celebrate Mother's Day. But her success had more to do with equality
at home than equality at work: She put in the long hours required to earn
and maintain a coveted partnership in a national accounting firm while
her husband stayed home with their child." ... "Unintentionally, Ms. Ellison
was acting out a template that some feminist thinkers argue is the only
way to restart the stalled progress of women in society in general: Elite
women must change not just workplaces, but also their intimate lives, in
order to break the "domestic glass ceiling" -- the family duties that explain
why women are vastly underrepresented in the most powerful positions."
... "How? Don't study liberal arts in college, they say. Hesitate to have
more than one child. And marry "beneath" you, taking a spouse with lower
earning potential so that yours never will be the career it "makes sense"
to compromise." ... "Ms. Ellison was already up for the partnership when
she first became pregnant. So she worked from home for four months, and
then her husband, an electrical engineer named Jim Fulsang, took six months'
parental leave from his job. In the end, the pair decided that Mr. Fulsang
would quit to be with baby Michael in their Woodbridge, Ont. [Canada],
home." ... ""I've invested so much in my education and career," she says.
"Anybody who knows us well knows that our decision is financially logical.
And he's more suited to be at home."" (1, 2,
3,
4,
5)
-Tralee Pearce -GlobeAndMail
Oil
- Business
- College
- 2006
Election - 
Calif
- 
NY
- "Senate
votes to extend $70 billion in tax cuts." ... "The
Senate voted Thursday to extend $70 billion in tax cuts but heatedly clashed
over whether the plan would continue to boost the economy and create jobs
or would penalize middle-income families in favor of the wealthy and big
oil conglomerates." ... "Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., noted that a person
who earns more than $1 million a year would get a tax break worth $41,977."
... ""Well, you might say, `What does someone who earns $41,000 get back?'
$46. Not even enough to fill up your gas tank in some cases," she said.
"Whose side is the Senate on?"" ... "Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the
chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, noted that Republicans
decided to drop a provision allowing Americans to deduct up to $4,000 in
college tuition costs worth $4.5 billion." ... "Instead, Schumer pointed
out, Republicans included a tax break for oil companies worth $4.3 billion
despite the industry's record profits." ... ""The choice is stark and clear
- big oil or middle-class families," Schumer said. "The Republican Congress
chose big oil and that's why voters want change."" -By
Jill Zuckman with contributions by William Neikirk
-ChicagoTribune via -MercuryNews
China- Free
Speech - Education
- Computer
- Internet
- Politics
- Police
- "As
Chinese Students Go Online, Little Sister Is Watching."
... "For several hours each week she [sophomore Hu Yingying of Shanghai
Normal University] repairs to a little-known on-campus office crammed with
computers, where she logs in unsuspected by other students to help police
her school's Internet forums." ... "Once online, following suggestions
from professors or older students, she introduces politically correct or
innocuous themes for discussion." ... "Politics, even school politics,
is banned on university bulletin boards like these. Ms. Hu says she and
her fellow moderators try to steer what they consider negative conversations
in a positive direction with well-placed comments of their own. Anything
they deem offensive, she says, they report to the school's Web master for
deletion." ... "Part traffic cop, part informer, part discussion moderator
— and all without the knowledge of her fellow students — Ms. Hu is a small
part of a huge national effort to sanitize the Internet. For years China
has had its Internet police, reportedly as many as 50,000 state agents
who troll online, blocking Web sites, erasing commentary and arresting
people for what is deemed anti-Communist Party or antisocial speech." ...
"But Ms. Hu, one of 500 students at her university's newly bolstered, student-run
Internet monitoring group, is a cog in a different kind of force, an ostensibly
all-volunteer one that the Chinese government is mobilizing to help it
manage the monumental task of censoring the Web." (1, 2)
-By Howard W. French -NYTimes
Kansas
- School
-