Court Permits MSNBC to Exclude Kucinich From Debate
Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 05:40:05 PM PDT
For those who have not been following, yesterday Dennis Kucinich filed a lawsuit against NBC Universal, contending that the network's decision to limit tonight's Nevada debate to the three Democratic frontrunners violated federal law. Despite news reports to the contrary, Kucinich may not be in tonight's debate. NBC had previously invited all the Democratic candidates, but later changed its mind and "disinvited" all but Clinton, Obama, and Edwards. The Nevada Supreme Court ruled today that federal law does not prohibit NBC from excluding Kucinich, and that the prior offer to include him did not create a contract requiring that he be allowed to participate.
More below, but not much more, because there isn't much more . . .
Supreme Court considers integration of schools
Mon Dec 04, 2006 at 05:02:28 PM PDT
Today the United States Supreme Court heard arguments in two cases that present the question to what extent, if at all, local school boards may consider racial balance in assigning students to schools. The cases are Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, No. 05-908, and Meredith v. Jefferson County, Kentucky, No. 05-915. They were brought by parents (an organization in Seattle and an individual parent in Kentucky) whose kids were denied entry to the school of their choice because of race-based assignment policies their respective districts had adopted in an attempt to preserve diversity in the schools. The Seattle plan uses a racial "tiebreaker" to reassign a student whose chosen school is considered racially imbalanced, if the student's race would add to the imbalance. The Louisville plan aims for a black enrollment of between 15 and 50 percent, sometimes denying students their choice of school on the basis of their race if the school they've chosen is out of balance by that measure.
What's wrong with that, you ask? Haven't school systems actually been ordered to integrate their schools using measures like these? Well, yes.
More below the fold ....
Tom Friedman admits error on Iraq (not really)
Thu Jan 06, 2005 at 09:19:50 AM PDT
New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, who has left many of us (including me) disappointed and puzzled by his support of the Iraq war, gives a sort of explanation (and a sort of apology) in today's NYT:
