Confederate Flag Prom Dress: Free Speech or Hate-Mongering?

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Wednesday December 22, 2004 · 1:47 PM PST

2004/12/22 · 13:47

A 19-year old woman who was prevented by her school district from attending her senior prom wearing a dress depicting a Confederate flag has sued her school district.

This article says:

The lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court claims the Greenup County district and administrators violated Jacqueline Duty's First Amendment right to free speech and her right to celebrate her heritage at predominantly white Russell High School's prom May 1. She also is suing for defamation, false imprisonment and assault.

...

Duty, 19, is seeking actual and punitive damages in excess of $50,000.

She said she worked on the design for the dress for four years, though she acknowledged that some might find the Confederate flag offensive.

For a picture of the woman, and dress, in question, see below.
Read More

U.S. Contractor Pulls Out of Iraq; Cites Security Problems

Spiral Stairs

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Wednesday December 22, 2004 · 12:54 PM PST

2004/12/22 · 12:54

Contrack International, one of the largest U.S. contractors in Iraq, has announced it is withdrawing from the reconstruction effort. The company cited "skyrocketing security costs" as the basis for withdrawal.

Contrack's is the largest to be canceled to date, U.S. officials said. The move has led to fears that Iraq's mounting violence could prompt other firms to consider pulling out, or discourage them from seeking work in Iraq, further crippling reconstruction.

But, never fear:

U.S. reconstruction officials said the termination of Contrack's contract, which was not previously disclosed, would not hamper rebuilding. They said they were planning to put the contract up for rebidding, a process that could take months, and were hopeful that Iraqi firms would participate.

And:

"Even though the situation is difficult, even though the security environment is not what we'd like it to be, progress is being made," Charles Hess, director of the reconstruction office, said at the conference.

Phew! For a second there, it sounded like things weren't going well over there.

More details below. Read More

Capital Punishment: A Moral Issue We Can Win

Spiral Stairs

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Tuesday December 21, 2004 · 9:58 AM PST

2004/12/21 · 09:58

For years, moderate Democrats have equivocated on the death penalty, afraid of alienating supposed "law and order" voters. The last three Democratic presidential candidates have been pro-death penalty in one form or another.

I do not think that opposition to capital punishment must be a death knell for Democratic candidates, and, in fact, a recent surge of good news on the death penalty front suggests that our nation may be on the brink of joining the rest of the world and ceasing its tinkering with the machinery of death. The time is right for the Democratics to reclaim a key piece of ground in the debate over "moral values." The death penalty is on the way out, and the Democrats have a chance, for once, to be ahead of the curve, not chase the trailing edge.

See below for details. Read More

Even More Misplaced Ballots in Washington

Spiral Stairs

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Friday December 17, 2004 · 12:17 PM PST

2004/12/17 · 12:17

The Washington gubernatorial race is such a mess that I must ask, what goobers are running things up there?

Going into today, the Republican Dino Rossi was up by 74 votes, after a machine recount. But today, "a plastic tray containing 150 misplaced ballots" was found in King County. King County election officials say they had been mistakenly rejected because of a problem with the scanning of the voters' signatures. Earlier this week, officials had found another 573 ballots mistakenly set aside for the same reason.

Election officials assert that the 723 ballots belatedly discovered were rejected in error. So they should be counted, right? No, sayeth local Republicans! "Very suspicious!" sayeth the State Party Chairman. "Keep them sealed in their envelopes!" they intone.

"They came from King County, and that's why the Repubs don't want them counted!" sayeth I. Read More

Students, meet your new teacher, Ms. Bush

Spiral Stairs

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Wednesday December 15, 2004 · 9:46 AM PST

2004/12/15 · 09:46

I pity the poor tots who will learn the ways of the world from Jenna Bush. See here.

Jenna Bush, one of President Bush's 22-year-old twin daughters, will teach at a public school in Washington.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan would not give details on Wednesday but The Washington Post reported she would teach at Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School, a public school for low-income children.

Now a whole bunch of low-income children are more likely to be left behind. At least until funding for public schools has dwindled to the point that they can no longer afford any teachers at all.

Clint Curtis' "show stopper" testimony causes "gasps" at hearing

Spiral Stairs

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Monday December 13, 2004 · 3:04 PM PST

2004/12/13 · 15:04

I haven't seen much about the Clint Curtis machine-rigging software story lately, so I just checked in at the BradBlog's annex to see what's up.

Here is what is up. In an apparent surprise, Clint Curtis testified today before the House Judiciary Committee Democrats. What happened? This happened:

Testimony Described as 'Show Stopper'!
'Stunner', 'Jaws Dropped'!
Audible 'Gasps' heard in chamber room!

Details below. Read More

Fun with Tradesports

Spiral Stairs

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Saturday December 11, 2004 · 2:26 PM PST

2004/12/11 · 14:26

Here is some interesting and miscellaneous data culled from the trading market at Tradesports. For those who don't know, Tradesports is a real-money market on which "contracts" relating to the occurrence of any number of real-world events are traded. In short, the "price" of a contract is the likelihood that traders have collectively assigned to the occurrence of the event. For instance, a contract on the New England Patriots winning the Super Bowl is trading at about 25. Thus, the market has assigned a 25% chance that the Patriots will win.

Contracts on everything from sports to ... yes ... politics are traded on Tradesports. See below for interesting data on interesting issues: Read More

Raise a Glass to the Retiring Bill Moyers, My Hero for Today

Spiral Stairs

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Friday December 10, 2004 · 9:14 AM PST

2004/12/10 · 09:14

Bill Moyers is retiring from journalism, and according to this article, he is "going out telling the story that I think is the biggest story of our time: how the right-wing media has become a partisan propaganda arm of the Republican National Committee."

The article doesn't make clear exactly how he is going out "telling this story." But I hope he keeps telling it.

This man, by the way, is a professed liberal who is also an ordained Baptist minister. Praise God! We need more people like this -- or at least more people openly like this.

The article (of which more is excerpted below) raises the interesting question: Who replaces him? Read More

Rumsfeld Lied: Unused Production Capacity for Armor

Spiral Stairs

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Friday December 10, 2004 · 6:31 AM PST

2004/12/10 · 06:31

In answer to The Question (tm), Rumsfeld said, in part, that "It's essentially a matter of physics... It isn't a matter of money. It isn't a matter on the part of the Army of desire. It's a matter of production and capability of doing it."

Untrue.

According to this Arizona Republic article, a "firm that provides critical armor for military vehicles in Iraq is operating at only half-capacity despite complaints from soldiers who say they are being sent into combat without adequate protection."

Eliot Spitzer to Run for N.Y. Governor

Spiral Stairs

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Tuesday December 07, 2004 · 7:51 AM PST

2004/12/07 · 07:51

It's official.

ALBANY -- New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, whose investigations of white-collar crime have shaken the nation's financial institutions, said Tuesday he will run for governor in 2006.

Long known to be interested in the job, it was the first time the high-profile attorney general has said he will definitely run.

"The state is at a point of crisis," the Democrat told The Associated Press. "We are bleeding jobs. We need reform in the process of government."

In his two terms, Spitzer has won national and international attention with groundbreaking investigations of Wall Street investment houses, mutual fund managers and, most recently, the insurance industry.

Republican Gov. George Pataki has not yet said if he will seek a fourth, four-year term in 2006, although new state GOP Chairman Stephen Minarik said Friday that he expected the governor would run for re-election.

Is this the next step on a track to the White House?

A Blue Stater's War Chest

Spiral Stairs

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Tuesday December 07, 2004 · 6:46 AM PST

2004/12/07 · 06:46

I have collected below several top-ten lists comparing Red States and Blue States in various economic and social categories. It is unabashedly one-sided, and a preface is thus necessary: It is up to the reader what to do with the data collected below. It could be used for several purposes: (i) to bash the Red States; (ii) to respond to arguments about Red State superiority; (iii) to argue that Red State policies are ineffective; (iv) to argue that the prevailing ideology in the Red States prevails because of social and economic factors; (v) to argue that the prevailing ideology in the Red States prevails in spite of social and economic factors; or (vi) to improve the self-esteem of deflated Blue Staters.

Feel free to debate the merits of Red State-bashing. I almost didn't post this because I don't want to be accused of pure bashery. But the fact is, my wife expended a great deal of effort in a fit of post-electoral frustration generating this list, and she is too shy to post it on her own. Ergo, here it is.

(All data taken from U.S. Census materials, except as noted.) Read More

The Blue Stater's Guide to Holiday Travel in the Red States

Spiral Stairs

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Monday November 22, 2004 · 9:32 AM PST

2004/11/22 · 09:32

So you're a Blue Stater who plans to visit your family in the Red States over the holidays? Contrary to popular belief, travel to the Red States can still be a safe and rewarding experience, as long as you follow some basic guidelines to ensure your safety and sanity. Read More

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