Clipmarks | jklugman's clips

Thousands Protest Tuition Hike at UC Berkeley

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:19:44 GMT

clipped by: sahara

Getty photo by Mark Ralston / November 19, 2009 ) College staff members are escorted by police officers from a vehicle blocked by students during a protest against an increase in student fees at the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. The University of California Board of Regents approved a 32 percent tuition increase.

Clip Source: blog.puppetgov.com

After two days of marches, protests and rallies about 100 students at UC Berkeley have occupied Wheeler hall, a building on the Berkeley campus. The students moved into the building after the UC Regents voted to raise fees over 32%. Student and faculty supporters have surrounded the building.

Clip Source: blog.puppetgov.com

University of California students' walkout. Photo:UPI

According to KGO there have been at least 41 arrests, including one professor.

“They are using batons on them. They physically abused them and after that they arrested them,” said student Raul Hernandez, according to KGO.

Clip Source: www.upi.com

protesters who occupied a campus building to protest skyrocketing tuitions have been arrested and removed

John Ziegler: “AP Blows it in Palin Book Analysis”

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:59:23 GMT

clipped by: Jacob173

Clip Source: www.mediaite.com

John Ziegler: “AP Blows it in Palin Book Analysis”

Second of all, Palin’s analysis of what really happened with the now infamous (and totally misunderstood) Couric and Gibson interviews could not be LESS whiny — it is instead full of fact-filled writing that finally provides the full story of what really happened in the way that only a book can do (my documentary, which I am told Palin handed to her collaborator and said “here, this is what happened” could only provide a foundation of understanding that is magnified in much greater detail in Going Rogue).

The bottom line is that the AP is either purposefully or out of their own profound unconscious bias, badly missing the most important points of Sarah Palin’s book. Considering the role the mainstream media played in creating the need for her to write this book in the first place, that should not be a big surprise.

Glenn Greenwald comments on Sue Myrick's calls for an investigation of CAIR

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:18:29 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: I don't know the full context of this, but it's something I'd like to learn more about.

Clip Source: www.salon.com

Glenn Greenwald

GOP House members call for investigation of Muslim political activity

A group of House Republicans is calling for an investigation into whether a leading American Muslim advocacy group tried to "spy" on congressional offices by placing interns on key security committees.

Rep. Sue Myrick, North Carolina Republican, cited an internal January 2007 memo in which the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) discussed placing Muslim interns on Capitol Hill to "focus on influencing congressmen responsible for policy that directly impacts the American Muslim community."

That's consistent with what virtually every political advocacy group in the nation does; it's normally called activism and democracy. But because, in this case, it's a group of Muslims who are doing this, these House Republicans are depicting it as some sort of nefarious espionage plot against the U.S. that demands a criminal investigation.

Tags: activism, conservatives, gwot, islam, pluralism, politics, possible_blog_post, religion

QUIZ: What American Accent Do You Have?

Sun, 20 May 2007 17:30:27 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks: If you think you don't have an accent, think again. This short quiz is a way to find out which dialect of American English you speak.

Different regional accents become more prevalent in countries at different times throughout the years for various socio-economic and geographical reasons. These accents come to be perceived as "neutral" or "accent-less" by the majority during these times. For a while, the American dialect sometimes called "Standard Midwestern" has dominated but, like accents themselves, this "standard" constantly evolves.

Recently, the spoken aspects of American English have trended westward along with the population center of America. Many features distinct to Northeastern accents (think NYC, Boston) are being replaced in popularity with those from Western accents (think LA) across America. This shift tends to be more prominent the younger the speaker is.

Clip Source: www.gotoquiz.com

What American accent do you have?

To most Americans, an accent is something that only other people have, those other people usually being in New York, Boston, and the South. And of those other people, half of the ones you meet will swear they "don't have an accent."

Well, strictly speaking, the only way to not have an accent is to not speak. If you're from anywhere in the USA you have an accent (which may or may not be the accent of the place you're from). Go through this short quiz and you'll find out just which accent that is.

Tags: america, speech, accent, dialect, linguistics, quiz, fun, northeast, west, vowels

Is bicycling safer than driving?

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:43:24 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks: On this forum, a participant misuses statistics to show that bicycling is safer than driving. These statistics do not prove anything about the inherent safety of either mode of transportation.

(the first comment is a sarcastic response by an anti-bicyclist commenting on a Philadelphia bicyclist who got critically injured by a car on a busy intersection).

Clip Source: www.philadelphiaspeaks.com

I am so confused. I just can't imagine why anyone would think that riding a bike in the city is dangerous. The bike rider's injurys may be serious but they can't be as bad as the poor guy driving the truck.

It isn't, compared to driving a car. 43,443 Americans were killed in auto accidents in 2005 versus 784 cyclists.

Tags: bicycling, teaching-statistics, statistics-teaching, rates, comparisons, denominator

State Report: Philadelphia swim club discriminated against black children

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:40:13 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks: Earlier this summer, a dispute between an affluent, white-dominated suburban private swim club and a camp serving minority children caught the attention of the national news. The camp accused the club of refusing to serve the kids because of members' racial bias. A state report just released bears out the club's claims. In e-mails complaining about the camp's visit, members expressed "racial animus" and "racially coded comments".

Clip Source: www.printthis.clickability.com

The most detailed account to date of the dispute at the Valley Club came to light Tuesday as a state agency's investigators concluded that the Montgomery County swim club had engaged in racial discrimination, and called for the club to pay a penalty of up to $50,000.

Less than an hour into the visit, a student returning to the pool from a concession stand heard a woman say, "What are all of these black kids doing here?"

The same child reported hearing the woman say, "I am scared they might do something to my child."

The woman, Michelle Flynn

Flynn wrote in a group e-mail that she was "very upset" at the state of the pool.

"This is not the community where these kids live," Flynn wrote at 9:45 p.m., six hours after the Creative Steps arrival. ". . . I don't feel comfortable with my children even going to the bathroom during this time."

Tags: philadelphia, racism, discrimination

Pray That You Have Insurance

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:52:44 GMT

clipped by: jklugman

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

WASHINGTON -- I am sitting here, filled with a disbelief so profound about those of my fellow citizens who don't seem to believe that we are in the grasp of horrendous health-care and insurance problems that I could scream, were not so many others screaming!

Two years ago, out of nowhere, I came down with tongue cancer,

Everything was going quite well until, a year ago, my insurance company canceled me. It had obviously stayed up nights searching out a reason to rid itself of this tiresome journalist, and it found I was actually an independent contractor and not a regular employee.

But thank God there was Medicare.

Now I have to say that Medicare has been extremely efficient.

I sit here wondering whether those who are so perfervidly against government-run alternative health insurance care at all about those of us whom the private health-care system has treated with such errant and selfish shabbiness. Who knows? Maybe next time it will be one of them.

Tags: health-insurance, healthcare, health-care

Americans lost ground under Bush

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:46:35 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks: Ronald Brownstein on latest Census Bureau report about poverty and health insurance.

Clip Source: politics.theatlantic.com

Thursday's annual Census Bureau report on income, poverty and access to health care-the Bureau's principal report card on the well-being of average Americans-closes the books on the economic record of George W. Bush.

On every major measurement, the Census Bureau report shows that the country lost ground during Bush's two terms. While Bush was in office, the median household income declined, poverty increased, childhood poverty increased even more, and the number of Americans without health insurance spiked. By contrast, the country's condition improved on each of those measures during Bill Clinton's two terms, often substantially.

Tags: bush administration, health-care, healthcare, health-insurance, poverty, income, well-being

How dangerous is cheerleading? No one knows.

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:31:39 GMT

clipped by: jklugman

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

Cheerleading accounts for 65% of all female catastrophic injuries in high school and college, according to the University of North Carolina's National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the number of injuries from cheerleading accidents has more than quadrupled in 25 years. Another report put the number of cheerleader emergency room visits in 2007 at 26,786.

Risk-assessment experts say it's hard to get a handle on the perils of cheerleading. For one thing, nobody knows how many cheerleaders there are. Estimates say there are about 400,000 public high school cheerleaders, but the NCAA doesn't track participation (it's not considered a sport) and the number of cheerleaders on private teams isn't known.

Tags: teaching-statistics, statistics-teaching, denominator, percentages, social problem, social-problems

Do Tax Cuts Starve the Beast? No.

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:52:31 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks:

indeed, the point estimates suggest that tax cuts increase spending. The results also indicate that the main effect of tax cuts on the government budget is to induce subsequent legislated tax increases. Examination of four episodes of major tax cuts reinforces these conclusions.

Clip Source: muse.jhu.edu

Christina D. Romer

David H. Romer

Brookings Papers on Economic Activity - 2009, Number 1, pp. 139-200

The hypothesis that decreases in taxes reduce future government spending is often cited as a reason for cutting taxes.

this paper examines the behavior of government expenditure following legislated tax changes that narrative sources suggest are largely uncorrelated with other factors affecting spending. The results provide no support for the hypothesis that tax cuts restrain government spending; indeed, the point estimates suggest that tax cuts increase spending. The results also indicate that the main effect of tax cuts on the government budget is to induce subsequent legislated tax increases. Examination of four episodes of major tax cuts reinforces these conclusions.

Tags: taxes, taxation

Sarah Palin's death panel wish

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:06:43 GMT

clipped by: jklugman

Clip Source: alaskadispatch.com

OPINION: Sarah Palin, the very same one who declared April 16, 2008 "Health Decisions Day" in Alaska to encourage more citizens to talk to their health care providers about "advanced directives," is at it again with the death panels.

Tags: sarah palin, hypocrisy, healthcare, health-care

Why Doesn't Capitalism Flow to Poor Countries?

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:55:48 GMT

clipped by: jklugman

Clip Source: muse.jhu.edu

Rafael Di Tella

Robert MacCulloch

Brookings Papers on Economic Activity - 2009, Number 1, pp. 285-321

We show that capitalism is far from common around the world. Outside a small group of rich countries, heavy regulation of business, leftist rhetoric, and interventionist beliefs flourish. We relate these phenomena to the presence of corruption, with causality running in both directions. The paper presents evidence that, within a country, those who perceive widespread corruption also tend to demand more regulation. As regulation is held constant within a country, this finding is hard to explain if one assumes that causality runs only from regulation to corruption. We also find that over time, increases in corruption in a country precede increases in left-wing voting.

Tags: development, capitalism, free-market

Scalia: Constitution does not forbid execution of the innocent

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 02:06:27 GMT

clipped by: jklugman

Clip Source: trueslant.com

Rick Ungar

This Court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is ‘actually’ innocent.
Dissenting Opinion of Justice Anton Scalia, In Re: Troy Anthony Davis, No. 08-1443

Justice Scalia wrote these words in his dissent to a ruling issued today by SCOTUS delaying execution and ordering a federal district judge in Georgia to consider the claim of innocence in the matter of Troy Anthony Davis. Davis was convicted of murdering an off-duty Savannah police officer in 1989.

Since his conviction, Davis has argued that seven of the State’s key witnesses against him have recanted their testimony and implicated another man. Despite significant proof of Davis’ claims, the Georgia state courts have refused to grant any relief.

Tags: anton scalia, scotus

Protesters demand justice for man injured at health care town hall

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:18:54 GMT

clipped by: disenchantedcitizen
clipper's remarks: Tea Party member starts brawl in town hall during health debate, gets injured and is now asking for donations for health bills because he has no insurance.

Maybe this is how they think all Americans should pay their health care bills. Instead of putting an 'unfair' hardship on the poor health care providers, thereby cutting into their profits, we should instead ask for donations.

Clip Source: www.kansascity.com

Protesters are demanding justice for a man who was injured during fighting that erupted last week when audience members at a St. Louis-area aging forum began yelling about health care reform

Backers of Kenneth Gladney, 38, of St. Louis, gathered Saturday at the offices of the Service Employees International Union for an event organized by the pro-limited government Tea Party coalition.

The group claims union members attacked the politically conservative Gladney at the event two days earlier. But members of the union, which supports the president’s health care plan, say Gladney initiated the fight.

Gladney’s attorney, David Brown

told the crowd that Gladney is accepting donations toward his medical expenses. Gladney told reporters he was laid off recently and has no health insurance

Obama responses to Iran

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 13:37:03 GMT

clipped by: mklosinski
clipper's remarks: Stop the violence and unjust actions or we are going to have more dialogue with you.

Clip Source: www.politico.com

The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.

Tags: iran, obama