Today the New York Times highlights a disturbing case of rezoning in Alabama. In a move that is the first of its kind, parents of children which have been shifted into low-performing schools are using the No Child Left Behind law (which has been harshly critiqued, even in my home city of Kalamazoo) to argue that such practices are illegal.

While those in Russia are celebrating Procreation Day, the wonderful folks at Slate have offered up a powerful opportunity for discussion on cutting back kids this week with Daniel Engber’s article titled “Global Swarming.”

Or so says former U.S. Senator William Armstrong (R-CO), now president of Colorado Christian University."I don’t think there is another system [free enterprise] that is more consistent with the teachings of Jesus Christ,” he said. “What the University stands for is free markets.” 

Don’t get in the way of those free market teachings either. If you cause students to think outside the box you will get fired, as did professor Andrew Paquin, who ironically was named “faculty member of the year” shortly before he was let go last spring.

The next time you consider studying abroad, make sure that you check where your fees are going, especially if you attend a private institution.

Ever wondered why the number of study abroad programs approved by your school is so small? Certain travel organizations give schools exclusive perks per student for their participation in the program. Rather than allow students to deal directly with the foreign institutions (which are sometimes more affordable than domestic tuition) schools instead direct them through third party agencies in an effort to turn a profit.

William Beebe made headlines last year when he was convicted of raping Liz Seccuro at a University of Virginia frat party. What was unique about the case was that the rape happened in 1984. The case was opened in 2005 after Beebe sent Seccuro a letter of apology for the rape over two decades after it occurred as part of his Alcoholics Anonymous program. This week it was announced that Beebe will be released after only six months in jail.

On the night of the “Visible Vote 08” debate hosted by the LOGO network, it is appropriate to note the recent actions by a group of gay clergy. This week at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America’s churchwide assembly meeting in Chicago, 82 ministers bravely put their careers on the line by announcing that they were gay or lesbian in committed relationships. Many of them also told their stories in a publication titled “A Place Within My Walls.”

The New York Times reports this week that the New York City Council, which gained attention earlier this year when it symbolically banned the use of the “n-word,” has now turned its focus to the slur “bitch.”

You read a story that offers a stark depiction of reality. It disturbs you. So you decide that rather than confront that reality it is easier to cry out that it is false. In order to justify your position you get others to take your side and effectively halt an investigation that could debunk the rumors that you have been spreading.

So I link to Slate a lot. I’ll admit it: I’m obsessed. But I can’t help but share an article today about the continuation of the family troubles of Giuliani. There’s one Obama Girl here that he didn’t count on: his daughter Caroline.

As if we needed more evidence that things in Iraq are in shambles … but just in case, today the Post describes the new government report which reveals that the Pentagon has lost track of 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005. 

It seems like everyone is talking about Micahel E. O’Hanlon and Kenneth M. Pollack’s Op-ed in the Times on Monday in which they argue that progress in Iraq suggests it is “a war we just might win.”  Yesterday the CAP interns talked about the article in the context of the Iraqi refugee crisis with Dr. Bill Schulz, a Senior Fellow here at the Center for American Progress and the former Executive Director of Amnesty International. He confirmed the horrors that we have been reading about, that so many are without water, food, and adequate care or shelter.

Now I see where Jesse was coming from yesterday, yet there were a few questions last night that I felt were different than what we had heard before. In fact, the debate was much more engaging than I anticipated (You can view a complete transcript of the debate here.)

Last week a man accused of raping and repeatedly molesting a 7-year old girl in Rockville, Maryland got the charges against him dropped. Did he get a top-notch defense attorney who made an incredible argument? No. The court simply took too long to find an interpreter in his native West African language.

It’s the title of a recent opinion piece and the subject of many conversations we’ve had amongst interns this summer at the Center for American Progress. If you’re interested in working in Washington some day, an internship is on par with your required courses to graduate. And more and more students are recognizing this. As Julianne Malveaux, president of Bennett College for women states in her piece, “this year, nearly one in three will work in corporations, non-profit organizations, government, or elsewhere as interns.”

“Will China ever be a 'normal' country, a country not ruled by a Leninist party and the mythology of Marxism-Leninism?” asked the Heritage Foundation website. “One scenario of peaceful change is the infiltration of society by an ever-growing number of adherents of a different worldview: Christianity.”