More significant is that the students proved they can be successful activists beyond stereotypical (and often unsuccessful) forms of protest. Instead of rallies and performance-art pageantry, they handled the situation sensibly and effectively: creating a MySpace group to highlight the numerous acts of exploitation on the part of Girls Gone Wild (in fact, this same week founder Joe Francis was sentenced to fines and community service after pleading guilty to filming minors performing sexual acts), and directly letting the owner of the bar where the next video would be filmed know that they'd be holding him accountable for any illegal activity (given the numerous instances of "participants" in Francis' videos claiming coercion under the influence, exploitation of minors, and in some cases rape, dropping the project seems like a wise business decision, wouldn't you agree?)
Kudos as well to women's groups at IU for dispelling in advance the typical lazy responses from Francis' supporters:
Carol McCord, assistant dean for the Office for Women's Affairs, said the tactics used by the workers of "Girls Gone Wild" were of the most concern.
"It's not that we are against women having the right to choose what they want to do with their bodies," McCord said. "If a woman chooses to go into the bus or about making pornography that's different to me than her being coerced when drunk and someone getting rich off of it. As an advocate for women, I want to make sure they have the right information about these people and their tactics."
Francis and his company have found themselves in legal trouble regarding several allegations against them, including using girls who were under the age 18 in their videos.
Extra points for not only refuting the notion that they're opposed to pornography, but highlighting that it wouldn't be a problem if GGW actually was porno: participants in pornographic films actually get paid as opposed to being handed a t-shirt after drunkenly signing consent forms.
It's unfortunate that often in these situations, purveyors of sexual exploitation (and according to some of the video series "stars," possible rapists) are defended in the form of baseless accusations that feminists and campus activists are simply "opposed to sex." It's even more disgusting that some would reach to claim getting drunk and being coerced into sexual acts is acceptable.
For some reason the victims of Francis' camera crew are always chastised to "take responsibility for their actions." Well this time the students of IU did. Now if only someone can make Francis.
(Side note: interesting on its own that Google seems to read between the lines, as every TextAd on the page links to resources about protecting your children and national sex offender registries.)
I'm not sure which of these is harder for me to deal with: the fact that Charles Schumer, Dick Durbin, George Miller, and Bill Delahunt all share the same apartment in D.C., or the fact that Schumer pays less rent than I do.
The College Republicans at George Washington University, in a scathing editorial about the lack of support for the war, have decided to put their money where their mouths are and actually do what they, as fervent war supporters of eligible age and physical condition, should do for what they believe.
No, by all means. Go ahead and read that again a few times. If you figure out a way to pick your jaw up off the floor please let me know, as I've been trying for a good twenty minutes now.
Jordan Carlos, a.k.a. Stephen Colbert's "black friend" on The Colbert Report, talks about the irony of his audition for a role in which Colbert's on-achor character farcically auditions black people to be friends with.
Regardless of your opinion of Carlos' writing abilty, or whether or not he deserves to be on the show, it's an upsetting fact that the overall trend of Hollywood extends- perhaps even more deeply- into the bastions of progressive television programming. For all the talk of a lack of diversity in front of the camera, there's even less behind it.
Rarely does one's death affect almost every person who ever went to college in a way such as this. His actions were ones that touched all of us, at some point in our studies. And his insight, wisdom, and creative genius will truly be missed.
U.S. Forces stated, rather Pilate-like, that they had no involvement in Saddam Hussein's execution- excluding, of course, the whole invasion, capture, three years' imprisonment, and direct handover to the Iraqis who did it stuff. But clearly that's minor; hand-washings abound.
However, despite the attempts to perform the execution in the most private and uncontroversial method possible, the hanging was attended by Saddam opponents who taunted the dictator as he fell, as seen in a video that was secretly taken and released in an act that surprised perhaps a handful of protozoae attached to coral fungus in the deepest part of the Marinas Trench.
This has apparently deeply upset the U.S. Military, who responded to the events this morning by indicating that if they were in charge of putting Saddam to death, they would have handled it much better.
And truly, that's all we're trying to do over there, isn't it. Whether building schools or hanging people in a more efficient method, America entered Iraq to improve the overall way of life.
Full details of just how much better the U.S. would have handled hanging someone than Iraq weren't provided, but I think it's so the ending isn't spoiled to the upcoming novel from Regan Publishing by Major General William Caldwell, "If I Did It, Here's How It Happened."
Incoming House Majority Leader Steney Hoyer announced a radical change in the schedule for next year- in what can clearly be seen as tantamount to an abusive foreman from the Dickensian era, Scrooge McHoyer has decreed that House members will have to start showing up for business on (gasp!) Mondays and Fridays.
The announcement of a 5-day work week- unseen in recent years- has outraged Rep. Jack Kingston of Georgia, who explains the real motive behind the newly imposed sweatshop conditions:
"Keeping us up here eats away at families," said Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), who typically flies home on Thursdays and returns to Washington on Tuesdays. "Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families -- that's what this says."
Skipping the most obvious responses to this (In order: 1. The flight time from South Georgia to Washington, DC is, at most, three hours; 2. Rep. Kingston's family would be shocked to know DC also has places to live; 3. Slapping Rep. Kingston in the face), how telling is it of the outgoing Congress that instead of expressing shame for being among the laziest of public servants (despite a $165,000 salary) the response to being asked to work close to the the amount demanded of most hard-working Americans is outrage over how hard their jobs are?
Bonus points for this spin on the reason new leadership is making the schedules in the first place:
House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), one of the architects of the lighter workweek, put the best Republican face on Hoyer's new schedule.
"They've got a lot more freshmen then we do," he said of the Democrats. "That schedule will make it incredibly difficult for those freshmen to establish themselves in their districts. So we're all for it."
Which I guess is a nicer way of pointing out a lot more Democrats won seats this year than Republicans. Maybe wanting to "establish themselves" in their districts four days out of the week had something to do with that.
I just felt like pointing out for no particular reason at all that Grover Norquist wrote a piece for the Washington Monthly in 2004 explaining how the re-election of George W. Bush would spell the imminent collapse of the Democratic Party.
Often, I try not to think about how Grover Norquist makes much more money than I do.
Tonight, at the Center for American Progress, Campus Progress and our partners the Georgetown Public Policy Institute presented the latest in our series of policy discussions hosted by former Senator Tom Daschle. This event focused on terrorism and homeland security, and Senator Daschle's guest was former Representative Lee Hamilton of Indiana, who served as vice chair of the 9-11 Commission. It was a spirited discussion of critical issues, with great questions from students in the audience and others watching via live webcast. You can watch the event here.
The large number of reporters and cameras present were certainly interested in the possibility that Rep. Hamilton would address another matter - the Iraq study group, or Baker-Hamilton commission, of which he is co-chair. Rep. Hamilton made news when he said that the panel has "reached a consensus," one that would be revealed at a news conference on December 6. You can watch that clip here.
Sure, the U.S. is no safer from terrorists now than it was five years ago, and airline security continues to be awful, but at least the TSA is making sure resources are devoted to vital matters of homeland security: putting up pictures of puppies on government websites.
Christopher Lohse, a Master's student at Southern Connecticut State University, has released a detailed study on what will surely be a fun bit of conversation for all you students and your conservative relatives during holiday dinners.
Lohse says his study is no joke. The thesis draws on a survey of 69 psychiatric outpatients in three Connecticut locations during the 2004 presidential election. Lohse's study, backed by SCSU Psychology professor Jaak Rakfeldt and statistician Misty Ginacola, found a correlation between the severity of a person's psychosis and their preferences for president: The more psychotic the voter, the more likely they were to vote for Bush.
Obviously, there's much more to study about this before anything can be said to be 100% conclusive (but honestly, can't we all agree this is vital research important to the well-being of our nation?) but it's nice to see that people are finally providing the scientific proof to the previously-unverified (but not very subtle) idea that you'd have to be nuts to support President Bush's right-wing agenda.
Campus Progress and American Progress have provided extensive coverage of the exclusivesole-source30-yearsellout between the Smithsonian Institution and Showtime Networks. The deal gives Showtime, a privately-owned corporate network, the right of refusal to requests for access to content in the hands of the Smithsonian- a publicly-funded organization.
During the last Congress, it appears the Smithsonian earned a healthy smackdown for their actions. However, Carl Malamud, one of the leading voices against this hijacking of public educational archives since it was first announced, offers a summary of recent developments. Via I-P: Read More »
A couple of blogs have started posting speculative and unconfirmed exit poll results. Regardless of how much you want to believe them, the story of the over-arching embargo on releasing exit poll data seems more significant.
I find it mildly humorous that CNN coralled a few dozen bloggers, because part of me almost felt it was to know where they were and keep an eye on them. In this online age, I think a lot of cable nets are scared that rapid-response outlets like blogs might be able to process this data and publish it faster than they can.
The Drudge Report has proven the good/evil model of this for over a decade now. While online journalism (if you'd call Drudge a journalist, which... I... don't. No, I don't) allows faster response then television media, it also ignores any tenets of fact-checking or sourcing.
In short, it's interesting to thing, and wonder if we'll ever find out, if the exit poll embargo was because networks were worried about a bunch of bloggers releasing information that was totally wrong... or worried about a bunch of bloggers releasing information that was totally right.
CNN and Fox News both have up their websites where you can start tracking all state and localized races as results come in. MSNBC will likely have one at some point but, correct if I'm wrong, I don't see one up right now.
I still remember the CNN site from 2002 and I'm ecstatic it's still up. You can pretty much find out what any candidate had for breakfast this morning within about five clicks or so.
The live-updating result postings are also really fun to use because there will be no advance exit polling or statistical speculation. Take for example Florida's Senate race: Because the poll results have been embargoed, we will have no idea if Katherine Harris won the Senate race in Florida until the results are posted. I'm going to be on the edge of my seat watching the precincts trickle in. The online sites provide this service to us, and for that I am grateful.
The New Jersey Supreme Court has just ruled that gay couples must be given equal rights as married heterosexual couples in New Jersey. In a blow to right-wingers who often scream about "judicial activism," the Court specifically leaves the issue of terminology and wordplay to voters and the legislature, and addresses the core issue at hand: that gender should not be a barrier to equal legal rights in New Jersey.
Interestingly enough, today is also the anniversary of a fantastic editorial on gay marriage by Rep. John Lewis. The piece, first printed on October 25, 2003, is reprinted below. Read More »
According to a new FEC filing, the National Rifle Association (which, as you might recall, held its annual convention in 1999 in Denver mere weeks after the massacre at Columbine High School in nearby Littleton, CO) made a donation of nearly half a million dollars to four Senate campaigns on Monday, October 2- the same day a gunman assaulted a school in Pennsylvania, murdering five schoolgirls.
Over $100,000 of the donations were to the campaign of Pennsylvania Senate candidate Rick Santorum.
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