tagged w/ United States Constitution
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The novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is based on two trips to Las Vegas, Nevada, that Hunter S. Thompson took with attorney and Chicano activist Oscar Zeta Acosta in March and April 1971. The first trip spawned from an exposé Thompson was writing for Rolling Stone magazine about the Mexican-American television journalist Rubén Salazar, whom officers of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department had shot and killed with a tear gas grenade fired at close range during the National Chicano Moratorium March against the Vietnam War in 1970. Thompson was using Acosta—a prominent Mexican-American political activist and attorney—as a central source for the story, and the two found it difficult for a brown-skinned Mexican to talk openly with a white reporter in the racially tense atmosphere of Los Angeles, California. The two needed a more comfortable place to discuss the story and decided to take advantage of a Sports Illustrated magazine offer to write photograph captions for the annual Mint 400 desert race being held in Las Vegas from 21–23 March. (Source)
Recent reports of plans by the City of Paragould (Arkansas) Police Chief and Mayor to deploy heavily armed SWAT TEAMS on the streets of Paragould, Arkansas in an effort to combat a recent increase in crime has been met with both local and international outrage from the public.
Rita Sklar, executive director of ACLU-Arkansas, said that aspects of Paragould Police Chief Todd Stovall's plan to have officers dressed in SWAT gear and armed with AR-15 assault rifles demanding ID from citizens in high crime areas shows that he has "zero understanding of Constitutional rights, period." Meanwhile, the Paragould PD issued a statement cancelling further town hall meetings on the proposal, citing "public safety" concerns after a growing backlash about the proposal. Read Full Article
I recently interviewed several local residents who are deeply concerned about the potential for abuse (violation of rights) by local law enforcement and the refusal of the Mayor to listen to their repeated requests for answers. The local residents have requested anonymity due to the fear of retribution for speaking out.
http://globalpoliticalawakening.blogspot.com/2012/12/fear-and-loathing-in-paragould-arkansas.htmlThe novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is based on two trips to Las Vegas, Nevada,... more
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Today is Veterans Day. I know this because I am a veteran. I also know this because I have a Cold War service medal, which ironically was not invented until about 5 years ago, long after the Cold War ended abruptly. Plus, my daughter sent me a happy Veterans Day email as she does every year. The nation reveres veterans much more than they did a few decades ago, and they should. It is a tough life putting your ass on the line to save some other person's ass...or in some cases, asshole. I offer my humble thanks to all veterans today, but no thanks are necessary for me. I'm simply glad to have helped out.Today is Veterans Day. I know this because I am a veteran. I also know this because I... more
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Most of us can remember where we were eleven years ago today.
On September 11, 2001, I was eight months pregnant with my oldest son, Freddie. I had gone to the gas station to get a cappuccino and was listening to Bob and Tom on the radio in the car. All of the sudden, the jokes stopped, and there was silence. At that point, the first plane had hit. I was pulling into the driveway, and ran, albeit clumsily, into the house and watched live on CNN as the second plane hit. Those are moments that will be embedded in my memory for the rest of my life.
Since that day, our country has been at war. My son was born in October of that year, so the U.S. has been at war in the Middle East for his entire life. It’s a sobering thought.
The reason for retaliation was clear back then. We wanted to avenge the lives of those 3000 people who were so unjustly murdered at the World Trade Center. We wanted to show the terrorists what happens when you have the audacity to attack Americans on our own soil.
On September 18, 2001, Congress passed Senate Joint Resolution 23 into law. President George W. Bush signed the resolution, probably the broadest declaration of war in our nation’s history. The Authorization for Use of Military Force , which was created with the intent to allow the armed forces to hunt down those responsible for the attack, states, “Whereas on September 11, 2001, acts of treacherous violence were committed against the United States,”:
The President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations, or persons.
Full Story: http://theunconventionalconservative.wordpress.com/Most of us can remember where we were eleven years ago today.
On September 11,... more
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In front of the White House a man is sitting on a park bench in the throes of depression. He is surrounded by all 43 presidents. In the forefront, purposefully ignoring the depressed man is President Obama, whose right foot is stepping on the Constitution. James Madison is next to Obama, pleading with him to stop.
http://www.occupythegame.com/tag/jon-naughton/In front of the White House a man is sitting on a park bench in the throes of... more
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The Constitution's idea of shared beliefs that translate into shared pain and generosity do little to “promote the general Welfare” today. We’ve become a nation of skinflints and screamers whose idea of sharing is limited to how to get a 110% refund on our taxes. We’ve become 311 million independent nationettes.The Constitution's idea of shared beliefs that translate into shared pain and... more
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United States is the super power of world at present. This country is dominating the global defence and international politics. But this country has some legitimate issues within its boundaries. These issues often raise huge debates among different elements of American society.
The Bill of Rights of United states imposed The Second Amendment in the constitution of United States. This amendment let the people to keep arms for their safety. The implementation of this amendment was sanctioned in 1791 on 15th December.United States is the super power of world at present. This country is dominating the... more
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It is disappointing to see the same president who ran on his constitutional law professor bona fides devote so much time and effort to discrediting WikiLeaks and working up charges against its founder, Julian Assange. WikiLeaks, like the New York Times before it with the publication of the Pentagon Papers, has committed no crime. If the law of the land holds true, the administration will get nowhere with the foolish notion that Assange can be tried for conspiracy under the Espionage Act for doing what major media outlets do every day: publishing classified information about the government. The claim that somehow WikiLeaks is different because it allegedly encouraged sources to come forward is a red herring: even if the charge proves true, this is what journalists at every major media outlet in the country do every day.
Still, we wonder at those who assert that the cables "demonstrate no misconduct by the U.S." (Floyd Abrams) or "provide very little evidence of double-dealing or bad faith in U.S. foreign policy" (Gideon Rachman). In fact, the U.S. Embassy cables, like the Pentagon Papers, show our government involved in systemic wrongdoing and wide scale deception. They present irrefutable evidence that this administration and its predecessor have been tampering with other countries' legal systems to prevent prosecutions against government employees for committing human rights abuses and transgressing international law under often-secret post 9/11 policies.
This April 1, 2009 cable reveals the U.S. trying to derail the prosecution of the senior architects of the Bush administration's torture program in Spain. The U.S. frets that "The fact that this complaint targets former Administration legal officials may reflect a 'stepping-stone' strategy designed to pave the way for complaints against even more senior officials." When it looks to Chief Prosecutor Javier Zaragoza to stall or derail the proceedings, he reassures them: while "in all likelihood he would have no option but to open a case" he does not "envision indictments or arrest warrants in the near future." (Untrue, by the way. Zaragoza and the U.S. may have succeeded in stalling the investigation, but this week CCR will take the next steps toward encouraging the judge assigned to the case to move forward despite the failure of the U.S. to respond to his inquiries.)
This February 6, 2007 cable shows the previous administration trying to prevent Germany from prosecuting the 13 CIA agents who abducted German citizen Khaled el-Marsi and flew him to Afghanistan for interrogation as part of the U.S. "extraordinary rendition" program--only to discover after many months that they had the wrong man. In public, Angela Merkel's office called for an investigation while Munich prosecutors issued arrest warrants for the agents. In private, the German Justice Ministry and Foreign Ministry reassured an anxious US that they were not interested in pursuing the case.
Like the NYT when it published the Pentagon Papers, WikiLeaks has been accused of irresponsibly dumping a large cache of top secret documents into the public domain that compromise the safety of our country and our allies. In fact, despite the hysterical claims of a variety of elected officials, there's been absolutely no documentation of any resulting harm, unless one counts the embarrassment of having Russian Premier Minister Vladimir Putin make fun of U.S. officials for trying to suppress free speech. WikiLeaks has only released 1,974 of the 251,287 cables in its possession, and none were classified as "top secret" (over half were not subject to classification at all). Finally, while its offer to go over redactions with the State Department prior to publication was ignored, the five major newspapers that have been publishing the cables have gone to great lengths to communicate with each other and the State Department regarding redactions.
Our government, as journalist and constitutional lawyer Glenn Greenwald has noted, increasingly wishes to operate through a one-way mirror where all of its citizens' activities are open for surveillance while the activities of the government itself increasingly take place behind a wall of executive privilege, untouchable even by judicial oversight. But democracy demands the cleansing light of openness as a guard against the abuses of power. We should thank WikiLeaks for shedding light on governmental wrongdoing. Now let us hope that the U.S. public, as well as its politicians and media, will consider investigating these abuses at least as important as maligning the messenger.
Vince Warren is the Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights
To Go To Article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vincent-warren/wikileaks-and-democracy_b_805498.htmlIt is disappointing to see the same president who ran on his constitutional law... more
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Latest News Updates The role of Background of the 15th Amendment in the history of the United States of America.This post-Civil War amendment, like its predecessor the 14th, was designed to prevent ....Latest News Updates The role of Background of the 15th Amendment in the history of the... more
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Yesterday's decision to strike down California's Prop 8 anti-gay marriage law was sound. The judge did an impressive job of listing all the factual and legal reasons - 80 in all - showing that the law is unconstitutional. An improvement to celebrate, but also an event that highlights anti-civil rights crudaders' thinking.Yesterday's decision to strike down California's Prop 8 anti-gay marriage... more
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So the Party of No is now the party of simpering “Judicial Activists”. Those paragons of the rule of law - represented by their Sharia-like interpretation of the Constitution – Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-Nelly Bottom) and Jon Kyle (R-Independent Duchy of Arizona), are yapping about repealing the 14th Amendment.So the Party of No is now the party of simpering “Judicial Activists”.... more
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Remember those heady days when the reign of Bush the Lesser ended? Hope was the watchword and people were infused with the yes we can spirit? That didn't work out and neither did other watchwords like investigation, subpoena, and truth commission.Remember those heady days when the reign of Bush the Lesser ended? Hope was the... more
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The New York Times
April 20, 2010
Dorothy Height, Heroine of Civil Rights Era, Is Dead at 98
By MARGALIT FOX
PART ONE...
Dorothy Height, a leader of the African-American and women’s rights movements who was considered both the grande dame of the civil rights era and its unsung heroine, died on Tuesday in Washington. She was 98.
The death, at Howard University Hospital, was confirmed jointly by the hospital and the National Council of Negro Women, which Ms. Height had led for four decades. A longtime Washington resident, Ms. Height was at her death the council’s president emerita.
That the American social landscape looks as it does today owes in no small part to Ms. Height. Originally trained as a social worker, she was president of the National Council of Negro Women from 1957 to 1997, overseeing a range of programs on issues like voting rights, poverty and in later years AIDS. A longtime executive of the Y.W.C.A., she presided over the integration of its facilities nationwide in the 1940s. With Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisholm, Betty Friedan and others, she helped found the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971. Over the decades, she advised a string of American presidents on civil-rights matters.
If Ms. Height was less well known than her contemporaries in either movement, it was perhaps because she was doubly marginalized, pushed offstage by women’s groups because of her race and by black groups because of her sex. Throughout her 80-year career, she responded quietly but firmly, working with a characteristic mix of limitless energy and steely gentility to ally the two movements in the fight for social justice.
As a result, Ms. Height is widely credited as the first person in the modern civil-rights era to treat the problems of equality for women and equality for African-Americans as a seamless whole, merging concerns that had been largely historically separate.
The recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and other prestigious awards, Ms. Height was accorded a place of honor on the dais on Jan. 20, 2009, when Barack Obama took the oath of office as the nation’s 44th president. In a statement on Tuesday, President Obama called Ms. Height “the godmother of the civil rights movement and a hero to so many Americans.”
Over the years, historians have made much of the so-called “Big Six” who led the civil rights movement: the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., James Farmer, John Lewis, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins and Whitney Young. Ms. Height, the only woman to work regularly alongside them on projects of national significance, was very much the unheralded seventh, the leader who was cropped out, figuratively and often literally, of images of the era.
In 1963, for instance, Ms. Height sat on the platform an arm’s length from Dr. King as he delivered his epochal “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington. Ms. Height was one of the march’s chief organizers and a prizewinning orator herself. She was not asked to speak, although many other black leaders — all men — addressed the crowd that day.
Ms. Height recounted the incident in her memoir, “Open Wide the Freedom Gates” (PublicAffairs, 2003; with a foreword by Maya Angelou). Reviewing the memoir, The New York Times Book Review called it “a poignant short course in a century of African-American history.”
Dorothy Irene Height was born on March 24, 1912, in Richmond, Va. (The family name is pronounced like the word “height.”) Her father, James, was a building contractor; her mother, the former Fannie Burroughs, was a nurse. A severe asthmatic as a child, Dorothy was not expected to live, she later wrote, past the age of 16.
When Dorothy was small, the family moved north to Rankin, Pa., near Pittsburgh, where she attended integrated public schools. She began her civil-rights work as a teenager, volunteering on voting-rights and anti-lynching campaigns.
In high school, Ms. Height entered and an oratory contest, sponsored by the Elks, on the subject of the United States Constitution. An eloquent speaker even in her youth, she soon advanced to the national finals, where she was the only black contestant. She delivered a talk on the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments — the Reconstruction Amendments — designed to extend constitutional protections to former slaves and their descendants. The jury, all white, awarded her first prize: a four-year college scholarship.
As Ms. Height told The Detroit Free Press in 2008, “I’m still working today to make the promise of the 14th Amendment of equal justice under law a reality.”
A star student, the young Ms. Height applied to Barnard College and was accepted. Then, in the summer of 1929, shortly before classes began, she was summoned to New York by a Barnard dean.
There was a problem, the dean said. That Ms. Height had been admitted to Barnard was certain. But she could not enroll — not then, anyway. Barnard had already meet its quota for Negro students that year.
Too distraught to call home, as she later wrote, Ms. Height did the only thing possible. Clutching her Barnard acceptance letter, she took the subway downtown to New York University. She was admitted at once, earning a bachelor’s degree in education there in 1933 and a master’s in psychology two years later.
CONTINUED...The New York Times
April 20, 2010
Dorothy Height, Heroine of Civil Rights Era, Is... more
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Few things as repugnant as Westboro Baptist’s “God Hates Fags” screeds at military funerals. The Supreme Court will soon hear the question of whether free speech protections cover Westboro’s lunatic fringing. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes.Few things as repugnant as Westboro Baptist’s “God Hates Fags”... more
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