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Academic Freedom Bills for 2010

he new year is still fresh upon us, but just like late winter's crocuses, the Academic Freedom bills are beginning to sprout.

Alito's Folly: How Citizens United Leads to a Constitutional Dilemma-- Foreign Influence or a Ban on Corporate Advocacy.

I've noted in a previous article the danger I think is presented to the American electorate by the Citizens United ruling, specifically as it relates to corporate spending in elections. A lot of what I've heard and read since then downplays that danger.

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Howard Zinn: 1922-2010

The author of A People's History of the United States, which has sold two million copies, has been revered by generations of students, reviled by more conventional academics, and, mostly, re-read.

Cop Rewarded with 2-year Vacation and $264,000 for Partying in New Orleans Instead of Doing His Job

Pick your poison in the "rogue cop vs. TSA" squabble. The story within the story linked above is the punishment Andriani received for his exploits in New Orleans: a two year paid suspension.

"Meet the New DEA Administrator..." Bush Holdover and Drug War Extremist

Last February The Washington Times reported that Obama planned to suspend the DEA's raids once he "nominates someone to take charge of DEA, which is still run by Bush administration holdovers." Leonhart was the most conspicuous and important of those holdovers.

Amazon.fail: All The Many Ways Amazon So Very Failed the Weekend

Leaving aside the moral, philosophical, cultural and financial implications of this weekend's Amazon/Macmillan slapfight and What It All Means for book readers and the future of the publishing industry, in one very real sense the whole thing was an exercise in public communicat …

MMR/Autism scare doctor 'acted unethically', panel finds

The doctor who first suggested a link between MMR vaccinations and autism acted unethically, the official medical regulator has found.

Sexting: Two middle school students charged with child pornography felonies

Last week, two middle school students in Valparaiso, Ind., were caught sending nude pictures of themselves to each other on their cell phones.

Black And White: a Review of The Anti-Enlightenment Tradition by Zeev Sternhell

Ordinarily, when historians of ideas talk about conservative and nationalist thinkers such as Burke and Herder—eighteenth-century figures who opposed the rationalist and universalist ideas of their age—they speak of the "counter-Enlightenment." The term was popularized by …

The Deficit Peacocks and True Deficit Reduction

As the Obama administration and Congress deal with the economic problems facing the country -- including double-digit unemployment, a housing crisis, credit shortage, and stagnating wages -- one issue that has captured the headlines in recent days is that of the national debt.

'Party of No' Called For Commitment To PAYGO Before Voting Against It

In his State of the Union address last night, President Obama urged the Senate to adopt pay-as-you-go rules (PAYGO), which essentially stipulate that all spending increases will be offset by either cuts elsewhere or tax increases.

No dancing at Jefferson Memorial, judge rules: not a 'public forum'

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit that alleged the National Park Service violated the rights of a District woman who was arrested in 2008 for dancing with 17 others at the Jefferson Memorial.

Washington Post Journalist Relays His Experience with Jury Nullification

Last week I was a juror in the trial of a man accused of selling a $10 bag of heroin to an undercover police officer. At the end of the two days of testimony, I concluded that the defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. I also concluded that he should be acquitted.

Texas SBOE bans children's book author for having same name as author of a text on Marxism.

What do the authors of the children's book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and a 2008 book called Ethical Marxism: The Categorical Imperative of Liberation have in common? Both are named Bill Martin and, for now, neither is being added to Texas schoolbooks.

Republicans use failed terrorist attack as excuse to further delay Dawn Johnsen's confirmation.

One of President Obama's long-stalled progressive nominees is Dawn Johnsen to head the Office of Legal Counsel. Since the Senate failed to confirm her last year, the White House has said that it plans to renominate her. Sen.

The Forfeiture Racket - Police and prosecutors won't give up their license to steal.

Around 3 in the morning on January 7, 2009, a 22-year-old college student named Anthony Smelley was pulled over on Interstate 70 in Putnam County, Indiana. He and two friends were en route from Detroit to visit Smelley's aunt in St. Louis.

East Texas DA can't use seized funds to defend herself in court on charges that she illegally seized funds.

The federal civil rights lawsuit accuses Shelby County District Attorney Lynda K. Russell, Washington, and other Tenaha law enforcement officials of running a "stop and seize" practice.

"The Duck" -- Dr. Boli's Fables for Children Who Are Too Old to Believe in Fables.

ONCE TWO SCIENTISTS—it hardly matters what sort—were walking before dinner beside a pleasant pond with their friend, a reporter for the Dispatch, when they happened to notice a bird standing beside the water.

"The rotting of American democracy" - Massimo Pigliucci: Can the corpse of American democracy be brought back to life?

Let me get straight to the point: here is some of what is seriously wrong with American democracy and how to fix it.

Will Big Business Save the Earth? - Jared Diamond

Over the years I've joined the boards of two environmental groups, the World Wildlife Fund and Conservation International, serving alongside many business executives.

Does Brown's Election Kill the Bill? Not Necessarily.

I've never been more ashamed of the Democratic party than I am right now, watching the idiots in Congress piss away the opportunity to expand insurance coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans, to protect the insurance coverage of people who have preexisting conditions, to save …

Head of ATSC 'bomb detector' company arrested on suspicion of fraud

Jim McCormick, 53, the managing director of ATSC which is based in a former dairy in Sparkford, Somerset, has been questioned by detectives from Avon and Somerset Police after a complaint that he misrepresented the devices.

SCOTUS Secures the right of artificial persons (corporations) to "free speech" -- what's next? Securing them the right to vote, directly?

In a break with stare decisis SCOTUS just bucked two previous precedents on corporate First Amendment rights, ruling that the government may not ban political spending by corporations in candidate elections.

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Brown's Victory: A(nother) Referendum on Obama, or Just a Referendum on Coakley?

To hear a conservative talk about the Massachusetts victory of Scott Brown over Martha Coakley, you'd think that the election was a voter-mandated do-over of 2008's presidential election, or perhaps a direct public referendum on the still developing healthcare bill.

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About iarnuocon

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I wish to propose for the reader’s favourable consideration a doctrine which may, I fear, appear wildly paradoxical and subversive.

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