"DES MOINES n Gay rights advocates won a major victory Thursday when a Polk County District Judge ruled that the state's ban on gay marriage violates the Iowa Constitution."
This is a major development and I need to read the decision but it sounds like the ban on marriage was a form of sex discrimination. Of course, I am sure the decision will be appealed. We'll just have to wait and see for the next round.
read more | digg story
OK this is absolutely horrid and a complete power grab by Republican forces. Under the guise of "fairness" and "equality" an initiative is underway that will split up California's 55 electoral votes according to congressional districts instead of the lump-sum victory that is currently practiced. Only two states in the union have this model and they are not big electoral states like California.
I've read Barbara Boxer's op-ed piece and I generally agree with her assessment. It would make sense if all the states in the union adopted this plan to have true equality and maintain the Electoral College. But to have only California divvy up its vote is not only extremely disingenuous, but that the plan caters to nothing more than a Republican power grab.
See: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-barbara-boxer/stop-the-gop-electoral-co_b_60728.html
And Fair Election Reform to sign the petition.
I would also add that there's generally no reason why immigrant and communities of color wouldn't vote conservatively. On the whole, these communities are socially conservative on issues such as preserving family values, protecting religious freedom, and extending crime control. They are also fiscally conservative emphasizing merit in work and education, and the lowering of taxes. This is an agenda that ought to play well for Republicans. But the Republican leadership, both on a local and national level, keep mucking things up on one issue: immigration. Republicans paid a price for invoking anti-immigrant sentiment under former Governor Pete Wilson, and they have continued to pay for it especially in recent years. The rhetoric has inflamed many voting immigrant communities away from the Republicans to the Democrats, and in one case, albeit anecdotally, some have voted to spite the Republicans for what they saw was a blatantly stereotypical, unfair, and uncivilized attack. If Republicans want to develop and secure an electoral base, they're going to have to deal with race and immigration productively, and not as a knee-jerk reaction. You cannot use or be associated with anti-immigrant rhetoric for the backlash has been, and will continue to be, quite severe.
I don't see that happening any time soon.
... a new semester begins today for me ...
... another round of students to teach ...
... a curious group of students known collectively as "freshmen" to deal with ...
... another hot and humid day ...
... and somehow I'm suppose to finish my dissertation this semester ...
I'm going to make one last big push to finish my conclusion and get on with my chapter revisions and edits. It's the last week of summer; the Fall semester begins next week. I finished my syllabus and it looks like crap. I have nothing but totally random notes for my conclusion. On a brighter note, one of my favorite committee members sent a very supportive email, reassuring me again that it will be done and that I will be an awesome academic.
Hooray!
I came across this chart on all the major presidential nominees and their political positions on major issues. It's pretty amazing to see the ideological fault lines occur between Democrats and Republicans, but to also see the differences within the ranks.
