JustinReadsTheNews

"I find it puzzling that NPR objects to my exercising my rights as an American citizen — the right to..."

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:58:53 -0400

“I find it puzzling that NPR objects to my exercising my rights as an American citizen — the right to free speech, the right to peaceable assembly — on my own time in my own life. I’m not an NPR employee. I’m a freelancer. NPR doesn’t pay me. I’m also not a news reporter. I don’t cover politics. I’ve never brought a whiff of my political activities into the work I’ve done for NPR World of Opera. What is NPR afraid I’ll do — insert a seditious comment into a synopsis of Madame Butterfly?”

- NPR freelancer Lisa Simeone • Discussing her firing as the freelance host of two NPR music shows, Soundprint and World of Opera, for playing spokesperson for Occupy DC. We can to some degree see her point, but … this is NPR we’re talking about here. They’ve had to fight off two pretty significant controversies in the past twelve months, and they’ve approached them with some hardcore seriousness. So, yes, while the Occupy movement has nothing to do with opera, she’s also working with what’s perhaps the organization that needs to walk on eggshells the most regarding ethics scandals. Say what you will Lisa — you do have some valid points — but you should’ve been aware of how NPR would’ve handled this based on what happened with Juan Williams. (via shortformblog)

This is actually why I haven’t been posting on here as much lately. As I’ve recently been told, taking part in any kind of political activity hurts your reputation as a journalist. For instance, blogging about my political beliefs seriously puts my job prospects in jeopardy when I graduate - which is why I’ve stopped posting here. I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to do with this blog instead (though it’ll probably just shift to less political commentary and more news).

While it does suck that journalists aren’t allowed to do things like this - whether it’s support the Occupy movement or contribute to a political campaign - it is a necessary evil. I see the need to not show your political affiliations as a working journalist. It’s just more professional. And sure it sucks, but that’s what it’s about - being unbiased. When it comes down to it, it’s more for the safety of the newspapers/news organizations I suppose, but it’s still a good practice.

How can I make this better for you?

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 19:37:48 -0400

How can I make this better for you?:

justinreadsthenews:

I haven’t been posting as much as I should, and partially that’s because I’ve been swamped with homework this semester, but I can get over that now that I’m getting more in the swing of things and I know how to balance everything since I’ve been back at school for a bit.

Now, I have a question for you - how can I make this blog better for you? I never really know exactly what I should post other than current events - I’m trying to focus, and I wanted your help with that.

Lots of blogs on Tumblr focus on current events. What I’d like to do is to focus on something that you all seem to be most interested in. What do you want to see from me?

The link above is to my ask box - feel free to tell me what I should be writing. Also, if you have any questions for me, feel free to ask! I’ll always answer to the best of my ability.

Thanks for reading, and I hope I can make this blog into something that can be enjoyed by all of my followers!

How can I make this better for you?

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 15:56:25 -0400

How can I make this better for you?:

I haven’t been posting as much as I should, and partially that’s because I’ve been swamped with homework this semester, but I can get over that now that I’m getting more in the swing of things and I know how to balance everything since I’ve been back at school for a bit.

Now, I have a question for you - how can I make this blog better for you? I never really know exactly what I should post other than current events - I’m trying to focus, and I wanted your help with that.

Lots of blogs on Tumblr focus on current events. What I’d like to do is to focus on something that you all seem to be most interested in. What do you want to see from me?

The link above is to my ask box - feel free to tell me what I should be writing. Also, if you have any questions for me, feel free to ask! I’ll always answer to the best of my ability.

Thanks for reading, and I hope I can make this blog into something that can be enjoyed by all of my followers!

fuckyeahshitkatelikes replied to your post: On Troy Davis Thank you for this. You put my thoughts...

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 17:17:26 -0400

fuckyeahshitkatelikes replied to your post: On Troy Davis

Thank you for this. You put my thoughts into words, and I couldn’t agree more. You should look into the Innocence Project and the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.

I have, and I think I’m going to get more involved with them. I just hope we all can make a difference - there’s no reason for this barbaric institution to remain.

johnishate: Welcome to the South.

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 13:31:02 -0400

johnishate:

Welcome to the South.

On Troy Davis

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 13:03:56 -0400

I doubt I’ll say anything that hasn’t been said already, so if you don’t want to read this, feel free to scroll on by. But I had to say something. This had a huge effect on me. I wanted to write this last night, but I was too upset about his execution.

Let me begin by saying that this issue is bigger than politics. I saw conservatives on Twitter calling for Davis’ death, and calling out liberals for supporting him.

A human life is not part of a political debate. It’s disgusting that in many cases, it came down to that last night.

In addition, there was so much reason to doubt that he was guilty. But we all knew that. That’s why there were demonstrators. That’s why there were bloggers. That’s why there was media coverage. That’s why he made a difference. Because he was innocent and he knew it, and he had something to say.

Another man was killed last night, a case that was much less known, because that man was actually guilty. Lawrence Russel Brewer was a white supremacist who killed a black man in a horrific murder. While it as evident that he was guilty, the father of the victim of the crime called for Brewer not to be executed. “You can’t fight murder with murder,” he said.

He has the right idea.

I could go on and on about why Troy Davis was probably executed. How it was essentially a legal lynching. How racial inequality is alive and well in this country. I could throw numbers at you, like the fact that unemployment for African-Americans is double the national average and that a black man from a low-income family is more likely to end up in prison than in college. For Troy Davis, it wasn’t about innocence or guilt - it was about the color of his skin.

Through this case, it’s easy to see that now more than ever we are powerless. Demonstrators around the world supported Troy Davis. He was killed anyway. Despite the protests. Despite the petitions. Despite the lack of evidence.

That’s why this has to stop.

I’m about to depart from my regular news/political commentary and get philosophical, which is one of my favorite pastimes but rarely makes it on my blog. Please, bear with me.

Who are we as human beings to judge who deserves to live and who deserves to die? We don’t have that right. Regardless of what anyone has done, we are not the ones who can make the decision about someone else’s life. Not me, not you, not your neighbor, and not the goddamn president of the United States.

No matter what someone does, we cannot decide that they deserve to die. If you believe murder is wrong and believe the death penalty is right, you are a fucking hypocrite. End of story. You cannot fight murder with murder. Not to mention it’s just a bad idea, After all, what kind of people would give their government permission to kill them based on weak evidence? It’s just not smart.

So please, don’t forget Troy Davis. Don’t forget that feeling of anger. I know that I won’t. I don’t know what I’m going to do yet, but something has to be done. Something has to change, because I can’t stand living in a country like this anymore.

One more thing to note. Another execution is set for tonight, and in this case, even the judge that sentenced the man to death is requesting that he isn’t killed. So far, the state of Alabama is going through with it. In this case, the prisoner is black, and the victim was white.

We have to stop the death penalty. We have to stop allowing the U.S. government to legally kill its citizens. We have to stop sending innocent people to die, because one innocent person dead is too many. We have to realize that we aren’t the ones to judge who lives and who dies.

We have to stop fighting murder with murder.

"I have yet to see a death case among the dozens coming to the Supreme Court on eve-of-execution stay..."

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 03:53:30 -0400

“I have yet to see a death case among the dozens coming to the Supreme Court on eve-of-execution stay applications in which the defendant was well represented at trial… People who are well represented at trial do not get the death penalty.”

- Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsburg (via absurdlakefront)

Live Stream of the demonstration in Georgia

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 21:59:26 -0400

Live Stream of the demonstration in Georgia:

A 16-year-old just talked about why he supports Troy Davis.

This is extremely important. Going to do a huge post on what I think of this situation, probably tomorrow morning.

Thanks to itsthemusicpeople for the link.

This.

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 13:56:15 -0400

This.

I'm asking for a favor, Tumblr

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:23:01 -0400

I'm asking for a favor, Tumblr:

thepoliticalnotebook:

psydoctor8:

In repsonse to aatombomb’s and approachingsignificance’s post about Troy Davis, I propose we DO SOMETHING about it that takes 30 seconds.

We’ve all seen Tumblr do some amazing things ranging from donating thousands of dollars to friends in need, raising tens of thousands for countries who faced disaster to finding a place for friends to live, finding them a job or just giving moral support everyday. I’m not asking for money, but how about signing a petition that may save an innocent man from the death penalty?

From the Innocence Project:

Davis was convicted almost exclusively on the basis of eyewitness identification testimony, which has been shown through DNA exonerations and thousands of academic studies to be unreliable. Seven of the nine witnesses who testified at his trial have since recanted and strong evidence points to another person as the real perpetrator in the case.

The only man that can stop the execution scheduled for tonight, September 21 at 7pm, is GA District Attorney Chisolm and he needs to hear from us asap. And so does Mr. Davis.

Sign here. Reblog. Thanks.

Done. Signed.

I don’t usually reblog these kinds of things, but this is extremely important and literally took me 30 seconds to sign. Don’t even say you don’t have 30 seconds to sign a petition that could help save someone’s life.

What should I write about for my journalism class?

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:27:56 -0400

It has to be an article focusing on college students, or one I can localize. I’ll post it here if you guys give me a good idea! And I would also be forever in your debt.

"This Is Not Class Warfare. It's Math."

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:00:20 -0400

"This Is Not Class Warfare. It's Math.":

technipol:

The president’s policy is simple, really. More stimulus now, more fiscal retrenchment later. And there is no way that we can - or should - balance the budget entirely on the backs of the poor and the middle class. There has to be some contribution from those most successful in an economy that continues to reward them more and more generously, even as the country’s debt escalates.

The deal is basically this:

$1.5 trillion in tax increases, primarily on the wealthy, through a combination of letting the Bush-era tax cuts expire, closing loopholes and limiting the amount that high earners can deduct. The proposal also includes $580 billion in adjustments to health and entitlement programs, including $248 billion to Medicare and $72 billion toMedicaid. Administration officials said that the Medicare cuts would not come from an increase in the Medicare eligibility age.

Senior administration officials who briefed reporters on some of the details of Mr. Obama’s proposal said that the plan also counts a savings of $1.1 trillion from the ending of the American combat mission in Iraq and the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.

So a Democratic president is prepared to cut Medicare even further than he already has, while taking us back to Clinton era tax rates for the wealthy and ending the Bush-Cheney wars. Isn’t this what he was elected to do? And if the alternative is gutting Medicare, or social security, while maintaining historically low tax rates for the super-rich, I just don’t see how this isn’t a winning argument.

Some believe that’s now irrelevant. By allowing the GOP to define his presidency in grotesquely misleading ways and by presiding over continued mass unemployment, Obama is, we are told, toast. But this is political gaming, not policy decision-making. I remain of the view that, in the end, arguments matter and proposals count. A 2-1 spending cuts to tax hikes ratio is substantively what many Americans support. Greg Sargent notes of a recent poll:

* A solid majority, 56-30, favors significantly cutting payroll taxes for working Americans.

* A majority, 52-40, favors Federal aid to state governments to avert public employee layoffs.

* A huge majority, 80-16, favors spending money on the nation’s infrastructure in order to try to create jobs.

* A big majority, 71, favors reducing the deficit through a combination of tax increases and spending cuts; a meager 21 percent favors only spending cuts.

* A solid majority, 56-37, favors reducing the deficit with tax hikes on households earning $250,000 a year or more.

* A solid majority, 56-29, thinks creating jobs should be prioritized over cutting spending.

If these are the terms of the fiscal and economic debate, it seems to me that Obama has positioned himself on the majority side, and the GOP, especially if led by Perry, are on a dangerously long limb. I’d prefer major tax reform on the Bowles-Simpson lines. I’d prefer more Medicare savings. But this is a sensible set of proposals, hard to oppose without resort to hard ideology, and worth trying.

[The Dish]

thedailyfeed: More Americans lived in poverty in 2010 than in...

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:39:22 -0400

thedailyfeed:

More Americans lived in poverty in 2010 than in any other time that records have been collected, according to US Census data released yesterday. Median household income fell, too, and a growing number of people are without health insurance.

An additional 2.6 million people became officially poor last year, raising the poverty rate from 14.3 percent in 2009 to 15.1 percent. It was the fourth year in a row that the ranks of the poor grew, and Sawhill predicts poverty rates will rise to 16 percent by 2014.

Tumblr...

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 01:42:19 -0400

Tumblr Crushes:

I love all of you so much! Thanks for making my days better =)

itsthemusicpeople: well, she sure is revolutionary,...

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 17:28:59 -0400

itsthemusicpeople:

well, she sure is revolutionary, eh?

huffingtonpost:

School’s out forever?

Michele Bachmann Suggests Axing The Department Of Education

trolololol

I wrote a story about higher education in Florida for class

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 13:33:00 -0400

I figured I’d post it here because it’s informative and I’m quite proud of it.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gov. Rick Scott is considering changes to higher education that would put limits on tenure and introduce a merit-based system for paying professors.

            The plan, modeled after one proposed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, would stop raises for professors. Instead, it would focus on giving the top 25 percent of professors bonuses based on a number of factors, including the number of students they teach, the amount of research money they bring in and student evaluations.

            “What would be conspicuously lacking would be the kind of peer-reviewed merit criteria that’s been traditional in higher education for decades,” said John Biro, president of the University of Florida chapter of the United Faculty of Florida, the state’s faculty union.

            Scott is exploring this plan as a way to reduce budget deficits in Florida. According to his plan, implementing bonuses rather than raises for faculty would cut costs and serve as an incentive for professors to work harder, as well as keeping taxes low.

He’s also been promoting the “Seven Breakthrough Solutions” – the basis of the Texas plan – among people he’s thinking about appointing to the college board of trustees, according to Tom Auxter, the statewide president of the United Faculty of Florida.

            “When [students] get a diploma, it’s just going to be a piece of paper that says they’ve been a warm body in a bunch of classes,” Auxter said. “It’s a system that is set up to fail.”

            Opponents of this reform say that the new plan would cause universities to be run as businesses – and students would be the customers.

            “The idea that you can make a university into a business, in which students are the customers and professors are supposed to deliver what the customer wants…how does that help to provide the kind of education you will need in this increasingly competitive world?” Biro said.

            In addition to the “Seven Breakthrough Solutions,” Scott has tried to eliminate tenure as a way to save on higher education. Auxter worries that the combination of a merit-pay system and the elimination of tenure will cause more experienced faculty to leave, as well as stop new faculty from coming to universities in Florida to teach.

            “It’s not a merit-pay system, it’s a bonus system…you get a one-time only award,” he said. “This is going to be a real disaster for Florida universities.”

            Though this plan has not been officially proposed to the legislature, it is likely to because of preparations Scott is already making – such as promoting the “Seven Breakthrough Solutions.”

It has already been viciously opposed by the United Faculty of Florida, despite the fact that Scott believes these changes will reduce the state’s deficit.

“We’re here to serve the students,” Biro said. “But not as customers.”

shortformblog: Forecasting model with perfect record predicts...

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 01:47:25 -0400

shortformblog:

Forecasting model with perfect record predicts Obama reelection

In 1981, a professor at American University developed a forecasting model for presidential elections. Based on thirteen different metrics, or “keys,” the model has never been wrong. In 1992, it spotted George H.W. Bush’s vulnerability when everybody assumed he was invincible; that prediction was instrumental in convincing Bill Clinton to enter the race. Which is to say, were it not for Allan Lichtman and his “Thirteen Keys,” we may have never had a President Clinton. Now, Lichtman has applied his model to 2012. Here’s how Obama stacks up:

Reelection Working in the president’s favor are his significant domestic policy accomplishments, a lack of scandals, a weak Republican field, generally successful foreign policy, no significant third party candidates, no primary challenger and a lack of sustained social unrest.

Defeat So why might Obama have reason to worry? Well, the long-term economy, a lack of personal charisma, the results of the last House election and, if it comes to fruition, an upcoming recession could all spell trouble for his reelection campaign.

» Conclusion: “Even if I am being conservative, I don’t see how Obama can lose,” Lichtman says. The President wins 9 out of the 13 keys, two more than needed. Now, there’s lots of room for debate here—for example, is it really true that Obama lacks personal charisma? Lichtman’s rationale here is that the president has “lost his ability to connect since the 2008 election,” but that’s debatable. And do we know for certain that Rick Perry won’t prove to be a dazzling candidate, charming voters across the nation? Furthermore, a lot can happen between now and 2012: a surprise rebound of the economy, an unforeseen international crisis, or some other black swan event. But as it stands, this metric is some of the best reelection news Obama’s had in months. (Photo: Reuters/Jim Young). source

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shortformblog: House Republicans plot major deregulatory...

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:50:42 -0400

shortformblog:

House Republicans plot major deregulatory push

Deregulation = jobs: A memo obtained by ShortFormBlog contains details of an upcoming Republican effort to push massive deregulatory legislation through the House of Representatives, in hopes of unshackling “costly bureaucratic handcuffs” faced by businesses. The letter, sent today by Eric Cantor to the House Republican caucus, details the “Top 10 Job-Destroying Regulations,” and how Republicans plan to address them. “By pursuing a steady repeal of job-destroying regulations,” Cantor wrote, “we can help lift the cloud of uncertainty hanging over small and large employers alike, empowering them to hire more workers.” Some key proposals:

Weakened emission limits The TRAIN (Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation) Act, along with the EPA Regulatory Relief Act, would delay implementation of EPA standards intended to limit air pollution.

Limiting union power The Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act would limit the National Labor Relations Board’s power, rescinding its ability to influence relocation of manufacturing plants.

Farm dust for allThe Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act would, as expected, restrict the federal government’s ability to regulate farm dust, allowing it to do so only within state and local regulations. source

» In keeping with Republican orthodoxy, Cantor also proposes to two tax cuts (one for government contractors, another for small businesses), and the repeal of unspecified provisions of the Affordable Care Act. What do you all think of Cantor’s plan? Read the whole thing at the link. (AP Photo)

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"The government should answer to the demands of its people, be it Syria, Yemen or other countries...."

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 14:01:06 -0400

““The government should answer to the demands of its people, be it Syria, Yemen or other countries. The people of these nations have legitimate demands, and the governments should answer these demands as soon as possible.””

- Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi denouncing the government in Syria for not listening to its people. However, it’s important to put this quote in context. Iran is Syria’s greatest ally, but they’re also concerned for their own wellbeing. If the protests don’t stop in Syria, it’s likely that they could spill over into Iran, or other nearby countries - and military intervention in Syria could be harmful to them as well. No matter the motive, maybe this statement will make some sort of difference, because the situation in Syria needs to be resolved - 2,200 people have died since the protests started in March.

shortformblog: Are you near the worst of Hurricane Irene,...

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 13:20:02 -0400

shortformblog:

Are you near the worst of Hurricane Irene, possibly riding out the storm? The Red Cross has a site where you can tell family members that you’re “Safe and Well.” Please use wisely, folks.