Domestic Affairs

Ok, so I’m proctoring some Columbia J-School exams. One of the questions is to name all five parts of the First Amendement of the Constitution of the United States. Who’s up to the challenge? Leave your answers in comments. Check your answers here.

So I’m minding my own business, reading The Washington Post, when I come across this piece. There, I find probably the second time ever that I’ve agreed with our beloved president. President Bush announced plans yesterday to boost foreign-language study in the United States, casting the initiative as a strategic move to better engage other nations in combating terrorism and promoting freedom and democracy. “This program is a part of a strategic goal, and that is to protect this country,”…

In the Book of Isaiah, God embraces the Persian king Cyrus and his respect for different religions, even though Cyrus does not know God’s name and does not practice Judaism. By calling Cyrus “the anointed one,” or messiah, God signals his tolerance for people who share his moral vision, no matter their nationality or faith. — Teach, Don’t Preach, the Bible Op-Ed by Bruce Feiler, The New York Times. December 21, 2005

From the genius of my good buddy David Boyk: And for today’s nugget of political genius, I’m going to start with a question. Who do we not need in this country? Answer: Assholes. Another question: who says those retarded slogans like “love it or leave it?” Again, assholes. Final question: how can we combine these two facts? My solution: ostracism. Whenever government employees break the public trust, they should have 72 hours before they’re deported. That amount of time should…

Chicago Tribune Op-Ed by Dr. Eboo Patel I am an American Muslim. I believe that Prophet Muhammad brought God’s final revelation, the Holy Koran, to humankind. This is not based on empirical observation or verifiable fact. It is a matter of faith. While there is significant suspicion of Muslims in many segments of American society, the secular urban liberals and progressive religious believers I know rarely question the premise of my faith. They do not ask me to read books…

Rolling Stone: John Walter Rendon Jr. rises at 3 a.m. each morning after six hours of sleep, turns on his Apple computer and begins ingesting information — overnight news reports, e-mail messages, foreign and domestic newspapers, and an assortment of government documents, many of them available only to those with the highest security clearance. According to Pentagon documents obtained by Rolling Stone, the Rendon Group is authorized “to research and analyze information classified up to Top Secret/SCI/SI/TK/G/HCS” — an extraordinarily…

1) From the WTF!?!? Department: NYT: WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 – The Senate voted Thursday to strip captured “enemy combatants” at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, of the principal legal tool given to them last year by the Supreme Court when it allowed them to challenge their detentions in United States courts. 2) From the Good Explainer Department: NYT: PARIS, Nov. 10 – Semou Diouf, holding a pipe in one hand and a cigarette in the other, stood amid the noisy games of…

Wikipedia on The Republic of Texas: The annexation resolution has been the topic of some incorrect historical beliefs—chiefly, that the resolution was a treaty between sovereign states, and granted Texas the explicit right to secede from the Union. This was a right argued by some to be implicitly held by all states at the time, and until the conclusion of the Civil War. However, no such right was explicitly enumerated in the resolution. The resolution did include two unique provisions:…

Where’s my polling place? How different organizations/newspapers are endorsing their votes: IGS, UC Berkeley. Republicans: Yes on 73-78, No on 79-80 Democrats: No on 73-78, Yes on 79-80

WashPost: [NASA atmospheric scientist] David Rind compared the warming trend to what happens when a major league baseball team owner spends lavishly on players’ salaries. Pumping heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, he said, produces the same kind of predictable results as boosting a team’s payroll. “When they get into the playoffs, should we be surprised?” he asked. “We’re putting a lot more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and we’re getting a lot higher temperatures.”