ACLU: Death Threats Are Protected Free Speech

Three 8th grade girls were recently expelled from Griffith Middle School in Northern Indiana for posting death threats on Facebook.  According to news reports the girls exchanged the names of classmates they would kill if given the chance and how they would kill their potential victims.  The mother of a child named in the posts learned of the online exchange and printed and shared the statements with school officials, which ultimately led to the girls being expelled for the remainder of the school year.

To read the story as reported by IndyStar.com click HERE.

Enter the ACLU... I'm not a right wing anti-ACLU nut job - in fact, I usually find their advocacy for the little guy's civil rights comforting - but this time they've gone over the edge.  They're actually claiming that because the girls used emoticons and 'LOL' in their posts it is obvious that they were joking and therefore the posts are not real threats; and because the posts are not threats they are free speech and protected by the 1st Amendment.

Seriously?  I mean, seriously?  Are they really suggesting that you can threaten anyone and get away with it as long as you insert in a couple of LOLs and stick a smiley face on the end of the threat?  I'm struck speechless by the absurdity of the idea.  It's void of common sense!  Wake up folks, not all speech is protected!  Making a threatening statement, whether it's in person, over the phone or in writing, is at least intimidation and harassment, and depending on the laws in your city or state could very well be considered menacing, too.  These little idiots should be thankful that formal charges were not brought against them!

Whether the girls were joking is irrelevant.  Their actions represent a clear and obvious violation of the school's code of conduct (say nothing of the law), and for that they must be held responsible and accept the consequences of their poor choices.

Mike Luckovich cartoon: Stand Your Ground

See more of Mike's work HERE.

Bryan Fischer: "Blacks commit the most murders"

Here's a big surprise...  Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association, named a hate group in November 2010 by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has tweeted what is at its core is an incredibly racist statement.

"If blacks commit the most murders, that's not racism, it's justice."  I do not believe that blacks commit the most murders, but I do believe that they're convicted of more murders than any other racially defined group.  According to the 2010 US Census, whites make up 72% of the population; and blacks, while being the largest minority, comprise only 13% of the population.  That's a significant difference.  To state that one race, while only representing 1 in 10 people in a room, is more likely to commit murder strongly implies that theirs is the more violent race; and that assertion is racism.

I'm sure studies exist, studies that Mr. Fischer and those like him refuse to accept as legitimate, showing prejudice and economic disadvantage as key factors leading to blacks being convicted of a catalog of crimes far more frequently than whites.

Despite the election of Barack Obama to the White House, race is still an issue in this country. In fact, I think his election finally put a brighter light on the elephant in the room, but that's a topic for another post.  I'll close with this thought - if Mr. Fischer were black, I'm sure he'd have a very different point of view on the entire matter.

Cardinal Dolan's "Reckless Indifference to Children"

On behalf of hundreds of thousands of homeless LGBT youth, Carl Siciliano, the founder and executive director of the Ali Forney Center in New York, wrote an open letter to the Cardinal Archbishop of New York and President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Timothy Dolan.  In it he effectively argues that the Cardinal's actions contribute to "a climate where parents turn on their own children" and invites the Cardinal to visit the Ali Forney Center, which is a mere 30 blocks from St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan and provides housing, medical care, and vocational and educational support to LGBT youths who have been driven from their homes.  Siciliano realizes that it's important for the Cardinal to meet children directly affected by his staunch anti-LGBT position.  

Read Carl Siciliano's letter to Cardinal Dolan HERE.  

The Cardinal responded in the defensive tone and snarky prose of a man unhappy that someone clearly sees what he's doing and has called him out for behaving in a manner he knows in his heart is not Christian.  The Cardinal behaves as though he's beyond reproach, "above the law", perfect.  He needs to be reminded that he's a man, not a deity, and that men make mistakes.  A truly righteous man can recognize when he's on the wrong side of something, is humble enough admit that he was wrong and will take action to make things right.  Based on his response, I doubt that Timothy Dolan is that kind of man.  

Read Cardinal Dolan's dismissive response HERE.

Siciliano has responded to the Cardinal's letter, pointing out that the Cardinal completely ignored what was at the core of his original letter - the children.  But I fear that his second letter will get no further than his first.  

Read Siciliano's second letter HERE.

I believe the Cardinal is so blinded by the Church's misguided and patently pointless damnation of homosexuality that he can't see the damage he's doing, the needless pain and suffering perpetuated by his service to his god, the child victims rejected by their families, falling into substance abuse, prostitution, some becoming so hopeless that they take their own life.  Cardinal Dolan has the power to change all of this, but he refuses.  Instead he continues to speak out against the LGBT community, which only creates more homophobia and hostility.  The Vatican has rewarded his vigilance against LGBT rights and marriage equality by elevating him from Archbishop to Cardinal, and he can't very well disappoint the Vatican. Everyone knows you shouldn't piss off your boss.

Click HERE to learn about supporting the Ali Forney Center.

This Month's "My Favorite iPad Apps"

I love my iPad and use it constantly for everything from the obvious (email, social networking and surfing the net) to connecting to the office, watching TV and movies, reading the latest edition of my favorite magazines and playing ridiculous but addictive games.

This month four apps are replaced on my Favorite iPad Apps list, and one stays on for another month.  New this month are Airport Madness Challenge, Hulu Plus, LivingSocial and Smithsonian Magazine.  PBS becomes the tenured app on the list.

Airport Madness Challenge is simple but highly addictive.  The objective is to avoid crashes while carefully timing the takeoff and landing of planes on various runways.  It's not packed with fast-action animation sequences, but it quickly gets chaotic and effectively tests your visual acuity and organization skills.  The free version includes two airports (the simplest is pictured here) and the option to buy additional and more complex airports.

Hulu Plus gained significant popularity when Netflix executed its poorly conceived divide and conquer (or "divide and fail" as it turned out) strategy last year.  I like Hulu because it provides current television programming 'next day', which means that when show premiers in prime time it's on Hulu the very next day.  And they carry a ton of otherwise hard-to-find shows like Lou Grant, which I've been searching for forever, and wonderful ITV and BBC shows, like Kingdom starring the wonderfully entertaining Stephen Frye.

LivingSocial makes the list this month for one reason - it featured a fantastic offer for an Introduction to Stained Glass class from Brennan Stained Glass Studio in Syracuse, NY.  Brennan is responsible for the restoration of an amazing stained glass dome in Boldt Castle on the St. Lawrence River and they're an authorized restorer of Tiffany windows and lamps.  Until seeing an offer for a 3-hour Introduction to Stained Glass class for only $69 on LivingSocial I had no idea that Brennan offered such things.  After checking out their website I discovered that they offer several classes from beginner to the more experienced, and one can rent studio time by the hour, too!  This particular deal ends at midnight 04/01. Click HERE for details.

Last of the new apps on my list is Smithsonian Magazine.  I love Smithsonian magazine and have subscribed for years, just as I have National Geographic magazine.  When NG went digital last year I contacted Smithsonian begging them to do the same.  While I didn't receive a response, which was surprising and disappointing, I did learn through other means that they were working on the e-version for iPad's Newsstand.  The app was released in February and has the same smooth feel and operation of the NG app.  With both publications now available on iPad I'm ending my print subscription and going digital.  The days of stacks of magazines is coming to an end!  E-magazines are environmentally friendly, arrive without suffering abuses at the hands of the antiquated USPS and they're cheaper than their print counterparts.  A year of Smithsonian in print is $34 versus the in-my-opinion far more interesting $19.99 iPad version.

PBS remains on the list because it consistently offers high quality content in an equally high quality format.  Yesterday I pulled up American Experience: Clinton, a controversial but nonetheless amazing man, and was locked in for the 3-1/2 hour documentary.  Loaded with clips and full episodes I can watch Masterpiece (Downton Abbey was recently featured while Little Dorrit is the current offering), Nova, Great Performances, Austin City Limits, Antiques Roadshow and much more.  This is a must-have app for every iPad user.