S.C. Lt. Gov. Calls for Constitutional Convention

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Background: Lesson Plan: A New Constitutional Convention?

High School Students Ask President for "Hope"

(BackStory)

Dragging Mississippi into the 21st Century

Constance McMillen, an eighteen year-old senior at Itawamba County Agricultural High School in Fulton (MS) anticipated an annual memo outlining the rules for the prom, which in previous years had banned same-sex dates, by asking permission to be accompanied by her girlfriend, who would be wearing a tux.

School officials told her that she and her girlfriend couldn't arrive together, neither could wear a tuxedo and they may be asked to leave, if other students complained or felt uncomfortable.

Ms. McMillen sought the assistance of the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition, which was formed to protect the rights of LGBT students, who put her in touch with American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU sent a letter demanding that the school change it's policy by Wednesday or face a lawsuit. As the deadline approached, the local school board decided to simply cancel the event "due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events".

The ACLU is now seeking a court order to reinstate the prom and to allow Constance to attend with her date, dressed as they like.
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Notes: Itawamba is a rural county near Pontotoc, where school officials were sued about a decade ago to stop Bible classes and daily prayer.

According to Google:Maps, Fulton is a 116-mile drive from Charleston (MS), where the actor Morgan Freeman famously paid for the town's first inter-racial prom, an odyssey which was documented in the award-winning 2009 film, Prom Night in Mississippi.

Also, though the headline appears to be a bit misleading, one could argue that local reaction has been mixed and the media campaign waged by the ACLU has been drawing attention.

Update YouTube Thanks from Constance (via Feromoon, via Twitter)

Does Drew Carey Want to Be Mayor of Cleveland?

Actor and game show host Drew Carey is a board member of the Reason Foundation, the group which publishes Reason Magazine and he helped found reason.tv, where he produces and archives a web series highlighting libertarian successes and solutions.

He has now turned his attention toward his hometown of Cleveland and other rust belt cities, which he proposes to "save" by using a six-part, web-based documentary projecting sun belt methods, libertarian ideas and his own political philosophy onto the problems they face.

The series will launch on March 15th.

Update: Drew Carey explains why he wants to help save Cleveland
TVNewser: John Stossel on Why Cleveland Is 'Most Miserable'

Senators: Allow Gay Men to Donate Blood

Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and seventeen other Senators have written the Food & Drug Administration asking them to lift the ban on blood donations from men who have had gay sex after 1977.

The rule was established in 1983 at the beginning of the HIV-AIDS crisis and they say now that more is known and testing protocols have been established, it's time to stop discriminating against healthy donors who would like to help bolster our nation's blood supply.

A Liberal Blogger's Duty: Ron Howard's Viral

Funny or Die's Presidential Reunion from Will Ferrell

(via Mediaite)

"Heads vs. Fed" Tour Rolls into Washington

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History: It's All in the Interpretation

The Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum opened Sunday, the day before what would've been her birthday. In addition to several local dignitaries, a small group of protesters gathered to distribute leaflets and point toward a website, with what they deem to be "the truth" about Ms. Anthony's abortion stance.

It seems that her birthplace had been sold at auction in 2006 to Carol Crossed, a New York state anti-abortion activist and the museum board consists primarily of people from "Feminists for Life".

Additionally in December, a trained historian abruptly resigned as the museum's director and was replaced by a Vice-President of the New York organization, plus the museum's mission statement describes the suffragette hero as being "pro-life".

Not a lot is actually known about Ms. Anthony's stance on the abortion question; Activists point toward the fact that her newsletter didn't allow advertising from companies peddling chemical abortions and reportedly this is highlighted in the museum's "Restellism" exhibit, but if you read an excellent history of "Madame Restelle", you'll find that Horace Greeley and other giants of New York City media regularly railed against the smaller publications which featured her advertisements. Perhaps, Ms. Anthony was at least partially motivated by a desire to keep her publication in a separate sphere than the lesser press.

Apparently, based on a local blogger's account, there may not be any exhibits in the museum directly referencing the one Revolution article anti-abortion activists have long used to co-opt Ms. Anthony's legacy, but whose authorship is in dispute.

The article, which was signed simply "A", used the phrase "the horrible crime of child-murder" while journalist Lynn Sherr, who has publisheda collection of Susan B. Anthony's writings and other scholars say that she only signed things with the initials "S.B.A.".

Personally, I didn't know that there was such a controversy surrounding the thoughts of Ms. Anthony and not only do I think that the anecdotal evidence may be stretch, but it's also a lot of hoopla about a couple of isolated examples which can easily be dismissed or explained.

If there's anything that can be taken from this situation, other than it producing more work for researchers, it'd be that any future historical leaders should write it all down and should really sign their name.

Navy, Marines Refuse Vets

Everyone who lived in two housing areas on Camp Lejeune (NC) over a period of thirty years were exposed to hazardous chemicals through well water, which was used for everything that water is ordinarily used. This is an acknowledged fact by the military services; the affected wells which served the complexes have been taken offline, one in 1985, the other in 1987 and the area was deemed a Superfund site in '89.

Possibly, a million people were exposed according to an advocacy group.

A 2007 law directed the Marine Corps to warn former residents, which they primarily tried to accomplish through magazine ads, posters, news stories and word-of-mouth because only 5% of the 133,000 veterans, family members and civilian employees who have registered report a direct contact through the IRS.

A couple of weapons and chemical burial sites have been identified on the base, but initially, the bulk of the blame was placed on a dry cleaning plant located across the street, which disposed of their liquid waste through a septic system and their solid waste was stored onsite from 1953 until 1984.

While last year, benzene, a carcinogenic component of fuel was also identified as a contaminant and minutes from a 1996 meeting asserts that more than 800,000 gallons of fuel was spilled over the years, with only an estimated 500,000 gallons recovered.

Advocates and members of Congress have been pushing the Marines to conduct a $1.6 million dollar mortality study through the CDC, which is required by law, but Pentagon officials argue that because previous studies found no link between the former residents' high cancer rate and the contaminated water, further study is unnecessary.

In an effort to push the Marine Corps to fund the study, Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) has blocked the appointment of two Naval officials and vows to block any future nominees until they end their "continued intransigence". He also has a bill in committee, which would open the Veterans health system to family members effected.

Continuing a Tradition

While Governor, Janet Napolitano would occasionally send invoices to the Bush administration for the expenses incurred as the result of illegal immigration, border security and incarcerating illegal immigrants.

Arizona state Treasurer Dean Martin, who is reportedly considering a run for Governor has continued the show of protest by sending U.S. Homeland Security chief Napolitano a bill for a billion dollars.

Teabagging Goldilocks

One might argue that because the Tea Party movement is purely grassroots and highly disorganized, or because they're undergoing growing pains, or possibly because there have been conflicts on a national level, they're not sure which way to go.

There are some who have been advocating a nationwide strike on the anniversary of Obama's inaugural, but there others who say that the group isn't single-mindedly opposed to the President as an issue and professional activists, along with some Tea Party members point out that if everyone stays home one day, nobody will notice.

In a lengthy profile, the head of Baton Rouge Tea Party LLC says that though they communicate, the dozen Louisiana groups don't answer to each other or to any central authority. And right now, because her group have grown exponentially from the original thirteen, they are torn as to whether they should field candidates, become active with any established party or just promote forums and education on the issues.

While in Pennsylvania and all across the country, people affiliated with the movement have started announcing their candidacy for various offices and officials with the Washington County, Arkansas "chapter" has put out word that they'd like to recruit candidates to run against three Republicans and five Democrats in the local election.

NPS Locking Down Mount Rushmore

Rev. Jesse Jackson: Preacher/Politician

Rev. Jesse Jackson made a scheduled appearance at an Ontario (CA) church Sunday morning as part of his "Save-Our-Homes" tour, where he addressed worshipers with criticism of some Obama Administration policies and the California political culture at three morning services.

The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin paints a good portrait of a preacher in the pulpit with their coverage, which is how the Reverend's appearance was billed and because he also visited a home at risk of foreclosure, clearly he's still an experienced politician.

Smoking the Opposition

Earlier this evening on his FoxNews show, Geraldo Rivera came out of a story about a marijuana cafe soon to open in Portland to in-studio guests, Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, who were there to promote their upcoming "Make it Legal" tour.

After Geraldo introduced his guests and exchanged familiarities, Tommy Chong made a simple argument in favor of rescheduling marijuana from Class 1 to Class 2, which would make it available nationwide on a prescription basis.

Afterwards, Mr. Rivera turned to panelist Ann Coulter, who stated almost word-for-word much the same thing she said in a previous Geraldo At-Large segment on 10/25, which I'm posting below and transcribing as follows;

It's one thing, people who have cancer and it helps with the nausea and it makes them hungry, but by the way, I've known people with cancer who needed pot and nobody had any trouble getting it. So, I think it's about right, the way it is now.

IOW: We shouldn't change the drug laws and guarantee that everyone who needs pot for medical purposes can safely buy it from a regulated source, perhaps even pay for it with their insurance because Ann Coulter's friends don't fit a police officer's profile.



After Ms. Coulter's cultural arrogance on 10/25, Geraldo does a Sesame Street piece about the Attorney General's announcement that the feds would bend to state law when it's properly applied and turned to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who argued that it would have been all right for the feds to have deprioritized enforcement, but they shouldn't have told anyone.

ETA: Here's a link to Cheech & Chong's 11/16 appearance.