Jake Laperruque This Sunday, the newest star of hacktivism – Lulz Security – announced it would be going into early retirement, and would immediately end its hacking ways. Although less established than other hacking groups such as Anonymous (LulzSec hasn’t even been hacking for two months), the online organization has already become a world phenomenon through their news grabbing antics, which include hacks of: …
What New York’s Gay Marriage Law Reveals About American Democracy
Anthony Kammer On Sunday, the New York Times ran an important piece by Michael Barbaro called “Behind N.Y. Gay Marriage, an Unlikely Mix of Forces.” Many publications, rightly so, are celebrating New York’s long-overdue passage of same-sex marriage legislation. But what’s noteworthy about Barbaro’s piece is that it reveals how this bill actually passed NY’s Republican Senate. What it uncovers about the state of American democracy is not nearly as reassuring as the passage of gay marriage …
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Kansas attempts to be “abortion-free”
Marshall Thompson Kansas has a new law that requires its abortion clinics, all three of them, to meet new regulatory standards and apply for annual licenses. The new standards require major renovations to existing clinic buildings that may be impossible to accomplish in time. The broad law gives the state’s secretary of health and environment several different avenues for denying licenses, exposing what is clearly the anti-abortion pretext for the law. …
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Beware Foreskin Man
Smita Ghosh San Francisco’s proposed circumcision ban has prompted many an either-or question: “Are the Circumcision Opponents Anti-Semitic or Sexually Repressed?,” asks one commentator, a Californian Rabbi; “Is circumcision insane or healthy?,” wonders another. San Francisco residents decided in May to put the proposed ban on this November’s ballot — and people are eager to discuss the topic. Many criticise the anti-Semitic sentiments that the ban seems to inspire, citing “Foreskin Man,” a …
Don’t Dick Around On Twitter
Jake Laperruque In a recently released piece focusing on New York Congressman Anthony Weiner, the magazine “Moment” wrote: “As part of a promise to his Twitter followers, he recently released a photo of himself . . . .” Any guesses on how that sentence ends? It’s “…on his big day as an awkward-looking 13-year-old boy, complete with a self-described 1970s Jewfro.” The story came out a few days before Weiner-gate began; at that time it was nothing more than a flattering bio of the man who was …
Pushing Boundaries toward Fairer Redistricting
Anthony Kammer Following two landmark ballot initiatives, California transferred the power to draw legislative districts from the state legislature to an independent commission. And on June 10, the Citizen Redistricting Commissionunveiled its first proposed maps for CA’s State Assembly, State Senate, and U.S. Congressional seats. By most accounts, California made a massive stride toward improved democratic representation in taking redistricting away from legislatures. Rather than focusing on …
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