Justice For Yoo

Posted on October 15, 2012 by lanelipton Standard Reply

Photograph of John Yoo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

John Yoo, law professor at UC Berkeley and former Justice Department lawyer, had a few things to say on Friday, regarding the constitutionality of the White House decision to defer enforcement of immigration law:

Obama has pursued a dangerous change in the powers of his office that disregards the Constitution’s careful separation of power between the branches of the federal government. The Constitution imposes on the president two clear duties – to protect the national security and to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” Obama is the first chief executive since Richard Nixon to ignore a duly-enacted law simply because he disagrees with it, in clear defiance of his constitutional duty.

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I took the view that the White House could refuse to carry out an unconstitutional law that infringed on the president’s commander-in-chief authority to manage war and defend the national security. … But the president cannot refuse to enforce a law simply because he disagrees with it.

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Worried about Hispanic support for his re-election, however, Obama simply decided to unilaterally enact his own legislation. But under Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution, the president has the duty to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”

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There is a world of difference between putting aside laws that interfere with an executive response to an attack on the country, as in Sept. 11, 2001, and ignoring laws to appeal to a constituency vital to re-election.

Is Obama’s end-run around the Constitution (and the Congress), an effort to do what he thinks is right? Or as Yoo suggests, is it simply pandering presidential politics?

Link to a study Yoo co-authored about the constitutionality of the deferment

info from huffpo.com

Light Pollution

Posted on October 13, 2012 by lanelipton Standard Reply

saw an item re why many of us have trouble getting to bed, and getting out of bed, in USA Weekend
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“If you frequently have difficulty falling asleep, then find yourself tired and not wanting to get up, you likely have a longer internal clock” says nyc author Michael Terman, in his new book, Chronotherapy: Resetting Your Inner Clock to Boost Mood, Alertness, and Quality Sleep

Terman goes on to say, “The first step if you are sleep-challenged is to keep your bedroom absolutely dark. Even the smallest amount of light pollution is sending signals to your brain that shifts your internal clock.”
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Donate your nightlights to the Salvation Army.
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A Lesson In Reinvention

Posted on July 16, 2011 by lanelipton Standard Reply

Moptop Bee Gees

Folkie Bee Gees

Studio Bee Gees

Boogie Bee Gees

Disco Bee Gees

Talk Show Bee Gees

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Education Poll

Posted on May 14, 2011 by lanelipton Standard Reply

Image via Wikipedia

The Daily News has an article in Friday’s paper about how the New York City Department of Education is making plans to lay off 4,100 teachers, while spending over $1,000,000,000 on outside consultants. (And oh, by the way, sometimes the consultants the D.O.E. hires aren’t even Americans.)

Of course this shows just how corrupt Mayor Bloomberg is, as he single-handedly controls the D.O.E. (a change he insisted on a few years ago). In effect, he is funneling public tax monies into the hands of private concerns.

How do New Yorkers feel about it? Well, the News has put an inset poll adjacent to their article. It asks, “Do you think $1 billion is too much for the city to spend on consultants?” As of this writing, fully 96% have answered “Yes, that seems outrageous. The money would be much better spent on keeping teachers in the classroom.”

Isn’t someone who’s elected supposed to pay at least some attention to the will of the people?

More Than A Movie

Posted on May 12, 2011 by lanelipton Standard 1

Bret Easton Ellis tweeted thusly:

BretEastonEllis

The two key American films of the 1990’s: Pulp Fiction, Bottle Rocket…

This got me thinking. I’m not sure what he means by “key”, but I’m thinking it’s somewhere along the lines of: that of which the existence of is necessary to move the form of film forward to make possible the better films of the present.

So this idea got me thinking some more. About what? Well, for one thing, about how if “Pulp Fiction” is a “key” film, the movies of the ’90’s really sucked. This is probably the case; for example, I remember that I saw pretty much every movie of 1993, and I felt that the best one was Clint Eastwood’s In The Line Of Fire. Now, that’s not a bad movie, but it’s a sign of those times that that was the best that Hollywood could do in a year. (Oh, and Pulp Fiction? To my eye at the time, a stream of silly, borderline boring vignettes.)

And for another thing, thinking about: What was a key movie? Of any time?

Well, it’s easy to say something like 2001: A Space Odyssey. Fresh, had ideas, (as well as the best villain in all of filmdom) and propelled movie-making forward technically and creatively.

Is that enough?

Yes, I guess it’s enough to qualify as a key film. But then I thunk some more, and I thunk of Mulholland Drive. And it’s sort-of-sequel, Inland Empire. There is something in these films that makes them more than films. A dimension of sorts has been added. They are not perfect movies. Still, there is something. David Lynch started out as an artist, and yes, you can see that influence in his movies. But these two flicks are not just art films either. And they are not just art. So here’s where I’m supposed to explain this new form that Lynch has created and prove to you exactly how and why it is distinct from previous films or art. But I can’t. I can’t explain it at all.

All I can tell you, is that Lynch has found some unknown truth(s). He has found it in mythology. He has found it in the bible. He has found it in art and he’s found it in film and he’s found it I-don’t know-where-all, and he has weaved it through his work. And has created, I would posit, something new entirely.

Cover of Mulholland Drive

Who’s The Crazy One?

Posted on April 28, 2011 by lanelipton Standard Reply

Lawrence O’Donnell gets so hysterical on his Wednesday show, he ends a segment halfway through. O’Donnell accuses his guest Orly Taitz of being “crazy”. Well, as you can see, there certainly is a crazy person in this video.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Who’s The Crazy One, posted with vodpod

The Party Line On Libya

Posted on April 26, 2011 by lanelipton Standard Reply

Image via Wikipedia

Even though it was reported some days ago that the possibility of loyalist “massacres” of rebels was way overstated, I am still hearing Eugene Robinson still talking about “Qaddhafi massacring his own people.” Is Robinson really that uninformed or is he just lying to you? And are the news editors and producers at MSNBC pushing this agenda of promoting the use of American tax dollars to bomb Libyans in support of a French oil deal. As the magic 8-ball might say, “SIGNS POINT TO YES”.

Qaddhafi did not attack anyone until the Eastern rebels took military assets. If the rebels stood down, it is highly likely that the loyalists would respect a cease-fire and diplomacy could be given a chance. The truth is that the East has wanted a war for a long time. We see from various Wikileaks cables that the East is more conservative and Islamist than the West, and that the French had become impatient and disgruntled with Qaddhafi over business dealings. The Financial Times has reported that the more conservative East was concerned about Qaddhafi’s health and they are afraid of Qaddhafi’s son Saif coming to power and instituting the liberal reforms that he has been promising. And that is the reason we are dropping bombs on Libyans.

Why have CNN, the New York Times, and MSNBC, organizations that we expect to be anti-war, been such cheerleaders for this war? Well, the major investor in the Times is an oilman. The other two media outlets are owned by conglomerates; perhaps their major investors would have something to gain by cutting Qaddhafi out of the oil biz. Follow the money, and I’m sure the reasons we are killing Libyan loyalists will become much clearer.

All The Propaganda That’s Fit To Print

Posted on April 9, 2011 by lanelipton Standard Reply

Image via Wikipedia

The Times has come out with a story on school “reform”. I admit I haven’t finished reading this multi-page piece, but so far, a few things have jumped out at me. Some odd things within:

New York Times on former Chancellor Joel Klein: When Klein started, for instance, less than 50 percent of New York’s incoming high-school freshmen were graduating in four years. That number is now 63 percent.

The explanation for this is pretty simple: under Klein, the city’s high schools were encouraged to practice grade inflation, and to rubber-stamp diplomas. But there is no mention of this in the article. Do you imagine that the New York Times has no idea of this widespread practice that most teachers in the system bemoan loudly and frequently? Guess again.

On “innovation”: Individual schools … were expected to earn good grades on their report cards from the city — another Klein innovation — or risk closure.

So now, schools that expel troubled kids (or never accept them at all) will exhibit “improved” student learning, and earn better grades on their city report cards. I student-taught in a school that took any child. And even if they were sent to juvy, the school would really work to get that kid back in the school after their time was served. That school is being closed due to Klein’s “innovations”, while schools that have expelled many are painted as “success” stories. Please.

On “bold policies”: Klein’s successor, Cathleen Black, made it clear that she planned to continue the bold policies that he started implementing after his appointment by Mayor Bloomberg in 2002.

Why does the Times neglect to mention that Cathie Black had a 17% approval rating before she resigned? I mean 17%?? They believe this is not relevant information?

Well, hopefully, the Times will address some of these things later in the piece, but from their previous ridiculously biased education “reporting”, I won’t be holding my breath. (I’ll probably continue reading and commenting in later posts.)

Borba The Boor

Posted on March 30, 2011 by lanelipton Standard Reply

Image by Candie_N via Flickr

On MSNBC, Michele Borba, “Educational Psychologist”, says teachers should be in the halls to herd kids into their classrooms. Well, how do you do all the things you are required to do like: write your Aim, Agenda, and Do Now instructions on the board, put your materials where they need to be (remember – most teachers do not have their own classrooms – they are coming into the classroom at the same time as the students), set up your overhead and/or unlock the calculators or set up any other equipment you’ll be using for the lesson, oh and also keep your eyes on the students who are inside the classroom (you are responsible for the students’ safety when they are in the classroom) – when you are STANDING OUT IN THE HALL?

Borba is completely illogical and she is either being disingenuous and simply spouting a party line that does not support teachers, or my guess is she couldn’t teach her way out of a paper bag.

Also, is it efficient and economically responsible to pay people who hold master’s degrees (and sometimes even doctorates) to act as hall monitors, when they have been hired to perform educational tasks – you know, like TEACHING?

Truth And Consequences

Posted on March 25, 2011 by lanelipton Standard Reply

Image via Wikipedia

McChrystal bane Michael Hastings tweets this to our attention: The Terrorist Consequences of the Libyan Intervention by Paul R. Pillar at The National Interest Blog

Excerpts:

…we should remember that anything done to Qaddafi is being done to someone who had given up terrorism.

…think about the lessons that will be drawn if someone who gave up not only terrorism but also his unconventional weapons programs in return for normal relations and acceptance in the international community is made a target for regime change. The lesson that the mullahs in Tehran and others will draw is that it would be useless to reach any agreement with the West about terrorism or nuclear weapons because the West is really interested above all in regime change and, regardless of any agreements that may have been reached, will seize the first opportunity that comes along to try to realize that goal.

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So, in other words, why would any current leaders work towards security and peace with the West; why bother with diplomacy when we’ll bomb them the first chance we get anyway? And why give up weapons of mass destruction when we ask, if we are just going to attack them after they do. This Libyan War, oh excuse me, I mean this Libyan Time-Limited, Scope-Limited Military Action (in White House-speak), may send exactly the wrong message about our trustworthiness as a partner and our ability to enact change through diplomacy, to those in power whom we would liked to have influenced.

Tweets XVI

Posted on March 20, 2011 by lanelipton Standard Reply

“
should be mandatory RT: @markknoller: Elected officials can’t know how bad the tax code is unless they fill out their own tax returns.

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