Affirmative Action in Education
05.28.12
After the monumental Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954 to desegregate schools, the country has seen a radical shift in the racial make-up of the educational system. The days of the Little Rock 9 may not seem prevalent in our discussion of the demographics in public education. However, as a generational …
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Personal Democracy Forum 2012
05.27.12
Sometimes, things just work out. This is one such story. First, some background: According to their website, Personal Democracy Forum (PdF) is “the world’s leading conference exploring and analyzing technology’s impact on politics and government”. The PdF was started back in 2004 by Andrew Rasiej and co-Founder Micah Sifry, and has had quite a history of speakers and ideas. It was …
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Greetings from www.FollowTheMoney.org!
05.24.12
Hello Bill Track 50 users, My name is Kevin McNellis and I am a researcher at the National Institute on Money in State Politics—the only organization that tracks campaign contributions to state-level candidates, political parties, and ballot measure campaigns in all 50 states. After running into the Bill Track 50 team at the Sunlight Foundation’s …
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Abortion Rights Under Attack
05.20.12
In response to the Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, an abundant amount of legislation on the topic of abortion has been presented – mostly in part to a concern that government on any level could potentially fund abortions either directly or indirectly through state insurance exchanges (effective Jan. 2014). A number of bills have …
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The Right to Online Privacy
05.16.12
“One thing should be clear, even though we live in a world in which we share personal information more freely than in the past, we must reject the conclusion that privacy is an outmoded value. It has been at the heart of our democracy from its inception, and we need it now more than ever.” …
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Does Same-Sex Marriage Threaten Religious Freedom?
05.10.12
(For an update about the Supreme Court decisions and 2013 legislation, see this new post) One peculiarity of the marriage equality debate is the fact that the most vocal opponents of laws legalizing same-sex marriage are the people who are arguably the least affected by them. It is easy to understand why some …
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“Peace Corps for Geeks”
05.10.12
I saw Jennifer Pahlka speak at SxSW about Code for America, which she founded in 2009. Here’s anther of her talks, this one for TED, which is well worth watching: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/lang///id/1381 She got me pretty excited about her ideas. She argued that the government should work more like the internet — permissionless, open, generative. Government as …
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National Smart Grid Starts at State Level
05.08.12
A national smart grid has been at the forefront of Barack Obama’s energy administration, yet it is still struggling to get through the state level. A smart grid replaces the traditional method of energy being transferred from the power station to residential homes and businesses. Instead of a meter on each individual home, the local …
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Fair Pay Laws Create Controversy at State and Federal Level
05.07.12
Election year provides a hot source of contention on a number of political issues. This year’s debate highlights have centered a lot on women, notably policies addressing the gender wage gap. According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2008, women make 77 cents on the male dollar as a national average. Many groups attribute the …
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