Violence Against Women Act Renewed

MoonHowler

 

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The Violence Against Women Act was renewed today.  The original bill was passed in 1994 but had expired in 2011.

Some details from Foxnews.com:

The bill renews a 1994 law that has set the standard for how to protect  women, and some men, from domestic abuse and prosecute abusers. Thursday’s  286-138 vote came after House lawmakers rejected a more limited approach offered  by Republicans.

It was the third time this year that House Speaker John Boehner has allowed  Democrats and moderates in his own party prevail over the GOP’s much larger  conservative wing. As with a Jan. 1 vote to avoid the fiscal cliff and  legislation to extend Superstorm Sandy aid, a majority of House Republicans  voted against the final anti-violence bill.

The law has been renewed twice before without controversy, but it lapsed in  2011 as it was caught up in the partisan battles that now divide Congress. Last  year, the House refused to go along with a Senate-passed bill that would have  made clear that lesbians, gays, immigrants and Native American women should have  equal access to Violence Against Women Act programs.

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Morris Davis: Is Honesty Really the Best Policy?

MoonHowler

Disclaimer: All guest posts are the opinion of the poster and do not necessarily represent the views of moonhowlings.net administration.

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Guest post:  Morris Davis

Is Honesty Really the Best Policy?

Honesty is the best policy” and “cheaters never win” are among the best known sayings of all times, but are they true? Reality shows that society’s reverence for these principles is betrayed by the fact that, all too often, it is the liars and cheaters we reward.

Jonah Lehrer was a bestselling author and a respected journalist until the summer of 2012 when the former Rhodes scholar and neuroscientist was shown to have engaged in a pattern of plagiarism and dishonesty. By early fall, the man who was once heralded as a prodigy had resigned from his post at the New Yorker, was reportedly terminated at Wired magazine, and the sale of his book Imagine was suspended.

Lehrer was paid $20,000 to speak at a Knight Foundation event in Miami earlier this month where he blamed his ethical lapses on his own arrogance, need for attention and ability to make excuses to himself for his conduct. The Knight Foundation, an organization that touts its commitment to “journalistic excellence”, issued an apology the next day, saying it “should not have put itself into a position tantamount to rewarding people who have violated the basic tenets of journalism”.

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Perpetuation of Racial Entitlement?

MoonHowler

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Yesterday, the Supreme Court revisited the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  Speaking of section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, during the proceedings  Antonin Scalia stated:

“I think it is attributable, very likely attributable, to a phenomenon that is called perpetuation of racial entitlement. It’s been written about. Whenever a society adopts racial entitlements, it is very difficult to get out of them through the normal political processes.”

The courtroom spectators  audibly gasped after he spoke.  His words set off a firestorm among political activists, especially those older ones, like Rep. John Lewis who had been involved in the original fight for voting equality in the 1960’s.

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