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Supreme Court to Weigh States' Rights vs. Voting Rights
At issue is Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires all or part of 16 states to get any changes to election law pre-approved by the feds.
When the Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday (February 27) in a direct challenge to a central part of the Voting Rights Act, it will once again wade into a decades-old dispute over voting rights that has its roots in the country's long history of racism.
But in asking whether a key part of the federal law is constitutional, the court also will reopen a debate that long predates the measure's enactment in 1965. It's an argument that was at the heart of the U.S. Civil War, and one that has seen resurgence in recent years as Republicans around the country bristle at what they perceive as meddling from Washington.
That debate is the battle over states' rights.
On its face, the challenge to the Voting Rights Act is about how state and local officials run elections. But states' rights have underpinned much of the opposition to the law since it was first enacted, and Wednesday's hearing will feature familiar arguments.
The issue is Section 5 of the law, which requires all or part of 16 states to get any changes to election law pre-approved by either the Justice Department or a federal court. That requirement, based on findings of discrimination and racism years ago, applies to most every aspect of elections, from technical changes to the high-profile issue of photo ID requirements that recently spawned court battles for states such as Texas and South Carolina. The challenge was brought by Shelby County, Alabama, and argues that the act's preclearance requirement is unconstitutional on its face, no matter how it's employed.
"Section 5's federalism cost is too great," the county argues plainly in its Supreme Court brief, pointing to a lack of evidence to justify what it sees as federal overreach.
The requirement was controversial from the beginning, in part because it gave the federal government extraordinary power over certain states. The measure was also intended to be temporary, which further motivates critics. Congress renewed it over the years (most recently in 2006) without major changes.
Outdated or Still Necessary?
But there's also new life in the case against Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act based on a seemingly simple argument: Times have changed. The Supreme Court acknowledged as much in a 2009 opinion that upheld the preclearance requirement but raised significant questions about its constitutionality.
"Things have changed in the South," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the 8-1 majority, listing increasing parity in turnout and diversity among elected officials as evidence of progress — much of which he attributed to the Voting Rights Act.
"Past success alone, however," he added, "is not adequate justification to retain the preclearance requirements."
So criticisms Wednesday will harken to old debates, but whether the discrimination and racism that prompted the requirements in the first place still exist today will play a central role.
For critics, the answer is simple. "Jim Crow was an aberration that took an extraordinary remedy," says Ilya Shapiro, a legal expert at the libertarian Cato Institute. "[This case is] not about denying people the right to vote or allowing states the leeway to do so."
There's evidence to bolster those claims. The blatant discrimination, from poll taxes to literacy tests, that was rampant decades ago is no longer a concern. Parity among white and non-white voters in areas under the preclearance requirement is also a sign of improvement, critics say.
But there are counterweights. Supporters point to the 15,000 pages of evidence Congress compiled showing lingering discrimination, the proportion of non-white officeholders in covered areas and turnout trends to make the case for renewing preclearance as it debated the act in 2006. There's also the practical effect of the preclearance requirement: From 1982 to 2006, one-fourth of proposed voting law changes were withdrawn from covered jurisdictions after the Justice Department simply requested more information, according to a Congressional report.
"It gives a sense of how many dogs did not bark as a result of the threat of a denial," Nathaniel Persily, a Columbia Law School professor, wrote in a 2007 paper on the Voting Rights Act.
Still, the progress is undisputed. And for supporters, that's left them with fewer violations to justify the measure and making the case that the requirements still are needed.
"Like any other law," Persily wrote, "Section 5's effectiveness should not be evaluated by the number of times it is broken."
Renewed Battles, Renewed Focus
Much of the force behind the renewed push against Section 5, though, comes from those who argue that the federal government, and the Justice Department in particular, are overly activist and discriminatory in their own right, because they treat states differently.
"When this law passed in '65 it was a five-year emergency. The Super Bowl didn't even exist when this law passed," says Christian Adams of the Election Law Center. "You have to ask the question: Is this much federal power justified under these circumstances?"
Perhaps aside from the current case, nowhere have those battles gained more attention than in the recent fights over voter ID that landed both South Carolina and Texas in court battling the Justice Department for the right to enact such laws. Those two states are among the 16 states that are entirely or partially covered by the preclearance requirement.
Each case shows how the Voting Rights Act works in practice, rather than just on paper.
After months of court battles and back-and-forth with the Justice Department, South Carolina eventually won the right to enact its voter ID requirement. But in the process, it was delayed until 2014, and its strict requirements were significantly loosened, an outcome voting rights activists said illustrated the still-relevant benefits of the law.
Texas, meanwhile, refused to adopt a similarly cooperative tack, and saw its law denied. In its ruling, a three-judge panel in the Washington, D.C. federal court faulted the state for its overly strict law and said it would "almost certainly have retrogressive effect" on minority voters.
Texas officials blasted the ruling as both an encroachment on their state's right to govern its elections and as discrimination since the Supreme Court has generally upheld voter ID requirements to be constitutional. The state has since issued a brief backing Shelby County's case against the law.
It's those disputes that voting rights advocates have been highlighting in advance of the Supreme Court arguments, sounding the alarm about the potential doom for the provision and calling the entire case an attack on voting rights. They point to typically Republican-backed provisions around the country on voter ID requirements, limiting early voting or other such barriers.
"There are still politicians who, perhaps it's not out of racial animus but perhaps it's because they're afraid certain populations will vote a certain way, look to manipulate voting laws," says Spencer Overton, an election law expert at George Washington University.
The prospect of going on without Section 5's bulwark of federal power worries advocates. Any election law can be challenged, but preclearance is a particularly powerful tool.
"Recent developments, and especially these new obstacles to voting, make the Voting Rights Act more important than it might have seemed even a decade ago," Daniel Tokaji, a law professor at Ohio State University. "We've seen pretty blatant attempts in some states to impose new barriers to voting."
And even as the Supreme Court weighs the case before it, there's little sign the dispute is diminishing elsewhere.
Just last week, the Virginia General Assembly approved a strict voter ID requirement that opponents have vowed to fight in court. For the time being, they can take comfort in the fact that it won't take effect until the state proves it wouldn't negatively affect voters. That's because Virginia is one of the states covered by the preclearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act – at least for now.
We invite you to discuss and comment on this article using social media.


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Photos By: Jeremy Alan Glover
With the season at the half-way point it is becoming a real dogfight for the top spot. With Ontario Pat Cyr taking top spot in his privateer Corolla GT-S, the top points are still in the hands of Marc Landreville. Landreville is also one of the more underrated drivers making a statement in his Overdosed Performance S13 in the trademark pink.
Pat Cyr was able to clinch yet another win at DMCC: Round 3 held at the beautiful Circuit Icar in Montreal. The technical course is perfectly smooth for long sustained sliding and is a highlight for drivers an fans being only 30 minutes outside downtown Montreal. As we head into Round 4, in Toronto the 1-2-3 sport are separated by only 55 points making for some stiff competition!

subset: commoncrawl


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A Mersenne prime (M) is a prime number of the form M = 2^p - 1, where p is another prime number. Problem 525 asks the user to determine if a number is a Mersenne prime. In this problem, you are tasked with returning the number of primes numbers below the input number, n, that are Mersenne primes and the fraction of all primes below that input number that the Mersenne primes represent.
For example, for n = 100, there are 25 primes numbers: 2, 3, 5, 7, ..., 89, 97. As far as Mersenne primes go, there are only three that are less than 100: 2^2 - 1 = 3, 2^3 - 1 = 7, and 2^5 - 1 = 31. The corresponding fraction would be 3/25.
Hello Grant,
I don't know if it's a lot of work but it could be a good idea to add a Prime Numbers group 2 with more difficult problems. I think about beautiful Ned's problems (primes ladders, Longest prime diagonal, Twins in a window ...).
My logic is right but test cases are very hude numbers.... failed to evaluate...
You need to learn to avoid loops. You can use isprime on an array. In any case, your logic is wrong. You never test that b is prime.
As Guillaume pointed out, this solution doesn't test if the numbers in b are Mersenne primes, simply if they're less than 2^n-1, which is not the right criterion. Further, you concatenate the index of the loop (j, which goes from 1 to 1...), rather than a Mersenne prime to b.
Also, this problem is designed, as many of James's problems are, to fail by timeout unless vectorized solutions are used.
i have corrected the logic but plz can u tell me smthing about vectorized solutions...
u can also mail me on email@example.com
some tips: http://nl.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_prog/techniques-for-improving-performance.html
middleAsColumn: Return all but first and last element as a column vector
393 Solvers
317 Solvers
225 Solvers
470 Solvers
Given a square and a circle, please decide whether the square covers more area.
228 Solvers


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I just found out about Society6 and I wanted to make sure you guys knew about it too!
Society6 is teaming up with companies to provide grants for creative people! Want a feature in Faesthetic Magazine? $1000 from New Venture Studios? How about the opportunity to have your work promoted by youworkforthem? Take a peek at their grants section!


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Welcome to Asia Pacific ICS Security Summit
- 2 courses
- 1 instructors
- 1 disciplines
Click here to view the summit agenda.
The Asia Pacific ICS Security Summit will be held in Singapore at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel on December 2-3, 2013, with in-depth, hands-on post technical courses on December 4-8.
The Summit brings together the program managers, control systems engineers, IT security professionals and critical infrastructure protection specialists from asset owning and operating organizations along with control systems and security vendors who have innovative solutions for improving security. Along with government and research leaders, they are coming together to learn and discuss the newest and most challenging cyber security risks to control systems and the most effective defenses. The Security Summit is an action conference designed so that every attendee leaves with new tools and techniques they can put to work immediately when they return to their office.
The Summit is the place to come and interact with top SCADA experts, key government personnel, researchers and asset owners at the multiple special networking events.
In addition to the Summit, you will be able to attend technical courses led by the top SCADA experts that will provide a deep dive into how to combat the Advanced Persistent Threat.
Call For Papers
For presentation guidelines and submittal instructions please visit http://www.sans.org/industrial-control-systems/call-for-papers/.
Benefits you will gain from attending:
- Gain the most current information regarding SCADA and Control System threats and learn how to best prepare to defend against them.
- Hear what works and what doesn't work from peer organizations.
- Network with the top individuals in the field of SCADA Security
- Leave the Summit with solutions that you can immediately put to use in your organization
What Will You Learn & Who Should Attend?
- Learn the most critical security challenges in implementing smart meters and smart grid. Learn what the US is doing with its $4.8 billion in Smart Grid funding to ensure these systems do not create new risks.
Plant Managers, Engineering and Operations Management, Project Managers, Automation and Control Managers, Process Control and SCADA Engineers, Plant Engineers
- Learn the lessons discovered by leading process control user organizations throughout the world, and what your process control vendor may be doing to boost the defenses on systems already deployed, and on new systems.
- Information Security and IT Professionals in Organizations that Deploy Industrial Control Systems
- Learn why control systems are so difficult to protect and arm yourself with clear case studies showing what has been done and what can be done to protect SCADA and other control systems. Learn the language of control systems so you can be of more help to the engineers who plan and deploy such systems. Control System Vendor Developers and Integrators
- Understand the requirements and constraints faced by owners and operators of automation systems. Determine the state of the art in control system security as a benchmark for your own future planning.
Government Leaders Responsible for Policy and Regulation of Utilities and Other Process Control Users
- Better understand what government can and cannot do by learning the requirements, constraints, and current capabilities available to secure critical control systems.
Academic and Research Laboratory Leaders
Determine the most challenging and important questions that will shape your process control security research agendas.
Available Courses
|ICS410: ICS/SCADA Security Essentials
Dr. Eric Cole
|Asia Pacific ICS Security Summit


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HUNTERSVILLE � Carl Edwards scrolled across a stage at Joe Gibbs Racing and jokingly yelled, 'Surprise!'
There was no surprise whatsoever about his formal introduction Tuesday as a fourth driver in the JGR Sprint Cup lineup. The move had been expected since at least May and intensified last month when Roush Fenway Racing said Edwards was not returning in 2015.
Edwards, who has driven for Roush for 12 years, will join a new fourth Toyota team for Gibbs next season. The No. 19 will be sponsored by Arris, a telecommunications company, in 17 of the races.
JGR has been at three cars since 2005 and has held off expanding to the NASCAR-maximum of four full-time entries.
"We felt like if we could get Carl, and we could get another sponsor, that this was the right time," Gibbs said.
Edwards had been through a high-profile free agency once before, in 2011 when he was in the thick of the championship hunt. He ultimately spurned JGR in that bidding process to sign an extension with Roush, and although the negotiations were never a distraction, Edwards lost the title that year to Tony Stewart on a tie-breaker.
Edwards hasn't been a title threat since. He went winless in 2012 and missed the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, and although he made two trips to Victory Lane last season, he finished last in the 13-driver Chase field.
Edwards is currently ninth in the Cup standings with two wins. The Chase begins next month, and he said he's determined to close out his Roush tenure with a championship for the No. 99 team. But when the season is over, his focus will quickly turn to JGR, where he saw an opportunity for stability and consistency as a teammate to Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth.
"Sometimes you've just got to shake things up, you've got to do things differently," Edwards said. "When an opportunity like this comes up and the all the pieces come together this perfectly, for me, I didn't want to look back and wonder what that would have been like. I wanted to take the opportunity and go see what I could make of it."
Edwards will be reunited with Kenseth, who was his teammate at Roush for nine seasons and had a frosty relationship that went public in 2007 when Edwards confronted Kenseth after a race at Martinsville.
Kenseth moved to JGR last season, won a series-high seven races and finished second in the championship race. Gibbs said Kenseth is the first person the organization consulted when it entered the bidding for Edwards.
"Matt was awesome, he said, 'this guy, you get him over here, he's going to win races. He'll be a good teammate and he's really, really good with sponsors,' " Gibbs said. "So Matt was the first person we talked to, and then we went to Denny and we went to Kyle. Because it is teamwork. This sport is unusual because you have to work together to get better, to get more information, to have more input on the weekend. We think this is the right combination for us."
Kenseth said the history between he and Edwards is overblown, and much has changed since 2007. Edwards has gotten married and the two drivers have had five children between them.
"Carl and I get along fine," he said. "That relationship has changed a lot through the years. Him having kids the same age as my kids, and playing together, has probably made us more friends and made us do things together. I think it will be a good mix, I really do."
Edwards said he's changed as a person since he first entered NASCAR and is focused on being an asset at JGR.
"I have learned a lot about how to be a good teammate. Admittedly, I was not the best teammate at the beginning of my career," he said. "I felt I had a lot of the 'every man for himself' attitude, and wanting to prove myself regardless of any damage to the relationships.
"I really value my teammates now. I'm going to do everything I can to be the best teammate I can be, to contribute to the group so that overall we can be better. When I look around at who does well in the sport, it seems the people who do that well succeed."
JGR also announced Tuesday that Daniel Suarez will run a full Nationwide Series program and part-time Truck Series schedule 2015. The truck entry will be fielded by Kyle Busch Motorsports. Suarez becomes the first full-time Mexican driver in NASCAR.
JGR is also launching a diversity initiative along with Escuderia Telmex, which is led by Carlos Slim, one of the richest people in the world, to give Mexican and Latin American drivers opportunities in the NASCAR Toyota Series in Mexico.


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The Dark Side of Geek Feminism
I would like to start this post by apologizing to my regular readers for the spotty posts over the past month or so. I received a couple of comments that really took the wind out of my sails with their vicious and incredibly personal attacks. That, combined with some health issues, left me feeling slightly depressed and lacking the necessary motivation to write. I promise that this won't happen again, dear readers. There were a few bright and shining moments during this period, not the least of which was Boyfriend's proposal. He'll be referred to as Fiance from now until our wedding, which we are planning for next summer.
I had the pleasure of attending the Open Source Convention earlier this month in Portland, OR. As a consumer of Open Source software (I recently ditched Windows for Ubuntu), it was a great place to learn more about the various platforms and open source initiatives, and give my yearly contribution to the EFF. For those of you who are unaware, there is a huge geek feminism community.
While I applaud their efforts for equal treatment at conventions and in their workplaces, both I and my dear friend Nixie Pixel were, unfortunately, on the receiving end of some interesting attention from the feminists (both male and female) at OSCON.
I attended OSCON for the first time last year, and had some experiences that almost completely turned me off of the idea of attending this year. I was criticized to my face for wearing low necklines and skirts of a short-yet-modest length, and told that I was "sexualizing" the conference through my attire. I was lambasted for my honest answer ("I'm here with my boyfriend.") when I was asked about my reasoning for attending, and even told that I should lie about why I was attending OSCON instead of "undermining" the feminist community. I started the conference last year with an eagerness to learn more about open source software, and I left the conference feeling unsure about whether or not I wanted to attend again in 2012.
I am glad that I chose to attend again this year, and glad that I had those experiences under my belt, as I came armed with the tools and language to counteract these same accusations, directed at one of my closest friends. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Nixie Pixel, she works with Revision 3 and does a weekly video about various open source platforms. To put it bluntly, she knows her shit when it comes to open source, and she is relatively famous for being an attractive woman who earns money by sharing that knowledge.
Yet even her considerable chops were not enough to prevent her from being harassed. In two instances, she was completely marginalized by male members of the geek feminism community, who (essentially) said that due to her sexy and flirty persona, there was no way that she was serious about open source software. She was snubbed by some of the female attendees, and I overheard whispers of annoyance about her flirtatiousness and yes, her low cut shirts and the dresses she was wearing at the conference. In solidarity, I wore a red dress, high heels, and red lipstick to the expo hall and after-hours events the next day. I was armed with words like "body policing" and "slut shaming", but apparently, I was also armed with a "go ahead, I dare you" look on my face as well. No one accused me of sexualizing the conference this time around, but Nixie was certainly on the receiving end of the uglier side of feminism.
Has feminism really reached a point where we create demons when none are present? Have we reached a point where the mere idea of sexiness, of owning one's own sexuality, is threatening? Or is this just a case of NIMBY-ism for the feminist Open Source community?
When you take one look at a person, and decide to openly judge them on that first impression, you do yourself a disservice. When you do this at a conference or as a member of a particular community, you create the illusion that your entire community is judgmental. Don't be that guy, or girl.
[Edit: Wow, this post seems to have kicked the proverbial hornet's nest! Click here for my follow-up blog.]
Posted on July 30, 2012, in Feminism, Personal Stories and tagged bad situations, politics, Sex, society, women. Bookmark the permalink. 73 Comments.
Thank you for mentioning the attention you have received from *both* aisles of the geek feminism issue. As a female in tech I have repeatedly been taken to task for "not being feminist enough" or for having the audacity to say that I honestly have never yet had an experience in my life where being a female has worked against me in the tech industry.
While I deeply respect their overall missions, it's this sort of treatment from people who are members (and sometimes board members) of Ada Initiative or Geek Feminism which makes me avoid contact with the female geeks at events like OSCON (which I attended).
There are Activists (with a capital A) and then there are people who respect the mission and work toward it in their own way, usually by example rather than by confrontation. Until the activists understand this they're just going to continue pushing away the rest of us and damaging their cause.
Also: you totally rocked that dress and heels. Self-confidence goes far toward warding off trolls. Illegitimi non carborundum, ma'am.
We are very concerned about the harassment described in the original post. The Ada Initiative does not condone harassing women about their appearance for any reason. We believe that women should be treated with respect no matter what they are wearing, or how they look. In fact, many of our advisors dress in a way similar to that described in this post, as do our directors.
We don't control members of Geek Feminism, but we will review the example anti-harassment policy used as a source for many conference policies and see if we can make this point more clearly, since it isn't obvious to some people that criticizing women on their appearance is also harassment.
This comment says that members and board members of the Ada Initiative have engaged in similar behavior at OSCON and conferences like it. Could you be more specific about what this behavior was and who was doing it so we can address this inside our organization? Note that the Ada Initiative does not have members, only a board of directors and a board of advisors.
You are welcome to email me privately at valerie at adainitiative dot org with a guarantee of anonymity if you'd prefer not to report this publicly. I have personally not been to OSCON for several years, so I'm unlikely to be the person who behaved in this manner. You can also email another person you trust on our 20 person advisors board asking for anonymity.
Thanks for letting us know about this behavior and I hope we can get more details so we can address this.
this saddens me that people are being so rude and acting fairly immature about something like this. i love watching nixie talk about opensource and linux and such i've learned a lot from her and feel without her i would still be stuck with nothing but windows and my blue screens of death. i wish people would stop judging a book by its cover and actually try to take the time to read the story in the book and get to know the book.
to be honest i've noticed she's beautiful but i actually sat there and watch the videos to learn more about what i could do with my computer with out having to cut of a limb and another thing.. i've actually never noticed any of the attire she wears unless it has some cool game on it. attire is not important. nor is skin beauty it's whats in the book.
Eh, you find ass's everywhere. The best you can do is laugh at them. Don't even try talking to them, just laugh, and walk away.
I've heard a lot about harassment and general anti-feminism at tech conferences, and was really hoping not to experience any at OSCon (the first major conference I've attended). Unfortunately, shortly after I went into the expo hall on the first day, I heard an exhibitor tell a joke he was perfectly aware was inappropriate — to the point where he looked around and said "I'd better make sure there aren't any girls around before I tell this." So not only are their "modern" forms of sexism at conferences, the old school ones are still alive and healthy.
OSCON has a anti-harassment policy did you or your companion report the behavior to any staff?
your friend is obviously doing very well because women tend to (in my experience as a female engineer) point barbs at those that are better than them in something; so she's obviously doing something right 😉
however, the fact that females that do well in any industry get harrassed by other females is what bothers me the most. The Tech industry is not the only industry with this sort of behavior and women should not have to feel well-equipped to handle harassment (not that we can't just that it's stupid to have to defend what you're wearing or how you're acting).
women are the worst critics of each other, I think it's the reason i love working with Engineers: mostly men who tend to have a hard time communicating, and the majority of the women don't have a lot of time to care (at least in school, i've only just started my journey into the industry) or want to waste the brain power on it.
on another note this is something i battle with a lot. I wonder what is appropriate for a female engineer to wear to work, luckily i have a female, engineering mentor at work which helps me a lot ;).
This is exactly the sort of thing which makes me hate any sort of single-purpose community – they're so specific in their goals that it ends out being bad for nearly everyone. On the other hand, you can't easily rally people around the idea of not being dicks 😦
Lol. Don't worry. Just envy for stealing attention. Geek women get quite a lot of attention because there are few. This makes them quite aggressive when they loose attention 😀
There are boys who will simply do anything for a beautiful girl, providing a "quality of service" they wouldn't dedicate even to their bosses. Maybe i'm one of those, but i'll certainly rationalize it away. In fact, it's probably impossible to the "victim" of this to even be aware that he is being "exploited". And most of the time these girls aren't aware of how exploitative their appearances are, either.
What i'm trying to say is that this anti-sexualizing thing might be just an overreaction to a gender-game that is unfair in the opposite direction (women on top, so to say).
Not that i agree with any of that. In fact, your post has "clicked" with me, i'm mostly a self-identified male feminist who would certainly have the same kind of gut-reaction to a too-well-dressed girl in "nerd spaces", but i also feel this kind of reaction spoils the whole feminist thing, turning it into an ideological agenda that is too biased to escape it's own niche. (If this is even making sense…)
I just wanted to say that, even though i agree, this things are really really complicated. Like this http://xkcd.com/592/ 😉
Hello Nice Girl,
Excellent post! I have a few things to say, some of which you may disagree with, but I want to open by saying I support you and thank you for bringing the "my feminism isn't good enough" debate to the floor.
First and foremost, I am *appalled* that someone told you to lie and not say that you were at OSCON 2011 with your boyfriend. If it wasn't for my ex-boyfriend, the sys admin, asking me to change songs on the music player one evening, I might still have no idea what open source is – when I saw this strange looking foot thingy on his screen saver I was like "um, what the heck is this" … "That's GNOME." … "What's GNOME?" …. queue explanation of GNOME and FOSS. Had I not had that intro, I likely would never have found the EFF, Creative Commons or the host of other resources that eventually led to me being well-versed enough to be hired into a junior role in Google's Open Source Programs Office. The rest, as they say, is history.
Furthermore, this advice is bad form for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the importance of trust and reputation in the open source community. What were you supposed to do once you'd gotten more enmeshed in the community when talking about your start? Keep lying? Finally fess up and say you learned about it from your partner? If I were in a situation where you later admitted you'd been fibbing to keep up appearances, I'd wonder if that was a gentle misstep or if I should trust you less. I'd also wonder if that meant you thought I should be ashamed of how how I got my start in FOSS. Neither outcome is conducive to your success nor us having a productive, reputation based dialogue. Not OK.
On the question of what is appropriate garb at conferences …. This one is tough. Fundamentally, I believe no one ought to tell you what to do or what to wear. If you like to dress "sexy," more power to you. However, I do encourage you to consider this question – do you want to make a point or do you want to win?
To make it clear what I mean by this – I feel most comfortable in geek t-shirts and jeans. However, I'm now in my mid-30s and that garb no longer cuts the mustard in professional environments, particularly if I'm meeting with execs. I *should* have the right to wear exactly what I please – and I do – but I'm not necessarily supporting my desired outcome – my ability to persuade my audience – if I'm not dressed in the manner they expect.
I'd like to make the point that my aptitude has got fsk all to do with what I am wearing, but I want to win – persuade my audience – that much more. If this means I need to wear slacks and a pretty blouse instead of some other garb, so be it. That's what I am going to do.
At conferences, I'd assume "winning" for you means networking, finding people to help you with your projects and finding people who'd like your help with their projects. Given that the debate around women and tech can become quite volatile at times, being conservative in your sense of dress may be helpful to you in your quest. Yes, it sucks, but some people aren't going to like to see you at a conference wearing "sexy" clothes, and those people may be future collaborators or employers, none of whom would likely give two hoots about your sense of dress outside of the conference. In fact, they would likely not give two hoots about your sense of dress at the conference if they already knew you, but they don't. You're there to meet new people, right?
I don't mean to pretend that this issue is not complex. At OSCON this year, I had a very good friend (engineer and former co-worker) come up to me and tell me how healthy I looked and how moving to Oregon must have been so good for me since I "look[ed] so different and ….[was] wearing a dress." I've lost about 90 pounds since he saw me last, so yes I looked different. But the second most obvious sign that I am happy and healthy? I'd adopted traditional female garb. Ugh. This person is kind, woman positive and someone I'd have no qualms about sharing drinks or a meal with, but he basically reinforced the notion that women need to look like women to be well received. Sigh. Really?
Let's not even get into the fact that if I show up at conference not dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, I am automatically the stupid marketing chick. Sigh. Really?
Yours in damned if you do, damned if you don't-ness,
I'm an electrical engineer, i get the most interesting looks and answers when I dress up and then tell men or women such. Across the board men and women get a this weird look, then they're either trying to one up me, think i'm some super genius (which i am definitely not and never thought i have or am smarter than anyone just because i can do something someone can't), and a few have said i'm lying.
Wait a second.
Someone tell me how these "geek feminists" are any different from plain old sexists if they resort to this kind of behavior.
"I was criticized to my face for wearing low necklines and skirts of a short-yet-modest length, and told that I was 'sexualizing' the conference through my attire. I was lambasted for my honest answer ('I'm here with my boyfriend.') when I was asked about my reasoning for attending, and even told that I should lie about why I was attending OSCON instead of "undermining" the feminist community."
Switch "you're sexualizing the event" and "you're undermining the feminist community" here for the usual sexist remarks, and the end result is exactly the same. A lady interested in the convention, being shunned by the rest of the convention-goers because she's a girl. It's exactly the same thing.
"In two instances, she was completely marginalized by male members of the geek feminism community, who (essentially) said that due to her sexy and flirty persona, there was no way that she was serious about open source software."
What part of these people is a feminist, I ask? They're just a bunch of dudes saying "bitch go back to the kitchen". Are they -that- hypocritical, or do they just lack the gray cells to realize what they're doing?
If anything, they're the ones undermining their own movement (that is, if any part of them is actually honest about that being -their own movement-, of course) by acting just like the ones they (supposedly) hate.
My question is: Is he a Fancy Fiance?
You're not free unless you're free to wear pink. And isn't the goal of feminism to free women to make their own choices, not to free them to live by other feminists' choices?
I attended OSCON this year and last year and some other years. I'm a geek and a feminist, and I've contributed to the Geek Feminism blog and wiki. I'm also an Ada Advisor.
I honestly can't imagine anyone I know doing the things mentioned in this blog or in the early comment Val responded to. But that isn't to say it didn't happen. I've heard women criticise other women when they state that they've never had any trouble in IT for being a woman. Claiming that clearly the woman doesn't understand what has happened to her etc. I attempt to always be quick to defend. We are the only gatekeepers of our experiences.
I'm sorry you had such a terrible experience your first year and that your friend did this year. We didn't meet, I think, but I'd probably have smiled at red lipstick and dress and thought about a dear friend of mine at home who wears similarly.
With so few geeky women at OSCON it saddens me that you found some being idiots. Good luck with Ubuntu and I hope you return.
Nice Girl: Re: "The internet lynch mob that it inevitably creates can haunt a person for years," I want to make sure I understand: are you saying that posting the name of someone who behaved badly on the Internet is like extrajudicially murdering an innocent black man?
Your history lesson, while adorably seeking to offend, is incorrect. The term Lynch mob came from the Lynch law, which had everything to do with British Loyalists.
So technically, she's comparing someone who behaved badly on the Internet to the British.
Sometimes you really are at an event with your boyfriend/husband/whatever. We are both in tech, but thankfully our interests don't perfectly align. We aren't carbon copies of each other, and we work for different companies.
And what to wear, always such a dilemma! Anything non-comfortable and you're a sex toy or in marketing.
Thank you so much for sharing this. It must have been hard to process the disappointment enough to write so eloquently and factually. This has been my whole experience with feminists. I believe in equality and the right to choose for myself how I live my life with respect to other people – to me, this is the spirit of feminism, and it's so disappointing to run into a feminist who decides that "just being me" isn't good enough because I'm a girl. Ironic, huh?
When all my clients for various social networks are filled with numerous posts about feminism and about feminism failing, something is really going on. A few weeks ago there was a lot of fuss about Pycon and now OSCON.
After reading various blog posts, wiki pages, and other whatnots I've come to the conclusion that (geek) feminism fails when (geek) feminists are telling other women how to behave, how to act and how to present themselves.
It really is starting to feel like (geek) feminism is more a religion than a movement. Fanatical religion
Why is it wrong? Because I've never heard an asian telling other asians that they are too asian.
"Zhang Wei, you will eat beef steak and potatoes, not chop suey. You behave like you're from China!" (add some heavy chinese accent for the dramatic effect)
And it seems that the whole society is failing and we are getting to the point where everyone will live in one of many minorities and no contact with eachother. Because when you will say something about the other minority you'll be politically incorrect and should know when to shut up. On the other side, if you'll say anything about your own minority you'll be too-*something* and should also know better.
Sometimes a dress is simply a dress and a joke is simply a joke.
And now excuse me, I have to go to work and I'll be wearing my riding breeches to the office, because I can and because I have a riding lesson after work. So much about being masculine … 😉
Wow, a total of five different(?) commenters decided to come out and say how NiceGirl should have reported the behavior to the organizers — and by omitting words like "also" silently implied that she should have NOT blogged about the issue.
That's just BS. What you did here, NiceGirl, was the best possible thing that you could have done. The most effective way to combat toxic behavior like this is to raise public awareness.
Discreetly going after offenders one by one like suggested might make the offender to rethink their ways, but will not change the ways of the bigger crown who'll say the same things about you to everyone but you. Going after the offenders not-so-discreetly by publicly naming them is even worse, as it permanently ruins people lives.
Instead of seeking justice by going after some named persons who said those stupid things to you and Nixie, you were decide to be bigger than that, and with any luck made some people who've expressed such thoughts see some error in their ways, and you made people who've received similar comments know that they're not alone nor wrong.
Father of two daughters here. 23 and 25 y/o. Thank you for posting this. This sounds like PC bullying at its worst. Just an updated version of gently chiding a woman for wearing a dress without hose.
It's more subtle and twisty than that. People tend to have a mental allergic reaction when they encounter somebody they could identify with doing something that they wouldn't personally do. Some of these people then feel a need to stop other people from doing things that they wouldn't personally do. It's far from common, but there's always a few of these "behavioral imperialists" around, and there's nothing about geek communities that resists or discourages that sort of thing.
Simultaneously, the idea that the group is represented by its lowest common denominator is wrong. Because only a couple of people out of thousands bothered to say anything, there's a tendency to assume that the thousands of silent people somehow agree with them. They don't: mostly they said nothing because they don't think what you're wearing is a subject important enough to comment on. It is unfair for you to elect the minority as representatives of the community, and it's just as wrong to think that the community should somehow control the behavior of the minority (that's just leading back to the same "behavioral imperialism" thinking).
It's very important to keep these ideas firmly in mind when dealing with any open and inclusive community, because that community will inevitably include annoying and insane people. Many people react by saying some variation on "let's tackle this by making the community stop being open and inclusive" without really thinking about what they're proposing.
The only good solution that I'm aware of is for more people to understand where the minority is coming from and accept their presence as a legitimate minority view.
What ever happened to: "I am who I am, and I can do whatever I want, and wear whatever I want" People just like to be @$$holes
I'm not sure if you actually get to read the "5k" comments above me but, in first place that tells you DO got an audience and you DO got credibility from the people out there including me obviously. Second, it sucks to be devaluated and therefore judged in this case for your "appearance". Well, let me tell you something you are not alon;, it happens to me quite frequently. I have an accent, and because of that is seems kinda difficult to people here in FL to either accept or believe I work where i work…do what i do,…… know what i Know and been in so many places that most people couldn't imagine. Regardless of this, I thinks RESPECT comes first and that was the very first thing those two particular people forgot when approaching you. PLEASE, just keep doing the great job you are doing and keep of course your chin up. (yeah yeah yeah…..boobs and everything too dont get me wrong lol)…..im just saying.
I'm sorry that you've had to go through such stupidity. People have forgotten what feminism really is. (The doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men. ) Has nothing to do with how you look. In fact, by hiding being a woman your actually, in a way, going against "feminism", so tell them that next time they give you shit for wearing heels. 🙂
I can't see how anyone could legitimately call themselves feminist & slut-shame another person. They are to feminism as the Chinese government is to communism – claiming the name yet doing exactly what they claim to be against.
Kudos for being you and for having the courage to confront bullies!
People who criticized your appearance, and Nixie's, had low self-esteem and were seriously disconnected from being able to fully express themselves.
Their weak attempt at censoring means that they have serious personal growth issues to work on, and they deny you the right to express yourself because they've denied their own self-expression.
Be you and enjoy who you are. Eventually, these people will learn from you and come out of their shells.
ps. I am a heterosexual male geek, and believe it's time to have female energy to balance out the woefully inadequate patriarchal society in many cultures.
Ugh, I hate that this happens.
I was also there, and I remember you. I set next to you briefly at the Women's Meetup Table (I think that was the day I was wearing my cute grey hat and FreeBSD horns?) It was definitely a feminine outfit, but wasn't, in my recollection, inappropriate in any way.
Retards like that need to justify why they come to geek conventions at all:
You and Nixie already out-rank anyone dumb enough to come spouting that kind of rubbish.
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text:
Is the long wide angle bellows still available? If so I call dibs. Send me a PM and I will give you shipping details and arrange payment.Kind regards,Jason Berge.
Hi, I have a 680 GX II, and would like to know if there's such a thing as a battery pack using AA or other standard batteries for it please. Thanks, Jothiratnam (firstname.lastname@example.com)
Isn't there something in this forum about "price policing" Sure he says that now, but didn't stop Thomas Abbott from contacting me 12 times for 3 separate items, from June 19, 2011 to Aug 17, 2012, each time trying to jab me, try to make me look bad, complaining about my prices. Each time trying to talk me down in a very unpleasant manner, and leaving bitter that he didn't succeed. Even after the following response from me , when I had enough of him, "Take it or leave it. I can't stand lowballers or tirekickers and don't have time for games. Do your homework."....they guy comes back trying for another sale of something else.I was asking $800 for a 50mm f5.6 (one of the most expensive lenses in the lineup...I paid almost $4k for that one new), and he comes back at $550 saying he can't locate one at the price I am asking. Yes, because the only one available at that time was on ebay for fixed price and sold at $1020. I even send the guy the item #. Told him that he should learn how to use ebay recent sale search. No response. After that, he hunts down interactions I am doing, and hijacks the thread with examples of lower prices. Yeah, is that what LL is about? I thought people like that where frowned upon. Can you say BITTER? GRUDGE?All items Thomas Abbott was interested were sold at asking price to very happy customers around the world. Now people like that come out of the woodwork, bitter that they didn't get "the deal" they were hoping for. Nice community! Glad that these are your representatives.....if they aren't, then let them know to stay out of other people's business.


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MIDLAND CITY, AL — A standoff between police and a man holding a 5-year-old boy hostage is now in its second full day near Midland City, Alabama. Authorities say a retired truck driver grabbed the kindergartner off a school bus after shooting and killing the driver Tuesday afternoon.
The boy, Ethan, who turns 6 in a few weeks, remains captive in an underground bunker on his abductor's property. The man holding him hostage has been identified as 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes.
Investigators say he boarded the stopped school bus and demanded that a few random children come with him. The bus driver, 66-year-old Charles Poland Junior blocked his way refusing to let any children go.
Dykes then shot Poland several times, killing him. Dykes then grabbed Ethan, who may have fainted, and took him to his property.
Neighbors describe Dykes as an anti-government loner and survivalist. He had been scheduled to appear in court Wednesday to face a charge of menacing neighbors with a gun as they drove by his house.
Investigators describe the situation as a "waiting game", noting that Dykes has spent several days in his bunker in the past.


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I have always believed in keeping spares for everything within reason including dish actuators but what I would like to know is why do these idiots that advertise actuators worth peanuts for thousands of dollars. What gives?
Another Actuator.
It also seems that 36 Inch actuators are non existent anymore as all I can see on ebay now are 24 inch models. Years ago I was using 48 inch actuator on my 4.2M dish which gave me a good arc from around 95 Deg East to 180 Deg east. My 36 inch Actuator on my 2.3M (pivot point closer to the center)dish gives me
an arc from Asiasat 5 at 100.5 Deg east to Intelsat 18 at 180 deg east.


text: I don't know if this works, but if you have issues with Android killing Lux on Android 4.1+ and don't want the persistent notification, long press the notification and click the 'App Info' button. There should be a checkbox to disable notifications. I think that still retains the persistence. Would love to hear feedback.


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The title pretty much explains itself, but which sport do you consider to be your personal favourite, whether it be an outside or inside sport?
As for me, my favourite sport has always been Tennis. It's the only sport I have been able to never grow weary of throughout time, unlike sports like Soccer, and I have always favoured it over any other.


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Tenn. Republicans Pass 21st Century Poll TaxThursday, April 14th, 2011
Republicans in the Volunteer State said today loudly and of nearly one accord: Beware of sneaky senior citizens and their sneaky voting.
On Thursday Republicans in the state House approved a bill that forces voters to show photo identification at the poll — instead of just being able to show your voter registration.
Democrats in the House, and Senate prior to Thursday, tried their best to improve this bill so it wouldn't be such an affront to seniors' and others' right to vote. But Republicans were not interested in protecting the voting rights of Tennessee seniors.
They went ahead and passed a modern day poll tax that requires you to pay the state for an ID card before you can vote. This bill will discourage voting — especially among groups of people who are poor, elderly and indigent.
It puts another hurdle between citizens and the ballot box and is probably unconstitutional, according to our state Attorney General.
Offering a solution to which there is no problem (and making the situation worse for everybody) is a condition that plagues this Republican-led General Assembly.
Jeff Woods at The City Paper has the details:
Democrats contended the bill is intended to make it harder for their traditional constituencies to vote, disenfranchising poor, elderly and minority voters who may not have photo IDs.
They pointed to a formal opinion state Attorney General Bob Cooper issued this week. Because the legislation includes no provision to pay for photo IDs for voters who don't have them, Cooper said the requirement "unduly burdens the right to vote" and "constitutes a poll tax," a fee making voting uneconomical for poor people.
"Our oath, of course ladies and gentlemen, prevents us from voting on a bill that is unconstitutional," House Democratic leader Craig Fitzhugh of Ripley told the House. …
Democrats offered amendments to make the photo IDs free of charge or to waive the requirement for the elderly and others.
"We've made it from the days of Andrew Jackson to today in Tennessee electing people without having to show a photo ID," Rep. Mike Stewart, D-Nashville, said. "I've looked around to see if there's any evidence of widespread fraud by seniors in elections. I haven't found any. No one so far in this debate has shown any evidence of any need to change the system we now have in place."


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Daniel Hooper has just one question for Apple and that is, if the iPad is the pioneer of the post-PC world, then why does editing text on it suck so much? Rather than complain about it, he came up with an idea that speeds up typing and editing.
This simple fix would make typing on iPad so much more pleasant.
Hooper explains that typing with the iPad's default virtual keyboard is a nightmare (there's also a split keyboard now). He's right. If you want to edit a word, you have to tap the word, then bring up the magnifying glass to move the cursor to where you want it to be, then make your edit.
U.S. & World
The flaw, Hooper notes is that the iPad's soft keyboard doesn't have arrow keys for fast cursor hopping. You can use any Bluetooth keyboard to get around this, but by default, moving your cursor around is a painful chore.
Hooper's solution is to use a single finger drag gesture to move the cursor, a double finger drag to move faster and then a double finger drag plus holding the Shift key to select text.
It's elegant, smart, very intuitive and we like it a lot. If only it were real. Hooper's rallying people to convince Apple that this is a good feature to implement.
Directions on how to nag Apple to consider this feature and possibly add it via a future update are listed Hooper's YouTube video description. Doesn't hurt to get Apple's attention. So get nagging!
YouTube, via iDownloadBlog


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Harry Styles Wins Injunction Ordering the Paparazzi to Stay Away
Harry Styles of One Direction has had his day in court against the paparazzi and he has won.
The press is no longer allowed to loiter around the pop star's home or follow him around. Take that, wily paps!
The 19-year-old member of One Direction was granted his wish to deter photographer's behavior by Mrs. Justice Nicola Davies, who ordered that the media must not be within 50 metres (164.042 feet) of Styles' home. The media cannot place him under surveillance or follow him via car or motorcycle.
And we're assuming they're not allowed to chase him down on bicycle, roller blades, unicycle, via elephant, in a rickshaw or on foot either.
Styles' attorney pointed out that this was strictly a move to protect the singer against the press and not his beloved Directioners.
Styles was not present in court, but his lawyer explained, "This is not a privacy injunction. Mr. Styles is not trying to prevent fans approaching him in the street and taking photos. He remains happy to do that, as he always has. Rather, it is the method or tactics which have been used by a certain type of photographer."
This injunction will last until Jan. 13 when another hearing will be held.
Team Hazza prevails!


text:
Blizzard Conditions Cause Hundreds of Crashes
A slow-moving storm has dumped at least 16 inches of snow on parts of Minnesota, blanketing the Twin Cities, making some rural roads impassable and leading to at least one fatal crash.
The heaviest snowfall the Twin Cities has experienced in two years led to the cancellation of dozens of flights at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Sunday and caused hundreds of traffic accidents around the state.
Blizzard conditions, blowing and drifting snow made visibility so poor that the state Department of Transportation pulled snowplows off the highways Sunday afternoon in southwest and west Minnesota.
The Minnesota State Patrol reported nearly 600 crashes by Sunday night. The patrol says one person was killed in a crash involving a semi on Highway 61 near Red Wing.


text:
No problem.
I got my first "worried about you over there" email yesterday so I guess it's started making the rounds on international news. It was my stepdad and he was comparing it to experiences he had in Vietnam when something similar happened during the war, haha.
It probably sounds really dramatic, but if you're not hanging out in one of the protest areas you'd never notice anything was afoot. My wife was complaining at the news last night because it was about Park dragging her feet on moving haha


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Legend of the Donkey's Cross
Legend tells us that the donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday followed Him to Calvary. Appalled by the sight of Jesus on the cross, the donkey turned away but could not leave. It is said that the shadow of the cross fell upon the shoulders and back of the donkey. A cross marking found on many donkeys today remains a testimony of the love and devotion of a humble, little donkey.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
(based on 3 reviews)
December 18, 2014
"Very cute, Person I gave it to loved it ! "
By Barbara F Greenstein
Hilton Head Island, SC
November 21, 2015
Hilton Head Island, SC
November 21, 2015
"Finally! A well done Xmas ornament of a donkey! Thank you."
January 04, 2018
"I've been looking at this ornament for a few years now. I finally decided to order it. It is so cute and I love the legend of it."


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Rams vs Steelers
December 24, 2011
1pm EST
Heinz Field
Pittsburgh, PA
The Steelers limp back to Heinz Field on a short week after losing to the 49ers on the road on Monday night. At 10-4, the Steelers have at least the 5th seed locked up for the NFL playoffs but there is still an outside chance they could win the division but that's far from a likely scenario to see unfold.
The status of Ben Roethlisberger is still in question for this week; if he doesn't play then Charlie Batch will get the start. Lamarr Woodley figures to play according to Tomlin, after being pulled in the 4th quarter from what he described as fatigue.
Emmanuel Sanders is questionable as well with the lingering foot injury.
As of Friday, Charlie Batch will start at QB. Ben may dress as emergency QB. Sanders, Pouncey, Moore, are out. James Harrison is back, and Lamarr Woodley will play.


text:
I'm using UltraVNC for many years and recently I decided to develop an application to broadcast mouse & keyboard through LAN to update identical computer.
So this appli is launched with psexec on remote computers (1 master and multiple clients).
I used Autoit to develop it and "SetWindowsHookEx" function on all threads.
Here is my problem : It seems with the last version of UltraVNC (188.8.131.52) that it is in conflict with my own hooks. With the previous version (220.127.116.11) it worked fine.
I'm just a newbie in dev so is there something I can do for the 2 soft work together without conflict ?
Thanks for your time.
Sorry for my english.


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Catster asked people to send in pics of their cats cute butts, and they did! Gotta love crazy cat people, as they are the best and craziest sort of crazy. These photos show that cat butts come in all shapes, sizes, and colors — and they're all booty-full! This is the We Are the World of cats butts, my friends.
The butt in the picture belongs to Sue J's cat Keisha, who enjoys showing her butt off in the great outdoors. Who doesn't? Work it, Keisha.
Finally, if you need even more animal behinds in your life, check out this Bob's Burgers episode. Megan Mullally painting chicken buttholes? It's art inside of art inside of art!


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A motor vehicle crash early Saturday morning resulted in the death of two Fort Morgan teens.
According to the Colorado State Police and Morgan County Coroner Don Heer, the crash occurred on I-76 near Milepost 85, just west of the construction zone at 2:36 a.m.
The state police reported the front end of the 2008 Pontiac G-6, driven by 19-year-old Sally Ann Trammell, impacted a concrete construction barrier as it was traveling the wrong direction on the roadway.
Both Trammell and her 18-year-old passenger Josephine Raquel Juanes, were wearing seat belts, but suffered fatal injuries in the crash. Death was pronounced at the scene.
Interstate 76 was closed westbound between Mileposts 89 and 82 for approximately 4 1/2 hours during the crash investigation.
Responders included the Morgan County Law Communications Center, Morgan County Sheriff Department, Fort Morgan Police Department, Morgan County Ambulance Service, Fort Morgan Fire Department, Colorado Department of Transportation, Colorado State Patrol and the Morgan County Coroner's Office.
The crash remains under investigation by the Colorado State Patrol and Morgan County Coroner's Office.
Accident claims lives of Fort Morgan teens
A motor vehicle crash early Saturday morning resulted in the death of two Fort Morgan teens.


text:
Day 1: Hanoi – Halong Bay (L/D)
08h00 – 08h30 Pick-up at hotel and start the 3 hour-and-a-half drive to Halong Bay
12h00 – 12h30 Embark on Oriental Sails followed by cruise briefing
13h00 – 15h30 Savor a delectable lunch as Oriental Sails cruise further along the limestone islands of Fighting Cock, Turtle Island…
15h30 – 17h30 Visit Amazing Cave and kayak along the hidden parts of the bay
17h30 – 19h00 Go swimming, snap photos or just relax as the sun starts to set
19h00 Dinner is served. Socialize with other guests or just laze around.
Overnight on board.
Day 2: Halong Bay – Hanoi (B/L)
06h00 – 07h00 Start your day with swimming, exercise or photo hunt
07h00 – 11h00 Have breakfast at sunrise. Cruise to Ba Hang Fishing Village, pass Dog Rock and Incense Burner, and then head back to the Harbor
Disembark Oriental Sails at around 11h00
12h00 – 16h30 Transfer back to Hanoi and trip finishes at the hotel around 16h30
PRICE PER PERSON: Please contact us for Good price
Children under 4 years old are FOC, sharing room with parent.
Children from 4 to 9 years old are charged 70%, sharing room with parent
*** Connecting family rooms are available on request.
Meals as mentioned
Accommodation on board (on twin /double basis)
Pick-up and transfer by A/C vehicle
English speaking tour guide
Entrance fees
Welcome drink, fresh fruit
Gratuities and personal expenses
What to bring: Original passport, swimming suites, sun glasses, insect repellent
Special requests on food (diet or vegetarian) please inform us before departure.
The itinerary may be subject to change due to the bad weather condition


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Texas A&M University at Galveston is the source for all things "ocean-oriented" at Texas A&M University. TAMUG offers a unique blend of marine and maritime programs, including majors in science, business, engineering, liberal arts, and transportation.
TAMUG Mission Statement
Texas A&M Galveston is a special-purpose institution of higher education for undergraduate and graduate instruction in marine and maritime studies in science, engineering and business and for research and public service related to the general field of marine resources. The institution is under the management and control of the Board of Regents of The Texas A&M University System, with degrees offered under the name and authority of Texas A&M University at College Station.
Texas A&M University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral degrees. For questions about the institution's accreditation, please contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500. As a branch campus, Texas A&M University at Galveston is included in the institution's accreditation.
Ocean voyages, sailing in Galveston Bay, beachfront experiments and independent study complement the rigorous classroom experience at our island campus.
The by-the-sea campus environment complements the unique curricular offerings. The atmosphere fostered by the faculty, staff and students emphasizes the intimate relationship between the University and the sea.
TAMUG offers ocean-oriented, four-year courses with excellence in business, oceanographic and physical sciences, biological sciences, engineering and transportation and liberal arts. Degrees are awarded from Texas A&M University. Computer science and technical writing courses are taught across curricula, regardless of a student's major field. In every course each semester, formally administered questionnaires invite students to appraise the effectiveness of teaching. Several unique courses have been developed in response to the University's marine orientation. For instance, "Literature of the Sea" looks at the sea through the works of great authors. "Introduction to Marine Sciences" introduces students to a number of disciplines through lectures, seminars and industrial contacts. The cruise geography course emphasizes the port areas being visited.
Texas A&M Maritime Academy
The Texas A&M Maritime Academy provides an opportunity for students to learn how to operate and maintain an ocean-going vessel. In addition to classroom and field training during the regular school year, students sail aboard the Texas A&M training ship during three summer cruises to gain practical experience in seamanship, navigation, and operations. Cruises may include Northern Europe, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and the United States. At the conclusion of the program, Midshipmen are tested to become licensed as officers in the U.S. Merchant Marine and may seek employment in the exciting field of marine transportation as a licensed Third Mate or Third Assistant Engineer.
The NROTC Program offers men and women an opportunity to qualify for a commission in the Navy while attending TAMUG. Any student may join the NROTC Program either as a National Scholarship winner or as a non-subsidized college program student.
The Island Campus
The island location of the campus on Galveston Bay and near the open ocean is in symmetry with the ocean-oriented academic programs offered at TAMUG. The Mitchell Campus, situated on the Galveston harbor and close to the confluence of the Galveston and Houston ship channels, has immediate access to the ocean and to estuarine areas including Galveston Bay. The Port of Galveston and Port of Houston are nearby, as are many Gulf Coast industries.
Campus life is enhanced by the cultural and social activities in Galveston. Galveston Island was once the financial center of the South. Today, the city has become a major tourist center with a strong representation of marine and maritime interests. College dances have been held in the Ashton Villa Ballroom (a restored 1859 mansion), in the Garten Verein (a restored octagonal dancing pavilion in Kempner Park) and aboard the Elissa and the Colonel. The Grand 1894 Opera House, the Lone Star Amphitheater and other local theaters allow TAMUG students involvement in theater events. The new Moody Gardens Conference Center boasts the Southwest's finest 3-D Digital IMAX theater and a unique tropical garden pyramid biome. The city has several historical districts, museums and musical groups including the Galveston Symphony Orchestra and the Galveston Beach Band.
A common trait of all TAMUG students is a desire to work and study amid an ocean environment. Our students originate from 42 different states and the District of Columbia. Science and engineering majors number 71 percent of the student body; 40 percent are women and about 59 percent receive some type of financial aid.
The Galveston campus of Texas A&M University houses the Texas A&M Maritime Academy, which is one of six maritime academies in the U.S. preparing graduates for licensing as officers in the American Merchant Marine.


text:
Hey guys! Long time no see!
Did a couple rough sketches of the Security Officer and a Fighter's face in my free time. Officer's left foot looks a little broken/perspectively off, but I'll fix that in a more finished piece.
I have a couple of other projects goin' on at the moment, but my brother and I are planning on collaborating for a Marathon pitch-package/lookbook full of redesigns of the original character/enemy roster, along with other things including the ships and weapons and all that. Will keep you guys posted as that progresses!
The forum layout's cutting off part of the image, so if anyone wants to see it larger and uncropped, original is here:
http://deimos-remus.deviantart.com/art/ ... -634209524


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The panic-stricken hysteria of the unionist media and pundits has risen to a crescendo since the scale of the SNP electoral win became evident - at least, I hope it is a crescendo, but I suspect that there's worse to come …
This has ranged for forecasting doom and disaster if Scotland achieved its independence, through demands for an immediate referendum, or two referendums, (no, I don't like referenda!) or a referendum involving English voters, and probably Northern Irish voters, but certainly not Welsh voters (!) to thinly disguised challenges to the validity of the SNP's mandate, under the guise of either the alleged failure of the d'Hondt method of proportional representation (it was meant to keep the SNP out of power, or at least stop them having any real power if they won) or expressions of concern about the turnout on polling day and the so-called democratic deficit.
(The democratic deficit is an expression that refers to the perceived inadequacies of electoral systems in reflecting the true opinions of the voters, especially on proportionality, the validity of mandates claimed by such electoral systems in the light of low voter turnout etc., and the abuse of mandates by governments when in power.)
The protestations of the unionists parties and their media shills after May 5th 2011 are in marked contrast to these parties when in power at UK level, as demonstrated by even a cursory examination of Thatcher's destruction of Scotland's infrastructure and theft of Scottish oil, the Blair/Brown years (illegal wars, the destruction of the economy, etc.) and the ConLib Coalition's betrayal of LibDem promises, attempts to destroy the NHS, and ill-conceived intervention in Libya, especially when their democratic deficit is examined in relation to voter turnout and party share of the vote. (Scottish Parliamentary elections tend to fall somewhere below UK general elections and somewhere above local government elections in voter turnout.)
So we have agonised squeals of pain in the letters columns from unionist voters who have spent their lives tugging their forelocks respectfully to one kind of Scottish party political dominance or another, so long as it was safely unionist and UK oriented, and who cannot believe that they suddenly are on the wrong side of political power and saluting the wrong flag, and the two non-tabloid Scottish newspapers, the Herald and the Scotsman rather in a state of retroactive confusion and cognitive dissonance, having belatedly backed the winner before the election, are not quite sure just what they have done.
Today's Scotsman, for instance, carries a piece by Eddie Barnes, entitled Imbalance of power, asking in the sub-header "… have the scales tipped too far in Alex Salmond's favour …", which might have been more honestly sub-titled "My God, what have we done"?".
Without really examining it properly, Eddie Barnes chose to open with the first FMQs of the new Parliament, and Iain Gray's question to the first Minister on care in Scotland. Although he grudgingly recognised that the FM's answer was "comprehensive", he then went on to criticise both Alex Salmond and the new Presiding Officer, Tricia Marwick, who's election by the Parliament had also been the subject of unionist criticism - the FM for "waxing lyrical" never needing a second invitation "to dominate a room", and the PO for not slapping him down.
Barnes is simply echoing an endless series of such criticisms of Alex Salmond's performance in FMQs since 2007, none of which contained any real analysis of what actually went on. Well, I've watched them all and still have many of them recorded, and the nature of inter-personal dialogue between individuals especially in joint forums has been central to my working life, both in industry and in my training and consulting business, specialising in negotiation and behavioural skills.
(If organisations, both political and private, would stop spending a Queens's ransom on so-called motivational speakers, where the learning outcomes are unmeasurable, but everybody leaves with a warm glow, rabbiting on about Ladybird Book of Psychology concepts of left brain and right brain - having had fun of the kind that roughly equates to a bad, but energetic rock concert - and devoted their scarce development and training budgets to relevant behavioural skills that reflect real-life interactions, politics might be more productive, government more effective and industry more innovative and competitive.)
At the most basic level, and questions fall into two categories - information-seeking questions and rhetorical questions. Since rhetorical questions don't expect - or invite- an answer, we can disregard them. (Probably the most famous rhetorical question in history was asked by Pontius Pilate - "What is Truth?" in the presence of perhaps the one of the only persons who could have answered it. But Pontius didn't expect, or wait for an answer - his mind was on making a few bob out of a franchised exercise system that would appeal to ladies with cash to spare. But it took about two millennia to come to market …)
So a question is meant to elicit information. But this can be done in a number of ways, using a variety of question types. I won't give the full analysis here, but confine myself to a few varieties.
First, we have a question that invites confirmation of denial of two possibilities - the closed YES/NO question, beloved by lawyers attempting to get a response that serves their particular purpose and no other, depending on whether they are prosecuting or defending, or a response - or absence of one - that either makes the respondent look as if they are lying or being evasive. Lawyers operate on the principle that, on such occasions, they never ask a question that they don't already know the answer to. When this is inadvertently breached, it can produce unpleasant surprises for the questioner!
Closed YES/NO questions envisage only two possibilities than can be confirmed or denied by either a Yes or a No. When neither of these possibilities reflect reality as perceived by the person being questioned - or reflect a reality they don't want to confirm or deny because it threatens their interests - they must reject the format of the question.
One example of this is the "Have you stopped stealing apples?" question type. If you answer Yes, then you used to steal apples but have given it up: if you answer No, you're still at it … The person who has never stolen apples can't answer Yes or No, and the one who did, or still does will either lie or evade the question.
Political interviewers - and politicians - constantly use this formulation, some times legitimately, sometimes mischievously - and sometimes with hidden, occasionally malicious intent. And politicians are equally adept at avoiding answering such questions …
The other main information-seeking question type is the open question. The open question ranges from the wide-open question - "Tell me what you think or know about anything, anywhere, anytime?" to the highly focused open question, but still open question of "Tell me what you know about what happened, what was said and what was minuted in the meeting of the xxth of June, 20xx when the topic of property development in Glasgow East regeneration area and Commonwealth Games site was discussed?"
The oath - or affirmation - in the witness box in court is "I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth". Politicians don't take such an oath, but observance of the principle is implied in their office, and the penalties for being misleading or lying outright can be severe.
QUESTION AND ANSWER - FMQs HOLYROOD
Let's look more closely at the first question asked in the first FMQs in the new Scottish Parliament on Thursday the 3rd of June 2011, leaving aside the minor diversion of Iain Gray failing to ask the normal preliminary, routine question about the First Minister's engagements. The topic was an important one, about the standards of care of the elderly and vulnerable in both private and public care homes in Scotland, with attention focused by the twin scandals of the Panorama documentary on abuse in England and the Elsie Inglis scandal in Scotland, both of which occurred in privately-run care facilities. Trisha Marwick was on her first gig as Presiding Officer.
Iain Gray set the scene for his question for almost one minute, referring to the Panorama documentary, then came the question itself, which took all of 8 seconds -
"What assurance can the First Minister give us of the capacity of the new Regulator to ensure standards of care here in Scotland?"
This question is highly pertinent, open but focused, fair and objective, and one to which the Parliament and the Scottish people have a right to know the answer.
The FM good-humouredly filled the gap left by Iain Gray's omission of the routine question about the FM's appointments and meetings, and gave related information about apprenticeship uptake, then replied to IG's question, agreeing with the vital nature of the question, then referring to the new body, Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (SCSWIS) created by the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, which also set up and Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS), both set up on April 1st 2011 and expected to coordinate and deliver efficient and effective scrutiny of health and social care, social work and child protection. Alex Salmond said that the remit of SCSWIS and its investigation would ensure that the Scottish position would be "up to scratch in all respects."
Iain Gray referred to the Elsie Inglis care home scandal, then got to his real point - the capacity of the Regulator in relation to budget and staffing cuts - "25% budget cut, and 55 staff gone" and more planned. This led to IG's second question - "Shouldn't we look at Elsie Inglis and cancel this cut?".
A couple of points here. Iain Gray has a slow, deliberate mode of speaking. There is nothing wrong with this, indeed his pace of delivery is similar to mine, but it does mean that what he has to say in FMQs takes up more time than that of brisker speakers. However, on the second point, I am more critical. IG was being disingenuous in the way he framed his first question and led to the second. If he was fully in the spirit of speeding up the Q&A of FMQs, then he could have asked one question at the start -
"What assurance can the First Minister give us of the capacity of the new Regulator, in the light of 25% budget cuts and the loss of 55 staff, to ensure standards of care here in Scotland, especially in the light of the Elsie Inglis scandal?"
This was the logical question to ask at the outset, and would have cut the time both of questions and responses. But IG didn't, because he was playing political games and trying to set a trap. Iain Gray's traps, rather than being elephant traps, are usually wonky mousetraps wi' nae cheese in them, especially when dealing with a politician of Alex Salmond's experience.
But the question, when it came, was nonetheless valid and relevant.
Another observation here. Properly constructed and delivered, Parliamentary questions are brief and pertinent, but of necessity, the person responding, even to a focused closed question like this one, will take longer to answer. Of course, it is always open to the respondent facing a closed question, one that in theory demands a Yes or No answer to do just that - answer yes or no. Had the FM answered No, of course, he would have been accused of trivialising an important question, so Alex Salmond answered fully, and attempted to "reassure Iain Gray on the generality, and the specifics of Elsie Inglis."
He gave the figure for the total number of care homes for adults (1333 as of 31st May 2011) and during 2011/12, a minimum of 961 of these would be inspected, carrying out at least 1549 inspections. Some care homes would be inspected more than once because of the risk-based evidence held on the service. He then gave specifics on Elsie Inglis, dating from the first complaint, on 25th of March, about standards. The Regulator had undertaken a full inspection in April and during that period, Edinburgh City Council and Lothian Health Board put their own staff into the care home by the 12th of May. By the 26th of May, all 46 residents had been moved to suitable settings, where their needs are currently being met.
AS said that the relevant authorities had acted effectively and quickly to rectify the situation, with the position and wellbeing of the residents as their primary concern.
This, of course, was not the answer Iain Gray wanted - he wanted to Alex Salmond to answer No, we should not cancel the cuts to budget and staffing, without responding to what really matters, namely, had the Elsie Inglis situation been dealt with and how effective would the future regime of inspection and control be? This was exactly what the FM did.
The context of this question is as follows. The last Labour Government ruined the economy. The present ConLib Coalition has made draconian and unnecessary cuts to the the Scottish budget. The only way to cope with this is for the Scottish Government to find efficiency savings while protecting vital services. This is exactly what any organisation in the public or private sector does when faced with a cut in revenue that cannot be offset by raising money. It is exactly what is being done in the care sector in Scotland through SCSWIS, and given additional impetus and relevance by the Elsie Inglis scandal and the object lesson of the abuses revealed by Panorama in England.
Iain Gray, however, was not happy with the answer, so he returned to the question of the capacity of the Regulator to handle the demands of the task, referring to the move from regular scheduled inspections to a risk assessment model, which will mean less inspections, and the fact the number of staff had been, and would be cut. He attempted to broaden the base of criticism by Audit Scotland, by claiming that today, it "condemns the Community Health Partnerships, which are supposed to plan and manage social care. Doctors say these partnerships have spectacularly failed, and Southern Cross, who run 98 care homes in Scotland, are on the verge of collapse."
Iain Gray then attempted to show a care system in a state of collapse, based on the Panorama documentary about English care homes, the Elsie Inglis scandal in one care home, and the budget and staffing cuts to the Inspectorate, claiming that "the social Care system has been declared not fit for purpose" and the biggest provider of residential care in Scotland is on the verge of collapse.
This summary, if accurate, represents a crisis in the Scottish care system, and must be addressed, and Iain Gray cannot be faulted for pursuing answers to what he believes is an unacceptable situation.
But regrettably, he then goes on to shamelessly exploit the situation for unionist party political ends, risking discrediting his entire argument, which is sad, because I do believe that Iain Gray does care about the issue. He does this by trying to make a case on priorities, raising the issues of the UK Supreme Court, where he claims, erroneously, that the FM "held an emergency Cabinet summit on the UK Supreme Court this week" and asks his next question, a closed, YES/NO question based on a faulty premise. "Does he not think a summit on the crisis in care is more urgent than that?" This received table-thumping approbation from the depleted Labour benches.
This is an outrageous conflation of two issues that are related only by happening within the same time frame, and reveals in the process the primitive managerial thinking of the Labour Party, that conceives of Government as a process where ministers make a list in order of priority, then move down the list on each item, to the exclusion of all else, an utterly nonsensical view of government. This is why Scottish business trusted the SNP to lead the Scottish economy instead of the Labour Party, with the egregious exception of the head of the CBI in Scotland, unrepresentative of business opinion across Scotland, but fully representative of UK unionist dogma.
(I spent a large part of my consulting career in major multi-national blue chip companies on cascade programmes on structured objective setting and prioritisation, because the CEOs of these companies wanted to break their directors and managers out of exactly that kind of simplistic thinking.)
The FM opened by saying that he didn't have "an emergency Cabinet summit" - the matter was discussed in Cabinet as was the issue of Southern Cross. He said that he had given the figures on the care homes and the inspection regime even though the Labour Party "maybe didn't want to hear them". They indicated an impressive level of inspection. He added the crucial fact that all care home inspections will now be unannounced.
He had also responded to the Elsie Inglis situation and Iain Gray had seemed to agree that it had been an effective response to a difficult situation.
Southern Cross is a situation that the Cabinet Secretary is dealing with daily, in conjunction with the UK Health Department. 3000 of their residents are in Scotland out of a total of 98,000 across the UK.
All the relevant authorities were ready, if Southern Cross does move into administration, to ensure a continuity of care of the residents concerned. Southern Cross, a private company involved in social care, seemed to some people a model that should be applied across the NHS in England. In the past, the Labour Party had wanted to introduce private companies into mainstream service in the NHS in Scotland. This in fact should sound a cautionary note about private intervention in the NHS or social care.
(This last point has also been the main thrust of the national debate, including on last week's Question Time on the BBC.)
Iain Gray's response to this was to refer to the SNP council in Fife being currently engaged in the process of transferring their own care homes into the private sector. This is not, Iain Gray said, an issue to try and score points about. He emphasised the need to move forward together as a Parliament on the issue. He said that the Parliament needed to hear the voices of the elderly and the disabled. He then went on to devalue this admirable point by again trying to score political points himself, again conflating it with political issues on the independence/union agenda - the constitutional issues, the Supreme Court, corporation tax and the Crown Estates.
Is Iain Gray seriously suggesting that these issues are either irrelevant to Scotland, or that they should all be shelved while the issue of care homes and the inspection regime are under examination? Thank God this man and those he represents were not chosen to govern Scotland, with this simplistic understanding of the business and mechanics of Government.
He then came to his last question - "What are we going to do to improve the situation?", apparently having heard little and understood less of the clear answers given to his earlier questions.
The FM, in reply, summarised Iain Gray's three points - references to
community health partnerships
the importance of the Parliament acting together
the importance of not making party political points
The Community Health Partnerships were established in 2004. The Audit Commission, today, as in the independent inspection report of last year, indicated there were some serious problems - not failing across Scotland, but serious problems in some areas of a lack of integration of health and social care. This is exactly why this government has established that integration as a priority. Alex Salmond said that, if he was to take a non-political look at the establishment of community health partnerships, and something that we've learned from experience, but perhaps wasn't evident when that legislation was introduced, then perhaps it would be that it left the coordination of health and community care as a voluntary aspect in the 36 partnerships across Scotland . Why is that important, the FM asked? The Audit Commission report didn't indicate today that it was failing across Scotland. On the contrary, one of the key findings of the report was that in 20 of these partnerships, there was a co-sharing of services. The question that's begged is -why didn't that happen in the other 16?
The FM suggested that it was a flaw of the legislation of this Parliament, that "we didn't realise in 2004 that the coordination that was hoped for had to be made a compulsory aspect - had to happen." Integration had to happen and could not be left to individual health boards and local authorities across Scotland.
"That was why this government has made a priority of making that happen. In the spirit of not looking to score party political points about whose legislation was best, and in the spirit of not saying this is a matter which is failing across the country, we should just recognise that, out of the community health partnerships, it is not the case, for example, that delayed discharges have been increasing. There were over a thousand delayed discharges in April 2004. As of two days ago, it was recorded at twelve. 12 is too many, but it would be wrong not to regard that as a significant improvement. We take what was good and proper and has worked of that change, and make sure the health and community care is integrated as a service across Scotland."
All of the above exchanges took place in just over 13 minutes in the first half of FMQs. Allowing one minute for the FM's diary engagements and related matter, the total exchange was just over 12 minutes, of which Iain Gray spoke for five minutes and Alex Salmond for seven minute, that is to say, the questioner took 42% of the total time to ask his questions and the respondent 58% of the total time to reply, including providing relevant and vital details and facts and figures.
Through the exchanges, Alex Salmond was patient and courteous, although he could have been forgiven had he displayed some exasperation and impatience.
Just where do the critics of the Presiding Officer think she could have intervened, and with whom? The topic was clearly vital, the detail important. The number, type and content of the questions was in the hands of Iain Gray.
It can be argued that FMQs was not the place for what effectively became a mini-debate on a subject of such importance, and that FMQs should be confined to simple questions of fact. That is a matter for the Parliament.
If there was grandstanding and attempts at political point scoring, they came exclusively from Iain Gray, a man whose heart may be in the right placed but whose head clearly isn't. Regrettably, it looks as though he is going to continue to give evidence, week after week until his successor is elected, just why the electorate and the business community did not think he was the right man to lead Scotland through the difficult times ahead.
I chose this first question as a benchmark of all that is, and was wrong, about the unionist opposition's approach to the government of Scotland, the clear evidence of why they lost the election. It took me a day to analyse a 13 minute exchange, but I believe it was worth doing, because I believe that care matters, the NHS matters, the Scottish legal system matters, the Crown Estate matters and corporation tax matters and that they all must be addressed if the people of Scotland are to survive the desperate times bequeathed to them by 13 years of Labour government - a poisoned legacy -and just over a year of chaotic, ill-conceived ConLib Coalition government.
Most of all, I believe that the best hope of the people of Scotland, young and old, fit and unfit, lies in the independence of their country from the United Kingdom. I also believe we now have the best man and the best team in charge to make those hopes a reality.


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Oct 19, 2007
If the thought ofgetting up early, intentionally smelling like buck urine and sitting in one spot for hours waiting for something to shoot isn't entirely foreign, then Cabela's Trophy Bucks might seem interesting to you. Seem interesting.
In this single-player, single mode, first-person shooting game, you are plopped in the middle of a prime hunting spot right as the best game (in this case, animals) are passing through or where the best fowl have decided to nest. In each of the game's 96, 2- to 3-minute levels, you try to make the best kills using your inventory of Cabela's brand weapons and gear.
Ah, marketing at its most obvious. Unfortunately, it doesn't really work in anyone's favor since you really only see the brand name on the game box and the game really isn't very good.
First, the 3D environments offer inappropriately limited mobility. When you try to move to a better position and quickly pick off a few more fowl for extra points, random rocks in your path may force you into a standstill - yet you can pass (soundlessly, mind you) through most trees and bushes. Even the dog you are supposed to be able to send out to scare up hiding birds will run the wrong direction or, even worse, get glitched into running in an endless circle through environmental objects.
Selecting guns, gears and bows is an unwieldy process of pausing the game and scrolling through the same menu at the beginning of each level and every time you want to switch between animal calls and weapons.


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Manute Bol (Tallest Player In NBA Player History) Son Is A 6'5 7th Grader!
Bol Bol is a 6'5 seventh grader who is the son of the late NBA player Manute Bol.
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Rep. Issa Promises Investigation Into Aaron Swartz Case
from the prosecutorial-overreach deptThe backlash following Aaron Swartz's suicide has continued as Rep. Darrell Issa is now promising an investigation into the DOJ's handling of the case, according to statements he gave to the Huffington Post:
Praising Swartz's work toward "open government and free access to the people," Issa told HuffPost that the government's case against Swartz is problematic enough to warrant further investigation.Issa then specifically called out how prosecutors could go too far in pressuring innocent people to plead guilty:
"I'm not condoning his hacking, but he's certainly someone who worked very hard," Issa said. "Had he been a journalist and taken that same material that he gained from MIT, he would have been praised for it. It would have been like the Pentagon Papers."
"I'll make a risky statement here: Overprosecution is a tool often used to get people to plead guilty rather than risk sentencing," Issa said. "It is a tool of question. If someone is genuinely guilty of something and you bring them up on charges, that's fine. But throw the book at them and find all kinds of charges and cobble them together so that they'll plea to a 'lesser included' is a technique that I think can sometimes be inappropriately used."Issa, of course, has been a long time critic of the DOJ under President Obama, so it's likely that some will just brush this off as an opportunity to go on a partisan attack. However, it appears this attack may be growing bipartisan support. We've already mentioned Rep. Zoe Lofgren's plans to propose legislation to limit what the DOJ can do in these kinds of cases, and others on both sides of the aisle have started expressing concerns about prosecutorial overreach by Carmen Ortiz.
Filed Under: aaron swartz, darrell issa, doj