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US Supreme Court rules silence may be used as evidence of guilt
June 17, 2013 — xanthippaEnd well, this will not…
According to the 5-4 split US Supreme Court ruling, refusing to answer questions and remaining silent can indeed be used as evidence of guilt in a court of law, if you have not had your Miranda rights read to you prior to the questioning.
Gee, how could this possibly go wrong?
I am speechless (no pun intended)!
Chris Schafer: Lessons from how UK deals with hate speech
June 13, 2013 — xanthippaAdam Kokesh Arrested at Smoke Down Prohibition: Joint Summit with President Choom
June 10, 2013 — xanthippaWhat was that about government coercion?
The Battle for Free Speech on Campus: Greg Lukianoff at the Museum of Sex
June 6, 2013 — xanthippaHere is something to expand the mind:
The new book by Greg Lukianoff is Unlearning Liberty.
That whole ‘State Education’ thing…perhaps we should re-think this!
May 28, 2013 — xanthippaWhen teachers are disciplined – perhaps fired – for teaching students that they have rights and freedoms under the Constitution….
It’s time to re-think this badly run experiment in State indoctrination!
In completely unrelated news: Waterloo University is looking for a new ‘Director of Equity’. Should I apply?
Who is Adam Kokesh?
May 28, 2013 — xanthippaAdam Kokesh is certainly not a household name, but he is trying to become one.
Here is a little video as a means of an introduction:
From the Wikipedia page on Adam Kokesh:
‘In May 2013, Kokesh announced he is planning an armed pro-gun rights march from Virginia to Washington, D.C. on July 4, 2013 to coincide with Independence Day.[41]
On May 18, 2013, Kokesh was arrested in Philadelphia by Federal Park Rangers together with other protesters at the 5th iteration of a marijuana legalization rally known as Smoke Down Prohibition.[42] The Smoke Down event has occurred at Independence National Historical Park in downtown Philadelphia once every month since January 2013 with no prior arrests or police intervention. Don Dezarn was widely criticized by online commentators for possibly planting something on Kokesh, but he has been publicly defended by Kokesh’s own producers and others who were at the rally. Adam Kokesh and N.A. Poe appeared before a judge on Monday May 20th and were charged with assaulting a federal officer and resisting arrest. Wide speculation on the internet claims that the Federal government seeks to harass and intimidate activists with the arrest of Kokesh who has called for an armed march on Washington D.C. on Independence Day July 4, 2013.[43] Kokesh’s federal charges were reduced to violations on May 24th and he was released. [44]
Along with his release on May 24, 2013, Kokesh called for a “Final American Revolution” to take place on July 4th, 2013 in place of the previously planned armed march on Washington D.C.. This is planned to take place in all 50 state capitols with protests to be only absolved by each governors agreement to initiate an orderly dissolution of the federal government through secession.[45]‘
This little ‘l’ libertarian is a strong supporter of Ron Paul, a veteran of Iraq who organized anti-Iraq-war protests (for which activity he just might have been singled out for ‘extra attention’ by The State) and an anti-prohibitionist. And, he is doing his best to gain notoriety in order to affect politics and preserve civil liberties.
Adam Kokesh is as cute as a little puppy – who just might grow up into a big dog!
So, like him or hate him, you might just hear more from and about him…
TRIFECTA — Obama Admin. Does ‘Reich’ Thing by Deporting Religious Refugees
May 23, 2013 — xanthippaAh – the age-old question of whose rights take precedence: the parents’ right to educate (or not) their children as they choose versus the right of a child to get a decent education, despite having been born to parents who, for whatever reason, want to teach them only whatever the parents deem ‘appropriate’.
This is not as clear-cut a debate over whose rights ought to be supreme as anyone would like to pretend, on either side of the proverbial fence. But, this important and difficult issue is eclipsed by the much larger, much more difficult to deal with issue: who in their right mind would trust the government – ANY government – to be competent to educate, rather than indoctrinate, anyone about anything?!?!?
I sure don’t – and am vigilant about all kinds of ‘messaging’ in my kids’ schools. Yes, I do actually hang out at the schools a bunch: less so now that the younger one is in high school, but just yesterday, I saw some not-too-subtle political messaging flier at the school with some covert anti-Semitic undercurrents (and have spent the day pondering what to do about it and how best to raise it with the school…and am no closer to an answer).
And yes, I do read all of my kids’ textbooks and other ‘materials’ and talk with them about it so as to use the attempts at indoctrination and downright brainwashing into learning moments both about the topics of the indoctrination and about the methodology that was employed, so they would know to recognize these attempts at manipulation in the future. I firmly believe that this is a necessary step in protecting them – and, as their parent, that is my #1 job!
So, whom should we trust to educate our kids?
It seems to me self-evident that if I were my children’s primary educator, as home-schooling parents are, I would necessarily impart my prejudices to my children, just as the government-run schools impart their indoctrination. But, in the home-schoolers’ case, there is nobody who can step in and present a competing point of view the way I can contrast my views to what is being taught in a government-run school: this, in my view, is a very serious problem. A person cannot grow up to be a well-rounded, reasoning individual if they are only presented with one set of views: they will never learn to critically evaluate differing philosophies and thus cannot grow up into fully functioning, rational, reasoning individuals.
It matters less, I suspect, whether it is only the government’s point of view that children are exposed to or only the parents: children must be taught how to think for themselves, and that can only happen of they are aware that deep philosophical differences do indeed exist.
Oh, I know I have no idea what the solution should be or where the lines of competing rights should be drawn – I’m just voicing my misgivings with the currently available options.
What do you think?
Xanthippa's Chamberpot 