Has Facebook’s Time Passed?

Okay, I've never been a big Facebook user so I might be jumping the gun.  Here's what I have noticed in the past six months - almost all of my new friend requests are coming from family and friends over 60.   What's funny is the comments that accompany these friend requests.  Most say the same thing:  "Look who finally joined Facebook!" Basically, I'm not the one to judge whether Facebook's time has passed.  I have an account I glance at about once a month and while I find some of the comments/posts interesting, most are not. Two years ago, my then 13 year old daughter deleted her Facebook account, citing its useless drama as the reason.  She did rejoin, because it was where her school posted its information on Cross Country and Track meets and practice changes.  The last time she posted anything on Facebook was on March 20, 2013.   Her previous post was on February 23, 2013.   Seems to me if Facebook is counting on her to keep them going strong they might be in trouble.

Breaking (Not Really): Wal-Mart Is Awful

Wal-Mart has a big problem: Margaret Hancock has long considered the local Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) superstore her one- stop shopping destination. No longer. During recent visits, the retired accountant…

Why Is Consent So Difficult To Understand?

con·sent

/kənˈsent/ Noun Permission for something to happen or agreement to do something. Verb Give permission for something to happen: "he consented to a search by a detective".
Sometimes you come across an article that won't let you move onto other things.  Here's mine:
MARCH 22--A New York City man flying cross country with his 12-year-old son allegedly put his hand underneath the skirt of a sleeping female passenger and massaged her thigh, an act he later defended by telling the victim, “It’s not like I molested you. It’s not like I stuck my my finger in your pussy or grabbed your tits.” [...] As detailed in a probable cause statement, a few hours into the flight the woman took medication to help her fall asleep. About 40 minutes before arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the woman “woke up… to Zorse massaging her thigh underneath her skirt.” [...] When questioned by investigators, Zorse claimed that he believed the female passenger was “flirting with him, telling him he was attractive and he was a good father,” adding that he felt he had “bonded” with her. While copping to placing his hand on the woman’s leg for “approximately 30 seconds,” Zorse denied placing his hand up her skirt. He did acknowledge, however, that he “could have said something like ‘It’s not like I stuck my finger up your pussy or grabbed your tits,’” according to the probable cause statement.
Here's what really bothers me about this ugly, illegal incident.  Zorse confesses. Easily. He doesn't see anything wrong in what he did to a sleeping (NON- CONSENTING) woman because he believed "the female passenger was “flirting with him, telling him he was attractive and he was a good father,” adding that he felt he had “bonded” with her."  It's all about his feelings.  Those are his only social clues. Zorse determines what constitutes flirting.  He also determines what constitutes bonding.  He even decides that the conversation before the woman fell asleep progressed to the point where he could touch her. He had already granted himself permission.

BREAKING: Steubenville Rape Trial Verdict – Guilty

Via CBS:
The accuser in the rape trial of two Ohio high school football players testified Saturday as the trial neared an end that she recalled drinking at a party last summer but could not remember what had happened when she awoke the next day naked in a strange house. Testimony in the four-day nonjury trial against Trent Mays and Ma'lik Richmond ended after the judge heard from the 16-old West Virginia girl and others in the juvenile court case. Judge Thomas Lipps said he would announce a decision Sunday. If found delinquent — the juvenile court equivalent of guilty — the two defendants could be held in juvenile jail until they turn 21, when they would be released.
(If you click on the link above, be sure to read the comments. Steubenville isn't our only problem.) For those of you not familiar with this case, I wrote about it here.

Money Isn’t Working In School Board Elections

When it comes to school board elections something is different. Just ask Michael Bloomberg, Rupert Murdoch and Michelle Rhee. They lost big in Los Angeles.
Despite Michael Bloomberg, Michelle Rhee and Rupert Murdoch's big contributions, LAUSD board member Steve Zimmer was re-elected to the board, defeating their hope that Los Angeles would become the next big pathway to privatized education.
It seems that money, which is a must in other elections, doesn't count for much in school board elections. And we don't need to look at Los Angeles for proof. We experienced this phenomenon in Delaware. Last year I wrote several posts on the upcoming school board elections. I hadn't been paying much attention at the time, but as the election drew near, my attention was snagged. Something different was happening:
I haven’t really commented on the upcoming School Board elections, mainly because I can’t wrap my head around what’s going on. With all the attention on these races – phone polls, money, PACs – I keep feeling I’m missing something – Big. What is going on? What’s on the line? And why the hell is so much money being dumped into an election that, I predict, will still have a dismal turn-out. Basically, what’s the agenda? For the life of me I don’t see it. Yeah, I get the split is between Charter and Choice (Ed reformers) supporters vs Traditional Public School supporters, but that’s hardly new. What’s new are the aggressive tactics being employed and the money being spent. All of this keeps me wondering… Am I missing something about these races; something that makes them vitally important? Is something major about to change depending on who wins these elections? If so, what?
So that's where I started. The amount of money being dumped into our local school board races caught my attention. What held my attention was the emergence of Voices 4 Delaware, a nebulous PAC, that, in essence, became the school board candidate. You couldn't turn around without being hit with one of their mailers or receiving another one of their phone calls. As I write this today, I can't even remember the names of most of the candidates they supported, but I remember them. And just like what happened in Los Angeles, big money lost in Delaware last year.

Blandly Watching Someone Die

I heard about this story yesterday, but didn't listen to the 911 call until this morning.
March is only four days old, but this month’s “man’s inhumanity to man” award goes to Glenwood Gardens and the folks who work there. The senior living facility in Bakersfield, Calif., has a policy of calling 911 in emergencies and waiting with the afflicted until medical assistance arrives. But the lack of urgency — the seeming indifference of the personnel to the 87-year-old woman who collapsed in the dining room Feb. 26 — is stunning.

Help Wanted – School Board Elections

Given Jason's recent post it appears School Board races may heat up against this year. If this is true then we need to get moving! Every year I send out a list of questions to Red Clay school board candidates and post their answers. Here's my problem: Every school district has different concerns and I while I'm familiar with the challenges facing Red Clay, I have no idea what the Appo, Capital, Christina, Seaford, etc. District residents are looking for in a school board candidate. So... I need a few volunteers to contact candidates in their district and report back. I'm also trying to figure out the best way to do this. Actually, I'd really like to find a way where I'm not sending out tons of emails - because a quick look at the number of candidates running is quite daunting, and, contrary to popular belief, I don't get paid for this! ;-)

Uh Oh! Looks Like Bob Woodward Will Have A Few Regrets

Okay, so this happened:
Longtime Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward is taking on the White House, saying in multiple interviews that the administration essentially threatened him to try to get him not to write a story. [...] “I mean, it makes me very uncomfortable to have the White House telling reporters, ‘you’re going to regret doing something that you believe in.’” Woodward said. “And even though we don’t look at it that way, you do look at it that way. And I think if Barack Obama knew that was part of the communication’s strategy — let’s hope it’s not a strategy, but it’s a tactic that somebody’s employed, and said, look, we don’t go around trying to say to reporters, if you, in an honest way, present something we don’t like, that, you know, you’re going to regret this.  And just — it’s Mickey Mouse.”
And then all hell broke loose... especially on the Right. And then the emails came to light. And then came the regrets...
"Looks like we were played," The Daily Caller's Matt Lewis wrote Thursday morning. Erick Erickson tweets: Ok wow. Finally read the email to Woodward. I must now move to the "not a threat" camp. Brit Hume tweets:  On one hand, only Woodward can say if he felt threatened by WH email. On the other, hard to imagine feeling threatened by Gene Sperling.

“Perpetuation Of Racial Entitlement”

Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia, created quite a few headlines yesterday.
Scalia attributed the repeated renewal of Section 5 to a “perpetuation of racial entitlement.” He said, “Whenever a society adopts racial entitlements, it is very difficult to get out of them through the normal political processes.”
That's quite a statement, and when I heard it all I could think was that the Voting Rights Act was enacted to stop the perpetuation of racial entitlement - for whites. It's been a long time since a statement truly shocked me.  I've been a bit numb to Republican insanity, but this statement was beyond offensive.  Since when is voting an entitlement?  (Isn't it adorable how he used the Republican dog whistle?)
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who asked many questions in defense of the law, appeared taken aback by Scalia’s insinuation. In the final moments of oral argument, she asked Bert Rein, the lawyer for the challengers, if he agrees. “Do you think think Section 5 was voted for because it was a racial entitlement?” she asked. When he ducked the question, she asked it again. He did not endorse Scalia’s sentiment.
I bet she was taken aback.  Scalia's comment was outrageous.

Tuesday Open Thread (02-26-13)

Thought I'd take a stab at the open thread. I'm really trying to figure out the Republican position on sequester. This is what I've come up: Blame Obama for the cuts we love. Ezra Klein doesn't understand the Republican position either.