New Jersey

On May 25th, 2005, I wrote the following about Lawrence Lessig :

Today we're all having one of those days : the four of us woke up somewhat askew. Whether it is allergies or a cold, we're not feeling well. So I decided to not take the kids to their usual martial arts class. But to minimize the askweness of the day, we followed part of our Monday "script" and procured the "start of the week" stash of candy.

And then, to make things more "different" I bought New York Magazine because this week's cover story caught my eye. Simply titled, The Choirboy, the hook goes : "The American Boychoir School in Princeton was a twisted sanctuary for the sexual abuse of children. Why is one of America's most famous lawyers taking it on? He was one of the victims". Needsless to say, I had to get this magazine. With all the child abuse scandals plaguing the Catholic Church, I was intrigued. So I immediately went on to page 28 while my two little boys were enjoying their Monday afternoon treat and I immediately broke down.

The lawyer and former abused choirboy is none other than Lawrence Lessig; a man who could only be described as force of nature on the internet.

There on page 29 of this week's New York Magazine, is a man that I have long admired, not just because of his books championing freedom of speach on the Internet, not just because he founded Creative Commons, but because Lawrence Lessig was one of the few people to come to our family's rescue and tell us "everything is going to be alright". Back in 1997 my husband became on of the first artists to be threatened with intellectual property lawsuits for derivative work displayed and distributed through the internet and Lessig was one of the few people who was able to offer some advice --because nothing like this had happened to any artists on the net.

It's because of this that nowadays, when working on a project, we always ask WWLLD? or "What would Lawrence Lessig do?" : We're not religious people but we do believe in the legal judgement of Lessig.

As one of the commenters over at Lessig's said, "Having high-profile, successful people step forward with their stories is important. It makes the burden easier to carry for others, and it shows in a practical way that though such a past will always -color- you to some degree, it doesn't need to -define- you."

Yet it's the fact that he took on this legal challenge after losing one of the biggest and most important legal fights in his area of special --copyright and intellectual property-- that is more poignant.

If progressives want a solid voice in American politics they sure as hell better vote, vote carefully and, ideally, get out the vote for the best candidates. And off-year, low voter turnout elections like what is coming up TUESDAY NOVEMBER 6TH are the best chances for progressives to affect the outcome. So from now until Tuesday, get busy to prove progressives are a force in American politics.

This comes from New Jersey for Democracy. First remember that an election is coming up. Off year elections have HORRIBLE voter turnout, which means more than ever, YOUR VOTE COUNTS. It is the chance for progressives to have real upset victories. So, with that in mind: GET OUT AND VOTE ON TUESDAY NOVEMBER 6th!!

And here are some endorsements from Democracy for America for New Jersey progressives:

DFA National Endorsements in New Jersey

Ed Zipprich for Red Bank Borough Council

Ed Zipprich has been a Democracy For America activist for years; he's attended the DFA Training Academy and Night School. A leader of Monmouth for Democracy, and a member of the New Jersey Stonewall Democrats and Democracy for New Jersey, Ed has helped to build New Jersey's progressive community from the grassroots up. Let's show him our thanks by helping him win his race:

Visit Ed's website

This comes from New Jersey for Democracy. First remember that an election is coming up. Off year elections have HORRIBLE voter turnout, which means more than ever, YOUR VOTE COUNTS. It is the chance for progressives to have real upset victories. So, with that in mind: GET OUT AND VOTE ON TUESDAY NOVEMBER 6th!!

And here are some endorsements from Democracy for America for New Jersey progressives:

DFA National Endorsements in New Jersey

Ed Zipprich for Red Bank Borough Council

Ed Zipprich has been a Democracy For America activist for years; he's attended the DFA Training Academy and Night School. A leader of Monmouth for Democracy, and a member of the New Jersey Stonewall Democrats and Democracy for New Jersey, Ed has helped to build New Jersey's progressive community from the grassroots up. Let's show him our thanks by helping him win his race:

Visit Ed's website

Gina Genovese for State Senate, LD-21

Gina Genovese, running for State Senate from the 21st-- that's in Union, Essex, Morris and Somerset Counties-- was the first Democrat ever elected as Mayor of Long Hill, and became the highest-ranking openly gay official in the state. During her tenure, she opened the budget process to the public and signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Gina has opened doors for the LGBT and progressive communities in her town while working to build a sustainable future. Visit her website to help her get to Trenton!:

New America Media, Commmentary, Earl Ofari Hutchinson, Posted: Aug 20, 2007

When Newark Mayor Cory Booker learned that the alleged shooters in the execution killing of three black college students were illegal immigrants, he did the responsible thing.

He did not finger point a porous border and lax law enforcement for allegedly letting so many supposed violent prone illegal immigrants slip into the country as the cause of the killings. Booker said, and did, the right thing as a responsible public official, and in this case a black elected official, who did not want to arouse public passions any more than they already were over the murders. He certainly did not want to inflame the fragile tensions between black and Latinos any more than they already are.

But others have not exercised the same restraint. Some black talk show hosts and black writers have burned up Internet sites, and sent of floods of emails (this writer got several) with outlandish and reckless charges that the killings were part of a concerted plot by Latino gangs to target African-Americans for murder and mayhem.

Leading immigration reform foes from Center for Immigration Studies to Bill O’Reilly also claimed that state and federal officials are so fear being branded racist that they have turned a blind eye to waves of illegal immigrants who supposedly have unleashed a violent crime wave across the country.

Bush is coming a'campaigning to New Jersey, and Democrats are planning on "welcoming" the corrupt, dictatorial bastard with a protest. I am particularly encouraging anyone who can make it because I resent the sleaze ball ever since he sat dumbly by while NYC was attacked and has spent the years since exploiting 9/11 while at the same time publicly saying he doesn't care about catching Osama bin Laden. So, for our New Jersey readers:

Panel Seeks End to Death Penalty for New Jersey

By LAURA MANSNERUS
Published: January 3, 2007
TRENTON, Jan. 2 � A legislative commission recommended on Tuesday that New Jersey become the first state to abolish the death penalty since states began reinstating their capital punishment laws 35 years ago. Its report found �no compelling evidence� that capital punishment serves a legitimate purpose, and increasing evidence that it �is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency.�

The report, whose lone dissenter was the original author of the state�s modern death penalty statute, came a year after New Jersey joined Illinois and Maryland in imposing moratoriums on executions, and amid growing unease among politicians and the public about capital punishment.

Eight other states, including New York, have also suspended executions in recent years, most because of court decisions. Maryland had lifted its moratorium in 2003, after a year, but a court essentially reinstated it last month.

Death penalty experts said that New Jersey was the first state to receive an official recommendation that capital punishment be abandoned, and it lands in a state where legislators have a Democratic majority along with a Democratic governor who supports repeal of the statute.

The governor, Jon S. Corzine, embraced the report on Tuesday. �As someone who has long opposed the death penalty,� he said in a statement, �I look forward to working with the Legislature� to carry out the recommendations.

The papi chulo of ethnic polling has this to say about today's elections :

"You can expect the majority of Hispanics to show up to vote in New Jersey, where they are more than 10 percent of the electorate," Miami-based [Sergio] Bendixen said.

The border states of Arizona and New Mexico may also see Hispanics influencing the ballots in a year when immigration became a hot political topic.

Arizona was in the center of the immigration debate, and Republican congressional candidate Randy Graf has taken a hardline stance on illegal border crossings in his race against Democrat Gabrielle Giffords.

In neighboring New Mexico, Hispanics could play a key role in deciding whether Republican Rep. Heather Wilson (news, bio, voting record) loses her re-election bid to Democrat Patricia Madrid, the state's Hispanic attorney general.

"Graf could lose to a Democrat with his strong anti-immigrant speech, and in New Mexico, Patricia Madrid may very well take the congressional seat of Wilson," said political analyst Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia.

SWING VOTE IN FLORIDA
Bendixen said Hispanic votes could also play a key role in the Florida governor's race to replace outgoing Republican Gov.

The judges of New Jersey's Supreme Court should have a ticker-tape parade:

TRENTON, New Jersey (Reuters) - Saying that times have changed, New Jersey's highest court on Wednesday guaranteed gay couples the same rights as married heterosexual couples but left it to state lawmakers to define how the state wants to define marriage.

"Times and attitudes have changed," the New Jersey State Supreme Court said in a nuanced 90-page ruling that was neither a clear victory nor a defeat for gay marriage, which is currently legal in the United States only in Massachusetts.

"Despite the rich diversity of this State, the tolerance and goodness of its people, and the many recent advances made by gays and lesbians toward achieving social acceptance and equality under the law, the Court cannot find that the right to same-sex marriage is a fundamental right under our constitution," the ruling continued.

But saying that gay couples must have the same rights as other couples, the court said gay advocates must now "appeal to their fellow citizens whose voices are heard through their popularly elected representatives."

I love, Love, LOVE the wording of this decision.

Let me go on the record as saying that I don't believe marriage is all that. I don't understand why the fuck gay people want to call themselves married. Seriously: why! Why! WHY!

The only way I can understand this craziness is that they're fighting for the right to get a divorce.