Thursday, April 5, 2012

Civil War

(Personal observation. I always knew of the conflict as the "American Civil War". I have learned that some refer to it as the "War of Northern Aggression" or the "War between the States". Now I read in the Virginian Pilot this morning that it is "Mr Lincoln's War". Why not call it the "War to Save the Union" or the "War to defeat Treason" or the "War to End Slavery". I guess it all depends on one's personal perspective. Today conservatives are calling the war started by George W. Bush as "Obama's War").

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Student Speech

I school district in Indianapolis has expelled a 17 year old student for the use of profanity on a Twitter site (I am not sure what that is). He used a "certain expletive" (most likely the "F" word) numerous times to show how it would fit into a sentence. He made the comment on "his own time" and not on school property. He says he was using his own computer but the school seems to disagree; he was using a school computer that was given to all upper grades. This seems to be developing into a case that will end up in court. An ACLU spokes-person notes that this could be a First and Fourth Amendment case. The article notes that the 1969 Supreme Court case of Tinker v. Des Moines applies here. Further action is not mentioned in this article.
(Source: "Student's profane tweet stirs debate on free speech" by Charles Wilson of The AP. In The Virginian Pilot on 4/4/12)