“Urban, rural divide defines differing views on marriage - Bangor Daily News” plus 4 more |
- Urban, rural divide defines differing views on marriage - Bangor Daily News
- LA Doctor Allegedly Faked Exams For Immigrants - NBC Los Angeles
- Tilly Panel Series at 2009 SSHA: Charles Tilly’s and Louise Tilly ... - History News Network
- Tell ICE to cool it - Badger Herald
- McKenzie: Liambas suspension is harsh but also courageous - TSN
| Urban, rural divide defines differing views on marriage - Bangor Daily News Posted: 04 Nov 2009 08:18 PM PST AUGUSTA, Maine — One day after failing at the polls as the nation watched, supporters of same-sex marriage in Maine said Wednesday they were dispirited but not defeated as they vowed to continue what they regard as a civil rights fight. Click here for a map represention of the Maine 2009 vote. During an emotional press conference in Portland, leaders of the No on 1 campaign said they were not prepared to analyze the reasons behind Tuesday's vote to repeal Maine's same-sex marriage law or to discuss possible strategies going forward. "We are proud of our message. We stand by our message," said Patricia Peard, a member of the No on 1 executive committee. "Let us not forget that 47 percent [of voters] stood up and said that gay and lesbian people deserve equality in this state. I assure you, we are going to build to a larger number." Organizers of Stand for Marriage Maine said they believe the Yes on 1 camp's victory — by roughly 5.6 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results — should settle the debate over gay marriage in Maine, at least for now. But there was also some discussion Wednesday about a possible constitutional amendment in Maine defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman. "It's more important to see what the other side is going to do," said Bob Emrich, a Baptist pastor from Plymouth and Stand for Marriage Maine leader. "If the other side continues to bring it up, then we might need to do that. But I think the emotions have to settle." So what were the keys to the Yes on 1 campaign's success? According to the last campaign finance report, filed two weeks before the election, the No campaign had raised $4 million versus $2.5 million for the Yes campaign. No on 1 also had a network of an estimated 8,000 volunteers — far more than the Yes side. But Emrich said ultimately it came down to people all over the state who volunteered for Yes on 1 and talked to their neighbors about the issue. The campaign's numerous ads warning of gay marriage being taught in schools and a late-breaking controversy over a complaint against a guidance counselor featured in a Yes on 1 ad likely helped, he said. Not surprisingly, the opposition had a different take on the Yes campaign's tactics. "Their bar was set really low," said Jesse Connolly, campaign manager for No on 1. "All they had to do was raise some doubts, and they did. We are very proud of our campaign and everything we did." Opinions may differ on particular strategies. But the unofficial results show that, as with many other cultural issues, whether Mainers voted for or against same-sex marriage largely depended on where they call home. Rural Maine voted heavily to overturn Maine's law allowing gay and lesbian couples to wed. In the most extreme example, 73 percent of the nearly 27,000 Aroostook County voters who cast ballots voted "yes" on Question 1. Roughly two-thirds of voters in Piscataquis, Somerset and Washington counties also favored repeal. The opposite was true in many of Maine's more populated areas. In Cumberland County, 60 percent of voters opposed the repeal and in Portland, Maine's largest city, that figure swelled to 73.5 percent. Roughly 54 percent of voters in Bangor and Scarborough cast votes against the repeal of the same-sex marriage law. Gay marriage also had strong support in college towns, picking up 73 percent of voters in Orono and 63 percent in Brunswick. One notable exception to the rural-urban divide was in the heavily Roman Catholic and Franco-American neighborhoods of Lewiston and Auburn, where 59 percent and 54 percent of voters, respectively, favored the repeal. University of Maine political scientist Amy Fried pointed out that those returns were a change from 2005, when Lewiston voted in favor of preserving anti-discrimination laws protecting Maine's gay and lesbian residents. Fried was also intrigued by the partisan message — or lack thereof — in the 2009 referenda. Two anti-tax measures failed while changes to the state's medical marijuana laws passed — all of which Fried said could suggest a strong turnout among more liberal-minded Mainers. But the defeat of gay marriage could suggest a strong conservative presence at the polls, she said. "That's if you want to think of it in those terms, and maybe we shouldn't in Maine because we are ticket-splitters," she said. Coastal counties were typically more evenly divided. The exceptions were Waldo County, where the Yes campaign won 54 percent, and Hancock County, where the No camp won 53 percent. Kay Wilkins, who headed up the No on 1 campaign's get-out-the-vote effort in Hancock County, said she was proud of those results, which she credited to other "super organizers" both past and present. But that local success offered the Ellsworth resident little comfort given the overall election results. She and her partner of 21 years, Diana Kate, had been hoping to have a wedding as soon as the now-repealed law took effect. "I'm very sad about that, and as we are an older couple, I really begin to wonder whether it is going to happen in our lifetimes," said Wilkins, who is 69. Maine's referendum over same-sex marriage attracted national attention, driven by the few high-profile elections elsewhere around the country and the potential for a first-ever upset by gay marriage supporters. Instead, the defenders of "traditional marriage" maintained their perfect record of 31 wins and zero losses when gay marriage is put to a statewide vote. Opinions varied on the national importance of the Maine referendum, however. Suzanne Goldberg, a professor specializing in sexuality and gender law at Columbia Law School in New York, didn't see the results as all gloom and doom for the gay rights movement. The relatively close vote shows that support is growing for same-sex marriage, said Goldberg, who has written extensively on legal arguments for marriage equality. While Goldberg said the loss is undoubtedly painful for gay and lesbian couples and their families in Maine, she believes the trajectory is a positive one. "This was not a landslide for the vote against marriage equality," she said. "I suspect, going forward, that we are on the verge of being at the tipping point." But Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage, a conservative group that funded much of the Yes on 1 campaign, said Tuesday's result shows "that even in a New England state, if the voters have a chance to have their say, they're going to protect and defend the common-sense definition of marriage." Four of the five states that have legalized same-sex marriage are in New England. Brown also suggested that the outcome in Maine will give pause to lawmakers in New York and New Jersey, where gay-marriage legislation is pending. The Associated Press contributed to this report. This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| LA Doctor Allegedly Faked Exams For Immigrants - NBC Los Angeles Posted: 04 Nov 2009 07:42 PM PST This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| Tilly Panel Series at 2009 SSHA: Charles Tilly’s and Louise Tilly ... - History News Network Posted: 04 Nov 2009 08:25 PM PST Historians in the NewsTilly Panel Series at 2009 SSHA: Charles Tilly's and Louise Tilly's Work and LegacySource: SSRC (11-4-09) November 13-14, 2009 (Friday and Saturday) 34th Annual Social Science History Association Meeting, Long Beach, CA, 12-15 November 2009, on the Queen Mary. Conference Theme: "Agency and Action"
The 2009 SSHA conference features a presidential panel series of 4 panels and over 20 speakers devoted to Charles Tilly's and Louise Tilly's work and legacy. The conference also features the Tilly Fund's inaugural presentation of the Charles and Louise Tilly Prize for the Best Graduate Paper in Social Science History. Time: Friday, November 13: 02:15 PM-04:15 PM Organizer: Andreas Koller, Social Science Research Council. Chair: Ron Aminzade, University of Minnesota *
Mark Traugott, University of California, Santa Cruz. We Never Forget Our First Loves: Charles Tilly and French History
Marc Steinberg, Smith College. The Political History that Chuck Built
Daniel Nexon, Georgetown University. Charles Tilly and the Study of State (Trans-) Formation Wayne Te Brake, SUNY-Purchase. European Revolutions Discussant: Eric Hobsbawm, President of Birkbeck, University of London (via video link)
Abstract: This panel investigates Charles Tilly's contributions to the study of European history in major areas of his historical work, including French history, British history, state (trans-) formation, European revolutions and democratization in Europe. Each of his historical contributions will be put in the temporal context of his intellectual and theoretical trajectory. Together, the papers shed light on a lifetime of research at the frontiers of history and social science and on Tilly's quest for superior explanations of social processes by straddling the boundary between them. Time: Friday, November 13: 04:30 PM-06:30 PM Organizer and Chair: Andreas Koller, Social Science Research Council
* Neil Gross, University of British Columbia. Charles Tilly and American Pragmatism Discussant: Harrison White, Columbia University Abstract: In response to the SSHA conference theme "Agency and Action", this panel investigates the work and legacy of Charles Tilly by focusing on his shift from structure to action. While his close attention to action and interaction reaches at least as far back as to 1977 when he first formulated the idea of "repertoires" of contention, he realized the eminently cultural notion of this idea only much later – "after years of denial," as he put it. In striking resemblance to classic American Pragmatism, Tilly's later work suggested that if one understands the recurrent causal mechanisms, one can put things right. Social scientists need to provide "superior stories" which capture the actual mechanisms and processes better than everyday stories. This enhances the quality of "public politics" and, consequently, agency in the social process. Understanding the central mechanisms at work enables agency. The panel papers all shed light on these core questions from their respective area, investigating Tilly's work on methodology and explanation; contentious politics; social inequality/stratification; nationalism and ethnicity, including social boundaries, stories and identities; and Tilly's role in the history of (historical) social science.
7:00 - 8:00pm: Social Event: Reception for SSHA graduate students and friends Time: Saturday, November 14: 01:00 PM-03:00 PM Organizer: Miriam Cohen, Vassar College Chair: Mary Jo Maynes, University of Minnesota Discussants:
* Miriam Cohen, Vassar College
Abstract: Louise Tilly's historical studies of women, work and family, social protest, immigration and transnational social systems influenced the work of many social scientists in the last few decades of the twentieth century; they continue to have relevance for scholars in the new millennium. This roundtable on the legacy of Louise Tilly features some of the current work of Louise's colleagues and students as well as the work of a younger generation of scholars now studying with her former students. We look forward to a lively discussion with audience and panel members on the current studies and the significance of Louise Tilly's scholarship for our times. Time: Saturday, November 14: 03:15 PM-05:15 PM Organizer: Chris Tilly, University of California, Los Angeles, and Mike Hanagan, Vassar College Chair: William Roy, University of California, Los Angeles
* Chris Tilly, University of California, Los Angeles, and Mike Hanagan, Vassar College. Cities, States and Trust Networks Discussant: Peter C. Perdue, Yale University Abstract: At the time of his death, Charles Tilly was working on a monograph entitled Cities and States in World History. In this panel, we combine his thoughts from that uncompleted work with other current work on cities and states from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Some of the current papers are historical; others are contemporary. Some apply Tilly's "trust and rule" framework; others are critical of that framework or strike out in new directions. The goal is to generate a vibrant discussion on cities and states in historical and contemporary perspective. 5:30 - 6:00pm: SSHA Business Meeting, including the announcement of the winner of the Charles and Louise Tilly Prize for the Best Graduate Paper in Social Science History 6:00 - 6:30pm: SSHA Presidential Address by Julia Adams, Yale University
6:30 - 8:00pm: Social Event: President's Reception General conference information can be found here. Budget accommodation for students: Vagabond Inn Long Beach or Rodeway Inn Long Beach Conference hotel: The Queen Mary Conference registration online: For students who are otherwise non-program participants, the conference registration is only 10 USD. Questions about conference registration? contact: Melissa Kocias: iuconfs@indiana.edu 812.855-4224 * 800.933.9330 (US only) * 812-855-8077 (fax) This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| Tell ICE to cool it - Badger Herald Posted: 04 Nov 2009 07:49 PM PST Opinion: EditorialTell ICE to cool it Looking for a print version?
Almost two weeks ago, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen's work with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement brought about the arrest and deportation of 34 illegal immigrants from the Southeastern part of the state. It would be easy to see this story, particularly the fact that each immigrant had a criminal record, and laud the success of law enforcement for doing just that — enforcing the law. And while on some level, that is true, there is a point at which these raids go beyond reasonable law enforcement and stray into the territory of destructive intervention. First, if all of these immigrants had been convicted of other crimes, what good was done by returning them to society only to break down their doors months or years later in a raid? In such cases, the deportation should happen immediately after conviction, if it is to happen. This achieves the same goal and it has the added benefit of saving the state the costs of parole monitoring or jail time. With that lapse in logic and practice stated, it is clear the state and federal governments should also be using their resources for causes that have a bigger impact on society. Why divert resources from fighting crime to go after otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants? Finally, the consequence of this action ripples beyond those who were deported and their families. As cliché as the "culture of fear" argument may seem, its validity is proven in the aftermath of raids like these. This atmosphere can have serious effects beyond their simple state of mind to their actions, including whether or not they show up for work or report crimes within their own communities. The current status of illegal immigrants in our state is far from ideal, but in the meantime, let's not settle for breaking down doors, but take more substantial steps that do what is good and just for the state and all its residents. 1 Comment | Leave a comment Leave a comment This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| McKenzie: Liambas suspension is harsh but also courageous - TSN Posted: 04 Nov 2009 08:32 PM PST There is no question that Ontario Hockey League commissioner David Branch's decision to suspend Michael Liambas for his hit on Ben Fanelli for the rest of the OHL regular season and playoffs is remarkably harsh. It's one thing for a non-playing media person to make that assertion, quite another coming from a Hall of Famer of Broad Street Bully fame.
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"First, if all of these immigrants had been convicted of other crimes, what good was done by returning them to society only to break down their doors months or years later in a raid?"
Just why do you think they weren't deported right away? Could it be the much vaunted "due process"? I agree that justice delayed is justice denied - illegal immigrants should ALL be deported IMMEDIATELY! If they have committed additional crimes then deport them even quicker.