karissa wisteria

Philadelphia has been abuzz for the past five days after a high school student claimed she was harassed by a public school teacher for wearing a Mitt Romney T-shirt to school. But what is the bigger constitutional lesson?

Mitt_Romney_campaigningLost amid the media hubbub over the incident is a basic right that was in play: the student?s ability to wear her pink Romney-Ryan shirt to a public school in the first place.

Dress code issues in public schools have a fairly extensive recent history, dating back to a landmark Supreme Court decision from the late 1960s that set boundaries for what students can wear to school, as a matter of free speech.

In the current case, Philly.com reports that the student says she wore the Romney-Ryan shirt as part of dress-down day at Charles Carroll High School in the city?s Port Richmond section.

The teacher in question, who hasn?t publicly commented on the situation, was accused by the student of making fun of her in a public way, comparing her fashion decision as akin to ?wearing a KKK shirt? in the heavily Democratic city.

Philly.com says the both sides have confirmed that the teacher apologized to the student. And it is reasonable to expect a heavy media presence (i.e., circus) at the high school when the student returns to class on Tuesday.

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So why did the Philadelphia school district avert the issue by just barring political slogans on clothing as part of its dress code? That?s not as simple as it seems.

The district?s policy is publicly available online and it appears to closely follow the legal standards set with the Supreme Court?s ruling in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969).

In Tinker, three students wore black armbands to a public school to protest the Vietnam War in 1965. The case made its way to the high court three years later, as the American Civil Liberties Union helped to argue the case for the students? parents.

The court decided in a 7 to 2 vote that the armbands represented protected free speech, since the students? actions were passive.

?School officials do not possess absolute authority over their students. Students in school as well as out of school are ?persons? under our Constitution,? said Justice Abe Fortas in the court?s opinion. ?They are possessed of fundamental rights which the State must respect, just as they themselves must respect their obligations to the State.?

The Tinker decision sets general boundaries that allow students to wear T-shirts with slogans as long as they aren?t disruptive, and the slogans are part of an effort to express free speech.

Of course, the school district must allow T-shirts to be worn in school, especially if the school or district has a school uniforms policy. Philadelphia has a general uniform policy, but it does allow exemptions for events.

States have the ability to empower local public school districts to establish dress codes, as long as they don?t conflict with the Tinker decision. The Supreme Court hasn?t heard an appeal yet on the states? powers to establish dress codes.

However, in 2010, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case of a Texas teenager who wanted to wear a T-shirt to school that had the words ?Freedom of Speech? printed on its front and the First Amendment on its back. He also wanted to wear an older John Edwards T-shirt to school.

Attorneys for that school district said it could ban the First Amendment shirt because it had a neutral viewpoint, and the district had changed its dress code to bar all shirts with written messages, unless the messages were related to school activities.

An appeals court also said the teen could wear a political button to express his viewpoint.

The Tinker decision also sets some general rules that public schools can use for dress codes.

?The problem posed by the present case does not relate to regulation of the length of skirts or the type of clothing, to hair style or deportment,? Fortas said in 1969.

In recent years, students have won two cases in federal appeals courts that involve pointed political slogans and T shirts.? A federal judge ruled in favor of a Michigan teenager in 2003, who wore a T-shirt to school that protested President George W. Bush?s policy on Iraq.

And in 2007, a U.S. district court ruled in favor of a Vermont student who also wore a T-shirt critical of Bush to school, saying it was protected under the First and 14^th Amendments.

The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the Vermont case.

In today?s situation involving that Philadelphia teenager?s Mitt Romney T-shirt, the district would have had some issues if it had barred T-shirts with basic Obama or Romney slogans.

Based on the 2010 precedent, the district might have had some grounds. Or maybe it didn?t, based on the two Bush T-shirt cases.

Either way, the district chose to allow one student to express her feelings with a T-shirt, which shouldn?t be overlooked.

For more on this issue:

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/clothing-dress-codes-uniforms

http://www.acluvt.org/pubs/students_rights/dress.php

Scott Bomboy is the editor-in-chief of the National Constitution Center.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Larklife fitness tracker syncs your data over Bluetooth, knows when you're running instead of walking

In case you haven't noticed, fitness gadgets are having something of a moment right now. The past year alone has seen the launch of Nike's FuelBand, the ill-fated Jawbone Up and a refreshed line of Fitbit trackers. Now another product is arriving that promises to do basically the same thing -- namely, track your activity, sleep patterns and food intake using a wearable gadget and mobile app. That thing you see up there is called Larklife and for now, at least, it works exclusively with iOS devices. It's a splash-resistant (but not waterproof) band that has a pedometer inside, counting your steps throughout the day. It can also tell how long you sleep each night, as well as how long it takes you to nod off. There's even a vibrating alarm built into the band -- something we first saw on the Up earlier this year. (As it happens, Lark's earlier products were sleep aids, so the inclusion of this feature actually makes a lot of sense.) As for monitoring your dietary habits, Larklife doesn't automatically track your food intake, but the app does include a food diary where you can manually enter your meals.

Additionally, Larklife uses Bluetooth Smart to automatically sync with your iPhone so that you don't have to plug the band into a PC just to update your fitness stats. (The new Fitbit trackers work this way this too.) Additionally, the band uses a proprietary technology that can discern when you're running or walking, which means the app will log workouts even if you forget to enter them. The last intriguing bit is that the app dishes out smart, contextually aware advice. Didn't get much sleep last night? Larklife will remind you to eat more protein than usual at breakfast, so that you have enough energy to get you through the day. The app also rewards good behavior in the form of iOS notifications and colorful on-screen badges, though competing products admittedly take a very similar approach when it comes to keeping users motivated.

Larklife is up for pre-order starting today, and is priced at $150 -- a rather large premium over the new Fitbit One, which will sell for $100. As for precise availability, all we know is that retailers will start stocking Larklife "before the holidays." Whether that means Halloween, Thanksgiving or some gift-giving celebration will be revealed some other day.

Continue reading Larklife fitness tracker syncs your data over Bluetooth, knows when you're running instead of walking

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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

GOP reviews turning negative on Romney's campaign

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, center, make an unscheduled stop at a Chipotle restaurant in Denver, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks during a presidential campaign rally at Wings of the Rockies Air and Space Museum on Monday, Oct. 1, 2012, in Denver. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, AAron Ontiveroz) MAGS OUT; TV OUT; NO INTERNET

WASHINGTON (AP) ? On the eve of the first presidential debate, the early autumn Republican reviews are in for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, and they are not pretty.

In some states, candidates who share the Nov. 6 ballot with the former Massachusetts governor already have taken steps to establish independence from him. Party strategists predict more will follow, perhaps as soon as next week, unless Romney can dispel fears that he is headed for defeat despite the weak economy that works against President Barack Obama's prospects.

Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who headed the Republican Party when it won control of Congress in the 1990s, said disapprovingly over the weekend that Romney's campaign has been focusing on polling, political process and campaign management. "It's about everything but the issues. It's about everything but Obama's policies and the failures of those policies," he said.

Matthew Dowd, who was a senior political adviser to President George W. Bush, said the Romney campaign was almost guilty of political malpractice over the summer and during the two political conventions. It "left the playing field totally to Barack Obama and the Obama campaign" and "'basically set the tone for the final 60 days of this campaign, which put them behind after the conventions," said Dowd, who worked for Democrats before signing on with Bush, a Republican.

He and Barbour both spoke on ABC.

Ed Gillespie, a senior adviser to Romney, defended the campaign in a conference call with reporters on Monday. "Our message is very clear, which is we cannot afford four more years like the last four years. And we need a real recovery, we need policies that are going to help," he said.

Republicans say there is time for Romney to steady his campaign but only if he acts quickly.

Recent public polls show Obama moving out to a modest lead in most if not all of the battleground states where the race will be decided. But Republicans with access to Romney's polling data said Tuesday that he has begun regaining some support among independent voters, enabling him to cut into the president's advantage.

It is unclear how long congressional candidates are willing to wait for a turnaround. Several Republican strategists point to this week, which includes the debate and Friday's release of September unemployment figures.

Some Republicans who are in periodic contact with the campaign say Romney's strategists have concluded that a recent uptick in public optimism, coming on top of Obama's success to date, complicates the attempt to defeat the president solely on the basis of pocketbook issues.

In recent days, Romney has emphasized criticism of the president's foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East, where a terrorist attack at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, left Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans dead.

Barbour, echoing what others say privately, was dismissive of the suggestion that Romney should spread his campaign focus. The public is "concerned about how backwards the Middle East has gone during the last year. But they're much more concerned about their children having jobs, about them being able to pay for their health insurance, for $3.85 gasoline," he said.

Privately, GOP strategists also agreed with Barbour's public statement that Romney's campaign has been unable so far to settle on a single, overarching theme to tie together its advertising, the rhetoric of its candidate and appearances by surrogates.

Many of the Republicans who commented on the race declined to be identified by name, saying they were not authorized to speak publicly about strategy.

In one statement emailed on Monday, the campaign quoted Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan as telling WTJM in Milwaukee: "This election is a clear choice between different paths."

That was close to what the Obama campaign wants, and considerably different from Romney's earlier insistence that the race is a referendum on the president's performance in office.

Already, there are examples of concern from Republican candidates in other races, some subtle, others less so.

In Arizona, Rep. Jeff Flake recently began airing a commercial that accuses Democrat Richard Carmona of being Obama's "rubber stamp," a candidate whom the president recruited to run for the Senate to "help push his agenda." The ad doesn't say so, but Obama would need support in the next Congress only if he defeats Romney this November and wins four more years in the White House.

In North Dakota, Rep. Rick Berg, also running for the Senate, promises in an ad he will "serve as a check on Obama's failed policies" by fighting to repeal Obamacare, reduce government regulation and scale back the debt.

Both men are favored to win their races, taking place in states that Romney is expected to carry.

Nervousness first surfaced publicly among Republican Senate candidates two weeks ago, with the disclosure of a video of Romney saying 47 percent of Americans pay no income taxes and a like percentage view themselves as victims who are entitled to government benefits. As a candidate, he said, "my job is not to worry" about them.

Linda McMahon, making a second try for a Senate seat from Connecticut, quickly expressed a different opinion. "I disagree with Governor Romney's insinuation that 47 percent of Americans believe they are victims who must depend on the government for their care," she said in a statement released by her campaign.

Appointed Sen. Dean Heller, in a competitive race in Nevada, said, "My mom was a school cafeteria cook, so I have a very different view of the world than the one Romney expressed."

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, running for the Senate, said, "The presidential thing is bound to have an impact on every election." His remark produced a rebuttal from former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu, a top Romney surrogate, who said: "My good friend Tommy Thompson sounds like Barack Obama, blaming it on somebody else."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-10-02-GOP%20Romney%20Worries/id-27afc46def73445f90e20e54a6eceaa8

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Monday, October 1, 2012

Access 4 Finance offer 65pc net commission - Loans - Mortgage ...

1 October, 2012

Access 4 Finance already offers fully transparent commission structure meaning their introducers get to see a full breakdown of the cost associated with the loans including invoices. It also lets introducers choose their own broker fee - as long as the deal makes commercial sense for the company.

Scott Thorpe, director of Access 4 Finance, said: ?We have decided to launch this commission structure to firstly say a massive thank you to our current introducers and also to try and get more people considering secured loans with rates starting at 6.9%.

?With our lenders showing a common sense approach to lending in regards to how they treat not only self-employed clients but also adverse customers this should make a great proposition to introducers and their clients along with also been profitable for the advisers.?

Loans Warehous?s secured loan index figures showed the industry paid out ?34,600,000 in secured loans in August alone.

Thorpe added: ?On an average 10% income generated per case our new proposal if all the completions had come from introducers our proposal would mean they would have earned an extra ?519,000 between them in the space of one month making for a very attractive Christmas.?

With Access 4 Finance?s commission structure a ?20,000 loan amounts to Income of ?2,800 minus a cost of ?220. That generates a net income of ?2580 which at 50% would mean an introducer would earn ?1290. Under the Access 4 Finance structure introducers would earn ?1677 - an extra ?387.

Source: http://www.mortgageintroducer.com/mortgages/244501/4/Daily_news/Access_4_Finance_offer_65pc_net_commission.htm

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Guitarist Jack White stalks off N.Y. concert stage after 45 minutes

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jack White didn't quite repeat the rock star meltdown by Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, but he did enrage fans by stalking off the stage just 45 minutes into his Saturday night concert at New York City's famed Radio City Music Hall.

The critically acclaimed guitarist behind the White Stripes and The Raconteurs - and now touring behind his solo record "Blunderbuss" - pulled the plug after 12 songs lasting just 45 minutes.

White, 37, thanked the crowd and exited stage right, leaving the sold-out venue chanting for more. The crowd's enthusiasm initially turned to perplexity as roadies removed White's guitars but transformed into anger as the curtain fell on the stage.

No official explanation was given for White's quick exit. While audience members had been told not to use their cellphone cameras, early in the concert White was seen exchanging words with someone video recording the concert from the seating area nearest the stage.

In between songs, White also seemed underwhelmed by the crowd response, at one point asking, "Jesus Christ, is this an NPR convention?"

Radio City security officials scrambled to barricade the stage door as angry concert goers crowded the exit and, once outside, banged on two parked tour buses. Other fans crowded the lobby to return t-shirts, records and other merchandise purchased ahead of the show.

Twitter lit up with complaints and theories about why White quit.

"Chatter about Jack White's abbreviated show at New York's Radio City Music Hall last night has officially lasted longer than the concert itself," noted Spin.com, the music website.

White's skill as a guitarist has enabled him to play with the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Jeff Beck, Alicia Keys and other well-known musicians.

His abrupt exit came a week after Green Day's Armstrong said he would seek substance abuse treatment after losing his temper at the iHeartRadio Festival in Las Vegas, culminating in an expletive-laced tirade followed by the smashing of his guitar. (Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Philip Barbara)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/guitarist-jack-white-stalks-off-n-y-concert-231951758.html

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A power grid that thinks for itself?

ScienceDaily (Oct. 1, 2012) ? Most dishwashers are set to run around lunchtime and in the evenings, but is there a sufficient supply of electricity available from alternative energy sources at these peak times? Researchers are developing technologies for an intelligent power grid that provides a better balance between supply and demand.

Energy is increasingly produced through the use of alternative methods, a growing number of electric cars can be seen on the roads, and more and more people are becoming aware of the limited availability of energy resources. Overall, the energy system is facing new challenges. Wilfried Elmenreich describes the consequences for the power grid: "Over the past 50 years, our power grid has barely changed. But now it has to become intelligent." Elmenreich is manager of the research group "Smart Grids," funded by Lakeside Labs and part of the Faculty of Technical Sciences at the Alpen-Adria-Universit?t.

"Smart Grids" represent precisely this type of intelligent power grid: Consumers actively participate in the combination of electricity and communication networks. By involving alternative producers of electricity, households, industry or communities can work actively and independently of the global electricity network. Systems of this kind, which supply their own energy, are called "Smart Microgrids."

In theory, every household can use this system to purchase energy and -- if energy is produced by alternative methods -- to sell it. However, if all dishwashers are set to run around lunchtime, and all air conditioning systems are operating at full throttle during the afternoons, the system is quickly overwhelmed. "Intelligent agents can automatically suggest usage patterns for the devices, in order to optimise both energy consumption and price," Anita Sobe, a member of the "Smart Grids" research group, explains.

"A system involving such a large number of actors is difficult to manage, and therefore requires self-organising algorithms and mechanisms," Elmenreich further elaborates the technical background. Researchers are therefore working on the integration of existing individual solutions in one intelligent microgrid.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Alpen-Adria-Universit?t Klagenfurt | Graz | Wien, via AlphaGalileo.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/AVNMiu4YBns/121001083538.htm

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Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The Constitution in Philly?s Romney T-shirt controversy

Nobel literature award to be announced Thursday