Gadsden says her superiors cited the Amy Bishop mass murder as cause for overcaution, though they had nothing on her but the posts. "One [posting] said she was 'ROFL,'" helpfully adds the Pocono Record, "shorthand for 'rolling on the floor laughing.'"

More >>

The New York Times' City Room blog today mentions an anti-military recruiting mural that's just gone up on a building on 23 Street and Third Avenue in Brooklyn's Sunset Park. The mural, which (from what we can see) depicts young women in fatigues parachuting to earth and features a pile of dog tags, will be dedicated on September 6.

Reporter David Gonzalez had previously covered the project when it was in progress. The group of young women who were painting it told Gonzalez that "repeated and unwanted come-ons from [military] recruiters" inspired their work.

Comments on the blog entry have turned into a debate on war in general. "The US military help many inner city youth to go on to bigger and better things," writes GI Joe. "I wish these peaceniks would realize this." Kim W. responds that "it was the inner-city youth who DID this mural, and not 'peaceniks.'" "Being an 'inner city youth' and a 'peacenik,'" rejoins Rich from Greenpoint, "are not mutually exclsuve."

At Broadway.com Tom Hulce discusses his transition from screen actor (Amadeus, Echo Park) to producer of Broadway hit Spring Awakening, and his experience working with the young Holy macaroni wouldja look at Tom Hulce he must have gained forty pounds!

Hulce talks about working with the young Spring Awakening cast -- who "in addition to their great talent," all have a "palpable sense of who they are as people" -- and how thrilled he is to be associated with the production. It's basically a 1,028-word Tony acceptance speech.

Brooklyn's James Powderly has been detained by Chinese authorities in Beijing, reports Boing Boing. The high-tech artist apparently was part of a group that used LED lights to spell out the words "Free Tibet" near the site of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. It is reported that all five in the group are Americans and all have been detained.

Boing Boing was alerted to the detention by Students for a Free Tibet. "The Chinese government is desperate to turn the world's attention away from its abuses in Tibet as the Olympics take place," said Students for a Free Tibet's Deputy Director in a related press release, "but the creativity and determination of Tibetans and their supporters has once again ensured that Tibetan voices are heard and seen in Beijing despite the massive security clampdown."

52 activists who charged that they had been illegally arrested and detained in an April 7, 2003 anti-war demonstration on West 56th Street settled today with the City, which will pay them $2 million.

Kunstler et alia v. New York City charged that, in the demo in front of the offices of the Carlyle Group -- an investment firm familiar to viewers of Fahrenheit 911 -- the protesto]ers were arrested despite having broken no laws, and were detained for an unreasonably long time.

"Instead of treating plaintiffs with the respect due all citizens exercising their core First Amendment rights," said the complaint filed in February 2004, "defendants chose to punish plaintiffs for having the temerity to question and criticize our government." Also, "Defendants threatened plaintiffs with prolonged detention if they did not cooperate and answer all questions."

If we're lucky, he took some of his bitter bigotry with him.

Jesse Helms, an unrepentant supporter of unnatural causes throughout his life, died of natural causes this morning at the age of 86.

The only sign of moderation ever shown by the longtime North Carolina senator was his decision to stop saying the word "nigger" when he was likely to be quoted in public settings.

The death of Helms is just about the best birthday present the United States could wish for on July 4. Free at last — of Jesse Helms.

While the networks and most of the press will soft-pedal his virulent racism and reckless disregard for the First Amendment in his hounding of artists, foreigners and many others, Helms stayed his divisive course until the bitter end — at least until the end of his public career.

After building a reputation as a frankly speaking bigot, Helms ended his public life as a liar who whitewashed those previously bold stands.

In a 2005 review of a Helms autobiography and a Strom Thurmond biography, Michael Lind noted in the Washington Post:

Even though America has undergone many changes since the days when the word "nigger" was freely used, it's vital for us to not ban the word. We need it, in context, to accurately record our history. Black man Randall Kennedy, author of the book Nigger, has argued that point recently in "A Note on the Word 'Nigger' ":

Jesse Helms was such a radical that he was able to fan the embers of prejudice even when he spewed the milder N-word with malice aforethought.

In "Dr. Jim Crow," a 2003 article in the Journal of African American History about the post-World War II desegregation of Southern medical education in North Carolina, Karen Kruse Thomas noted:

The death of Helms, particularly on Independence Day, helps.

And it's fitting that he should die during a presidential race that features young black man Barack Obama.

Whether or not Obama wins, the death of Helms and the ascendancy of people like Obama represent at least some sign of progress in America.

From the Voice's Bush Beat

There's nobody on the Great Lawn. And maybe that's just how they like it.
Photo by IJsendoorn via Flickr

The city has settled a federal lawsuit brought by two groups which were denied permits for peaceful rallies during the 2004 Republican National Convention. The groups contended that the city was trying to relegate First Amendment-protected speech to the outer boroughs, far away from the out-of-towners who came to root George W. Bush on to a second term. The city said it was about, um, protecting the grass, which it did restore in 1997 at a reported cost of $18 million.

Under the terms of the agreement, the city will set up a four-person to panel to study the restrictions on the Great Lawn (many of which were hastily put together after the city denied the permits.) It will also pay $25,000 plus legal expenses to the two plaintiffs: the National Council of Arab Americans and the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism) Coalition.

The Partnership for Civil Justice, the public interest firm that brought the case, said "the City must now establish a constitutionally valid permitting scheme for protests in Central Park and must undertake a feasibility study into the optimum and sustainable use of the Great Lawn and what efforts can be undertaken to maximize the availability of the lawn for large events including rallies and demonstrations."

But just how impartial will the city's panel, comprised of four turf management experts and one crowd control expert, be? At least one organizer has her worries.