FROM THE BARRICADES FOR 3/7/09

Posted by Jon Pike Mar 7, 2009

Hello and welcome to the first official blog entry for SUITE 101’s FROM THE BARRICADES BLOG…the official blog of Suite 101’s official Activism Feature Writer, Jon Pike.

What I will be doing with this blog in the coming weeks is provide a weekly update on activist issues I DIDN’T cover this week as an article, but are still worth mentioning, and may in fact rate an article in the coming weeks.

I would like people to feel free to comment on this blog and to suggest the frontiers of activism I should cover in my role.

So let’s report….FROM THE BARRICADES

Evolution activism is heating up. The Oklahoma State Legislature has officially condemned evolutionary atheist Richard Dawkins. The original resolution condemned the University Of Oklahoma Zoology Department for teaching evolution and not intelligent design. Iowa and Alabama are both considering legislation that would allow for the teaching of intelligent design…..

The battle for abortion rights is active in North Dakota and Montana. The state legislature in North Dakota is considering a bill that would give fetuses, an official, “right to life.” Montana is also considering strict bans on abortion….

Yet another college newspaper is facing administrative sanction. Student journalists are locked in combat over control over the Oregon Daily Emerald. This follows similar battles at Chicago State and a move that put the student newspaper at the College Of Dupage under control of the college prez. This one I’m seriously thinking of doing as an article….

Labor activism is a hot topic these days. Labor has an issue it is seriously fighting for with at least some support from the Obama Administration. The Employee Free Choice Act continues to be characterized as “anti-democratic” by right-wing radio and Fox News….

The battle over marriage equality is far from over. The California Supreme Court is still deliberating over the constitutionality of Proposition 8. A bill allowing civil unions went down to defeat in the Utah State Legislature. The LDS church claims it had not role in that fight. But, the LDS church is telling its Illinois members to fight a civil union bill in that state….

That’s it for this week, join me in discussing these topics, won’t you?, as we continue to file dispatches…FROM THE BARRICADES.