Excerpt from forum thread about D.C. becoming the nation’s sixth jurisdiction to legalize gay marriage: On Tuesday, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. denied an emergency appeal to block a District of Columbia law legalizing gay marriage from taking effect.
His action cleared the way for the nation’s capital to begin allowing gay couples to apply for marriage licenses. The law expanded the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. Opponents wanted to stop its implementation and bring it before voters in a referendum, wrote Robert Barnes of the Washington Post.
Couples are expected to line up outside the marriage bureau Wednesday morning. Temps will assist courthouse employees to handle the expected crowd, the Associated Press reported Wednesday morning.
Haitian-born, Grammy winning Wyclef Jean spoke out Saturday in defense of his foundation, which collected more than $2 million to help victims since a 7.0 magnitude quake hit his country.
He posted a statement and video on online in response to scrutiny of the accounting practices of Yele Haiti, also known as the Wyclef Jean Foundation Inc. Jean arrived in the capital city a day after the temblor Tuesday afternoon.
Concerns surfaced after the charity collected donations since the quake shattered the Caribbean nation. Since Tuesday, he has appeared on television and appealed online to supporters to text “Yele” to 501501 to donate $5 to his foundation.
On Facebook, as word of the financial scrutiny spread, several of my friends noted that while Jean’s group may not have the longevity and experience with disaster relief as the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders, they didn’t think he was disingenuous.
One friend in Newark, N.J. noted that while Jean’s Yele Haiti’s received media coverage, “there are a few other organizations that are accepting donations for Haitian disaster relief that are directly connected to the people.
“One reputable organization that is directly connected to grassroots organizations in the region is the Haiti Support Project, an organization under the umbrella of the African think tank, Institute of the Black World (21st Century) founded by Dr. Ron Daniels,”Ali McBride wrote.
“An Associated Press review of tax returns and independent audits provided by Jean’s foundation showed that it was closely intertwined with Jean’s businesses,” according to an AP story.
Jean denounced the allegations and said he’s never profited personally through his work with the charity.
“In fact, I have, time and again, committed significant amounts of my own money to support the work of Yele Haiti and other organizations in support of our efforts over the years,” reads in part Jean’s statement posted on his blog. “More than that, I have spent countless hours, days, months and years of my life committed to the country of Haiti, the people of Haiti and the success of Haiti.”
“It’s a good idea to monitor your profile page to make sure material posted by others doesn’t violate AP standards; any such material should be deleted. Also, managers should not issue friend requests to subordinates, since that could be awkward for employees. It’s fine if employees want to initiate the friend process with their bosses,” according to the policy.
“The AP’s social-networking policy comes as the media at large begins adopting Facebook and Twitter guidelines during a time of explosive growth in online social media,” wrote David Kravets for Wired.com. “The News Media Guild, representing about 1,000 AP journalists, says the AP’s policy is perhaps the most restrictive the union has seen.”
“I am unaware of anything else like that,” News Media Guild President Tony Winton told Wired. “Parts of the policy seem to be snuffing out peoples’ First Amendment rights of expression by a company that wraps itself in the First Amendment.”
The news organization is concerned about what employees’ put on their social networking feed/pages because “we all have a stake in upholding the AP’s reputation for fairness and impartiality, which has been one of our chief assets for more than 160 years.”
“So many people were asking what our policy was, we wanted to lay out the top-level view,” Kristin Gazlay, AP’s managing editor/financial news and global training, told Editor and Publisher.
She distributed the policy to employees last week.
“It has become a huge part of how people gather information and disseminate information,” Gazlay said. ”There is no intent on being Big Brother, no plans to scour people’s pages looking for things.”
“These guidelines do not break new ground – they are consistent with the rest of our Statement of News Values and Principles. They just take into account the new realities of the social-networking world and answer questions that many AP employees have asked,” according to the policy.
U.S. Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor speaks after President Barack Obama announced her nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States. (Reuters)
Added at 12 p.m. “I could not, in the few minutes I have today, mention the names of the many friends and family who have guided and supported me throughout my life, and who have been instrumental in helping me realize my dreams,” Sotomayor said after the president introduced her. “I see many of those faces in this room. Each of you, whom I love deeply, will know that my heart today is bursting with gratitude for all you have done for me.”
Before the announcement, a few news reports – as this item from New York Magazine – indicated that the New York native was born to Puerto Rican immigrants.
“Sotomayor has spoken openly about her pride in her ethnic background and has said that personal experiences ‘affect the facts that judges choose to see,’” according to an Associated Press story.
In a 2002 speech, she said, ”I simply do not know exactly what the difference will be in my judging. But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage.”
“For as long as I can remember, I have been inspired by the achievement of our founding fathers. They set forth principles that have endured for than more two centuries. Those principles are as meaningful and relevant in each generation as the generation before,” Sotomayor said at the White House as she accepted the nomination. “It would be a profound privilege for me to play a role in applying those principles to the questions and controversies we face today.”
Added at 3 p.m. “Sotomayor’s nomination to replace Justice David H. Souter represents the possibility of the first Latino sitting on the nation’s highest court. As the debate over her qualifications develops, NAHJ would encourage the highest form of discourse,” according to a statement the journalism association released this afternoon.
“A legal dispute over a famed poster of then-senator Barack Obama goes to the heart of a very modern-era debate over what is ‘fair use’ of images that are readily available on the Internet,” wrote Gene Policinski, vice president and executive director of First Amendment Center in an article posted on the Newseum Web site. “
The article explains the dispute between artist Shepard Fairey who developed an iconic image of the presidential candidate and the Associated Press, which published a photography that served as Fairey’s inspiration.
“The dispute revolves around a complex part of copyright law called ‘fair use’ and whether Fairey’s artistic work was ‘derivative’ or ‘transformative,’” Policinski wrote in the “First Amendment Challenge: Who Owns Obama’s Image?”
For information about Obey Giant Art, Inc., which Fairey and his wife, Amanda own or to watch a debate on the “Colbert Nation” regarding the copyright issues surrounding the Obama poster.
