Author Archives: Jim Thorpe

Egypt in Turmoil: Images of Bloodshed After Army Fires on Pro-Morsi Protesters

by Jim Thorpe Posted on July 8, 2013

Mother Jones

Before dawn on Monday morning, the Egyptian army opened fire on a crowd of protesters gathered outside the Republican Guard building in Cairo where ousted President Mohamed Morsi may be being held, leaving at least 51 protesters and three soldiers dead. The clash—the deadliest incident since the 2011 revolution that toppled Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak—came as the army moved to clear the days-old sit-in protesting the removal of Morsi last Wednesday. The army has claimed that they were fired upon first; protesters say the army opened fire without cause, just after morning prayers.

The clash left more than 300 wounded and lasted more than three hours, with protesters hurling stones and Molotov cocktails as the military returned fire. Many of the wounded were brought to a field hospital near the Rabaa al-Adaweya Mosque, the site of another pro-Morsi sit-in where more protests reportedly were planned for later Monday. Outside of the emergency wards that have handled the wounded, dozens have lined up to donate blood.

Here are photos from the aftermath of the violence:

Wissam Nassar/ZumaPress

Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood stand next to the bodies of fellow protesters killed in clashes with Republican Guards forces, at a hospital morgue in Cairo.

Ahmed Asad/ZumaPress

An Egyptian doctor attends to a man who was killed after clashes near Republication Guard headquarters around the Raba El-Adwyia Mosque Square in the Nasr City suburb of Cairo. The Muslim Brotherhood says its members were staging a pro-Morsi sit-in at the barracks, where he is believed to be in detention, when they were fired on. But the army said a ”terrorist group” had tried to storm the barracks.

Ahmed Asad/ZumaPress

An Egyptian doctor holds bullet shell casings after clashes near Republication Guard headquarters around the Raba El-Adwyia Mosque Square in the Nasr City suburb of Cairo.

Wissam Nassar/ZumaPress

Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood stand next to the bodies of fellow protesters killed in clashes with Republican Guards forces, at a hospital morgue in Cairo.

Amina Ismail

A man checks the list of the dead and injured posted at a hospital treating those wounded in Monday’s clashes between Morsi supporters and the Egyptian Army.

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Egypt in Turmoil: Images of Bloodshed After Army Fires on Pro-Morsi Protesters

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There’s Some Good News About the Future of Affirmative Action

by Jim Thorpe Posted on June 28, 2013

Mother Jones

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Although the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this week in the University of Texas affirmative action case was basically a punt, the end appears to be very near for racial preferences in university admissions. The case was sent back to the Fifth Circuit Court for review, and the majority opinion said that the court could uphold affirmative action only if “no workable race-neutral alternatives would produce the educational benefits of diversity.” That’s a very stiff test, and one that neither UT nor any other university is likely to meet.

So if race-based affirmative action gets struck down in the near future, what’s next? One alternative that liberals should probably embrace more enthusiastically is class-based affirmative action.

This isn’t a perfect substitute for race-based affirmative action. In a study of elite universities, Anthony Carnevale and Stephen Rose concluded that class-based affirmative action would probably produce student bodies that were about 10 percent black and Latino, compared to 12 percent with purely race-based affirmative action. Taking wealth into consideration might boost that a bit more, as would policies that take account of whether a student lives in concentrated poverty, a partial proxy for racial housing discrimination.

Still, there’s no question that in practice, even well-designed class-based policies would probably represent a net loss for minority representation. But it’s a fairly modest loss, and class-based policies also have some advantages—quite aside from the fact that we might soon be forced into using them whether we like it or not. For one thing, they help poor people. That’s worthwhile all by itself, since elite universities are notorious for the affluence of their student bodies. Current affirmative action programs mostly select rich and upper-middle-class minorities, something that even Barack Obama admits isn’t fair. “My daughters should probably be treated by any admissions officer as folks who are pretty advantaged,” he told George Stephanopoulos back in 2007, “and I think that there’s nothing wrong with us taking that into account as we consider admissions policies at universities.”

Class-based policies also provoke a lot less resentment from working-class whites. As Richard Kahlenberg, a tireless one-man advocate for class-based policies, points out, race-based admission policies are supported by only about a quarter of the population. Conversely, class and income-based policies are supported by upwards of two-thirds of the population. That represents a far stronger foundation for keeping diversity policies thriving over the next few decades.

And there’s more. Carnevale and Rose concluded that class-based policies produce higher graduation rates than either a pure merit-based system (test scores and high school GPAs) or a traditional affirmative action program. And eliminating race-based policies would also put an end to the suspicion that continues to dog black and Latino college graduates from employers who wonder if their degrees were really fairly earned.

Would it be possible for us to adopt class-based programs? One obstacle, as I wrote a couple of years ago, is the insistence of conservatives on refusing to even admit that racism is a problem anymore. It’s become practically a truism on the right that racism is a thing of the past, nothing more than a convenient whipping boy to be exploited by race hustlers like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton who prey on liberal guilt and federal largesse. This is just poisonous, and it justifiably provokes a defensive attitude on the left. There’s no way that blacks or any other ethnic minority will ever take conservative complaints about affirmative action at face value if they flatly refuse to concede that there’s even a problem left to be addressed.

But that shouldn’t stop us. We should be forthright in conceding that class-based policies are likely to produce slightly lower minority representation at elite universities. But well-designed policies can make that loss very small, and the advantages of class-based policies go a long way toward making up for that. It’s something we should face up to before we’re forced into it whether we like it or not.

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There’s Some Good News About the Future of Affirmative Action

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FreedomWorks Fallout Continues: 2 Prominent Conservatives Resign

by Jim Thorpe Posted on June 4, 2013

Mother Jones

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In the latest sign of turmoil at FreedomWorks, two prominent board members have resigned following the completion of an investigation they launched into possible misconduct within the conservative group, which has been an instrumental force in the tea party movement.

In December, these two board members, James Burnley IV and C. Boyden Gray, sent a letter to FreedomWorks president Matt Kibbe informing him that they had received “allegations of wrongdoing by the organization or its employees.” They noted they had retained two attorneys, Alfred Regnery and David Martin, to conduct an independent investigation into the accusations. Burnley and Gray, both of them high-profile veterans of Republican administrations, ordered Kibbe to cooperate with the lawyers, to ensure that no records were “destroyed, deleted, modified or otherwise tampered with” and to send Regnery a check for $25,000 to cover his initial fees. The investigation followed several months of conflict inside the group that included the surprise resignation of FreedomWorks’ longtime chairman, Dick Armey, a former Republican congressman and onetime House majority leader. Armey accused Kibbe of improperly using FreedomWorks resources to promote a book Kibbe had written.

More from MoJo on FreedomWorks


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The “Smoking Gun” Memo That Triggered the FreedomWorks Feud


Dick Armey Reveals the Identity of His Mysterious Gunman at FreedomWorks

After the investigation was launched, Kibbe penned a private memo—titled “Republican Insiders Attempt Hostile Takeover of FreedomWorks”—accusing Armey, Burnley, and Gray of being shills for the Republican establishment and undercutting the group’s standing as an independent, nonpartisan, conservative organization. Kibbe maintained they were trying to punish him for defying their supposed effort to steer FreedomWorks into the conventional Republican fold. He claimed that the divisive fight within FreedomWorks was not really about his book contract or other organizational matters; it was about politics and control of a key right-wing resource.

The battle inside FreedomWorks produced bizarre tales of internal clashes and odd political intrigue. There was the story that Armey—who received an $8 million payout from a FreedomWorks board member to ease his departure—had shown up at the group’s offices with a gun-wielding assistant to confront Kibbe and Adam Brandon, the organization’s senior vice president. Armey maintained that this tale was hyped up by his FreedomWorks foes and that he had arrived at the office with a former Capitol Hill cop who had been volunteering his security services to Armey and FreedomWorks for years. In February, Mother Jones broke the news that FreedomWorks produced a promotional video last year that included a scene in which a female intern wearing a panda suit simulated performing oral sex on another intern who was wearing a Hillary Clinton mask. (The video was spiked after several staffers complained.) Former FreedomWorks officials have said that the place was in tumult, with employees departing or looking to leave.

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FreedomWorks Fallout Continues: 2 Prominent Conservatives Resign

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Buying Solar Panels for Your Home

by Jim Thorpe Posted on May 31, 2013

Solar panels represent one of the best ways for people to be environmentally conscious and responsible in nature. This technology is likely the way of the future, because of the opportunities that it holds.

Solar panels have a wide use of applications that make them highly effective for their given purpose. The technology has the potential to revolutionize the world when it is developed more fully, because of the way that it can provide a viable supply of energy.

Because of these facts, solar energy is fast becoming something of great importance to the world. As fossil fuels dwindle and nuclear power causes concerns, other alternatives will be needed in a very real way.

Solar panels represent a good way to move forward, because of their application, use, and overall versatility. First of all, the energy that is captured and used by these devices is infinitely replenishable and will always be there.

When it all comes down to it, the purpose of the solar panels is to convert sunlight into electrical impulse that is stored and utilized from a battery. Obviously, the energy supply that may be used to do this is limitless in scope and is going to be present every single day.

When you do not have a contractor to refer to, you will have to start doing the research on your own. Although the research is not difficult, you want to make sure that you understand how you can navigate the solar panel shopping.

In the past, research and application of solar panels has been slow and patchy at best. This is because due to the immense profit and established mindset that comes along with using oil and coal and other resources, there was no immediate need to consider more options.

Flashlights are a good example of something that can benefit from the technology and be vastly improved by it. Certain types of flashlights feature solar panels that are built into the top of them.

Solar panels offer a viable solution for impending problems. First of all, they are clean in nature

Other possible sources contaminate the environment and use as many resources as they produce. Indeed, such is one of the primary reasons why attempts in the past to overhaul things have failed.

People either have to carry batteries with them, or ration carefully the way that they use the unit. Obviously, if there is some kind of emergency or if people are out on the trail, then there may not be a supply of batteries that can be accessed.

As you are shopping for a solar panel you will also want to make sure that you understand how you are going to shop for a good warranty. While you are looking you want to make sure that you are smart about the way that you compare the warranties.

This versatility means that the equipment can be placed anywhere that there is a need, either in primary or supplemental fashion. There is no real downside to implementing the equipment in such a way, so widespread usage is something to be encouraged.

Using this perk, people have the option to keep their unit recharged for a very long period of time, potentially offering limitless battery for things. Obviously, such a perk can be lifesaving in nature, because the person is assured of a useful item.

All of these factors combine to illustrate how the equipment can be used to cleanly support the power needs of mankind, while remaining environmentally conscious as a result. Indeed, the two concepts can go hand in hand if people are willing to work for progress.

With time running out on other sources, such energy is likely the best way to remain viable in the future. While the first iterations will be shaky and supplemental, widespread interest in the technology will help it to become prevalent enough to make a difference.

Not only can such technology make it so that there is a more ready supply of energy, but it also can make it so that the people save a lot of money. The fact that the earth could be greener is the ultimate perk overall.

If you are going to buy the panels used you should see them before you purchase them. This way you can be sure that you are getting a panel that does not end up being a waste of your money in the long run.

SimpleRay was founded in 2007 with one goal in mind: simplifying solar for homeowners, business owners, installers and non-profits. We believe in the importance of Siliken solar panels, wind and other renewable energy products to the future of our global community. We offer inexpensive solar panels for sale that will help to save costs on your energy bills.

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