U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, holds a hearing entitled “The Video Privacy Protection Act: Protecting Viewer Privacy in the 21st Century.” The hearing will examine how the Video Privacy Protection Act, passed into law in 1988, protects people’s fundamental right to control personal information about the movies and videos they watch. The hearing will also consider whether the law needs to be updated to continue to protect viewer privacy and will examine a bill that recently passed the House of Representatives that would make it easier for video companies to disclose viewer information to third parties.
The following witnesses testify before the committee: Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.), Ranking Member, House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet; David Hyman, General Counsel, Netflix, Inc.; William McGeveran, Professor, University of Minnesota Law School; Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center; and Christopher Wolf, Director, Privacy and Information Management Group, Hogan Lovells LLP.
Two pieces of proposed federal legislation could make schools safer for all students at risk for being bullied, including LGBT students. At a press conference on November 18 U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-MN) introduced the Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA), which protects students from harassment, bullying, and violence based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. The SNDA has 29 Senate cosponsors. Its companion bill authored by Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo) also enjoys broad support.
Franken was joined at the conference by Minnesotan Tammy Aaberg. In July 2010 her 15-year-old son Justin committed suicide after prolonged bullying at school about his being gay. Aaberg told the audience that she had never realized the torment Justin had experienced until his friends told her. She discovered the Anoka-Hennepin School District provided no definitions of LGBT bullying or guidelines for intervention. That bullying would go unchecked in the presence of teachers and staff. And that school policy prohibited classroom discussion on any matter related to sexual orientation.
“Too often this kind of bullying gets swept under the rug. And the sexual orientation policy currently in place only serves to perpetuate the feelings of isolation that many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students already feel,” Aaberg said.
The second piece of legislation was introduced by U.S Senator Bob Casey (D-PA). The Safe Schools Improvement Act (SISA) is a federal anti-bullying bill that protects students based on race, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression. Casey was joined by 16-year-old Joey Kemmerling of Pennsylvania. He too talked about prolonged bullying and anti-gay violence, including a student who threatened him with a knife. Joey asked school officials to respond, but they didn’t.
Joey recalled the student coming up to him and looking him in the eyes. “I didn’t know who he was. But I knew that he hated me,” Joey said. “And he said, ‘Your life is in my hands.’”
The Casey bill, like the Franken bill, has widespread support with 130 cosponsors in the House and 15 cosponsors in the Senate.
And in Minnesota, the Star Tribune reports the Minnesota School Board Association is advising school districts to expand their harassment and violence policy to specify LGBT students and other vulnerable groups. The MSBA recommendation counters a belief held by many (including Gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer) that parents, not schools, should teach kids not to bully LGBT students.
The federal government and 49 state attorneys general have reached a landmark $25 billion agreement with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers to address mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses.
President Obama announces ten states have agreed to implement bold reforms around standards and accountability will receive flexibility from the most burdensome mandates of the federal education law known as No Child Left Behind.
The President meets an 8th grader named Joey from Phoenix, AZ at the White House Science Fair and the two launch a marshmallow across the state dining room with Joey’s science project – an air cannon.
The housing crisis has been the single largest drag on America’s economic recovery. President Obama wants to fix that fairly for homeowners who have been responsible, but not the ones who took out huge mortgages or bought multiple homes.
Netflix’s top lawyer tries to convince a US Senate committee that laws need to be changed so it can offer a video sharing app on Facebook. A University of Minnesota Law Professor says that’s not so.
A bill recently passed in the US House could make it easier for video companies to disclose viewer information. Who should know what you’re watching? Senator Al Franken leads a hearing.
“One senator gumming up the works for the whole country is certainly not what our founding fathers envisioned.”— President Obama about Utah Senator Mike Lee in his weekly address
President Obama unveils his proposal to keep college costs lower and provide students with enough financial aid so they can attend. He speaks at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
President Obama is on a five state tour promoting the economic proposals he made in his State of The Union address. He started in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at Conveyer Engineering and then into Arizona to an Intel plant. Thursday he want to Las Vegas and Denver.
Governor Dayton announced he is vetoing a set of Republican authored bills aimed at making it harder to sue in court. Legislative leaders react to the Governor’s veto.
Senator Barb Goodwin raises objections to H.F. 1467 Defense of Dwelling and Person Act.
She says it should have another hearing since a New York Times article showed that Minnesota has problems with felons easily getting back their firearms once they are released from prison.
Senator Julianne Ortman’s bill to shorten Minnesota’s statute of limitations passes despite her saying some of the issues in it could go back to the Judiciary committee
TakeAction Minnesota releases a report outlining Minnesota-based financial interests behind efforts to secure a photo ID amendment on the state’s November 2012 ballot.
It’s not often that a half dozen religious leaders come calling with a cadre of television cameras in tow to Senate Majority Leader David Senjem’s office.
Religious leaders of various faiths hold a press conference at the Minnesota State Capitol voicing their opposition to the proposed constitutional amendment requiring a photo ID for the purpose of voting.
“We would abolish the ‘death tax’ permanently because we believe that it is very, very important that people who work hard are allowed to keep what they earn.”—Newt Gingrich
Occupy MN is occupying Monique White’s house at 3310 N. 6th St. in the city’s downtrodden North Minneapolis neighborhood. In doing so, Occupy MN instantly made itself more diverse, and more relevant.
When administrators revealed a plan last spring to shut down North High School — one of only two public schools on Minneapolis’ embattled north side — MN Neighborhoods Organizing for Change and other activists answered the call.
North Minneapolis food entrepreneurs use Kindred Kitchen to learn about starting their own business, making their food safely and legally in a commercial kitchen, and marketing it within the community.
Voters should pick their politicians, not the other way around. That’s the thought behind Draw The Line Minnesota, a citizen group that is working to draw the maps for congressional and legislative districts.
This year’s FLOW art crawl was all about recognizing thousands of volunteers that helped with the clean-up and recovery efforts after the May 22nd tornado. Leaders hope the positive can-do attitude of the cleanup can power a rebirth of the Northside.
After their home in North Minneapolis was destroyed by the May 22 tornado, Dennis and Deborah were forced to seek refuge in the local Armory and at the North Commons Recreation Center. For weeks, they and their five children slept on cots on the floor of a gymnasium.
