Cartoon #275: “MySpace”

The parent company of MySpace.com announced last week that it is launching a new safety campaign featuring Kiefer Sutherland, star of the hit TV series “24”.

Sutherland’s 20-second ad urges parents to monitor their children’s online activity. This comes in response to recent media hysteria about the dangers of sexual predators at social-networking sites like MySpace.com.

Last month, a 14-year-old Travis County, Texas girl and her mother filed a $30 million lawsuit against MySpace. The suit claims MySpace.com did not take sufficient steps to protect the teenage girl from being sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old man from Buda, Texas.

In the same week, it was reported that MySpace has received more page visits than all other domain names, according to Hitwise, a company that tracks internet use.

Cartoon #274: “Patricia Pickles”

The Pflugerville, Texas, School District’s superintendent, Patricia Pickles was officially “resigned” last Monday, after only a two-years on the job. She was the districts fourth superintendent in 30 years. In a unanimous vote, the school board accepted her resignation, but board members refuse to say why. Charles Dupree was picked to serve as acting superintendent until a new one is named.

Cartoon #273: “Hutto’s Grid Route”

The fast-growing City of Hutto, Texas, is on the preferred route for a major addition to Texas’ power grid. The affected property owners claimed they were not properly informed by those selecting the route, Texas Utilities, and the Lower Colorado River Authority.

Cartoon #272: “Redistricting Plans 2006”

The 2003 Texas redistricting was a highly controversial congressional redistricting plan. It was appealed to the United States Supreme Court in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry. On June 28, 2006, the Supreme Court upheld the statewide redistricting as Constitutional, but struck down Congressional District 23 as racial gerrymandering in violation of Section Two of the Voting Rights Act. On June 29, 2006, a U.S. District Judge as part of a three judge panel, under an order from the U.S. Court of Appeals, overseeing the redistricting ordered that both sides should submit proposed maps by July 14, respond to their opponents’ maps by July 21, and that oral arguments will occur on August 3.

Cartoon #271: “Frequent Redistricting”

The 2003 Texas redistricting was a highly controversial congressional redistricting plan. It was appealed to the United States Supreme Court in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry. On June 28, 2006, the Supreme Court upheld the statewide redistricting as Constitutional, but struck down Congressional District 23 as racial gerrymandering in violation of Section Two of the Voting Rights Act. The Court also ruled that states are free to redistrict as often as they like, instead of the traditional wait until after the census every 10 years. The consequences of frequent redistricting are yet to be seen. After the confusion and legal wrangling caused by Tom Delay in Texas, the effect on voters does not look good.

Thought Bubble #52

“Reality” isn’t really real.