Sarah Palin

Chicago Tribune censors ‘Doonesbury’

The Chicago Tribune has admitted that they are removing the comic strip “Doonesbury” over its depiction of maybe-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The Tribune claims they are doing it out of “fairness” since the strip contains excerpts from a book not yet on the market and unavailable to the Tribune for verification. Sounds suspect. Is verification necessary before the fact? Can’t the readers all view the strip in the Tribune then wait for the book on

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California governor signs bill making state university foundation records public

California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill requiring  state university foundations, auxiliaries and bookstores to grant public access to their records. Jon Keigwin, chief of staff for Senator Leland Yee who authored the bill, said it would open a new era in accountability and transparency,  “I’ve talked to several reporters who have been waiting for this law to go into effect for several years. They basically have their … requests and are ready to hit

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You’ve Got Sarah’s Mail! And other cool tools from Sunlight Foundation

Following the hit they had with Elana’s Inbox, which made Supreme Court justice Elana Kagan’s email searchable online, the Sunlight Foundation this week introduced Sarah’s Inbox: “Sarah’s Inbox allows users to view the more than 14,000 emails from Sarah Palin’s tenure as Governor of Alaska with familiar sorting functions. You can go page by page starting from the most recent emails or, most importantly, search. To help direct folks to interesting items, try some of

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Sarah Palin sued in federal court by man claiming she tried to silence his criticism

Theodore Thoma sued former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin on the grounds that when she was governor she used state resources to silence him for complaining about excessive traffic near the Governor’s Mansion. The man said he also offered suggestions about how to improve the traffic situation. The complaint states that Palin, “in conspiracy with others, undertook a campaign against plaintiff. In some cases twisting plaintiff’s words, and in others concocting complete fabrications, plaintiff [sic] set

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California public universities agree to transparency for foundations

California state universities have opened the door to transparency for campus foundations with a compromise with state Senator Leland Yee of San Francisco. The agreement will protect the privacy of most donors but allow disclosure of other financial details. The foundations and operations such as campus bookstores would operate under the California Public Records Act. The agreement came after last year’s dispute between Yee and other open government advocates with the foundation at the CSU Stanislaus who

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