Fun with semantics

Jessica Clark

A group of scientists, constitutional scholars and religious leaders have formed a new organization to fight the religious right: DefCon: The Campaign To Defend the Constitution is an online grassroots movement combating the growing power of the religious right. We will fight to uphold the First Amendment's guarantee of separation of church and state and will oppose efforts to control and distort religion, education, science and culture in ways that ultimately threaten the health and well-being of American society. DefCon will work around the clock to: - Alert the public to the dangers and risks posed by the growing fundamentalist influence in our nation; - Build and mobilize an online community of concerned Americans willing to raise their voices; - Mobilize concerned scientists, political leaders, and theologians to help Americans understand what is at stake. per WikiPedia: DEF CON is the acronym of "DEFense [Readiness] CONdition". These defense conditions describe progressive postures for use between the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commanders of unified commands. DEFCONs are matched to the situations of military severity. DEFCONs are phased increases in combat readiness. Expanded explanations follow below. DEFCON 1 : Maximum force readiness. DEFCON 2 : Increased force readiness (less than maximum). DEFCON 3 : Increased force readiness. DEFCON 4 : Peacetime; Increased intelligence; Strengthened security measures. DEFCON 5 : Peacetime. Rally the troops…

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Jessica Clark is a writer, editor and researcher, with more than 15 years of experience spanning commercial, educational, independent and public media production. Currently she is the Research Director for American University’s Center for Social Media. She also writes a monthly column for PBS’ MediaShift on new directions in public media. She is the author, with Tracy Van Slyke, of Beyond the Echo Chamber: Reshaping Politics Through Networked Progressive Media (2010, New Press).
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