Free Republic

CHAPEL HILL - UNC-system President Erskine Bowles wants a commission to determine whether every state university campus in North Carolina should establish a university code that blocks hate speech. No such rules now exist at UNC campuses, Bowles said. Bowles' decision came less than a month after four N.C. State University students spray-painted political statements, which many deemed racially inflammatory and threatening, on the Free Expression Tunnel on campus. Bowles met Tuesday afternoon with leaders of the state chapter of the NAACP. After the meeting, he declared the graffiti hate speech. "I find this whole incident to be deplorable," Bowles...

FORT MYERS – Ho, Ho, Ho! Santa Claus is allowed back at Florida Gulf Coast University. FGCU’s president reversed his decision to ban Christmas decorations. In an e-mail message sent to the campus Wednesday, university president Wilson Bradshaw, Ph.D. acknowledged the “overwhelming negative response” to his original letter banning all holiday and seasonal decorations from the school’s common areas, citing “legal limitations.” “It is now clear to me that we have erred in our attempt to find a balance between how best to observe the season in ways that honor all traditions – while also allowing employees to express their...

Thinking I'd 'seed' the awareness in a more unconventional way, tried some social networking advocacy at a large forum site connected to a huge, free dating network called "Plenty of Fish"....loads of forums across all subjects, tens of thousands of members. I started a thread called "Any Opinions on Obama birth certificate controversy?" I immediately got responses, several pro and questioning-- but a couple vicious, insulting.."Face it, you lost! moron" etc type things. One guy in particular hounded me, tried to discredit everything i said, calling it right wing idiots, lies etc. I never used profanity or insults, merely kept...

Your friend's new fuchsia fedora might be hideous. But don't call it gay, or you might get a language lesson from the conversation cops. Students at Queen's University who sprinkle their dialogue with an assortment of "homo" or "retarded" could find out the hard way that not everyone finds their remarks acceptable. The Kingston university has hired student facilitators to step in when they overhear homophobic slurs, remarks bashing women or racially tinged insults, along with an array of other language that could be deemed offensive. That means tête-à-têtes in the residence hallways may no longer be just between friends.

Incredibly scary, Soviet-style stuff going on in the People's Republic Of California. Below is the text of the decree from a youth soccer league, stating that parents are not permited to cheer for THEIR OWN KIDS, or they will be THROWN OUT. Below that is an excellent freelance article penned by one of the parents. PLEASE EMAIL THIS ROGUE SOCIALIST LEAGUE AT reg46rc@ca.rr.com and let them know what you think. FLOOD THEM. ----------------------- Region 46 will be holding a Sunday edition of Silent Saturday on November 16th, 2008, during the make up games. The AYSO Board requests that there be...

After airing an interview clip of Sarah Palin telling Fox News' Greta Van Susteren that she was looking for guidance from God about running for national office again, an appalled Chris Matthews called it "troubling," when he let loose this rant on Tuesday's "Hardball": Is, is this commentary about theocracy and going to God for approval? We've been through that with President Bush who said he, "didn't take advice from his father, he got it from another father." And we've been through this sort of Joan of Arc period. Are we gonna get another piece of this where God's leading...

Candidates for higher office are indeed tested — if they win — from Day One. But the credibility of their declared principles is sometimes tested suddenly and revealingly on the campaign trail. I have often cited the voluble and often humorous Joe Biden as a passionate practitioner, and defender, of free speech. But on Oct. 23 — after participating in at least 200 interviews since chosen as Barack Obama's vice presidential on the Democratic ticket two months ago, Biden — offended at a question by an Orlando WFTV TV reporter-anchor — did not object when the Obama campaign then forbade...

Officials at Papillion–La Vista South High School have suspended two students who allegedly used insensitive language during a social studies class discussion about the presidential election. The school said the juniors made comments about President-elect Barack Obama that had racial and religious undertones. School officials declined to release the names of the two juniors and did not say how long they'll be kept out of classes. They also didn't disclose exactly what the students said, but indicated that the suspension fell under the Papio-La Vista School District's harassment policy. "It basically says that any language that's offensive, based on gender,...

A Temple College Professor that appears to be a spokesperson for Obama was just on Fox said that Sarah Palin uses code words that include "hockey moms', "joe six-pack" etc. All of these words represent white middle class people and anyone knows this that was raised in the white supremacy ruled United States. I was shocked to hear this and to look at this man's face and the visible hate on his face. O'Reilly tried to say that he would picture a guy with a 6pack of Bud and never put a color with it. This guy replied that he...

A university student who challenged his school's "speech code" and won a ruling in federal court that it was vague, overbroad and stifled student speech, including his Christian views, is continuing his battle with Temple University because the school has – three years after he completed it – declined to provide a grade on his master's thesis, thus effectively denying him his degree. The Alliance Defense Fund recently announced that the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had affirmed the district court victory by Christian DeJohn, who is a sergeant in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. The ADF handled DeJohn's...

Victory for Free Speech in DeJohn v. Temple by Kelly Sarabyn August 4, 2008 The Third Circuit Court of Appeals filed an opinion today in DeJohn v. Temple University, et al. The opinion provides an eloquent defense of free speech rights on university campuses and concludes with an unambiguous finding that Temple's speech code is facially unconstitutional. Today's ruling is a great victory for Sergeant Christian DeJohn, the Temple master's student and member of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard who brought the challenge to Temple's speech code. Christian's willingness to take a stand for his First Amendment right to free...

HOLLAND, Mich., July 23 (UPI) -- A Republican Michigan congressman is fighting a Bush administration ban on using words offensive to Muslims while describing terrorists. Rep. Peter Hoekstra offered an amendment last week to the 2009 Intelligence Authorization Act that would ban financing for any restriction on use of words such as "jihadist" and "Islamist." Fellow Republican Michigan Reps. Joe Knollenberg and Thaddeus McCotter, and Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak, supported the amendment which was approved by a 249-180 vote in the House, The Detroit News reported Wednesday. Some analysts say the words inadvertently honor terrorists while they are considered slurs...

Weatherford, OK – Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU), has issued a disturbing policy which requires all employees to refrain from using the word "Christmas" in oral or written form. This directive was given by the university upon legal advice of the Oklahoma Attorney General, W.A. Drew Edmondson. Liberty Counsel sent a demand letter to SWOSU following a complaint from a university affiliate. John Misak, the Director of Human Resources, recently visited various university departments and employee groups and informed everyone that any decorations featuring the word "Christmas" in any work or public areas of the university must be immediately removed....

Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford has issued a disturbing directive forbidding employees to say or write the word "Christmas." This directive was given by the University upon legal advice of the (Oklahoma Attorney General, W.A. Drew Edmondson). Liberty Counsel sent a demand letter to the University following a complaint from a University affiliate. The controversy began when the University's Director of Human Resources recently visited various departments and said that decorations featuring the word "Christmas" in any areas of the University must be immediately removed. He also instructed the employees not so say "Christmas" while on the job. As...

The Problem of Offense by: Bethany Stotts, November 28, 2007 Offense is a “psychological construct,” argued University of Nevada-Reno Adjunct Psychology Professor William O’Donohue at an American Enterprise Institute (AEI) conference on the politically-correct university. He noted that proponents of political correctness often do so in order to reduce offense, yet define political correctness so broadly and inconsistently as to encompass Aleutian Islanders while excluding the oft-persecuted Jews. These inconsistencies inherent to politically-correct ideology require proponents to simultaneously uphold contradictory doctrines, argued George Mason University Professor Jeremy Mayer at the conference. “To be liberal on a college campus today...

Accusations of racism in a Lee's Summit high school have lead to suspensions, but now the parents say their kids were unfairly punished. Travis Grigsby loves playing drums, but he and his friend Alex Coday weren't able to play for two weeks after they were suspended. It started after the band's performance at a football game. Some kids on the drum line said they were talking about the best knots to use to tie up the drum equipment. "Someone asked if anybody knew how to tie a noose and Travis did admit he knew how to tie a noose," Kim...

State Representative District 51 40 of 40 Precincts 100% Joe Harrison 4,338 57% Carla Dartez (I) 3,276 43% (I) denotes incumbent candidate

LOS ANGELES — City Councilman Bernard Parks Tuesday introduced a resolution symbolically banning the “N” word in Los Angeles. Nearly a year ago, Michael Richards, who played Kramer on “Seinfeld” repeatedly used the word when he took on a heckler during a stand-up routine at the Laugh Factory and, last week, reality-television figure Duane “Dog” Chapman was excoriated for his use of the derogatory term for blacks. On Friday, the City Council will vote on the resolution, which is similar to a ban called for by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles. The word “connotes a...

FIRE Press Release SAN FRANCISCO, November 8, 2007—In a crucial victory for free speech, a federal judge has ordered San Francisco State University (SFSU) and the California State University System (CSU) to stop enforcing several unconstitutional speech codes. The codes were challenged in a lawsuit filed by attorneys from the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) in cooperation with the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). “This decision is a vital step in the fight against unconstitutional campus speech codes,” FIRE President Greg Lukianoff said. “The court’s decision frees hundreds of thousands of students throughout the CSU System from unlawful restrictions...

Charges 'ridiculous' Mischief investigation targets plans for mock gunfight at mall By KENNETH JACKSON, SUN MEDIA An Ottawa teen believes cops were too quick to pull the trigger on a mischief investigation that involved shaping his hand into a gun and yelling bang in a mock gunfight. Henrick Vierula told the Sun he doesn't deserve to be charged with multiple criminal offences after participating in a phenomena known as a "flash mob" at the Rideau Centre on Friday. "The whole thing is ridiculous," said Vierula, 19. Vierula and other participants were to shape their hands into a gun, point them...