Free Republic

<p>Janet Jackson’s pop-up breast during SuperBowl halftime did not create the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004. But it will propel passage of that Act, the consequences of which may be far worse than a bit of trashy exhibitionism on TV.</p>

<p>Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP) is the psychiatric diagnosis by which a parent -- almost always a mother -- is believed to intentionally harm or kill a child in order to garner attention.</p> <p>Diagnosing a mother as having MSBP is a tool often used by the state to remove children from the care of the parent, terminate parental rights or in the case of a child's death, charge the parent with murder. Now, due to a raging scandal in Britain, that diagnosis is being discredited.</p>

<p>"The Vagina Monologues" are coming to a theater near you … again. Eve Ensler’s politically correct-feminist play is being dusted off on campuses and in communities around North America for production, often at taxpayer expense.</p> <p>Since 1998, the play has been part of a drive to convert Feb. 14 from chocolates and Valentines to Vaginas and Violence -- that is, to turn Valentine's Day into "V-Day," a day of spotlighting male violence against women. But the backlash may surprise this year’s promoters. The hostile reception provides another indication that society is no longer willing to tolerate political correctness.</p>

<p>January 4, 2004 -- WANT to buy a cookie? If you are a white male, that'll be $1; for white females, 75 cents; blacks, 25 cents. The price structure is the message.</p> <p>Through Affirmative Action Bake Sales, conservative groups on campuses across America are satirically and peacefully spotlighting the injustice of programs that penalize or benefit students based solely on gender and race. The cookie rebels are being slammed by such a backlash that the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) - dreaded by many university administrators - shot "an opening salvo" in the rebels' defense.</p>

<p>Most people realize that the court and penal systems in North America are seriously broken and must be fixed. With the possible exception of China, the United States currently imprisons more of its population than any other nation: the Bureau of Justice Statistics reports 2,033,331 imprisoned as of December 31, 2002.</p>

<p>Want to buy a cookie? If you are a white male, that'll be $1; for white females, 75 cents; blacks, 25 cents. The price structure is the message.</p> <p>Through Affirmative Action Bake Sales, conservative groups on campuses across America are satirically and peacefully spotlighting the injustice of AA programs that penalize or benefit students based solely on gender and race. The cookie rebels are being slammed by such a backlash that the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) -- dreaded by many university administrators -- just shot "an opening salvo" in the rebels' defense.</p>

<p>News shows recently showed video of 14 police officers charging a crowded high-school corridor with guns drawn in a drug sweep. Students at Stratford Creek High School in Goose Creek, S.C., were forced onto their knees or against walls, while dogs sniffed their backpacks for drugs.</p>

Parents should read two new reports on education before sending children onto a campus in North America. What passes for education at many universities is not merely an intellectual embarrassment; it is also tremendously expensive. Fortunately, there is good news for the future: a spotlight is now shining on the problems, and students in the near future may receive the quality education for which their parents pay, both through tuition and taxes. The first study, Death of the Liberal Arts? was released last month by the Independent Women's Forum. Melana Zyla Vickers examined the curricula of the top ten liberal...

<p>The heartbreaking story of Terri Schiavo, the severely brain-damaged Florida woman who has been kept alive for more than a decade by a feeding tube her husband claims she would want removed, has captured the media's attention.</p> <p>The significance of the Schiavo story, however, is not just her dramatic circumstances, but the ethical questions that surround the debate over using heroic measures to keep a brain-damaged/brain-dead person alive when that person has not left clear instructions.</p>

<p>The price tag for decades of gender warfare is usually expressed in general terms -- for example, through data-filled studies that reflect how "boys" are slighted in education. The ordeal of Michael Wright -- a student at Oklahoma University at Normal -- captures the human factor. And it leads me to a question: What does the devil look like?</p>

That social engineering includes the 'Child Abuse' industry and the 'Sexual Harassment' industry. Critics refer to them as "industries" because their enforcement policies have established bloated and expensive bureaucracies that slurp at the public trough. The cost to taxpaying families is immense.....

From The Freeman, February 1998, Vol. 48, No. 2, pp.108-111 by Wendy McElroy There is an immense difference between disagreeing with a theory and considering it to be absurd. The former can be a respectful process that encourages discussion: the latter implies that anyone who holds the theory must be a fool. In vernacular language, the difference can be expressed as, 'is the other guy wrong, or is he just stupid?' Natural Law has always had vigorous opponents who believed, with the early 19th century English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, that the theory was nonsense upon stilts. Indeed, Sir Robert Filmer's...

In the last two weeks, more than 60 family court offices in Britain received hoax bombs that were apparently sent by fathers' rights extremists: perhaps by one individual. The issue of fathers' rights in the U.K. may be entering a more violent phase. If so, this should act as a cautionary tale for North America. No one was injured by the "bombs" but Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Services were closed down, streets were cordoned off and businesses disrupted. More importantly, the "bombs" clearly threatened violence. An anti-terrorism team is investigating. Violence is the worst possible "strategy" for...

If we accept the old feminist argument that marriage is slavery for women, then it is undeniable that -- given the current state of the nation's family courts -- divorce is slavery for men.....

<p>Hallelujah. Someone in authority is finally fighting back against political correctness. The Bush administration has warned campus thought-control bullies that it is monitoring their imperious tactics.</p> <p>The Washington Times' George Archibald reports that Gerald A. Reynolds, assistant secretary for civil rights in the Department of Education, has sent a long overdue brush-back letter to college and university officials concerning their odious and oppressive campus speech codes.</p>

Hallelujah! Someone in authority is finally fighting back against political correctness. The Bush Administration has warned campus thought-control bullies that it is monitoring their imperious tactics. The Washington Times' George Archibald reports that Gerald A. Reynolds, assistant secretary for civil rights has sent a long overdue brush-back letter to college and university officials concerning their odious and oppressive campus speech codes. These codes, which are as un-American as they sound, prohibit certain kinds of "offensive" speech, such as "any language that may be deemed sexist, racist or homophobic, or may be found offensive by any minority group." Some have estimated...

Why do fewer people marry? According to a 1999 National Vital Statistics Report from the CDC, 7.4 per 1,000 Americans married in 1998. From 1990 to 1995, the marriage rate dropped from 9.8 to 7.6. Different sources render other statistics but the trend remains sharply downward. There is never a single or comprehensive explanation for complex phenomena that are rooted deeply in human psychology. Non-marriage is a particularly difficult issue to address because, as a recent paper from Rutgers University entitled "Why Men Won't Commit" explains, official sources are scarce. "The federal government issues thousands of reports on nearly every...

University Students Deserve Human Rights: By Wendy McElroy University Students Deserve Human Rights http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | University campuses are strongholds of left liberalism where constitutionally protected rights, such as freedom of speech and religion, are routinely violated. This September, make sure the students you care for pack protection of their civil liberties in with clothing and reference books. This is essential for students who are male, white, conservative, openly Christian, or from affluent families. Male. Speech codes -- or anti-harassment codes that function in the same manner -- are rampant on campuses. Since "women" are a group offered protection against "offense,"...

<p>University campuses are strongholds of left liberalism where constitutionally protected rights, such as freedom of speech and religion, are routinely violated.</p> <p>This September, make sure the students you care for pack protection of their civil liberties in with clothing and reference books.</p>

The PCspeak of Diversity July 8, 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- by Wendy McElroy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Supreme Court recently ruled that universities could favor minority students for admission as long as no race was automatically favored. The ambiguous decision might seem to encourage open discussion but political correctness sometimes seems determined that debate will not occur. PCspeak, like Newspeak in George Orwell's (search) classic novel 1984, forms an effective barrier. In Orwell's dystopian world, Oceania, Newspeak (search) serves the ideological goals of Ingsoc -- English Socialism. It gradually replaces Oldspeak in defining politics and culture. Without the words necessary, complex thoughts simply cannot...