John Leo: Textbook sensitivity codes function as form of censorship

Textbook Censorship Issues

John Leo: Textbook sensitivity codes function as form of censorship

Which of the following stories would be too biased for schools to allow on tests? (1) Overcoming daunting obstacles, a blind man climbs Mount McKinley; (2) dinosaurs roam the Earth in prehistoric times; (3) an Asian-American girl, whose mother is a professor, plays checkers with her grandfather and brings him pizza.

As you probably guessed, all three stories are deeply biased. (1) Emphasis on a "daunting" climb implies that blindness is some sort of disability, when it should be viewed as just another personal attribute, like hair color. Besides, mountain-climbing stories are examples of "regional bias," unfair to readers who live in deserts, cities and rural areas. (2) Dinosaurs are a no-no -- they imply acceptance of evolutionary theory. (3) Making the girl's mother a professor perpetuates the "model minority" myth that stereotypes Asian-Americans. Older people must not be shown playing checkers. They should be up on the roof fixing shingles or doing something vigorous. And pizza is a junk food. Kids may eat it -- but not in a school story.

Dennis Prager: Liberal damage to black America is enormous

Prager On Affirmative Action

Liberal damage to black America is enormous

The recent Supreme Court decision affirming the centerpiece of liberal policy concerning blacks -- affirmative action -- provides a perfect example of a liberal policy that hurts blacks. If the Ku Klux Klan were given the responsibility to develop social policy to hurt blacks, they could not have come up with something more destructive.

Of course, unlike the Ku Klux Klan, liberals mean well. But that is irrelevant. All decent Americans, not only liberals, acknowledge that America has committed great injustices against its black citizens. Only they were kidnapped from their homelands, shipped like cattle, enslaved, and then subjected to legal racism.

Ann Coulter: Liberal alternative patriotism

Ann Coulter on Japanese Interment in WWII

I wonder, every time I hear someone denouncing Ann Coulter as the "leggy blonde strident bitch of the right", I never hear them actually dispute the facts or reasoning of her columns. All I ever hear is that she is a bitch and she is good looking, as if that somehow demeaned her positions. Didn't the women's movement of the 20th century work hard to keep such sexist statements out of political and business discourse? Weren't we taught that we should respect a woman for her ideas and their quality rather than judge her for her looks? If anyone would like to point me to an issue by issues, fact by fact refutation of her columns/claims/positions, I would be delighted to take a look at them. Email me by clicking here.

Ann Coulter: Liberal alternative patriotism

There was one lonely voice in the Roosevelt administration opposed to the Japanese internment – that of J. Edgar Hoover. The American Civil Liberties Union gave J. Edgar Hoover an award for wartime vigilance during World War II. It was only when he turned his award-winning vigilance to Soviet spies that liberals thought Hoover was a beast.

Larry Kudlow: Taking stock

Economy Issues

Taking stock

In the spirit of fearless forecasting, I predict 4 percent real economic growth in 2004 and 2005, with double-digit corporate-profit gains for each year and only mild interest-rate increases. Stock markets will rise nearly 50 percent from current levels, and by the end of 2005 the market averages will be back to the prior peaks registered in early 2000.

Voucher Issues

Voucher Issues

Bush Pushing for Vouchers at D.C. Schools

WASHINGTON — President Bush (search) renewed his push for school vouchers (search) on Tuesday, backing legislation that would give District of Columbia children private-school tuition grants and, Bush hopes, spark new momentum nationwide for such programs.

UK - 'Ban smoking in public'

UK Rights Issues - Smoking

The Chief Medical Officer of England want's to ban smoking in ALL public places. Restaurants, pubs, workplaces, etc. Everywhere. What ever happened to a businessman's property rights? Their right to run their business? If you don't like smoke, don't go there. A non-smoker does not have the "right" to go to whatever bar/retaurant/etc. he or she likes and insist that it be made confortable for him or her. What if they prefer nudity? Could they insist on that? No? Why not? The Left is telling people that a person has the right to insist that a business change it's method of providing its services merely because they want it to be such and such a way. Instead of going somewhere that is nonsmoking, they want to go to places that allow smoking and force them to change. (And then I bet they would not go back anyway once they have made their point.)

UK - 'Ban smoking in public'

Sir Liam, the Chief Medical Officer, said he would urge ministers to bring in the ban to cut non-smokers' exposure to cigarette fumes which increases the risk of cancer and heart disease. . . .

Simon Clark, director of prosmoking group Forest, said: "We are against a total smoking ban in public places, we believe there is no justification for it. Pubs, restaurants and clubs are private businesses and they should be free to choose their own policy.

"We would actually like to see more non-smoking areas. We are prepared to compromise but the anti-smoking industry is not willing to do the same."

In his report Sir Liam also warned that obesity was a "ticking time bomb" in Britain.

He recommended the food industry adopt a more responsible approach to marketing foods high in fat and added sugar.

US to ICC Supporters - Drop Dead

US to ICC Supporters - Drop Dead

Do you think that a Dem would have had the guts to do this? TGIB. The ICC want jurisdiction over US soldiers. Even soldiers sent in for UN peacekeeping missions. The upshot is that pretty much any country that is part of the ICC could accuse our troops of war crimes and force them to trial. Any country. France maybe? Wouldn't they love to be able to do that to the members of the US forces in Iraq. Anyway, Bush and the US diplomatic corps have been putting on a full court press to have countries sign articles which would exempt our troops from harm. The condition? If you don't sign the articles, we won't give you any money. Sounds fair to me. If we are going to pay for someone's stuff, we should be allowed to demand certain considerations in return for that money. If they feel that the demands are too odious, they have the option of demuring and not taking the money. Simple. And racist of course since a Rep is doing it. Read on.

U.S. Blocks Aid to Countries Supporting War Crimes Court

WASHINGTON — The United States is suspending military aid to about 35 countries in a dispute over an international war crimes tribunal (search).

Overall, about $48 million in aid will be blocked, according to State Department (search) spokesman Richard Boucher. Among the nations affected is Colombia, where some U.S. assistance for fighting drugs and terrorists could be in jeopardy.

The aid cutoff is because the countries failed to meet a Tuesday deadline for exempting Americans from prosecution before the new U.N. international war crimes tribunal.

Walter Williams: Destroying black youth

Walter Williams Weighs In on AA

Destroying black youth

In last week's U.S. Supreme Court's affirmative action decision, Justice Clarence Thomas' dissent included a quotation from an 1865 speech by abolitionist Frederick Douglass. "What I ask for the Negro," Douglass said, "is not benevolence, not pity, not sympathy, but simply justice. ... All I ask is, give him a chance to stand on his own legs! Let him alone! ... Your interference is doing him positive injury."

Hillary's History

O'Rourke on Hillary

Hillary's History

Compared with Hillary Clinton, Bill is a big pile of humility. "While Bill talked about social change," says Hillary, "I embodied it," to loud hosannas and wild exaltations. In China, at the 1995 United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, "The serious and stony-faced delegates suddenly leaped from their seats to give me a standing ovation. Delegates rushed to touch me, shout words of appreciation and thank me for coming." In Chicago, at the 1996 Democratic Convention, "The crowd erupted into a frenzy of clapping, chanting, and foot-stomping. . . . My motions to urge the crowd to sit down were futile, so I just waved and let the cheers wash over me."

SCOTUS and Sodomy

SCOTUS and Sodomy

After much contemplation, I have come to the conclusion that while I agree with the outcome of the court's decision(striking down of antiquated and ridiculous sodomy laws), I disagree with the method. When the Supreme Court ruled on the Texas sodomy law, they acted inappropriately. These laws should have been changed in the state legislatures, as they had been over the years. While I disagree with Neal about this subject, his column is well worth the read.

Boortz on SCOTUS

Last week our Supreme Court, in the case of Lawrence v. Texas, had the audacity to rule that what goes on between two consenting adults in the privacy of their own bedroom is not the business of government.

OpinionJournal - Extra

Dean v. Bush

Handicapping the Democrats

It's perilous to speculate, but it's also fun, so what the hell: What if Dr. Dean wins the first two contests, knocking out Mr. Gephardt in Iowa and Mr. Kerry in New Hampshire? That would leave Mr. Lieberman as the only centrist candidate standing in South Carolina, where the Democratic electorate is largely black. A victory by Mr. Sharpton over Mr. Lieberman would give Dr. Dean an aura of inevitability.

And what if Dr. Dean does take the Democratic nomination? The last time the Democrats nominated a far-left antiwar activist, George McGovern in 1972, the GOP won a 49-state victory. The Republicans duplicated the feat in 1984, though the magnitude of that landslide owed more to Ronald Reagan's popularity than to anything uniquely objectionable about the establishmentarian liberal Walter Mondale.

OpinionJournal - Extra

"Of course Iraq had forbidden Weapons"

This from a guy with credentials: "Mr. Spertzel was head of the biological-weapons section of Unscom from 1994-99"

The Politics of Mass Destruction

Let there be no doubt, Iraq retained an active biological-weapons program. Unscom had adequate evidence of such. In 1998, presented with the evidence, the leading biological-weapons experts from the U.S., U.K., Russia, France, Sweden, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine, Romania and Canada all agreed with the Unscom findings and observations. Incredibly, U.S. and British politicians with little or no knowledge of biological weapons and biological warfare are choosing to believe otherwise.