by Nancy Salvato
If there is one thing for certain in this world, it is when Jack Nicholson plays the male protagonist in a film, his performance will be outstanding. As McMurphy, in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, his impression on me is as compelling today –as it was over 30 years ago when I first watched him bring to consciousness the minds of assorted inmates staying on Nurse Ratched’s ward of the mental institution. The message I took away while watching McMurphy undermine Nurse Ratched’s authority over her unit -until she has him lobotomized, stands the test of time. Power hungry people will resort to any means necessary to maintain control. Although Nurse Ratched’s actions were extreme, her display taught me just how vulnerable people are if they are labeled mentally unstable or forfeit the responsibility of making decisions on their own behalf. Those placed in their charge are not necessarily looking out for them.
Inherent in writing and exposing one’s own ideas about terrorism (or the war against radical Islamism), the border threat, or political correctness, is the likelihood of being branded a right wing nut. Being labeled as such isn’t personally offensive (I’ve begun to grow my Alligator Skin) but there is the danger that being branded as such could chip away at my credibility, which is the whole idea behind such mudslinging. This is why it’s so important to be able to back up an argument with facts. This is extremely difficult in the face of a movement doing everything it can to shut down ideas which run counter to their own.
For example, let’s look at the Fairness Doctrine. In an editorial titled the Unfairness Doctrine, the editors of the National Review Online point out that even though Fairness Doctrine was not passed into law this time around, other forms of legislation could equally serve to stifle free speech. The liberal think tank "Center for American Progress," founded and run by former Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta, has proposed there be new national and local limits on the number of radio stations one company can own, a de facto quota system to ensure that more women and minorities own radio stations, and that the government should require commercial owners who fail to abide by enforceable public interest obligations to pay a fee to support public broadcasting.
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Posted by Walt in Censorship, Freedom of Speech categories at 11:34 PM EDT
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by Thomas E. Brewton
Separation of church and state applies as much to the religion of socialism as to the Judeo-Christian tradition.
Read Sol Stern’s article in City Journal, the publication of the Manhattan Institute, which was the think tank whose ideas underlay Mayor Giuliani’s slashing of crime rates, tax cuts, reduction of public employee rolls, and revitalization of New York City’s economy.
As I have repeatedly asserted, and nearly every major socialist thinker has agreed, socialism is a religion (see Socialism: Our Unconstitutionally Established National Religion).
Therefore, the tax-supported teaching bias and methodology described by Mr. Stern are a gross violation of the First Amendment, which in the 20th century was interpreted by the Supreme Court as applicable also to states and local governments, via incorporation under the 14th Amendment.
New York City is at the extreme left wing of such educational practices, but Federal funding of elementary and secondary education has meant that a handful of liberal-Progressive-socialists have sufficient influence in textbook selection to see that the atheistic materialism of socialism permeates all of our educational system.
To some degree, all of our children are being taught that moral relativism is the proper approach to life and that everything good in their lives comes from the collectivized National State.
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His weblog is THE VIEW FROM 1776http://www.thomasbrewton.com/
Posted by Walt in Censorship, US Constitution categories at 11:53 PM EDT
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PHILADELPHIA – Repent America (RA) is urgently calling Christians not to exercise their "right to remain silent" as the federal "hate crimes" bill proposal, H.R. 1592, heads for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, May 3, 2007.
"H.R. 1592 is an unnecessary, unconstitutional, and un-American bill, which, with the aid of homosexual-friendly prosecutors, will be used to criminalize Christians for their thoughts, beliefs, and speech," stated Repent America director Michael Marcavage. "The silence of the American church, together with the unrelenting rage of the ungodly, will soon result in the widespread incarceration of true believers," said Marcavage.
In October of 2004, eleven Christians with RA were arrested while ministering and preaching the Word of God and the Gospel message on the public streets and sidewalks of Philadelphia during a taxpayer-funded celebration of homosexuality. After spending 21 hours in jail, the District Attorney’s office charged the eleven under Pennsylvania’s hate crimes law, along with a host of other felony and misdemeanor charges. These charges were later dismissed, but if convicted, the Christians would have faced up to 47 years in prison and $90,000 in fines each.
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Posted by Walt in Censorship, Freedom of Speech, Law Issues, US Constitution categories at 9:04 AM EDT
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by Sher Zieve
As we in the Western world have come to expect, many Muslims and Islamic organizations claim "outrage" at almost anything and everything they can find. They rioted, burned buildings and vehicles over cartoons that parodied their prophet Muhammad. Then Muslims rioted, burned buildings and vehicles and even murdered a nun when Pope Benedict XVI quoted a 14th century Emperor who was critical of Islam. Like the Left, apparently, they have little to do—except riot or protest and attempt to silence all of those who have the unmitigated gall to disagree with their tenets of belief. Political correctness has completely taken over the secularists of the West, which has become feckless, jaded and pathetic. Now, all that terrorists and their supporters have to do is complain that they are "being discriminated against" (and threaten to call someone—somewhere—a "racist") and the West caves easily and willingly to all of their demands. Nowhere is this surrender more evident than in the case of Muslims’ latest indignation.
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Posted by Walt in Censorship, Education, Freedom of Speech categories at 10:47 PM EST
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