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POPSWhat does it mean to be an American? This 10-year-old boy gets it More: After asking his parents whether it was against the law not to stand for the pledge, Will decided to do something. On Monday, Oct. 5, when the other kids in his class stood up to recite the pledge of allegiance, he remained sitting down…Each day, the substitute got a little more cross with him. On Thursday, it finally came to a head… Will was sent to the office… At the end of our interview, I ask young Will a question that might be a civics test nightmare for your average 10-year-old. Will's answer, though, is good enough — simple enough, true enough — to give me a little rush of goose pimples. What does being an American mean? “Freedom of speech,” Will says, without even stopping to think. “The freedom to disagree. That's what I think pretty much being an American represents.” Somewhere, Thomas Jefferson smiles.
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POPSWomen Suggesting Kinky Stuff Some women are reluctant to suggest new things in bed because they think it is supposed to be a man’s job. Many women think that asking men for naughty stuff in bed makes their men to regard them as sluts or skanks.
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POPSEuropean Court bans classroom crucifixes "Those societies which cannot combine reverence to their symbols with freedom and revision, must ultimately decay either from anarchy, or from the slow atrophy of a life stifled by useless shadows" - A.N. Whitehead
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POPSAmerica a Rude Nation? Debating Public Decency Experts point to a variety of reasons for the apparent fall in civil standards: 1) The recession has placed many under heavy stress 2) The rise of the internet has fostered confrontational and provocative communications in which people get used to saying things they may never once have dared to utter face-to-face. These may be conditions that allow rudeness to rear its ugly head, but they are not excuses for it. Rudeness is rooted in lack of civility. If you don’t respect other people’s ideas, opinions, equality as compared to yourself, or simply their right to exist, it will be easy for you to resort to rudeness towards that person and you will be considered uncivil. We have been losing our civility for a long time now and I believe it is due to a lack of respect for others and ourselves.
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POPSWhy Do Some Straights Fear Gays? Of course, this article is written in 2007, but I feel it addresses the fear I still see perpetuated about the recent Hate Crimes legislation that was signed by our President. We still have a long way to go as a society and I want to thank every person on CM who speaks out against hate.
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POPSExposing the Colour of Prejudice John Howard Griffin was a remarkable man. As a Texan teenager who found himself in France at the outbreak of World War II, he helped to smuggle Jewish children to safety and freedom. He then served with distinction in the US Air Force in the Pacific. And then, after the war - when illness struck him blind for 10 years while he was still relatively young - he became a prolific writer. It was after his sight returned that he hit upon the idea of Black Like Me, the work which is his most important legacy. The whole business of racial impersonation might make us feel vaguely uncomfortable now, but in 1959 a black writer simply could not have found an audience for such a graphic portrayal of African-American grievance. Griffin's grim adventures as a black man in a white man's world are worth reading. They remain a set text for many American high school children.
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POPSMichael Kimmel: Why I am a feminist More: The biggest mistake we make is to assume - and men often think this - that gender equality is a zero-sum game. That if women win, then men are going to lose. And I think what we have to do is to show people that feminism is a win-win. I think we can do that at the personal level in terms of the quality of our relationships with our children, our partners and our friends, and also in terms of public policy.
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POPSLetter To TheWhiteHouse ~ re:TV MediaNews You've been trying to suppress the free marketplace of ideas since your primary campaign and you are still doing it. You guys are sooooo obvious. Why be afraid to go on FOX and, if they are wrong about you, set them straight? It seems like if you had real faith in your agenda, and if conservatives' notions of what you're up to are way off base, you'd be confident to go look people in the eye and calmly tell them where they are wrong about you, why they are wrong about your extremist associates and appointments, and clear up the issues. You could explain that your advisors aren't students of Mao, Marx, Alinsky and that you understand America is not where we forcibly "redistribute the wealth" for it's own sake.
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POPSCompletely Logical Anti-Gay 'Traditional Marriage' Advocates in Maine Want All Children Watching Their New Ad to Know About Gay Sex
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POPSRape Is Not A Game Recommended Actions Please write to the Japanese government officials below, calling on them to comply with Japan’s obligations under CEDAW, including the recent strong exhortation of the CEDAW Committee to ban games and cartoons that normalize and promote sexual violence against women and girls. In your letter to the Minister of Justice ask her also to inquire about the requested investigation into the apparent gang rape video sent by Equality Now to the Tokyo police department, and ask that her office investigates this and other actual rape videos to ensure that all those involved are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Please also continue to write to Illusion Software asking it to withdraw immediately from sale all games which involve rape, stalking or other forms of sexual violence or which otherwise denigrate women.
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POPSStop Blaming Others and Get Involved! I have been involved with Equality Now since I learned of them. If you cannot afford to donate $$ right now, sign up anyway. You will receive action alerts to add your voice to issues involving human rights. Trying to do something is better than pointing fingers while doing nothing. Get involved if you care! Thanks.
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POPSProp 8 lawyer admits he doesn't know how same-sex marriage would threaten opposite-sex marriage More: Walker pressed on, asking again for specific "adverse consequences" that could follow expanding marriage to include same-sex couples. Cooper cited a study from the Netherlands, where gay marriage is legal, showing that straight couples were increasingly opting to become domestic partners instead of getting married. "Has that been harmful to children in the Netherlands? What is the adverse effect?" Walker asked. Cooper said he did not have the facts at hand. "But it is not self-evident that there is no chance of any harm, and the people of California are entitled not to take the risk," he said. "Since when do Constitutional rights rest on the proof of no harm?" Walker parried, adding the First Amendment right to free speech protects activities that many find offensive, "but we tolerate those in a free society."
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POPSAnimated ‘Astro Boy’: Marxism Aimed at Your Kids? Try ‘Astro Boy,’ the upcoming animated film featuring the voices of Nicolas Cage and Kristen Bell about a boy robot (Freddie Highmore) that leaves his scientist father after finding out he isn’t human. The movie features very adult ideas of ownership and class structure that will most likely be future fodder for college philosophy classes around the country.
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POPSAndrew Sullivan: "Much Worse Than I Expected" So Andy has finally decided that Barry is a liar. Well, duh. What exactly in part of his campaign made him think he was a stand-up kinda guy? His tie to terrorists? His racist and hateful minister? Too bad for Andy he doesn't have Sarah Palin to trash for kicks to take his mind off of Obama's lying butt. Gross, I can't believe I actually agree with Andy the Clown.
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POPSNational Equality March | On Washington, DC National Equality March: ... are expected to descend on Washington to press Congress and the president for action on gay rights legislation at Sunday's National Equality March. ... National equality march, equality march, human rights campaign, equality march on washington, march for equality, national equality march washington dc.
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POPSHouse Votes To Expand Hate Crime Laws The proposed expansion would include crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It eases restrictions on federally protected activities. The FBI says there are some 8,000 hate crimes reported around the country in a year. More than half of those are motivated by racial bias. Next most frequent are crimes based on religious bias at around 18 percent and sexual orientation at 16 percent. Hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her membership in a certain social group, usually defined by race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, or political affiliation. "Hate crime" generally refers to criminal acts which are seen to have been motivated by hatred of one or more of the listed conditions. Incidents may involve physical assault, damage to property, bullying, harassment, verbal abuse or insults, or offensive graffiti or letters.
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POPSI am me, all day every day More: It doesn't take away my freedom - curbs do that, building steps do that. I cannot blame my disability for the actions of others. There are some who treat me vastly differently, true. But I never stopped being me, they stopped being them. I refuse to take responsibility for anothers decision.
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POPSPenalized At Work For Being A Mom Here's one piece of irony to consider. Research has shown that employers actually prefer fathers to childless men. Unlike working mothers, they are perceived to be more stable.
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