The argument for correct punctuation

The sign held outside of Planned Parenthood said:
PLEASE PRAY
ABORTIONS ARE
PERFORMED TODAY

And everyone who drove by prayed as hard as they could for speedy abortions.

Academic Freedom or Professorial Intimidation

A sociology professor, who is teaching a course titled "Sociology of Globalization," sent out an email to his University of California at Santa Barbara students in which he compared the Israeli treatment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to the Holocaust. His class and his university, as well as several Jewish organizations, are calling for him to make a public apology (incidentally, the professor is a practicing Jew himself). The professor is, predictably, citing academic freedom, while his students are arguing that sending out such information through an email, which included images of Jews in concentration camps juxtaposed against images of Palestinians living in Gaza refugee camps, is akin to intimidation. While I agree with the professor's rational about raising this issue as a point of discussion, I wonder if initiating the discussion through email was the wisest course. The article I've linked to does not mention if the prof regularly started discussions through email or if he was using a class listserv. Presumably students were encouraged to respond to the email as a way of discussing the issue, but there is no discussion of whether or not they actually talked about this in class.

Rhetoric of the T: April 2009

Essentially self-explanatory:


Secret neck-sweat bonus:

Same-Sex Marriage Hurts....

...Beauty Queens.

In the Miss America contest, Miss California, Carrie Prejean, argued that Same-Sex Marriage violated God's law and, as some believe, her answer cost her the contest. You can see a clip from the contest here.

In response, Miss California will be part of an ad campaign by the National Organization for Marriage.

According to Ben Smith at Politico:

What happens when a young California beauty pageant contestant is asked, "Do you support same-sex marriage?" She is attacked viciously for having the courage to speak up for her truth and her values. But Carrie's courage inspired a whole nation and a whole generation of young people because she chose to risk the Miss USA crown rather than be silent about her deepest moral values. "No Offense" calls gay marriage advocates to account for their unwillingness to debate the real issue: Gay marriage has consequences.

If nothing else, we now know that Same-Sex Marriage hurts beauty queens and, consequently, should not be allowed.

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