THE FOUNDATION“Without religion, I believe that learning does real mischief to the morals and principles of mankind.” - Benjamin Rush
CULTURE“Outrage comes easy at the sight of 15-year-old Disney Channel billion-dollar phenomenon Miley Cyrus - known to screaming 8-year-old girls as Hannah Montana - appearing barebacked with a come-hither smile in a photo shoot for Vanity Fair. Did no one understand how the slinky satin-sheet photo would be greeted by the eyes of teenage boys - or men twice her age? Parents are covering the eyes of their Disney-drenched little girls while their role model has a train wreck... But teenage boys are going wilder this week over a more dangerous cultural low: ‘Grand Theft Auto IV.’ The new video game from Rockstar Games is flying off the shelves, and all the early reviews are glowing. GamePro magazine calls it ‘the pinnacle of interactive entertainment and game design.’ Why is it so good? ‘It never makes concessions in the name of being politically correct, living up to its M-rating with gusto - there’s tons of swearing, violence and sexual innuendo.’ Yes, young lads, you can visit strip clubs and get lap dances, pick up prostitutes, go on assassination missions and conduct gangland-style executions. The New York Times applauded the game’s ‘winsome procession of grifters, hustlers, drug peddlers and other gloriously unrepentant lowlifes.’... There’s something odd about our culture when we try to prevent children under 17 from seeing violent or sexually overt material in a two-hour R-rated movie, but we’re cavalier about selling the same experience - actually, a more offensive experience since it’s entirely non-judgmental - in an M-rated video game that will be played every night for months.” - Brent Bozell
FAMILY“Who could argue with the idea that, when it comes to sex education, our teenagers should be taught to say ‘no’? Considering what’s at stake (their health, their future, their dignity as human beings, their morality) - and because we love them and want what’s best for them - nothing short of a clear-cut abstinence message will do. At least, that’s how it appears out here in the Real World... Our teens deserve better than just a condom and a message to ‘be safe.’ Our children are not animals, incapable of controlling themselves. They are not hopelessly immoral creatures who are going to ‘do it anyway.’ Yet ‘comprehensive’ sex ed teaches them that they’re just that. Parents, this is a slander against our youth. It’s a lie - one that we must fight. Teaching abstinence may be hard work - and heaven knows it’s not going to win you any popularity contests. But for the sake of our teens, there’s simply no substitute. In the end, you’re the only real ‘protection’ they’ve got. So don’t let them down.” - Rebecca Hagelin
LIBERTY“This year, American taxpayers will spend more than $9,200 on the average public-school student. That’s a real increase of 69 percent over the per pupil expenditure in 1980. The total bill for a student who remains through high school will be almost $100,000. This spending would be worthwhile if it gave us the results we need to compete globally. But it hasn’t been doing so. American students still score poorly compared to students from other countries, especially in math and science. The National Assessment of Educational Progress shows 18 percent of fourth-graders and 29 percent of eighth-graders scored ‘below basic’ in mathematics last year. And far too many students drop out. At least 1 in 4 quits high school. Among minority children, the picture is even bleaker. In 2002, only 56 percent of black and 52 percent of Hispanic students graduated, compared to 78 percent of white students. The Census Bureau has found that a full-time employee with a college degree will earn more than $2 million over a lifetime. One with only a high-school diploma will earn half as much, while a dropout, obviously, will earn even less. More ominously, an independent study found dropouts die an average of nine years sooner than graduates. Our educational system is a national problem - but one that calls for local solutions. One approach is to provide school choice.” - Ed Feulner
INSIGHT“There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.” - Ayn Rand
FOR THE RECORD“In a quest to lower my impact on the environment, I calculated our [family’s] carbon footprint if we cut our use of electricity and natural gas in half, switched our two cars for a single Toyota Prius and reduced our annual mileage by half, tripled our train travel, and never took an airplane. Furthermore, what if we became vegetarians, ate only local organic food in season, bought only second-hand clothes, furniture and appliances, never went to movies, bars or restaurants, and recycled or composted all our waste? Even then our combined carbon footprint would be 7.3 tons per year, but that would get us just below the world average of 4 tons per capita annually... The creators of Carbon Footprint claim that everyone in the world must eventually emit no more than 2 tons of carbon dioxide per year. When did Americans last emit so little carbon dioxide? Around 1870.” - Ronald Bailey
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