The Wisconsin protests as seen by a self-described “independent”

The Wisconsin protests, both for and against, as seen by a self-described “independent,” with video. Key quote:

That experience has led to these two independent voters, who have been fiscally conservative but socially divided on many issues, to a new understanding of how politics, unions, and the media work. I’m glad I didn’t rely on the descriptions and information from others about this issue. I saw the reality for myself, and we have both decided to stay actively involved. We will not trust or rely on any media to deliver primary information or facts. It really is true: there is biased reporting and organized, liberal oppression and hostility for all other viewpoints. I’m just little nobody wife, mom, and teacher in small town Wisconsin, and I experienced it.

The video clip shows the Tea Party rally begin its demonstration with the Pledge of Allegience, even as teacher union protesters blow whistles to try to drown it out. Is this how they perform the pledge in school?

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Wheelchair bound wounded vet jeered, heckled, and laughed at by university students

The civil tone of the left: A wheelchair-bound, wounded veteran was jeered, heckled, and laughed at by Columbia University students. Key quote:

“Racist!” some students yelled at Anthony Maschek, a Columbia freshman and former Army staff sergeant awarded the Purple Heart after being shot 11 times in a firefight in northern Iraq in February 2008. Others hissed and booed the veteran.

Maschek, 28, had bravely stepped up to the mike Tuesday at the meeting to issue an impassioned challenge to fellow students on their perceptions of the military. “It doesn’t matter how you feel about the war. It doesn’t matter how you feel about fighting,” said Maschek. “There are bad men out there plotting to kill you.”

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The memoir of a substitute teacher during a teachers strike

The memoir of a substitute teacher during a teachers strike. Key quote:

After the first week the phone calls in the evening began. After the first call, I had to not allow my children to answer the phone, as when the first call came, my seven year old answered and she heard an earful of cursing and threats that put her into tears. From that point on, we did not answer the phone in the evening unless I designated my husband to the task.

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Austrian Court fines speaker for describing Islam accurately

Bad news for freedom: An Austrian court today convicted Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff for speaking out against Islam. Key quote:

It seems the case turned on the judge’s reasoning that her statement that Islam’s prophet Mohammed was a “pedophile” was defamatory since his child bride Aisha (age six at the time of marriage and nine at the time it was consummated) remained his wife when she turned 18.

More details at Gates of Vienna.

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Are Health-Care Waivers Unconstitutional?

Are the more than 700 waivers to Obamacare that the Obama administration has handed out unconstitutional? The final paragraph sums it up well:

Waivers can be used for good purposes. But since the time of Matthew Paris [around 1251], they have been recognized as a power above the law — a power used by government to co-opt powerful constituencies by freeing them from the law. Like old English kings, the current administration is claiming such a power to decide that some people do not have to follow the law. This is dangerous, above the law, and unauthorized by the Constitution.

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The bigotry among social psychologists

The bigotry among social psychologists. Key quote:

Dr. Haidt (pronounced height) told the audience [at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology’s conference] that he had been corresponding with a couple of non-liberal graduate students in social psychology whose experiences reminded him of closeted gay students in the 1980s. He quoted — anonymously — from their e-mails describing how they hid their feelings when colleagues made political small talk and jokes predicated on the assumption that everyone was a liberal.

“I consider myself very middle-of-the-road politically: a social liberal but fiscal conservative. Nonetheless, I avoid the topic of politics around work,” one student wrote. “Given what I’ve read of the literature, I am certain any research I conducted in political psychology would provide contrary findings and, therefore, go unpublished. Although I think I could make a substantial contribution to the knowledge base, and would be excited to do so, I will not.”

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