Single-Gender Classes Allowed

An innovative public school in Louisiana found that separating students into all-boy and all-girl classes, and educating them with different approaches, improves academic performance for both boys and girls. It is a fact of human nature that the books that boys like to read are often not the same as the books girls like to read. The U.S. Constitution does not compel everyone to read the same books.

ACLU Sues Over Prayer Banner

The ACLU in Rhode Island recently filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Cranston challenging the constitutionality of a prayer banner displayed in the Cranston High School auditorium. The suit was filed on behalf of an atheist girl named Jessica, claiming that the prayer banner violates her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, making her feel "excluded, ostracized and devalued by her school because she does not share or agree with the religious expression conveyed by the prayer." The suit also asks the court to award damages to Jessica and attorneys' fees and court costs.

Violent videos warp young minds

Andy Schlafly writes in USA Today:

Training an 8-year-old to dismember or decapitate victims as they beg for mercy, with blood splattering, should not be a free speech right.

On Monday, although only two out of nine Supreme Court justices voted to reinstate the particular California statute at issue, four supported allowing limits on sales of violent video games to children.

The 6000-Year Quest for Control

“We need change – real change,” said Barack Obama in 2008. What will be the effect of this change? William Federer answers that question in a concise history of the struggle for power over the past 6,000 years. It's called Change to Chains: The 6000 Year Quest for Control explains the historic record of how chains are forged when a country does not keep adequate checks on governmental power to balance out the continuing struggle for control. The book is rich in examples and quotations from the Founding Fathers and past presidents.

New Yorkers against marriage

A NY Times blog reports:

It is worth pointing out that the two most prominent politicians in the successful campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in New York want nothing to do with marriage. For themselves, anyway.

Both of them, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, have generally treated matrimony as if it were the worst idea since the Edsel. Mr. Bloomberg is so disenchanted that he said soon after taking office in 2002 that he would abjure the mayoral right to officiate at weddings. ...

All the same, she added, “in coming weeks we’re going to be reading and parsing through everything” to understand the new law’s implications for divorce. ... Let’s suppose, Ms. Hindin said, that one woman in a lesbian marriage has a baby, through whatever means. If the other woman does not legally adopt the child, there may be questions about her rights and obligations to that child should the marriage end.

Either way, the child is likely to be growing up without a father.

Interview: Tony Caruso -- An Inside Look At Our Schools

A recent poll found that 77% of parents give their own child's school a grade of A or B. A former suburban teacher says parents would be shocked if they knew what really happens after they drop their kids off.

Listen to Eagle Forum Live Radio Program aired on 6-25-11

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Feminism Keeps Men From Growing Up

Many single women in their 20s and 30s have achieved what they thought was the feminist dream of getting more college degrees and making more money than most men. They are leading successful, exciting lives and seem to have it all, except one thing: a good husband. Where have all the good men gone? That's the question Kay Hymowitz explores in her new book called Manning Up: How the Rise of Women Has Turned Men into Boys. This author describes young people in their 20s and 30s as "pre-adults." They have filled their lives with college, careers, and the singles' scene instead of following the traditional script of getting married and having children. This has become a major demographic phenomenon.

'Patent Reform' Will Hurt Innovation

Let’s not discourage ingenuity or give big banks another bailout.

This week, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on legislation that will overturn 200 years of legal precedent, destroy constitutional protections afforded inventors and innovators, hurt our economy, and reward big banks. Yet some people have the temerity to claim that the bill — H.R. 1249, the America Invents Act — is “conservative.”

Patent reform is an issue that has lingered for years, but a small band of House conservatives joined forces with icons Phyllis Schlafly, Ed Meese, and others to block it. Never before have we been so close to defeat.

Read entire article

Further Reading: Patent Rights

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Deconstructing Obama

If you like both detective stores and politics, you will realize the political importance of Jack Cashill's newest book, Deconstructing Obama: The Life, Loves, and Letters of America's First Postmodern President. Jack Cashill shows an attention to detail in the style of Sherlock Holmes, drawing on both the unknowns of Barack Obama's life and the intricacies of modern politics. You can follow his discoveries as he locates and connects the dots that show Obama could not possibly have written the book, Dreams From My Father, that launched him on his extraordinary career to the White House.

Equal Rights Amendment Introduced After Wal-Mart Supreme Court Decision

Among the groups opposed to the Equal Rights Amendment is the Eagle Forum, a conservative interest group that has fought the amendment’s passage for decades.

“We don’t need a legislative declaration to prove that we’re equal,” spokeswoman Colleen Holmes said. “We would just say still that women were made equal to men by God our creator. The bill does absolutely nothing to make men and women equal.”

Holmes said the Equal Rights Amendment would lead to the inclusion of women in future military drafts, prevent separate men’s and women’s restrooms, allow state-funded abortion and erode protections widows and married women enjoy.

“It’s really a fundraising ploy,” she said.

Read entire article

Further Reading: Equal Rights Amendment

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A Constitutional Convention Is a Dangerous Idea

The left's assault on liberty never rests, so don't ever be sucked into supporting the dangerous idea of a new constitutional convention, even if its stated purposes purport to be limited.

Recently, CNN's Fareed Zakaria spoke admiringly of how "Iceland is actually junking its own constitution and starting anew and ... soliciting ideas from all of Iceland's 320,000 citizens, with the help of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube."

Zakaria beamed as he ticked off some of the wonderful ideas proposed by Icelanders, such as "guaranteed good health care" and "campaign finance systems that make corporate donations illegal."

Putting aside the obvious question of how Barack Obama, Russ Feingold and John McCain managed to get on Iceland's social networks, I hope idealistic Americans don't get any ideas from this tiny nation's dubious project.

Read entire article at Creators.com

Further Reading: Con Con

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Will Canada Embrace Polygamy?

The very first Republican Party Platform, adopted in 1856, called on Congress to eliminate those "twin relics of barbarism, polygamy and slavery." We succeeded at abolishing both. Traditional marriage is the foundation of a civilized nation, and the enemies of our way of life know that undermining marriage will destroy us. Yet our neighbor to the north, Canada, recently started down that disastrous path.

The patent truth

By Sandy Rios - 06/21/11 12:05 PM ET

A radical overhaul of the U.S. Patent system is rapidly approaching. S23 passed 95-5 in the Senate in January and H.R. 1249 seems to be on track to be called in the House in the next few days. And now suddenly there is pushback. Congressmen are confused. Staffers are confused. The public is largely unaware and the pressure is on from someone...somewhere to get this sweeping overhaul passed quickly.

How does one navigate a position on this? Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) sing the bill’s praises. So do President Obama and Gary Locke. International corporations like Intel and Google are eager for its passage. Smaller companies and entrepreneurs fiercely oppose. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), Dana Rohrbacher (R-Calif.) and Phyllis Schlafly claim it is blatantly unconstitutional. Patent attorneys paid by multinational corporations swear it is not. Given the confusion, which side does one take when one must take one?

Read entire article at thehill.com

Take Action! Stop the ObamaCare Approach to Patent Reform

Further Reading: Patent Rights

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What So-Called 'Patent Reform' H.R. 1249 is Really All About!

More Bailouts for Big Banks . . .

Surely now with reports that BofA "significantly hindered" federal investigations into the use of forged documentation in foreclosure actions and its posting a $1.7 billion first quarter profit, the age of bank giveaways has ended? Guess again. Pending now before Congress is patent reform legislation which has a special provision applicable only to banks that would enable them to do an end run around the courts and not only avoid over $1 billion in damages for intentionally infringing check processing patents but transfer the bill to -- you guessed it -- Uncle Sam.

Read entire article

Take Action! Stop the ObamaCare Approach to Patent Reform

Further Reading: Patent Rights

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National Day of Prayer Upheld

“Since the founding of the Republic, Congress has requested [our] Presidents to call on the citizens to pray.” Those are the first words in a very important decision on April 14th by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. Judge Frank Easterbrook, one of the best jurists of our time, wrote that landmark ruling. He explained that every President except Thomas Jefferson has complied with these requests by Congress. Yet last year, a Jimmy Carter-appointed district court judge ruled that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional, and even issued an injunction against the President to stop him from proclaiming it.

Brown Planning to Cut Wrestling

All of a sudden, my Inbox on my computer has been filled with appeals from students at Brown University in Rhode Island. They start off with such statements as: "I am a freshman on the wrestling team at Brown University. I just found out that wrestling may be cut. If there anything you can do to lend assistance, it would be greatly appreciated." Another email says, "Please help save the college wrestling program at Brown University. It is targeted for elimination because of gender equality, a common goal of the feminist program for years. I am pleading with you to intercede on behalf of the 28 members of the wrestling team. Most of the Brown wrestling team members are state medal winners. We have wrestled in the program since we were five years old, and we continue to strive for excellence. At Brown, we are just what a true student athlete ought to be. My dream is being torn apart. Please help!"

Eagle Forum opposes National Popular Vote (NPV) bill in South Dakota

PIERRE — The national drive to change how U.S. presidents are elected is resurfacing in South Dakotan and might be headed for a decision by the state’s voters whether they want to adopt the new plan.

The groundwork for a petition drive is taking shape that would put an initiated measure on the 2012 ballot that would have South Dakota agree to participate in a new system.

The plan calls for states to contract with one another to cast all of their Electoral College votes for the presidential candidate who is the national winner of the popular vote, regardless of whether that candidate won in the state.

Free Lunches Feed School Coffers

An elementary school principal in Chicago stirred up a big flap recently when she prohibited students from bringing their own lunch from home. She said her intention was to protect students from their own poor nutritional choices and have them eat the lunch served in the school cafeteria which, she claimed, is more nutritious. She said the no-sack-lunch policy is common in Chicago. The decision is up to the principal.

Supreme Court Upholds Inventors' Rights, Sends Congress Message on Patent Reform

WASHINGTON, June 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Supreme Court's ruling Monday in Stanford v. Roche reinforces the historical rights of inventors and sends a strong message to Congress about maintaining those rights.

The decision states that federal technology transfer laws "do not vest title to federally funded inventions in federal contractors or authorize contractors to unilaterally take title to such inventions." It affirms a federal appeals court ruling making Stanford and Roche co-owners of a technology to detect HIV levels in a patient's blood.

IEEE-USA, the American Association of University Professors and IP Advocate joined with Roche in a February amicus curiae brief affirming the decision, arguing that the Constitution and the Patent Act "grant patents solely to individuals," and citing "the longstanding recognition by universities that faculty initially own their inventions and that written assignments are required to transfer title."

Read entire Press Release

Further reading: Patent Rights

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Louisiana Rejects Gay Adoption

In Louisiana, unmarried couples may not adopt children, and same-sex marriage is not allowed. As a result, gay couples in Louisiana may not adopt children. This rule against gay adoption makes a great deal of sense, especially for a child who could instead be placed in the home of a husband and wife.

Crosses Can Stay in Italy's Classrooms

I would hate to admit that Italy has more freedom of religion than the United States, where we like to brag about our First Amendment rights. But a recent newspaper article caught my eye and I want to share it with you. If you've been listening to my broadcasts, you know that I've given many commentaries about the effort of the ACLU and the atheists to remove the cross and all representations of the Ten Commandments from public places, including courthouses, public grounds, public schools, and even mountains.

Dobson hails 'Flipside of Feminism' book

Schlafly: 'Our position is American women are the most fortunate ever'

A new book that explains how American feminists for decades have fed the public their agenda about marriage, children, sex, education, politics and gender roles today earned high praise from James Dobson, the psychologist who founded Focus on the Family and now runs a new radio outreach called FamilyTalk.

"Certain moments happen in all our lives that seem to be of incredible import. I would venture to say this could be one of those moments," Dobson said as the authors of "The Flipside of Feminism" Suzanne Venker and Phyllis Schlafly, joined him on his program, FamilyTalk.


Read more: Dobson hails 'Flipside of Feminism' book

Feminism

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Superman Abandons the "American Way"

If you ask most people what Superman fights for, you will get the answer "Truth, Justice and the American Way." Superman has been a pop-culture embodiment of small-town American patriotic values. But Superman has changed. In a new story line announced in an April issue of Action Comics, Superman renounces his U.S. citizenship, saying he is "tired of having [his] actions construed as instruments of U.S. policy." Superman tells the President's national security adviser that "truth, justice and the American way is not enough anymore." Then Superman goes on to say, "I intend to speak before the United Nations tomorrow and inform them that I am renouncing my U.S. citizenship."

Interview: Randy Landreneau — an inventor's perspective on the patent reform bill

An independent inventor who holds several patents will explain why the "America Invents Act" bill being pushed in Congress will stifle new inventions and stunt job growth.

www.SanePatentReform.org

Listen to Eagle Forum Live Radio Program aired on 6-11-11

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Further Reading: Patent Rights

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Feminists Prove Their Nastiness

My brand new book called The Flipside of Feminism: What Conservative Women Know and Men Can't Say describes how the feminists are anti-men, anti-marriage, and anti-motherhood, and that they are particularly powerful in the mainstream media and in colleges and schools. We saw a tremendous example of how really nasty the feminists are, and how they can peddle their malicious comments in the mainstream media, when the New York Times published a major article on Mothers Day entitled "When We Hated Mom." It's really hard to think of a more inappropriate and unkind title of a Mothers Day article. It was written by a college professor named Stephanie Coontz.

Reforming Patents or Enabling Piracy?

Lawmakers are wrestling with it now but patent reform has received minimal media coverage, even though the fruits of the legislation could have an impact on both national security and constitutional law. The Patent Reform Act of 2011 has already passed in the Senate and is going to a vote in the House of Representatives on June 15, 2011.

Read entire article at AIM.org

Further reading: Patent Rights

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Cancelling Tariffs Are a Racket

The alleged elimination of tariffs is a racket that allows the Koreans to subsidize their own exports to the U.S. while taxing all imports from the United States. South Korea simply replaces its tariff with a value-added tax (called a VAT), which gives Korean manufacturers a 10% rebate on all goods they export and imposes a 10% tax on all U.S. goods allowed to be sold in Korea. KORUS even limits our right to check contaminated food imports.

Ryan Defends Medicare Reform at Eagle Forum Event

When asked by a student about the Medicare reform proposed in the Path to Prosperity budget and the June 1 meeting between the House Republican leadership and President Obama, U.S. Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) denied that he would turn Medicare into a voucher system, asserting that while a voucher system would leave seniors with no guidance in choosing health plans, his “premium support” system would offer a subsidy to seniors to choose from a selection of approved health plans.

Read entire article at AIM.org

Eagle Forum Collegians

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Trade Agreements Cost Jobs

The first debate of the 2012 presidential race, with personalized, provocative questions planned by Fox News, was good political entertainment, but somehow didn't get around to tackling the biggest issue: how do the candidates plan to replace the millions of U.S. middle-class jobs that have gone overseas. The unemployment rate has now topped 9% for the 22nd month. But that figure doesn't paint the jobs picture as bleak as it really is because only 80% of men in their prime working years, between ages 25 and 54, have a job (compared to 95% during the 1960s). Even that statistic doesn't measure the millions of men of that age who are now working for one half, or one quarter, or even one-tenth of the wage for the job they lost. Obama is bragging that the economy added 268,000 new jobs last year, but 62,000 of those were hired by McDonald's because Obama gave that chain a waiver from ObamaCare.

Trade With China Cheats U.S. Workers

Some U.S. corporations are now complaining that they are getting badly cheated by so-called "free trade" with China. The American Chamber of Commerce in China is now complaining that China is violating free-trade pledges by limiting market access and shielding its industries from U.S. competition. The Chinese government is subsidizing local Chinese businesses in technology, energy, aviation and other fields in order to establish Chinese dominance in those fields.

What We Learned from Budget Debate II

Today I'm going to tell you more interesting things we've learned from the debate about the federal budget.

Interview: Rep. Michael Burgess, M.D. — A Doctor's Prescription For Scrapping ObamaCare

Despite widespread opposition, ObamaCare remains the law of the land. A physician-turned-Congressman will give his prescription for scrapping ObamaCare and saving the world's best medical system.

Book: Doctor in the House: A Physician-Turned-Congressman Offers His Prescription for Scrapping Obamacare -- and Saving America's Medical System

Listen to Eagle Forum Live Radio Program aired on 6-04-11

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Listen every Saturday (11-Noon CST): Bott Radio Network

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What We Learned from Budget Debate I

The massive runaway spending by Barack Obama is the top issue with grassroots Americans. That problem is a long way from solved, but we've learned a lot from the budget debate.

Michele Bachmann at the Eagle Forum Collegians Summit

Who Will Answer the Jobs Question?

Public opinion polls show that all the Republican presidential hopefuls are clustered in single- or teen-digit approval ratings. It should be no mystery why no one is breaking out of the pack: no one has answered the number-one political question. That question can be asked in several different ways. Why did millions of good blue-collar jobs go overseas and what is your plan to restore them? Who is responsible for this national disaster? We now have a combination of 10% unemployment, even more chronic underemployment, and heavy personal debt incurred to prepare for jobs that do not exist. Middle-class voters have been badly hurt by the recession by job losses and stagnation in living standards.

Feminism by Treaty

Why CEDAW is Still a Bad Idea

On November 18, 2010, a surprisingly large and boisterous crowd gathered in a U.S. Senate chamber to witness new hearings on a decades-old United Nations treaty. Guards had to caution the excited attendees to keep their voices down. Senator Richard Durbin, chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law, requested that another room be opened to accommodate the large gathering of feminist leaders, human-rights activists, lawyers, lobbyists, and journalists. "Women have been waiting for 30 years," said Durbin in his opening statement. "The United States should ratify this treaty without further delay."

Read entire article at AEI.org

Further reading: CEDAW, Feminism

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Patent Bill Is Wrong for Many Reasons

Yesterday, I told you that the so-called "patent reform" bill that Congress is trying to pass is outright unconstitutional because it would instruct our patent office to grant patents to the first person who files a piece of paper about a invention instead of to the inventor who actually invented it. The authors of the U.S. Constitution, and the early Congresses (which included many men who had been members of the Constitutional Convention), were very clear that the meaning of the word "inventors" in the Constitution is the first person to invent a new product.

Patent Bill Is Unconstitutional

The election of nearly a hundred new Members of Congress last November was grounded in grassroots opposition to the federal government's (a) spending us into massive debt and (2) overriding constitutional limits of power. Unfortunately, lobbyists are now exerting pressure on Congress to pass a law in direct violation of the Constitution.