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Callaway, PGA Tour officially DROP partnerships with Good Good
Topic: Violence Against Women
Source: The Post Millennial
The PGA tour released a statement backing Good Good's decision to step away as a sponsor, dropping them from their roster. The statement reads: "The PGA TOUR has been informed of Good Good Golf's decision to step away as sponsor of the event in Austin, Texas, this fall. We agree with their decision to use this time to focus on their organization and the work ahead.[Ed: This is the controversial ad.]

Education secretary says elimination of department is ‘realistic’
Topic: Children and Family
Source: KOCO
...but timeline for shifting services is unclear. In a one-on-one interview, Education Secretary Linda McMahon detailed the status of agreements to shift key services to other federal agencies as students return to the classroom. Trump contends that the federal agency is costly and ineffective, while critics argue that closing down the department would disrupt crucial services and weaken civil rights safeguards.

Girl Scouts USA responds to controversy over 'Islamic' badges
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: Middle East Eye
After a viral tweet accused the organisation of embedding Islamic practices into scouting, GSUSA says the badges come from an independent faith group. On 24 August, White House correspondent and War Room co-host Natalie Winters shared a thread on X titled "The Islamisation of Girl Scouts Across America", featuring photos of badges including one labelled "Girl Scout of the Islamic Faith", alongside others tied to Islamic practices such as Ramadan and Hajj.

UK’s Sick Islamic ‘Grooming Gangs’ Exposed By Shocking New Report
Topic: Violence Against Women
Source: Trending Politics
A sweeping new inquiry into Britain’s notorious grooming gang scandal is putting attention on decades of child sexual exploitation, institutional failures and allegations that authorities were reluctant to confront the backgrounds of perpetrators. The Rape Gang Inquiry, led by survivor Sammy Woodhouse and former MP Rupert Lowe, examined organized groups accused of targeting vulnerable girls across the United Kingdom. The report argues that predominantly Pakistani Muslim gangs were responsible for a significant portion of the group-based child sexual exploitation cases it studied while police, social services and other institutions repeatedly failed victims.

Parents and politicians love social media bans for kids.
Topic: Children and Family
Source: Politico.EU
Experts worry they’re a shot in the dark. It’s a muggy summer afternoon in London and more than two dozen academics and civil society experts, all interested in how digital technology affects children, have gathered in an airless basement lecture theatre to discuss a hot topic. The U.K. government’s statutory ban on smartphones in English schools only came into force the day before, so the launch of new research exploring how students experience these restrictions couldn’t be more timely. Experts like the ones assembled worry that policymakers around the world weighing broad crackdowns on children’s access to smartphones and social media are at best barrelling ahead of the evidence, and at worst ignoring it altogether.

Jury Weighs Whether "Darn Good Mother"
Topic: Children and Family
Source: Zero Hedge
Lindsay Clancy Is Criminally Liable For Murdering Her 3 Kids. "This young lady did nothing wrong in her life. She was… a darn good mother..." Jury deliberations in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial started on Aug. 27 after five weeks of testimony. Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, is accused of killing her three young children while her now-ex-husband was running errands in January 2023. The 36-year-old mother faces three counts of first-degree murder, one for each child: Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan. Judge William Sullivan gave the jury the option to instead consider second-degree murder or manslaughter.

Home Possession of AI-Generated Porn Depicting Fake Children
Topic: Porn, Prostitution, and Sexual Freedom
Source: The Volokh Conspiracy
Remains Constitutionally Protected, Seventh Circuit Rules. The appeal in this case deals only with Anderegg's challenge to the home possession charge, not to the production or distribution charge. Here's the court's analysis:
"Obscenity, along with certain other categories of speech, has historically fallen "outside the scope of the First Amendment." And, although the precise meaning of "obscenity" is difficult to pin down, the Supreme Court has offered the following articulation: "[S]peech is obscene to the public at large—and thus proscribable—if (a) 'the average person, applying contemporary community standards[,] would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest'; (b) 'the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law'; and (c) 'the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.'" Miller v. California (1973)."

Full-Face Veils Banned In Portugal After President Signs 'Burqa Law'
Topic: Violence Against Women
Source: Remix News
“The face should be considered a central element of human identity and communication...” Portuguese President António José Seguro has officially signed into law a bill banning face-concealing attire in public spaces, with the move seen targeting the full-face Islamic veils like the burqa and niqab. Addressing the national debate, President Seguro framed the decision around human interaction, stating: "The face should be considered a central element of human identity and communication."

Brazil Sues Discord Over Child Safety Requirements
Topic: Children and Family
Source: Reuters
Platform calls government action disproportionate. Brazil has taken Discord to court. The government announced Wednesday it's suing the chat platform for about $97 million, claiming Discord hasn't met Brazilian requirements for protecting children and teenagers, Reuters reports. In a civil lawsuit filed in federal court, authorities say the company must bring its safety tools, age checks, parental controls, content moderation, and communication features into line with local law or face a daily fine. The case follows a move earlier this month by Brazil's data protection authority to suspend Discord's livestreaming features over youth-safety concerns after a suicide.

What happened to North Hollywood’s Star Garden
Topic: Porn, Prostitution, and Sexual Freedom
Source: Los Angeles Public Press
...the nation’s only unionized strip club? Today, the Star Garden sits as a hollow shell of its former self following the formation of the only strippers union in the country in 2023, when it joined the Actors’ Equity Association. Theirs was a landmark victory followed by at least two other strippers unions, the Chippendales in Vegas and the Magic Tavern in Portland. The victory, however, was short-lived. Across the country, every effort for a strippers union has so far been met with prolonged resistance by club owners. None of the unions are operating. In March 2024, the Star Garden union filed a case with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the club’s owners of failing to comply with a settlement agreement that recognized their union. It has been two years since the case has had any traction, and the Los Angeles labor board has yet to schedule a hearing.

A Federal Judge Just Struck Down Texas' Anti-Drag Law, Again
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: Reason
A Texas law restricting “sexually oriented performances” was struck down after a federal judge said it could apply to everything from cheerleading to karaoke to performances by Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, and Miley Cyrus. On Tuesday, Judge David Hittner of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas ruled that a 2023 state law banning "sexually oriented performances" in the presence of minors violated the First Amendment. Before the ruling, businesses found hosting an event in violation of this law would have faced a fine of up to $10,000. Performers could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, the most serious misdemeanor charge in Texas, which could result in a $4,000 fine, a year in jail, or both.

Former NBA Star Enes Kanter Freedom Threatens Lawsuit
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: Yahoo Sports
After Chicago Sky Ejection and Ban. Enes Kanter Freedom is no stranger to controversy, and his latest clash with the WNBA has reignited the spotlight. The former NBA center attended Sunday's Chicago Sky matchup against the Indiana Fever, a game the Sky lost 113-90, wearing a shirt that stirred immediate backlash. What started as a courtside statement quickly escalated into something far bigger for Freedom. Contents of the letter here.

Calif’s Univs Cannot Compensate for Failure of the Primary School System.
Topic: Children and Family
Source: Lew Rockwell
California’s political leaders often celebrate the state as a global engine of innovation, diversity, and progressive governance. Yet its public schools—despite record spending and one of the most liberal electorates in the nation—remain among America’s worst. The contrast with Massachusetts is instructive. Boston Latin School, a public institution founded in 1635, still produces some of the strongest academic outcomes in the country. Massachusetts consistently ranks first in K–12 performance. California, by contrast, now sends entering freshmen to the University of California system who require math remediation at the level of third grade competency. UC San Diego has reported incoming students unable to perform basic arithmetic. This is not a failure of universities. It is a failure of the primary school system—and the political structure that governs it.

Democrats: Are The Newspeak Buzzwords Working For Them?
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: The Victory Girls Blog
[Ed: of course, the GOP has buzzwords and Newspeak of their own.] But can they really talk like normal human beings? Equality became diversity, equity and inclusion. Abortion has changed its definition over the years from “freedom of choice” to “reproductive healthcare” to, the latest, “gender-affirming healthcare”. A baby is a “clump of cells”, a “fetus”. Prison inmates and criminals are the “justice-involved population”. Illegal aliens are “undocumented immigrants”. Riots became “peaceful protest”. Complying by getting a shot in your arm became “following the science”. Drug addiction is now “substance abuse”. Hunger and starvation is “food insecurity”. Parents are “birthing people”. Pregnant women became “pregnant people”. If you dared question this concept, you are “othering”. A boy child who tried on his mother’s heels ONCE or a girl who liked to play in the dirt and dig up worms became “gender questioning”. Mutilating children for the sake of their “gender questioning” became “gender affirming care”. The morbidly obese became “body positive”. Praying at a mosque became “social justice”. Socialism is “warm collectivism”. Being a Muslim is “cooler” than being a Christian. I can go on.

Texas Proves School Choice Can Work at Scale
Topic: Children and Family
Source: Real Clear Education
As summer draws to a close and millions of students begin packing their backpacks to return to the classroom, Texas is crossing a historic threshold. For the first time, families can choose the educational path that is best for their children. Thanks to the successful rollout of Texas Education Freedom Accounts, the educational landscape in the Lone Star State has fundamentally shifted. So too has the opportunity for other states to emulate the success that Texas has experienced.

What a Queer Fish She Is...
Topic: Gay/Lesbian Issues
Source: Hot Air
Queer fish” researcher awarded £196k by the taxpayer-funded British Academy. The Academy received just under £340 MILLION from taxpayers between 2021-25. If Strathclyde were just a community college somewhere, I wouldn't have given this story another thought; it's too easy to make fun of the odd research habits of obscure academics, but with the increasing number of stories coming out of prestigious universities that reveal that they have gone completely off the rails, stories like this matter.

Monopoly Money: Why Meta “Likes” the $16 Billion Settlement
Topic: Children and Family
Source: Jonathan Turley
It is not every day that a company can settle a case for over $16 billion and celebrate. However, Meta’s settlement with 29 states is a remarkably good deal for a company facing a demand of over $1.4 trillion and years of litigation. In the end, it may not even take a loss from the litigation. The settlement ends the latest mass liability case, following similar settlements in tobacco, opiates, and other products. It will require Meta to make changes to its platform, though the company already appeared to be moving to make such changes. The maximum payment of closer to $17 billion is tied to whether competing platforms (like TikTok and YouTube) adopt parallel protections for children. Otherwise, the company is on the hook for at least $12.1 billion over 10 years under the agreement.

The Austin Franco saga shows how antisemitism lost its stigma
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: The Washington Examiner
Austin Franco told a prospective employer he wouldn’t work for them because they were Jewish. When the remark became public, he didn’t apologize. He defended it. Cornell University condemned the 19-year-old student’s remark, but Franco says he has faced no disciplinary action. He appeared on Piers Morgan‘s show, where he defended himself and called Israel “a genocidal country.” Supporters rallied around him, and online fundraisers brought in tens of thousands of dollars. [Ed: I am still gobsmacked that antisemitism is growing in the US! of all places.]

Dolly Did Just Fine Without Politics
Topic: Individualist Feminism
Source: Cato Blog
I wrote the following in this space in 2019 about one of the nation’s great entertainers, Dolly Parton, who has died at age 80. A profile in the New York Times finds it “odd” that almost everyone loves country entertainment legend Dolly Parton even though she “has remained reluctant to make the slightest hint of a political statement.” I think that should win some sort of prize for statements that are best at missing what is in plain sight. Do most people really want politics to play that big a part in their lives or their choice of entertainment? I don’t know, but here are some of the reactions I’ve seen this morning on social media