Speak Out!

The "Viewer Discretion" post in the Young Voices blog section of our TV show site [scroll down a bit on that blog page to March 16, 2008] addresses the issue of editing certain words in films that air on the tube:

Some films that air on cable have content that is at times a bit obscene, offensive or abrasive, and as such usually get edited out.

The USA Today Op-Ed section recently tackled a debate on school choice.

Various polls have suggested that voters seem to be turned off by negative campaign ads. Yet, that hasn't stopped presidential candidates from using such tactics.

In the weeks since the Super Tuesday contests on February 5, Clinton has lost 11 contests in a row... Her campaign has responded by going increasingly negative, criticizing Obama… Indeed, the Clinton campaign has just released a negative TV ad that blasts Obama on that last point. These hits have not gone unanswered.

If the FEMA debacle in the aftermath of the Gulf Coast hurricanes is any example, can the federal government successfully implement universal health care?

Why are many parents clueless when their kids are into drugs and/or violence?

The Flint Journal reported that a lawsuit was brought against the local Urban League based on the touchy racial issue of light vs. dark:

A biracial employee, Jamie Kendall, sued the Urban League after not being promoted to CEO.

A Washington Post article cited the results of a study which says most mandatory company diversity training is ineffective:

A comprehensive review of 31 years of data from 830 mid-size to large U.S. workplaces found that the kind of diversity training exercises offered at most firms were followed by a 7.5 percent drop in the number of women in management.

A USA Today Op-Ed piece addresses what it calls tolerance for mediocrity by U.S. colleges:

Below the top ranks, there are reasons to suspect more tolerance for mediocrity than an assault on it. A 2006 study sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts found shockingly low literacy among students at four-year colleges, with only half testing at a proficient level.

A recent EURweb commentary suggests that the impact of integration has been harmful to the Black community:

In America, Black people imagine that they have made progress. The truth is that in many ways, we have gone backwards. Our shining Black future should be to reverse integration, so that we can once again accustom ourselves to living with each other. The best part of integration cannot be taken away, especially if we recollect ourselves.

A New York Times Op-Ed piece comments on how the issues of race and gender are being played out by the Democratic presidential candidates and their supporters:

After staying on the sidelines in the first year of the campaign, race and to a lesser extent gender have burst into the forefront of the Democratic presidential contest, thrusting Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton into the middle of a sharp-edged social and political debate that transcends their candidacies. The exchanges created apprehension amon