CBC News is reporting that the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has ordered the small town of Emo to pay damages after failing to hoist an “LGBTQ2 rainbow flag” in celebration of Pride Month. One problem is that the town of fewer than 2000 inhabitants does not have a flagpole (though you could presumably “show the flag” in other ways). Continue reading “Canadian Town Fined and Mayor Sent for Compulsory Education After Failing to Hoist Pride Flag”
Category: Society
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We started the day with our annual Turley Turkey Bowl, which has been running for over 50 years. We then returned to prepare our big family feast. We served traditional fare, including turkey, stuffing, cranberries, Waldorf salad, pumpkin pies, and all the rest. We should be in a food coma in time to watch the NFL games. Continue reading “HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!”
Peanut the Squirrel is back . . . at least in court.
The rodent has achieved fame in the last couple of months, which few animals short of Rin Tin Tin have reached. He is certainly the most famous of his genus since Rocket “Rocky” J. Squirrel. After Mark Longo and Daniela Bittner posted cute pictures of Peanut on social media as their companion and friend, New York officials from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) raided their home on Oct. 30 and seized both Peanut and a raccoon pet named Fred. They proceeded to euthanize both animals. Now the family is lawyering up. Continue reading “In Re Peanut: New York Family Moves to Sue State Over the Killing of Beloved Squirrel”
According to Gallup’s latest polling, support for a handgun ban has fallen to just 20 percent and support for an “assault weapons” ban has cratered to just 52 percent. Gun bans were a constant call from both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over the last four years. President Biden often combined the call with dubious factual, legal, and historical arguments. Continue reading “Gallup: Public Support for Gun Bans Craters”
This week, I wrote about polls that show the public is not buying the apocalyptic predictions of the imminent death of democracy unless Kamala Harris is elected president. Now, a new poll shatters another main talking point of pundits and the press. Democratic candidates, including Vice President Harris, have denounced voter identification laws as “Jim Crow 2.0” attacks on voters. A majority of voters have long supported these laws. According to a new Gallup poll, that majority is now a supermajority. Continue reading “Gallup: Over 80 Percent of Americans Support Voter ID and Proof of Citizenship Laws”
In prior columns, academic articles, and my book, “The Indispensable Right, I discuss the never-ending litigation targeting Jack Phillips, the Christian baker who declined to make cakes that violated his religious beliefs. Phillips continues to be the subject of continuing lawsuits despite the Supreme Court upholding his right to decline to make expressive products for ceremonies or celebrations that he finds immoral. Now the Colorado Supreme Court has dismissed an action brought by a transgender lawyer against the cake shop and its owner. Continue reading “Colorado Supreme Court Dismisses Another Lawsuit Against Masterpiece Cakeshop”
It appears that the Harris-Walz campaign to embrace “joy” has taken hold among educators in L.A. The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) voted 4-3 to allow 10 schools to opt out of standardized tests and test preparation beginning in the 2025-26 school year. LAUSD President Jackie Goldberg declared the move was a blow to “corporate America” and would restore the “enjoyment of education.” Continue reading “Teaching Joy: L.A. School District Opts for “Educational Enjoyment” Over Standardized Tests”
Below is my column in The Hill on the controversies surrounding the Paris Olympics. Criticisms of the Opening Ceremony continue with the Vatican weighing in this week to condemn the scenes discussed below.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Agenda over Athletes: How the Paris Games Became a Competition for Woke Gold”
On Saturday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued a surprising correction after claiming for a week that Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting were actually born women and have Differences in Sexual Development (DSD), a range of rare conditions in which a person’s genitalia do not necessarily match with their chromosomes or hormone levels. In this weekend’s column, I cited that IOC claim that Khelif is not a transgender athlete. Yet, there remains considerable confusion on how the IOC and the boxing governing body is framing this issue and the question of gender. Continue reading “Transgender or Intersex? Confusion Reigns Over the Gender Status of Two Olympic Boxers”
The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage is about to hit the shelves around the country. The pre-ordered copies of the first edition will be mailed in days with a formal release date of June 18th. I wanted to thank everyone who has pre-ordered the book and the generous comments of reviewers.
The book has been 30 years in the making. The book explores our struggle with free speech and why we continue to grapple with the meaning of this core, defining right. It does so in part through the stories of courageous figures who refused to yield to the demands of others to be silent, even at the risk of their own lives. The book seeks to reexamine the essence of this right and how, after a brief moment of clarity at our founding, we abandoned its true foundation as a natural or autonomous right. Many agree with Justice Louis Brandeis that free speech is indispensable but not why it is indispensable. That lack of proper foundation has left the right vulnerable to continual tradeoffs and contractions, particularly in what is now arguably the most dangerous anti-free speech period in our history.
Here is an excerpt from the book for those interested in obtaining a copy:
Continue reading “Here is an Excerpt From The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage”
It often seems like there is nothing left today that is not a battleground over our political and social differences. We can now add Easter. The Biden White House triggered a firestorm by picking Good Friday to announce that Easter Sunday will now be the “Transgender Day of Visibility.” At the same time, families objected to regulations on Easter egg designs, barring children from including any religious imagery or references on this religious holiday. There are even objections to the use of eggs at the annual White House egg roll.
Continue reading “Hopping Mad: Easter Becomes the Latest Flash Point in American Politics”
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of the leprechauns of the blog from the Turley Clan. The leprechauns came to bring treats and tricks to the Turley house this morning. While our kids are older, they still enjoy our traditions (or humor their aging father). Continue reading “HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY”
Today is the birthday of our greatest Framer and the genius behind our Constitution: James Madison. He would have been 273 years old. We will be celebrating tonight with a traditional Virginia dinner (with the required Virginia ham), a three-layer cake, and Madison’s favorite dessert of ice cream (I recommend the tripartite Neapolitan). Continue reading “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEMMY!”
Washington Post writer Maura Judkis is under fire this week for a column in which she mocks shoplifting stories as the “moral panic” of a nation built on “stolen land.” It is reminiscent of those who excused rioting in past summers “as an expression of power” and demanded that the media refer to looters as “protesters.” Now, the Washington Post is suggesting that it may be just desserts for a nation of colonizers and enslavers. Continue reading “Washington Post Reporter Dismisses Shoplifting Stories as the “Panic” of “a Sticky-Fingered Nation Built on Stolen Land””
Florida this month may be forcing the question of whether the people prefer cattle or capitalism. A bill in the state would ban lab-grown meat, an effort supported by beef suppliers who want to slow the production and demand for the alternative product. The alleged “ethical and health concerns” remain speculative and unclear. As Adam Smith noted “this is one of those cases in which the imagination is baffled by the facts.”