PageOneQ just posted about a principal in Memphis, Tennessee who maliciously outed at least one same-gender couple to their parents, classmates and teachers:

According to Nicholas' mother Nichole, the principal said that she didn't tolerate homosexuality in the school and repeatedly asked if she knew her son was gay. The honor student underwent further humiliation, in addition to verbal harassment, when taken out of the running for a class trip to New Orleans related to rebuilding efforts, as a risk to the school's image; Nicholas was told that there were fears he'd embarrass the school by engaging in "inappropriate behavior."

Inside Higher Ed has an interesting story about a college activist who was expelled over a facebook collage.

T. Hayden Barnes opposed his university’s plan to build two large parking garages with $30 million from students’ mandatory fees. So last spring, he did what any student activist would do: He posted fliers criticizing the plan, wrote mass e-mails to students, sent letters to administrators and wrote a letter to the editor of the campus newspaper. While that kind of campaign might be enough to annoy university officials, Barnes never thought it would get him expelled.

Apparently, 5 state legislatures have criminalized the sale of three anti-war t-shirts that list the names of all 3,461 US casualties of the Iraq War. A similar ban, attached as an amendment to the 2007 National Defense Authorization Act, has already passed the US House.

I don't quite get it.

According to US Supreme Court precedent (including Cohen v. California, which protected the right of an anti-war protestor to wear a jacket emblazened with the message, "Fuck the draft. End the war."), these shirts easily fall within the realm of expressive conduct. Moreso, they embody political speech - the highest level of protected expression.

I can understand relatively conservative states like Oklahoma, Louisiana, Florida, Texas and Arizona passing such a draconian law. But Congress?

This past weekend I attended a protest at Reggae Carifest over on Randall's Island here in NYC.  

Are we walking the line between allowing "Hate Speech" and infringing upon these artists 1st Amendment Right by protesting events like Reggae Carifest, and calling for the accountability of both the Corporations and artists that provide platforms to spread messages that put people in harm's way?

According to this article in the Los Angeles Times, AT&T's Lollapalooza webcast went silent when Pearl Jam’s lead singer started to criticize George W. Bush. The company claimed it was an accident, but a crew member has since come forward to say that “at a previous event...the instructions were to shut it down if...anybody starts getting political.”

And yet there are still a few apologists out there, who despite their nuanced language, have yet to address the systems of racism and sexism that allow for such language to exist.

Who set it me of this time?

By Laura Hadden

Now, I certainly I believe that students deserve the right to free speech and the importance of affirming it, but is anyone else a little disappointed that our generation's equivalent to Tinker v. Des Moines, the legendary case that upheld black armbands as protected freedom of speech for dissenting students during the Vietnam War, is as meaningless as "Bong Hits 4 Jesus"?  

With the needs to know the languages of life and learn about other peoples, and the need for your actions to speak louder than your words, there is a third element to the ways of communcation. This third element is your actual speech. I hope that your actions embody your words that come out of your mouth. This now brings us to very specifically the words we all use, the most common language of life. Do the words you use offend people? Are you politically correct in your speech? Is that speech progressive?

In an age of capitalism we can buy our uniqueness. You can have pretty much anything personalized, from your cell phone cover, to your couch upholstery, to your double soy vente latte with light foam. Say the word and be willing to shell out a few extra bucks and you can have whatever you want. License plates are no exception; for the past 20 years vanity plates have gone for about $20 and can allow a car owner to express any sentiment from their school pride, to the fact that they are an organ donor, and now In Illinois, thanks to a federal court ruling this week drivers can express their anti-choice political affinity by purchasing a "Choose Life" plate if they so desire.

This September CBS will air a documentary about fire fighters on 9/11. Actually, this will be the documentary's third broadcast on the network, but it will be the first time that it faces government scrutiny and a potential $12 million fine.

In shooting the events of that day, the documentary does not bleep the swearing of the fire fighters. Presumably the filmmakers decided that if viewers were mature enough to see the towers collapse, they could also handle profanity, and perhaps understand its appropriateness.