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WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. Army leaders have begun to study the prospect of sending women soldiers to the service's prestigious Ranger school - another step in the effort to broaden opportunities for women in the military. Gen. Raymond Odierno, Army chief of staff, says he's asked senior commanders to provide him with recommendations and a plan this summer.

Kraft Foods is attempting to clean up the mess made by the accidental release of a controversial Oreo advertisement that features a breastfeeding baby. The ad shows a baby feeding from an uncensored breast and holding an Oreo cookie in its hand. “Milk’s favorite cookie,” it reads at the bottom. A spokesperson from Kraft told CBS St. Louis that the ad was not intended for mass public consumption. “We’d like to clarify that Kraft Foods did not create this visual,” a spokesperson said in a statement via e-mail. ... “It was never intended for public distribution or use with...

AUSTIN - The Daily Texan's editorial board apologized Wednesday for running an editorial cartoon that referred to Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager shot and killed in Florida, as a "colored boy." The cartoonist, Stephanie Eisner of The Woodlands, apologized separately. She no longer works for the University of Texas' student newspaper, according to the board. The editorial board said it will take steps, including requiring all newspaper employees to take part in a seminar each semester "about the relationship between race and the media." "We sincerely apologize for publishing the offensive cartoon and for the harm that decision caused,"...

Kids at Soule Road School in Wilbraham, MA ate green veggies and wore green today but, begorra, under no circumstances were they celebrating St. Patrick’s Day! Instead, it was “Happy O’Green Day.” “Inclusive and diverse,” and to “ease any discomfort that may go along with celebrating St. Patrick’s Day” was the (non) reasoning behind the name change, according to principal Lisa Curtain. “Not so,” says the more diplomatic school superintendent, M. Michael O’Shea who undoubtedly has his share of Irish ancestry. “Soule Road has not changed the name of St. Patrick’s Day. St. Patrick’s Day is on the Soule Road...

"Insulting the Quran is an act of blasphemy" "We will hold sacred the beliefs held sacred by others" The latest advisory to our soldiers and contractors fighting jihad in Afghanistan and Iraq will turn your stomach....Please see attached training module, this training is mandatory and must be completed by all onsite personnel by 10 March 2012. For any personnel scheduled to leave before this training is due, the training must be done and reported to Operations prior to travel. All departments will be required to scan all sign in sheets to Operations for accountability purposes; the departments will be required...

A liberal media watchdog group was purportedly given a grant to expand their monitoring and fact checking of religious broadcasts. According to a weeklong "inside" series by The Daily Caller, Media Matters for America once received a $50,000 grant to "monitor and attack" religious news outlets like the Christian Broadcasting Network and Focus on the Family, though the exact details remained unclear. Tax returns allegedly revealed that the ARCA Foundation, a grant making organization focused on advancing social equity, justice and democracy in the U.S. and abroad, allotted the money in 2006 when Congresswoman Donna Edwards of Maryland's 4th District,...

If you heard more "Merry Christmas" than "Happy Holiday" during the 2011 holiday season, it may be a sign that using "Politically Correct" language is going out of style.

Homeland Security: The bleaching of Islam from the terror picture is almost complete. Eric Holder has ordered a purge of FBI training manuals. Soon the 9/11 hijackers' religion will be censored, too. Last week, top Justice Department officials huddled with several Islamic groups — including a Muslim Brotherhood front implicated in a terror-finance scheme — to discuss "post-9/11 discrimination." They promised the aggrieved they'd pull back references to Islam from terror-training materials. "I recently directed all components of the Department of Justice to re-evaluate their training efforts," Deputy Attorney General James Cole announced during the Washington conference. U.S. Attorney Dwight...

UND officials have estimated the cost of retiring the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo at nearly $750,000, not counting the cost of changes that may occur at the privately-held Ralph Engelstad Arena. University President Robert Kelley sent the estimates last week to a budget analyst and auditor with the North Dakota Legislative Council, in response to a request made by Rep. Mike Schatz, R-New England. Schatz, who has declared that he will not support an attempt in next month's special legislative session to clear the way for retirement of the name and logo, said he asked for the cost information...

On the tenth anniversary of 9/11, we mourn our losses. We mourn the loss of fellow Americans who died at the hands of a sworn enemy and we mourn the loss of those in the ranks of our military who have since fought a righteous fight to protect us from that enemy. In a weekly radio address, President Barack Obama called for unity as the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001 draws near: "We were united," said the President, "and the outpouring of generosity and compassion reminded us that in times of challenge, we Americans move forward together, as one...

During the 1980 New Hampshire Primary and around the time of a canceled Nashua Telegraph debate between Bush and Reagan (due to complaints by Baker and Dole) there was an occasion of the telling of what would now be unthinkable – a politically incorrect joke – as we are now all so sensitive and have learned not to tell jokes, or enjoy or take a joke (something so well alluded to by Herman Cain in the last primary debate: “America needs to learn how to take a joke!”). ********************* Rendezvous With Destiny – Ronald Reagan and the Campaign that Changed...

David Frum is a writer who, in 1997, engaged in a spirited online debate with homosexual writer Andrew Sullivan over the topic of homosexual "marriage." In over 5,500 words of text, Frum was articulate, cogent, and compelling in his opposition to radically redefining marriage, saying that "this request isn't just misplaced, but is actually logically impossible." Now, however, Frum has changed his mind. In a short CNN op-ed last week, he wrote that "the case against same-sex marriage has been tested against reality. The case has not passed its test." Tested? Only five out of the fifty states (soon to...

The Houston National Cemetery has told veterans and volunteers alike that they can no longer use the word "God,""God bless," or "Jesus" at any and all funerals or condolence cards. The word has been deemed 'offensive.' That is according to local volunteer and veterans groups that work at the cemetery. They are now suing the Cemetery in federal court so that they can use the word God. To cite one specific example given in the suit, the director of the cemetery, Arleen Ocasio commanded volunteers never to use "God bless you" and "God bless" ever again at the cemetery. Cheryl...

The Austin Parks Foundation has canceled tonight’s showing of Napoleon Dynamite at Republic Square because of complaints about an offensive word in the movie. According to an email the foundation sent out: “The Austin Parks Foundation is canceling tonight’s (Wed, 5/25) showing of Napoleon Dynamite at Republic Square. A new movie will be shown next month. A number of people contacted us objecting to a word used by actors in the movie. We didn’t recall that this word was used and we did not mean to offend anyone. Our apologies for this as well as for the last minute cancellation.”...

Pastor Scott Rainey planned to deliver a prayer at a Memorial Day ceremony yesterday. There was only one problem: that prayer mentioned Jesus. To the vast majority of Americans, saying the name Jesus during a prayer would not only be all right, but almost required. However, the Dept. of Veterans Affairs and the Houston National Cemetery, and cemetery director Arleen Ocasio, found the name offensive and moved quickly. “Our national cemeteries are places for all veterans of all beliefs,” Ocasio wrote in a letter to Mr. Rainey. “We cannot be exclusive at a ceremony meant to be inclusive for all...

PLACERVILLE, Calif. - Supervisors in a Northern California county voted Tuesday to replace 36 gravestones that bear the N-word, giving the green light to state, county and community officials to design an alternative. The graves hold the remains of pioneers of various races from a Gold Rush settlement called Negro Hill. The federal government moved the bodies from the mining town in 1954 to make way for a dam, and in the process, erected concrete headstones that said the settlers came from N-word Hill....

"Geronimo—ekia." With this coded message, sent on May 1, a U.S. Navy SEALs commando squad signaled the death of Osama bin Laden, the "enemy killed in action." The mission was pulled off without a hitch, but in the week since then, debate has raged in some circles about the code name. The administration hasn't explained why the operation targeting Bin Laden used the name of one of the nation's best-known Native Americans, saying the selection process of names for such missions is confidential. But the use of Geronimo's name speaks to the powerful, if unexamined, hold that the nation's "Indian...

For weeks, Maurice Hudson's family had been wondering what happened to the 25-year-old after he disappeared from their lives. On Jan. 31, the family filed a missing persons report, according to Chicago police officials. His father, Asa Hubbard, said Hudson had been acting strange, sometimes laughing to himself for no apparent reason. On Saturday, the family learned Hudson had been arrested and charged with murder after briefly leaving the country. "I had no idea," Hubbard said, when contacted by the Tribune. Telling his family he was going to London for a vacation, Hudson, who was formerly in the Navy, left...

So what are the odds insurers playing fair on the EU ruling and equalising costs for men and women drivers? I’d put the chance at somewhere between extremely slim and not going to happen. You would presume that the eurocrats who have outlawed gender based risk pricing on insurance would have realised this, but then perhaps they just don’t care. Because it seems that in their world enforced equality trumps fact. It’s rare that I find myself having any desire whatsoever to defend the insurance industry and its pricing, but there is an entire shadowy counter culture of actuaries out...

Over the last several decades the nations of Europe were not good role models for self-reliance and good judgment, embracing crazy ideas that led some to financial catastrophe and caused serious problems for others. Today, however, we see that at least on one subject the Europeans finally have seen the light and the error of their ways. Last Thursday French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared that multiculturalism had failed. And he is not alone; other European leaders like British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish ex-premier Jose Maria Aznar also say that multicultural policies have not successfully integrated...