Free Republic

Papa John’s founder John Schnatter resigned as the company’s chairman on Wednesday night after fallout over his use of the n-word during a conference call. ... Schnatter used the n-word on a conference call in May. The call was specifically designed as a role-playing exercise to prevent future public-relations disasters. “Colonel Sanders called blacks n—–s,” Schnatter said, before complaining that Sanders never faced public backlash...

Like many new dads, Sabastion Sparks knew parenting would come with serious challenges. But most new dads didn't give birth to their child. They didn't breastfeed them. And they don't endure glares from strangers when they go shopping with their wife and their toddler son. Sabastion, 24, is a transgender man who lives with his wife Angel in suburban Atlanta. Assigned the female gender at birth, he began transitioning five years ago . It's a process that felt more complete last month when he had surgery to remove his breasts.

Maybe one of the reasons that we have never-ending battles over academic freedom is that many academics seem to define it differently. “Academic freedom means that if I think that there may be an intellectual payoff to be had by turning an academic lens on material others consider trivial — golf tees, gourmet coffee, lingerie ads, convenience stores, street names, whatever — I should get a chance to try,” veteran professor Stanley Fish recently wrote in The New York Times. “If I manage to demonstrate to my peers and students that studying this material yields insights into matters of general...

A few observations on the almost Senate majority leader, Trent Lott, and his travail. Kindly note that I’ve constrained myself from using any of those most popular rib tickling plays on the senator’s name, so if you’re looking for a Lotta trouble or any similar bon mots you can move on right now. Lott’s biggest mistake was one of timing. His comment about the desirability of Strom Thurmond’s election more than half a century ago was clearly not malevolent. Initially, it only received the attention of the perpetually aggrieved Leftists who’ve accorded themselves permanent victim status. December, though, is traditionally...