Free Republic

Portland Public Schools officials are rethinking a district ban on rap music on buses after allegations of racism. The district had banished hip-hop from its buses, deeming the genre "inappropriate." Teri Brady, senior director of transportation at Portland Public Schools, sent a directive to bus drivers in March forbidding "religious, rap music, or talk show programs." The memo included a list of acceptable stations, broken down into three genres: pop, country and jazz. Parent Colleen Ryan-Onken obtained a copy and it circulated in August among outraged parents, prompting the district to walk back the directive in statements released Wednesday.

TEHRAN, Iran -- A young woman driving through the Iranian capital blared the Eagles' ''Hotel California'' from her car speakers -- an act that would have gotten her pulled over by police, and possibly arrested, 20 years ago during the frenzy of the Islamic Revolution. To Pari Mahmoudi, who grew up in an era when many of the 1979 revolution's restrictions have been dropped or ignored, a new ban on Western music ordered this week by Iran's hard-line president seems too ludicrous to be real. ''Don't take this man seriously,'' the 25-year-old scoffed Tuesday, referring to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But...