Free Republic

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WTVC) — One family says their 5-year-old son with autism is being punished for giving his classmate a hug. East Ridge Elementary leaders say the boy overstepped his boundaries. But, his family says the whole thing is a big misunderstanding. Nathan is a 5-year-old boy kindergartner at East Ridge Elementary. The principal says the school staff has talked with him several times. His guardian says the school has filed a report with the state. Summery Putnam, Nathan's guardian, says she received a call from her son's teacher at East Ridge Elementary about three weeks ago. "I was sick...

Eagle Scout Cole Withrow was just a few weeks from graduating with honors from his North Carolina high school, but now the active church member is facing a felony weapons charge and a precarious future after accidentally leaving a shotgun in his pickup truck in the school parking lot. Most members of the Johnston County community, just southeast of Raleigh believe the 18-year-old is paying far too big a price for an honest mistake. Withrow had been skeet shooting with friends a day before, and only noticed he had left his shotgun in his truck on Monday morning as he...

The Government has drawn up a controversial phrasebook on the language of terrorism and is insisting civil servants no longer blame fanatical extremism on Islam, for fear of upsetting the Muslim community. The new counter-terrorism guidelines suggest that phrases such as "Islamic terrorist" and "jihadi fundamentalism" are too inflammatory and imply that all Muslims explicitly are responsible for extremism. Instead the leaked Home Office document advises Whitehall bosses that they refer to violent extremism and criminal murderers or thugs to avoid any link between Islam and terrorism. However, the war on terror handbook has provoked an unfavourable response from people...

The student senate at a Rhode Island college has drawn fire for disbanding the school's Republican group after the group refused to apologize for a satirical stunt designed to highlight political correctness on American campuses. The College Republicans at the University of Rhode Island (URI) established a satirical scholarship to ridicule the notion of scholarships based on race, gender or nationality. It offered a $100 grant to a student who was white, heterosexual, American and male. In the application, applicants were asked, "In 100 words or less, what does being a white heterosexual American male mean to you? As a...

Bristish banks are banning piggy banks because they may offend some Muslims. Halifax and NatWest banks have led the move to scrap the time-honoured symbol of saving from being given to children or used in their advertising, the Daily Express/Daily Star group reported today. Muslims do not eat pork, as Islamic culture deems the pig to be an impure animal. Salim Mulla, secretary of the Lancashire Council of Mosques, backed the bank move. "This is a sensitive issue and I think the banks are simply being courteous to their customers," he said. However, the move brought accusations of political correctness...