Free Republic

(A good friend, who works with the mentally handicapped forwarded a copy of this letter.) Contact Us | The Arc Website 1010 Wayne Avenue, Suite 650, Silver Spring, MD 20910 | 301.565.3842 ACTION ALERT - Offensive Portrayal of People with Intellectual Disabilities in Movie Scheduled for Release on August 13, 2008August 5, 2008To: State and Local Chapter LeadersFrom: Peter V. Berns, Executive Director The following is important information about a movie - Tropic Thunder - that includes a very negative portrayal of a person with intellectual disabilities as well as extensive use of the R-word. Release of this movie was...

As one of Stanford University's most respected Middle East scholars, professor Joel Beinin knows what terrorism looks like. So it was a shock when he saw his own face on the cover of a new book titled ``Campus Support for Terrorism,'' linking him to radical Islam. He's suing the book's publishers in what is the first counteroffensive by a professor against a growing campaign by conservative groups targeting left-leaning college educators. Conservative groups acknowledge they are watching scholars like Beinin in an effort to combat what they believe are inaccuracies perpetuated by liberal faculties on college campuses. But while many...

WHEN ELVIS PRESLEY STROLLED onto the stage for his last performance, there was something different about him. His face had swelled, and his gut was pregnant with obesity. His hair and signature sideburns overran his head and face, and his movements, karate kicks, and hip swivels, were no longer crisp or energetic. He could still sing--he never lost that--and he still had a charismatic stage presence, and he could still send fans into a frenzy. But for years leading up to his death, it seemed the brightness that once shone from this superstar came more from his sequin-adorned jumpsuits than...

The television show, 24, contained a storyline about agents seeking to stop a Muslim terrorist sleeper cell from attacking the United States. Despite the fact that the show had featured non ethnic bad guys as well as those from other ethnic groups in the past, the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) accused the Fox Network of stereotyping Muslims and helping to escalate Islamophobia throughout the United States. After a meeting last month between CAIR and Fox execs, the network agreed to read a disclaimer before the offending show was aired. The following was read at the beginning of the program:...