Congratulations ...

To Jonathan Berry and Karen Burke on the publication of their book reviews for Townhall.com, discussing God on the Quad and The Frankenfood Myth, respectively.

We couldn't fit this in the print version of our last edition of Yale Notes, so here it is for your international reading pleasure.

‘Tis the Season … for Fake Holidays

From December 26th to January 1st, members of the Yale community celebrated a Christmas-time miracle almost as unlikely as the birth of mankind’s savior in a poor Roman backwater surrounded by livestock. The African-American holiday of Kwanzaa, from its humble beginnings 39 years ago as a made-up holiday with a made-up name, questionable motives, and tenuously contrived African traditions, has become a mainstream occasion commemorated with Hallmark cards, a U.S. postage stamp, and even a kinara candelabra in the Yale dining halls.

Another wonder to behold: Kwanzaa’s creator, Maulana Keranga, a felon, Marxist, certified psychotic, and founder of a Black Nationalist organization which even the Black Panthers considered too radical, went on to chair the Black Studies department at California State University at Long Beach as well as the President’s Task Force on Multicultural Education and Campus Diversity. In a 1978 interview, Karenga explained his holiday by saying, “People think it's African, but it’s not. I came up with Kwanzaa because black people in this country wouldn’t celebrate it if they knew it was American. Also, I put it around Christmas because I knew that’s when a lot of bloods (blacks) would be partying.” Given that Karenga hardly intended his ‘harvest festival’ as more than a divisive ideological tool, does the Kwanzaa candelabra really warrant a place beside Christmas trees and Chanukah menorahs in Yale’s dining halls—or are these decorations a guilty gesture of political correctness?

Grinding That PC Axe

If you haven't yet heard of Evan Coyne Maloney, a documentary filmmaker being called the right-wing's Michael Moore, the New York Sun did an interesting feature spot on him yesterday -- hie thee hence. The YFP may be featured along with the Yale College Republicans for their ROTC efforts in Maloney's upcoming film Brainwashing 101, exploring the issue of political correctness on campus.

Stay tuned for more previews brought to you by the VRWC*, including this kind note of support from the Yale Alumni Magazine and a quote by the YFP's own Editor-at-Large, Nikki McArthur, in this City Journal article on campus conservatives.


*I'll give you three guesses.

Potential Court Victory for Pro-Lifers?

You heard it first here.

Web Exclusive: a YFP cartoon




Copyright © Mark Schneider 2005

It seems the Pentagon has some alternative ideas for military combat.

Big time: I'm quoted in today's Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Safety Hazard

According to Yale College rules, the Club Kickboxing Team is not allowed to spar outside of its weekly supervised sessions with a qualified instructor. No word yet about whether the administration has also considered outlawing male students to resolve conflicts by similar methods in more informal settings (lacking the approximately 10 pounds of padding kickboxers use to soften blows, I might add).

This message brought to you by the frustration of personal experience. Needless to say, I decided braving the cold for practice on bags instead of people was not worth the effort today.

One more stark illustration of the destruction in South Asia: satellite photos from before and after the tsunami.

Over at Café Hayek, free-market economist Don Boudreaux has some interesting entries about charity, including comment on that unpalatable "stingy" slur the UN and the NYT hurled. Stay tuned for the Winter issue of the YFP, where Jon Berry will have a piece hot off the presses to challenge that canard.

On the, er, lighter side, Arthur Chrenkoff has collected the worst tsunami quotes. They include CNN boasting about its speedy correspondents being "able to flood the zone immediately," and the Saudi Arabian counterpart of Pat Robertson claiming that the waves were punishment for usury and fornication around Christmastime. (Cancùn and Fort Lauderdale have been alerted and are rapidly reinforcing their infrastructure before Spring Break.)

More of the Usual

After a too-long absence, we bring you yet another edition of amusing search sequences that lead people to our Right-eous corner:

Orwell Eurasia replaces Eastasia as Oceania s enemy
free pederasty pictures [Number 4 on this hit list. No comment. -Ed.]
how to spend 100 a month on groceries
vast evil
beyond machiavelli drivel

Cleaning Out that Mailbag

It seems a little mid-winter cleaning is in order ... here are the remaining letters our typing monkeys dug up from that ever-brimming bag.

Wednesday, 1 December

Dear Editor:

I was utterly repulsed when I read about this blatant attempt to suppress free speech at Yale. However, I was not at all surprised by this outrageously bold tactic. After all, it has become quite evident (through recent current events) that leftist liberals are intolerant of any alternative viewpoints.

My son is an undergrad at MIT, (and a former editor in chief in high school so I know the amount of work that goes into each edition) and I would hate to imagine the same scenario there. Keep publishing and don’t be intimidated.

Sincerely,
Adina Kutnicki [AK1mom(at)aol(dot)com]
Ridgewood, NJ

Friday, 3 December

Dear Editor,

It is with great relief that I read your November edition concerning bias in the classroom to find that you students actually notice and care that employees are using their positions of authority to mum paying consumers.

It seems to have become far too easy for individual citizens to criticize political views differing from theirs without ever being taken to task on their own views. Who can rightly say George Bush is dumber than they because of any one condition, whether it is a college grade or even a regional vocal slang? Frankly, all these things confirm to me that most people have very little intelligence in the political arena because they use such ridiculous, meaningless judgments to substantiate their “heartfelt” beliefs. Truly “smart” people examine the issues rather than letting their personal biases abound as thought. Thank you.

P.S. I would love to see any one anti-Bush basher try to do the president’s job and then his outcome. What a wonderful world that would be!

Catherine Talbot [CathDTalbot(at)aol(dot)com]

And another that same day:

Dear Editor:

Hello. I applaud what you’re doing with your paper even though I personally have no connection to Yale. I’m a Christian and also rather libertarian-minded; I have no interest in, say, imposing a gag order on the gay-rights movement, for instance. I am most definitely concerned with freedom of expression, and that’s what your paper stands for, among other things.

I saw a reference to your poll re: professorial intimidation at the WSJ Opinion Journal, and thought I’d check out your website. I got a chuckle out of your disclaimer: “The Yale Free Press is not responsible for the contents of Yale University.” But when I saw that, I wondered if you’d ever had pressure or intimidation applied to your paper by the university.

Best wishes,
Andy Derksen [Andy(at)iodea(dot)com], Canada
(Where libertarianism is sorely lacking)

[Note to alumni: We welcome all stories of intimidation. -Ed.]