Decency

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Craigslist should remove its adult services section because the website cannot adequately block potentially illegal ads promoting prostitution and child trafficking, attorneys general in 17 states demanded Tuesday in a joint letter.

"Only Craigslist has the power to stop these ads before they are even published," Kansas attorney general Steve Six said in a statement. "Sadly, they are completely unwilling to do so."

The joint letter acknowledged Craigslist faces the prospect of losing revenue if it were to remove the adult services section...

A federal appeals court has thrown out a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) policy that can lead to broadcasters being fined for filthy language on live television.

The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan determined the policy violates the First Amendment and that it "chills speech, because broadcasters have no way of knowing what the FCC will find offensive."

According to Melissa Henson, spokesperson for the Parents Television Council (PTC), her organization is outraged by the decision...

Rahm Emanuel, under fire for making an "f-ing retarded" comment during a strategy session months ago, met Wednesday at the White House with Special Olympics head Tim Shriver and other advocates for the disabled to try to quell the controversy.

The White House chief of staff issued the invitation last week after Shriver wrote him to protest the derogatory comment, reportedly made by Emanuel in reference to some liberal activists.

Also on hand for Wednesday’s mea culpa meeting were Andrew Imparato, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities; Ricardo Thornton, a Special Olympics athlete; and, Peter Berns of The Arc.

The remarks drew increasing national attention after Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin called Monday for Emanuel’s firing...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new Internet-based web site reality show called "Bump" is generating intense opposition and controversy. The program is a fake reality show that has viewers deciding which of the pregnant women "contestants" will kill their child an in abortion.

The show is satirical in nature and supposedly inspired by President Barack Obama's infamous speech to graduating students at Notre Dame.

The creators say they want to spark an honest discussion about abortion and plan to determine the ending of each storyline by comments and discussion from viewers.

Kathryn Jean Lopez, the pro-life editor of National Review Online, responded to the Bump show and the controversy surrounding it.

"I was stuck by two things: 1) How fringe it appears — I don't think this would fly on a major television network or cable channel, even HBO. And 2) how dehumanizing the whole endeavor seems," she writes...

Two girls are suing their high school in Indiana over punishment they received for posting suggestive photos of themselves on MySpace during summer vacation.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the suit claiming the school violated the girls' free-speech rights. Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and dean of Liberty University's law school, says the ACLU has gotten it wrong. He contends that if the school sets certain standards for behavior, they can enforce them. As a result of this stance, the students might pay a price in more than one way...

A divided Supreme Court spent an hour on Tuesday talking about dirty words on television without once using any.

There was no apparent consensus on the court about what to do in the dispute between the broadcast networks and the Federal Communications Commission over celebrities' one-time uses of profanity on live television during hours when children are likely to be watching.

Many parents know that children are getting their favorite songs from iTunes.
But what else can the youngsters hear through the popular music-downloading
site? How about porn?

Apple's iTunes software and the iPod have made the old-fashioned record store
"so last century." And now podcasts – audio blogs and vlogs – have become all
the rage.

Congress is considering a bill that would bar children who use computers in
public libraries from accessing Facebook and other social networking websites
without parental permission.

Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, the Illinois Republican who
sponsored the measure, says the proposal would keep sexual predators from
contacting minors who are using a library computer.

A primetime show on the CW network is being targeted for what critics say is another sexually charged ad campaign. Gossip Girl is the most watched show among 12- to 17-year-old girls. And according to the Parents Television Council (PTC), the show features teenage girls having sex with adults, as well as alcohol and drug abuse. Now, PTC's Melissa Henson is sounding a warning for a new series of ad campaigns for the show.

A Kansas City-based pro-family leader was pleased with the responses that Republican presidential candidate John McCain gave last week concerning the threat modern media presents to parents battling the sexualizing of culture. Philip Cosby is the Kansas City office executive director for the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families. He says he had a front-row seat and was the first member of the public to be allowed to ask questions of McCain at the town hall meeting.