The American Association of University Women recently reported that after a number of years in the workforce, college-educated women earn only 69% of what men earn. Wasn’t one of the main goals of the feminist movement to achieve wage parity with men? With women surpassing men in education, can’t they even point to progress on their most basic gripe?

Besides not delivering on the wage issue, feminist propaganda and the sexual revolution have contributed to the creation of a world of confused children, regretful childless women, skewed age demographics, unstable and broken relationships, and STDs. We will be mopping up and paying for the debris for generations. Their proposed solution to the problem is corporate childrearing in a welfare state. Thanks a bunch.

The problem, some feminists complain, is that after all the sturm and drang, the majority of women are not cooperating with their agenda by exploring their masculine side and igniting their aggression afterburners. Could it be that most women, after exploring the magical, mystical world of employment, really don’t find it all that, and decide that raising children is a higher priority for them? Of course, the leadership would not understand that, as childrearing appears to be for many of them, an ancillary activity.

In other words (gasp), are there actually differences between men and women?

In today’s economy, most women must work. This broad exposure to all segments of the workplace may produce some benefit. Women have discovered the baloney their men put up with every day to do what comes naturally to most men, i.e., assumption of the major financial responsibility for a family, and will be more sympathetic and supportive partners.

Remember the ANIMAL FARM movement? First, the leaders, who are actually pigs, draw a picture of heaven on earth, where all are equal and all walk on four legs. Second, the pigs demonize the two-legged and eliminate tradition and its icons. Third, the pigs motivate the mass of animals, who are less intelligent, to work themselves to death. Fourth, the masses realize that the pigs never miss a meal. Fifth, the four-legged pigs form alliances with the two-legged former masters. Sixth, the pigs begin to walk on two legs, making them indistinguishable from the masters. They have BECOME the masters.

Any contemporary parallels to this allegory about Stalin’s Soviet Union and the leadership of U.S. movements?

Before there was Hollywood, there was America. An America that faced any challenge, defied any odds, to “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” (U.S. Constitution).

The unexpected success of any film is news. The success of 300 in the U.S. coupled with a tepid response so far in Europe, raises questions.

Are moviegoers motivated by nostalgic yearning for a glorious past? Blood lust? A video game aesthetic? Or a deeply seated, dormant will to conquer that wakes anew in every challenged generation?

Some in the world see America as fat, lazy, corrupt, and ready to be toppled and picked clean. We give that impression, until seriously threatened.

Perhaps a line attributed to a Japanese admiral from the 1970 film TORA, TORA, TORA illustrates the point:  “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

Give us modern, scientific counseling, or give us Prozac! We the people deserve no less!

Why wait until a newborn goes home from the hospital to conduct its mental health evaluation and assign its label?

A Cell Psychologist can save the Post-Born’s caregivers that extra step of bringing baby back by his/her daily visit to the hospital nursery. “Looks like a paranoid schizophrenic to me,” she might say, peering in the bassinet. “And these two are definitely bipolar. In fact, there must be at least one or two additional bipolars; the guidelines say so.” Working her way through the Dictionary of Mental Disorders, she will not rest until each case is handled. Two didn’t quite fit into any category, so they will be called Normal, or Miscellaneous.

She mops her streaming brow, but her job is not yet done. Customized printouts of feeding, exercise, recreation, education, spiritual practice and medication regimens must be accepted and signed for by the respective caregivers. Each post-born must then be assigned a Life Coach who will conduct regular home visits as well as electronic surveillance to monitor the caregivers’ adherence to each specialized program. This is the only way to achieve maximum societal harmony.

One EMBMC (Egg Mother/Birth Mother Combo) seems disappointed with the tattoo on Output 1’s tiny forehead. “I really wanted a Passive Aggressive. They come with a better Accessory Package.” If she is dissatisfied, for the good of society and of the child, the Cell Psychologist will need to reassign the Post-Born to another caregiver. Perhaps a better match will be available for the EMBMC later. Come to think of it, her own profile suggests she would do better with A Borderline Personality Disorder.

The terms “marriage” and “family values” are now censored as hate speech for public employees in California based on their intimidation factor to some who are too tender and sensitive to tolerate diversity in the workplace. One Oakland city official expressed the view in an e-mail that “the Bible needs updating”.

I have a modest compromise proposal that should resolve all conflicts. Let’s have Congress make a list of ALL religions practiced in the United States, including atheism. All core religious writings will be scrutinized for all terms referring to human relationships. We will then enforce censorship of all such terms utilized by all religions.

The only problem: where are we going to detain all of those arrested? I recommend Guantanamo. It seems appropriate that we send these thought criminals to Cuba.

…or, the Re-education of a Dangerous Thought Criminal. Frodo in the tower under interrogation. Orc panel convenes.

The skinny on the subject: Short guy with bad case of overgrown hair on feet exhibits paranoid delusions. Mr. F believes that as the wearer of a magic ring not currently in his possession (humor the poor fellow- we’ve heard it’s plain gold) he is relentlessly pursued by a well-orchestrated team of bad guys in black robes seated on flying black steeds (you’ve got to be kidding). He also displays profound prejudice against the peace-loving Orc people, insisting on outmoded notions that they are stinky, vulgar, cowardly, and mean-spirited as well as cannibalistic murderers. He believes that their great leader, Mr. S, is the source of all evil in Middle Earth.

Mr. F has been deprived of all possessions, stripped naked and beaten to allow him to focus, not on the crass material things of the world, but on the spiritual aspects of the re-education program. They will begin with the classic chant, “Elves bad, Orcs good”. With careful treatment, Mr. F will eventually repudiate the charlatan Gandalf, his dangerous cult, and Aragorn the Usurper. He will embrace the benevolent Mr. S., who only wants to help him by locating and removing the ring, the objectified source of his delusions.

The Orc counselors are optimistic that with time, incarceration, and meds Mr. F will become a regular fellow who will be extremely useful to the Orc culture.

Observing that many of today’s parents are too busy with pole-dancing lessons (as performer or viewer) and other adult diversions to raise their children, nanny state advocates are quietly stepping forward to fill the gap. Too bad if it amounts to an extraordinary invasion of privacy and one more step toward an Orwellian future.

In a display of creeping statism that might make Solzhenitsyn shudder, the House Appropriations Committee passed a spending bill for the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health/Human Services and Education on June 13, 2006. The Committee ignored the President’s recommended cuts for mental health in education. According to EdWatch, these included Foundations for Learning Grants (infants and early childhood mental health) and Mental Health Integration in the schools.

One program, the State Early Childhood Comprehensive System (SECCS) dangles grants that steer states to universal mental health screening. For instance, at one time the South Dakota Plan referenced providing for the social, emotional, physical, and spiritual (my emphasis) needs of preschool children.

“Live Free or Die” (state motto of New Hampshire) has little relevance to a young person growing up in a state and nation that tagged him with a psychiatric disorder as a toddler. More than likely, he will never get the chance to do either unsupervised. What about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?