OPINION
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COLUMNS
Mouthing off to oral sex stereotypes
July 21, 2014Call me a traditionalist, but I don’t normally take sex advice from Greek life-inspired websites.
Opinion
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Americans should show more compassion to immigrant children
July 21, 2014“But Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.’” Matthew 19:14.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Is it possible to categorize the right?
July 21, 2014Because the political right is full of an interesting bunch of characters, many in the media struggle to properly identify and categorize its different ideological camps. The right is said to be made up of mainstream, business-friendly, Tea Party, libertarian, neoconservative, religious-minded or simply extremist groups.
OPINION
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Letter to the editor: Hobby Lobby decision
July 16, 2014Let’s not be distracted by the hype. At the heart of the recent Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision, the issue was solely about power. The majority decision, delivered by Justice Samuel Alito, and even the oral arguments from Hobby Lobby, instead tried to cloak the corporation’s discriminatory, anti-woman, anti-family practice of denying to cover certain birth control methods under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. Since corporations are currently granted “personhood” under the law, the rights of corporations now officially seem to outweigh those of women.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Israel should not be criticized for defending itself
July 16, 2014Tuesday’s Alligator column voiced misconceptions regarding the situation between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. The real problem is not Israel, but Hamas.
OPINION
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DARTS LAURELS
Darts & Laurels 7/17/14
July 16, 2014We hate to start Darts & Laurels off on a bad note, but animal cruelty is something this editorial board passionately stands against. Two Clay County girls are being investigated by Florida law enforcement officers after they posted a video of themselves burning a Gopher tortoise and torturing it to death. The Gopher tortoise, which is an endangered species in Florida, was lit on fire several times as the girls filmed it and said things like: “Burn baby, burn baby,” and “Now you’re scared of us, huh?” The girls also repeatedly threw it against the concrete and stomped on it, crushing its shell.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Florida and Georgia’s commonality: Lousy governors
July 16, 2014Florida and Georgia are rivals on a sizable scale. The annual football game between UF and the University of Georgia in Jacksonville can resemble preparations for a large war between two enemies, but it seems that the two rivals have more in common than we think.
OPINION
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EDITORIALS
University of Miami sells forest land, soul to Wal-Mart
July 14, 2014It’s easy to forget, what with daily strange Gawker headlines and a certain highly anticipated magical theme park opening, that Florida wildlife is in danger. From rising sea levels threatening the southern coast to black bears ransacking neighborhood trash as a result of overdevelopment to Big Oil drilling in the Everglades, Florida’s natural resources are under attack.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
How to do the walk of shame — minus the shame
July 14, 2014It’s 8:37 a.m. when you wake up and look around, thinking, “Wait, that Southern Tide poster isn’t mine. Whose room is this?”
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Republicans can’t ignore Palin and D’Souza’s siren song
July 14, 2014In “The Odyssey,” Odysseus must avoid the mythical sirens who lure sailors to their doom on the rocky shoreline of their island. Though the songstresses are enticing, Odysseus and his crew, with the assistance of some beeswax with which they filled their ears, force themselves to ignore the dangerous distraction in order to preserve their best interest.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Speaking out against Israeli attacks
July 14, 2014The situation in Palestine that has taken place over the past four weeks has brought us to speak out against the unjust collective punishment being levied on the Palestinians by the state of Israel.
OPINION
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DARTS LAURELS
Darts & Laurels 7/9/14
July 9, 2014If you’re reading this, congratulations: You haven’t been struck by lightning! But then again, the summer is young, and many more sudden thunderstorms are waiting to ruin your shoes/hair/day.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Truck drivers need a chimney sweep
July 9, 2014A bizarre and nearly inexplicable trend is spreading across the country, and it’s destined to deal a blow to progressives and environmentalists throughout the U.S. It’s known as rolling coal, and it might the dumbest protest movement in the history of our great nation.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Drivers: Share the road with cyclists — it’s the law
July 7, 2014On June 29, an older man in a red Jeep laid on his horn behind a Jimmy John’s bicycle deliverer on University Avenue.
OPINION
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EDITORIALS
Texting while driving is a social problem
July 7, 2014In 2006, Florida voters showed overwhelming support for Article X, a state constitutional amendment that granted funding for a comprehensive tobacco education and prevention program. Article X would later birth Tobacco Free Florida, a hugely successful anti-tobacco campaign whose ads continue to make us cringe. If you haven’t seen the TV spots or billboards, the campaign uses graphic imagery — a girl drinking a beaker of formaldehyde, another girl peeling the skin from her cheek as payment for a pack of cigarettes and testimonials from cancer-stricken adults who were lifelong smokers — to drive home the message that a small action like smoking can harm yourself and others.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
NSA needs overhaul, culpability check
July 7, 2014Two months ago, PBS’s “Frontline” chronicled the conception of the National Security Agency and how the institution continues to affect our daily lives in a must-see documentary called “United States of Secrets.” While watching this special, one automatically envisions the Orwellian future illustrated in “1984.”
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Language, power and the politics of gay slurs
July 7, 2014Words have power. This power is the reason “f**k” needs to be censored. It’s the reason being called a “whore” hurts. It’s why phrases like “That’s so gay,” and “Don’t be such a f****t,” are offensive.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Suing Obama: Symptom of DC insanity
July 2, 2014In an effort to save American democracy from the evil tyrant, “King Obama the First,” Speaker of the House John Boehner revealed that he plans to sue the president for overstepping his constitutional authority.
OPINION
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DARTS LAURELS
Darts & Laurels 7/3/14
July 2, 2014It’s Summer B 2014, and freshmen desperation is in the air: You can find them moving in herds of 50 across Midtown, clogging the Starbucks on campus and wearing head-to-toe orange and blue. This isn’t a dig, though, class of 2018. We were in your (brand-new) shoes at one point, and we’re imparting some wisdom to you: Nobody is too cool for an umbrella. Carry an umbrella. And call your mom once a while.
OPINION
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EDITORIALS
Hobby Lobby case filled with hypocrisy
June 30, 2014Christian conservatives call the Supreme Court ruling granting three family-owned businesses the right to refuse to pay for certain forms of contraception for their employees based on their beliefs a victory for religious freedom.
