"I was born to give the white man hell, and I will give him hell from the cradle to the grave." --Khalid Abdul Muhammad, leader of the New Black Panther Party, in a 1995 address.

"Khalid Muhammad will be remembered for his anti-Semitism, racism, bigotry and hate-mongering. This is his legacy." --Myrna Shinbaum, spokeswoman for the Anti-Defamation League.

Source: Associated Press

Fringe benefits

Starting July 1, San Francisco city employees will get their sex changes paid for, up to $50,000. Some argue that the operations are merely cosmetic. Not so, says city Supervisor Mark Leno.

"This is a medically diagnosed condition--gender identity disorder," Leno says. "One does not enter into this cavalierly."

Sources: Reuters, Associated Press

Sign of The Times?

1995: There were fifty-seven racial epithets that consisted of the word "nigger" published in The New York Times.

1985: There were thirty.

Source: The Harper's Index Book, Volume 30

In France, the year of the woman

Under a new law, half of all candidates for French municipal offices must be women. The government expects the law to greatly increase the numbers of women candidates in the upcoming March elections--political parties who don't abide by it will lose funding.

Last year, women held only 8.7 percent of the seats in France's national legislature--the worst showing among fifteen countries in a European Commission report. Sweden topped the list with 45 percent; Denmark and Finland followed with 37 percent each.

How does the United States fare? About 14 percent.

Source: DiversityInc.com, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate

This is a free republic

What is FreeRepublic.com?

A: An Internet site where you can make a bid on the United States.

B: An Internet site that features jokes about killing former President Clinton.

C: An ironic message on a sign held up by a panhandling man seen in New York.

Put your mouse here for the answer.

Source: Associated Press

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The Harper's Index Book
Edited by Charis Conn and Lewis H. Lapham
Franklin Square Press, 2000
Purchase this book through Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.com

Sex change on a subsidy

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