CENSORING A PICTURE’S THOUSAND WORDS: Colleges are not dealing well with the fact that everyone has a camera and the ability to share photos. Especially when the photo involves a legal firearm, but that’s hardly the only time…

“DOING THE INNER WORK OF ANTI-RACISM“: Teaching about anti-racism in a state university Intro to Communications class is one thing. Telling students they have to do “inner work” on their beliefs as college classwork sounds a lot more like thought reform than education. Maybe this isn’t what it looks like, but if you can’t make a grammar school kid say the Pledge of Allegiance during World War II, there’s no way a professor can mandate psychological therapy for his or her adult students.

THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES AND INDEPENDENT THOUGHT: FIRE’s latest video sneaks some psychological science into a cartoon, so that everyone can understand a fable that’s badly needed in these days when our own emperors are so naked. My 9 and 11 year olds liked and mostly got it – it’s a good one to share with your kids and grandkids.

OK, IT’S PROBABLY TIME TO PANIC. Some European maniacs have decided to design a font that automatically censors your speech by replacing politically incorrect words with their approved newspeak, because there’s absolutely no way that could blow up in everyone’s face. You can try it on their website – they even give you “permission” to say naughty things, saying “this one time, it’s OK.” Oh, thank you so much, my liege. Do these people have no self-awareness at all?

Finland, your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could they didn’t stop to think if they should!

WESTERN CAROLINA U. AND THE CANCEL CULTURE SCRIPT: The story of how Western Carolina threw 5 students to the social media mob is such a perfect distillation of how cancel culture works that it’s practically the Platonic ideal of cancel culture. So I’m dissecting it, piece by piece. This is part 2 of an ongoing series – part 1 is here (and linked in the article).

SOMEONE SHOULD PUT SOME MONEY INTO THIS: It’s time to start a new university. Seriously, campuses can be had right now, cheap!

‘SAVING HIGHER ED FROM CANCEL CULTURE‘: Tomorrow night at 8 p.m. Eastern, please join Legal Insurrection‘s Prof. Bill Jacobson of Cornell, DePaul Prof. Jason Hill, Princeton Prof. Joshua Katz, and me for a live, free discussion on cancel culture and higher ed, with opportunities for questions from the audience – register here. Should be a great one, as all three of them are cancel culture “survivors.” (Not me – nobody has been dumb enough to try to cancel a FIRE employee recently.)

STUDENT CLEARED OF CHARGES FOR HAVING ZOOM BACKGROUND OF PRESIDENT TRUMP: Proving again that students can win these battles, but they have to be willing to fight. (And another headline for Glenn’s “Crazy Years” scrapbook.)

U. OF CENTRAL FLORIDA GOES MEDIEVAL ON PROFESSOR: Holding a 9-hour, 2-part inquisition into a professor’s in-class speech, complete with anonymous and ill-defined accusations, because of the below tweet.

HAPPY TITLE IX DAY! Words I thought I would never write, but it is good news in Title IX-land today, as the new federal regulations, which protect free speech and due process for students, go into effect.

SWING AND A MISS: NY federal court rejects New York State and City’s effort to stop new Title IX free speech and due process protections in their tracks by denying a preliminary injunction. But opponents have filed 4 lawsuits (2 of them with your money), so we’re not out of the woods yet. The new protections go into effect Friday if courts don’t stop them.

STUDENT FACES FINE, SUSPENSION FOR ZOOM BACKGROUND OF PRESIDENT TRUMP: He may also have to take a “social justice workshop” if Stockton U. finds him guilty. Man, I miss the days when college admins and other “elites” actually made an effort to disguise their contempt for others.

U. OF NORTH TEXAS’ WEIRDO SCHENKERIAN MUSIC THEORY INQUISITION: Yeah, you read that right. Now an official FIRE case! Did you think “cancel culture” was out of control? Well, prepare to have your preconceived notions totally confirmed.

PROFESSOR MIKE ADAMS WAS MY FRIEND: He was also a fighter for free speech and due process on campus, who was persecuted in his lifetime and, after being driven to take his own life, was mocked and cursed after his death. He deserved better — we all do. But that won’t happen until we treat people as people instead of as instruments for our own agendas. This will take a general awakening, and I can only pray it happens soon.

PUTTING THE TOTAL IN TOTALITARIANISM: Nothing escapes the Sauronic eye of the cancellation squad, which is now after U. of North Texas professor Timothy Jackson for writing an article in the music theory Journal of Schenkerian Studies that was skeptical of a fellow prof’s allegation that there is a “‘white racial frame’ in music theory that is structural and institutionalized.” And like clockwork, Dean John W. Richmond of UNT’s College of Music has announced an investigation into Jackson.

IS ANYONE THESE DAYS NOT A LIMITED-PURPOSE PUBLIC FIGURE? I may lose my First Amendment lawyer card for this, but Glenn’s earlier post about the Joy Reid lawsuit brings up a huge problem with libel law in the Internet age: the famous person you sue for libeling you on Twitter is effectively the one who makes you a public figure, and therefore gets to make winning a suit against them almost impossible (at least, if you can’t afford a hugely expensive trip to federal appeals court, and maybe not then). If people think a free press means the press gets to destroy random Americans with impunity, why wouldn’t they stop supporting it?

Update: I managed to confuse people here. The district court found that she was a limited purpose public figure; this article was about the Second Circuit reversing that finding, hence my comment about the expensive trip to appeals court. Sorry I was not clearer!

(SLAPS PRINTER) THIS BABY CAN PRINT 8 UNTRACEABLE AR-47 ASSAULT PISTOLS IN 8 HOURS: Sure, it’s a stock illustration the Daily Star used for an article, but still… If only my CR-10 could do this! (I suspect a lot of media folks think it can.)

PENN STATE TELLS CONSERVATIVE STUDENTS THEY ARE WELCOME; IMMEDIATELY REGRETS IT AND DELETES TWEET. How long can universities survive while actively insulting half the population? We’re very close to finding out.

HARVARD ENDS BLACKLIST POLICY AGAINST MEMBERS OF SINGLE-SEX ORGS: No, it didn’t have a change of heart and decide that McCarthyism isn’t OK when Harvard does it. But after the Bostock decision, Harvard’s claims not to have discriminated went from likely loser to sure loser. The biggest losers from this decision, though, are former Harvard President Drew Faust and current Dean of Harvard College Rakesh Khurana, the architects of the policy, both of whom are a testament to what happens when you control infinite money and have no accountability.

FIRE, SPEECH FIRST, INDEPENDENT WOMEN’S LAW CENTER RIDE TO DEFENSE OF FREE SPEECH, TITLE IX REFORM: The ACLU, unfortunately, is the opposing side.

CAMPUSES CENSORING SPEECH ABOUT GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS, AFTERMATH: Predictable as the tides. Temple, for instance, flat-out says “Students who share messages of hate will be reported for disciplinary action.” Sorry, no.

ACLU SUES TO OVERTURN DUE PROCESS PROTECTIONS FOR THE ACCUSED: Headlines I hoped I would never have to write, but feared I would.

SQUARING THE CIRCLE ON THE HOUSE GOP’S DEFENSE OF THE FBI: Tucker Carlson’s pointed questioning of Trey Gowdy last night has a lot of people asking why he and others defended the FBI and intelligence agencies when it now appears they knew there was no “there” there with regard to collusion, Gen. Flynn, etc., suggesting that they were secretly happy to get rid of President Trump. I suggest that, in light of the unaccountable powers these agencies wield now, the historical abuses in which such secret agencies around the world have traditionally engaged, and Sen. Schumer’s famous remark that “you take on the intelligence community — they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you,” we can’t rule out the possibility that some members of Congress didn’t feel like they had a choice.

HOW COLLEGES GET RID OF CONSERVATIVE ADMINS: Honestly, you’d think they would make sure they could keep a few token right-leaning folks around, for appearance’s sake. That’s just good politics!

AFTER BIDEN ACCUSATION, A LESSON IN DUE PROCESS. Accusations tend to have that effect on people.