The decision of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) to take on an academic freedom case at Bellevue Community College in Washington is welcome news. A byproduct is to publicize the many abuses inflicted by the college's program of mandatory diversity training.

As already discussed here, the college has signed a contract with Glenn Singleton's firm, Pacific Educational Group, which typically receives six figures for its"diversity training" services. Part of the deal is a requirement that faculty attend"Courageous Conservations" seminars on racism.

In addition to ensuring a captive audience to hear Singleton's peculiar interpretation of Huckleberry Finn, these seminars invite comparisons to the methods used during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. For example, participants in"Courageous Conversations" typically have to humiliate themselves by wearing signs showing numerical scores that reveal the extent of their alleged racism.

Hopefully, the new publicity will lead the faculty at Bellevue Community College to finally say enough is enough and tell Singleton and his associates to pack up and go home.

It may be well past"time" in a moral sense but will it actually happen? I am dubious. Much as the Bush administration richly deserves a black eye for its statist sins, I suspect that the GOP will hold its own in November.

The first signs of a Republican rebound are all around. Oil prices seem likely to fall even more and Bush could well contain the mess in Iraq for a few more months because of his deployment of additional troops (now about 145,000!).

The American Indian Library Association (AILA), an affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA), is pleased to announce the first recipients of its American Indian Youth Literature Award. This new literary award was created as a way to identify and honor the very best writing and illustrations by and about American Indians. Books selected to receive the award present Native Americans in the fullness of their humanity in the present and past contexts.

The award is presented in each of three categories-picture book, middle school, and young adult-and each winner receives $500 and a commemorative plaque, which will be presented during the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color’s (JCLC) Children’s Luncheon program in Dallas on October 13 at noon.

"We are thrilled to have this opportunity to honor authors and illustrators who best portray Native American culture for young readers," said Victor Schill, co-chair, AILA American Indian Youth Literature Award committee."The rich literary heritage of this nation includes the oral and printed stories of its indigenous peoples. American Indian literature always has been and continues to be an integral part of our literary tapestry."

Beaver Steals Fire: A Salish Coyote Story, by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, illustrated by Sam Sandoval, and published by the University of Nebraska Press is the winner for the picture book category. Accompanied by rich watercolor illustrations, the text relates a culturally vital tale from the Salish people of Montana about the significance of the gift of fire and how it should be respected.

Louise Erdrich is the winner of the middle-school award for The Birchbark House, published by Hyperion Books for Children. Setting her book in the middle 19th century, Erdrich paints a detailed portrait of Ojibwa life through the experiences of 7-year-old Omakayas who lives on the Island of the Golden Breasted Woodpecker on Lake Superior. The Birchbark House was Erdrich’s first novel for young readers, and the first book she has illustrated. She is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwa and lives with her two daughters in Minnesota.

The young adult award is Hidden Roots, written by Joseph Bruchac and published by Scholastic Press. The book is set within the historical framework of the Vermont Eugenics Program, a Native American sterilization program in the 1930s, and tells the story of the haunting effects of this shameful and tragic deed on one of the Abenaki families victimized by it. Author of more than 70 books for adults and children, Bruchac is of Abenaki ancestry and is a nationally recognized professional storyteller living in Greenfield Center, New York.

To register to attend the presentation of the American Indian Youth Literature Award, please visit the JCLC Web site at www.ala.org/jclc . Advance registration for the JCLC ends September 8, 2006.

In the near future an American Indian Youth Literature Award free downloadable bookmark and brochure will be made available on the AILA Web site at www.nativeculturelinks.com/aila.html .

Members of the American Indian Youth Literature Award are: Naomi Caldwell, co-chair, GSLIS, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, R.I.; Victor L. Schill, co-chair, Harris County Public Library, Houston; Carlene Engstrom, D’Arcy McNickle Library, Salish Kootenai College, Pablo, Mont.; and Gabriella Kaye, Mashantucket, Pequot Museum & Research Center, Mashantucket, Conn.

Later we read:

Just as black leaders have disagreed about whether to work with the company because of what critics call miserly pay and benefits, not all gay and lesbian groups believe the alliance is positive.

"Our community is a smart community, and we can see a shameless marketing opportunity when it comes," said Jeremy Bishop, program director of Pride at Work, a group within the AFL-CIO that represents gay and lesbian workers.

"For us it's a matter of social and economic justice, and Wal-Mart has a long record of not treating its employees — gay or straight — with equity and dignity."

When government began controlling narcotics nearly 90 years ago, it assured Americans it would never interfere with the practice of medicine.

Chalk up another in a long series of lies by the state. In theory government serves the people. In practice it does something else entirely.

The crusade to determine what drugs we can and cannot use, and under what conditions, couldn't help but affect medical practice. Someone who wanted a drug controlled by the state had two ways to obtain it: he could go into the black market or go to a doctor. If the drug-enforcement agencies weren’t prepared to watch the doctors, how effective could the anti-drug policy be? So as time went on, they did watch the doctors -- and prosecuted them, ruining careers and sending some to jail in the process.