The ceasefire did not last long. Even as political leaders made noises about uniting a divided nation, America's "values warriors" lost no time in heading back to the front line of the culture wars.
Last week it was the familiar battleground of sex in the entertainment media. At the forefront was the runaway success of "Desperate Housewives," a sexy drama about four suburban women. The show's launch was the biggest ratings hit since "Friends" started in 1994.
The drama has upset a conservative lobby group, the American Family Association, which has rallied tens of thousands of supporters to bombard with protests the firms that advertise during the show. So far five companies, including Kelloggs, have withdrawn their ads, a trend that is expected to continue.
Emboldened by the re-election of President George W. Bush, the group is stepping up its policing of the airwaves. "The election has awakened a sleeping giant," said AFA president Tim Wildmon.
America is also braced for major protests over the release of "Kinsey," a film starring Liam Neeson about the pioneering sex researcher credited by many with starting the sexual revolution.
To some Alfred Kinsey is a hero, but one conservative group has likened him to a Nazi. "Instead of being lionized, Kinsey's proper place is with Nazi Dr. Josef Mengele or your average Hollywood horror-flick mad scientist," said Robert Knight, director of the Concerned Women of America's Culture and Family Institute.cast earlier this year.
MONEY MATTERS: Xi was to highlight projects such as a new high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest, as Serbia is entirely open to Chinese trade and investment Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic yesterday said that “Taiwan is China” as he made a speech welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Belgrade, state broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) said. “We have a clear and simple position regarding Chinese territorial integrity,” he told a crowd outside the government offices while Xi applauded him. “Yes, Taiwan is China.” Xi landed in Belgrade on Tuesday night on the second leg of his European tour, and was greeted by Vucic and most government ministers. Xi had just completed a two-day trip to France, where he held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as the
With the midday sun blazing, an experimental orange and white F-16 fighter jet launched with a familiar roar that is a hallmark of US airpower, but the aerial combat that followed was unlike any other: This F-16 was controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), not a human pilot, and riding in the front seat was US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall. AI marks one of the biggest advances in military aviation since the introduction of stealth in the early 1990s, and the US Air Force has aggressively leaned in. Even though the technology is not fully developed, the service is planning
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