CNN's Jason Carroll reports on the first day of testimony in the bullying trial of a Rutgers student.
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Post by: Jason Carroll Filed under: Crime & Punishment |
A journalist's video shows chilling images of destruction and suffering in Homs, Syria.
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Post by: Anderson Cooper Filed under: Keeping Them Honest • Syria |
Anderson Cooper talks with Anne-Marie Slaughter and Bob Baer about options for protecting civilians in Syria.
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Post by: Anderson Cooper Filed under: Syria |
Anderson looks at how being in the background can sometimes put you totally out front.
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Post by: Anderson Cooper Filed under: The RidicuList |
Dr. Drew explains the illness that may have caused some girls to experience uncontrollable tics in Le Roy, New York.
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Post by: Anderson Cooper Filed under: Dr. Drew Pinsky • Medical News |
Reporter's Note: I have written a letter to the president every single day since he was inaugurated. Now, that’s persistence.
Dear Mr. President,
The New York Times contained an interesting article this week about how the French have eliminated the term mademoiselle from federal government forms. Up until now, most official documents allowed people to check one of three boxes; monsieur, madame, or mademoiselle. Some women objected because they found something inherently unfair in requiring, or even suggesting, that young women should reveal whether they are married or not…which, the term mademoiselle does.
So with little or no fanfare, the term has vanished from the forms, and perhaps that is the first step toward it vanishing from the French lexicon.
I understand the complaint of the women who were bothered by the term, and I won’t raise any gripe against it. In part because I’m not French. And also because, even if I were, who would care?
Still, in an odd way, I hate to see all the mademoiselles go. I don’t speak much French, but it seems a pretty language in the mouths of others, and that particular word always struck me as elegant, lilting, and…well, respectful. Maybe it’s because I was a kid when I first heard it, and I was impressed with the idea of any young person, male or female, being given a title. Imagine that!
But like I said, clearly others heard something else in the word, and I shant go to “guerre” with them. After all, perhaps some new and wonderful word was created somewhere in the world this week which I have yet to learn, and which may one day delight me even as I miss the misses.
Regards,
Tom
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Filed under: Letters to the President • Opinion • President Barack Obama • T1 • Tom Foreman |
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