Sanitizing literature for your comfort...

From the "is nothing sacred" dept:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=68&e=1&cid=68&u=/nyt/20020602/ts_nyt/the_elderly_man_and_the_sea__test_sanitizes_literary_texts

(sorry for that long url... was it Carl Lumma that used a url service, and could he point that out, or anyone else?)

Cheers,
Jon

Jon,

Thanks for that link on how the NY board of education alters
works of literature, removing all references to culture or
wine in order to be more 'sensitive'.

It's not surprising and I doubt it is limited either to New
York, or to the field of literature. For example, the
'physics' taught in secondary school is dumbed down so 'the
little people can understand', teaching nonsense about how
little spherical electron 'particles' are in little perfectly
round orbits around a cluster of little spherical proton and
neutrons 'just like the earth goes around the sun!" Of course
this model is no more correct that saying the universe was
born on the back of a giant turtle and does not belong in any
so-called "science" textbook. Like, gag me!

Edukationatories have just become propaganda mills. It's
practically child abuse to subject one's kids to state run
educaganda unless one really has no choice.

Was glad to see that the little people (us ordinary folks) had
'little regard' for the tests even before this was found out.
These government folks think they are pulling the wool over
everyone's eyes but we are not so easily fooled by their
nonsense, nor will we ever be.

- Jeff

--
"Who are these people who think they have a right to `tidy up'
my prose? The New York State Political Police? The Correct
Theme Authority?" -- Frank Conroy
"[T]he scandalous practice of censoring literary texts,
ostensibly in the interest of our students ... is dishonest.
It is dangerous. It is an embarrassment. It is the practice of
fools." -- Cathy Popkin
"What could be the purpose of an exercise testing students on
such a lacerated passage one which, finally, is neither mine
nor true to my lived experience?" -- Annie Dillard

>(sorry for that long url... was it Carl Lumma that used a url
>service, and could he point that out, or anyone else?)

yes, makeashorterlink.com is tha bomb. pass it on!

-Carl

--- In metatuning@y..., "clumma" <clumma@y...> wrote:
> yes, makeashorterlink.com is tha bomb. pass it on!

Yo, Carl, thanks! Geez, with a name like that you'd think I could remember it, huh? I've got it bookmarked in the browser *and* the brain now...

TIA (Thanks in Arrears),
Jon