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All in bad taste and worse timing
May. 14th, 2007 03:45 pmIn high school, I participated in Model United Nations. We had the opportunity to represent China, and I was on the Security Council (we had delegates for each committee).
We were meeting in a room that was near the parking lot. It was a hot day in northern California, the school where our meeting took place. All of a sudden, we heard tires squealing outside. Three men in Palestinian kafias rushed in with handguns and grabbed the Israeli delegate, who was set to give a speech about the state of relations with the palestinians.
Several of the delegates ducked under the tables. I stood there, frozen. That's when I found out that I am a "deer in the headlights" kind of girl: I just sort of stand there with my mouth gaping open while people are doing dangerous things in front of my nose.
The police were called in. I turned out that the whole thing had been staged my the Israeli delegation. Were they ever in trouble!!!! Even though it was a prank, no one was hurt, and the guns were not real, they were prosecuted and had to pay fines. It was very traumatic for some of the students.
What was a bad idea for some high school students was an even worse idea for some elementary school staff in Tennessee. Huffington Post carried an AP story about a "learning experience" cooked up by the staff of Scales Elementary School while on a week-long outing. They told 69 sixth graders that there was a gunman on the loose and that it was not a drill. They even had a teacher in a hooded sweatshirt try the locked door as the children cowered under the tables.
The parents of traumatized youngsters want to know why this was done so recently after the tragedy at Virginia Tech.
What happened in my youth was before Columbine, and the kids involved were prosecuted. The school officials are uncertain as to whether they will even discipline the teachers. Personally, I'd be more certain. Someone should be fired.
We were meeting in a room that was near the parking lot. It was a hot day in northern California, the school where our meeting took place. All of a sudden, we heard tires squealing outside. Three men in Palestinian kafias rushed in with handguns and grabbed the Israeli delegate, who was set to give a speech about the state of relations with the palestinians.
Several of the delegates ducked under the tables. I stood there, frozen. That's when I found out that I am a "deer in the headlights" kind of girl: I just sort of stand there with my mouth gaping open while people are doing dangerous things in front of my nose.
The police were called in. I turned out that the whole thing had been staged my the Israeli delegation. Were they ever in trouble!!!! Even though it was a prank, no one was hurt, and the guns were not real, they were prosecuted and had to pay fines. It was very traumatic for some of the students.
What was a bad idea for some high school students was an even worse idea for some elementary school staff in Tennessee. Huffington Post carried an AP story about a "learning experience" cooked up by the staff of Scales Elementary School while on a week-long outing. They told 69 sixth graders that there was a gunman on the loose and that it was not a drill. They even had a teacher in a hooded sweatshirt try the locked door as the children cowered under the tables.
The parents of traumatized youngsters want to know why this was done so recently after the tragedy at Virginia Tech.
What happened in my youth was before Columbine, and the kids involved were prosecuted. The school officials are uncertain as to whether they will even discipline the teachers. Personally, I'd be more certain. Someone should be fired.
Pikachu, We Don't Choose You
Apr. 14th, 2007 10:52 amDear Kansas Board of Education,
Kudos to you for seeing through the hype and alerting us to the dangers of the Pokemon video game. It is heartening to note your diligent efforts to prevent our young people from being exposed to any version of the dreaded evolutionary theory. The fact that these are cartoon monsters in a video game should have no bearing at all on your decision to search children daily for evidence they are carrying these subversive games and trading cards. Suspension and expulsion for the crime of carrying these anti-Christian materials seems too slight a punishment. Have you considered crucifixion of offenders?
I am somewhat disappointed that there has been no hue and cry over offensive Bugs Bunny cartoons, long known to promote the homosexual agenda. A naked male rabbit who kisses the hunter Elmer Fudd and is known to cross-dress on occasion is a blatant attempt by Hollywood liberals to blind children to the horrors and sin of homosexuality.
Children should be encouraged to engage in more wholesome activities, such as playing the Left Behind video game, where they can blow up and shoot their unbelieving neighbors, as it should be.
Sincerely,
Kitty
ETA Sometimes I do mess up. The original article was a joke. I can rest assured, however, that I was not the only one fooled. A number of games magazines hasve picked it up and I found it on Crooks and Liars.
Kudos to you for seeing through the hype and alerting us to the dangers of the Pokemon video game. It is heartening to note your diligent efforts to prevent our young people from being exposed to any version of the dreaded evolutionary theory. The fact that these are cartoon monsters in a video game should have no bearing at all on your decision to search children daily for evidence they are carrying these subversive games and trading cards. Suspension and expulsion for the crime of carrying these anti-Christian materials seems too slight a punishment. Have you considered crucifixion of offenders?
I am somewhat disappointed that there has been no hue and cry over offensive Bugs Bunny cartoons, long known to promote the homosexual agenda. A naked male rabbit who kisses the hunter Elmer Fudd and is known to cross-dress on occasion is a blatant attempt by Hollywood liberals to blind children to the horrors and sin of homosexuality.
Children should be encouraged to engage in more wholesome activities, such as playing the Left Behind video game, where they can blow up and shoot their unbelieving neighbors, as it should be.
Sincerely,
Kitty
ETA Sometimes I do mess up. The original article was a joke. I can rest assured, however, that I was not the only one fooled. A number of games magazines hasve picked it up and I found it on Crooks and Liars.
Noisemakers
Apr. 12th, 2007 11:47 pmToday's Baby Blues, a comic by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott, struck me as particularly apropos today. SInce I cannot find a link anywhere, you'll have to settle for a description. Mom is sitting on the couch reading a magazine with her young son beside her. He's making a noise like a coyote. In the next panel, she asks, "Would you do me a favor and stop making that annoying noise." The boy says okay. We see him think for a moment, then ask, "What sort of annoying noise would you like me to make?"
Some days I just cannot believe that it is 2007, or even 2000 anything, for that matter.
First, we have the case of Robert Daniels, a 27 year old man sitting in solitary confinement in a jail cell, a light burning both day and night. He is not allowed to take a shower, but must take sponge baths. It is not known if he will ever be able to get out. What was his crime? He didn't commit one. Daniels has a drug resistant form of TB, of XDR-TB, that is considered untreatable. He has been confined for the sake of public safety.
According to an MSNBC article, Daniels was confined as the result of a court order because he failed to follow doctors orders and wear a mask in public. Daniels argues that he did not fully understand the doctor's orders, and that no one explained the consequences of not wearing the mask.
One wonders why they cannot even find a shower the man can use. Because of national news coverage, his television and cell phone have been returned to him this week after guard seized the items in February, saying he should be treated like other prisoners. He has a hearing on April 19th regarding his confinement.
Women in civil service jobs in India are incensed that a new mandatory government health appraisal form contains detailed questions about their menstrual history.
According to BBC News, a federal official said he assumed the questions "will help evaluate the officer's fitness." The form, which comes into effect in March of next year, asks for a detailed menstrual history as well as the dates of the woman's last period and last maternity leave.
Once again, a completely normal function of female anatomy is being treated as a disease. This seems like a giant step backward for women's rights. Kudos to the women who are fighting this nonsense.
And last, but not least, I bring you a bit of good news the latest salvo in the war for a woman's right to govern her own body. The Seattle Times reports that: In a unanimous vote, the state Board of Pharmacy ruled that drug stores have a duty to fill lawful prescriptions, regardless of an individual pharmacist's personal objections to any particular medication.
This ruling was made in response to objections by some pharmacists to selling Plan B, the so-called "morning-after pill". A pharmacist may ask that another pharmacist fill the prescription, but only if the patient is able to obtain her prescription in the same pharmacy visit. It reverses a previous ruling that allowed pharmacists to deny some prescriptions for "personal reasons".
Pharmacists attend a rigorous 4 year course of study to obtain a license, and their coursework covers human anatomy and drug actions. My question is why, then, do some of them believe that Plan B causes an abortion? Plan B does not allow the egg to be implanted in the first place. There is no abortion involved! By their reasoning, any woman who has sex outside of the time she is fertile or has a menstrual cycle is having an abortion.
What this debate is really about is whether women should have any sort of birth control. I'm willing to bet that the same pharmacists who object to dispensing Plan B also object to any other sort of birth control. This is not a free speech issue. It's a medical issue. The pharmacist does not know the reasons the patient wants or needs the drug. There are dozens of reasons that women do not want to get pregnant, and some of them are life-threatening. The pharmacist needs to do his or her job - which is to dispense drugs, not misguided and unscientific morality.
The common thread in each one of these cases is communication. The situation came to the attention of the media, and media is bringing pressure on the authorities to fix problems.
So, what kind of annoying noise would you like us to make?
ETA According to a BBC report, the controversial page of menstruation questions has been dropped by the Indian government.
Some days I just cannot believe that it is 2007, or even 2000 anything, for that matter.
First, we have the case of Robert Daniels, a 27 year old man sitting in solitary confinement in a jail cell, a light burning both day and night. He is not allowed to take a shower, but must take sponge baths. It is not known if he will ever be able to get out. What was his crime? He didn't commit one. Daniels has a drug resistant form of TB, of XDR-TB, that is considered untreatable. He has been confined for the sake of public safety.
According to an MSNBC article, Daniels was confined as the result of a court order because he failed to follow doctors orders and wear a mask in public. Daniels argues that he did not fully understand the doctor's orders, and that no one explained the consequences of not wearing the mask.
One wonders why they cannot even find a shower the man can use. Because of national news coverage, his television and cell phone have been returned to him this week after guard seized the items in February, saying he should be treated like other prisoners. He has a hearing on April 19th regarding his confinement.
Women in civil service jobs in India are incensed that a new mandatory government health appraisal form contains detailed questions about their menstrual history.
According to BBC News, a federal official said he assumed the questions "will help evaluate the officer's fitness." The form, which comes into effect in March of next year, asks for a detailed menstrual history as well as the dates of the woman's last period and last maternity leave.
Once again, a completely normal function of female anatomy is being treated as a disease. This seems like a giant step backward for women's rights. Kudos to the women who are fighting this nonsense.
And last, but not least, I bring you a bit of good news the latest salvo in the war for a woman's right to govern her own body. The Seattle Times reports that: In a unanimous vote, the state Board of Pharmacy ruled that drug stores have a duty to fill lawful prescriptions, regardless of an individual pharmacist's personal objections to any particular medication.
This ruling was made in response to objections by some pharmacists to selling Plan B, the so-called "morning-after pill". A pharmacist may ask that another pharmacist fill the prescription, but only if the patient is able to obtain her prescription in the same pharmacy visit. It reverses a previous ruling that allowed pharmacists to deny some prescriptions for "personal reasons".
Pharmacists attend a rigorous 4 year course of study to obtain a license, and their coursework covers human anatomy and drug actions. My question is why, then, do some of them believe that Plan B causes an abortion? Plan B does not allow the egg to be implanted in the first place. There is no abortion involved! By their reasoning, any woman who has sex outside of the time she is fertile or has a menstrual cycle is having an abortion.
What this debate is really about is whether women should have any sort of birth control. I'm willing to bet that the same pharmacists who object to dispensing Plan B also object to any other sort of birth control. This is not a free speech issue. It's a medical issue. The pharmacist does not know the reasons the patient wants or needs the drug. There are dozens of reasons that women do not want to get pregnant, and some of them are life-threatening. The pharmacist needs to do his or her job - which is to dispense drugs, not misguided and unscientific morality.
The common thread in each one of these cases is communication. The situation came to the attention of the media, and media is bringing pressure on the authorities to fix problems.
So, what kind of annoying noise would you like us to make?
ETA According to a BBC report, the controversial page of menstruation questions has been dropped by the Indian government.
