Comments | dexterjerome: See also: Fascism and education.

dexterjerome

mmm_citronique November 5 2004, 18:29:22 UTC

omg... that's just scary. the textbook thing.

i would love a cranky letter but i think it is probably my turn to write.

dexterjerome November 5 2004, 18:42:47 UTC

Any sentence with "marriage partners" would have to be changed to "husbands and wives" as proposed by two members of the State Board of Education. Total crap!

mmm_citronique November 5 2004, 21:07:56 UTC

that is just completely outrageous. especially in a country that boasts of freedom of speech and a separation between church and state, it is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS to censor textbooks based on what is and is not in accordance with fundamentalist religious values. the content should be determined by science (including social science) and not religion-based opinions. even beginning to go down that road is dangerous and is going to result in an ignorant and prejudiced population. :-(

oh and i realize now that of course you meant letters to the publishers and the dallas morning news, etc. :-)

dexterjerome November 6 2004, 12:18:30 UTC

I think they realize that children's minds are soft and malleable, and influencing kids' opinions now -- even through deceptively subtle textbook manipulations -- will form a prejudiced population within a short time.

I think it might be my turn to write you a letter, too, but I'll save the crankiness for publishers and newspaper editors! :)

comraderadmila November 5 2004, 18:32:28 UTC

Oh dear heavens!
Let the brainwashing begin.

dexterjerome November 5 2004, 18:46:09 UTC

The Board of Education members seem to have waited to the very last minute to make the proposals: the publishers have one day to consider the changes before the board passes the final vote on the textbooks... today. So obviously, there's no time to write to the publishers.

phyllisgabor November 5 2004, 19:23:05 UTC

These are scary times, that's for sure. I can never figure out why people are so afraid of gay folks--and seems like the most vocal homophobes have never known a gay person (one who's out, at least) in their life!

I think most of the nastiness aimed at poor Brit-Brit is class related. She gets under people's skin because she doesn't put on airs. She reminds me of an young American Charo, so I love her (even though I don't own any of her CDs--I'm waiting for them to turn up at Goodwill).

dexterjerome November 6 2004, 11:59:39 UTC

What was it Britney said? Oh yeah -- "I'm rich. Freakin' rich. It's crazy." I like your comparison of Britney to Charo -- maybe I should give her a chance after all. haha.

My aunt sent me this email (Fwd: How Old is Grandma?) where you're supposed to guess how old this fictional grandma is based on events that happened after her birth. So, grandma was born before ballpoint pens, air conditioners, computer dating, gay rights, electric typewriters, yogurt, and guys wearing earrings. "'Grass' was mowed and 'rock music' was your mother's lullaby." The answer: this person was born in 1946; and the email ends with, "How could so much go wrong in such a short time?"

What the hell? I don't have any clue how to respond to her crazy email, or if I'm supposed to answer at all!

phyllisgabor November 6 2004, 18:55:32 UTC

Oh, I hate stupid forwards like that--especially when they're full of self-righteous garbage. Are ballpoint pens and air conditoners supposed to be as AWFUL as gay rights? That doesn't even make any sense, even if you're terrified of those insidious marys!

I'm stuck at work on a beautiful Saturday, so following your example I used clip art and photos I cut out of old knitting magazines to make stationary. They turned out really cute--I can't wait to write someone a letter! Just imagine the look on a professor's face when they get a collection development memo on pink paper with high fashion models from the 60s plastered all over it. Pure magic!

dexterjerome November 6 2004, 19:39:21 UTC

I know! I kept wanting to find proof that the forward's claims are incorrect, but it's not even worth the effort. We are talking about my aunt and uncle who have a big screen TV and fancy DVD player, yet own only one DVD: 'Saving Private Ryan.' *grumble*

Old knitting magazines are great! for that purpose. Write me a letter on it! I wanna see.

Thread 7

That word again... madge_pastiche November 7 2004, 04:01:49 UTC

That's so depressing and scary. What the hell is wrong with people? But I've been wondering that all week...

And that aunt email sounds like a candidate for adopting the new technique I'm trying on this weird friend of mine who sends me unbelievably inane forwarded emails about love, laughter and life. They're usually just long and dumb, but occasionally they're really creepily insane. I don't want to offend her, but don't want to encourage her, either, so I'm seeing how long I can sustain sending one word replies. Usually with exclamation points. Cute! I say, or wow! Neat! I think wow! might be in order here, if anything. I can't figure out if gay rights is supposed to be bad because I can't imagine anyone having a beef with air conditioning, but then there's the earring thing...Jesus.

Re: That word again... dexterjerome November 7 2004, 17:50:27 UTC

I think your approach sounds pretty effective, and I might have to put the plan into action if the forwards continue to increase. Last week I got five!

Personally I love yogurt, ballpoint pens, and gay rights. I prefer manual typewriters to electric, but whatever. Air conditioning is nice, and computer dating has its good points. But oh well, there is no arguing with fundamentalists dead-set on going back to their roots.

Re: That word again... madge_pastiche November 8 2004, 11:55:38 UTC

Oh... I didn't get the fundamentalist thing. Maybe another kind of one- word reply? ( Damn! Weird! ) And FIVE forwards in one week? Cripes! I wouldn't mind people going back to their damned roots if they weren't so dead set on dragging everyone in the tree down with them. You can send her that as a quote. It's cute, and sounds folksy.

Re: That word again... dexterjerome November 8 2004, 19:27:49 UTC

Ah well. She's the only person I know who has thought to write a fan letter to Susan Lucci, so maybe I'll let the forwards pass for now. I might have to one-up her, though, and write a fan letter to Loni Anderson. Think I could get an autograph?

I'll be keeping your "back to their damned roots..." statement in mind -- I'm sure it'll come in handy! I dig it.

See also: Fascism and education.

Comments 17