sorry...

i fell asleep before i had the chance to put these up...
no story, you get to make up your own...






just another interesting road trip with the wise and wonderful Bob...

as promised...

here's the photos of the trip to the Giants Draft Day Party with the
wise and wonderful Bob..

and later tonight, some very interesting pictures for your amusement....

later...

it just never stops...

Looks like this insanity will be a good bone to chew on for a while...
I lifted this off Tounge Tied this morning. You can visit there to read this and further insanity by
clicking on the link in my left hand banner.
I feel one hell of a rant coming on...

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Peaceful Playgrounds



Officials at a school district in Pennsylvania are launching a “Peaceful Playground Project” to cut down on competition and conflict during the daily free-for-all at elementary schools there, reports the Bucks County Courier Times.

Officials at Neshaminy School District will install "peace mazes" at its eight elementary schools. Kids on the verge of violence will be asked to wander through the mazes’ seven steps of "conflict resolution" and think about their anger for a spell.

Team captains are banned, as is the game tag. The latter will be replaced with something called "Motion Pictures" in which photographs of different points around the school playground are placed in a basket and kids will be expected to pluck out a photo and scramble off to tag it before returning. Team captains are also banned, as are any sports that don't stress inclusiveness.

Neshaminy wants to change recess into "purposeful playtime," said Marcy
Spigler, the district's violence prevention coordinator.

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Happy May Day...



nothing fills my sad old heart with joy more than seeing
merry dancing around a huge phallic symbol bedecked with
gaily colored ribbons ...
go out and commune with the Mother today. I shall.
peace

you have got to be kidding me...

I just picked this up off the Fox News wire...
just what the hell is going on...?
Mrs. Sad Old Goth is a teacher, I can't wait till she reads this...
I have a headache...

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Calif. Offers Textbook Case of Political Correctness

Wednesday, April 30, 2003

By Anita Vogel



LOS ANGELES — A textbook review process in California has changed or eliminated references to everything from the Founding Fathers  to hot dogs, leaving many to charge the state with distorting history in the name of political correctness.

The textbook review process, which is routinely done in many states, is meant to eliminate or replace outdated words or phrases. But what’s happening in California has a lot of people wondering – quite literally – "Where’s the beef?"

That’s because many California textbooks will no longer feature pictures of hot dogs, sodas, cakes, butter and other kinds of food that are not considered nutritious. Nor will the books contain any phrases judged to be sexist or politically insensitive.

The Founding Fathers, for instance, are now referred to as "The Framers," in an apparent effort to make them sound less male-dominant. And there will be no more reading about Mount Rushmore, where the faces of four U.S. presidents are carved into stone, because it appears to offend some Native-American groups.

The changes, which reflect a wide range of political correctness, have been brought about by pressure groups on both sides of the political aisle, as both Democratic and Republican legislators have been lobbied.

Snowman? No more. Melt that image and replace with Snowperson. Want to sail away on a yacht? No, again. It’s too elitist.

And if you think grandpa is a senior citizen, guess what? You’re wrong. That’s demeaning, according to the new standards. He is now simply an "older person."

The laundry list of words and images banned or considered offensive is not a short one. The word "jungle" has been replaced with "rain forest." The word "devil" has disappeared entirely, with no replacement.

Many of the changes seem to represent a direct assault on historical accuracy. For example, the new guidelines dictate Native-Americans should not be depicted with long braids, in rural settings or on reservations. There are no suggestions on how they should be depicted, however.

The problem there, say historians, is that some Native-Americans did wear their hair in braids, and generally lived in rural settings before being relocated to reservations.

Some say the changes are needed to better reach out to today’s diverse student population. Others have a different name for it.

"It's outright censorship," said author Diane Ravitch, who has written extensively on the subject of how the nation's schools have dealt with the issue. "It dumbs down our textbooks, makes them bland, far less interesting than anything children might see in the movies -- even in G-rated movies or TV.

"The problems that have happened in education is that the textbook publishers and the test developers have become so sensitive to any controversy that whenever they receive a complaint it is very likely that they will remove the source of the complaint," explained Ravitch.

Textbook publishers admit they are in a bind. They say if they don't adopt the changes made by large states like California and Texas, they would suffer severe economic consequences.

Still, there are those who defend the changes made.

"I think our textbooks should to our greatest capacity be free of any type of stereotyping," said Sue Stickel, deputy superintendent for curriculum and instruction for the California Department of Education. "We need to make sure that all ethnicities are represented. We need to make sure that both males and females are represented. We need to make sure that our materials cover the full gamut."


"Hey... which way to California???"

zzzzzzzzzzzzz...

that's the sound of my creativity sleeping
the sleep of the dead...
held fast in the arms of Morpheus...
I've been busting my ass working on
stately sad old goth... manor for the past week,
trying to fix stuff that fell apart over the winter and
do some serious cleaning out. This coming weekend
I'm going to put a new roof on my kitchen. The weekend after
that I'm going to replace the siding on the southern wall
of my living room... it's had "temporary" siding on there
for about 10 years... I think it's time. Then I need to
rebuild the gutter system on the front of the place,
it's the type of rain gutter that's built into the eaves,
lots of ornate trim and corbels, which are in serious
need of replacement... which means lots of gluing and
laminating wood together, since they don't make wood
that thick anymore (!?!?!?). Time to tune up the band saw,
m'thinks.
Of course, there is still the new roof on the front porch,
repointing the brick chimneys (I love working with brick and
mortar 30 above the ground...) All this, and getting the
grounds in shape as well. Have you ever seen those photographs
of the battlefields in World War One, with all the splintered trees and
holes in the ground? My property makes them look like
a park. Winter was not very nice to the grounds this year.
Also, I need to regrade my driveway and put down
some new crushed gravel. Oh, yeah, almost forgot about
digging out the old brick foundation from the barn that is no
more. At least the perennial beds survived the winter almost
intact, they just need some thinning out and such. The annual
beds have been turned and are ready for planting in about two weeks.
And... after I get all this done, it's time to redecorate the parlor and
the master bed chamber...
Jeez, I'm making myself tired just writing about it...

I do have something in the works, which I will spring on you soon...
a neat little photo essay of my trip to the hallowed ground of
Giants Stadium on NFL Draft Day. Yes, the sad old goth.. is a fan
of football... nothing like watching a bunch of huge guys killing
each other over an inflated porcine bladder...

so, stay tuned. If you haven't added yourself to my Guest Map,
please do so when you get the chance.

be well.