You have to wonder if these people listen to themselves.
Attention Fred Flintstone and the Geico cave guys: “Stone Age” is no longer acceptable, joining the list of other words and terms deemed offensive in polite society. “Primitive” also is considered, well, primitive by some.
“All anthropologists would agree that the negative use of the terms ‘primitive’ and ‘Stone Age’ to describe tribal peoples has serious implications for their welfare,” the British-based Association of Social Anthropologists said Tuesday. “Governments and other social groups have long used these ideas as a pretext of depriving such peoples of land and their resources.”
Anthropologists. What did I tell you? And if you think that’s nuts, how about this?
NEW YORK (AP) — You’ve read the book, now eat the pizza.
Since 1985, that’s been the gist of Pizza Hut’s Book It, an incentive program used by 50,000 schools nationwide to reward young readers with free pizzas. The program is now under attack by child-development experts who say it promotes bad eating habits and turns teachers into corporate promoters.
Book It, which reaches about 22 million children a year, “epitomizes everything that’s wrong with corporate-sponsored programs in school,” said Susan Linn, a Harvard psychologist and co-founder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.
“In the name of education, it promotes junk food consumption to a captive audience … and undermines parents by positioning family visits to Pizza Hut as an integral component of raising literate children,” Linn said.
This week, Linn’s organization called on parents to end their schools’ participation in the long-standing program.
Yes, you read that correctly. Teachers condemning a program designed to encourage reading. So you’re thinking these are just some nutjobs, right? Well, here’s what one teacher had to say on the comment thread of the Education Wonks write-up (sorry, I can’t link directly to the comment):
Furthermore, this program inadvertantly punishes kids for being vegan, or having food allergies.
You can’t make this up. You really can’t. And remember the Twinkie defense? Did you think that was off the deep end? Think again. Thanks to Moonbattery, we now have the female magical elf defense:
A man accused of a stealing underwear from a shop in a knifepoint raid believed he was a female elf at the time, Belfast Crown Court has heard.
Robert Boyd, 45, from Broadlands in Carrickfergus, is accused of holding up staff at the Orchid shop in Belfast disguised in a wig, hat and glasses.
He told the court he had been involved in a role-playing game at the time, and his character was an elf named Beho.
Well, isn’t that speshul! Role-playing game? A 45 year-old?
And also from the UK, we have this:
Pupils up to the age of 11 are being bottle-fed and mothered in school as part of a radical new move to address poor discipline.
A state primary school has become the first in the country to take part in the approach, which was developed in the US to give problem children the love and attention they may have missed out on at a younger age.
Instead of being given a sharp telling off or a few minutes on the naughty chair, they have one on one sessions with a trained school therapist.
The children - aged between six and 11 - are bottle-fed like young babies, nursed and encouraged to play games promoting patience and teamwork.
I can think of other ways to address poor discipline, but none of them involves bottles.
Peggy U says:
What’s in the bottle - sedatives? I can’t picture any self-respecting 11-year-old kid participating in this. Can you imagine the razzing these kids must get after a “therapy” session?
March 8, 2007, 5:45 pmbird dog says:
Re the latter: A true nanny state solution, I would say.
March 8, 2007, 8:55 pmdragonlady474 says:
I can’t type my first reaction to this post because it involved mostly all obscenities. So I’ll just say this…
March 8, 2007, 9:09 pmunbelievable.
SoCalOilMan says:
I’ll say it. Cavemen lived in the Stone Age and were primitive. I’m really not sure who I’m offending by stating a fact.
In re: The pizza program, it’s another case of minority rule. One person may not be able to eat pizza, so no one eats pizza. Plus I think you have to read a lot of books to get the pizza party, so one or two trips a year to Pizza Hut is going to turn the kids into obese blobs, like they’ve never had pizza before.
On the mothering to correct discipline, it was probably an overly doting mother that caused the problem in the first place.
March 9, 2007, 12:13 amPam says:
As usual with the libs, if not everyone can participate, then no one can. As Dragonlady says, you have to read a lot of books to earn a pizza party. Kids aren’t going every week! With all of the electronic gizmos kids have to play with these days, anything that encourages them to pick up a book should be welcome. There’s no pleasing some, I guess.
March 9, 2007, 3:10 pmPeggy U says:
Here’s to Pizza Hut! Other companies, like Auntie Ann’s Pretzels, also offer these kinds of incentives. I guess no good deed goes unpunished!
March 9, 2007, 4:21 pmPeggy U says:
Oilman: I think they are afraid of offending modern peoples who have not progressed beyond the Stone Age. But, hey, if a culture hasn’t made any contributions that have moved it beyond the use of stone tools, then no matter how you label it, these people will still be lagging technologically. A rose, or a caveman, by any other name …
March 9, 2007, 4:30 pmNYC Educator says:
I have two important points, Prof.
1. You can link to haloscan comments. Look for the “#,” which is the link.
2. Pizza Hut is to pizza what Taco Bell is to Mexican food. They may contribute to education, hold parties, or whatever, in my view, but they should not be legally permitted to call their product pizza.
March 10, 2007, 10:29 amrightwingprof says:
Ja, but when I posted it, haloscan was down (it’s been doing that a lot over the last few days). That’s what I meant.
I would say that’s true for New York pizza as well. Give me a Giordano’s stuffed spinach and sausage pizza any day. Unfortunately, there’s nothing here remotely resembling Chicago-style pizza.
March 10, 2007, 10:50 amnyc educator says:
I’m afraid I must profoundly disagree. I have a good friend in Chicago, like Chicago pizza, but NY pizza, when done well, is a thing of indisutable beauty. And one of the very best NY pizza places is minutes from my home.
No Pizza Hut for us.
March 10, 2007, 11:07 amrightwingprof says:
Nor us, since there isn’t one here.
March 10, 2007, 11:16 amNYC Educator says:
Well, you’re better off. But I must write an impassioned defense of NY Pizza. I don’t care what you say about liberals, or the Yankees, but comparing NY pizza to Pizza Hut is heresy, pure and simple.
March 11, 2007, 5:20 pmepynbasi says:
drunk college girl
November 21, 2007, 7:07 pmtsuwqu says:
drunk girls party
November 22, 2007, 2:32 am