(no subject)

"Diane Ravitch collected more than 20 sets of guidelines produced by state departments of education, textbook publishers, test developers, educational research organizations, and other interest groups. The guidelines ban words, usages, and written and pictorial images from various educational materials. Much of the glossary aims to purify the past and present to the point that both are almost unrecognizable. The forbidden material includes the truly offensive---such as using the term "dummy" to describe a person who is mute or depicting people of color as universally athletic�some legitimate cautions, such as using "hordes" to describe immigrants, and the thoroughly trivial and even the baffling. What follows is a small sample of Ravitch�s "Glossary of Banned Words" and "Stereotyped Images To Avoid."

The list is here.

Here's some highlights of banned words:

Pop (banned as regional bias when referring to soft drink, replace with Coke, Pepsi [however, note that brand names are banned by California social content review guidelines]) [AIR]

Senior citizen (banned as demeaning to older persons) [SF-AW]

Snow ball (banned for regional bias, replace with flavored ice) [AIR]

Snow cone (banned for regional bias, replace with flavored ice) [AIR]

Snowman (banned, replace with snowperson) [AEP]

Soda (banned for regional bias, replace with Coke, Pepsi [however, note that brand names are banned by California social content review guidelines]) [AIR]

Not quite writing.

I revisited a half-written story that was sitting on my HD. Some bits of text amuse me.

On the CNE:
Almost like a country fair that was trying to become post-modern while still gripping tight to its humble roots.

A random letter:
“Toronto Star paperboy: please stop throwing my paper into the lake. The mailbox is there for a reason. Failure to comply will result in a loss of tips, loss of job and potential loss of life.”

There's also random humour related to Quebec.Very random. I think I left jokes half written, since I don't quite get them.
“So you can separate when we aren’t looking?”
I think that it was supposed to be a joke related to timeshifting.

Heehee... I suck at writing fiction sometimes. This thing needs a total rewrite.

LET'S GET FUNKY NOW! The music on CBC sounds like the soundtracks to "Century 21 Calling...." and "Progress Island USA". It's so wacky and making smile like a dork. The radio show is called "La Suite Royale" and I strongly recommend it to people who dig this sort of thing. Lounge music a-go-go.

The songs are sampling old TV shows now. The Prisoner!!! Fweee!