all the news that print will fit.
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| notes from underground - societal whispers all the news that print will fit. |
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Thursday, March 17, 2005 np: the pogues - if i should fall from grace with god happy saint patrick's day to you all. and happy birthday, andrew octopus. and happy snow day. although, at this point in the year they're rather bothersome. having already lost the sole workday between the end of spring break and the end of the school year, this just means a day tacked onto the end. which means one less day to prepare for japan. oi. on the plus side i have my guinness and the pogues (and later some sinead o'conner..back off, the lot of you) and all is well. well, aside from having picked alabama to beat uw-milwaukee and therefore being sorely disappointed this afternoon. meanwhile, back in the world where all is not so bright and cheery, MSNBC fills us in on a little story about a high school student who refused to take injustices lying down: A ninth-grader is protesting his school’s decision to broadcast the Pledge of Allegiance in foreign languages as part of National Foreign Language Week. okay. as an english teacher, knowing kids as i do, i'll overlook the egregious 'we got soldiers' mockery of the english language patrick seems to adore so much. but languages no one understands? the school was having them read in spanish, french, latin, russian and german. spanish is obviously understood by a large section of our population. latin is on our currency. there are french, russian and german speaking people all over this country. not to mention the enormous influence each of those languages had on our own in one way or another. but surely your parents will calm you down a little. Charles Linton, Patrick’s father, said the use of other languages is disrespectful to the country. “It’s like wearing a cross upside down in a church,” he said. uh.....huh. okay, well, while i go bleed out my ears for awhile, let's try to read something soothing. ah, perhaps michelle malkin can provide me with something calming and informative. take it away, 'chelle: THE NEW YOUTH CRAZE: SELF-MUTILATION - Have you heard of "cutting"? If you're a parent, you'd better read up. "Cutting" refers to self-mutilation -- using knives, razor blades or even safety pins to deliberately harm one's own body -- and it's spreading to a school near you. hmm. that wasn't calming at all. mostly because malkin's about 5+ years behind the times on this psychological concern. also, the 'famous self-injurers' website she links to actually seems to treat cutting as what it is, a psychological coping mechanism. as far as 'emo' music being responsible for cutting, sure, it has to be. but maybe not for the reasons malkin thinks. i know i've had the intense urge to cut myself very deeply after hearing a few taking back sunday songs... i've known people who were cutters, especially back in high school. i've always found cutting fascinating in that along with bulemia/anorexia, it is one of a number of distinctly western psychological disorders that relate to body image. cutters often talk of a way of releasing pain, but why do it in a way that visibly mutilates your body? cutting seems very much tied up in self-image. much in the same way eating disorders are. i blame the media. (thanks to tbogg for the link to both stories.) i also blame the media for my impending death. curse you, dr. pepper/7up corporation for addicting me to your sweet nectar of the gods, sun drop. now that i know the total at which the bell tolls for me, i am doomed. so long, cruel world. parting is such sweet, caffeinated sorrow. posted by J. Neas | 3/17/2005 03:28:00 PM
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