Could you imagine being told you had to change the lyrics in those songs because a word had taken on multiple meanings? Or you just might not be able to sing one of those songs anymore?
A principal at a school in Australia has done just that – taken the easy way out, rather than give an explanation of the word “gay” in the song “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree.”
from nwi.com -
Martin said he was playing a recording of the song for the students about a month ago when the line “gay your life must be” produced a flurry of giggles throughout the classroom. Some of the students use the word “gay” as a schoolyard taunt, he said, but don’t understand its true meaning. And so, to calm them down, he told them to swap in the word “fun” for “gay.”
“It wasn’t misplaced political correctness, it wasn’t homophobia, there was nothing really calculated in doing it,” he told The Associated Press. “I could’ve stopped the whole class and gone into a very caring, supportive explanation of gay being quite a reasonable choice in lifestyle that some people make, but I was only talking with 7- and 8-year-olds and I think that sort of thing is better explained more fully with parents.”
I used to sing that song in the U.S. in grade school back in the early sixties. We didn’t giggle back then. We didn’t use the word “gay” as a synonym for “fun” either. That was before our time. We just sang the song and blew it off. Same as we did the Flintstones. But we giggled if we had to say the word diarrhea during science back then in grade school. Kids will be kids. And we were told to stop giggling – it’s a word and a bodily function…get over it.
Principal Garry Martin of Le Page Primary School in Melbourne needs to grow up and get over it.
Everyone on board rig survived – no news on whether there is a leak.
To be continued…
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Update:
from the Los Angeles Times -
In the wake of the BP catastrophe, this is an extremely disturbing event,” said energy committee chairman Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), who has led an investigation into the BP spill. “I call on the administration to immediately redouble safety reviews of all offshore drilling and platform operations in the gulf and take all appropriate action to ensure safety and protection of the environment.”
[...]
We find it ironic that the explosion happened one day after the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s trade association, held a rally in Houston, Port Arthur and Corpus Christi, Texas, to lift the moratorium on deep-water drilling in the gulf,” said United Steelworkers International Vice President Gary Beevers in a statement. “Instead of holding political protests, the API and the industry should be helping the government ensure all the rigs are safe to operate so the moratorium can be removed sooner.”
Whenever I think of the Oval Office carpet, my thoughts are tarnished by President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky and the antics that went on in that office. I just think President Bush must have had President Clinton’s carpetrolled up and pushed out the door the minute the final salute was given and Bill flew off into the wild blue yonder.
Why bring it up? Only because Maureen Dowd’s article in the New York Times is one of the most popular for being linked to by bloggers and for being emailed since it came out on August 31st. And becuse it’s timely.
You, your child, or your student have an awesome opportunity at your fingertips…24/7.
Robert Ballard, a deep-sea explorer who you may know for his discovery of the Titanic is bringing you “Nautilus Live.
The Nautilus and its team are on their way to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Israel.
Their mission:
Start date: September 4, 2010 End date: September 15, 2010
The eastern Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel is home to underwater landslides, deep-sea corals, ancient archaeological sites, gas seeps, and many other interesting features. During this part of the expedition, Nautilus team members will use sonar to survey this fascinating area…
Continue reading about the mission, read blog posts, see live video and photos, sign up for Facebook and Twitter updates here at Nautilus Live.
If the kids buy into this, that’s saying a lot for moms like me who made sure their kids had balanced lunches and dinners while they were growing up and tried to teach them to make healthy choices, even though you didn’t keep them from eating junk fun foods, also.
I’d be better off living on just bread and water…period.
The article implies consuming water before eating a meal will lead to weight loss. Women and men in a study group of 12 weeks had their daily calorie intake reduced to 1,200 and 1,500, respectively, from up to 2,200 prior to the study. Those drinking water before a meal did lose more weight than those allowed to drink whatever they wanted.
from the Economist -
Why this works is obscure. But work it does. It’s cheap. It’s simple. And unlike so much dietary advice, it seems to be enjoyable too.
I don’t know about you, but if I reduce my calorie intake but continue to allow myself to eat the type of meals the child has in the photo accompanying the article, even though I’m drinking water – I’m not sure how much weight I’m going to lose.
