Pen-Elayne on the Web

Why Can't Jonni Learn?

Good analyses by Emma on the current state of education, and by Bob Harris on the current state of negative information (propaganda, misleading reportage, etc.) courtesy of our mainstream press. And my local paper reports on a high school debate tournament, in which one team "lost the coin toss. The team had to argue the reasons why the United States should be subjected to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. The court, an independent international tribunal, holds individuals responsible for crimes committed during war time. President George Bush wants them tried by U.S. military tribunals. All three students said they were more comfortable arguing against the U.S. joining the treaty. Arguing for it, they said, was more of a challenge." Emphasis mine, of course. Perhaps if these same students read blogs like Body and Soul or even that same local paper more often (instead of presumably turning to TV and the abovementioned negative info) they might have felt differently; the editorial in that same week's edition reads, "Those who remembered our newest war dead this Memorial Day might reflect as well on why they died. Was the road to war paved with lies?" Neither did the editorial shy away from detailing some of the Iraqi deaths we caused; and it ended by asking, "Will the world trust America the next time our leaders say our military must act to forestall aggression and preserve peace? Should it? Should you?" I love my local paper. :) Now, the local students, I'm not too sure about them...