Censorship growing at the same rate as ignorance

Taking Literature Literally - Ray Robertsaon - Globe and Mail - Jan 22, 2011. A superb essay which basically underlines our contemporary illiteracy. . . our inability to read anything without dissecting it, controlling it or censoring it our of existence based on our lack of a sense of humour and our inability to recognize irony. Fear rules now as in the times of witch hunts. And the battle over what controls our lives will be, now as it was then, literacy  vs ignorance. It seems that for the first time in the existence of democratic systems, we seem to pride ourselves in offering our children less than when we were children. We seem to prefer them ignorant rather than informed and intelligent.

Oh My God!!!! Teens are hugging in schools !!!! What are we going to do about it ?

Do Schools That Ban Hugs Go Too Far? - Zosia Bielski - Globe and Mail - Jan 21, 2011. Slapping and whacking hands (hi-fiving)  has become epidemic in that we teach even our babies to MNOT touch too much. We teach them to "hit" "whack" "slap" the other person - (but nicely). . . .as if that is a sane and intelligent way of showing affection. Teens seem to have had enough (thank God for them. . . ) Maybe they know something we don't. Like, maybe they know that hugging is a lot warmer a reception and good-bye thing than we stupid "body-phobic" adults do.

Obesity problem,. Finally! Someone is acting on the problem

New Alliance In The War On Obesity - Robert Sibley - Reuters, Jan 21, 2011. Michelle Obama joins with Wal-Mart in lowering prices on "healthy" foods.

"Family Values" exponents demand that children stop their cross-gendering activites. . .

Gender Politics A Drag On School's Spirit Day - Charles Lewis, National Post, Jan 21, 2011. It seems that school spirit is in the dumps in the York District School Board region. An elementary school decided that the students decision to have boys dress like girls and girls like boys for a day was "psychologically dangerous" and went against family values. . . . . . . . . .  Charles McVety (Reverend. . . ) a man who fears that an "homosexual agenda" lurks within our school systems is the catalyst behind the "stop these children from damning themselves".
(Sigh). 

To give up even one hard-earned freedom is to submit.

Bending To Bullies - Editorial, Ottawa Citizen, Jan 22, 2011 (Canadian institution bends to the pressures of a country where freedom is not available. . .  by canceling the showing of a movie which decries its failings.

When mediocrity rules - parents no longer are in charge of their own families

Mother Jailed For Sending Children To Better School - Akron Beacon - Jan 27, 2011. When you are sent to jail because you choose to send your children to a "better" school where bullying and drugs and other dangers do not lurk - suddenly, you are a bad parent. When such a thing is even conceivable, let alone possible within a democratic society, lowest common denominator intelligence is not only functioning within our midst as rule of law - it is taking over.

Individual responsibility - obesity

Think Outside The Lunchbox - Neil Seeman - National Post - Jan 26, 2011 It seems that we have forgotten how to take care of ourselves. With dependency on the state to cure all ills and handle all problems, "personal responsibility" is an endangered concept.