ICYMI, On Saturday at CPAC 2021, a panel discussion: Hard Questions for the Hard Cases: How to Defend Life Emily Berning, Let them Live Alison Centofante, Live Action Rep. Michelle Fischbach (MN-07) Moderated by Kelly Jane Torrance, New York Post
Sadly, we live in a ‘cancel culture’ world. So it comes as no surprise that the Loudon County Public Schools in Virginia is dropping the annual Dr. Seuss celebration.
“Realizing that many schools continue to celebrate ‘Read Across America Day’ in partial recognition of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, it is important for us to be cognizant of research that may challenge our practice in this regard,” Loudoun County Schools said in an announcement. “As we become more culturally responsive and racially conscious, all building leaders should know that in recent years there has been research revealing radical undertones in the books written and the illustrations drawn by Dr. Seuss.”
Learning for Justice, a liberal education advocacy group, pressured for the cancelation, citing a study by St. Catherine University that claimed Dr. Seuss’s books are covered with “orientalism, anti-Blackness and White supremacy.”
In 2017 to celebrate “National Read a Book Day,” First Lady Melania Trump sent out a collection of 10 Dr. Seuss books to one school in each state across the nation. The titles included: “The Cat in the Hat”; “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish”; “Wacky Wednesday”; “Green Eggs and Ham”; and “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”
She followed in the footsteps of her predecessor, Michelle Obama, who often read Dr. Seuss books to children. Former first ladies Hillary Clinton and Barbara Bush also read to children at Dr. Seuss-themed educational events.
A Massachusetts elementary school librarian claimed the illustrations in Dr. Seuss’s books — usually cartoon animals or fantastical creatures — were examples of “racist propaganda” and that her school would “not be keeping the titles” for their collection.
Stephanie Grisham, director of communications for the first lady’s office, said in a statement to that the response was “unfortunate,” and Mrs. Trump wanted to use her platform “to help as many children as she can.”
“She has demonstrated this in both actions and words since her husband took office, and sending books to children across the country is but one example,” she said. “To turn the gesture of sending young students some books into something divisive is unfortunate, but the First Lady remains committed to her efforts on behalf of children everywhere.”
Theodor Seuss Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) created thousands of cartoons, illustrations, paintings, sculptures, and stories over the course of his 70-year career. While the vast majority of the works he produced are positive and inspiring, Ted Geisel also drew a handful of early images, which are disturbing. These racially stereotypical drawings were hurtful then and are still hurtful today. However, Ted’s cartoons and books also reflect his evolution. Later works, such as The Sneetches or Horton Hears a Who!, emphasize inclusion and acceptance. Ted would later edit some of his inappropriate images, depicting his characters in a more respectful manner.
Congrats to those schools reading Dr. Seuss to kids on Tuesday.
This place is on my bucket list. Photos from 2017:
The new Amazing World of Dr. Seuss museum opened to the public last weekend in the author and illustrator’s hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts, and it’s like walking into one of his beloved children’s books. John Simpson, left, project director of exhibitions for The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, and his wife Kay Simpson, right, president of Springfield Museums, unwrap a statue of “Cat in the Hat.” Photo: Steven Senne / AP
The entrance to The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, now open in the children’s book author’s hometown of Springfield. (Steven Senne/AP)
A man walks past a mural with the character “Sam-I-Am” from the Dr. Seuss book “Green Eggs and Ham” at The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum. (Steven Senne/AP)
Cortney Thibodeau, a senior at UMass Amherst, paints a mural based on artwork from the Dr. Seuss book “Oh, The Thinks You Can Think!” (Steven Senne/AP)
Leagrey Dimond, stepdaughter of Theodor Seuss Geisel, stands among objects and memorabilia at The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum. (Steven Senne/AP)
A mural of Theodor Seuss Geisel, or rather Dr. Seuss, rests on a wall near an entrance at The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum. (Steven Senne/AP)
Today’s read is from Douglas Andrews at the Patriot Post. Here’s an excerpt:
“The Republican Party is not the party just of the country clubs. The Republican Party is the party of steelworkers and construction workers and pipeline workers and taxi cab drivers and cops and firefighters, and waiters and waitresses and the men and women with callouses on their hands who are working for this country. That is our party and these deplorables are here to stay.”
So said Texas Senator Ted Cruz on Friday to loud cheers from attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
The GOP has some heavy hitters not named Trump, and the CPAC audience heard quite a show.
Culinary no-no began on Father’s Day 2007, a beautiful summer day, when I wrote about grilling brats. And eating brats. And topping those brats. I was inspired by my wife, Jennifer who, in my admittedly unscientific opinion, ruins brats by squirting ketchup on them. Other dining taboos quickly came to mind. The original idea was to take this concept only a few months, till the end of summer and then pull the plug. Then the unexpected happened. People started reading Culinary no-no. Lots of folks. So we keep doing the no-no.
When I met Jennifer I didn’t marry her right away.
Since this is a food blog I’ll tell you our first ‘date’ if you will was an innocent lunch on a Jennifer work day. I would also say that I was unaware Jennifer has a voracious appetite. But that doesn’t sound lady-like. She does like to eat but only ate a salad that afternoon so as not to appear to be ravenous.
Our second get together was at the old Boulevard Inn restaurant, now Bacchus. No salad for Jennifer that night. Potato crusted salmon. I soon learned that my future bride could eat a large slab of filet mignon and not gain an ounce.
And so our romance was off and running. During our budding courtship there was one particular question I never asked Jennifer. More on that coming up.
This week’s feature is about a survey conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Jif ahead of National Peanut Butter Lovers Day which just happens to be tomorrow (Monday). A critical question was the key of this important inquiry.
Creamy or crunchy?
Now don’t laugh. This is apparently as our bumbler fumbler-in-chief would say, “a big f****** deal.”
Of the 2,000 individuals surveyed, a third of all respondents described themselves as “extremely” passionate about their peanut butter preference.
How about this? Sixty-three percent of all respondents even said they will pass on the peanut butter altogether if it’s not the kind they prefer.
Normally my no-no can be a prolonged exercise where I present a highly-detailed build-up to the actual indiscretion. Not so this week.
So, was it creamy or crunchy?
The survey group was split down the middle by crunchy or creamy peanut butter preference.
Personally, I have no problem with either (but I’ll take creamy) so the following doesn’t apply to me.
Sixty-three percent of those who prefer crunchy peanut butter describe themselves as optimists, compared to 56% of those who prefer creamy.
Other personality traits for creamy fans included being more of an early bird and more introverted – whereas their crunchy counterparts were more likely to be night owls and extroverts.
I did mention ‘passionate,’ didn’t I?
Again, this is such a big deal it truly is passionate.
About my dating with Jennifer before the engagement and wedding, there was a question even my curious mind never dreamed of posing.
Creamy or crunchy?
I just never thought it was…you know…a big f****** deal.
That was then. This is now.
The enlightening survey illustrates how goofy we’ve become.
Nearly half of all respondents said it would be a deal-breaker to find out their date is on the opposite side of the creamy versus crunchy debate.
Wouldn’t have made a difference with Jennifer and me. We like both but prefer creamy. Here comes the bride.
1) The vehicle of golfer Tiger Woods, who was rushed to hospital after suffering multiple injuries, lies on its side after being involved in a single-vehicle accident in Los Angeles, California, in a still image from video taken February 23. Photo: KNBC via REUTERS
2) Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies inspect the vehicle of golfer Tiger Woods, who was rushed to hospital after suffering multiple injuries, after it was involved in a single-vehicle accident in Los Angeles, California, February 23, 2021. Photo: REUTERS/Gene Blevins
3) An officer looks through a window as Capitol Police Capt. Carneysha Mendoza, foreground, prepares to speak at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs & Senate Rules and Administration joint hearing on Capitol Hill, Washington, February 23, 2021, to examine the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS
4) U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene enters her office after the congresswoman hung a poster outside reading “There are TWO genders, MALE & FEMALE. Trust The Science!” in reaction to a trans pride flag hung across the hall outside the office of Rep. Marie Newman (D-Il) in the midst of contentious debate over “The Equality Act” being debated by the House on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 25. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
5) President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff participate in a moment of silence at the White House in Washington, Feb. 22, 2021, to honor the 500,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19. Photo: AP
6) Virginia state senator Amanda Chase, a Republican who refuses to wear a mask, sits inside a plexiglass booth erected for her against the spread of coronavirus disease during the Senate special session at the Science Museum of Virginia remote location in Richmond, Virginia, February 25. Photo: REUTERS/Julia Rendleman
7) Wenatchee High School in Washington state, to allow band members to practice their instruments while remaining socially distant, placed the students inside individual tents. Another look. One tweet read “This is beyond stupid. We have lost our minds. Every day I say it can’t get more asinine…and yet it does.” Photos: Blaze Media
8) A woman holds a sign at a window of the Radisson Blu Hotel at Heathrow Airport, as Britain introduces a hotel quarantine programme for arrivals from a “red list” of 30 countries due to the coronavirus pandemic, in London, Britain, February 25. Photo: REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
9) A resident of the Villa Sacra Famiglia nursing home, Anna, hugs her daughter through a plastic screen in the “Hug Room,” during the COVID-19 pandemic, on February 24, 2021, in Rome, Italy. One year after the start of the pandemic, the home has inaugurated its Hug Room, which allows guests and their families to touch each other while remaining separated and protected. Photo: Antonio Masiello / Getty
11) A violent eruption spews ash more than a kilometer into the sky above Mount Etna in Sicily on February 23, 2021. Photo: Marco Restivo / Barcroft Media via Getty
12) A Chinese tourist visits the snow-covered Mutianyu Great Wall on February 23, 2021, in Beijing, China. Affected by the pandemic, the number of visitors to the Mutianyu Great Wall in 2020 dropped by about 60 percent. Photo: Lintao Zhang / Getty
13) A woman gets trampled by a police horse during a demonstration of several hundreds of people protesting against the coronavirus lockdown and curfew in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Photo: AP
14) Dr. Mohamed Salah Siala plays the violin for patients in the COVID wards of the Hedi Chaker hospital in Sfax, eastern Tunisia, Feb. 20, 2021. Photo: AP
15) The surface of Mars directly below NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover is seen using the Rover Down-Look Camera in an image acquired February 22. Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout via REUTERS
18) In Frankfurt, Germany, toy pandas are seated in a closed restaurant in the city center. The country remains in a partial lockdown. Photograph: Michael Probst/AP
19) In Cologne, Germany, a carnival float with an effigy of an unnamed bishop is placed in front of Cologne Cathedral by activists of the Giordano Bruno Foundation. The group is protesting against sexual abuse by Catholic priests, at the beginning of a three-day virtual meeting of the German Bishops’ Conference. Photograph: Thilo Schmülgen/Reuters
20) In Farewell Spit, New Zealand, rescuers from the charity Project Jonah try to save dozens of pilot whales that beached on a stretch of a coast notorious for mass strandings. Photograph: Project Jonah/AFP/Getty Images
21) In Lismore, Australia, Triumph the koala explores with his new prosthetic foot. Carers at Friends of the Koala found a local dentist to make the foot for the five-year-old animal, which was born with the defect. Photograph: James D Morgan/Getty Images
22) A white peacock is pictured at the Animal Rescue Center Zoo de Castellar, in Castellar de la Frontera, southern Spain, Feb. 20, 2021. Photo: AFP
23) In Winchester, UK, Marwell zoo’s newest arrival, a Javan chevrotain, also known as a mouse deer. The deer is one of the smallest hoofed animals in the world and will grow to be the size of a rabbit. Photograph: Marwell Zoo/PA
24) Baarack the sheep is seen BEFORE his thick wool was shorn in Lancefield, Victoria, Australia February 5, 2021. Volunteers at Edgar’s Mission, a sanctuary for rescued farm animals in Lancefield, Australia, said they rescued the wayward sheep in a state forest. “Beneath that convoluted moving mass of matted fleece, adorned with countless sticks, twigs and insects … was not Australia’s answer to the yeti – but a sheep,” they wrote in a Facebook post. Another look. Photos: Edgar’s Mission Inc/Handout via REUTERS
25) The sanctuary workers said they sheared 78 pounds (35.4 kilos) of wool from the creature, estimating it was years worth of growth. Photo: Edgar’s Mission Inc/Handout via REUTERS
