New English Review: Norman Berdichevsky’s New Book: An Introduction to Danish Culture

“Tonen”, nu også i USA

Det må ende med en amerikansk genindspilning af “Ondskabens ikon” med Sarah Palin i hovedrollen (LFPC).

Hey kids, hear about the latest rage? It’s “Tea Party Zombies Must Die” an exciting new first-person shooter “Advergame.” Here’s how it’s described:

DON’T GET TEA-BAGGED! The Tea Party zombies are walking the streets of America. Grab your weapons and bash their rotten brains to bits! Destroy zombie Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Glenn Beck, the Koch Brothers, and many more! […]

I didn’t advance to the later levels, but they promise zombie versions of Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, and Bill O’Reilly. And of course the opportunity to “bash their rotten brains to bits!” Looks like fun: […]

I can feel wave after wave of New Tone washing over me. Tea Party Zombies Must Die

Ibrahim: Hvad fugleskræmselsskægget røber

En lysende klar pointe som Raymond Ibrahim har været inde på i flere sammenhænge: Muslimsk skægprydelse har sin direkte oprindelse i forbilledet Muhammed. Og når noget så elementært bliver normgivende, burde det være et vink med en vognstang om at andre aspekter af hans liv også bliver det den dag i dag, med langt større implikationer end æstetisk ubehag (jfr. billedet her under) – f. eks. plyndring, nyttemoral, pædofili forklædt som ægteskab, jødehad og ambitioner om verdensherredømmet. Mainstreammedierne fremstiller konsekvent muslimske kendetegn så som skæg eller regler for halal og haram som ren tradition, men dette er kun den ydre iklædning af noget med langt mere drastiske konsekvenser (LFPC).

To develop a thorough understanding of Islam, one must learn to “connect the dots.” For instance, Muslims who adhere to non-problematic aspects of Islam, indirectly indicate their acceptance of problematic aspects of Islam — such as enmity for infidels, death for apostates, subjugation for women, and so on.

Consider the Muslim beard. Because Muhammad wanted his Muslims to look different from infidel Christians and Jews, he ordered them to “trim closely the moustache and grow the beard.” Accordingly, all Sunni schools of law maintain that it is forbidden, a “major sin,” for men to shave their beards — unless, of course, it is part of a stratagem against the infidel, in which case it is permissible. […]

Whereas the Muslim beard represents piety, some people, mostly Westerners, are shocked to find that those who wear it are often “crooks” and “liars.” In Islam, however, outer signs of religiosity on the one hand, and corruption and deceit on the other, are compatible. After all, the same source — Muhammad, as recorded in the hadith — that tells Muslims to grow a beard also advocates deception and all sorts of other practices antithetical to Western notions of piety. […] Raymond Ibrahim: Why the Muslim Beard Bodes Trouble

Dynamiske kompetencer med hensyn til Shakespeare

Steen hader som måske bekendt “med hensyn til”, men dette eksempel er om noget “med-hensyn-til”-kulturen i fuld udfoldelse (LFPC).

“In the Classroom of the Future, Stagnant Scores” is the headline of a New York Times account of the uselessness of high-tech education. Since the Clinton administration, liberal “experts” have argued that giving every kid a laptop, “educational” software, and Internet access will produce a generation of geniuses. That has to be the stupidest idea in the history of education. Of course, it hasn’t worked. But that doesn’t discourage the New Age nerds who run the Obama adminstration’s education policy.

The Times reports on the miserable performance of students in Arizona’s Kyrene School District, where taxpayers have spent $33 million to digitize classrooms since 2005.

Since 2005, scores in reading and math have stagnated in Kyrene, even as statewide scores have risen. […]

Just what are they doing with their computers?

Amy Furman, a seventh-grade English teacher here, roams among 31 students sitting at their desks or in clumps on the floor. They’re studying Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” — but not in any traditional way.

In this technology-centric classroom, students are bent over laptops, some blogging or building Facebook pages from the perspective of Shakespeare’s characters. One student compiles a song list from the Internet, picking a tune by the rapper Kanye West to express the emotions of Shakespeare’s lovelorn Silvius. […]

“This is such a dynamic class,” Ms. Furman told the New York Times. “I really hope it works.” She recalls the ethnic joke about the prospective chicken farmer who buries chicks in the soil with a bit of manure and is disappointed when chickens fail to sprout. […] Spengler: A Moron with a Computer Is Still a Moron