Thursday, December 08, 2005

A Quiz

Notice To all my respectful regular readers and commentators: I felt sorry for Bruiser and took comment moderation off so he could comment without fear of getting deleted, but he abused the privilege when he left a comment on a previous post which said, among other objectionable things, "I know you are Asian Nantoonkut I saw you drive."

Racial attacks will not be permitted on this blog, and especially when they are directed toward my friends. I am sorry for the inconvenience to the respectful commentators here. I personally do not like comment moderation as it doesn't allow any one to see comments between the time they add them and the time that I am able to publish them, but Bruisers rudeness has necessitated this change.


Pakistan school officials have decided to delete a poem from a textbook. Read the poem, and see if you can figure out why. Uneducated Blogger points for the correct answer.

ISLAMABAD: The government is excising from the new English textbook for class XI a poem titled "The Leader":


"Patient and steady with all he must bear,
Ready to accept every challenge with care,
Easy in manner, yet solid as steel,
Strong in his faith, refreshingly real,
Isn't afraid to propose what is bold,
Doesn't conform to the usual mold,
Eyes that have foresight, for hindsight wont do,
Never back down when he sees what is true,
Tells it all straight, and means it all too,
Going forward and knowing he's right,
Even when doubted for why he would fight,
Over and over he makes his case clear,
Reaching to touch the ones who won't hear,
Growing in strength, he won't be unnerved,
Ever assuring he'll stand by his word,
Wanting the world to join his firm stand,
Bracing for war, but praying for peace,
Using his power so evil will cease:
So much a leader and worthy of trust,
Here stands a man who will do what he must."

"We have decided to delete the poem from the book, published by the National Book Foundation (NBF) and prescribed for the federal board students of intermediate," a visibly embarrassed official of the federal education ministry told The News. "

18 comments:

Poison Pero said...

ACLU(seless) disagreed with the content???
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The board didn't like the line about peace??........."but praying for peace"
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Or was it pulled because it had too many big words?

Lone Ranger said...

Ah! I see it! PGWB

Mark said...

You got it, LR! You didn't Google it and cheat, did you? LOL

Lone Ranger said...

Cheating is no fun. I can't even cheat at solitaire. Although, if I'd had the Internet when I was in high school, I'd be the Emperor of the World right now.

Mark said...

Bruiser, you didn't guess. Could it be you don't know the answer?

Toad734 said...

But the poem is clearly not talking about Bush, unless it’s speaking ironically.

Mark said...

Actually, Toad, the poem IS talking about Bush, but the question remains: How can you tell definitly that it is as opposed to any other world leader? What is the clue?

Anonymous said...

Moderate your War.

Mark said...

Bruiser gets uneducated blogger points for getting the correct answer but his submission was accompanied with a rude comment abput my sister so his comment was deleted.

tugboatcapn said...

The first letter of every line vertically spells President George W. Bush.

Did they know that when they published it in the first place?

Mark said...

Uneducated Blogger points for Tug, too. I don't know why they put the poem in the book in the first place but you can go read the article for yourself at:
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/dec2005-daily/04-12-2005/main/main16.htm

Mark said...

By the way, it appears Bruiser must have cheated and Googled the poem as evidenced by his phrasing that appears almost exactly in the original article ...here: "Has anyone asked why this poem was submitted as "anonymous"..."

tugboatcapn said...

LR,

"Although, if I'd had the Internet when I was in high school, I'd be the Emperor of the World right now. "

I believe that you probably would, too...

tugboatcapn said...

I got a Krestion, Mark...

If we gotta have Comment Moderation, (Thanks alot, Bruiser...) could we do away with the drunk test??

Just a suggestion...

Mark said...

I've been thinking the same thing, Tug

Xena said...

Mark - just wanted to let you know, I am using this in my classroom today. Let's see which kids can answer correctly...

Thanks for the great activity!

Gayle said...

Darn! It was solved before I got here. I have to admit though that I didn't see the George Bush thing either, so I suppose it doesn't make any difference.

Mark said...

Bruiser, to tell the truth, I tried that but for some reason it didn't work. I guess I am just a techno-moron since I don't know how to do that.