On Friday the TX State Board of Education approved sweeping changes to their social studies/history curriculum. Among the changes, approved by a 9-5 vote, are eliminating mentions of slavery…pretty much anywhere (the “slave trade” will now be referred to as the “triangular trade”), and almost complete elimination of one of our founding fathers from history texts among other changes:

The new standards say that the McCarthyism of the 1950s was later vindicated — something most historians deny — draw an equivalency between Jefferson Davis’s and Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural addresses, say that international institutions such as the United Nations imperil American sovereignty, and include a long list of Confederate officials about whom students must learn.

Who gives a damn about what Texas children learn, you might ask? It matters because the state of TX is the second largest textbook market in the US. TX standards are the de facto standards of the US. No mention of slavery? Most likely no mention of what happened to all of the people who were here when the Mayflower landed either. Best of all, the propagation of the fantasy by Christian Dominionists that the US is a Christian nation founded on “Christian principles”.

California, the largest textbook market in the US, is taking action with a newly introduced bill to define their own history and social studies standards

Does anybody know of a decent US history book geared toward grades 4-6? School Girl won’t be in 4th grade yet, but she’s reading at a 5-6th grade level and I figure the options will be more varied. Hit me up with some suggestions in the comments if you wouldn’t mind. Good luck to our children. They’ll need it.

First, where the hell was her US agency? Did she have to go through parenting classes for children with special needs? Was she advised of the benefits of seeking psychiatric help for the entire family (including the child’s grandmother, if they were indeed living with her), not just “seeking advice from a psychologist”. Why is the Russian agency/orphanage blameless in all this? I suspect if everybody had been honest about the extent of Artyom’s mental issues, he would never have been placed with a single, inexperienced mum.

I also wonder if she truly understands what adoption means. When an adoption is finalized, you are that child’s parent. Period. No do-overs, no backsies. No giving up and giving that kid back when things are tough. (Somebody remind me of that when we get to the Happy Teenage Years, m’kay?)

I’ve also been thinking of Artyom. He’s learned a lot in his 7 years. He’s learned that an orphanage, no matter how awful, is far safer and preferable to a home. (Apparently, he was removed from his birth family because of his mother’s neglect.) He’s also learned that if you need things to be safe, and not scary – and how can living in a new country thousands of miles from everything you’ve ever known, where nobody speaks your language, not be scary? – all you have to do is misbehave. Test, if you will. Kids test in all sorts of ways; running away, setting fires, hitting, biting, swearing. You get what I mean. He’s learned exactly what he has to do to get back into that nice, safe orphanage.

And, as other people more eloquent than myself have said, at least he’s still alive. There are Russian adoptees who weren’t quite as lucky.

“Every doctor that does abortions has been under an assassination threat for decades,” Hern told The Colorado Independent hours after Tiller’s death. “The anti-abortion movement message is, ‘Do what we tell you to do or we will kill you,’ and they do. This is a fascist movement.”

Hern said the assassination of Tiller, a close personal friend, is the “absolutely inevitable consequence” of decades of anti-abortion fanaticism.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder requested the US Marshals’ assistance providing security at a number of clinics and doctor’s offices across the country on Sunday, after Dr. George Tiller was murdered while attending church services by a “pro-life” activist.

There’s a lot going on in the world, from the plane that caught on fire Saturday night at DIA to Obama’s determination to bless those who not only curse him, but curse his most staunch supporters as well; but right now, School Girl is awake so I need to get going. Except for two things…

First, the plane crash wasn’t as benign as it was originally made out to be. True, nobody died. However, as of this morning, two people are still in critical condition at one of our largest area hospitals; one had a pretty serious head injury, the other may have had a heart attack (she had reportedly complained of shortness of breath and chest pains at the time). Makes me eager to get on a plane, yes it does…

Second, the whole “we must have a religious service as a part of the transition of our secular government” thing has me a little unhappy to begin with (and I felt that way when I was religious as well); but honestly, was there nobody else Obama could have chosen? A sexist homophobe who has likened gay marriage proponents to proponents of incest and pedophilia? That’s the only guy? Yes, the choice was probably made for him, but I have no doubt that he has personally approved each and every choice associated with the inauguration. I’m also concerned that this is the direction Obama’s administration is going to go; trying to make everybody happy, whether they agree with you or not. Unfortunately, the old saying is all too true – when you try to make everybody happy, you don’t make anyone happy. Including yourself.

Happy, happy holidays. Off to make breakfast and sugar cookies.

Yesterday, George W. Bush made a surprise visit to Iraq and declared that we are nearing the end of our “little adventure”. An Iraqi journalist, Muntadar al-Zaidi, stood up during Bush’s joint press conference with Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki and threw his shoes at him.

In the middle of the news conference with Mr Maliki, Iraqi television journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi stood up and shouted “this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog,” before hurling a shoe at Mr Bush which narrowly missed him.

Showing the soles of shoes to someone is a sign of contempt in Arab culture.

With his second shoe, which the president also managed to dodge, Mr Zaidi said: “This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq.”

Mr Zaidi, a correspondent for Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV, was then wrestled to the ground by security personnel and hauled away.

Today, Bush is scheduled to be in Afghanistan to see how wonderfully things are going there. Wonder what will be waiting for him when he gets there.

UPDATE: Thousands of Iraqis are in the streets of Baghdad today, demanding Mr. Zaidi’s immediate release.