>On a completely unrelated note: I saw a feature on the News Hour (w/ Jim
>Leher) the other night about teachers trying to explain what was going on in
>Kosovo to their students. The students were only able to grasp the concept
>when the teachers resorted to a familiar iconography: the Nazis. They
>couldn't get their heads around the subtle details of the conflict, but as
>soon the teacher said, "And that's just like what the Nazis did to the
>Jews," every kid in the class suddenly had an opinion on the subject. It
>was a little scary actually. But it's the same set of mental images the
>press generally has been using to explain the situation. Why?
how old are these kids? i love how the media exploits stuipdity of children ;-)
im discouraged to consider that this is anything like what the nazis did to the jews. the nazis had an organized plot and constuct to destroying the jews and others. they developed concetration camps whose ruins remain to this day; a "death machine." milosevic has not created a system of destruction, he operates by forcing the albanians into flee (and those who did not listen were killed). hitler forced no one into flee... he gathered them and killed them.
comparing the crisis in kosovo to the holocaust is like comparing swatting at flies to calling the exterminator. teaching the children that the crisis in kosovo is like the holocaust reeks of propaganda worse than the 2 letters ive posted to this list.
on a different note... in light of milosevic's seize-fire agreement: weve already given him a chance to compromise diplomatically; now there is no compromise, lets force our demands on him, by all means.
i dont like people who bite off more than they can chew and then attempt to
spit it out. (probably because *i* do it a lot, figuratively)
~the great tinkerer
tinkerer@tinkerers-workshop.com
http://www.tinkerers-workshop.com/
http://www.tinkerers-workshop.com/order/form.shtml