August 15, 2004
Pali's? I Don't See No Pali's
Reason #86 why I love St. Johns County schools (#1 being some of the best test scores in the nation): Skeeter is a middle schooler now. Thursday she brought home a geography test. A map of the Middle East. She had to study the country names for a test Friday.
The first thing I noticed? No Palestine. This wasn't even one of those maps with the diagonal lines through the West Bank and Gaza called "The Occupied Territories", or "Occupied Palestine". Nope. Those rump portions of Jordan and Egypt did not exist. They were part of Israel.
I love this, personally. Who knew the Baptist Crackers in these parts were actually Zionist Fiends? Hell, they don't even have hooked noses, or beady eyes. Now, I'll grant you, the Red Bull these teachers and administrators bolt may very well taste like the blood of baby Arabs, but I don't believe the neurological jolt these people get from their Red Bulls is attributable to Infidel Extermination. I think it's because they lace Red Bulls with lead-based paint.
At any rate, this is a very un-PC neck of the woods. The kids read Ayn Rand, not Rachel Carson. I believe Jacksonville is the only urban area in the South that consistently votes Republican from mayor up to President. We don't dangle chads here, unlike those miscreants to the south. Our barbecue is better than theirs, too.
Why, I wouldn't be surprised if the good folk in these parts didn't profile Middle Easterners at the gates of the upcoming Super Bowl. We're crazy like that here.