ZERO TOLERANCE GETS BACK TO NORMAL: Fifth-grader Paul Volz, 11, dealt
with his fear of terrorism through art, drawing the burning World Trade
Center towers. He was proud of his work: he taped the picture up near
his study cubicle at school in High Ridge, Mo. “When I asked him why he
did this, he just looked at me and smiled,” said North Jefferson
Intermediate School principal Jeff Boyer. “This is totally
inappropriate and Paul's behavior has to change,” he told the boy's
parents. Boyer suspended the boy for three days for smiling at the
drawing on grounds it was “disruptive physical conduct or speech” and
“communication of a threatening nature.” The school district supports
the principal, noting “Some drawings can be therapeutic and others can
be offensive.” (St Louis Post-Dispatch) …“We have met the enemy and
he is us.” –Walt Kelly (1913-1973), American cartoonist and social
commentator.




CHOOSE YOUR WEAPON: Disneyland has taken away the guns used to “shoot” a
rampaging hippo on the Jungle Cruise ride, park officials confirm, as
well as removed from sale toy guns in Frontierland and Adventureland,
“space-age” toy guns in Tomorrowland, and depictions of rifles from Tom
Sawyer Island, citing the need to “keep up with today's sensibilities.”
The Jungle Cruise boat captains don't even call attention to the
charging hippo anymore. The move was applauded by People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals, with a spokeswoman noting that shooting
blanks at a mechanical hippopotamus is “really a form of animal
cruelty.” (Los Angeles Times) …Is it any wonder so few take PETA
seriously?