The Importance of Being...

Educated. Not earnest, but educated. In a world where everyone seems to be outraged by everything because it offends them, or a group, or might offend someone, or might possibly contain something that could potentially trigger a person, sometimes (indeed often times) people miss the mark badly.

This is an example so filled with sweet, sweet irony, I have to share it. It involves a Tennessee woman and her attempt to ban a biography. The book in question is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. It is part of the STEM curriculum reading list in the school district attended by this mother's child.

Here is a good summary article of the rather disturbing misunderstanding that gynecology does not equal pornography.

The scary thing to me is that even in the face of facts, the person is still trying to ban the book from the school district. From the article, clearly the administration, teachers, and I assume the vast majority of parents, understand that the story of Henrietta Lacks is perverse for no other reason than the fact that ethical considerations for her as a human being were completely shoved aside in the process of scientific discovery.

This seems like exactly the kind of book you want to have being read by young people everywhere. It seems perfectly aligned with the new frantic emphasis on STEM education.

This situation is a textbook example of someone needing to read a little, ask a few questions, or maybe actually read the book in question before "going off half-cocked" as they say.