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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Ridiculous? Yes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Something new, as Paul’s use of the word “getting” indicates? No, at least not for those of us who have long followed the stupidity of some school administrators. Kids have been <b>suspended</b>, for cripes sake, for bringing plastic knives to school to cut the chicken or fruits in their lunches. Or, how about the two little elementary school boys in a conservative school district who were suspended for hugging?! Or how about the banning of gender neutral proms and Gay-Straight Alliance clubs and “gay” literature from schools? Or, girls suspended for having Midol? And on and on and on.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>But, this sensational story certainly <b><u>is</u></b> a convenient one for some with agendas to seize onto. And, focusing on the story is perhaps the best example of going after low hanging fruit that I’ve seen in a bit ;-)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>If the shoe fits, wear it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Saundra<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext'> vision2020-bounces@moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Paul Rumelhart<br><b>Sent:</b> Saturday, March 09, 2013 7:07 PM<br><b>To:</b> Vision 2020<br><b>Subject:</b> [Vision2020] School confiscates third-grader’s cupcakes topped with toy soldiers<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'>This is getting a little ridiculous, don't you think?<br><br>Paul<br><br><br><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/school-confiscates-third-grader-cupcakes-topped-toy-soldiers-215018982.html">http://news.yahoo.com/school-confiscates-third-grader-cupcakes-topped-toy-soldiers-215018982.html</a><o:p></o:p></p><div id="yui_3_5_1_1_1362884415028_988"><div id="yui_3_5_1_1_1362884415028_987"><h1>School confiscates third-grader’s cupcakes topped with toy soldiers<o:p></o:p></h1><p class=MsoNormal><span class=provider><i>The Daily Caller</i></span><cite> – Fri, Mar 8, 2013</cite><o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=first><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>In the latest incident of anti-gun hysteria to erupt in a school setting, officials at an elementary school in small-town Michigan impounded a third-grader boy’s batch of 30 homemade birthday cupcakes because they were adorned with green plastic figurines representing World War Two soldiers.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p>The school principal branded the military-themed cupcakes “insensitive” in light of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, <a href="http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/school-confiscates-cupcakes-decorated-with-toy-soldiers.html" target="_blank">reports</a> Fox News Radio.<o:p></o:p></p><p>“It disgusted me,” Casey Fountain, the boy’s father, told Fox News. “It’s vile they lump true American heroes with psychopathic killers.”<o:p></o:p></p><p>Fountain explained that his wife had made the cupcakes. His son, Hunter, helped decorate them. The following morning, Fountain’s wife brought the taboo treats to the school’s front office, where the secretary reportedly remarked favorably on their appearance.<o:p></o:p></p><p>“About 15 minutes later the school called my wife and told her they couldn’t serve the cupcakes because the soldiers had guns,” Fountain told Fox News. “My wife told them to remove the soldiers and serve the cupcakes anyway — and I believe she may have used more colorful language.”<o:p></o:p></p><p>“We’re just taking political correctness too far,” the angry father added.<o:p></o:p></p><p>In a statement to local media, Schall Elementary School principal Susan Wright Susan Wright doubled down on her school’s bold stand against little green men that represent American soldiers.<o:p></o:p></p><p>“These are toys that were commonplace in the past,” Wright said. “However, some parents prohibit all guns as toys. In light of that difference, the school offered to replace the soldiers with another item and the soldiers were returned home with the student.”<o:p></o:p></p><p>“Living in a democratic society entails respect for opposing opinions,” the principal also said. “In the climate of recent events in schools we walk a delicate balance in teaching non-violence in our buildings and trying to ensure a safe, peaceful atmosphere.”<o:p></o:p></p><p>This incident is the latest in a growing line of apparent overreactions by school officials to things students have brought to school — or talked about bringing to school, or eaten at school — that are not anything like real guns.<o:p></o:p></p><p>At Genoa-Kingston Middle School in northeast Illinois, a teacher threatened an eighth-grader with suspension if he did not remove his <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/27/junior-high-teacher-tells-kid-to-remove-marines-t-shirt-or-get-suspended/">t-shirt emblazoned with the interlocking rifles</a> insignia of the United States Marines. <strong><a href="http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/27/junior-high-teacher-tells-kid-to-remove-marines-t-shirt-or-get-suspended/">(RELATED: Junior high teacher tells kid to remove Marines t-shirt or get suspended)</a></strong><o:p></o:p></p><p>At Park Elementary School in Baltimore, Maryland, a student was suspended for two days because his teacher thought he shaped a <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2013/03/02/second-grader-suspended-for-having-breakfast-pastry-shaped-like-a-gun/">strawberry, pre-baked toaster pastry</a> into something resembling a gun. <strong><a href="http://dailycaller.com/2013/03/02/second-grader-suspended-for-having-breakfast-pastry-shaped-like-a-gun/">(RELATED: Second-grader suspended for having breakfast pastry shaped like a gun)</a></strong><o:p></o:p></p><p>At Poston Butte High School in Arizona, a high school freshman <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/02/high-school-freshman-suspended-for-having-a-picture-of-a-gun/">was suspended</a> for setting a picture of a gun as the desktop background on his school-issued computer. <strong><a href="http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/02/high-school-freshman-suspended-for-having-a-picture-of-a-gun/">(RELATED: Freshman suspended for picture of gun)</a></strong><o:p></o:p></p><p>At D. Newlin Fell School in Philadelphia, school officials reportedly yelled at a student and then searched her in front of her class after she was <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/24/philadelphia-girl-searched-berated-for-having-a-gun-made-of-paper-at-school/">found with a paper gun</a> her grandfather had made for her.<strong><a href="http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/24/philadelphia-girl-searched-berated-for-having-a-gun-made-of-paper-at-school/"> (RELATED: Paper gun causes panic)</a></strong><o:p></o:p></p><p>In rural Pennsylvania, a kindergarten girl was <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/29/hello-kitty-bubble-gun-comment-lands-5-year-old-in-school-suspension/">suspended for making a “terroristic threat”</a> after she told another girl that she planned to shoot her with a pink Hello Kitty toy gun that bombards targets with soapy bubbles.<o:p></o:p></p><p>At Roscoe R. Nix Elementary School in Maryland, a six-year-old boy was suspended for <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/03/maryland-school-suspends-six-year-old-boy-for-making-gun-gesture-saying-pow/">making the universal kid sign for a gun</a>, pointing at another student and saying “pow.” That boy’s suspension was later lifted and his name cleared. <strong><a href="http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/03/maryland-school-suspends-six-year-old-boy-for-making-gun-gesture-saying-pow/">(RELATED: Pow! You’re suspended, kid)</a></strong><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>