Flurries shelved the floating bookshop today. At least we didn't get the predicted storm.
There is an outrage being perpetrated by NewSouth Books. In its new edition of Mark Twain's immortal Huckleberry Finn, the 219 instances of the N-word will be replaced by "slave." All references to "injuns" will also be removed. This will rob the novel of much of its meaning and distort its context, all in the name of political correctness. Jim is one of the most decent humans in the book, far more decent than many of the whites. There is nothing racist about this masterwork. It merely captures its times. I hope the edition is a collosal failure. What would happen if they tried to take the N-word out of hip hop, where it is used to demean?
In a related issue, the department that issues passports will no longer refer to mother and father, but to "parent one" and "parent two," in deference to the two percent of families of unique composition, who might feel slighted by traditional terms.
The inmates are running the asylum.
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