Left Wing School Agenda and the Banning of Patriotism

[DSG]

The Left Wing School Agenda and the Banning of Patriotism

An article by Mark Loftin [markcloftin@yahoo.com]

When Winston Churchill was dropped from the UK school curriculum last July, one had to wonder if patriotism itself was next. Now it's official. The Institute of Education, a leading educational body, has warned teachers not to instill pride in students when speaking of great moments in British History:http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/13/1977438.htm?section=justin

"To love what is corrupt is itself corrupting, not least because it inclines us to ignore, forget, forgive or excuse the corruption. And there's the rub for patriotism."

The recommendations singled out specific moments in history that students should now feel "ambiguous" about:

1750-1830 The Industrial Revolution: exploitation of the poor versus great wealth creation and growth

1807 Abolition of the slave trade. Britons were both practitioners of the trade and responsible for abolition

1947 Indian independence and Partition. How well did Britain manage its withdrawal from the sub-continent?

2003 Iraq war: was it liberation or occupation?

This shouldn't come as a surprise. The UK schools' leftist agenda has been in full steam over the last year:

* Last month, "Mum and Dad" become forbidden in British schools because it assumes a child's parents are different genders, and The Three Little Pigs was banned so not to offend Muslims. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7204635.stm

* Last July, as mentioned, Winston Churchill was dropped from the UK school curriculum.

* Last April, teachings about the Holocaust were dropped as to not offend Muslims. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=445979&in_page_id=1770&in_page_id=1770&expand=true

* Last March, schools began teaching 4-years olds about homosexuality through books like "King and King," (which is about a prince that rejects three female princesses before falling in love with a prince). http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07031603.html

* An Inconvenient Truth is regularly shown in 3400 UK schools, instilling paranoia in 7-11 year olds. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/oct/12/politics.schools

Here in the U.S., the leftist agenda is also sinking its teeth into our schools at an equally disturbing pace. Leading the charge is California:

* San Francisco is debating an anti-war textbook,http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=assignment_7&id=5014115 which features corporate American celebrating the spoils of war and Ronald Regan hugging Osama Bin Laden. Pete Hammer of the San Francisco Unified School District, who approved the book, says "The topic is one that a lot of teachers would have an interest in bringing into the classroom."

* A current bill gaining momentum by California lawmaker Joe Simitian (D - Palo Alto) would require California schools to include climate change as part of the science curriculum http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8262486?source=rss&nclick_check=1

* Last October, "Mom and Dad" were banned from schools, along with "Husband and Wife." In the same bill, public schools were ordered to allow boys to use the girls' restroom or locker room, and vice versa, if they choose

* Last June the state passed a homosexual education bill SB 777, which: ".requires textbooks and other instructional resources to cast a positive light on homosexual `marriages,' cross-dressing, sex-change operations and every other facet of homosexual and bisexual lifestyles."

* More hatred of Israel, as seen by anti-Israel speakers and the atmosphere that appears on the UC Irvine, UC Berkeley and San Francisco State campuses . http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/3192

While there is not a specific mandate here in the US to "ban" patriotism - or any specific heroes that defined it - with more of the left's agenda taking up course time, one must wonder what will be slighted to make room.

A 2003 poll from California's Santa Monica High School said that 1/3 of students were not proud to American and 40 percent said America itself was "unjust". One can only imagine what the numbers would look like today in the name of "progress." Of course, you can't blame young, impressionable students for not being proud to be an American if that is what they are taught. The way the left commonly twists the meaning of the word, not being proud to American could be taught by a teacher as "patriotic."

In typical Doublespeak fashion, the left has been adamant about manipulating patriotism's definition for years. The Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines patriotism simply as "love for or devotion to one's country." http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/patriotism In 2001 Senator John Kerry redefined patriotism to mean "not drilling in the Arctic refuge." http://www.john-kerry.com/patriotism.htm In 2006, Kerry redefined it again to mean "wartime dissent." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/22/AR2006042200873.html Air America has defined it as "pointing out the flaws in your country." Entire Web blogs are dedicated to this trickery, such as US Patriots United which issued it's "10 commandments of patriotism." http://uspatriotsunited.blogspot.com/2005/07/ten-characteristics-of-true-us-patriot.html
A few entries:


(someone who),

"respects the diversity and culture of all nations, recognizing that our continued success lay not in spite of other nations but in alliance with them in a uniform approach toward promoting the global general welfare."

"ensures that the basic rights of those we hold dear to access quality healthcare and education is steadfastly supported, uncompromisingly and without discrimination based on race, color, creed, gender, or orientation."

"offers foreign humanitarian aid unconditionally without tying it to religious dogma"

"exercises the right to openly challenge (the president) and hold accountable at all times, even and most particularly in times of war"


Multiculturalism? Socialized Healthcare? Government- administered education? Wartime dissent? If the left had their way, being a patriot would be officially redefined to mean.being a liberal democrat.

At Nathan High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a project was started in 2005 to hang a picture of George Washington in every classroom. John Pribram, chairman of Project George Washington and a member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart said:

"I'm grateful (for the success of the project). After Sept. 11, we were united at that point. Flags in front of every house. Patriotism was rekindled. George Washington does the same thing."

One can only speculate at the heated debate that would occur in California over whether George Washington - military hero and devout Christian - deserves the classroom wall. Unfortunately, with Churchill being pulled from the walls in Great Britain, there is now a precedent for more patriotic disillusionment from California's schools.

Perhaps Leo Lacayo, San Francisco Republican Party media surrogate, put it best with his response to San Francisco's anti-war book: "We're not teaching them -- we're basically washing their brains with liberal mish-mash."

[HullBreach]

Wow...this is the death knell for what has been British Culture up till now.

I've always been very bothered by the lack of emphasis on history in school curriculums here in the US, and what is taught tends to be from a foerign perspective. I worry that we may be travelling down this same road eventually.

[BAMF]

OMGz the liberals are taking over!!1!!!1111231212@#@31!


By the way, I don't see anything wrong with most of these things. Its good to challenge your country and your rpesident every step of the damn way. Its something that makes this country great. If your idea of patriotism is being a rank-n-file follower and supporter like all the other toolbags, then guess what? Your idea of patriotism is fascism.

[blurboEK]

shouldn't that go in FFA?

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Education systems hard at work for the children. All those topics and not one mention of teaching kids defensive driving so traffic fatalities might no longer be the leading cause of death amongst 15-24 year olds.

Yep, fuck drivers ed. Lets not offend the Muslims with stories about three little pigs, or the fags with "mum and dad" references.

What a fucked up world.

[Zealot]

I think we should extend the border fence around California

[Joe]

Yep, fuck drivers ed. Lets not offend the Muslims with stories about three little pigs, or the fags with "mum and dad" references.


These things are just the tip of the iceberg with "what is wrong with the US public education system".

The more and more I encounter the kids from today's public education, the more I know my kids will definitely be going to a private school, no matter the cost.

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

These things are just the tip of the iceberg with "what is wrong with the US public education system".

The more and more I encounter the kids from today's public education, the more I know my kids will definitely be going to a private school, no matter the cost.

I thank you and wish you luck. But I am sure it is not easy coming up with 10K per kid every year. It's tough for most parent to pass on a new SUVs and eating at Chilis every week.*

*Generalization. Not directed at you I'm sure you know.

[Scott]

I find it funny that some say our society is going to hell in a hand basket and things are not the way they were when they were a child but can not draw the parallel to which group of people have been eroding our society via their PC politics and agendas.

Everything seemed to work fine when morals, religion, celebrations, proper family structure, and patriotism was all part of the curriculum at school and life in general. Sure some other views can be worked in but abolishing the other stuff over fear of offending a very small majority seems to be the problem. It is always the very small minority the fucks it all up for the majority.

[oh1coupe]

shouldn't that go in FFA?


+1

[TampaDude]

These things are just the tip of the iceberg with "what is wrong with the US public education system".

The more and more I encounter the kids from today's public education, the more I know my kids will definitely be going to a private school, no matter the cost.

Fuck it...I'm not having any kids.

[BAMF]

I find it funny that some say our society is going to hell in a hand basket and things are not the way they were when they were a child but can not draw the parallel to which group of people have been eroding our society via their PC politics and agendas.

Everything seemed to work fine when morals, religion, celebrations, proper family structure, and patriotism was all part of the curriculum at school and life in general. Sure some other views can be worked in but abolishing the other stuff over fear of offending a very small majority seems to be the problem. It is always the very small minority the fucks it all up for the majority.

If you weren't in the Ford forum I'd swear you were a right-wing sterotype bot.

[Joe]

Fuck it...I'm not having any kids.

That's fine for you...

Someone has to lead the sheeple... might as well be my kids... :lol:

[SilentBob86]

uughh...this gives me the willies, if they start implementing shit like this here, im protesting!

[Elohim]

Seems ok to me. You don't have to support every decision your government makes; there's nothing wrong with thinking independently.

[Scott]

If you weren't in the Ford forum I'd swear you were a right-wing sterotype bot.



You are helping make the point for people that have gone through the new age school system.

I understand generation gaps and that my parents probably thought society was in decline when I was a kid but there is little doubt that has accelerated ten fold in the last 30 years. The more the libs of the world think they are making things equal for everyone the more they divide and they fundamentally do not get or see this.

[BAMF]

You are helping make the point for people that have gone through the new age school system.

I understand generation gaps and that my parents probably thought society was in decline when I was a kid but there is little doubt that has accelerated ten fold in the last 30 years. The more the libs of the world think they are making things equal for everyone the more they divide and they fundamentally do not get or see this.

Versus the classical conservative views, which stem from lovely things like slave ownership, white supremacy, segregation, religious intolerance, cultural snobbery and intolerance, and indulgence of the rich at the expense of the poor/working class.

We can go back and forth about why both parties suck all day. Believe me, I hate them both, and don't really fit in with either of them.

[Scott]

Versus the classical conservative views, which stem from lovely things like slave ownership, white supremacy, segregation, religious intolerance, cultural snobbery and intolerance, and indulgence of the rich at the expense of the poor/working class.

We can go back and forth about why both parties suck all day. Believe me, I hate them both, and don't really fit in with either of them.



Like I said, you don't get it. Sensationalizing this with that first paragraph again somewhat makes the point.

[oh1coupe]

wtf? wheres the thread segregation natzi's?

[ms. kat]

shouldn't that go in FFA?

+1. What does this have to do with the election?

[Billy]

General political topics are allowed in here as well if the posted would rather have it discussed here as opposed to in FFA.

[BAMF]

Like I said, you don't get it. Sensationalizing this with that first paragraph again somewhat makes the point.

Like I said. You're one of the biggest rank-and-file conservative Republicans on this site. I'm sorry, but I can't take you seriously. Don't feel bad, though. I don't take rank-and-file liberal Democrats seriously, either.

[Graves]

I find it funny that some say our society is going to hell in a hand basket and things are not the way they were when they were a child but can not draw the parallel to which group of people have been eroding our society via their PC politics and agendas.

Everything seemed to work fine when morals, religion, celebrations, proper family structure, and patriotism was all part of the curriculum at school and life in general. Sure some other views can be worked in but abolishing the other stuff over fear of offending a very small majority seems to be the problem. It is always the very small minority the fucks it all up for the majority.

Amen

[moldyhands]

i don't know why the school system should be trying to instill or not instilled pride in something of historic significance. the specific times in briton's history should obviously be learned about. as should the positive and negative implications each one had. there should be no slant to either side. there are valid points to bring up on each side.

now patriotism should never get in the way of paying attention to the negative aspects of, but fear of over-zealous patriotism shouldn't get in the way of pointing out the positive.

[Scott]

i don't know why the school system should be trying to instill or not instilled pride in something of historic significance. the specific times in briton's history should obviously be learned about. as should the positive and negative implications each one had. there should be no slant to either side. there are valid points to bring up on each side.

now patriotism should never get in the way of paying attention to the negative aspects of, but fear of over-zealous patriotism shouldn't get in the way of pointing out the positive.



Lets simplify this.

Do you agree or disagree with my prior post and what parts do you disagree with if not all of them ?

I think anyone over the age of 30 should know what I am talking about in my prior post unless you were raised in a few select cities that have always been overly pc or liberal.

[moldyhands]

Lets simplify this.

Do you agree or disagree with my prior post and what parts do you disagree with if not all of them ?

I think anyone over the age of 30 should know what I am talking about in my prior post unless you were raised in a few select cities that have always been overly pc or liberal.i didn't even read your post when i posted mine.

to respond to that, i would say that conservatives often have a rosy picture of the past like it was some kind of wonderful world that everyone enjoyed. sure we had religion, morals, patriotism in school curriculum. but those same people and those same times had segregation, similar crime rates (link (http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm), and nearly double the percentage of people living under the poverty line (link (http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/histpov/hstpov2.html))

now, there are things wrong with our country. as a society, we place more importance on celebrities and sports stars than we do on education. of course, when we have congress wasting money by holding congressional hearings on sports, what do you expect? i think the main cause of this is corporations have turned us into a society of 30 second sound bites. MTV constantly shows kids that it's better to be on cribs than it is to go to college. then we end up in a society where families have to work too many hours to properly devote time to raising their children, then the TV ends up as the nanny. and i don't necessarily mean stay at home moms, but there are working families where both parents work a considerable amount of time. these kids have a higher chance of turning out screwed up.

even still - this is a much nicer time to live than 1960.

[BAMF]

Shh, Moldy. No it isn't, you goddamn whipper snappers!


:lol: I love imagining the old conservatives of TF as partially senile crotchety old men.

[moldyhands]

Shh, Moldy. No it isn't, you goddamn whipper snappers!


:lol: I love imagining the old conservatives of TF as partially senile crotchety old men.
oh my god!!! and now they're trying to give us a woman president... or even worse, a BLACK PRESIDENT!!!

[HullBreach]

oh my god!!! and now they're trying to give us a woman president... or even worse, a BLACK PRESIDENT!!!

I love this shit...we don't want socialism therefore we are misogynistic racists. Yeah, ok.

[moldyhands]

I love this shit...we don't want socialism therefore we are misogynistic racists. Yeah, ok.
humor dude - humor

[BAMF]

oh my god!!! and now they're trying to give us a woman president... or even worse, a BLACK PRESIDENT!!!

Sounds like my grandparents. Shit was much better when they grew up...during the great depression and the mobs... :lol:

[HullBreach]

humor dude - humor

My bad, I probobly do need to lighten up a bit, I've been getting a bit heated in a few of these debates.

[moldyhands]

My bad, I probobly do need to lighten up a bit, I've been getting a bit heated in a few of these debates.
racists right wing fascists usually do.... ;)

[HullBreach]

racists right wing fascists usually do.... ;)

Touche'

[Scott]

i didn't even read your post when i posted mine.

to respond to that, i would say that conservatives often have a rosy picture of the past like it was some kind of wonderful world that everyone enjoyed. sure we had religion, morals, patriotism in school curriculum. but those same people and those same times had segregation, similar crime rates (link (http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm), and nearly double the percentage of people living under the poverty line (link (http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/histpov/hstpov2.html))

now, there are things wrong with our country. as a society, we place more importance on celebrities and sports stars than we do on education. of course, when we have congress wasting money by holding congressional hearings on sports, what do you expect? i think the main cause of this is corporations have turned us into a society of 30 second sound bites. MTV constantly shows kids that it's better to be on cribs than it is to go to college. then we end up in a society where families have to work too many hours to properly devote time to raising their children, then the TV ends up as the nanny. and i don't necessarily mean stay at home moms, but there are working families where both parents work a considerable amount of time. these kids have a higher chance of turning out screwed up.

even still - this is a much nicer time to live than 1960.


You still tiptoed around a lot of what I posted and focused on something entirely different. And I was not referring to 1960's, I am not that old. :lol: I enjoyed my childhood and was born in 1971.

I attribute liking my childhood because there were more moral standards, there were almost all traditional families ( construe that how you want ), religion was not eroded away ( and no I am not that religious ! :eek: ), patriotism was not looked down upon, holidays were celebrated as intended without worrying about offending less than 3% of the population, so on and so on.

Point is the more pandering and political correctness ( typically liberal attributes ) has come in the more society has gone to the shitter so maybe the above items are more important than some realize and that having winter solstice parties in public school instead of Christmas parties is part of the problem in a small way but leads to bigger problems. I think you can get my point.

I will stop short here because if I elaborate in more details it is going to get taken the wrong way or cast me as a bigot and that is as far from the truth as it could be. Also I think having children ( which most here do not ) helps you realize a lot of this.

It is more than a coincidence that the more we erode some of the smallest traditions the less of a unified country we are. Conservatives typically want to stick with what they know works and if someone does not like it so be it, just do your own thing. Where as liberals feel they need to push their beliefs over everyone and do not understand when they get a lot of push back because of it. If they want to do their own thing so be it, I am all for it like most conservatives but do not go and try to make me be part of it or attempt to change my ways or everyone else for that matter. If you do not celebrate Christmas, no problem. Do not protest a school board to change the name of the school Christmas play to a winter celebration.

We raise our children very traditionally. You open doors for people, you say yes sir or no sir to people that are not family, you do to others as you would want them to do to you, you do not talk back to adults, etc.. So many of our children's friends know none of this. Why ? Because traditional values of disciplining children have gone out the window because others think that is the right way and punishing is bad. My children get spanked if they do something bad, it does not happen often because they know the consequences if they act out. Again I do not fall in line with the pandering bs. Oddly enough we have been told many times how well behaved our children are. Weird eh ? Again the new age parenting would never agree our way works.

Pandering to the minority is leading us to the crapper in a fast way. There is little to refute this.

[buck19]

A big problem resides in morons coming up with this idea that we should label people so they have to abide by retarded principles reserved for that caste.

How about this. Teach kids the truth. Toughen them up because this world is being overran by momma's boys that get offended if you say the most mundane crap. Stop thinking to far into such BS and promote the facts. I feel that I could have learned 50fold if the "public" school system had the balls to teach it.

[Iroc Joe]

OMGz the liberals are taking over!!1!!!1111231212@#@31!


By the way, I don't see anything wrong with most of these things. Its good to challenge your country and your rpesident every step of the damn way. Its something that makes this country great. If your idea of patriotism is being a rank-n-file follower and supporter like all the other toolbags, then guess what? Your idea of patriotism is fascism.

Seriously?

You see nothing wrong with removing history from the school curriculum? Maybe I'm more slanted since my first bachelor's is basically an American history degree (AMS) but I think history is absolutely as important as grammar and mathematics. Hell, maybe even more so than mathematics. You have heard the old adage that history repeats itself, and those who don't learn from the past are destined to make the same mistakes? Yes, I think part of being a citizen of a nation should entail knowledge of the history and workings of your nation. Amazing how many naturalized citizens know more about the country than native born shitheads because they have to pass an exam. That is pathetic, and natural born citizens should be ashamed of themselves.

Imposing jingoistic attitudes on students is not fair, they should be left make their own decisions. On the other hand, suggesting students should be "ambiguous" about certain issues is no different than suggesting they be patriotic. The job of the education system is to educate, not influence ideologies in naive, impressionable minds. From my personal experience, I would tend to agree the majority of the educators I have encountered have been left leaning. The university system is probably more guilty of this, I have watched my little sister enter as blindly conservative and after three years she is absolutely pathetic. Not just because she had changed views, but the fact that she is the "college know it all hippy" from South Park. Now she is vegan, knows what is wrong with the world, blah blah blah. It's disgusting, and I told her until she quits regurgitating bullshit that makes no sense because she saw it on MTV, I'm done talking to her. Her cunt of a roommate is playing her like a fucking puppet, and she is too goddamn stupid to realize. But, I have rambled enough.

[Billy]

^^^^ And don't get him started on his mom.....:lol:

[BAMF]

Seriously?

You see nothing wrong with removing history from the school curriculum? Maybe I'm more slanted since my first bachelor's is basically an American history degree (AMS) but I think history is absolutely as important as grammar and mathematics. Hell, maybe even more so than mathematics. You have heard the old adage that history repeats itself, and those who don't learn from the past are destined to make the same mistakes? Yes, I think part of being a citizen of a nation should entail knowledge of the history and workings of your nation. Amazing how many naturalized citizens know more about the country than native born shitheads because they have to pass an exam. That is pathetic, and natural born citizens should be ashamed of themselves.

Imposing jingoistic attitudes on students is not fair, they should be left make their own decisions. On the other hand, suggesting students should be "ambiguous" about certain issues is no different than suggesting they be patriotic. The job of the education system is to educate, not influence ideologies in naive, impressionable minds. From my personal experience, I would tend to agree the majority of the educators I have encountered have been left leaning. The university system is probably more guilty of this, I have watched my little sister enter as blindly conservative and after three years she is absolutely pathetic. Not just because she had changed views, but the fact that she is the "college know it all hippy" from South Park. Now she is vegan, knows what is wrong with the world, blah blah blah. It's disgusting, and I told her until she quits regurgitating bullshit that makes no sense because she saw it on MTV, I'm done talking to her. Her cunt of a roommate is playing her like a fucking puppet, and she is too goddamn stupid to realize. But, I have rambled enough.


You should've remembered who you were talking to before you wasted your time on that post, dude.

I said MOST. Which means there are still several I do have a problem with.

[25psi]

Seriously?

Imposing jingoistic attitudes on students is not fair, they should be left make their own decisions. On the other hand, suggesting students should be "ambiguous" about certain issues is no different than suggesting they be patriotic. The job of the education system is to educate, not influence ideologies in naive, impressionable minds. From my personal experience, I would tend to agree the majority of the educators I have encountered have been left leaning. The university system is probably more guilty of this, I have watched my little sister enter as blindly conservative and after three years she is absolutely pathetic. Not just because she had changed views, but the fact that she is the "college know it all hippy" from South Park. Now she is vegan, knows what is wrong with the world, blah blah blah. It's disgusting, and I told her until she quits regurgitating bullshit that makes no sense because she saw it on MTV, I'm done talking to her. Her cunt of a roommate is playing her like a fucking puppet, and she is too goddamn stupid to realize. But, I have rambled enough.

I attend Florida Gulf Coast University down in Ft.Myers during the week, you would of loved my Global Studies/ Foreign Policy teacher. The dude was Anti-Capitalist, Anti-Free trade, Anti-anything the U.S military is involved in. Was a big supporter of the group down in Brazil that pretty much squats on privately owned land and wants the Gov't to protect them.


It's ok now though, my Microecon teacher worked for the Cato institute.8)

[Iroc Joe]

You should've remembered who you were talking to before you wasted your time on that post, dude.

I said MOST. Which means there are still several I do have a problem with.

Seriously? Banning the words "mom" and "dad?" Political correctness pisses me off, and that entire article is basically all about political correctness. I think the only thing I didn't have a problem with was Israel bashing. Fucking Jews. ;)

[moldyhands]

Seriously?

You see nothing wrong with removing history from the school curriculum?i see something wrong with your post. as is typical in this society, you didn't even read the article.

A spokesman for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority said the new curriculum, to be taught from September 2008, does not prescribe to teachers what they must include.

But he added: "Teachers know that they need to mention these pivotal figures. They don't need to be instructed by law to mention them in every history class.

"Of course, good teachers will be teaching the history of Churchill as part of the history of Britain. The two are indivisible."

basically these guys just tried to make the school curriculum more flexible, and people with an agenda want to mandate exactly what the teachers should do. they're teachers teaching history - i'm sure they can figure out how to do that.

[Iroc Joe]

i see something wrong with your post. as is typical in this society, you didn't even read the article.

basically these guys just tried to make the school curriculum more flexible, and people with an agenda want to mandate exactly what the teachers should do. they're teachers teaching history - i'm sure they can figure out how to do that.

Actually, I did read the article. Thanks for asking. I still do not agree. Leaving basic historical curriculum to the discretions of individual educators is absurd. Everyone will have a different opinion of what is important, the basic curriculum should have an outline for teachers to follow.

Your highlights in red hinge on a key word, "good." Good teachers. What about students who have poor teachers who will teach whatever they please? Furthermore, if you continued to read my prior post you would have seen where the article echoes a statement I made...


"If you're surprised that people do not seem to care that much about the country in which they live, the reason is that they don't know much about it."