national writing day

[Laurence Horn]

At 2:53 PM -0400 10/21/09, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>At 10/21/2009 11:57 AM, Dennis Baron wrote:
>>it's a fake quote, Joel!
>
>Which, the Lamar Alexander or the William Berkeley?  8-)
>
>But thanks for alerting me not to look further.  It was quite
>believable -- especially if no Republican except Olympia Snow voted
>for the Congressional resolution.  (Although I now see that specific
>votes were not recorded.)
>
>Slightly apropos:  Some months ago I predicted to a friend that one
>of the two Mane women Republican senators would soon switch to
>Democrat, thereby giving them a filibuster-proof majority.  I was
>blind-sided by Arlen Specter, whom I never would have guessed --
>hadn't he spoken out, and been a swing vote, for confirmation
>of  Clarence Thomas?
>
>Joel
>
>>____________________
>>Dennis Baron
>>Professor of English and Linguistics
>>Department of English
>>University of Illinois
>>608 S. Wright St.
>>Urbana, IL 61801
>>
>>office: 217-244-0568
>>fax: 217-333-4321
>>
>>http://www.illinois.edu/goto/debaron
>>
>>read the Web of Language:
>>http://www.illinois.edu/goto/weboflanguage
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>On Oct 21, 2009, at 9:58 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>>
>>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>-----------------------
>>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>>>Subject:      Re: national writing day
>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>Dennis,
>>>
>>>I'm sending the Web of Language article to two teachers of ESL I know.
>>>
>>>1)  For your quotation from Sen. Alexander:  I didn't find it
>>>Googling.  And the paragraph is not in the Web article -- were you
>>>unable to verify it?  8-)
>>>
>>>2)  It might be amusing to add Virginia Gov. William Berkeley's 1670
>>>remark upon printing (and "free schools").  I found the following via
>>>Google Books in _Religion in America ..._ by Robert Baird (1844),
>>>page 147, footnote:
>>>
>>>"Sir William Berkeley, in 1670, in replying to the inquiries
>>>addressed to him by the Lords of Plantations, says:
>>>'I thank God, _there are no free schools nor printing,_ and I hope we
>>>shall not have them these hundred years; for learning has brought
>>>_disobedience,_ and _heresy,_ and _sects_ into the world, and
>>>printing has divulged them, and libels against the best
>>>government.  God keep us from both!' "
>>>
>>>3)  And to add a comment about prohibitions against printing the
>>>Bible in the vernacular, and against the hoi polloi reading it.
>>>
>>>Joel
>>>
>>>At 10/21/2009 12:31 AM, Dennis Baron wrote:
>>>>There's a new post on the Web of Language:
>>>>
>>>>It's National Writing Day. I wrote today, did you?
>>>>
>>>>Senate Resolution 310 proclaims today, Oct. 20, as the National Day
>>>>on
>>>>Writing. Sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English,
>>>>the
>>>>National Day on Writing seeks to promote personal, professional, and
>>>>civic writing in all its forms and celebrates writing by establishing
>>>>a National Writing Gallery to display all the writing created on
>>>>National Writing Day.
>>>>
>>>>The Senate resolution passed only because nowhere in its text are the
>>>>words "health care" or "communism"; there is no mention of the colors
>>>>red or pink; and so far as the administration's leftist agenda is
>>>>concerned, left-handed writers are specifically prohibited from
>>>>receiving government funds for any writing-related activities.
>>>>
>>>>Speaking against the resolution, however, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R.,
>>>>Tenn.) attacked the National Writing Day for promoting socialism. As
>>>>Alexander told a gathering at the Hoover Institution, "The
>>>>Resolution's second whereas clearly states, 'Whereas the social
>>>>nature
>>>>of writing invites people of every age, profession, and walk of life
>>>>to create meaning through composing.' That says it right there, the
>>>>'social nature of writing' -- writing is a socialist activity."
>>>>
>>>>Read the rest of this post on the Web of Language: http://bit.ly/weblan
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>____________________
>>>>Dennis Baron
>>>>Professor of English and Linguistics
>>>>Department of English
>>>>University of Illinois
>>>>608 S. Wright St.
>>>>Urbana, IL 61801
>>>>
>>>>office: 217-244-0568
>>>>fax: 217-333-4321
>>>>
>>>>http://www.illinois.edu/goto/debaron
>>>>
>>>>read the Web of Language:
>>>>http://www.illinois.edu/goto/weboflanguage
>>>>
>>>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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