We have received a very unsettling communication here at Very Little Known Facts. Apparently some "overzealous" grade school teacher believes she knows a thing or two about the history of Ping Pong. (Click here to see our original post entitled A Brief History Of Ping Pong.) This is the text of the email she sent us:
Dear Very Little Known Facts,
I recently received a rather disturbing paper from one of my sixth grade summer school students on the history of ping pong. Though I am no ping pong expert, the facts he cited seemed patently absurd. When I asked him about his research methods, he showed me your website, or "blog," on our classroom computer. I must say I was taken aback by your wanton disregard for facts. I want you to understand that your site has the capacity to lead a struggling sixth grader astray. Shame on you.
Mrs. Poling, Tanglewood Elementary
Well Mrs. Poling, if that is your name, we take these allegations very seriously. So seriously that we contacted little Stevie Dennis and obtained, AT OUR OWN EXPENSE, a copy of his paper. (Click on the embedded hyperlink to see the full-size version.) And you know what we found? Solid academic achievement, that's what! But don't take our word for it. The following are merely a handful of sources available on the World Wide Web:
The standard reference site for anyone interested in the history of ping pong is, of course, Mongolian Ping Pong. I believe this site speaks for itself. But for the unversed, here is a brief translation from the Mongolian:
"Honorary twins conjoined forever, they are the flight of [untranslatable] from first Eurasian skies. Hail to Ping! This happy day is owed everything from one hen bladder game."
Pure poetry.
Also try this informative web log called heydidyaknow. In addition to many little known facts, it also has a rundown of some common knowledge regarding the history of ping pong.
And finally this link shows how ping pong is still popular and fun today. So before you "paddle" little Stevie, maybe you should check the facts yourself, Mrs. Poling! Shame on you!
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1 comment:
Mrs Poling: I too share your concern. Did you by any chance check the resources they provided.
Just as I figured. Directed to other fellow amatuer Fake Fact Sites.
My first introduction to this irresponsible hack work was a chance viewing of a racial slur . Along the lines of evrybody thinks of drunk, lazy when they think of American Indians. Which were carelessly grouped as one in the same as those people from the Indian Sub-continent here's a quote:"we can all agree that the United States was made great despite the tragic sacrifices of Native Americans who, face it, never built any skyscrapers for themselves ." Then there are the claims that crystal meth addiction withdrawl has no physical symptoms etc... etc...in the Article intitled "The Pro's and Cons of Meth Addiction"!
There is one parent who is currently home schooling(fooling) her children ,who scolded me for beleiving in information from "traditional sources"! Caimming this site has been a "god-send" of information for her and the kiddies.
Anyway I come here to get angry at their irresponsibility and my friends and I sometime get a good laugh at the blissful ignorance and actually learn something from resourcing the facts to correct these lazy hacks.Never the less, Mrs. Poling It did my soul good to see there are actually some semblances of intelligence left out there. Thank You.
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