holy shit. only in amerika.
KS
On 01/04/07, Jon Corelis <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I thought people in this group might be interested in this:
>
>
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>
>
> FEDERAL POETRY SUBSIDIES PROPOSED
>
> Washington, D. C. (CNS) -
>
> In a surprise move, the Bush Administration has announced that it will
> propose legislation in Congress to subsidize the production of verse by
> American poets.
>
> The program, which will be modeled on the longstanding federal agricultural
> price support program, will be designed to ensure a market at a basic price
> support level for the nation's poetry output.
>
> According to administration spokeswoman April Narr, a goal of the subsidies
> will be to ensure the continuing production of particular types of verse for
> which the market is currently weak. "For instance," she said at a news
> conference this morning, "not too many people write sonnets or heroic
> couplets any more, so those types of verse would be eligible for special
> price supports."
>
> Narr also said in response to questions that although the details have yet
> to be worked out, subject matter may also be taken into account to determine
> the price support levels of different types of poems. "There are plenty
> poems being written about having an affair or traveling in Europe or
> watching your child grow up," she said, "so that sort of poetry probably
> needs less subsidy. But poems about junk yards or shaving cream or peeling
> an orange are more rare and may be deserving of more price support."
>
> When questioned as to whether the public will accept a government program
> which channels taxpayers' dollars to poets, Narr replied, "It's really not
> such an unusual idea when you think of it. After all, if the federal
> government can pay farmers to produce soybeans, why can't it pay poets to
> produce sonnets?"
>
> --
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> Jon Corelis www.geocities.com/jgcorelis/
>
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