First up is the AFP piece via Google News:
A California students' group plans to go ahead Tuesday with a bake sale where Asian- and African-Americans will be charged less than whites, despite triggering a racism row, they say.
Women will also pay less at the "Increase Diversity Bake Sale," organized by student Republicans at the University of California's elite Berkeley campus to protest planned changes in student admission policy.
"The pricing structure of the baked goods is meant to be satirical, while urging students to think more critically about the implications of this policy," said organizers on the Facebook page announcing the sale.
The page lists the price of baked goods at the sale according to race: "White, caucasian, $2; Asian/Asian American, $1.50; Latino/Hispanic, $1; Black/African American, $0.75; Native American, $0.25.
"$0.25 OFF FOR ALL WOMEN!" it adds.
And next up is the Breitbart piece:
A California students' group has sparked a racism and sexism row over plans for a bake sale in which people are charged according to their ethnic background and gender.
Campus Republicans at the University of California, Berkeley say critics have overreacted to their event planned for this week, which they insist is a protest over affirmative action.
The group's Facebook page lists the price of baked goods at the sale according to race: $2 for whites, $1.50 for Asians, $1 for Hispanics, $0.75 for blacks and $0.25 for Native Americans.
"$0.25 FOR ALL WOMEN!" it added.
Notice anything missing? Here's a big hint:
"The pricing structure of the baked goods is meant to be satirical, while urging students to think more critically about the implications of this policy," said organizers on the Facebook page announcing the sale.
Sins of omission can skew a piece into any direction you wish, however subtle it may be.
I thought about holding my own bake sale, in support of the DDSS Blog, of course, with some of the proceeds going towards making sure kids in Alabama have enough toilet papers and pencils to last them throughout the semester. I wasn't sure how to go about it, but here are a couple of ideas I had in mind:
- Hold the bake sale, but instead of the stratified price structure, all pastries will cost $5 a piece. I'll hold the bake sale in D.C. and Wall Street, allowing well-heeled politicians, investment bankers, stock brokers and military contractors to purchase my goods. Hell, I might even get a contract to supply pastries to some government organization for twice the money per.
- Hold the bake sale, but modify the price structure. Whites will be charged $3 per pastry, but the pastries themselves will be 100% whole grain, made from natural cane sugar and cruelty-free eggs. Each patron will receive a complementary cup of coffee, brewed from South American coffee beans fermented in the asshole of a 49-year-old "greenster" who lives in a tree, yet has an extension cord strung up for his iPod and iPad.
Blacks will still be charged $0.75 for their pastries, but the pastries will be discount-bin grade snacks and stale leftovers from Panera Bread. Cheap freeze-dried coffee is an extra for $1.05. When black patrons exit the premises with their goods, they'll be stopped by law enforcement and accused of shoplifting the goods. And since no receipts will be given, there will be little they can do to prove their innocence.
The Latino experience will be similar to the black experience, except they will be charged $1.25 and instead of law enforcement, ICE and DHS will be waiting for them. The Middle Eastern experience will be similar to the white experience, except DHS will be waiting for them, presumably to take them to "Guantanamo Bay," which for this purpose will be an ordinary room that's been darkened, with two guards posted behind the door.
This exercise will proceed to ignore Asians, since it's assumed they'll opt for the white experience, anyways.
Chances are this bake sale won't be that much of a success, so I may have to see if I can't be "bailed out" like the big banks have. It's worth a shot.
