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Another Afghan School Poisoned — 160 Girls Hospitalized
An anonymous reader writes "Back in April, we discussed news of an anti-education attack on an Afghani school, which poisoned 150 Afghan schoolgirls. Now, a hospital in the same province has admitted 160 more girls who seem to have suffered a similar attack. 'Their classrooms might have been sprayed with a toxic material before the girls entered, police spokesman Khalilullah Aseer said. He blamed the Taliban. The incident, the second in a week's time, was reported at the Aahan Dara Girls School in Taluqan, the provincial capital. The girls, ages 10 to 20, complained of headaches, dizziness and vomiting before being taken to the hospital, said Hafizullah Safi, director of the provincial health department. More than half of them were discharged within a few hours of receiving treatment, Safi said. The health department collected blood samples and sent them to Kabul for testing.'"
/. was never meant to be just about tech/IT. In fact, these days, it's arguably more that way than it was as a baby.
These weren't a people who go upset, laid down their arms and walked away. They fought to the bitter ends of it all.
Okay, let's say you disagree with everything your government is doing. Imagine you hate that the government isn't just standing back and letting the medical industry force you to buy the managers new Jaguars, and imagine that you hate that the government is letting women go around with their heads uncovered and own property and stuff and even think they have the same rights as men, and allowing schools to teach that evolution is fact and creation is not. Imagine, in short, that you're a pretty typical right-wing "Christian" American.
Now we invade you. Fucking thousands of deeply warlike Scots, and we are going to take your damn country apart - and you know we could. Once we win, we'll let you shape your government any way you damn well please, but we are taking your country now.
Are you going to fight, or lie down?
His point is that modern-day tea partiers / Republicans want the same thing the Muslims already have: Education as a privilege for the rich, and demonized and stigmatized for the poor, especially for females and ethnic minorities.
All the Republicans who are anti-education are college educated. They wield that power of knowledge and don't want others to have it. They come around busting teachers unions, pushing charter schools, and doing everything they can to make education less accessible and of a lower quality for the poor.
Modern day Muslims are living in the logical extreme of the current Republican dogma. He was complaining that our potential future could look the same, if Republicans get their way. It's not that far fetched -- Sarah Palin ran on a platform of stupidity and wholeheartedly embraced ignorance and being poorly informed. Republicans have already started their campaign of making "dumb" the new normal. The entire Tea Party is based on this, and they are throwing away all the political common sense we've amassed since 1776 for their "Stupid and Proud" campaign.
Call me a troll, but with 30 years education I'm just telling you what I've seen and heard. Dems have plenty of shortcomings when it comes to education, but Republicans (like Muslims) really do want to destroy it for everyone but those at the top. It's easier to subjugate people when they are too dumb to know better. Sure Dems have things like ebonics and social promotion and endless tests that ruin how schools function, but in the end they are still pro-education.
You really have to wonder about a party that is deliberately trying to make America stupid for their own gain. It's stunning.