Always glad to perpetuate an intellectual conversation!
it is indeed ironic that the idiot could foist his beliefs upon a school system he doesn't participate in (except, I guess, as a tax payer).
... Which was my argument exaclty: if we are going to allow this individual to influence the education of local children just because "his taxes" pay for it, what's to stop every other pedophile* in the area from demanding the same right?
* I say "other" pedophiles because in his complaint, Scroggins claimed the book Speak was pornographic; pornography is defined as "material of a non-artistic nature which is designed to cause sexual arousal," and thus only a pervert would find a book about a teenage girl being repeatedly raped to be "sexually arousing."
If you (or anyone, for that matter) have a valid hypothesis worth study, then by all means bring it up! Any real scientist worth their salt would jump at the opportunity to explore a heretofore unknown theory.
However, if your entire scientific platform boils down to "God did it, now stop asking questions," well, you might as well join Santorum on his dinosaur and ride off into the sunset.
Let's start teaching holocaust denial in history class then.
They already do: it's referred to as "Manifest Destiny," and is the flimsy justification given to kids regarding the attempted genocide of the native American people. I'm sure someone will want to attempt to argue that point, but when you look at the facts objectively it becomes obvious the colonial settlers intentionally attempted to systematically wipe out an entire nation of people, in an effort to steal the native's land./rant
Sometimes it seems there are more American Holocaust deniers here, than European Holocaust deniers in all the world.
For the record, I was by no means attempting to denigrate the practice of home schooling; much to the contrary, as a products of the public school system ourselves, the wife and I have agreed that if we were to have children, one of us would be staying home to tend to their education.
My point of broaching the topic in this case was to point out the irony of how the fundamentalist forcing his viewpoint on the public school doesn't actually have any offspring attending it.
Considering that the federal government willingly admits they have secret, non-publicized interpretations for laws, I would say that ignorance of the law (or rather, how it is being enforced) is now the perfect excuse.
Nothing wrong with not being able to get into a book; Stephen King is great if you can handle slogging through 3 chapters of pure scene description before the story actually starts, but obviously his writing isn't for everyone.
The important thing is that you're reading, and (hopefully) learning from it.
I would file a complaint against my accuser with the police department, on the grounds that anyone who finds textual depictions of naked children sexually arousing (the definition of 'pornography') is obviously a pedophile.
Not too long ago, we had a similar issue here when a local religious fanatic (who home schools his children, BTW) demanded the local high school ban, among others, Kurt Vonnegut's classic Slaugherhouse V, claiming it too was pornographic in nature.
The school ended up bowing to the holier-than-thou asshole and banned the book; however, doing so had the unexpected side effect of Slaughterhouse V becoming the most read book in the city of Republic. The Vonnegut Library even donated several hundred copies of the book to the local library, all of which were swiftly checked out.
Experience tells me Ender's Game is about to become the most read book in Shofield, SC.
We all "play games," all day, every day. Hell, if you really want to get philosophical, it can be said that life is an RPG, albeit a rather shitty one.
Also, good time management is a must; sitting around the house can make it tempting to attempt to multitask (i.e., clean the garage while your code compiles), but every divergence from the job you're being paid to do will negatively affect your ability to do said job in an efficient, timely manner.
At least, that was my experience working from home. YMMV definitely applies to this one.
More like, "we can't regulate the banking industry because free market blah blah blah" juxtaposed against "we must subsidize the banking industry because free market blah blah blah."
1) I never said it was perfect. Just not inherently evil. I do concur regarding the federal government using social welfare as an excuse to impose draconian measures on the formerly free states, but that's not the systems fault; it's the fault of the assholes running the show.
2) I never suggested that he was suggesting anarchy, merely pointing out that the current demi-socialist system is better than the old system of nothing.
3) Not my problem, dude. I seldom concern myself with the workload of others, unless it directly affects me. Even then, if I'm going to bitch about it at least I have the grapes to actually confront the individual rather than piss and moan and 'blame the system' in an online forum.
Slashdot Mirror
Look:
It is a verifiable fact that the U.S. government broke every single treaty they made with the natives.
It is a verifiable fact that European transplants intentionally seeded the native population with disease to exterminate them.
Estimates place the number of Native Americans killed by European invaders anywhere between 1.8 and 100 million.
There's even a Wikipedia entry for the North American Genocide.
You can continue to deny what's in front of your face all you like, just know what sort of company you keep when you do so.
Thanks for the follow-up
Always glad to perpetuate an intellectual conversation!
it is indeed ironic that the idiot could foist his beliefs upon a school system he doesn't participate in (except, I guess, as a tax payer).
... Which was my argument exaclty: if we are going to allow this individual to influence the education of local children just because "his taxes" pay for it, what's to stop every other pedophile* in the area from demanding the same right?
* I say "other" pedophiles because in his complaint, Scroggins claimed the book Speak was pornographic; pornography is defined as "material of a non-artistic nature which is designed to cause sexual arousal," and thus only a pervert would find a book about a teenage girl being repeatedly raped to be "sexually arousing."
I dunno, Satanist week might be even more entertaining.
Considering that seems to be the main religious preference in the Washington, D.C. area, I doubt there would be much controversy.
If you (or anyone, for that matter) have a valid hypothesis worth study, then by all means bring it up! Any real scientist worth their salt would jump at the opportunity to explore a heretofore unknown theory.
However, if your entire scientific platform boils down to "God did it, now stop asking questions," well, you might as well join Santorum on his dinosaur and ride off into the sunset.
And by sunset, I mean 'big-ass volcano.'
Let's start teaching holocaust denial in history class then.
They already do: it's referred to as "Manifest Destiny," and is the flimsy justification given to kids regarding the attempted genocide of the native American people. I'm sure someone will want to attempt to argue that point, but when you look at the facts objectively it becomes obvious the colonial settlers intentionally attempted to systematically wipe out an entire nation of people, in an effort to steal the native's land. /rant
Sometimes it seems there are more American Holocaust deniers here, than European Holocaust deniers in all the world.
But it would need to cover ALL religions and beliefs, which I think people would throw the hissy fit to end all hissy fits over.
Only during Qu'ran Week.
For the record, I was by no means attempting to denigrate the practice of home schooling; much to the contrary, as a products of the public school system ourselves, the wife and I have agreed that if we were to have children, one of us would be staying home to tend to their education.
My point of broaching the topic in this case was to point out the irony of how the fundamentalist forcing his viewpoint on the public school doesn't actually have any offspring attending it.
Oh, and also, seriously? A small corporation that can't afford the $100 to buy a technical standard? Or the $1000 to buy 10?
Even a 1 person corporation can usually afford that, if they can afford to start a business
That's not the point; the point is that citizens of a free nation do not have to pay a fee to know the laws they are expected to follow.
Considering that the federal government willingly admits they have secret, non-publicized interpretations for laws, I would say that ignorance of the law (or rather, how it is being enforced) is now the perfect excuse.
Nothing wrong with not being able to get into a book; Stephen King is great if you can handle slogging through 3 chapters of pure scene description before the story actually starts, but obviously his writing isn't for everyone.
The important thing is that you're reading, and (hopefully) learning from it.
I would file a complaint against my accuser with the police department, on the grounds that anyone who finds textual depictions of naked children sexually arousing (the definition of 'pornography') is obviously a pedophile.
Not too long ago, we had a similar issue here when a local religious fanatic (who home schools his children, BTW) demanded the local high school ban, among others, Kurt Vonnegut's classic Slaugherhouse V, claiming it too was pornographic in nature.
The school ended up bowing to the holier-than-thou asshole and banned the book; however, doing so had the unexpected side effect of Slaughterhouse V becoming the most read book in the city of Republic. The Vonnegut Library even donated several hundred copies of the book to the local library, all of which were swiftly checked out.
Experience tells me Ender's Game is about to become the most read book in Shofield, SC.
Or acting in general, sort of the ultimate playing pretend, sometimes for huge amounts of money...
...but typically for nothing more than your daily bread.
We all "play games," all day, every day. Hell, if you really want to get philosophical, it can be said that life is an RPG, albeit a rather shitty one.
Seriously, when I read the phrase "Microsoft Manual of Style," All I see in my head is that scene from Raiders where that one Nazis face is melting...
Dedicated
Workspace
Also, good time management is a must; sitting around the house can make it tempting to attempt to multitask (i.e., clean the garage while your code compiles), but every divergence from the job you're being paid to do will negatively affect your ability to do said job in an efficient, timely manner.
At least, that was my experience working from home. YMMV definitely applies to this one.
Your internets...you *can* use them for more than just porn and trolling.
WHAT??? You haven't told the serfs that, praytell?
If they realize there's more to life than fucking (and fucking with each other), they may very well rebel!
It will be the end of internetz nobility as we know it!
More like, "we can't regulate the banking industry because free market blah blah blah" juxtaposed against "we must subsidize the banking industry because free market blah blah blah."
Isn't *necessarily"?
So, you saying you'd normally expect it to be a bad thing except under unusual conditions?
No. I saying what I said (and yes, I am mocking your grammar).
If you're having trouble understanding my premise, I recommend an ESL class or two.
If anyone here gave two shits about what you have to say, we'd listen to your daily 3-hour diatribe, Rush.
Now (tosses some Oxycontin out the window) go fetch!
In addition, I've begun prefacing every phone call I make with Echelon trigger words.
They want dirt on us? Fine, let's BURY the motherfuckers in it.
1) I never said it was perfect. Just not inherently evil. I do concur regarding the federal government using social welfare as an excuse to impose draconian measures on the formerly free states, but that's not the systems fault; it's the fault of the assholes running the show.
2) I never suggested that he was suggesting anarchy, merely pointing out that the current demi-socialist system is better than the old system of nothing.
3) Not my problem, dude. I seldom concern myself with the workload of others, unless it directly affects me. Even then, if I'm going to bitch about it at least I have the grapes to actually confront the individual rather than piss and moan and 'blame the system' in an online forum.
That's why I would laugh when I hear phony bureaucrats wax philosophic about 'free-enterprise,' if the reality of it wasn't so God-damn depressing.
... or child molesters, if this were Canadia.
isms generally are bad things when taken to extremes
I would posit that anything taken to an extreme is a bad thing; hence the adage, 'all things in moderation.'
Ya know, the neat thing about life in general and language in this case is the very thing you pretend to not understand.
Actually, dick, Google has no idea what you're talking about either.
So, go on and ride that high horse into the sunset; no one here will miss you.