I guess "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness" are just empty words to you?
Are you aware that the original words were "life, liberty, and the pursuit of profit"?
Methinks the Founding Fathers felt a need to be less crass about what we stood for. Though maybe we should reinstate the original words, for the post-1980 era when greed is considered the highest civic virtue.
Are the summary and the title trolling? Or in other words RTFA. While the Texas Republican party isn't exactly an example of honesty and intelligence, in this case they are taking a stand against a particular unproven set of educational reforms. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outcome-based_education The buzz-words they are objecting to are so ill-defined, and in practice so slippery, that I would instead read this article as an attempt to claim the middle ground and portray the Democrats as out of touch with reality.
What's interesting about the platform is that they are using outcome-based education to smear critical thinking.
Especially interesting since OBE (in the form of NCLB) was one of their proud accomplishments a decade or so ago.
Actually, it's only from the moment of conception to the moment of birth. After that, tough shit if you starve, die from a treatable disease, get shot by someone from a higher social class, die in a war for the benefit of the rich and powerful, or get executed for a crime you didn't commit.
The truth is, many in the GOP say they are disgusted by the neocons but they don't do anything to discourage or oppose them. Talk is cheap.
The fracture in the Republican party is between those who support the views of the "American Taliban" and the traditional plutocrats who merely want to exploit them to get elected. Neither group has any motivation to tell them to fuck off.
I knew that Republicans were basically stupid but I didn't realize they bred themselves that way.
They don't breed *themselves* that way. This is for "hoi polloi", the people John Steward Mill was talking about, whom the Republicans exploit by making their knees jerk so that they can get enough votes to run the country as a plutocracy.
And of course, the threat isn't that critical thinking will challenge fixed beliefs and parental authority, but rather that critical thinking will allow educated voters to see through the party's authoritarian bullshit and thus fail to vote against their own best interests.
And atheists still believe that there is a reason to help poor and sick people, despite the fact that evolution and nature don't.
Uh, actually they do.
We all exist due to an extremely random chance that we can't recreate, nor decide on how exactly it happened, but somehow they ascribe value to people.
ISTM that most atheists ascribe *more* value to people than religious conservatives do.
If only they can fix it where the people who use it don't start stomping around Tokyo breathing fire and knocking buildings down, it will be ready for market.
Speaking of numbers, according to a story making the rounds yesterday the USA has 5% of the world's population, but 25% of the world's prison population.
Something has gone seriously wrong in the Land of the Free.
Wouldn't it be great if people learned foreign languages ? If people would allow foreigners to puplish in their on language ?... Yeah too much to ask, I guess.
IMO everyone should be allowed to puplish in the language of their choice, so long as they do it in the privacy of their own home.
If we had told these men that it was near certain death: that there was almost no chance of survival whatever but we might learn something from their ashen corpse - it would not have made any difference. They were ready to GO. They would have strapped in with a smile on their lips. Once upon a time we were made of sterner stuff.
Actually, I suspect that the fraction of the population who would sign up for a job as a test pilot has been pretty constant since the invention of the airplane.
The notion of "the right stuff" is just propagandistic idol-making. Governments love to offer the public a hero.
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I guess "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness" are just empty words to you?
Are you aware that the original words were "life, liberty, and the pursuit of profit"?
Methinks the Founding Fathers felt a need to be less crass about what we stood for. Though maybe we should reinstate the original words, for the post-1980 era when greed is considered the highest civic virtue.
they pry the last one from my cold, dead fingers.
Or nuke me in my bunker. Same diff.
If you're going to fabricate 1 paper, you might as well fabricate 172.
Linux users who crawl to Blizzard remind me of an cousin of mine who kept going back to her abusive boyfriend.
It's not abuse, it's BDSM!
They are every bit as dangerous as cellphones.
People use them while driving?
The phrase "Permanent Emergency" made me think of "war is peace".
It made me think of "Disaster Capitalism: It's not just for third-world countries anymore".
We're actually entering an Ice Age.
Global warming isn't happening.
It's happening, but we didn't cause it.
It's happening, and we're causing it, but there's nothing we can do about it.
It's happening, and we're causing it, but there's nothing we can do about it at a price we're willing to pay.
We don't know what's going to happen, so we need to wait until more evidence is in.
The first few are often accompanied by:
It's just a liberal plot to destroy industry
(as if offshoring hasn't already destroyed it).
Are the summary and the title trolling? Or in other words RTFA. While the Texas Republican party isn't exactly an example of honesty and intelligence, in this case they are taking a stand against a particular unproven set of educational reforms. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outcome-based_education The buzz-words they are objecting to are so ill-defined, and in practice so slippery, that I would instead read this article as an attempt to claim the middle ground and portray the Democrats as out of touch with reality.
What's interesting about the platform is that they are using outcome-based education to smear critical thinking.
Especially interesting since OBE (in the form of NCLB) was one of their proud accomplishments a decade or so ago.
But a smart move, since everyone despises it now.
The US actually has weapons of mass destruction, and uses them.
That's *two* differences, but only for the last c. 20 years.
"Sodom" Hussein had+used them earlier. On his own people, no less.
"sanctity of life crom fertilization to grave"
Actually, it's only from the moment of conception to the moment of birth. After that, tough shit if you starve, die from a treatable disease, get shot by someone from a higher social class, die in a war for the benefit of the rich and powerful, or get executed for a crime you didn't commit.
The truth is, many in the GOP say they are disgusted by the neocons but they don't do anything to discourage or oppose them. Talk is cheap.
The fracture in the Republican party is between those who support the views of the "American Taliban" and the traditional plutocrats who merely want to exploit them to get elected. Neither group has any motivation to tell them to fuck off.
I knew that Republicans were basically stupid but I didn't realize they bred themselves that way.
They don't breed *themselves* that way. This is for "hoi polloi", the people John Steward Mill was talking about, whom the Republicans exploit by making their knees jerk so that they can get enough votes to run the country as a plutocracy.
And of course, the threat isn't that critical thinking will challenge fixed beliefs and parental authority, but rather that critical thinking will allow educated voters to see through the party's authoritarian bullshit and thus fail to vote against their own best interests.
The failure on your part to understand that the Romans only became as wealthy as they did because they allowed ... free trade.
In the reality that the rest of us live in, the Romans became filthy rich when they conquered the rich civilized nations of the eastern Mediterranean.
That influx of ill-gotten gain played a key role in the downfall of the Republic. (Private armies aren't cheap.)
How do they know it's from that planet?
Can't it be light from Uranus?
Ah, so you've caught the joke: Tau Boötis is Greek for Teh Bootie.
And atheists still believe that there is a reason to help poor and sick people, despite the fact that evolution and nature don't.
Uh, actually they do.
We all exist due to an extremely random chance that we can't recreate, nor decide on how exactly it happened, but somehow they ascribe value to people.
ISTM that most atheists ascribe *more* value to people than religious conservatives do.
I think you've been spending too much time on LDS.org.
Or LSD.org.
and the hulk doesn't even have a sonic screw driver
Yeah, but the Hulk has attitude.
I think Palin would do pretty well. I saw a bit about her handling a couple of Russians.
I saw her guy handling a couple of turkeys.
I never thought that pseudo-science could be used to disprove real science! Brilliant!
Creationists are fond of citing *movies* to support their arguments.
If only they can fix it where the people who use it don't start stomping around Tokyo breathing fire and knocking buildings down, it will be ready for market.
Speaking of numbers, according to a story making the rounds yesterday the USA has 5% of the world's population, but 25% of the world's prison population.
Something has gone seriously wrong in the Land of the Free.
Wouldn't it be great if people learned foreign languages ? If people would allow foreigners to puplish in their on language ?...
Yeah too much to ask, I guess.
IMO everyone should be allowed to puplish in the language of their choice, so long as they do it in the privacy of their own home.
Or during an eclipse.
It's a pity Neil Armstrong did not explain about the remark he made to Mr.Gorsky.
It's a pity you can't afford a computer that uses proportional fonts.
If we had told these men that it was near certain death: that there was almost no chance of survival whatever but we might learn something from their ashen corpse - it would not have made any difference. They were ready to GO. They would have strapped in with a smile on their lips. Once upon a time we were made of sterner stuff.
Actually, I suspect that the fraction of the population who would sign up for a job as a test pilot has been pretty constant since the invention of the airplane.
The notion of "the right stuff" is just propagandistic idol-making. Governments love to offer the public a hero.