You apparently equate 'educated' with 'intelligence' - that doesn't hold up in my opinion. If that were true, if greater education meant a person was more intelligent than someone with less education, then it would be true that George W. Bush is demonstrably more intelligent than John Kerry, since both attended the same schools, but Bush had higher grades.
So I was wrong about the reason Texas was chosen but the fact that it was the same venue as a previous opposing muslim rally pretty much backs up that they wanted a confrontation.
You missed the part where the preceding event at the same location was called "Stand With The Prophet" - it was in support of Islam, it was against those that mock the prophet...
Yes. On both sides of the fence. Intentionally holding an event intended to offend religious ideals is as stupid as those intent on hurting people simply because they're offended. Asshats.
Really? Holding an open forum that may offend some people is the moral equivalent of taking up arms and trying to kill people because they offended you? If that's the case, is it open season for religious individuals to take up arms and fire into the crowd at a bill maher performance because his book a 'Religiosity' (or whatever it's called) offends them?
And let's hear it for the local police! They were brought in as additional security for the event, and when something bad happened (a shot rang out, hitting an unarmed security guard), the local police put down the shooters with two quick shots less than 45 seconds after the guard was shot.
The guard is already out of the hospital, the two terrorists with a religious motivation we fear not mentionare at the morgue.
How many times will politicians announce yet another initiative to bring broadband internet access to schools and libraries, especially in lower-income neighborhoods? They have been beating this drum for what, 10, 15 years now?
I'd really like politicians to explain why programs like e-rate have failed to achieve their goals and describe how this new program addresses the problems in existing programs.
Oh, and he's 'encouraging' publishers to 'donate' $250M worth of e-books... All Obama has done is asked for donations, nothing more - why limit the donations to $250M? Why not ask for $1BN in donated books and services?
We have to spend billions to upgrade the grid, to handle "Green" power sources that are more expensive than their competitors.
Agree, but let's not forget we (as a country) 'encourage' green energy by: A) directly sponsoring research & development of green energy B) directly sponsoring manufacturing of green energy devices C) directly sponsoring the training of installers of green technology devices D) indirectly (through tax subsidies) subsidise the purchase of green technology E) indirectly (though inflated 'guaranteed sale' requirements imposed on utility companies) subsidise the ongoing operation of green technology
Underwriting basic research (A above) is a perfectly appropriate function of government, but the others (B thru E) are market distortions intended to achieve a political end regardless of the financial cost.
The very idea that there might be a high school full of tech goodies that I wouldn't allowed to go to just because I was a boy is just torture.
You don't understand, they aren't denying you access to the 'tech goodies', they are only making them available yo girls in order to make things even/fair...
MS is paying taxes in NV, where the licensing corp is located.
It is not right to say MS isn't paying taxes, it simply is avoiding Washigton State's higher tax rate. I bet if Washington state lowered it's tax rate to equal Nevada's MS would consider relocating MS licensing group back to Washington State... How about it Washington state, do you want the tax revenues or the talking point against MS?
MS is paying to educate NV kids, where their license corp. is located. This is something current law allows, locating parts of your business anywhere you want - want to make that illegal?
Employees at three call centers in Mexico, Colombia and the Philippines sold hundreds of thousands of AT&T customer records, including names and Social Security numbers
So a couple low-level workers go all Snowden/Manning and steal company data and sell it on the open market, and their employer is stuck with a $25M fine... Seems fair.
House Republicans voted Friday to dismantle the troubled No Child Left Behind law for evaluating America's students and schools, saying states and local school districts rather than Washington should be setting rules for ensuring that kids are getting good educations.
The legislation would eliminate federally required testing of students, which has been controversial from the start. But the measure passed with no Democratic support and drew a veto threat from the Obama administration, which said it would be a "step backward" in efforts to better prepare children for colleges and careers and to bring improvements to low-performing schools.
Democrats in the Senate, where they hold the majority, are working on their own bill. It would also give states greater flexibility in designing school improvement standards. But it would maintain the authority of the federal education secretary to approve those plans. A Senate vote on that legislation is unlikely until autumn.
That's not "No Child Left Behind" - That's teachers failing that child, repeatedly. Shame on you for letting teachers blame their failings on something like NCLB.
The main thrust of NCLB was to ensure that special needs children had their needs met, even if it came at the expense of Gifted and Talented students.
Standardized test are used, in the aggregate, to evaluate teacher/school performance because, well, it's the only option left for educators. Teachers unions refuse any other form of teacher evaluation - peer evaluation results in a building full of "exceptional" teachers, even if half the high school graduates can't read their diploma.
They didn't know the answers, they deserved the low scores their "teacher" protected them from.
By inflating their grades, the students were denied the education they deserved, many of which were special needs students.
I don't care about how many pencils he bought out of his own pocket, that doesn't change the fact that his students did poorly on the tests and he choose to change their answers, not teach them what they were supposed to be taught.
This corruption went all the way up to the district superintencent, who avoided prosecution only by dropping dead before the trial.
And of course, the founding fathers wanted to keep the church and the state separated, and they wanted no monarchies.
You do realize the prohibitions regarding the ESTABLISHMENT of a federal religion were intended to let the colonies keep their own state religions, the federal government wouldn't try to take the place of the colony/state's religion.
The 'separation of church and state' argument was in response to a letter to Thomas Jefferson from the Baptist ministers from one of the colonies that was afraid the new federal government was going to force the baptists to adopt a new STATE religion.
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You apparently equate 'educated' with 'intelligence' - that doesn't hold up in my opinion. If that were true, if greater education meant a person was more intelligent than someone with less education, then it would be true that George W. Bush is demonstrably more intelligent than John Kerry, since both attended the same schools, but Bush had higher grades.
The shooters were taken down with just two single shots, within 45 seconds of their first (and only) shot fired.
The only victim was an unarmed security guard, who returned home about 12 hours after he was shot.
You missed the part where the preceding event at the same location was called "Stand With The Prophet" - it was in support of Islam, it was against those that mock the prophet...
The cop is an unarmed security guard, and he is already out of the hospital.
Really? Holding an open forum that may offend some people is the moral equivalent of taking up arms and trying to kill people because they offended you? If that's the case, is it open season for religious individuals to take up arms and fire into the crowd at a bill maher performance because his book a 'Religiosity' (or whatever it's called) offends them?
If you defended Piss Christ then you really should be defending this art competition in Texas.
And let's hear it for the local police! They were brought in as additional security for the event, and when something bad happened (a shot rang out, hitting an unarmed security guard), the local police put down the shooters with two quick shots less than 45 seconds after the guard was shot.
The guard is already out of the hospital, the two terrorists with a religious motivation we fear not mentionare at the morgue.
Why do you think ANY of the books will be textbooks? Those are already being bought by taxpayer-funded school districts.
Recreational reading? They can't find free ebooks on the Internet? Is Gutenberg really THAT hard to spell?
This is a nothing program - publishers are encouraged to donate, no money allocated to buy anything.
How many times will politicians announce yet another initiative to bring broadband internet access to schools and libraries, especially in lower-income neighborhoods? They have been beating this drum for what, 10, 15 years now?
I'd really like politicians to explain why programs like e-rate have failed to achieve their goals and describe how this new program addresses the problems in existing programs.
Oh, and he's 'encouraging' publishers to 'donate' $250M worth of e-books... All Obama has done is asked for donations, nothing more - why limit the donations to $250M? Why not ask for $1BN in donated books and services?
Agree, but let's not forget we (as a country) 'encourage' green energy by:
A) directly sponsoring research & development of green energy
B) directly sponsoring manufacturing of green energy devices
C) directly sponsoring the training of installers of green technology devices
D) indirectly (through tax subsidies) subsidise the purchase of green technology
E) indirectly (though inflated 'guaranteed sale' requirements imposed on utility companies) subsidise the ongoing operation of green technology
Underwriting basic research (A above) is a perfectly appropriate function of government, but the others (B thru E) are market distortions intended to achieve a political end regardless of the financial cost.
Bullshit.
Prove it.
Separate, but equal - what a great idea, where have I heard that before?
You don't understand, they aren't denying you access to the 'tech goodies', they are only making them available yo girls in order to make things even/fair...
"republican-controlled media" - good one.
MS is paying taxes in NV, where the licensing corp is located.
It is not right to say MS isn't paying taxes, it simply is avoiding Washigton State's higher tax rate. I bet if Washington state lowered it's tax rate to equal Nevada's MS would consider relocating MS licensing group back to Washington State... How about it Washington state, do you want the tax revenues or the talking point against MS?
MS is paying to educate NV kids, where their license corp. is located. This is something current law allows, locating parts of your business anywhere you want - want to make that illegal?
You understand it was contract employees that stole the data, not AT&T Corporate...
So a couple low-level workers go all Snowden/Manning and steal company data and sell it on the open market, and their employer is stuck with a $25M fine... Seems fair.
And by "repealed" you mean defended and threatened to veto the Republican bill to eliminate federally mandated testing in 2013?
Did anyone consider the race of the victims, the students?
That's not "No Child Left Behind" - That's teachers failing that child, repeatedly. Shame on you for letting teachers blame their failings on something like NCLB.
The main thrust of NCLB was to ensure that special needs children had their needs met, even if it came at the expense of Gifted and Talented students.
Racketeering requires an underlying crime - it is an aggravating crime, not an independent crime.
They were convicted of fraud, that they worked together opened the door for a racketeering conviction.
They did it for years.
They did it thousands of times each year.
They conspired to punish teachers that threatened to expose the test cheating.
Their annual salary increases were based in large part on the test scores.
The teachers organized "erasure parties" to facilitate their crime in a fun, social setting.
Standardized test are used, in the aggregate, to evaluate teacher/school performance because, well, it's the only option left for educators. Teachers unions refuse any other form of teacher evaluation - peer evaluation results in a building full of "exceptional" teachers, even if half the high school graduates can't read their diploma.
Teachers whose students showed higher levels of achievement were given larger pay raises.
He cheated to "help" his students?
They didn't know the answers, they deserved the low scores their "teacher" protected them from.
By inflating their grades, the students were denied the education they deserved, many of which were special needs students.
I don't care about how many pencils he bought out of his own pocket, that doesn't change the fact that his students did poorly on the tests and he choose to change their answers, not teach them what they were supposed to be taught.
This corruption went all the way up to the district superintencent, who avoided prosecution only by dropping dead before the trial.
You do realize the prohibitions regarding the ESTABLISHMENT of a federal religion were intended to let the colonies keep their own state religions, the federal government wouldn't try to take the place of the colony/state's religion.
The 'separation of church and state' argument was in response to a letter to Thomas Jefferson from the Baptist ministers from one of the colonies that was afraid the new federal government was going to force the baptists to adopt a new STATE religion.
Pretty sure England was soaking the colonies to help pay for it's war with France...
Then there was that whole 'taxation without representation' thing...