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Open thread
- By Phillip Brownlee
- Posted Jan. 6, 2007 at 1:05 a.m.
- Filed under Open thread
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36 Comments
This thread is stalker, troller, lurker and anti-abortion free….
Good Saturday morning WE Bloggers. Had a computer glitch but now apparently solved so ready to rejoin our blogger conversations.
Hello fellowHi guyHowdy Rowdy
Good morning, nothing on my mind and it is a refreshing change! LoL
Hi JW – for a while. Good to see you back.
I wonder what Bush thinks the “troop surge” in Iraq is going to accomplish? That place seems pretty much hopeless to me. Now some neocons are admitting that success in Iraq is most likely impossible, but it’s because we were never conmmitted to success in the first place. Talk about being in denial and taking no resposibility!
This seems to be a very logical explanation for Bush’s “surge” — postponement.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/04/AR2007010401525.html?sub=AR“Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said yesterday that he believes top officials in the Bush administration have privately concluded they have lost Iraq and are simply trying to postpone disaster so the next president will “be the guy landing helicopters inside the Green Zone, taking people off the roof,” in a chaotic withdrawal reminiscent of Vietnam.” (continues)
cosmos – sounds exactly correct
Sacrificing lives to save political embarrasment.Damned American.
It didn’t take Nancy Boyda long to become a Republican did it? When asked if she’d support increased troop levels she said she’ll do whatever the Commander in Chief wanted. She’s unaware that only 14% of Americans support the increased cannon fodder levels and that she was voted into office by Democrats and Republicans who are opposed to the Bush regime.
With more Democrats like her the Republicans are sure to win back many more seats in two years.
Kansas Republicans used to be classic moderates. James Pearson, Nancy Kassebaum, Bob Bennett… were icons of common-sense moderation. Then the Republic Party got radical. Even Bob Dole in 1996 turned out to be “too liberal” for the Republic cons. Bob Dole.
Lee Atwater and his heir Karl Rove developed a strategy based on their awareness that, by definition, fifty percent of the American people are below-average in intelligence. If they could capture the Stupid vote, and team them up with the Corrupt vote, they’d have themselves a powerful electoral majority. Republic Cons pander to racists and xenophobes by juggling the “English as the official language” movement with corporate greed that provided the only reason undocumented aliens come to the United States.
There are enough laws already on the books that could stem the flow of illegal workers into the US, if only they were enforced. Problem is, the natural consequence of enforcement of those laws would mean the Wal-Mart Board of Directors would have to meet in the cafeteria at Leavenworth Federal Prison. And broccoli would cost a nickle-a-pound more.
Corrupt corporations paid the freight and stupid people traipsed to the polls to vote Republic on such fringe issues as gay marriage and late-term abortions. And Exxon-Mobil’s $4- or 5-Million dollar campaign contributions to the Republics assured billions and billions of record-breaking profits.
Read the official Kansas report on abortions, for example. Turns out, the number of abortions performed on women aged 15 or younger amounted to one-half of one percent of abortions perfomed in Kansas. You can’t get much more fringe on an issue when it involves one-half of 1%.
The Kansas Republic Party is, every day, becoming less and less of a political organization as it becomes more and more a religious movement. It might be able to pull in faith offerings and pack mega-churches, but it seems to be hell-bent (heaven-bent?) to become the 21st Century version of the Kansas United Dry Forces.
Kansans may not like abortion, but they’re reasonable and realistic and find safe, legal, and rare (remember that one-half on 1% statistic?) preferable to women being butchered in back alleys. Dr. Bill Roy (a retired OB/GYN practitioner and former Kansas congressman) has noted that it was far easier to get an abortion in Topeka back when the procedure was illegal than it is today. If you’re against abortion, that should qualify as progress. But it doesn’t, of course. Because the Republic Party loves the issue much more than they want a resolution.
The last successful presidency in the United States was Bill Clinton’s 8 years of moderation. The Republic Party screamed that he was a “liberal,” but anyone who knows any liberals knows better. The Republic Party’s majority (stupid plus corrupt) tags anything that’s not on *their* agenda as “liberal.”
Once the stupid and the corrupt gained power in America, terrorists attacked, and a (highly profitable for Halliburton, et al) non-provoked war sent more than 3,000 Americans to their deaths and 10,000 or more Americans to the mercy of a depleated Veterans Administration. The only upside, I guess, is that tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of innocent Iraqis are with Allah now. Thanks to the Republic Party.
This is a pretty good country. It’s a country where everyone can and should expect certain basic rights. We should expect clean water and a working sewer system and access to books and information and the right to vote and laws that apply equally to all (regardless of sexual orientation) and the soveriegnty of one’s body and essential health care and access to education and the opportunity to succeed (even if your ideas run counter to the power of Microsoft) even if you haven’t been born twice.
The Republic Party doesn’t seem to get this. The tail is wagging the dog. Part of the GOP’s bargain was to pander to the slim demographic of Evangelical “Christians” who put them over the top in the voting booth. To the Republics, the National Debt doesn’t matter because “Jesus is coming soon.” To the Republics, Global Warming doesn’t matter because “we’ll all be in Heaven.” To the Republics, inheriting wealth is just God’s way of telling you you’re responsible for picking the wrong parents.
What’s amazing to me is that there are still members of the Republic Party who think these ideas are a viable political strategy.
Ian:
You really think the Republc Party considers you part of “la Razza Blanco?”
Ha!
Time for school!
Take this test made for 1895 8th grade students and check to see if your quality of education of today was up to this standard.http://www.atforumz.com/archive/index.php/t-244.html
But before you take that test check this out:
http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.htm
Good job, Doug! Snopes is a wonderful source to debunk legends, misinformation, etc.
My favorite is the Qu’ran 9:11 nonsense.
That story is recirculated month after month, even though it only takes a minute to get the facts.
For those interested in the truth – Chapter 9, Verse 11 of the Qu’ran does not mention Eagle rising from the desert, yada, yada, yada. The verse is about redemption of sins.
Cosmos,
Interesting article you posted the link to. While that first paragraph made me furious, another sentence had me gritting my teeth and grrrrrr-ing.
*”There is nothing a United States Senate can do to stop a president from conducting his war,” Biden said.*
What kind of man wastes the lives of men and women so he won’t look bad?
I was surfing the ‘net last night and noticed that the 2000 troop was killed in October 2005. We’ve lost 1000 in a little over a year. That’s 1000 men, women, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, fathers, mothers… Each one touches the lives of so many. And for what?
I actually saw this exam in print when I used to frequent the Oklahoma Historical Society.
I don’t suppose this Snopes has ever visited the OHS?
Sounds like Doug and WSClark are using this to rationalize something.
Who knows what instead of just having good fun.
I think that what was called of being a “stick in the mud.”
The exam does exist and I have seen this from a 19th century document.
So much for good clean fun, takes a couple of spoil sports who want a chance to bash someone for any reason.
Did you go to the Snopes link, JM? It is actually a great, non-partisan, non-judgemental website.
Give it a try! I had my father (91) start checking his stuff out before he forwarded BS e-mails – he was surprised that so much of the stuff he received was total garbage.
Yes, I visited Snopes.
I doubt seriously that this Snopes visited the Oklahoma Historical Society and saw this document in person like I have though.
Electronic information can be misleading and often incorrect.
I would have a lot of trouble with the things relating to bushels since that is a unit of measure that is not commonly used in my existence. The rest I could at least stumble through.
Snopes did not deny that the exam existed, they pointed out that the premise was incorrect – for instance, how many bushels will fit into a wagon bed of a given size.
To flip the equation, how many 1895 eight grade students would be able to address contemporary questions – air travel, space, medicine, etc.
What Snopes concluded is that the question is a mtter of apples and oranges.
Doug & WSC,
Interesting exam(s), whether true or not.
I don’t think we’ve dumbed down our students, but I do think we’ve let many of the basics slide. Those basics are the foundation for more advanced lessons and studies, in particular in science and math. While I believe those advances are vitally important in the world we live in, the one thing we haven’t done is make sure those basics and fundamentals are learned by each and every student.
I’ve mentioned before here that, many years ago, I watched one of the first Literacy Telethons on KAKE. A panel of men and women from the strongest employers here in Wichita were talking about how so many new and young employees were, to them, not well grounded in basics. These young people were smart, some brilliant, but they hadn’t been given the tools needed to present those ideas in a way they could be used. In other words, their communication skills sucked. Without a way to communicate those great ideas, whether spoken or written in reports, emails, memos, etc., those great ideas were never realized. Sad. But not surprising.
I stood in line at a parent-teacher conference some years ago, while a well-known man in our community stood behind me, telling someone else that HIS kid didn’t need to know how to spell. That’s what spelling check was for. I wanted to ask him if his son knew the difference between ‘their,’ ‘there,’ and ‘they’re,’ or ‘bear’ and ‘bare.’ Or… Well, you get the picture. I doubt his son had a clue, and spell check wouldn’t help.
A middle school teacher refused to even mark papers for misspelling or bad grammar, because ‘it would play havoc with their creativity.’ Oh, please. How else will they learn if their mistakes aren’t pointed out to them? If it bothers a teacher to mark down for those things, AT LEAST mark the paper so the student can learn.
THIS is why we have problems in this country. Whether it’s because teachers don’t have time, resources, or the caring it requires to educate fully, or we should blame foolish programs like NCLB, I don’t know. I DO know something needs to be done.
JM,
Is the document you saw in the Oklahoma Historical Society the same or can you not read?
“It was taken from the original document on file at the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, KS and reprinted by the Salina Journal.”
Perhaps OK and Salina used the same test?
There is no doubt that schools reduce lessons to the lowest common denominator and that does have an impact on overall performance.
There are many examples of students/young adults that have no clue about the world around them.
The Fed Ex commercial – “You have no idea where China is, do you?” – is a prime example.
My point is that this is not a recent phenomenom. Schools, both public and private have failed to provide students with a fully, well-rounded education for decades. My son is 19 and can quote history, tech, science, yada, yada, yada.
I still have to balance his checkbook for him.
RD,
No doubt it might be the same document. In fact, I might well be indirectly responsible for it being on the Web in the first place.
Back in the 1990s, I was visiting my History Professor friend and he need to go to the Historical Society to do some clean up research. So I went with him.
He was downstairs in the Documents and Manuscripts section and I was upstairs in the library. I do recall that the books I read were Quarterly reviews of the Kansas Historical Society, rather old copies.
Anyway, I made a copy of the exam from the book and showed it to my friend. He laughed and ask if he could have it. He later told me he put it online for his discussion board. This would have been 1991-1993 time frame or so.
Anyway, the original post I made was meant to be fun and not to be a political issue to be frog-gigged.
Guess I’ll stop posting fun topics.
What is the mass of water in a tank 1m * 500cm * 100cm?
JM,
No harm intended, in spite of my one snarly comment to you re:reading. My apology.
If your post and link stir up some comments and a little controversy, it can’t hurt. Education is still important.
WSC,
I can balance my checkbook, although not without a little hair-pulling, but algebra and geometry are beyond my realm of understanding. I’d have to look up the question on bushels, but eventually I’d figure it out…if I really wanted to. :)
English and language come easily for me. I’m intrigued by history, although I’ve forgotten more than I remember. I have always enjoyed books (fiction) that weave history into the story. Dan Brown is a good example. I’m currently reading his Deception Point.
Well RD, my comments were not meant to anger JM, although my mere existence seems to tick him off at times. I find that he is normally a reasonable individual, and for the most part, his posts are reasoned and informed. I even took the time yesterday to defend JM when he was attacked by another poster, looking up the info that supported JM’s position.
But what the Hell – you can’t make everyone happy, even if you tell the truth.
JM–
Your 1890’s test is supposed to show how far the mighty have fallen apparently, right?
That’s the CONservatives biggest myth–that in the past there was this golden age of responsibility and families and good education, and now there isn’t thanks to 60’s liberals and Democrats.
Somebody from the 1890’s would be hopelessly adrift when it comes to medicine, chemistry, physics, and a whole host of other concepts we take for granted.
They didn’t even have a working airplane yet.
Orthography (Time, one hour)
1.What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phoneticorthography,etymology, syllabication?2.What are elementary sounds? How classified?3.What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph,subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?4.Give four substitutes for caret ‘u’.5.Give two rules for spelling words with final ‘e’. Name two exceptionsunder each rule.6.Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.7.Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word:Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, super.8.Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and namethe sign that indicates the sound: Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise,blood, fare, last.9.Use the following correctly in sentences, Cite, site, sight, fane,fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.10.Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciationby use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.
All except for the last two questions are nothing more than memorization and regurgitation.
It’s like “define e=mc2″ which they wouldn’t have been able to do because it hadn’t been invented yet, but most of us know quite readily that it’s Einstein’s conversion theory for energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.
I can maybe answer 1 and 5 thru 10, but it would take me a while. And some thought. Hard work, ya know. ;)
Actually, I admit to not recognizing the words fain and fane, so I’d have to use a dictionary on those. I think I’ll go look them up. No reason why I can’t learn something new. :)
My American Heritage Dictionary did not have “fane” in it. My Webster’s New World Dictionary did–archaic and poetic, “a temple or church”
But of course, if this was a word that had been taught in class, it wouldn’t be that hard, would it?
Even if the war remains a quagmire, death and destruction with no end in sight, Bush — personally — is better off. American service men and women, Americans who are paying the bills, Iraqis, and the rest of the world, may not be. But he’s better off. Because that will force someone else to pull the plug. Bush will then maintain that had we just stuck to it, it would have succeeded eventually. He will then hire an army of payable pundits and whorish historians to churn out books and papers to say so. That’s what the half billion dollar presidential library is for.
Bush is “commander-in-chief.” Congress can’t undeclare the war they so foolishly gave him permission for. The generals won’t mutiny or organize a coup (and we should be very thankful for that).
The war will continue.
The opposition to the war will grow. The more it grows, the more Bush will hunker down and the more he will insist that it continue. Either as a small force, to be whittled away, death by death, cripple after cripple, or, as much as he can, he will escalate. Doubling down. There is no formula for getting out of the war that eliminates the moment of recognition that he is a failure, an abject and utter failure.
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/677
A good analysis re troop size, U.S. military commanders being replaced, ignored ISG advice, etc., by war correspondent Joseph L. Galloway.
‘More Troops for Iraq: Bush’s Next ‘Flight from Reality’ ‘http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/shoptalk_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003528352 “George W. Bush believes that he can buy another couple of years of violent stalemate so he can hand off the disaster to whoever succeeds him in the White House on January 20, 2009.”
That’s his exit strategy — leave the White House.
If the kids back then think they are so smart let’s see them program in BASIC. I doubt any one of them touched a computer, or can tell me the basic structure of DNA, or the basic workings of an atomic bomb. Problem not one of those kids can mention who the Axis powers were in WW2. I can safely conclude those kids in 1895 knew dick about the 20th century.