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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 03/19/2010 : 03:57:22
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Mark Moford on the Texas textbook idiocy.
"Hey, kids! Here's something I bet you didn't know: Black people? Back in 1800 or whenever? They liked being slaves. True! Many savvy, industrious Negroes actually volunteered for that fine, desirable position. It was a completely balanced, fair, hugely successful system, until those damn liberals came along and ruined everything. I know, right? What a shame.
Do you know what else? America was wholly victorious in Vietnam. It's a fact! Kicked some serious enemy butt! Mission accomplished! Sure it was a little bumpy for awhile, but President Nixon, that great and wronged American hero, put us on the righteous path in the end, wrapped that sucker up beautifully and made America the noble Superman to the world. Hey, it's the truth! You can look it up in your history textbook!
Even more good, newly historic news: Despite what you may have heard from the liberal media, America has very much won its recent, God-sanctioned wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Angry Allah loses again! Just look at this handy diagram on page 281, Figure 4-9. See those little dark-skinned bodies stacked up neatly beside that minaret? Right next to that completely unstaged photo of the toppled Saddam statue? Look how many there are! Graphs never lie.
Did you know, back in the frontier days, that Native Americans welcomed the white man with open arms? Absolutely true. Those poor, sunburned people were so beaten down and exploited by their oppressive dictator "chiefs," they were forced to believe in all sorts of disgusting pagan sun gods and had to eat, like, rocks and snakes and stuff.
It's no wonder they greeted proud, fair-minded American colonials as great liberators -- yes! Just like in Baghdad! -- and happily gave us free access to their fields and their women and their wonderful bead-making technology, in exchange for, you know, gin and fireworks. And casinos.
Never doubt America's irrefutable greatness, kids. Our prison system, for example, is the finest in the world. Also, dirty Mexican people had no role whatsoever in the Civil War or U.S. history (except as troublesome immigrants, yuck), hip-hop music is in no way, shape or form to be considered a significant cultural movement -- unlike totally awesome Country & Western, and the War on Drugs is going spectacularly well, thanks to our fine military, numerous Afterschool Specials and the deep love of Jesus -- who, if you look really closely at those old photographs from the Bible, is clearly wearing a U.S. flag pin on his robes to go along with his friendly, competely legal sidearm. God bless America.
These irrefutable facts -- and many more just like them -- are brought to you by the Texas State Board of Education, packed like a jug of rancid tartar sauce with intellectually numb simpletons who smell like ignorance and taste like fear. The TSBE: We make revisionist brainwashing fun!™"
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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astropin
SFN Regular
USA
970 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2010 : 10:54:05 [Permalink]
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Outstanding.
I just sent Mr. Moford an email thanking him for that wonderful article.
And thank you filthy for bringing it to my attention. |
I would rather face a cold reality than delude myself with comforting fantasies.
You are free to believe what you want to believe and I am free to ridicule you for it.
Atheism:
The result of an unbiased and rational search for the truth.
Infinitus est numerus stultorum |
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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2010 : 12:15:26 [Permalink]
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And here's a Texas science textbook illustration:
http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/v225/1111/33/n737373639_7333.jpg |
Diversity, independence, innovation and imagination are progressive concepts ultimately alien to the conservative mind.
"TAX AND SPEND" IS GOOD! (TAX: Wealthy corporations who won't go poor even after taxes. SPEND: On public works programs, education, the environment, improvements.) |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2010 : 12:54:10 [Permalink]
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Heh, yeah.... 
It would be a lot funnier if implications for education around the country were not so serious. The TX Board of (alleged) Education seems to be playing at being God; molding our children into their own badly-flawed image. When the backlash comes, and I'm sure there will be one, may it involve a codling-grinder.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2010 : 13:39:46 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by filthy
....When the backlash comes...
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Yup. It could begin by future employers, in science, medicine, education, etc., nationwide as well as overseas, unofficially refusing to hire anyone who graduated from a school or university in Texas.
The Texas-approved textbooks are also open for use throughout the USA, so it could get even stickier, but Texas itself could be a convenient editing factor for committees in charge of interviewing graduates seeking employment. |
Diversity, independence, innovation and imagination are progressive concepts ultimately alien to the conservative mind.
"TAX AND SPEND" IS GOOD! (TAX: Wealthy corporations who won't go poor even after taxes. SPEND: On public works programs, education, the environment, improvements.) |
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podcat
Skeptic Friend
435 Posts |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2010 : 23:37:29 [Permalink]
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| Dammit, I don't want my kids to be learning about someone they didn't already know! Stranger danger! |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2010 : 03:11:22 [Permalink]
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It's "was," I'm afraid. He was assassinated in 1980, in El Salvador.
Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (August 15, 1917 – March 24, 1980)[1] was a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in El Salvador. He became the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, succeeding Luis Chávez. He was assassinated on March 24, 1980.
As an archbishop who witnessed ongoing violations of human rights, Romero initiated and gave his status to a group which spoke out on behalf of the poor and the victims of the Salvadoran civil war. In many ways Romero was closely associated with Liberation Theology and openly condemned both Marxism and Capitalism.[2] In 1980, as he finished giving his homily during Mass, Romero was assassinated by a group headed by former major Roberto D'Aubuisson. This provoked an international outcry for reform in El Salvador. After his assassination, Romero was succeeded by Monsignor Arturo Rivera. In 1997, a cause for beatification and canonization into sainthood was opened for Romero, and Pope John Paul II bestowed upon him the title of Servant of God. The process continues.[3] He is considered by some the unofficial patron saint of the Americas and El Salvador and is often referred to as "San Romero" by Catholics in El Salvador. Outside of Catholicism, Romero is honored by other religious denominations of Christendom, including the Church of England through the Calendar in Common Worship. He is one of the ten 20th century martyrs who are depicted in statues above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey in London.[4] In 2008, he was chosen as one of the 15 Champions of World Democracy by the Europe-based magazine A Different View.[5]
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The TX Bored with Education probably doesn't know who he was, either.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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Machi4velli
SFN Regular
USA
854 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2010 : 13:09:20 [Permalink]
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| Don't worry, schools don't cover enough material to get past the 1800s in their history books anyway. |
"Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people."
-Giordano Bruno
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge."
-Stephen Hawking
"Seeking what is true is not seeking what is desirable"
-Albert Camus |
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podcat
Skeptic Friend
435 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2010 : 13:33:11 [Permalink]
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| Well, it seems from the clip that some were reasonable enough to want Romero's history taught in the schools. Not enough of those board members, unfortunately. As Jon said to the audience after the decision was booed, "Get your @$$es on the Texas Board of Curriculum [sic]!" |
“In a modern...society, everybody has the absolute right to believe whatever they damn well please, but they don't have the same right to be taken seriously”.
-Barry Williams, co-founder, Australian Skeptics |
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the_ignored
SFN Addict
2562 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2010 : 08:06:53 [Permalink]
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Well, these guys have found at least one person who's proud of the new Texas standards.
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>From: enuffenuff@fastmail.fm
(excerpt follows):
> I'm looking to teach these two bastards a lesson they'll never forget.
> Personal visit by mates of mine. No violence, just a wee little chat.
>
> **** has also committed more crimes than you can count with his
> incitement of hatred against a religion. That law came in about 2007
> much to ****'s ignorance. That is fact and his writing will become well
> know as well as him becoming a publicly known icon of hatred.
>
> Good luck with that fuckwit. And Reynold, fucking run, and don't stop.
> Disappear would be best as it was you who dared to attack me on my
> illness knowing nothing of the cause. You disgust me and you are top of
> the list boy. Again, no violence. Just regular reminders of who's there
> and visits to see you are behaving. Nothing scary in reality. But I'd
> still disappear if I was you.
What brought that on? this. Original posting here.
Another example of this guy's lunacy here. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 03/21/2010 : 09:16:17 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by the_ignored
Well, these guys have found at least one person who's proud of the new Texas standards.
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Oh yeah, Andy, Phylis' mentally defective kid. He can blather to his heart's content now but the backlash on the Texas Trash is in conception, and soon, I think, to be birthed.
Historians speak out against proposed Texas textbook changes
By Michael Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Historians on Tuesday criticized proposed revisions to the Texas social studies curriculum, saying that many of the changes are historically inaccurate and that they would affect textbooks and classrooms far beyond the state's borders.
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This is a fight I'm looking forward to. It should be high;y amusing to watch this pack of tongues-speakers get taken down a notch. There is still some sanity left in this country in spite of the Religious Rights's determined efforts to destroy it.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 03/23/2010 : 13:20:59 [Permalink]
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The Texas Board of Education is officially the biggest joke in the world!
Hahahahahah!
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2010 : 05:21:18 [Permalink]
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Disgruntled rumblings heard from afar, and a plan of action as it is realized that there's no point in talking to Texans.
Go after the publishers.
The Relgious Right has made manipulation of the content of Texas public school text books a major project for a generation. This is because Texas purchases most of their textbooks on a statewide basis, and therefore it tends to set the standards competing publishers have to meet in order to sell books to the state's huge book market. And therefore as Texas goes, so goes the nation, at least for the winning publisher. The body with the biggest say in the Texas textbook brawl is the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE). Much has been written about the many controversies in recent years, involving the SBOE regarding science and most recently history standards, as well as the election campaigns of SBOE members. (For in depth information about the battle of the SBOE, visit the Texas Freedom Network ).
While the SBOE merits such attention, so do the textbook publishers who pander to Texas. The Washington, DC-based Interfaith Alliance has offered to help publishers who are feeling the Texas heat. While it's not clear what they are offering to do, or what the publishers might ask of them, it could be an an interesting develpment.
An Alliance press release today also says that Alliance president Rev. Welton Gaddy has sent a letter to leading publishers denouncing the Christian nationalist ideas religious right board members insist be taught to Texas public school students. Here is the text: |
You'll have to crack the link to see the excellent Rev. Gaddy's letter. It's well worth the effort.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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| Edited by - filthy on 03/26/2010 05:22:33 |
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Hey Texas: STFU!
