This is what happens when bigotry dominates the main conservative media platform

[RocksInMyHead]

What do you conclude from this?

That Texas is, by far, the most influential state in textbook development. Which was the claim that you posted the article as a counterpoint to.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Given all I've see in vague allusions to the issue rather than a clear explanation of the problem and issues with various proposed solutions, I'm not sure what was being discussed. Without that, it just seems like complaining from the sidelines rather than actual understanding of the problem.

If you choose from "various solutions" you will likely choose the ones proposed by the most influential special interest voices, as my city and county has, with predictable results.

I have outlined my plan in detail on other threads. They should be well known by now, just as my complaint about the shopping carts is.

You have to live here to understand the looney way this city is run.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

That Texas is, by far, the most influential state in textbook development. Which was the claim that you posted the article as a counterpoint to.

But aren't those textbooks still a hodge-podge of many ideas from the past as well, as the author asserts?

 

[RocksInMyHead]

But aren't those textbooks still a hodge-podge of many ideas from the past as well, as the author asserts?

I'm uncertain of where you're going with this. Can you articulate a point? The argument is that Texas controls the textbook market. The article you provided supports that point - it specifically states that they write their textbooks to meet the Texas educational standards (and, more importantly for this discussion, pass Texas citizen review) first. The fact that the information is often recycled doesn't really play into that.

 

[istodolez]

Liberal leaders tend to think that forced community service is slavery, thus they overlook a huge human resource residing in our prisons.

So that's what you mean by understanding the resources available? That's disturbing in the extreme.

But mainly they don't think in terms of practical solutions because they lack the experience or exposure to them.

No, I think we've all see slave labor places like China and most of us think it's an unappealing option.

They also are hesitant to make someone do work that they wouldn't do them selves.

Well, that's something I would call a "virtue". One of the reasons I dislike our nations treatment of undocumented workers is that they do jobs that I wouldn't want to do for pay that is so pathetic as to be offensive on a human level. To see the kind of conditions migrant and undocumented folks work in in places like Southern California and know that their lives are spent scraping pennies together and living in constant fear makes me, personally, feel guilty for paying as little as I do for produce in the grocery store. My "advantage" comes from their back-breaking labor.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

So that's what you mean by understanding the resources available? That's disturbing in the extreme.

We can put high school kids to work as well.

No, I think we've all see slave labor places like China and most of us think it's an unappealing option.

So you do believe that compulsory community service is slave labor. You've made my point.

Well, that's something I would call a "virtue". One of the reasons I dislike our nations treatment of undocumented workers is that they do jobs that I wouldn't want to do for pay that is so pathetic as to be offensive on a human level. To see the kind of conditions migrant and undocumented folks work in in places like Southern California and know that their lives are spent scraping pennies together and living in constant fear makes me, personally, feel guilty for paying as little as I do for produce in the grocery store. My "advantage" comes from their back-breaking labor.

And yet they keep coming.

 

[Albion]

Quite a provocative WAPO op-ed piece 2 days ago by Michael Gerson. Who's an evangelical Christian and life-long conservative Republican. And a very perceptive man.

Well, you found a so-called lifelong conservative Republican who is actually a conflicted Republican endeavoring to be seen as in step with the "me too" Republicans of the long distant past. But no, they don't run the party anymore. And Lincoln, Wendell Wilkie, and Nelson Rockefeller are deceased.

There's nothing "perceptive" about this tome. Most of his editorials are essentially the same.

And it was published in a newspaper that's known for its very partisan editorializing.


As Scott Galupo, writing in US News and World Report, said of Gerson's struggle to find himself...

"It’s a shame for Gerson that America’s binary party system doesn’t have room for something along the lines of Europe’s Christian Democrats. He and former Gov. Mike Huckabee would feel right at home in such a party.

"For better or worse, we have just two parties—and Gerson has very painfully shoehorned himself into one of them."

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Given all I've see in vague allusions to the issue rather than a clear explanation of the problem and issues with various proposed solutions, I'm not sure what was being discussed. Without that, it just seems like complaining from the sidelines rather than actual understanding of the problem.

Here's some pictures taken today, from the sidelines (shorelines really). Our local leaders should go there sometime.

When the water warms up the whole lake will be covered except a few deep spots. The only beach will be closed often because of blue-green algae blooms.

This monster lily pad bed encroaches farther into the lake each year. It's never cut but left to rot and add more nutrients to the lake and those lakes downsteam. There's another large bed on the other side of the lake that is growing larger as well.

If the weeds are cut at all on this lake it's in the late summer, too late for most to enjoy the lake. Multiple cuttings are needed beginning in the spring.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Yes, it is funny and there is a lot of truth to it. The only thing you haven't done is show that the process was contrived by Democrats in pursuit of a liberal agenda.

Something that grows up like topsy is more a product of human nature than a deliberate conspiracy. I think the libs are happy if enough students come out of high school fearful, confused, and uncertain, which of course will require further 'education' to remedy.

 

[wing2000]

6 pages thus far of off topic discussion...

 

[Caliban]

6 pages thus far of off topic discussion...

Pretty much--getting some to see the plank their own eye is a challenge.

 

[Speedwell]

Something that grows up like topsy is more a product of human nature than a deliberate conspiracy. I think the libs are happy if enough students come out of high school fearful, confused, and uncertain, which of course will require further 'education' to remedy.

Liberals want kids to come out of school tolerant of diversity and ambiguity and capable of critical thinking. More of them would, too, if liberals had as much control over the schools as you imagine.

 

[wing2000]

Pretty much--getting some to see the plank their own eye is a challenge.

...I guess when a Fox news talking head takes issue with commentary from head of the Heritage Foundation, it best be ignored...

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Liberals want kids to come out of school tolerant of diversity and ambiguity and capable of critical thinking. More of them would, too, if liberals had as much control over the schools as you imagine.

Tolerant of "ambiguity"? Why?

To me the best way to develop critical thinking skills would be to give the students and their parents the 'lesson plan' for each course. This would greatly demystify what is required of the students, and put all parties on the same page.

 

[Caliban]

...I guess when a Fox news talking head takes issue with commentary from head of the Heritage Foundation, it best be ignored...

Or instead of ignoring things which don't conform to ones politics and worldview, that person could investigate the issue further to see what they might be missing.

 

[Evan Jellicoe]

Quite a provocative WAPO op-ed piece by Michael Gerson

6 pages thus far of off topic discussion...

It seems common around here for people who don't like the OP's point of view to re-route the discussion instead of answering it directly. So let's get back on topic by re-stating the entire OP:

Quite a provocative WAPO op-ed piece 2 days ago by Michael Gerson. Who's an evangelical Christian and life-long conservative Republican. And a very perceptive man.

"For a glimpse of what the total absence of faith and character looks like, see the Republican Party of Texas. In the aftermath of Floyd’s death, a dozen elected leaders of the GOP wrote or retweeted racist memes and conspiracy theories. Comal County Republican Party Chair Sue Gafford Piner propagated the idea that philanthropist George Soros is funding a race war. Bexar County GOP Chair Cynthia Brehm suggested that Floyd's death was staged to hurt President Trump’s reelection chances. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller wrote that the civil rights protesters are “domestic terrorists who were organized and paid for by George Soros...

This is not the rejection of “political correctness”; it is the success of white supremacy in the Texas Republican Party. The GOP, in many places, has become an institution where leaders are elevated and groomed for cruelty and bigotry. This is what happens when the president of the United States normalizes racism and mainstreams ideological madness." (emphasis mine)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...deaf50-a9ba-11ea-a9d9-a81c1a491c52_story.html
*

 

[Speedwell]

Tolerant of "ambiguity"? Why?

Ambiguity: the quality of being open to more than one interpretation.

Because that's what real life is like.

 

[Caliban]

It seems common around here for people who don't like the OP's point of view to re-route the discussion instead of answering it directly. So let's get back on topic by re-stating the entire OP:

Quite a provocative WAPO op-ed piece 2 days ago by Michael Gerson. Who's an evangelical Christian and life-long conservative Republican. And a very perceptive man.

"For a glimpse of what the total absence of faith and character looks like, see the Republican Party of Texas. In the aftermath of Floyd’s death, a dozen elected leaders of the GOP wrote or retweeted racist memes and conspiracy theories. Comal County Republican Party Chair Sue Gafford Piner propagated the idea that philanthropist George Soros is funding a race war. Bexar County GOP Chair Cynthia Brehm suggested that Floyd's death was staged to hurt President Trump’s reelection chances. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller wrote that the civil rights protesters are “domestic terrorists who were organized and paid for by George Soros...

This is not the rejection of “political correctness”; it is the success of white supremacy in the Texas Republican Party. The GOP, in many places, has become an institution where leaders are elevated and groomed for cruelty and bigotry. This is what happens when the president of the United States normalizes racism and mainstreams ideological madness." (emphasis mine)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...deaf50-a9ba-11ea-a9d9-a81c1a491c52_story.html

The radical nature of the present administration has allowed people in Texas and other places to feel as if they are insulated from criticism and recompense when they demean others. It started with Trump and is naturally eating the Republican Party. The rhetoric is hateful and often Racist.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Ambiguity: the quality of being open to more than one interpretation.

Because that's what real life is like.

Ambiguity: doubtfulness or uncertainty of meaning or intention.

 

[Caliban]

Tolerant of "ambiguity"? Why?

To me the best way to develop critical thinking skills would be to give the students and their parents the 'lesson plan' for each course. This would greatly demystify what is required of the students, and put all parties on the same page.

We already do that--most parents don't care. Critical thinking skills involves learning and applying the tools of logic and rational thinking such as the excluded middle and the law of non contradiction. Those skills are highly specific and involve study far beyond mere table conversation.