Schools 1, right wingers 0

[billvon 2,420]

Some good news out of Arizona - a loss by a politician who sought to remove science from schools (specifically material on evolution and climate change) and replace it with creationism. She was voted out, and the science material was restored.

Science wins, political correctness loses. Good for Arizona.
===========================================
Arizona superintendent fails in last attempt to limit evolution teaching

Not reelected, sees standards written by science educators adopted over her dissent.
JOHN TIMMER - 10/23/2018

Earlier this year, we covered an attempt by Arizona's superintendent of Public Instruction to alter the state's science education standards. Superintendent Diane Douglas seemingly directed her staff to edit a set of standards prepared by educators so that numerous mentions of the word "evolution" were eliminated. Climate change was later diminished in a similar manner.

But since that time, the news has been almost uniformly good. Superintendent Douglas lost in a primary election to a fellow Republican, her edits to the school standards were rejected by the state school board, and a last-ditch effort to swap in educational guidelines from a religious college wasn't even given serious consideration.

As we noted in our earlier coverage, Douglas has in the past suggested that schools teach intelligent design, which is the idea that life arose and diversified due to the intervention of an intelligent agent rather than evolution. It's an idea that was generated for religious purposes, and its teaching has been ruled an imposition of religion by the courts. She has also misunderstood the status of a scientific theory in suggesting that it reflected the idea that our knowledge of evolution is uncertain. These beliefs seem to have motivated her intervention into the science standards.

In September, however, Douglas' attempts to inject her beliefs into Arizona's classrooms ran into a couple of problems. To begin with, she faced a number of challengers during the Republican primary for her position; two of them received more votes than she did, meaning she won't have her party's nomination for re-election. Then, at a state school board meeting, the Arizona Science Teachers Association suggested a number of changes that restored details of climate change and evolution to the proposed standards.

Faced with the potential of seeing the expert-approved standards adopted, Douglas made a last-ditch effort to block them. Early yesterday, it was reported that Douglas planned to attempt a complete substitution of the science standards, getting rid of both her own edited version and the one with the educator-approved modifications. In their place, she had substitute material developed for charter schools by a private religious college. At the board meeting later that day, however, no other board members were apparently willing to second the motion to even consider the change.

Instead, the board approved the standards with the edits provided by the science teachers' organization. With that, the drama over science education in the state has hopefully drawn to a close.
================================

[FrancoR 0]

I simply cannot understand why issues like that come up in a modern country like the US. A few individuals always seem to be left behind and incapable or unwilling to understanding the world and therefore decide to just use religion as an explaination to the world.

If it does not cost anything you are the product.

[motionscribe 0]

FrancoR

I simply cannot understand why

I know right? Doesn't that just make you mad!!!!

Now if billvon didn't come in here and post that, you would've just went about you day and it would've made a fuck all difference in your life.

But hey, at least you got your daily fix of anger! Feel better now?

[FrancoR 0]

motionscribe

But hey, at least you got your daily fix of anger! Feel better now?

Not so much anger, more despair that humanity keeps repeating the same mistakes agin.

If it does not cost anything you are the product.

[motionscribe 0]

FrancoR

***
But hey, at least you got your daily fix of anger! Feel better now?

Not so much anger, more despair that humanity keeps repeating the same mistakes agin.

I know, what a miserable life Eeyore. What are we ever going to do about all these stupid humans?

[jakee 1,257]

motionscribe

******
But hey, at least you got your daily fix of anger! Feel better now?

Not so much anger, more despair that humanity keeps repeating the same mistakes agin.

I know, what a miserable life Eeyore. What are we ever going to do about all these stupid humans?

What would you be doing with your day if you weren't so intent on telling Franco how silly he's being for responding to posts on here that don't materially affect him?

You see where I'm going with that... right?

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[motionscribe 0]

jakee

*********
But hey, at least you got your daily fix of anger! Feel better now?

Not so much anger, more despair that humanity keeps repeating the same mistakes agin.

I know, what a miserable life Eeyore. What are we ever going to do about all these stupid humans?

What would you be doing with your day if you weren't so intent on telling Franco how silly he's being for responding to posts on here that don't materially affect him?

You see where I'm going with that... right?

I know, right, doesn't it just make you angry!?

I think I'm going back to sleep.

[jakee 1,257]

motionscribe

I know, right, doesn't it just make you angry!?

You're very keen on telling people what their emotions are.

How does it make you feel to do that?

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[motionscribe 0]

jakee

***I know, right, doesn't it just make you angry!?

You're very keen on telling people what their emotions are.


I was simple asking a question. If we don't care, then why do we continue to post?

The sad fact is that we're addicted to the emotional high that anger brings. We just can't help ourselves when someone on the internet is wrong.

It goes right along with my other post about how life is so good and we have nothing better to do than invent ways to argue about the increase of 250,000 jobs. . .

[jakee 1,257]

motionscribe

******I know, right, doesn't it just make you angry!?

You're very keen on telling people what their emotions are.


I was simple asking a question. If we don't care, then why do we continue to post?

That's a false dichotomy. Caring about something doesn't automatically make you angry about it. If that's the only emotional connection you can imagine with posting on the internet, then I think you're doing it wrong.

Quote

It goes right along with my other post about how life is so good and we have nothing better to do than invent ways to argue about the increase of 250,000 jobs. . .

And again, my simple question is how does it make you feel to point out those other people's failings? What addiction does it serve within you?

It could be that you're the one special person here who is able to engage purely on a rational basis with the forum. But that sems unlikely, especially since you gave up your sleep just so you could respond to that last post immediately.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[motionscribe 0]

jakee

. Caring about something doesn't automatically make you angry about it.

Nope, but negative emotion is pretty much what keeps these forums alive. If it was just one big circle jerk, it probably wouldn't last very long.

jakee

my simple question is how does it make you feel to point out those other people's failings?

Probably the same way it makes you feel.

[jakee 1,257]

motionscribe

***. Caring about something doesn't automatically make you angry about it.

Nope,
So why did you assume Franco was being angry? Why go straight in with the most negative assessment of his motivation?

Quote

but negative emotion is pretty much what keeps these forums alive.

Then why do you assume that only for some people? Ron writes tracts on how every liberal is mentally defective, America is in a civil war, the Clintons (and possibly the US government as a whole) are evil, and you can't see any reason to think he's bent out of shape about anything.

Franco writes that he can't understand how US school boards keep ignoring science and you diagnose him with an addiction to anger.

Explain?

Quote

jakee

my simple question is how does it make you feel to point out those other people's failings?

Probably the same way it makes you feel.

Ok... so how does it make me feel?

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[motionscribe 0]

jakee

Why go straight in with the most negative assessment of his motivation?

Because he was being negative.

I was just using him to make a point about society in general. We all do it, and we will continue to do it regardless of how foolish it is.

jakee

Quote

but negative emotion is pretty much what keeps these forums alive.

Then why do you assume that only for some people? Ron writes tracts on how every liberal is mentally defective, America is in a civil war, the Clintons (and possibly the US government as a whole) are evil, and you can't see any reason to think he's bent out of shape about anything.

I only said that because in that thread I was the only one bitching about how conservatives were being pigeonholed, not Ron.

Other than that, I agreed that Wendy's assessment of me was fair.

[gowlerk 1,920]

motionscribe

***I simply cannot understand why

I know right? Doesn't that just make you mad!!!!

Now if billvon didn't come in here and post that, you would've just went about you day and it would've made a fuck all difference in your life.

But hey, at least you got your daily fix of anger! Feel better now?


Because if people don't know about the dangers they can't watch for and fight against it. We need to know they are out there trying to poison the minds of our children.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[jakee 1,257]

motionscribe

***Why go straight in with the most negative assessment of his motivation?

Because he was being negative.

So again, we're back to wondering why anger is the only emotion you can imagine being associated with that?

You can't have it both ways.

Quote

I was just using him to make a point about society in general. We all do it, and we will continue to do it regardless of how foolish it is.

Then why are you participating in, and contributing to the foolishness?

Again, how does it make you feel to jump into this thread and point out what you think are Franco's failings?

Quote

I only said that because in that thread I was the only one bitching about how conservatives were being pigeonholed, not Ron.

Sure, but Ron was bitching about pretty much everything else, and you were joining in.

Why did you need Wendy to point out your hypocrisy in the first place? If you're so concerned with anger why didn't you call Ron on it immediately, instead of agreeing with his assessment?

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[Phil1111 913]

jakee

*********
But hey, at least you got your daily fix of anger! Feel better now?

Not so much anger, more despair that humanity keeps repeating the same mistakes agin.

I know, what a miserable life Eeyore. What are we ever going to do about all these stupid humans?

What would you be doing with your day if you weren't so intent on telling Franco how silly he's being for responding to posts on here that don't materially affect him?

You see where I'm going with that... right?

Called trolling.

Why would he be "angry" when it is merely one of the factors that explains why the US ranks poorly in its democratic institutions performance and transparency. Why the US trails Nordic and other G-7 countries in opportunity for young people.

Gerrymandering, the Christian right, the mistaken concepts of social mobility, overindulgence influence of the military, etc. All mix together in US politics outweighing health care, social programs, etc. That other industrialized countries rank higher.

Science? Well someone in another thread is currently trolling that science and Christians beliefs operate hand in glove. Yet for US Christian groups abortion is almost the sole political driver of their thinking.

[billvon 2,420]

Another bit of good news: (sorry to break up the you're-the-problem-no-you're-the-problem thing)

=======================
Teaching Climate Change As Something 'Happening Right Here'
By SAMANTHA FIELDS • OCT 24, 2018

The words “climate change” first appear in the state science standards in Massachusetts in high school, but the concepts first appear, in a real way, in middle school, in seventh and eighth grade science, which are all about systems and cycles, cause and effect. In fact, teachers say that middle school is often where students spend the most time learning about climate change.

One middle school on Cape Cod is trying to make those lessons stick by taking kids out of the classroom, to show them how climate change is affecting the place where they live.

It’s a little before noon on a Thursday, and a couple dozen seventh graders from Monomoy Regional Middle School have just piled off a yellow school bus at Muddy Creek, a tidal river and marsh on the border of Chatham and Harwich.

“We’re on a field trip learning about how the climate is affecting our seas,” said 12-year-old Owain Bok. Specifically, whether “Muddy Creek’s waters are healthy or not.” . . .

Nancy Gifford hopes projects like that, and field trips like this one to Muddy Creek, will get her students thinking about climate change, and believing they can do something about it, she said. “These are the kids that will be servicing turbines, they’ll be the ones that are building the infrastructure to fix what gets flooded along the way, and they’ll be dealing with these continued storms that we’re seeing.”

They’ll either be the ones who figure out how to slow climate change, or they’ll be the ones who have to figure out how to adapt.
=======================

[BIGUN 1,067]

billvon

Some good news out of Arizona - a loss by a politician who sought to remove science from schools (specifically material on evolution and climate change) and replace it with creationism. She was voted out, and the science material was restored.

Science wins, political correctness loses. Good for Arizona.
===========================================
Arizona superintendent fails in last attempt to limit evolution teaching

Not reelected, sees standards written by science educators adopted over her dissent.
JOHN TIMMER - 10/23/2018

Earlier this year, we covered an attempt by Arizona's superintendent of Public Instruction to alter the state's science education standards. Superintendent Diane Douglas seemingly directed her staff to edit a set of standards prepared by educators so that numerous mentions of the word "evolution" were eliminated. Climate change was later diminished in a similar manner.

But since that time, the news has been almost uniformly good. Superintendent Douglas lost in a primary election to a fellow Republican, her edits to the school standards were rejected by the state school board, and a last-ditch effort to swap in educational guidelines from a religious college wasn't even given serious consideration.

As we noted in our earlier coverage, Douglas has in the past suggested that schools teach intelligent design, which is the idea that life arose and diversified due to the intervention of an intelligent agent rather than evolution. It's an idea that was generated for religious purposes, and its teaching has been ruled an imposition of religion by the courts. She has also misunderstood the status of a scientific theory in suggesting that it reflected the idea that our knowledge of evolution is uncertain. These beliefs seem to have motivated her intervention into the science standards.

In September, however, Douglas' attempts to inject her beliefs into Arizona's classrooms ran into a couple of problems. To begin with, she faced a number of challengers during the Republican primary for her position; two of them received more votes than she did, meaning she won't have her party's nomination for re-election. Then, at a state school board meeting, the Arizona Science Teachers Association suggested a number of changes that restored details of climate change and evolution to the proposed standards.

Faced with the potential of seeing the expert-approved standards adopted, Douglas made a last-ditch effort to block them. Early yesterday, it was reported that Douglas planned to attempt a complete substitution of the science standards, getting rid of both her own edited version and the one with the educator-approved modifications. In their place, she had substitute material developed for charter schools by a private religious college. At the board meeting later that day, however, no other board members were apparently willing to second the motion to even consider the change.

Instead, the board approved the standards with the edits provided by the science teachers' organization. With that, the drama over science education in the state has hopefully drawn to a close.
================================

Who was replaced with Frank Riggs (R) who I think may be registered as an (R); but is a moderate with a balance between (D) & (R). Riggs served on the House Education and Workforce Committee and chaired the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth and Families in the 105th Congress. In that capacity, he authored the Charter School Expansion Act (signed into law by President Bill Clinton in October, 1998) which provides federal start-up grants to newly formed charter schools to help defray their initial operating expenses. Most Arizona charter schools have received federal start-up grants as a result of Riggs' legislation.

He has beat more than one (D), but I think that's because he's "Old-School" bipartisan... a rare gem these days.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[wolfriverjoe 1,349]

billvon

...Instead, the board approved the standards with the edits provided by the science teachers' organization. With that, the drama over science education in the state has hopefully drawn to a close.

For now.

Unfortunately, the people who keep insisting that their religion is more correct than science, and should be taught in public schools rarely give up.

And, of course, the same type who keep trying to force their religion into public schools in other ways are still at it too.

A football coach in Washington (state) liked to pray after games. On the 50 yard line. With players.

When he was told that he shouldn't do that, he refused to stop. He was put on admin leave and his contract wasn't renewed.

So he sued. And lost. And appealed and lost.

Quote

The three-judge panel ruled that Kennedy was acting as a teacher and took advantage of his position to “press his particular views upon impressionable and captive minds before him.”

So he's now going to the Supreme Court.

Which ruled on this over 50 years ago. Abington vs Schempp.

I think they will simply decline to hear this one. There's a few requirements for the SC to take on a case. This doesn't meet any of them that I can think of.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[ryoder 1,393]

Phil1111

Called trolling.

Exactly.
- New user shows up 3 months before an election.
- Zero information in his/her profile.
- Never posts anywhere outside of SC.

This reminds me of that poster during the last election that seemed to have 3 different styles of writing, then vanished after the election was over.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[mistercwood 287]

I almost posted something to this effect before I left for work this morning. Can't tell if this dude's a propo-bot or a "new" incarnation of one of our previous frequent flyers....

You are playing chicken with a planet - you can't dodge and planets don't blink. Act accordingly.

[motionscribe 0]

jakee

******Why go straight in with the most negative assessment of his motivation?

Because he was being negative.

So again, we're back to wondering why anger is the only emotion you can imagine being associated with that?

You're right. Given the title of the thread, I should've just said "stop your whinging and cheer the fuck up."

How's that?

[jakee 1,257]

motionscribe

*********Why go straight in with the most negative assessment of his motivation?

Because he was being negative.

So again, we're back to wondering why anger is the only emotion you can imagine being associated with that?

You're right.

It was a question, not a statement. Why were you only able to associate anger with a disagreement?

Quote

Given the title of the thread, I should've just said "stop your whinging and cheer the fuck up."

But you didn't say that. And if you had, I'd still be wondering why you felt the need to jump in and whinge at someone unrelated to you when you think people whinging at things unrelated to them is bad.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[ryoder 1,393]

ryoder

***
Called trolling.

Exactly.
- New user shows up 3 months before an election.
- Zero information in his/her profile.
- Never posts anywhere outside of SC.

This reminds me of that poster during the last election that seemed to have 3 different styles of writing, then vanished after the election was over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1QF_GuGOGo

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[motionscribe 0]

ryoder

******
Called trolling.

Exactly.
- New user shows up 3 months before an election.
- Zero information in his/her profile.
- Never posts anywhere outside of SC.

This reminds me of that poster during the last election that seemed to have 3 different styles of writing, then vanished after the election was over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1QF_GuGOGo

You watch too much TV, don't you?

I suppose I could change my name to Keyser Söze, but as another poster already pointed out, I'm not that clever.