JISHOU, HUNAN — I just read this at Pharyngula. Words escape me.
Electricity magically dries this girl's hair
Any of my former physics students could write a better explanation of electricity than this tripe. It’s apparently from a homeschooling science text peddled by Bob Jones University.
[The link in PZ's post seems to be broken. The page shown is from the Science 4 textbook, printed in 2004.]
Sally L.
Sally’s parents are farmers and have two daughters. Her uncle, meanwhile, also farms and has at least one son. She related an argument between her father, his brother and Sally’s grandfather that left a deep impression on her 7-year-old mind.
Since she was so young, Sally says she can’t remember all the details of the argument, but it involved her uncle wanting some the land her father owned, but was not at the time cultivating. Her father refused to give it to his brother, and in no time at all, the four men — father, uncle, grandfather and even her male cousin — were yelling at each other and threatening to get physical. The outcome was that Sally’s parents retained possession of the land.
Her uncle wanted the land because he had a son, while Sally’s dad had daughters. In rural China, boys are held in higher esteem than girls, so the uncle apparently believed keeping the land for two daughters was a complete waste of good farmland. Instead, he wanted his brother to give it to him and his son, because boys are “worth more” than girls and can do more than girls.
“That’s why my dream was to go to university,” Sally told us, “because I wanted to show them that girls can be as good as boys, or even better.”
JISHOU, HUNAN — I confess. It’s time to come clean. I am a pusher. For the last 25 years, I have been encouraging young people –even my own children! The shame! — to pursue higher education.
According to The Watchtower magazine, published by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, higher education is a really bad thing, like drugs, alcohol, wild parties, social networking sites, and maybe even rock & roll.
Been there, done that. So I’m apparently damned to hell. Crap. Who knew?
By way of Pharyngula, I saw this image scanned from The Watchtower. It’s all there. I am soooo screwed.
I am now a writer for the Teachers’ Lounge at The Daily Kos. My first Teachers’ Lounge diary went up yesterday, and was even rescued overnight! In DKos-atopia, that’s a singular honor. So, go read it.
JISHOU, HUNAN — Recently, I wrote a reaction to the Christian rightwing hijacking of the Texas Board of Education, and the anti-public education views of one of its members. A visitor named Joey swung by this week, and left this comment:
That a functioning democracy requires, first, a well-educated, literate public and, second, a public that shares the same knowledge about the history and political philosophy of the nation is the basic thinking of any statist, when public schools are to serve as the chief means to achieve this homogeneity of thinking.
It’s no wonder there are parents and organization already determined to abolish public schools by opting out from compulsory education.
It’s an effective way to fight tyranny, particularly the tyranny of the majority.
You will note that Joey has nothing directly to say about the Texas BOE, but definitely agrees that public education is a Bad Thing.
I don’t, though I am a critic of public education. My reply was this:
JISHOU, HUNAN — As expected (by rational people), President Barack Obama will talk at noon today to students about overcoming hardships, staying on track, going to school, doing their work, and making a difference for their communities and their nation.
He even says, “God bless you and God bless America.”
I’ve read the text released ahead of time by the White House. I can’t find any socialist, Marxist, or any other kind of pernicious indoctrination. It’s not bombastic. It’s not demagoguery. In fact, he says exactly what he said he would say.
So why were people upset again?
JISHOU, HUNAN — Maybe I can stop foaming at the mouth now. Two polls by Survey USA of Verona, New Jersey, shows people overwhelmingly favor President Barack Obama speaking directly to schoolchildren.
In fact, the people surveyed said it was entirely appropriate for any president to speak to schoolchildren. Most said they would want their children to hear the speech. And most said school districts should make the decision whether students should watch or listen.
Two identical polls were taken of 500 adults each in Fresno, California, and statewide in Missouri. Here are the results of the Fresno poll. The results of the Missouri poll are almost identical; you can check them for yourself.
Question 1: President Obama plans to deliver a national address to school children on the importance of them taking responsibility for their own success in school. Do you think it is appropriate? Or not appropriate? For President Obama to deliver this address?
Question 2: Do you think it would be appropriate? Or not appropriate? For ANY President to deliver this address?
Question 3: If you had a child attending a school that was going to show the address, would you tell your child to pay attention? Would you tell you child to NOT pay attention? Or would you keep your child home?
Question 4: Who should decide whether to show President Obama’s national address to school children? School districts? Or individual teachers?
