Daily Kos - ABA backs marriage equality How convincing was Judge Vaughn Walker's decision to strike down Prop 8? Strong enough to lead the American Bar Association to back marriage equality.
Gawker - E=mc2 Is a Liberal Conspiracy [Conspiracy Theories] To many conservatives, almost everything is a secret liberal plot: from fluoride in the water to medicare reimbursements for end-of-life planning with your doctor to efforts to teach evolution in schools.
After the Dems dispensed with and inane Republican effort to get two months paid vacation at the end of the year, and approved $600 million for a border "security" bill that does nothing to address comprehensive immigration reform in any way, and which the Republicans will continue to bitch about anyway, they got down to the actual business of the day: passing the $26.1 billion to help keep the states afloat for the remainder of the year.
With the time running out, the vote count stood at 247-161.
My wife is a teacher in North Carolina, and we both appreciate this. Please keep it up.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- A bill that would send $640 million to North Carolina state government and local schools schools has been signed into law by President Obama.
The U.S. House approved Tuesday a $26 billion bill pushed by Democrats that mostly would pay for extra Medicaid expenses and school districts to preserve teacher positions. Obama signed it later in the day.
State officials say North Carolina's $343 million Medicaid share means state government won't have to take an extra 1 percent cut and withhold pension contributions to narrow a budget gap.
The Department of Public Instruction says nearly $300 million in grants equal about 4,800 teaching positions. Bill McNeal with the North Carolina Association of School Administrators says local districts will be pleased to receive additional money after cutting expenses before the new school yea
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the Eighty-fifth Legislature of the State of South Dakota, the Senate concurring therein, that the South Dakota Legislature urges that instruction in the public schools relating to global warming include the following:
(1) That global warming is a scientific theory rather than a proven fact;
(2) That there are a variety of climatological, meteorological, astrological, thermological, cosmological, and ecological dynamics that can effect [sic] world weather phenomena and that the significance and interrelativity of these factors is largely speculative; and
(3) That the debate on global warming has subsumed political and philosophical viewpoints which have complicated and prejudiced the scientific investigation of global warming phenomena; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Legislature urges that all instruction on the theory of global warming be appropriate to the age and academic development of the student and to the prevailing classroom circumstances.
Politics : National Poll of Republicans Provides Shocking, Unbelievable Results
Even I can't believe this. Surely there's some kind of tabulation error? Says he'll release the results probably tomorrow:
Just got back big poll of 2,000 Republicans. Gotta digest it, but
39% of them want Obama impeached.
63% think Obama is a socialist,
only 42% believe he was born in US,
21% think ACORN stole 2008 electionsActually, on the "ACORN stealing 2008 election for Obama" Q, 21% say yes, 55% say "not sure"
53% think Sarah Palin is more qualified to be president than Obama.
23% want to secede from US
73% think gay men and women shouldn't be allowed to teach in public schools
31% want contraceptives outlawed
That's a frightening set of numbers. I can only think of two reasons for these results offhand. One is that this is the response of a primarily white party feeling threatened by a black president, and another is that this is what happens when you lose all power after having most of it for many years. Obviously, I don't think that all or even most Republicans are racist, but this is a very frightening set of numbers.
Research 2000, who did the poll, is connected to DailyKos in that they do polls for them, but it's been pretty good about seeming believable in the past.
Some of our most active media clientele include the Bergen Record, The Raleigh News & Observer, The Concord Monitor, The Manchester Journal Inquirer, The New London Day, The Reno-Gazette, The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, The Spokesman-Review, KCCI-Television in Des Moines, Iowa, WRAL-Television in Raleigh, North Carolina, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and KMOV-Television in St. Louis, Missouri.
I'm seriously hoping there's some problem here, however, this story makes it even more believable.
About 65% of likely voters said they know just "some" or "not too much" about the Tea Party when asked. Nevertheless, the Tea Party seems to be winning the message war, capturing the voice of populist anger in the country -- the majority of respondents expressed support for the goals of the movement and the people in it.
Culture Critique : Dictionary ban? America is lost.
Oh no! Little Timmy learned the word for what he caught us doing on the couch! Ban the dictionary!
Dictionaries have been removed from classrooms in southern California schools after a parent complained about a child reading the definition for "oral sex".
Merriam Webster's 10th edition, which has been used for the past few years in fourth and fifth grade classrooms (for children aged nine to 10) in Menifee Union school district, has been pulled from shelves over fears that the "sexually graphic" entry is "just not age appropriate", according to the area's local paper.
: oral stimulation of the genitals : cunnilingus, fellatio
Questions I have: Why is "oral sex" a problem, but not "sexual intercourse?" It even mentions anal! Why, exactly, is it bad in the first place for kids to know sex exists? Ever since I first learned about sex, I was confused by the weird taboo we have on talking about it. Every culture, even every family, has a different opinion on when kids should start learning about sex, but clearly if they see that definition for oral sex and understand what it means, they already know enough to have figured it out, right? I just don't get it.
The planting of this garden was one of the first things I wanted to do as First Lady here at the White House. It was something I had talked about a long time ago. And with the help of you guys, you helped to make this dream a reality. And as you could see when we went down to the garden, can you imagine how thriving that garden is, just how much food grew from a few little seeds and some plantings? So this was a big dream of mine for a while, and it's been so much fun working with you all.
But I also thought that this would be a fun and interesting way to talk to kids about healthy eating and nutrition. The President and Congress are going to begin to address health care reform, and these issues of nutrition and wellness and preventative care is going to be the focus of a lot of conversation coming up in the weeks and months to come. And these are issues that I care deeply about, especially when they affect America's children.
Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high-blood pressure are all diet-related health issues that cost this country more than $120 billion each year. That's a lot of money. While the dollar figure is shocking in and of itself, the effect on our children's health is even more profound. Nearly a third of the children in this country are either overweight or obese, and a third will suffer from diabetes at some point in their lifetime. In Hispanic and African American communities, those numbers climb even higher so that nearly half of the children in those communities will suffer the same fate. Those numbers are unacceptable.
And, maybe the most important thing she said:
To make sure that we give all our kids a good start to their day and to their future, we need to improve the quality and nutrition of the food served in schools. We're approaching the first big opportunity to move this to the top of the agenda with the upcoming reauthorization of the child nutrition programs. In doing so, we can go a long way towards creating a healthier generation for our kids.
Refreshing. Let's hope the school lunch programs are a start to repairing our nutritional problems.
Politics : The Consistency Of Inconsistency or "Hope and Change"
This is the part where I ramble on and try to put my thoughts on a subject into some order. It probably won't work, but I wanted to try to make this thought process evolve, so here goes:
Individual people can change their political parties, their religious affiliations, indeed their entire belief systems many times during the course of their lives. "Conservative at 20, no heart. Liberal at 40, no brains" is a quote you've heard, I bet, and I know I've at least heard it spoken by an American and a German. However, not only do individuals completely change their minds during their lifetimes, they also change physically all the way down to the cellular level. No cell in your body as an adult was there when you were a child. They are all new cells.
Societies also change and evolve. Societal norms can change so rapidly that middle-aged Americans today went to segregated schools as children. Interracial marriage was illegal when many of them were teenagers, racism was 100% ok when their parents were children, and their not-too-distant ancestors could have owned slaves.
The earth itself changes, and species evolve into others (yes, they do). Our species has only existed in the form we know now for a few hundred thousand years, and already, not only has the earth changed drastically, but it's also been changed by us. The universe changes as well.
This change is part of us. It's why we exist, and it's why we are what we are and why we do what we do. In reality, it is what we are. We are change. We embody change. Barack Obama, whether consciously or not, won the Presidency in a landslide because he played off of this very fundamental notion. Every person who has ever tried to prevent change has always failed, and every person who tries to prevent change always will fail.
My point is this - and it's an obvious point that nobody will be surprised by - everything changes. Everyone changes. There is nothing in this universe that hasn't or won't, at some point, change. I think this is a fundamental constant, and the only one that's really constant in every field of science, even quantum physics. Nothing stays the same forever. Nothing. We all know this, and yet most of us live every second of our lives pretending it is not true.
The only way anything you want to happen in this universe will happen is if it involves change. If you want stagnation, you will always end up disappointed. So, embrace what Ghandi and countless others have said, whether in these words or otherwise: Become the change you want to see.
This article was pulled from New Scientist's website recently because they "received a complaint about the contents of the story."
As a book reviews editor at New Scientist, I often come across so-called science books which after a few pages reveal themselves to be harbouring ulterior motives. I have learned to recognise clues that the author is pushing a religious agenda. As creationists in the US continue to lose court battles over attempts to have intelligent design taught as science in federally funded schools, their strategy has been forced to... well, evolve. That means ensuring that references to pseudoscientific concepts like ID are more heavily veiled. So I thought I'd share a few tips for spotting what may be religion in science's clothing.
So go read it and tell New Scientist that you don't think they should kowtow to this ridiculousness.
CTV.ca | Controversy erupts after schools pull 'atheist' book The Halton Catholic District School Board ordered "The Golden Compass" to be removed from library shelves at dozens of schools after receiving a request for review from a member of the community.
Legislators hear global warming disputed Global warming is a myth concocted by former Vice President Al Gore, the United Nations, Hollywood and the news media, Kentucky lawmakers were told yesterday.
You may have heard of this lately, because they just went nationwide and got the 'Colbert Bump' last night, but Donorschoose.org is really picking up steam. My fiancee is a music teacher, and she's been getting grants through it for at least a year now. All of my favorite bloggers and a bunch of other people are plugging it through the Bloggers' Challenge, too. If you're looking for a worthy cause to donate to, this is definitely one of them.
A high school student loans a friend, another high school student, his copy of The God Delusion. Two things happen: the friend's father loses his cool and complains to their school, and a school administrator suggests that this was an establishment clause violation. And this was at a school that allowed the Gideons to distribute bibles in the parking lot!
Believe it or not, I'm not so worried about the religion/atheism aspect of this story, though it is important. I'm worried about this bit:
She told me that in loaning a religious book to another student, I was promulgating my religious beliefs and forcing the school into an establishment clause violation.
WHAT?!
This kid is an Atheist and I am an Atheist and this book is about Atheism. There doesn't seem to be much "promulgation" there. The God Delusion is also not a religious book. I explained to her that Atheism is not a religion, and so the topic of the book is more akin to philosophy and science. One other thing I don't understand is how what goes on between students violates a clause that states the government cannot sponsor a religion. If the school was handing out The God Delusion, it could be seen as an establishment clause violation, but not if it was solely between students.
She also said that since the book was not in line with the school's curriculum, it was inappropriate for school. I then asked her what she meant by this: if I were to be reading it by myself on campus, would I be breaking a rule? According to her, yes. My English class is not allowed to read Grapes of Wrath because it was deemed unsuitable for non-AP classes by the school board. I happen to be a Steinbeck fan. I asked her if it would be inappropriate to read Grapes of Wrath in school. Her answer was, in my case, yes.
Better empty the library of all books that aren't in line with the curriculum!
Now, obviously, the establishment cause DOES prevent a school from promoting any religion or lack thereof. It does not, however, prevent students from expressing their own religious views to each other. At least, that is, as long as they aren't disrupting class time to do so. There are student religious organizations and student atheist organizations all over the country, and those are perfectly legal. In fact, this is one of the things that annoys me the most about religious people when they discuss "lack of prayer in school." They're always harping on the idea that schools don't allow students to pray, even though they certainly do.
In fact, the only establishment clause violation I can see here is a school telling a student that he cannot express his own lack of religious views to another student.
Ken Willard, one of the Kansas rubes who tried to get Intelligent Design creationism into the curriculum, has just upped the ante and decided to run for the national presidency of the association of state boards of education. It's incredible-he's an insurance executive with no competence and no qualifications other than that he's a fervent dogmatist who wants his religious beliefs taught, and that he has the backing of the Discovery Institute. The association ought to be deeply embarrassed if he can get in, and he just might do it: he's running unopposed.
Culture Critique : Global Warming in Public Schools
This story about how global warming is being taught in schools is another in a long line of stories about people who don't "get it."
As global warming has shifted from the subject of scientific trade journals and alternative media to the center of the public and political arenas, it also has become a hot topic in public schools. That has some parents questioning what their children are hearing. Parents who disagree with the global warming theory, or who chalk it up to environmental alarmists or political hyperbole, are finding that their points of view aren't given the attention afforded the "other side."
I was ready to yell at my computer screen, but then I read this point in the article, and I at least felt calmer then:
All scientific theories are just that - theories. Cell theory and atomic theory aren't "proven," just as the global warming theory isn't proven, says Judy Allard, a biology teacher at Burlington High School. At some point, cell and atomic theories were controversial, too; but these days, a parent would be hard-pressed to find a public school that spent equal time teaching opposing cell or atomic theories.
Exactly what I was yelling. I'm so tired of people talking about how evolution or global warming are "just theories," as though other scientific ideas are pure facts that are 100% inscrutable. This simply isn't the case. Often, a scientific theory remains a theory. What makes a theory a good one to believe is if it withstands the tests of time and inquiry. There are people who believe that global warming is caused by aliens, too - should we give their theories equal time? Of course not. The theories that need to be taught are those that are the most reliable and have withstood the most scientific study, and that is what is being done with global warming and, also importantly, evolution.
This Friday, March 17, is the greenest holiday of all - St. Patrick's Day! What better week to host The Carnival of The Green? Learn about the carnival at City Hippy and Triple Pundit, who created the carnival. Well, in the St. Patrick's Day spirit, none of these bloggers are going to get pinched no matter what they wear; they're plenty green!
Social Issues
Enrique at Common Ground has some great stuff about Fair Trade. One thing you can say for Fair Trade: Consumers like it. Amid the annoyance of roasters and retailers, Fair Trade sales continue to double annually, major corporations continue to adopt the label, and critics pay dearly for its seal of approval.
Dawn at Frugal for Life asks: bottled or tap water? Which is better both for your health and your pocketbook? Some would say the cost is worth the health benefits for bottled. Others say our water is just fine coming out of the tap.... You decide.
Sandean (Jerry) in this post looks at the system of water delivery in the U.S. as a form of socialism that dares not speak its name. He compares this with some historical examples and maintain that our system of water infrastructure has some problems, but on ballance "water socialism" is better than water capitalism.
Laurie at Slowly She Turned points out that Walmart is doubling its organic food offerings, but she does NOT see this as a good thing. She suggests we support our local farmers now more than ever. Laurie is heavily involved in the Slow Food movement in Greensboro, NC.
Rebecca Carter at Greener Miami is starting her Week of Trash project today, in which she will be analyzing her trash for the week. She starts preparing for the week by looking at her method of disposal: plastic grocery bags.
Judy Kingsbury, The Savvy Vegetarian, says: These - three - posts make up one long conversation about breastfeeding. At first I thought, this doesn't fit Carnival of the Green, but thought again: what's more green than breastfeeding? All organic and perfectly in tune with nature. Happier, healthier Mom & Baby. No plastic bottles or gmo soy based formula, less pharmaceuticals.
Marigolds2 (Mary Ellen), environmental writer for The Blue Voice group political blog writes about Havana's and South Central LA's community gardens as examples of sustainable community solutions to catastrophe/poverty, examples of what Heinberg calls "Powerdown" and "Building Lifeboats."
I like this one, because I've been wondering about this. Tracy posts EcoStreet's Guide to Green Cleaning: the best green cleaning products, and some home-made alternatives.
Camdenlady (Cathryn) says: "This week, I've been sorting out my pension fund, and what I'm investing in. Some of the fund is going directly into stocks and shares which have a strong environmental ethic, so I've been looking at renewable energy and waste management. I've found three interesting stocks, and bought shares in them a few days ago. A post in two parts.
Agroblogger introduces "The Green Theme." The Green Theme is a concept being used at the Open Sourcing blog over at Agricultural Innovations. At the beginning of each month, when a new theme is unveiled, I will start the ball rolling by discussing the theme's general topic, and challenging other bloggers to join in on the debate.
Finally, The Luck O' The Irish is with me as I announce The Forest Image Registry Project, which is particularly the brain child of Harlan Weikle a.k.a. The Naked Vegetarian. Also involved, so far, are myself, Andrew Turner of Green Roof Resource, and Jeff McIntire-Stasburg of Sustainablog.The Forest Image Registry, F.I.R. began as an awareness-building project on the eve of the piecemeal sale of our National Forest lands in early 2006. Using satellite imaging and mapping technology the project will build a visual record of the forestlands as they are today, before private development.We would like to encourage Americans to send copies of their personnel photos, images of the forests they've visited. Adding your pictures to the F.I.R. project, sharing them freely with the world will perhaps help us learn to appreciate America's National Forests before they are changed forever. Send submissions to submissions@forestimages.org Another way to submit images is to upload your images to your own Flickr! account and tag them (forestimages, firforest=ForestName, or geo:lat= geo:lon=, etc).
If you want to read other issues of the carnival, the last one (#17) was at EnviroPundit, and #19 will be next Monday at Baloghblog.
The Forest Image Registry, F.I.R. began as an awareness-building project on the eve of the piecemeal sale of our National Forest lands in early 2006. Using satellite imaging and mapping technology the project will build a visual record of the forestlands as they are today, before private development.
We would like to encourage Americans to send copies of their personnel photos, images of the forests they've visited. Adding your pictures to the F.I.R. project, sharing them freely with the world will perhaps help us learn to appreciate America's National Forests before they are changed forever.
I enjoy mapping and it occurred that perhaps our readers would get more up at arms over this deal if they could see actual satellite photos of these beautiful pristine areas before they're sold off and, as you say, a Wal-Mart goes up. I've taken the liberty of attaching a screen shot from the mapping page to show you what it looks like. The shot is of the Bitterroot in Montana, which is the first PDF map on the USDA page linked in your article.
Any volunteers to help? This could be a big undertaking.
Environment : National Forests To Be Sold To Pay For Schools
Secure Rural Schools Forest Service FY 2007 Initiative - The FY 2007 President's Budget proposes to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools program for another five years. To help fund this initiative, the Administration recommends selling a limited number of acres of National Forest System lands around the nation. Lands that are potentially eligible have been identified and are displayed in a table here.
The Forest Service will be publishing a notice in the Federal Register around February 28th, requesting comments from the public. At that time, more detailed maps will be available for all lands identified as potentially eligible. The location of the maps will be published on this site at that date.
This is pretty disturbing, because even though funding rural schools is important, I'm not sure selling tons of national forest land to private owners is the solution. There are other options, for instance, less weapons and illegal wars, perhaps.
Agriculture Secretary Mark Rey says that these lands "are not the crown jewels," and Forest Service spokeperson Heidi Valetkevitch's says that the "lands in question aren't environmentally sensitive wilderness or protected scenic areas." However, American Whitewater says they "question the adequacy of their review."
Take a look at the list of acreage to be sold. It's about 300,000 acres. I used to go hiking and camping in Pisgah National Forest with my parents, and now they're going to sell alot of it. What if the areas where I used to camp in the gorgeous wilderness of NC one day becomes a Walmart? I shudder to think...
I enjoy mapping and it occurred that perhaps our readers would get more up at arms over this deal if they could see actual satellite photos of these beautiful pristine areas before they're sold off and, as you say, a Wal-Mart goes up. I've taken the liberty of attaching a screen shot from the mapping page to show you what it looks like. The shot is of the Bitterroot in Montana, which is the first PDF map on the USDA page linked in your article.
Any volunteers to help? This could be a big undertaking.
Buy Local Food and Farm Toolkit (PDF) 38-page report that offers step-by-step instructions on how to get sustainable food in schools, as well as realistic ideas on what each of us can do. (Oxfam America, July 2002)
Cost of Climate Change It has taken some time for the economics of climate change to enter the mainstream. While scientific knowledge in this area has leapt ahead, economic advances have been much slower.
Your old cell phone could help save a gorilla How does this save said gorilla? Well, it will cut down on the mining of the coltan in the Congo. Coltan, which is short for columbite-tantalite, is a black mineral that is used to coat a variety of components on cell phones and computer chips.
Personal Tech Pipeline In a development that could help speed up the widespread adoption of hybrid vehicles, researchers at MIT have announced the development of a new car battery technology that allows for 10-minute charging and discharging.
Senate Rejects Wiretapping Probe The Bush administration helped derail a Senate bid to investigate a warrantless eavesdropping program yesterday after signaling it would reject Congress's request to have former attorney general John D. Ashcroft and other officials testify about the program
UNCG Food Fight : Initially Positive Findings about Aramark
Aramark is the food service provider at UNCG, and they have a contract to provide all food services on campus. This initially struck me as a difficult hurdle for this project, until I found out that Aramark has worked with several universities to bring local, organic, and healthy food onto their campuses.
In Fall of 2001 MS3 graduate student, Heather House developed a class project to expose students to local, organically grown produce. Her initial idea produced a landmark agreement between SRU and the university food service provider at the time, ARAMARK to purchase 10% of its produce from Pennsylvania Local Organic Works (PLOW), a seven-member organic agricultural cooperative. "It's not just a matter of putting food on the table for students, it's about providing academic programs and helping students develop habits that will help them later in life," says Wayne Clickman, food service coordinator for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Three other schools in the State System of Higher Education are now likely to embark on a similar agreement with ARAMARK. Source: The Cornerstone, Fall 2002
A trial run of this partnership had two important outcomes, local farmers demonstrating they can deliver a quality product and the idea of purchasing locally become more a part of the climate of the University. Currently a new food service provide AVI has taken over this project with enthusiasm.
This article points out that Aramark is also working with Vassar and Rochester. Other schools are experiencing better, local food as well:
University of California students on 10 campuses launched a statewide campaign last month to pressure U.C. regents to spend at least 10% of their $ 20 million annual food budget on local and organic products. Sodexho, which was ousted from the University of California at Santa Cruz after a student campaign, recently began to draw its supplies from local sources near eight Midwestern campuses. And California-based Bon Appetit, which operates dining halls at 67 colleges, has hiked spending on local food to 20% of its budget.
This is all making me feel very positive about this project.
Here are some sources for my position paper to convince UNCG to serve local/organic/fresh food to its students:
School Lunch Report Card A Report by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Fall 2002
Farm to school program (PDF) San Francisco Food Systems began a feasibility study around farm-to-school...assess the feasibility of changing purchasing practices in a way that would better support children's health as well as the viability of small- and medium-sized farmers in the r
Buy Local Food and Farm Toolkit (PDF) 38-page report that offers step-by-step instructions on how to get sustainable food in schools, as well as realistic ideas on what each of us can do. (Oxfam America, July 2002)
UNCG Food Fight : Guilford County Schools Wellness Program
This isn't involving UNCG, but it's a similar topic:
Hi All,
Wellness Policy Committee Meeting
(OPEN TO THE PUBLIC)
Thursday, February 9th, 2006
9 A.M.-10 A.M.
501 W. Washington Street
Greensboro, North Carolina
Cynthia Sevier's Office
Second Floor (I will send room # )
For about 1 month Deb Bettini and I served on the Wellness Policy Committee for the Guilford County Schools. This first meeting was attended by 7 people with various backgrounds and the mood of the meeting was very upbeat and everyone was enthusiastic about making a change for our children.
Last week we were scheduled for our 2nd meeting on Thursday Feb. 2, 2006. On Tuesday 1/31/06 I received a call from one of the participates stating that Deb and I could not serve on the WP Committee(WPC) because we were not elected to the Health & Safety Board for the school. I was told that all meetings were open to the public and we could attend but not comment or vote! Deb on the other hand was told not to attend any of the meetings.
At 9 a.m. on Feb. 2, 2006 I showed up at the scheduled meeting only to find an empty, dark office. The meeting had been rescheduled. I only found this out through several phone calls to people on the WPC. There were no phone calls or emails sent to inform Deb and I of the change. There are currently 4 people that now make up the WPC. Dr. Routh from the school board sat in on the first meeting to address policy rules and procedure.
Here are the names of the people serving on the Health and Safety Board for Guilford Co. Schools (this information is being sent to me and I will provide proper titles.) I also apologize for any misspelled names.
** represent those who are currently serving on the WPC.
Terry Grier
Dot Kearns
Ruth MacKinze
Robert Strack
Joyce Wellborne
Glenn Willis
Lynn Beckford
Deana Hayes
Patty Kinade
Janet Mayer**
Marty Sykes
Rober williams
Bobin Berjeron-Nolan
Greg Jones
Robin Lane**
Terina Piccarillo** PTA Chair for Healthy and Safety
Dr. Quinlin
Lea Sheplar
Vernus Thompson
Beth Woody
Dr. Terrance Young
Cynthia Seiver**
Terinal Piccarillo is representing the school, the community and the parent that is required of the WP guidelines. According to Senior Food Policy Analyst, Madeleine Levin, the schools are not breaking any of the WPGuidelines.
When these 4 people finish the WP it will be posted on the Guilford Co. school website. The public will have 21 days to comment and then it will go back to the WPC for any changes, it will then be up for a second public reading. This is when the school would like to hear from YOU. I strongly feel that the community should have more involvement with the development of the WP before it is made public.
I will have more of this as the week progresses. I hope that any of you that can make the next meeting will attend!
Sincerely,
Donna Myers
epicourier@gmail.com
273-4371
Ministry of Information : Real ID Act Contains Hidden, Dangerous Provisions
The Real ID Act is likely about to be passed, and though I don't like the idea of a National ID for reasons I may or may not get to later, there's something more important than the IDs themselves buried in the bill.
II. Waiver of Laws to Facilitate Barriers at Border44
Section 102 of the IIRIRA generally provides for construction and strengthening of barriers along U.S. land borders and specifically provides for 14 miles of barriers and roads along the border near San Diego, beginning at the Pacific Ocean and extending eastward. IIRIRA § 102(c) provides for a waiver of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA)45 and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA)46 to the extent the Attorney General determines is necessary to ensure expeditious construction of barriers and roads...
H.R. 418 [the Real ID Act of 2005] would provide additional waiver authority over laws that might impede the expeditious construction of barriers and roads along the border. H.R. 418 would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive any and all laws that he determines necessary, in his sole discretion, to ensure the expeditious construction of barriers and roads under IIRIRA § 102...
Section 102 of H.R. 418 would amend the current provision to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive any law upon determining that a waiver is necessary for the expeditious construction of the border barriers. Additionally, it would prohibit judicial review of a waiver decision or action by the Secretary and bar judicially ordered compensation or injunction or other remedy for damages alleged to result from any such decision or action.
Read that a few times, and think about it. I'd expound upon it a little, but I think Hannibal (the guy who wrote the ArsTechnia article) did a pretty good job, so I'll let you read his words:
You can read more on the tinfoil hat implications of this here if you're interested, but I'll sum it up for you: Congress has crafted a completely unprecedented provision that guts the principle of judicial review by granting the DHS secretary complete and total immunity from the courts when it comes to the construction of "barriers and roads" in this one specific geographical region, and they've buried this provision inside a national ID card act which is itself attached to a large military appropriations bill that no Congressperson in their right mind would vote against (money for the troops and all that).
Obviously, if this passes, it'll set a precedent. First, some obscure border region outside of San Diego, and then on to bigger and better things? As the present bill stands, if DHS built a road through an endangered wetland and committed four murders in the process, nobody could take the government to court over it. Is this the kind of unchecked power that we want Congress to have? The sky's the limit, once the A3S2 can of worms is opened tomorrow.
Can of worms is an understatement. Imagine if this passes. Generalissimo Secretary Michael Chertoff waltzes through the burning wreckage of a small, poor neighborhood near the border of Mexico and Texas as bulldozers plow through homes and schools. The General cackles wildly as a toddler falls in front of one of them and is utterly crushed by the giant machine. He makes a quick call to ensure that the driver is not prosecuted, and the work continues as the 80 foot high wall is built across the border. It passes through wildlife areas, homes, churches... some neighborhoods "lucky" enough to be missed just happen to be rich subdivisions that were able to pay the "avoidance tax."
Religion : Evolution vs. Creationism II - Pseudoscience
If you didn't read my earlier article on this subject, go ahead and do that if you want. It might give you some background on my position. It's not necessary, but might give you some good information.
In part II of my Evolution vs. Creationism battle, I wanted to center on the timely (though unfortunately timely) issues of creationism as science and the fight currently raging in the Kansas school board. This "discussion," if it can really be called that, involves changing the very definition of science according to the school board from "seeking natural explanations for what we observe around us," to "a continuing investigation that uses observation, hypothesis testing, measurement, experimentation, logical argument and theory building to lead to more adequate explanations of natural phenomena." The reason, of course, is to allow "intelligent design" to be taught in Kansas science classes and insert disclaimers into discussion on evolution that evolution is "still only a theory."
Either ironically or because of some sick, twisted sense of revenge, the hearings convened 80 years, to the day, after John Scopes was arrested for teaching Darwin's theory to his Dayton, Tenn., high school class. Intelligent design, of course, is nothing more than an attempt to promote creationism as some sort of science, but the attempt, in my mind, fails terrifically. This isn't because intelligent design is a ridiculous notion or even that I necessarily disagree with it; in fact I do see some sort of intelligence in the universe's design. I don't even see a problem with schools mentioning all of the evidence for some sort of intelligence in the universe's design. However, the proponents of what they call "intelligent design" are actually trying to force down the throats of children in a multi-faith environment the ideals and beliefs of one particular faith, namely Judeo-Christian.
My problem is the idea that the intelligent design theory, as it stands now (a front for backwards ideals from 2 millenia ago), is a pseudo scientific theory. It is not a scientific theory, it does not use the scientific method, it does not work within the confines of modern science, and it therefore has no place in science classes. Every single instance of an argument for intelligent design contains contradictions and logical fallacies, and therefore, again, has no place in science classrooms. The article I just linked to has a good, concise introduction to the theory of evolution.
To understand the problems with Intelligent Design, first it is important to understand the theory it is attempting to oppose, evolution by natural selection. The theory is this: If organisms reproduce, offspring inherit traits from their progenitor(s), a variability of traits exists, and the environment cannot sustain all the members of an increasingly large population, then those members of the population that have poorly-adapted traits (to their environment) will die out, and those with well-adapted traits (to their environment) will prosper (Darwin 459). Over a long period of time, this process leads to extreme complexity, and adaptedness.
The article mentions several arguments put forth by intelligent design proponents, such as irreducible complexity, originated by Michael Behe in his book Darwin's Black Box. The term "irreducible complexity" is defined by Behe as: "a single system which is composed of several interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, and where the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning." One example of this is the vertebrate eye, which Behe and others argue is nonfunctional if incomplete, and therefore could not have evolved. This is, of course, ridiculous. They completely ignore the fact that evolution doesn't work like this; you don't start out with a pupil, then the nerve endings, irises, lenses, etc evolving later. The eye likely started out as a photo sensor - a way to detect light - then evolved from there. This argument is apparently never mentioned by Behe, and his theory is therefore scientifically invalid.
A related but even less defensible theory is specified complexity, whose existence isn't even assured by the author who proposes it, so I don't see any reason to really talk about it except to tell you that the idea is this: Dembsky argues that for something to be complex, it must have "multiple possible outcomes." He says that if something can be predicted to happen with certainty, it is not Specified Complexity. In this way he precludes any deterministic explanation of Specified Complexity, thus making it require some external designer by definition.
One of the more convincing theories, though easily shrugged off, is that of the "fine-tuned universe." Basically, there are several constants in our universe that allow life to exist, for physics to work in such a way that the universe can actually continue, and so on. If the strong nuclear force were to have been as little as 2% stronger (relative to the other forces), all hydrogen would have been converted into helium. If it were 5% weaker, no helium at all would have formed and there would be nothing but hydrogen. If the weak nuclear force were a little stronger, supernovas could not occur, and heavy elements could not have formed. If it were slightly weaker, only helium might have formed.
If the electromagnetic forces were stronger, all stars would be red dwarfs, and there would be no planets. If it were a little weaker, all stars would be very hot and short-lived. If the electron charge were ever so slightly different, there would be no chemistry as we know it. Carbon (12C) only just managed to form in the primal nucleosynthesis. And so on." The argument against this theory is closely related to the saying "I think, therefore I am." Namely, since the universe does exist as it does, and we are alive, and physics does work the way it does, that predetermines the universe being "fine tuned." The fact that it's fine tuned doesn't have anything to do with whether or not someone tuned it beforehand or whether this happened out of complete chance.
There is a concept of falsifiability in science, which says that scientific theories must be able to be proven true or false. By the very definition of a scientific theory, there has to be evidence for or against a theory, and if it cannot be proven true or false, it is not a valid theory. A theory that cannot ever be proven false or true is 100% a pseudo scientific theory. These theories are often created this way on purpose, in order to allow the arguments for them to continue indefinitely. We can never prove that there is a creator unless when we die we do indeed go to heaven and meet god and sit on fluffly clouds with wings and harps, but there is no way *on Earth* to prove the idea of intelligent design true or false. It is therefore not scientific, should not be taught in schools, and certainly is not a valid argument against evolution. Evolution, on the other hand, can someday be proven true or false. All a valid scientific theory needs is one piece of evidence that contradicts the theory, and it is proven false. This has yet to happen with evolution.
Later in his show Limbaugh apologized, sort of. "I am going to apologize not for saying what I said, but I'm going to apologize if it offended anybody," he said. "I never apologize for what I say, but if some of you were offended by a graphic term involving actions committed by Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, that have now spread to America's high schools, I apologize."
"I meant to say ‘oral sex' throughout," he went on to say, "but the guttural term escaped my pouty lips in a moment of pure, unbridled passion. The staff was so stunned and so scared today they didn't dare hit the delete button, the deedle button, and so it got out there. My reaction is, somebody go ahead and turn me into the FCC. I'll be honored to be fined. It's just another government agency with its hand in my back pocket, so go right ahead."
A spokeswoman at Premiere Radio Networks, which syndicates Limbaugh's show, confirmed a transcript of Limbaugh's outburst but declined to make any other comments. "
In a response to the plea from TV chef Jamie Oliver for a 'school dinner revolution', the Prime Minister will say that school kitchens will be rebuilt and equipped so dishes can be cooked from scratch, while dinner ladies are given 'culinary skills' to help them create appetising menus. ...Blair will shortly meet Oliver to receive the petition triggered by his Feed Me Better campaign, now signed by more than 100,000 people, calling for low-fat, healthy, fresh school food.
HealthySchoolLunches.org is promoting a similar program here in the US, by producing a yearly school lunch report card and trying to improve school lunch nutrition. Right now, the schools aren't faring too well, with Fairfax County Virginia getting the highest grade (B) and Albuquerque Public School District in New Mexico getting an F. Nobody made over a B; that makes me sad.
I remember school lunches. Before I was health-conscious, I was drinking a Frutopia drink every single day and eating god knows what for the actual lunch. I know that I always had some sort of little debbie cake, as well, so you can imagine the sugar intake I was getting on a daily basis. I remember lots of people, particularly girls, getting nothing but fries and soda for lunch. That kind of thing has to stop, and it has to stop NOW.
You may remember my story about the "No Child Left Behind" act allowing military recruiters the ability to force any schools who get federal funding to give them information on all students. The students can choose not to be contacted, but it's difficult for schools to offer this option to students, and some just don't even bother. More on this rider to the act here.
Well, San Jose Democratic Representative Mike Honda wants to do something about it. He's proposed a bill that would change the way things work. Under the current law, parents must tell school officials they don't want their child contacted by the military, at school or home. Otherwise, schools are required to turn over students' names, addresses and phone numbers to Pentagon recruiters. Honda wants to turn that around, and allow the military to talk only to those students whose parents approve such contact.
Contact Rep. Honda and tell him you think he's right. Well, you know, if you DO think he's right.
War : Rep. Mike Honda Tries To Block Recruiters From High School Records
You may remember my story about the "No Child Left Behind" act allowing military recruiters the ability to force any schools who get federal funding to give them information on all students. The students can choose not to be contacted, but it's difficult for schools to offer this option to students, and some just don't even bother. More on this rider to the act here.
Well, San Jose Democratic Representative Mike Honda wants to do something about it. He's proposed a bill that would change the way things work. Under the current law, parents must tell school officials they don't want their child contacted by the military, at school or home. Otherwise, schools are required to turn over students' names, addresses and phone numbers to Pentagon recruiters. Honda wants to turn that around, and allow the military to talk only to those students whose parents approve such contact.
Drug War : Drugs Make Your Body Produce Colored Ooze!
SACRAMENTO, California (AP) -- The state's top education official urged all schools to drop an anti-drug program after an evaluation released Wednesday found it taught inaccurate and unscientific information.
Jack O'Connell, superintendent of public instruction, launched the evaluation after The San Francisco Chronicle reported on inaccuracies in the program in June.
The panel of five medical doctors and nine school health education specialists said the program "does not reflect accurate, widely accepted medical and scientific evidence."
Narconon Drug Prevention & Education, a free program with ties to the Church of Scientology, made presentations in at least 39 California school districts since 2000, including San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacramento. San Francisco and Los Angeles banned Narconon after the Chronicle reports.
Some teachers reported that Narconon instructors told students that the body can sweat out drug residues in saunas, and that as drugs exit the body, they produce colored ooze, the Chronicle reported.
Some other inaccuracies cited by the evaluation and the Chronicle -- including that drug residues stay in body fat, causing people to experience repeated flashbacks and cravings -- echo beliefs held by the Church of Scientology.
Narconon's president Clark Carr defended the program after the evaluation.
"Narconon is proud that throughout our nearly 40 years of service we have been able to help millions of youth worldwide to turn away from drug experimentation and a life on drugs," Carr said.
Among other findings, the panel determined that Narconon also incorrectly told students that the amount of a drug taken determines whether it acts as a stimulant or sedative, and that drugs "ruin creativity and dull senses."
If you didn't read 