On 12/31/2013 10:04 AM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 12/31/13, 9:43 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/31/2013 9:28 AM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 12/31/13, 9:25 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/31/2013 9:19 AM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 12/31/13, 9:09 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/31/2013 8:50 AM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 12/31/13, 8:24 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/31/2013 8:08 AM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 12/31/13, 3:47 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:

The various hosts of MSNBC shows have been featuring
"Highlights" of
their 2013 shows. Someone put together this compilation that is
pretty
funny. (link below)

BTW, one of the show hosts ... Melissa Harris Perry ...
demonstrated
that racism is alive and well even among the highly educated
members of
"academia" that Perry represents. She is the daughter of a
college
dean, has a bachelor's degree in English and a PhD in political
science.
In addition to being an MSNBC show host, she is also a
professor at
Tulane University. She's also African-American.

During her year in review show on Sunday, she showed a picture of
Mitt
Romney's large family that included Mitt Romney holding his son's
adopted toddler on his knee. The toddler happens to be
African-American.

What fun Perry and her panel had mocking the Romney family.
Comments
like, "One thing is not like the others", "Token baby", etc.,
plus
the
typical anti-conservative political comments.

So much for the "enlightened" ones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpRA5H3iuMQ#t=44










Sometimes it is really difficult to ignore "the stupid" in the
Republican Party:



The divide between Republicans and Democrats on their views of the
scientific theory of evolution is widening, according to a new
poll
released by the Pew Research Religion and Public Life Project.

The overall percentage of Americans who say "humans and other
living
things evolved over time" (60 percent) versus those who believe
"humans
and other living things have existed in their present form since
the
beginning of time" (33 percent) is about the same as it was in a
similar
poll four years ago. But the political gap has widened
substantially.

In 2009, 54 percent of Republicans said they accepted the
theory of
evolution as true, compared with 64 percent of Democrats. But in
the
intervening years, opinions appear to have evolved: In the latest
poll,
nearly half of Republicans (48 percent) believed in a static
view of
human and animal origins, while just 30 percent of Democrats
expressed
that point of view. Independents tracked closely with the
breakdown
for
Democrats.

"The gap is coming from the Republicans, where fewer are now
saying
that
humans have evolved over time," says Cary Funk, a Pew senior
researcher
who conducted the analysis, .

Nearly a quarter (24 percent) of those surveyed by Pew said they
believed that a "supreme being guided evolution for the purpose of
creating humans and other life in the form it exists today."

According to Pew:

"A majority of white evangelical Protestants (64%) and
half of
black Protestants (50%) say that humans have existed in their
present
form since the beginning of time. But in other large religious
groups, a
minority holds this view. In fact, nearly eight-in-ten white
mainline
Protestants (78%) say that humans and other living things have
evolved
over time. Three-quarters of the religiously unaffiliated (76%)
and
68%
of white non-Hispanic Catholics say the same. About half of
Hispanic
Catholics (53%) believe that humans have evolved over time, while
31%
reject that idea."

Broken down by age, respondents 18-29 years old were about 20
percent
more likely to accept evolution as were the 65+ age group. The gap
between college graduates (72 percent accepted evolution) and
people
with a high school diploma or less (51 percent accepted evolution)
was
also fairly pronounced.

The Pew survey sampled 1,983 respondents, with a margin of
error of
plus
or minus 3 percentage points.

As , the issue of evolution — in particular in states where there
have
been high-profile fights over how it is presented in public school
classrooms — has increasingly placed members of the scientific
community
at odds with politicians and local school boards.

http://tinyurl.com/qzp8llt


Since "the beginning of time." Conservatives belief man and
dinosaurs
walked the earth together, and that "The Flintstones" was the
first
reality show.


What does any of that have to do with Dr. Melissa Harris Perry and
her
liberal panel yukking it up and high-fiving each other about Mitt
Romney's son adopting an African-American baby?





Nothing and...everything.




I think you were just sharing my soapbox.

I for one don't give a hoot who believes what. I also don't care if
schools teach the *theories* of evolution or the *theories* of
creationism. Both exist in our society ... as your Pew survey points
out, so why suppress one at the expense of the other? As long as
they
are presented as *theories* and not necessarily as proven fact by the
school's curriculum, it seems to me that it only broadens a person's
education.

Leave the final brainwashing to the liberal professors in liberal
arts
college programs.




"Creationism" is based on religion and teaching of religious beliefs
has
no place in the public schools. Also, there is *no* scientific
evidence
or proof for religious beliefs. Might as well have a class extolling
the
virtues of superstition.

There is plenty of scientifically valid proof for evolution.

It matters what people believe. If you have a huge percentage of the
population believing superstition and belittling science, you end up
with a stupid society, which is sort of what we have now in 'Merika.



You contradict yourself. "It matters what people believe", yet if a
large percentage of the population believes something that you don't
buy, you want it banned from being discussed in school.

I am not advocating the actual teaching or preaching of creationism in
public schools, but rather the fact that in our society there are many
who believe in it. Just teach the facts. Most people believe in
evolution but there are many who believe otherwise.





Many people used to believe that slavery was ok. Does that mean that
those of us who think and thought it was an abomination should give
those who believe in slavery a pass?

I don't think so. I think it behooves to stamp out stupidity and
superstition in society when and where we can.


In other words, only present information that *you* happen to believe
and suppress anything else. Wow. What enlightenment.





Not at all. Slavery was just as wrong in the past as it is in the
present. It is inherently wrong. There was and is no moral justification
for slavery. You are trying to justify superstition, and you can easily
do it among religious conservatives, because many of them believe that
sort of thing, just as they believe "the bible" was divinely written and
is the word of god, even though anyone with a brain and a read of
history knows that isn't the case...oh, and those Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John "books"? They weren't written by any of those four guys.

Sorry.


If there was (and is) no moral justification for slavery, then it and
it's history should not be taught in school, just like any discussion or
recognition to creationism theories according to your logic.

I am not saying to preach it. I am saying that it should not be ignored
as part of someones general education of the influences on society.
It's a social awareness issue, not a course in how we got here.