Tag Archives: Current Events
H.R. 5
There is a bill in the legislature that would expand equal rights protections for gays (source)(text of bill). It is opposed by the Catholic, Baptist, and Mormon churches. They argue that discrimination is such a fundamental part of their religion that they will be unable to practice their faith without it. Most of us were …
We do not at present educate people to think but, rather, to have opinions…
Excerpted from Education of a Wandering Man: A Memoir by Louis L’Amour ©1989: Acquiring an education has many aspects, of which school is only one, and the present approach is, I believe, the wrong one. Without claiming to have all the answers, I can only express my feeling that our methods of instruction do much …
An Incomplete Education
“Unfortunately, in most of our schools the history of Europe and North America is taught as if it were the history of the world. The rest of the world is referred to only when Europeans or Americans were invading or trading. There has recently been a small change for the better but not nearly enough.” …
The Things That Make Us Human
“This is the result of social collapse, a lack of education, the loss of values in our homes and in our institutions. In recent years this country has focused only on politics. We have forgotten about the things that make us human.” ~Jorge Liscano He was quoted in a BBC video about grave robbing in …
Tetris
Executives with multimillion-dollar stock packages often treat their employees like Tetris pieces, to be put into place as efficiently as possible, then promptly disposed of. That’s from an opinion piece about the video game industry Jason Schreier wrote for the New York Times (online HERE), but he could have been talking about almost anyplace.
The vast majority of immigrants crossing our southern border are motivated by hunger and desperation. The debate should be over the best way to help these people, not the most cost-efficient way to keep them out.
The “Very Stable Genius” has been arguing with a dead guy for the last three days.
Forever In Flux
“As human beings we share a tendency to scramble for certainty whenever we realize that everything around us is in flux. In difficult times the stress of trying to find solid ground– something predictable to stand on– seems to intensify. But in truth, the very nature of our existence is forever in flux. Everything keeps …
Saint Abbie Hoffman
In this excerpt from Fates Worse Than Death, copyright 1991, Kurt Vonnegut talks about one of my personal heroes, Abbie Hoffman: I mentioned Abbie Hoffman in that piece about books as mantras for meditation. I realize that most people nowadays don’t know who he was or what he did. He was a clowning genius, having …
Intellectually Agile
“If there was ever a reason to improve the country’s educational systems, just look at where your country is right now. It’s not an intellectually agile majority that got us to this place.” ~Henry Rollins
Emergency
“I could do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn’t need to do this. But I’d rather do it much faster.” (source) This quote puts the Supreme Court on trial. Their verdict will show whether they are impartial or packed with partisans. I know the way I expect this to go.
Obey
“Historically, the most terrible things– war, genocide, and slavery– have resulted not from disobedience, but from obedience.” ~Howard Zinn
