today's high school students in the usa:.
less than 1/2 of them cannot identify the century when our civil war happened.. one in four thought columbus discovered america sometime after 1750.. one in three cannot name one right enumerated in the bill of rights.. three out of four cannot name the first us president.. two out of three do not know the length of term of a member of the house of representatives.. half cannot find britain on a map.. one out of four cannot find america on a map.. when my oldest daughter, who is now a physician was in 9th grade in this once-great state of california, i asked her about the three branches of our federal government.
she was clueless and told me she would take civics in her junior year in high school.
Farkel, where did you get the statistics in your opening post from? Was that the complete list of questions included in the survey, or were the questions the students did well on left off your final list?
I'm having a tough time finding your original source. I don't want to seem too skeptical, just want to confirm for myself that you didn't actually make up those stats.
i have been out for 22 years.i was raised as a jehovahs witness.
i was baptized in 1986 but soon after left the religion.
theres a whole lot to the reasons why i left, but i left.
Welcome Corboy101. You said that you were interested primarily in doctrine taught by the Watchtower Society. I'm surprised no one mentioned jwfacts.com yet. It offers astute and fair analysis of the many doctrines unique to Jehovah's Witnesses.
today's high school students in the usa:.
less than 1/2 of them cannot identify the century when our civil war happened.. one in four thought columbus discovered america sometime after 1750.. one in three cannot name one right enumerated in the bill of rights.. three out of four cannot name the first us president.. two out of three do not know the length of term of a member of the house of representatives.. half cannot find britain on a map.. one out of four cannot find america on a map.. when my oldest daughter, who is now a physician was in 9th grade in this once-great state of california, i asked her about the three branches of our federal government.
she was clueless and told me she would take civics in her junior year in high school.
Farkel, where did you get those statistics from? Was that the complete list of questions included in the survey, or were the questions the students did well on left off your final list?
Couldn't we use a similar survey to denigrate any other group? "Look how stupid older Americans are, only two out of five know that Columbus was not the first European to discover the Americas!"
today's high school students in the usa:.
less than 1/2 of them cannot identify the century when our civil war happened.. one in four thought columbus discovered america sometime after 1750.. one in three cannot name one right enumerated in the bill of rights.. three out of four cannot name the first us president.. two out of three do not know the length of term of a member of the house of representatives.. half cannot find britain on a map.. one out of four cannot find america on a map.. when my oldest daughter, who is now a physician was in 9th grade in this once-great state of california, i asked her about the three branches of our federal government.
she was clueless and told me she would take civics in her junior year in high school.
Resistance - That's not 'anecdotal'. It is simple to check out the voracity of his statement by googling a few minutes on the subject.
I was referring to his story about his daughter, which is by definition, an anecdote. He made it sound like he knew the education system was doomed after taking a survey of one student, questionable methodology by any standards.
Todays public schools are passing high school kids with reading abilities near illiteracy.
Does this represent a change from previous decades? Source? Otherwise, can't you see that what you mentioned doesn't actually support Farkel's thesis that there has been a decline in the average amount of education obtained by high school students? Ever thought about the possibility that people younger than you might actually be smarter than you? Just because they won't stay the hell off our damn lawns doesn't necessarily imply that the younger generation is intellectually inferior to us.
today's high school students in the usa:.
less than 1/2 of them cannot identify the century when our civil war happened.. one in four thought columbus discovered america sometime after 1750.. one in three cannot name one right enumerated in the bill of rights.. three out of four cannot name the first us president.. two out of three do not know the length of term of a member of the house of representatives.. half cannot find britain on a map.. one out of four cannot find america on a map.. when my oldest daughter, who is now a physician was in 9th grade in this once-great state of california, i asked her about the three branches of our federal government.
she was clueless and told me she would take civics in her junior year in high school.
You forgot to cite your source Farkel.
Other than your personal anecdote, do you have any evidence that the average high school student is less educated than in the past?
I half expected you to finish your post with a complaint that them kids also won't get the hell off your lawn!
whether this woman asked these questions of her own accord, or they were written by staffers, is not the point.
the real point is how can people in a country with some of the world's best universities ask such dumb questions.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqhmllq-odw#at=13.
... and if you wonder what reza aslan's views are about jesus, listen to him here, courtesy of all saints church in pasadena a few days ago.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zi4o242d2s.
That was simply unprofessional behavior by the Fox anchor. Fox News needs to revamp their whole organization. Their motto of "Fair and Balanced" is insulting to viewers intelligent enough to see the blatant and regular spin they put on news.
The irony is that Fox's practice of spinning news towards the far right might actually be bad for the Republican Party and their desire to win national elections. Fox undoubtedly has enormous persuasive powers over a certain segment of the electorate. I personally know several people that essentially get no other news about the world other than what they procure from watching Fox News on a regular basis. When your party becomes filled with extremists it alienates moderates and independents. However, Fox's descent into what can only be likened to "tabloid journalism" and borderline political propaganda might actually be good for their business model. Turning news into infotainment increases viewers. Viewers who would likely be otherwise bored at a straight reading of the news of the day. Delivering the news with political spin equates to increased revenue for Fox from advertisers.
Fox News is also capitalizing on the Republican Party losing national elections. Now bear with me, but having the Democratic Party in control of the Executive Branch allows Fox to perpetuate their particular brand of "outrage news" which keeps many tuning in. If Governor Romney had won the last election, Fox would have less to protest about, i.e., they would lose viewers. It makes good business since for Fox to play to and increase the partisanship of their viewers. Fortunately many Republican politicians are realizing that going further and further right is a poor, shortsighted strategy to appealing to a majority of voters.
Violia, I would agree with you that MSNBC is a very biased organization with a clear agenda. Nonetheless, that doesn't excuse Fox News from having to hold themselves to certain journalistic standards. I can't truly justify my poor behavior by finding someone else committing what I feel is worse behavior to point fingers at. If Fox wants to be taken serious as a news organization they need to hold themselves to a higher standard, not point fingers at extremists on the left (MSNBC) and cry, "Look, they're spinning the news too!"
It looks like this interview has brought the author great advertising for his book. Albeit at the expense of Fox's credibility.
The anchor's argument had one giant, glaring flaw. The premise of her critique was that as a non-Christian the author would be unable to give an accurate, unbiased account of Christianity or Jesus of Nazareth. However, by that logic the majority of Fox broadcasters should be unable to give an opinion of Obama or any other news issues pertaining to the Democratic Party. As obvious Republicans, they would be unable to give accurate information concerning Obama or his policies. You can quickly see how faulty the host's reasoning is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yldwe_6jsu.
.
cedars.
It's a cult.
Thanks for making the video Cedars. A light needs to shine on the inner workings of the Watchtower organization. JWs need to own the practices they try to deny to outsiders. Whether intended or not, I could clearly feel that the main effect of this talk was hardening the hearts of those in the audience.
The higher ups in the religion are afraid that they're losing control over their captives. The disfellowshipping doctrine is a weapon wielded by the society in order to enforce total control over Jehovah's Witnesses. You must OBEY the imperfect men on the Governing Body or else lose your family. That's the bottom line. Truth is what they decide it is.
Strangely, I don't feel a lot of bitterness towards the speaker. He is a messenger, a puppet on a stage. If he decided that he couldn't give this talk because of his Bible-trained conscience, the show would go on. Someone else would deliver the Governing Body's message.
once when i was profoundly sad for too many days, my brother in law sent us a mix tape.
he named each song after a person in our family.
this is the one he named heather.
I believe the first time I became aware of the French composer Erik Satie was when watching the brilliant documentary "Man on Wire" which featured several of his songs in the soundtrack. He was a precursor to the minimalist era. Minimalism being defined as a musical style in which the simplest and fewest elements are used to create the maximum effect. Technically very simple pieces, yet extremely emotionally moving.
i like learning about whats going on in the world.
but i tire of having to scan news outlets like npr, cnn and fox in order to figure out reality.
what news organization(s) do you use to learn about whats going on in the world?
Is there even one that's not corrupted by right or left wing spinners?
I like to go to Google News because they report stories from multiple sources.
I predict the name of your future king will be...
Asturd
