StrangeSox

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Mar 14, 2007 -> 12:29 PM) yea, it would be more trouble than it's worth. our public schools have enough problems teaching kids, don't need to throw divisive religious discussions into the mix. how about spending additional resources making sure high school kids can actually solve an equation that would be considered fairly simple to a student in other first world countries. we are so far behind in math and science i would rather see more math instruction over a class about allah, or jesus, or whoever. Exactly. Like I said before, if 15% of students can't name at least one major world religion, we have much, much bigger problems than a comparative religions class.

QUOTE(vandy125 @ Mar 14, 2007 -> 12:27 PM) So, even a discussion about different religions is off-limits? It is no surprise to me that people don't have any reasons or thoughts behind what they believe and just blindly state they believe A, B, and C. We never teach them to look at what they believe and what others believe. There just seems to be a blind personal belief system that is being taught. Most students don't know about any other way of thinking or any other options. They are not being allowed to form opinions. If you ask questions about their beliefs, it turns into "How dare you question my beliefs?" when you may just be asking for information as to why they think something. Its the default response to a question that you have not thought deeply about. I don't think that it fits into the mandatory curriculum. Maybe as a smaller part of a history or social studies class. As an elective, I think it would be great. Critical thinking and rational thought should be covered in other courses. I don't see how adding in a comparative religion class (and taking out something else to make room) would be a net gain.

QUOTE(HeGone33 @ Mar 14, 2007 -> 12:25 PM) Ok, I'll stop, I didn't know he was the next Robin Ventura. Does anyone here realize that what Robin did is rare? In other words, not the common. Why don't we just have one thread title "BA is God" How common is it for a player put in Anderson's position to perform significantly better than he did in his first year in the majors? Great defense, decent second half at the plate, all while being platooned and not getting consistent playing time.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Mar 14, 2007 -> 12:19 PM) I am sure that Robin Ventura would of looked like a nervous b$%^& at the plate when he hit .179 and .249 in his first 2 season. I am sure that you would of crapped over him and wanted him moved. But then again hindsight is 20/20. +1 Anderson was consistently good in the outfield last year. He showed significant improvement over the course of his first full season in the majors. He's had a good ST so far. I don't get why people are saying that he sucks. edit: I'm sure it didn't help that he was often thrown out there against tough lefties and was sat for weak righties all season long.

QUOTE(vandy125 @ Mar 14, 2007 -> 12:01 PM) Maybe this is a poor analogy (you can point that out to me later ), but isn't there a lot of room for bias for any type of social science? We trust our teachers to be able to do other things correctly with some oversight, why not this? At what point are you drawing the line and saying "too much". I draw the line at religion in public schools.

QUOTE(thedoctor @ Mar 14, 2007 -> 11:55 AM) i wouldn't be against something like this, but i think it would be difficult in practice. to me the best approach would not be religion, per se, but a discussion of faith and spirituality. the discussion would have to include all religions and all belief systems, imo, including atheism and agnosticism. unfortunately i doubt it could be pulled off. is a christian teacher going to feel comfortable relating the tenets of the koran? would a muslim be comfortable explaining a belief system that does not include a higher power? i doubt it. most often i think the class would be colored by the teacher's individual views and that's dangerous. That's basically my reservations about it, too. There's way too much room for bias from the teacher. Elective, yes. Mandatory, no.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 14, 2007 -> 11:44 AM) Was I the only one here who had a "Social Studies" class in I think 6th grade that spent at least a month or so actually going through the beliefs & practices of something like 7 major religions? In the World History class I took in high school, we touched on them briefly from what I remember. It was nothing major or in-depth, though.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Mar 14, 2007 -> 09:48 AM) The thing that strikes me, and I know this is bad statistical analysis, but 15% of the kids don't know one major religion, but only 13% don't know about global warming, are kids more aware of global warming than the religions around them? That's kinda interesting. To me, it raises a ton of red flags that the stats in the article are seriously misleading or manipulated. I just can't believe 15% can't name one. I just can't.

QUOTE(Soxy @ Mar 14, 2007 -> 08:25 AM) No, Susie, Joan of Arc WASN'T Noah's wife. . . Prothero calls for at least one mandatory course on Bible 101 and another on world religions. The Bible, he says, is a useful guidebook to understanding American history, literature and current events throughout the Middle East. After all, the United States is a Christian nation—both in the past and the present. It was the narrative of Exodus that guided colonists to the New World. And it was President George W. Bush who called Jesus his favorite philosopher and steered us up (or down, depending on your perspective) the road to Jericho in his first inaugural address. And does anyone have any idea what the writer is referring to here? Since when did Exodus guide the colonists to "The New World"?

QUOTE(Soxy @ Mar 14, 2007 -> 08:25 AM) He supports his argument with polls and statistics. Only 10 percent of American teenagers can list all five major world religions and 15 percent can’t name any. Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that the Bible holds the key to all or most of life’s basic questions. But only half of American adults can name one of the four Gospels and most Americans can’t name the first book of the Bible. How is it even possible for someone not to be able to name Christinianity, Judaism, or Islam? If that number really is true, I think that there's a much larger problem then religious knowledge in our public schools.

It's 70 down in Champaign, too, but there's still piles of snow in some places. Its an odd site when its this warm out.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Mar 13, 2007 -> 09:27 AM) This would make little sense to me. Another mediocre outfielder? Why? Some teams have a 4th OF. The Sox seem to want a 6th.

It seems to me people just use frats and sororities to keep up their little cliques they got oh-so-used-to in high school.

Give government a power and they will surely abuse it. This comes as no surprise at all.

Fantastic episode. This is exactly what they needed. Though the chess game thing was kinda dumb -- if the station was breached by "hostiles," they were supposed to play chess, win, and then enter a bunch of numbers to blow up the station? That doesn't exactly make sense.

Great response!

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Mar 5, 2007 -> 09:38 AM) SEASICK STEVE RULES!!! www.seasicksteve.com Another prime example of how this country has it's head soooo far up its butt in the ways of music! Why the hell this stuff is not available in the US is beyond me! Wow. First I've heard of him. Love what I've heard so far. Any way to get his stuff here?

Sorry for assuming you were referring to the article he cited to support his claims and the article's own references.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 05:45 PM) So says the far left She would be voted in. It is unlikely Al Franken , or whoever your first choice is to be VP is, has any shot at being nominated by a Republican president. Robert Novak is far left?

Oh Fox News........so sad....

I don't know about the pardon, it could potentially piss a lot of people off against the Republicans, and the '08 political season has started already, it seems. There would be a huge uproar if he was pardoned.

Maher's comments are worse, no doubt. However, Ann's comments just go right to the core of her debating intellect level: mean, hate-filled, juvenile insults. Here's a transcript of Maher's comments: http://newsbusters.org/node/11169 Maher: What about the people who got onto the Huffington Post – and these weren’t even the bloggers, these were just the comments section – who said they, they expressed regret that the attack on Dick Cheney failed. Joe Scarborough: Right. Maher: Now… John Ridley: More than regret. Maher: Well, what did they say? Ridley: They said “We wish he would die.” I mean, it was (?) hate language. Barney Frank: They said the bomb was wasted. (laughter and applause) Maher: That’s a funny joke. But, seriously, if this isn’t China, shouldn’t you be able to say that? Why did Arianna Huffington, my girlfriend, I love her, but why did she take that off right away? After some discussion about why Huffington should or shouldn’t have taken these comments down, the following occurred: Ridley: It’s one thing to say you hate Dick Cheney, which applies to his politics. It’s another thing to say, “I’m sorry he didn’t die in an explosion." And I think, you know… Maher: But you should be able to say it. And by the way... Frank: Excuse me, Bill, but can I ask you a question? Do you decide what the topics are for this show? Maher: Yeah, I decide the topics, they don’t go there. Frank: But you exercise control over the show the way that she does over her blog. Maher: But I have zero doubt that if Dick Cheney was not in power, people wouldn’t be dying needlessly tomorrow. (applause) Scarborough: If someone on this panel said that they wished that Dick Cheney had been blown up, and you didn’t say… Frank: I think he did. Scarborough: Okay. Did you say… Maher: No, no. I quoted that. Frank: You don’t believe that? Maher: I’m just saying if he did die, other people, more people would live. That’s a fact.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 5, 2007 -> 01:46 PM) Well, I will admit, this is vastly more amusing and less annoying than the stupid attempted Clinton/Obama dust-up a week ago. E&P. Why does anyone pay attention to her? She just spouts off inflammatory crap to get attention/ book sales/ media time. She doesn't add anything to the debate and is just a huge b**** in general.

That's creepy. But, to answer your question, I don't think that there's such a thing as "too much sex"

Getting the new Wilco right now, hope its good. I've liked most of what I've heard live so far. For anyone looking, the torrent is readily available on torrentspy.