Why worry about the Texas Bd. Of Ed.?

**maxx** · August-12-10, 08:56 AM

Here's a book every student in high school should read for science. It covers the waterfront in describing what we now know about the origins of life, the universe, and all that.

http://www.amazon.com/Origins-Fourte...1621278&sr=1-2

**bailey** · August-12-10, 11:31 AM

The Texas board of ed would require that book either be banned from the libraries, placed in the science fiction section or burned. It's heresy to suggest the world is any more than 5000 years old and everything on it was created by GOD!

In Jesus' name we pray....

**Johnlodge** · August-12-10, 12:33 PM

Originally Posted by bailey

The Texas board of ed would require that book either be banned from the libraries, placed in the science fiction section or burned. It's heresy to suggest the world is any more than 5000 years old and everything on it was created by GOD!

In Jesus' name we pray....

Here's a picture from a proposed Texas BoE textbook on early man.

**Detroit Stylin** · August-12-10, 05:12 PM

Originally Posted by johnlodge

here's a picture from a proposed texas boe textbook on early man.

lmbao.....

**maxx** · August-12-10, 06:15 PM

Kansas Museum of Science

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...:0&tx=94&ty=66

**MCP-001** · August-13-10, 10:34 AM

Say what you will about the Texas BoE.

It would be a welcome change than the books that I had where Wilson was a good president under difficult times [[he wasn't), FDR saved the country [[he didn't), and LBJ was a "compassionate" president [[who ended up creating a permanent class dependent on the government).

**Johnlodge** · August-13-10, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by MCP-001

Say what you will about the Texas BoE.

It would be a welcome change than the books that I had where Wilson was a good president under difficult times [[he wasn't), FDR saved the country [[he didn't), and LBJ was a "compassionate" president [[who ended up creating a permanent class dependent on the government).

Yeah, bringing up kids who believe fairy tales over science will have us competing in a global knowledge-based economy in no time. I like how these same people who whine about other countries passing us by then tell our kids dinosaur bones were put there by the devil to trick us.

**MCP-001** · August-13-10, 12:15 PM

Originally Posted by Johnlodge

Yeah, bringing up kids who believe fairy tales over science will have us competing in a global knowledge-based economy in no time. I like how these same people who whine about other countries passing us by then tell our kids dinosaur bones were put there by the devil to trick us.

I missed the part where I called Wilson, FDR or LBJ scientists.

Where do you see that?

**Gistok** · August-13-10, 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by MCP-001

Say what you will about the Texas BoE.

It would be a welcome change than the books that I had where Wilson was a good president under difficult times [[he wasn't), FDR saved the country [[he didn't), and LBJ was a "compassionate" president [[who ended up creating a permanent class dependent on the government).

I think I must have had the same book... it also forgot to mention that 4 of the first 5 presidents were slave owners....

But really... calling it a "WELCOME CHANGE"!! I see evolution passed you by... or was that intelligent design...

**oladub** · August-13-10, 07:33 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

I think I must have had the same book... it also forgot to mention that 4 of the first 5 presidents were slave owners....

But really... calling it a "WELCOME CHANGE"!! I see evolution passed you by... or was that intelligent design...

FDR wasn't a slave owner but he did put Japanese-Americans in prison camps after stealing their property. 58,000 Americans and 1M Vietnamese died mostly under Johnson in Vietnam. Wilson created the Federal reserve and the IRS. Roosevelt and Wilson both started a military draft. No, I don't think Texas textbooks should be so religion influenced. That would be as bad as crediting Wilson.

**ghettopalmetto** · August-13-10, 07:41 PM

Yes, we should be teaching our children the opinions of a handful of wackos instead of scholarly work that has stood the test of time.

The Texas BoE can get bent.

**Gistok** · August-19-10, 03:21 PM

Originally Posted by MCP-001

It would be a welcome change than the books that I had where Wilson was a good president under difficult times [[he wasn't), FDR saved the country [[he didn't), and LBJ was a "compassionate" president [[who ended up creating a permanent class dependent on the government).

You can always spot someone who got their "renewed" history lessons from television "Commentators" [[Beck, Limbaugh and Hannity on one side and Olbermann and Maher on the other).... people who aren't even qualified to interpret, let alone teach history. It must be the "I like what I hear" mentality of the Americans "fringes"...

And we wonder why the rest of the world is getting smarter while many Americans are left behind!

**oladub** · August-19-10, 03:52 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

You can always spot someone who got their "renewed" history lessons from television "Commentators" [[Beck, Limbaugh and Hannity on one side and Olbermann and Maher on the other).... people who aren't even qualified to interpret, let alone teach history. It must be the "I like what I hear" mentality of the Americans "fringes"...

And we wonder why the rest of the world is getting smarter while many Americans are left behind!

First, You have to establish who has been getting their history lessons from Limbaugh and Olberman, and you haven't. Then you have to show where points made are wrong. I can't speak for MCP but I previously posted,

FDR wasn't a slave owner but he did put Japanese-Americans in prison camps after stealing their property. 58,000 Americans and 1M Vietnamese died mostly under Johnson in Vietnam. Wilson created the Federal reserve and the IRS. Roosevelt and Wilson both started a military draft. No, I don't think Texas textbooks should be so religion influenced. That would be as bad as crediting Wilson.

Either my points were correct or they were wrong. In either case, they were not talking points I heard from listening to Hannity or Rachel because I am bored with such programming. MCP made a good point though that our social studies and history texts also contain some nonsense.

**maxx** · August-19-10, 04:34 PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/ed...n/13texas.html
"...Cynthia Dunbar, a lawyer from Richmond who is a strict constitutionalist and thinks the nation was founded on Christian beliefs, managed to cut Thomas Jefferson from a list of figures whose writings inspired revolutions in the late 18th century and 19th century, replacing him with St. Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin and William Blackstone. [[Jefferson is not well liked among conservatives on the board because he coined the term “separation between church and state.”)

Thomas Acquinas inspired revolutions the way King George III did.
http://www.iep.utm.edu/aqui-pol/
"... [[On Kingship, Book 1, Chapter 1;Commentary on the Politics, Book 3, Lecture 6 [393-394]). Simply Stated, the best regime is monarchy. Aquinas’ argument for this is drawn from a mixture of philosophical and theological observations. Inasmuch as the goal of any ruler should be the “unity of peace,” the regime is better governed by one person rather than by many.."

**3WC** · August-19-10, 05:29 PM

Bailey and others: What makes you think that the book would not be acceptable to the TX Bd of Ed? Utter nonsense. As a Texan, I find those ignorant comments very aggrevating.

One of the largest employers and biggest industries in TX is the oil and gas exploration and production business. As such, the TX education system is geared up to educate thousands of children in the earth sciences, which include, the origins of the universe. I'd bet heavily on the average TX kid to kick the average MI kid's ass when it comes to this struff.

It's pretty clear that nobody on this forum has had the many benefits of a TX education. Too bad.

**maxx** · August-19-10, 05:52 PM

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/fea...001.blake.html
"...Barton’s goal is to pack textbooks with early American documents that blend government and religion, and paint them as building blocks of our Constitution. In so doing, he aims to blur the fact that the Constitution itself cements a wall of separation between church and state. But his agenda does not stop there. He and the other conservative experts also want to scrub U.S. history of its inconvenient blemishes—if they get their way, textbooks will paint slavery as a relic of British colonialism that America struggled to cast off from day one and refer to our economic system as “ethical capitalism.” They also aim to redeem Communist hunter Joseph McCarthy, a project McLeroy endorses. As he put it in a memo to one of the writing teams, “Read the latest on McCarthy—He was basically vindicated.”

On the global front, Barton and company want textbooks to play up clashes with Islamic cultures, particularly where Muslims were the aggressors, and to paint them as part of an ongoing battle between the West and Muslim extremists. Barton argues, for instance, that the Barbary wars, a string of skirmishes over piracy that pitted America against Ottoman vassal states in the 1800s, were the “original war against Islamic Terrorism.” What’s more, the group aims to give history a pro-Republican slant—the most obvious example being their push to swap the term “democratic” for 'republican' when describing our system of government..."

Republican conservatives are ready to politicize anything. On the global front, it sounds like they're pushing for an all-out crusade against Islam. Thankfully, few school systems can afford new textbooks. There is no incentive for thinking people to buy this propaganda. They can carry on by copying what they've already got if necessary.

East Texas seems to be the hot spot for this idiocy. Louie Gohmert is from east Texas. The Daily Show reported on some of Gohmert's words of wisdom with the Gaping Holes series.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/videos/?...ohmert&start=0

**Jimaz** · August-20-10, 03:42 PM

And for their next trick, they'll smugly rewrite the [[ninth to some, eighth to others) commandment to read "You shall bear false witness against your neighbor" thereby legitimizing the whole project in their own wee minds.

**MCP-001** · August-20-10, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

You can always spot someone who got their "renewed" history lessons from television "Commentators" [[Beck, Limbaugh and Hannity on one side and Olbermann and Maher on the other).... people who aren't even qualified to interpret, let alone teach history. It must be the "I like what I hear" mentality of the Americans "fringes"...

And we wonder why the rest of the world is getting smarter while many Americans are left behind!

Funny, these guys are entertaining/informative on the radio, but they had nothing on my instructors I had back when I was in college. Nationwide talk radio didn't even take off yet back then.

I'll tell you what, Gistok, go out and crack open a copy of "American Voices: Significant Speeches in American History 1640–1945". Then, read the part from Eugene Debs and then read about his run in with Wilson afterwards. Also read about Wilson's flip-flopping on American Involvement in WWI. While you're at it, go read about the Michigan 339th "Polar Bears".

Then fast forward to FDR's reign.

My first eye-opener there was when I was told about concentration camps during WWII.

Did I say concentration camps?

I'm sorry, I meant "internment" camps [[not, "happy camps") where Japanese Americans were rounded up and shipped off from their homes. No due process. Just grab your things and get!

Another eye-opener was "The Roosevelt Myth" by John Flynn. If you thought Pres. B.O. threw his principles [[and platform) into the wind during his time in office, you haven't seen anything yet.

And before you start going into happy, happy thoughts about FDR's from that time, answer me this: why did they pass the 22nd Amendment so quickly after he was gone?

A very unusual thing to do for someone who supposedly was so highly regarded.

Lastly with LBJ, I'll recommend reading "Losing Ground" by Charles Murray. A good follow up after that is "The Tragedy of American Compassion".

Oh, and while you're at it, I also recommend reading "Assault on the Liberty" by James Ennes. Another good read on LBJ's "leadership".

After you get your information from more than one source and are more informed, then come back to those of us who actually know what we're talking about.

Pingu · August-21-10, 09:03 PM

It's Texas. Many years ago when the issue of bilingual education first came up, the head of the Texas Bd. Of Ed. was quoted as saying "If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it's good enough for the State of Texas".

**maxx** · August-22-10, 08:08 AM

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/fea...001.blake.html

"...The ultraconservatives argued that they were too light on basics like grammar and too heavy on reading comprehension and critical thinking. “This critical-thinking stuff is gobbledygook,” grumbled David Bradley, an insurance salesman with no college degree, who often acts as the faction’s enforcer.."

This shows the religiously conservative agenda to continue the dumbing down of American children. Of course, they hate critical thinking. Their religious beliefs crumble before skeptical analysis. I'm waiting for them to declare critical thinking a communist plot.

"...Author Frances FitzGerald has called this chain of events 'the most dramatic rewriting of history ever to take place.'”

The Russian communists also rewrote history. This recent batch of neocons have taken a lot of lessons from the old USSR, i.e., propagandists posing as journalists, concentration of powers in the executive, denial of basic rights like habeas corpus , etc..

"... In the run-up to the 1994 election, Leininger’s political action committee, Texans for Governmental Integrity, sent out glossy flyers suggesting that one Democratic incumbent—a retired Methodist schoolteacher and grandmother of five—was a pawn of the 'radical homosexual lobby' who wanted to push steroids and alcohol on children and advocated in-class demonstrations on 'how to masturbate and how to get an abortion!'”

What motivates people to believe such garbage other than fear and hatred which has been drilled into them since they were small?