Who are you going to be in ten years?
... think about it.
WildCoyote
Civics Quiz
[via Aa]
You answered 30 out of 33 correctly — 90.91 %
Average score for this quiz during November: 77.8%
Average score: 77.8%
Now you try it:
After reading the summary of the ISI study of American college students who took this exam, I was: 1) pleased with myself for having an apparently pretty good grasp on the subject matter; and 2) really disappointed that the majority of surveyed students failed the quiz miserably.
Our Fading Heritage:
Americans Fail a Basic Test on Their History and Institutions is the third major study conducted by ISI on the kind of knowledge required for informed citizenship. In 2006 and 2007, ISI published the first ever scientific surveys of civic learning among college students. Each year, approximately 14,000 freshmen and seniors at 50 schools nationwide were given a 60-question, multiple-choice exam on basic knowledge of America’s heritage. Both years, the students failed. The average freshman scored 51.7% the first year and 51.4% the next. The average senior scored 53.2%, then 54.2%. After all the time, effort, and money spent on college, students emerge no better off in understanding the fundamental features of American self-government.
...Wow.
How much do you know about your heritage, America? Well, go find out.
WildCoyote
Happy [subjugation of indigenous cultures] Day!
I love that we gives thanks for the fact that the Native Americans saved our starving asses on the first Thanksgiving. Why is this ironic? Well, I'll tell you why:
BECAUSE WE TOOK OVER THEIR LAND, TREATED THEM LIKE SHIT, AND THEN STUCK THEM ON RESERVATIONS AND TOOK AWAY THEIR KIDS.
So, give thanks while you stuff your face and pretend to like your family today... I recommend consuming a good bit of alcohol to help take the edge off the "holiday season".
Oh, if you need a laugh, this is good (via Aa):
BECAUSE WE TOOK OVER THEIR LAND, TREATED THEM LIKE SHIT, AND THEN STUCK THEM ON RESERVATIONS AND TOOK AWAY THEIR KIDS.
So, give thanks while you stuff your face and pretend to like your family today... I recommend consuming a good bit of alcohol to help take the edge off the "holiday season".
Oh, if you need a laugh, this is good (via Aa):
Oh god, someone hand me a drink...
...because I can't read this article without one to help me forget the kind of world we live in:
Disgraced pastor returns, as Christian businessman
This is the same man who was in Jesus Camp.
I have absolutely no words. All I can think of is that this one single person represents everything I stand against: intolerance, homophobia, discrimination, and blind ignorant devotion (and in the name of my least favorite religion, no less: Christianity).
How can someone even begin to consider believing what this man says is true? How?
Never underestimate the power of "believers".
If there actually were a God I hope he'd strike people like Ted Haggard with lightning. I know I would.
WildCoyote
Disgraced pastor returns, as Christian businessman
This is the same man who was in Jesus Camp.
I have absolutely no words. All I can think of is that this one single person represents everything I stand against: intolerance, homophobia, discrimination, and blind ignorant devotion (and in the name of my least favorite religion, no less: Christianity).
How can someone even begin to consider believing what this man says is true? How?
Never underestimate the power of "believers".
If there actually were a God I hope he'd strike people like Ted Haggard with lightning. I know I would.
WildCoyote
Why I even bother
... is because there are sick people who would do this to a child, and to other people:
God this country has a long way to go. But one day, we'll get there.
I really do think so.
WildCoyote
God this country has a long way to go. But one day, we'll get there.
I really do think so.
WildCoyote
Dear friends, we gather today to mourn the death of efficient public transportation...
One of the contributing editorial staff of my campus college newspaper (a great friend of mine is the editor-in-chief so I try to keep up with the issues) happens to repeatedly end up being one of the best things about the paper.
This article is no exception:
Killing the trolley, now themselves
I thought it had some pretty good insights :]
WildCoyote
This article is no exception:
Killing the trolley, now themselves
I thought it had some pretty good insights :]
WildCoyote
In defense of the President-elect
In defense of our new President (and regardless of whether or not you think he was the best choice it is now irrelevant) there are a few things I would like to bring to light:
In times of economic recession, we as a country have always responded by centralizing government and looking to "big government" to step in and pull us back out. The most prominent example that comes to mind is Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal. Hoover's (a Republican) ideology did not work. He was so hellbent on preserving individualism (yes, one of the tenets our country was founded on) that he refused to incorporate direct government policies to do anything to help the country. He instead left it to the bureaucracy and big business to right itself. This clearly did not work-- however, since the time of Woodrow Wilson this theory has been the predominant one of the Republican party. It is obviously not working. Conversely, FDR's centralization ideals have become the predominant ones of the Democratic Party. This is important because I don't think you are going to find many people labeling FDR as a "Socialist". This is simply the same theory that Obama is using to bring about recovery by preserving the capitalist democratic system. He realizes that he also has to reinstate faith in the Presidency and the American economy. In order to do that he has to use "big government" to preserve these capitalist ideals.
This is NOT socialism. Welfare reform and government programs are exactly what this country needs right now if we are to pull ourselves back up both domestically and internationally.
Furthermore, Obama is the only candidate that I heard offering a clear solution to the war-- on which BOTH parties agree we must end. 16 months. That's the deadline. In fact, if you've been watching CNN or MSNBC or the BBC (personally I favor these because they give a slightly more objective point of view on the news), Iraq has already endorsed President-elect Obama for his promise to withdraw, and giving a finite deadline for doing so. However, he has not backed down from the threat of terrorism and has repeatedly stated that he will keep troops in the Middle East with a renewed effort to combat said terrorism and pursue terrorist organizations. This has also recieved endorsement from the Middle East.
As for Obama being a Muslim, personally, Islam scares me a whole lot less than Christianity. And I still don't see what religion has to do with any of it since we have no official national religion; if it were up to me (I'm glad it's not) the presidential candidate's religion would remain undisclosed in the election because I would certainly like to believe that our President would act in the best interest of our country, not his own personal beliefs or tenets of a dogmatic religion.
Call that socialism. I dare you.
This country has long since been founded on borderline socialist ideals, easily interpreted from the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. However, we enact them through the process of a democracy.
Although I am still extremely skeptical of the government and politics in general, I am certainly hopeful that Obama will practice what he preaches. I think that in this time it is important to have a President that is not only intelligent but also willing to listen to advisers of all different creeds, colors, and opinions. And I honestly believe Obama will do that.
I also think it is important that on many issues petty partisan differences are set aside to reach a common goal: whether or not we made the best choice is now irrelevant. We must now take a stand toward the development of our future and the prosperity and reputation of our nation.
Peace and love,
WildCoyote
In times of economic recession, we as a country have always responded by centralizing government and looking to "big government" to step in and pull us back out. The most prominent example that comes to mind is Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal. Hoover's (a Republican) ideology did not work. He was so hellbent on preserving individualism (yes, one of the tenets our country was founded on) that he refused to incorporate direct government policies to do anything to help the country. He instead left it to the bureaucracy and big business to right itself. This clearly did not work-- however, since the time of Woodrow Wilson this theory has been the predominant one of the Republican party. It is obviously not working. Conversely, FDR's centralization ideals have become the predominant ones of the Democratic Party. This is important because I don't think you are going to find many people labeling FDR as a "Socialist". This is simply the same theory that Obama is using to bring about recovery by preserving the capitalist democratic system. He realizes that he also has to reinstate faith in the Presidency and the American economy. In order to do that he has to use "big government" to preserve these capitalist ideals.
This is NOT socialism. Welfare reform and government programs are exactly what this country needs right now if we are to pull ourselves back up both domestically and internationally.
Furthermore, Obama is the only candidate that I heard offering a clear solution to the war-- on which BOTH parties agree we must end. 16 months. That's the deadline. In fact, if you've been watching CNN or MSNBC or the BBC (personally I favor these because they give a slightly more objective point of view on the news), Iraq has already endorsed President-elect Obama for his promise to withdraw, and giving a finite deadline for doing so. However, he has not backed down from the threat of terrorism and has repeatedly stated that he will keep troops in the Middle East with a renewed effort to combat said terrorism and pursue terrorist organizations. This has also recieved endorsement from the Middle East.
As for Obama being a Muslim, personally, Islam scares me a whole lot less than Christianity. And I still don't see what religion has to do with any of it since we have no official national religion; if it were up to me (I'm glad it's not) the presidential candidate's religion would remain undisclosed in the election because I would certainly like to believe that our President would act in the best interest of our country, not his own personal beliefs or tenets of a dogmatic religion.
Call that socialism. I dare you.
This country has long since been founded on borderline socialist ideals, easily interpreted from the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. However, we enact them through the process of a democracy.
Although I am still extremely skeptical of the government and politics in general, I am certainly hopeful that Obama will practice what he preaches. I think that in this time it is important to have a President that is not only intelligent but also willing to listen to advisers of all different creeds, colors, and opinions. And I honestly believe Obama will do that.
I also think it is important that on many issues petty partisan differences are set aside to reach a common goal: whether or not we made the best choice is now irrelevant. We must now take a stand toward the development of our future and the prosperity and reputation of our nation.
Peace and love,
WildCoyote
Yes We Can!
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the next President of the United States of America:
BARACK OBAMA!!!
... Yes, We Did.
Wild_Coyote
BARACK OBAMA!!!
... Yes, We Did.
Wild_Coyote
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