I won't be an obnoxious ass and laugh in your face, though the point you're trying to make is ridiculous enough to deserve it....

Last summer I actually had to show some college dudes how to change their spare tire. They were desperately trying to get AAA to come fix it while parked at a fishing access 15 miles up a dirt road and 30 miles out of town.

While the topic is up, did you guys see the story from Tucson, AZ a few weeks back?

There is a ethnic history class there that was very anti-american. It called America oppressors. It called for "Death to the invaders". It advocated over-throwing the U.S. Government!!!

Being taught to our kids!!!

When the school board met to discuss a riot broke out. A bunch of kids came in and chained themselves to desks and chanted ... I don't remember, something dumb.

Anyway, I just read an update to the story ...

.

Tucson ethnic-studies program violates law, schools chief says

by Emily Gersema - Jun. 15, 2011 10:03 PM The Arizona Republic

Acting on a new state law, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal has condemned the Tucson Unified School District's controversial Mexican-American studies courses and warned the district could lose a portion of its state funding if it does not comply with the law within 60 days.

Gov. Jan Brewer signed the law last year. It bans classes in kindergarten to 12th grade that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, promote resentment toward a race or class of people, are designed primarily for pupils of one ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity.

School districts found in violation have 60 days to comply or they may lose 10 percent of their state funding.

The Tucson district stands to lose around $15 million, Arizona Department of Education officials said.

On Jan. 1, the day the law went into effect, outgoing state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne announced the courses violated the new law and should be axed. Horne had lobbied for three years for the legislation.

Days after Horne became state attorney general, Huppenthal took over as state superintendent and ordered an audit of the program. Auditors reported these findings:

- Texts and other materials for the junior-level courses referenced White people as "oppressors" and "oppressing" Latino people.

- The department's website "clearly indicates the program is primarily designed for pupils of a particular ethnic race; couple this with the fact that an extraordinary percentage of students enrolled in program classes are Hispanic (over 90 percent)."

- "Curriculum and materials repeatedly emphasize the importance of building Hispanic nationalism and unity in the face of assimilation and oppression."

Huppenthal offered no specific instructions for the Tucson district to address the program's problems cited in the audit.

"We're a strong local-control state. Now it's up to the Tucson Unified School District to come into compliance," said Huppenthal, a former Republican state senator from Chandler.

He said failures to conduct proper curriculum development at the district appeared to have contributed to the violations cited by the auditors, but those shortcomings are not subject to enforcement of the ethnic-studies law.

Auditors said it appeared the curriculum for the courses were not vetted properly through district and governing board officials, which violates district policy, and the district has failed to ensure the courses fulfill state standards for learning.

John Pedicone, who became the Tucson district superintendent six months ago, said it's possible the curriculum did not go through the proper vetting process.

"We were able to hire a deputy superintendent whose specific job is to look at both curriculum and instruction," Pedicone said.

"Over the course of two years, that position had been eliminated. That (curriculum) might have been done in a very informal way. That is possible."

Pedicone said he is concerned about curriculum "across the district because we have had high degrees of failure."

Mark Stegeman, president of the Tucson district governing board, said he was grateful Huppenthal is leaving it up to the district to take the lead on complying with the state law.

"One thing we might want to do is have some conversations with ADE to see what they think would be required to satisfy them," Stegeman said.

He said the five-member board has a couple of options that it probably will discuss in an executive session Friday.

"The board may decide to appeal the finding because the board has repeatedly taken the position in the past that we satisfy the requirements of the law," Stegeman said.

"And then on a separate track, we could be discussing what they think we need to do."

Pedicone said district leaders must weigh their options carefully, as several students have signed up to take the Mexican-American studies courses next school year. The district struggles with high-school dropouts.

"Here's the reality: Out of 13,000 high-school students, 647 of them take these courses; 555 were Hispanic and the rest were across the board," he said.

"The courses are offered at the junior level. That means that kids have made it to their junior year."

"Kids do feel connected to these classes," Pedicone said. "Because of that, we want to preserve them."

Citing legal advice, 11 teachers and the director of the Mexican American Studies Department declined to work with auditors for their report.

They are suing the state, alleging the ethnic-studies law is unconstitutional.

Damn right wingers. Imagine, trying to shut down an anti-American class. That governor, Jan Brewer, she is such a racist. She probably has an American flag in her yard.

My goal is to win and lottery and buy my own island.

No HB, I'm not. You and I agree substantially on what the evils of the left are. The difference between us is that you will not acknowledge the evils of the right.

VT'er, barely a week goes by without some sort of story making national news of an agenda getting pushed upon our kids. And it is almost entirely from the left. That is the truth. If I had seen a bunch of examples from the right in recent years I'd acknowledge it but I just haven't.

I've shared videos here of kids being asked to chant about Obama. About kids singing the praises of Obama at school shows. This hispanic stuff from Arizona. All sorts of stories has been in the news recently about kids being taught stuff about gays and transgender people. Glenn Beck exposed a video called "The Story of Stuff" that is being shown at schools all across the country which is an anti-capitalism pile of trash. Capitalism is unjust and socialism is fair. Kids are being told the founding fathers were just a bunch of racist womanizers.

This is just a few off the top of my head that has been in the news recently.

You would need a half hour and a search engine to find half that many from the right.

There was a whistle-blower in Texas last year that brought to light a test they had to take to become certified to teach. Was their knowledge being tested to see if they were smart enough to teach? ... No ... The object was to see if the person was willing to become an agent of "social change" in kids lives.

I just searched for the story, you can read about it here ...

http://eco2.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/pe ... education/

You can call me biased and call me a kook, I don't care, but if you don't see that progressives are infiltrating the education system and trying to affect change then you are missing the big picture.

I don't care about republicans, I don't care about democrats. They all suck. But as I've said many times, progressives are the real danger. They're trying to destroy this country from inside out. And molding young peoples lives is a big part of their strategy.

Hell, you have a former U.S. Vice President, Al Gore, going around to schools telling kids that their parents are stupid. That it's up to the kids to educate their parents about climate change, racism, multiculteralism, etc... Look it up, there is a video of it on the web.

You see any video of Dick Cheney going around to schools telling kids their parents are stupid if they agree with abortion or high taxes?

C'mon, man. Work with me here.

"VT'er, barely a week goes by without some sort of story making national news of an agenda getting pushed upon our kids. And it is almost entirely from the left. That is the truth."

Well "almost entirely" is a bit squishy but I'm not going argue that what you say is NOT the truth. Believe me, I am well-known in my circle as someone who rants about our education system is being ruined, by a combination of factors, including dumbass ideas from the left. I really think that you and I cry very similar tears over the fact that we are letting the kids down.

"The object was to see if the person was willing to become an agent of "social change" in kids lives. "

Another thing I am always railing against. "Social change" is the pet cause of a particular faction of the left, especially of many so-called educators who in my opinion really have little to contribute to modern society. You don't have to convince me on that one.

But my objection is not to the notion of change (was it wrong to stop repression of people based on the color of their skin?) but rather that the changes they want to make are naive and/or based on self-centeredness.

"You can call me biased and call me a kook, I don't care, but if you don't see that progressives are infiltrating the education system and trying to affect change then you are missing the big picture. "

You might be biased. I am biased. But we can to a very large measure get past that by recognizing the bias. And I don't call you a kook, and I don't think you are a kook. And as I have already tried to point out I do see the things happening in education from progressives that I disagree with. But can you see that those who write articles such as the one you linked to are also biased, or at least unwilling to present things in a measured way? They have agendas too. And I'm not saying at this point that their agendas are "bad"--but they, too, have agendas.

"I don't care about republicans, I don't care about democrats. They all suck."

I care about both of them very much, precisely because they DO suck. Both sides have gotten much worse during my lifetime.

"And molding young peoples lives is a big part of their strategy." From my perspective, that applies to both sides.

On your snippets concerning Gore and Cheney: Well, I suspect Cheney has something useful to do with his time. Gore does not, so instead he pulls this kind of crap.

"C'mon, man. Work with me here."

Where, Montana? I think my wife wants us to move there for retirement.

rocky raccoon wrote:Last summer I actually had to show some college dudes how to change their spare tire. They were desperately trying to get AAA to come fix it while parked at a fishing access 15 miles up a dirt road and 30 miles out of town.

My wife and I attempted same with two young guys about the same distance out of Bishop CA, and also on a dirt road. They happened to be trying to go up the road from 10,000 feet to 11,000 feet to see more of the Ancient Bristlecone Pines in the White Mountains of far eastern California (an episode of Lassie was filmed there).

They had an SUV they had just purchased used and did not check for a tire iron. There wasn't one. When I spied them they had the read end of the SUV jacked up and were trying to remove the lugnuts with a socket wrench that didn't fit. Big problem was they had not loosened the lugnuts at all and the vehicle was rocking on the jack on the incline before I got involved. Turned out their lugnuts didn't fit anything I had in the truck. I ended up driving them back down to the ranger station at Schulman Grove so they could use the satellite phone.

My wife and I did a brisk 4+ mile hike on The Methusaleh Trail I highly recommend if anyone is ever in the Eastern Sierra (link below). When we returned to the ranger station the tow truck was just pulling in.

http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/Ancient ... t_0000.asp

We usually aren't that far apart, VT'er. All I can say on this subject in which we disagree I am not being disingenuous. I just don't see the big push of an agenda in our schools from the right that I see from the left. No where near the same level. And that's my honest opinion.

I have no idea what kind of site that link I posted is attached to. I just Binged for the story and posted the link. But if you think you can find that story on MSNBC or Huffington Post go ahead and try. Good luck.

I say thank God for Glenn Beck, Andrew Breitbart(sp?), and Matt Drudge. The same as people on the left appreciate Arriana Huffington, Media Matters, The Daily Kos, etc... You would never hear the dirt on the other side of the aisle if it wasn't for people with an agenda.

If you ever retire to Montana we will meet in Hardin, MT on the field of Little Big Horn and settle this disagreement like men. Over a thumbwrestling match and a jolt of Jack Daniels.

Hillbilly - The Real Story

Join host Billy Ray Cyrus (Hannah Montana) on a journey into the hollers and runs of Appalachia to discover the proud legacy of the region's mountain folk. Learn how hillbillies, long misunderstood as isolated and backward, actually have a 300-year history of achievement that has contributed significantly to our national identity.


We have this on at 9PM PDT time on "The History Channel," and I'll probably give it a watch.

Wait, which comes first, the thumbwrestling or the jolt?

Depends on how well you handle your liquer.

If not well then the JD would of course come first.

Bill Mandating California Schools Teach Gay History Is a Lesson in Controversy

By Claudia Cowan | FoxNews.com

Published June 30, 2011

After suffering setbacks in the fight to legalize gay marriage, gay rights activists in California are moving closer to victory in the classroom, which, under pending legislation, would become "gender sensitive" zones, mandating history lessons about gays and transgender Americans.

The Fair Education Act passed out of the State Senate and is now headed to the State Assembly. Also known as SB 48, the bill was authored by state Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco).

"It will require that roles and contributions of LGBT Americans, not unlike African-Americans, Mexican Americans, women, and other traditionally overlooked groups, be included in school curriculum."

If the measure passes, the state would draw up guidelines for the districts, and then educators would get to decide who deserves inclusion.

Supporters suggest slain San Francisco politician Harvey Milk would be an appropriate choice. Leno contends Milk's fight for civil rights is as worthy of class study as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s. He adds this kind of "inclusive curriculum" will help protect students who may look, or act, differently.

But critics don't buy the anti-bullying argument, and say SB 48 hijacks history class to promote a gay agenda.

"In the past, history taught about what people did, what they accomplished," says Brad Dacus, head of the Pacific Justice Institute. "It didn't focus on their sexuality and what they did in the bedroom. Yet that is what this legislation will impose on every public school in the state of California dealing with heterosexuality, homosexual role models, transgender role models, all the way down to the kindergarten level."

Dacus adds, "It's California tax dollars from parents who are paying for this kind of indoctrination that's being put into public schools. That demeans them, their family, and their relationships."

Leno says it's the same criticism voiced years ago when schools embraced ethnic and women's studies.

"We should not be afraid to teach our children of the broad diversity of human experience," he says. "It's not going away, it's always been with us. We have different kinds of people, who are, under law, to be treated equally. Why would we not want to teach our children this?"

He says inclusive education is as important as the 3R's. "This all goes together."

But critics worry parents who object to this curriculum will be labeled intolerant, and that kids will start thinking about sexuality and gender identity at a very young age.

Despite those concerns, Leno's bill is widely expected to become law, which would make California the first state to require gay history be taught in public schools.

He says inclusive education is as important as the 3R's. "This all goes together."

BLEHHHHHHHHH