john5746

I don't know why picketing a funeral is even legal. I don't think anyone should be allowed to picket Hitler's funeral. I would love to see the church bankrupt and gone, but if this kind of thing can be sued, it would be nice to know the rules upfront.

C'mon, this guy is a comedian. He has few answers, he just criticizes. Sometimes he makes a point, sometimes he just rants, but he offers no solutions and I think he even admits it. Don't try to make more out of his BS than a funny way to look at things.

I think Carlin is talking about humanity in general, including himself in this remark. Like if I said, humanity will be wiped out by an asteroid someday and that will be a good thing for the earth. Timing is everything and in this case it was very bad timing.

Very true, but you still think that it makes sense to keep building beach front property everywhere while thinking the hurricanes will increase in frequency and intensity?

Looks like this guy is going to retire - that is good. My previous post was directed more to possible genetic differences between races that may influence IQ. His comments were racists - it is obvious that he would be reluctant to employ any black person. Even if the IQ/race assertion were found true, there would be no way to know or no reason to treat individuals differently. If he simply made a statement that there might be a difference, then I would support him, but to then suggest ALL of them don't perform as well in the office - that's over the line.

I don't know, but this eerily reminds me of flatland. In flatland, a 3d person can poke their finger into a box or someone's body, then move it outside as if by magic, simply because they have an extra spatial dimension that 2d beings cannot detect. If we imagine a ball bouncing continuously, we take a snap shot and it is on one side of a "barrier", then the next snapshot, it is on the other side. But, I guess in that case, the probability distribution would be equal? Just a thought from left field.

911 Truthers => 911 Losers

Please share some sources, because I would like to see them. I have a gut feeling that there is truth to his assertion. I know that it is racist by definition, but if it is truth, so be it. I know America has the history of segregation and that the poor black community unfortunately has some serious social ills in the present. But, especially in math, I see so much evidence in school reports, SAT's etc that Asians > Whites > Blacks on Math scores. I know about social problems and I am aware of the study that shows stereotypes tend to be self fulfilling. Sam Harris is fond of saying that there is no taboo like religion to stop discussion, but racial differences are worse, if it involves a disadvantaged race. If you even bring it up as a hypothesis, you are labeled a racist and out of your mind. But if you constantly hear about how there are too few blacks in this industry or that and it is all due to racism, you have to really question this thinking. Do we really expect to have equal representation of Asians in the NBA anytime soon? Is it because of racism that asians and whites can't jump? I know that race gets really blurry, etc. and that having this knowledge probably won't bring any desirable solution. But, at the very least, I don't attribute all racial and gender differences in occupations as only social in nature. That may be the main barrier presently, but that doesn't mean we need to have affirmitive action forever.

I don't remember Gore attributing Katrina to global warming. I think it was stated that the strength and number of Hurricanes would increase, similar to what occurred in Florida and the Gulf. I guess it could be implied, but I don't think he actually said it.

http://www.vegfamily.com/articles/win-argument-meat-eater.htm Some arguments pro-vegetarian, from a biased source. I think there are some good arguments though. Seems reasonable that the closer you can get your energy directly from the sun, the better. Less waste that way. Of course, I am a meat eater, so I like freedom better!

In some circles, you would be labeled a racist! PC has come to mean saying something without offending anyone - or offending the "wrong" group. Nevermind that America has English as its primary language. Nevermind that it obviously places a stress on a county to assimilate people who do not speak the language. Just calling you a racist puts you in a hole so you can't discuss anything.

Seems to me, if he really feels that life begins at conception, he should want to make murder illegal in all states. Does he want to have the issue of murder left to the states? He should be opposed to any procedures that may endanger fertilized eggs - such as fertility clinics. Any miscarriage should be investigated as a possible homicide or manslaughter, with the doctor as a possible accomplice.

Fair enough, I stand corrected. I do remember complaints about his book, but I was trying to remember ad campaigns or something similar to the Indian on the highway. I guess it all got lost in the Lewinsky thing. Clinton's yingyang got in the way of the environment, darn. Gore signed it, but they didn't try to ratify it.

I guess they are just considering the last few years? The guy was VP for 8 years and I don't remember him saying or doing much about global warming.

I agree, that is why I made light of his "Pop a prozac" statement. That isn't teaching. I would also add that if he were warned prior to this incident not to "go there" with stating that Adam and Eve were meant to be allegory - hence a "myth", then he could be fired for that as well, IMO

I never made that claim. 80% believe the scientific method includes God? Maybe that is the problem and not the teacher. The guy had been talking about ancient myths for a week, so when he got to the bible, he treated it the same way. That sparked the discussion. Can you call a Religious belief a myth if it is no longer believed by a certain % of the population or must you respect all of them as possibly true? Maybe I still think Pluto is a planet. Maybe Pluto was my favorite planet as a kid and it brings purpose and meaning to my life. Can I sue the teacher if he says it isn't considered a planet now? No, I listen to him and I am still free to think it is a planet and worship it if I like. I wouldn't have a problem with that, but I guess some would. That is a fair point. I think the problem is on both sides, but the Teacher is the professional. These are not grade school kids, they are in some type of college. They should be able to handle having their beliefs challenged. So he should be careful about all the popular religious beliefs, fair enough. The students should not threaten to sue, unless their grade might suffer due to their beliefs, IMO. I really am not defending this teacher, because I don't know the full story or why he was really fired. I just don't think a college teacher should be fired for saying a religious belief is a myth. If he is warned not to do so and still does it, then he can be fired, but that doesn't make it morally wrong, IMO.

I agree with your comment, but the Republicans already use someone for the Iraq war. The Republicans use the military the same way. Don't complain or you are putting the soldiers at increased risk. Let the soldiers finish their mission with honor. You would think the war is FOR the soldiers.

A critical thinker can be taught something as fact, but still not accept it and research it further. Newton gave up on the effect of other planets' gravitational tug on each other and concluded that god was keeping them in line. Of course, people make assumptions all the time, but assumptions based on nothing leads to nothing. I think most people agree that the scientific method does not include a God. I think this teacher was probably being obnoxious, which is not warranted. But if a student expected me to agree that a bible story carries equal scientific weight to evolutionary theory in ANY class, I would correct them. I guess you could say "According to scientific evidence of our observed universe, evolutionary theory fits our observations and the Adam and Eve story does not." Or "The bible is faith based, science is evidence based" If something like this got him fired, then he did the right thing. If he was fired for being an A-hole on a continuous basis, then he did the wrong thing.

Well, I couldn't teach the course, because I think it is obvious that the rejection of religion or at least literalism has been part of the foundation of the scientific revolution. Secular thought has lead to tolerance of all religions and advances in science. He basically has to be PC because so many still believe, but it really would be like a teacher offending someone in Greek Mythology because they still believe in Zeus.

You just gave an idea to the terrorists!! Are you happy now?

Yeah, but we are supporting those people who do stupid things.

Yep and that is common. The leaders of a movement are usually more pragmatic than the followers. Like the Iraq war protest, the followers think they can just get on a plane and fly back tomorrow. I am sure they don't want any of the kids to serve jail time though. Another sad thing is what are people learning from this? The biggest lesson from all this should be to not be racist and above all, not to resort to violence. I don't think these guys were attempting murder, they would have brought a knife if that were the case. But what they did was very bad and they should never set foot into a "normal" school again. IMO, hate crimes only make sense in terms of speech. If you invoke violence on someone, it doesn't really matter if it was because of race, creed, gender or for money. If a black person beats a black person, he should get the same punishment as a black beating a white person. With speech, I can see the need. For example, hanging those ropes on the tree is different than painting "I love you" on it. Even this is subjective, because now we have blacks hanging ropes to commemorate the Jena 6 event - similar to Christians with the cross. So, the symbol itself isn't the problem - it is the intent.

Description of the western civilization class at the community college: This course explores cultural, political, literary, and economic aspects of Western civilization from the practice of absolutism to the intellectual revolutions of science, agriculture, and philosophy. This course also discusses the varied conflicts of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. (520:109) It is easy to see that a teacher will need to discuss religion in this class. I remember as a sophmore in college, I was taking an Electrical Engineering weed-out course(so-called to purposely eliminate weaker students before getting further into the major). The teacher for this course happened to be my advisor. My roommate and I thought we aced the first quiz, but were shocked to find we failed it. We marched down to his office to complain and as we got nearer we heard a girl crying. She said, "I've always made straight A's, I've never made such a low grade on a test, there must be some way to get this grade back up." He replied in a squealy voice "Well, you didn't expect to pass this class the first time, did you?" We turned around and left before getting to the doorway! During an exam in that same class, he told us that time was near and if we didn't turn our papers to him before he got to his office, we would get a 0. Couple of minutes later, he left the classroom and we all chased him to his office! On another occasion, he looked up from the blackboard and flipped a bird in my direction and said "you too buddy". I was like WTF? I then realized that someone behind me had flipped him the bird. He smoked in class, I remember an ash trail on the cigarette that seemed to defy gravity. on a couple of occasions, he tried to smoke his chalk and write with the cig! Classic. After cursing him for months, I grew to respect that old man. Maybe if I had failed, I wouldn't feel that way, not sure. I guess my point is that this is part of growing up. I took some classes in the humanities that I thought were total BS. I was the polar opposite of the teacher, but I sat there and listened and got my A, and I probably did learn to look at things a little differently. In the least, I was exposed to different viewpoints and learned to accept them.

This would be a good candidate for the Darwin award.

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070925/NEWS02/709250379/1001/SPORTS13 A little more on the story. I don't know, but it seems like this guy could find a way to teach without the drama. If he was fired only from this, I would think he could sue. Those kids need to take a real course.