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Norton
Social climber
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NPR should be defunded and out of business, we don't need no stinking national radio anymore
they should report only weather statistics and national emergencies, no pseudo "opinions"
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Wa Post
Single payer is the biggest winner in the health-care debate
Political realities mean Republicans have basically conceded that government involvement in health care is a good thing — or, at least, a necessary thing. That wasn't the argument they were making against Obamacare eight years ago.
By Aaron Blake
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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The White House is playing a game of chicken with the media
The president and his aides do not want to be the ones to pull the plug on press briefings. So the administration is making the situation so untenable that reporters just might stop covering them.
By Callum Borchers
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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All-girl robotics team cannot enter U.S. for international competition
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul rejected the visa applications from the Afghan teens, who had planned to compete in a STEM challenge in Washington.
Isn't it wonderful to be "great" again?????
I get so tired of winning.
Should this sort of thing disqualify the US for the Olympics, World Cup, and any other international competitions????
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monolith
climber
state of being
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The girls had to twice trek 500 miles to Kabul to be interviewed for their visas.
The Taliban couldn't stop them but Trump finally did.
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Jorroh
climber
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"
What happened politically between 1973 (Nixon and Ford) and approximately 1979 (under Jimmy Carter) that led to the departure of these two curves? "
During the Nixon administration American business (collectively for the first time) began a concerted campaign to get involved in, and influence the political process. This was partly a reaction to the political climate of the late sixties which the American business community viewed with alarm.
Deregulation, Tax policy, curbing Union power, worker rights, pushing back against environmental regulations etc. etc. etc. were all on the menu and have been pursued with vigor ever since.
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Trump is a brand, with an ugly person behind it. He could care less what happens to real people. He is marketing to a specific audience that he believes will keep him in power. It is working so far, sadly.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 2, 2017 - 10:18pm PT
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sycorax, you've got two interesting issues mixed together: support for educating women vs. men, and support for sci/tech vs. liberal arts. If I am interpreting your message correctly, you are:
1. drawing attention to the fact that we are more sympathetic to these ladies because their field is robotics rather than liberal arts
2. indicating that a forum post response is inconsequential and unimportant in terms of actually supporting women in the struggle to overcome male oppression.
Responding to #2 first:
Every supportive post a person writes in these forums can be viewed as merely token efforts to address important issues. These discussions are obviously less effective than committing our time and resources and being out there in harm's way defending our beliefs. Our online discussions are limited to sharing perspectives and spreading the seeds of hope and action in others. Undermining any specific supportive posts doesn't make the world a better place (unless the confrontation stimulates a token poster to rise up and take greater action, in which case, carry on!).
#1: This discussion is directly applicable to prioritization of USA budgets for liberal arts education and professional grants... which is still on topic for national policy discussions :)
You elucidated a bias I did not immediately realize in myself. I would have a lesser reaction about the ladies from Afghanistan if robotics were substituted with music or visual arts or language arts or a history competition. I confess placing more value on subjects I deem more utilitarian in terms of professions that enable basic world functionality. I treat music and art as hobbies rather than professions, even though some people persevere to earn money in these fields. These are things we do for ourselves for their intrinsic personal value, and we need no external affirmation to support their continuance. I love music, and I play in a band that collects money for performances, but I won't try to make a living out of it. I believe English as a subject of study is very important, and having decent verbal and written communication skills has really helped me excel in my techie career. That said, I see language arts as a baseline foundation of education upon which other things are built, and I do not consider it a subject that requires intensive advancement to make the world keep turning. It is true the world would be a better place if more people were able to articulate their thoughts and feelings in verbal and written form, and parse the literal and symbolic meaning of things they read while being able to analyze arguments. I consider a secondary school education sufficient to provide that, as long as the students actually meet the secondary school objectives!
I guess my bias plays out in the Afghani ladies' robotics endeavors because I see it in the context of technological under-development in Afghanistan and the deplorable state of female education in Afghanistan. An education that enables better financial prospects is an important part of females escaping male oppression. In general, an education that includes math and science and engineering will lead to greater career and financial prospects than a liberal arts education (and I extrapolate, perhaps erroneously, to include Afghanistan). Even in our society, women in the lucrative science/tech fields are under-represented, and it is dramatically more so in Afghanistan. This is why the story is capturing attention: females succeeding in a male-dominated field in a male-dominated country where access to education is an uphill battle.... Heck, that is an uplifting story that can inspire girls across the country and help shift a culture. But the signal the USA is sending by rejecting them is to say this: stay in your place, give up, no matter how much you excel you will be oppressed. It creates the opportunity for their male-dominated society to have the last laugh saying I told you so, now get back in the kitchen and throw that dung on the fire and make me dinner. This is a global consequence of having a blatantly misogynistic President.
The whole story would be similar with ladies excelling in a liberal arts field and being rejected for traveling to an international competition. This is where my logic starts to break down (at least where I finally become aware of it breaking down). Part of me thinks: what's the point in developing a mastery of of a liberal art to the point of traveling internationally for recognition? It doesn't facilitate greater economic freedom in terms of the skills developed. But maybe it does, and maybe there are myriad other soft benefits that enrich the lives of the people involved, creating opportunities that enable them to escape circumstances of oppression.
So basically these are a lot of rambling words to say, yes you are right sycorax. Sort of. I'm still hung up on this idea: if you are trying to raise yourself out of poverty, pursuing a liberal arts education is not the optimal way to go about it. It can definitely lead to greater enlightenment and a richer life, but it seems a less pragmatic choice in a material world when your lack of material affects your survival and longevity.
Ok, I'm taking away my own keyboard now. Covfefe
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Not separate, can it be equal?
Black Mississippi student forced to share valedictorian title with white student who had lower GPA
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monolith
climber
state of being
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I couldn't figure out what Sycorax was trying to say.
If an all boys or mixed robotics team had been denied entry we would have been just as concerned.
And of course, if an all girls art group had been denied it would have been the same concern.
The principle is a non-threatening group of people were unjustly denied a fantastic opportunity due to a policy designed to pander to ignorance and fear.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 3, 2017 - 11:02am PT
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^^^^. +1 for getting to the main points succinctly!
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stunewberry
Trad climber
Spokane, WA
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This from Kathleen Parker at washingtonpost.com, whom I found utterly detestable until fairly recently, regarding 45's posting of the video of himself punching out "CNN":
"Never during that time or since have I ever worried that a president’s behavior would embarrass the country on the world stage. Trump’s most unpardonable offense isn’t his implied threat to members of the fourth estate but his minimizing of the nation’s stature in the world. Our allies must shudder while our enemies devise new ways to celebrate. Trump may crack himself up, but he also shatters any pretense of our seriousness as a nation. So much for that shining city on the hill, not to mention the president as leader of the free world.
"We look like fools because our president so convincingly plays one."
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Now they won't be announcing results from nuclear readiness tests.
Hiding more things, eh???
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monolith
climber
state of being
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Trumpies agitated when NPR tweets Declaration of Independence on July 4th.
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dirtbag
climber
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President Trump will make North Korea great again.
Relax, folks, he has it all figured out.
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dirtbag
climber
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Has Tom Tomorrow been reading this thread?
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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WaPost
Analysis
Trump has never had a plan for dealing with North Korea
The president’s current conundrum is twofold. First, there’s no easy solution. Second, Trump promised that there was one.
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Some Trump supporters thought NPR tweeted ‘propaganda.’
It was the Declaration of Independence.
The public radio network broadcasts the Declaration every Fourth of July. It turned to Twitter this year to increase participation. The reaction was swift and angry.
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