Late last year, author and intellectual, Sam Harris, appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher and stated that “We have to be able to criticize bad ideas, and Islam is the Mother lode of bad ideas.” Unfortunately it seems the irony of his statement is completely lost on Mr. Harris.
Whether you believe his words to be "gross", "racist" and "ugly" or if you feel this is just a statement of fact, the question Harris has really never answered is what makes Islam the pinnacle of bad ideas? Few would argue that currently Islam doesn't possess the largest contingent of extremists; however, it seems like a stretch to blame the religion for this as Harris does.
There's no doubt that media outlets have pulled verses out of the Quran in an attempt to "prove" that the Muslim holy book is the source of this evil, but are quotes from a religious book really enough to indict an entire religion? With this in mind, listed below is a mix of verses from the Quran as well as the Bible. Is it obvious which book is the mother lode of bad ideas and which one is the religion of peace?
1) But that whoever would not seek the Lord... should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman.
2) “As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help.”
3) Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death.
4) If a man commits adultery with another man's wife, both the man and the woman must be put to death.
5) "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, she must be silent."
6) "Men are in charge of women."
7) All who curse their father or mother must be put to death. They are guilty of a capital offense.
8) Whoever strikes his father or mother shall be put to death.
9) ‘For if a woman is not veiled, let her hair be cut off; but if it is a shame to a woman to have her hair cut off, let her be veiled.’
10) Say to your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers that they let down upon them their over-garments (veil); this will be more proper, that they may be known, and thus they will not be given trouble.
11) A man or a woman who acts as a medium or fortuneteller shall be put to death by stoning; they have no one but themselves to blame for their death.
12) "If a man lies with a male as with a women, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives."
13) "Do you commit immorality while you are seeing? Do you indeed approach men with desire instead of women? Rather, you are a people behaving ignorantly."
14) "Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and tell all those who heard him to lay their hands on his head. Then let the entire community stone him to death.”
15) "Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity! Kill them all – old and young, girls and women and little children.”
16) And when the forbidden months have passed, kill the idolaters wherever you find them and take them prisoners, and beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush.
17) If even then you remain hostile toward me and refuse to obey, I will inflict you with seven more disasters for your sins. I will release wild animals that will kill your children and destroy your cattle, so your numbers will dwindle and your roads will be deserted.
18) "If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity."
The reality is nearly all religions have at one time or another been a haven for violence and extremists and used their holy book as justification for their actions. The problem with Islam right now is not the Quran, but the number of people who interpret the Quran in a way that allows them to rationalize the killing of others as doing the Lord’s work. As Fareed Zakaria has stated, "There is a cancer of extremism within Islam today" that needs to be addressed; however, condemning an entire religion which contains hundreds of millions of peaceful devotees is certainly a bad idea that is worth criticizing.
1)B, 2)Q, 3)B, 4)B, 5)B, 6)Q, 7)B, 8)B, 9)B, 10)Q, 11)B, 12)B, 13)Q, 14)B, 15)B, 16)Q, 17)B, 18)B.
If we weren't so informed we might be Republicans. Or Matt Leinart fans.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Friday, April 17, 2015
Proposal 1 proves Republican incompetence
In two weeks Michigan voters will be asked to decide the fate of proposal 1 which would raise the states sales tax to help fund roads. Polls show that at this point Michigan residents are solidly against this proposal despite support from the governor and every major newspaper editorial board in the state.
As with any legislation there are obviously a number of issues that turn off various groups of voters. For example raising the sales tax is a regressive tax that will increase the burden on the poor. Do we really want to fund public roads on the backs of the working poor? The proposal is also based on a percentage which means when the economy is doing well the state will have plenty of money however as soon as the economy hits another bump in the road, legislators will again be looking for ways to pinch pennies. Shouldn't we find a solution that not only functions in the ideal situation but also when the state is struggling? Additionally proposal 1 changes the way in which taxes are collected at the pump allowing the legislature to avoid the voter approved constitutional amendment that requires a certain percentage of this money ends up in public education. Given that the governor already admitted that he and this legislature "cut k-12 education" spending can we really trust that this workaround isn't just another way to reallocate important education funds?
In spite of these and other problems with proposal 1 there are certainly things to like. It increases funding to improve Michigan's crumbling infrastructure which studies say could save Michigan families as much as $1,000 per year. The proposal also includes changes to the earned income tax credit that will benefit working class Michigan residents as well as an additional influx of money for public education.
While these are all important components to consider when making a decision regarding how to vote on proposal 1 they all pale in comparison to the one really damming issue at play in this special election - the reality that were it not for the cowardice of elected officials this trip to the polls would be completely unnecessary. The fact that the people voters tasked with making the tough decisions are so afraid of losing their jobs that they would put the desires of a fringe "no new taxes" group ahead of the needs of their constituents suggests that the real problem here is not road or education funding but a complete and total failure of leadership.
Polls show Michigan voters top two spending priorities are infrastructure and education yet currently Michigan spends less per capita on bridges and roads than any other state in the nation and this legislature has overseen a $648 cut to the per pupil foundation allowance.
Instead of focusing on voters preferences these legislators proved just how beholden they are to corporations by issuing a nearly two billion dollar tax cut to businesses while raising taxes on almost 50% of Michigan residents. Obviously most Michiganders would support these changes if it lead to massive economic improvement however studies show that the vast majority of jobs created over the past few years are not due to any actions by the Michigan legislature. In fact, even organizations that the governor cited in his bid for reelection said “Snyder’s overhaul has not yet prompted as much job growth”, and “his tax overhaul being hard on working families and seniors”.
Having said that a recent LinkedIn poll found that the top two drivers of economic development are having an educated work force and a well maintained infrastructure, while tax climate came in a distant fourth behind Access to Affordable energy. Additionally a survey of corporate executives found that the top consideration for where to locate was access to good roads while the previous number one concern was the availability of skilled labor. The data also show that the Republican legislative priorities of tax rates, job training, and "right to work" were all lower concerns when it came to finding a business location.
These findings suggest that if the Republican's goal was to make Michigan a more competitive state improving infrastructure and education not tax cuts and divisive "right to work" legislation should have been the legislature’s first order of business. This failure to understand the motives of corporations is perhaps why even with all of the efforts the governor and his Republican legislative counterparts claim to be putting in to make Michigan more attractive to business, Michigan still ranks as the 26th best state to do business.
The reality is that like refusing to vote for a tax increase, the legislative priorities of these elected officials has clearly been self preservation by enrich top contributors and ignoring constituents and best practices.
Of course failing to honor the will of the people is hardly a new thing for this legislature. When voters decided to eliminate the Emergency Manager Law, legislative Republicans quickly wrote a new law and tacked on some additional taxpayer dollars so they could call it a budgetary item which makes it referendum proof moving forward. This means whether voters like this law or not they are stuck with it. Similarly many of these same legislators have also been attempting to restrict a woman's right to an abortion as well as standing against same sex marriage despite polls that show opposition to these positions.
This astounding hypocrisy illustrates just how spineless these legislators are. They clearly don't trust voters to make the right decisions yet they would rather look incompetent than be seen as a Republican that supports a tax increase.
Making matters worse is the fact that this special election will cost the taxpayers around $10 million. That is $10 million that could have been used to fix a few roads near you. That is $10 million that could have improved the education for thousands of kids. That is $10 million that could have made the tax burden a little less overwhelming for Michigan's working poor. That is $10 million that this legislature squandered because they were too scared or self absorbed to do their job.
With all due respect to the many editorials written that find just enough to like about this legislation to ask Michiganders to vote yes, this vote is way bigger than simply properly funding roads and education. This vote sends the legislature a message about what voters will tolerate. As the old business saying goes, "If I have to do your job, I don't need you". Well, this legislature has proven over and over again that the needs of Michigan resident place a distant second to retaining their seat. Vote no on proposal 1 and tell the Michigan legislature that they either do their job or we will find someone else who will because this sort of continued ineptitude is completely unacceptable.
As with any legislation there are obviously a number of issues that turn off various groups of voters. For example raising the sales tax is a regressive tax that will increase the burden on the poor. Do we really want to fund public roads on the backs of the working poor? The proposal is also based on a percentage which means when the economy is doing well the state will have plenty of money however as soon as the economy hits another bump in the road, legislators will again be looking for ways to pinch pennies. Shouldn't we find a solution that not only functions in the ideal situation but also when the state is struggling? Additionally proposal 1 changes the way in which taxes are collected at the pump allowing the legislature to avoid the voter approved constitutional amendment that requires a certain percentage of this money ends up in public education. Given that the governor already admitted that he and this legislature "cut k-12 education" spending can we really trust that this workaround isn't just another way to reallocate important education funds?
In spite of these and other problems with proposal 1 there are certainly things to like. It increases funding to improve Michigan's crumbling infrastructure which studies say could save Michigan families as much as $1,000 per year. The proposal also includes changes to the earned income tax credit that will benefit working class Michigan residents as well as an additional influx of money for public education.
While these are all important components to consider when making a decision regarding how to vote on proposal 1 they all pale in comparison to the one really damming issue at play in this special election - the reality that were it not for the cowardice of elected officials this trip to the polls would be completely unnecessary. The fact that the people voters tasked with making the tough decisions are so afraid of losing their jobs that they would put the desires of a fringe "no new taxes" group ahead of the needs of their constituents suggests that the real problem here is not road or education funding but a complete and total failure of leadership.
Polls show Michigan voters top two spending priorities are infrastructure and education yet currently Michigan spends less per capita on bridges and roads than any other state in the nation and this legislature has overseen a $648 cut to the per pupil foundation allowance.
Instead of focusing on voters preferences these legislators proved just how beholden they are to corporations by issuing a nearly two billion dollar tax cut to businesses while raising taxes on almost 50% of Michigan residents. Obviously most Michiganders would support these changes if it lead to massive economic improvement however studies show that the vast majority of jobs created over the past few years are not due to any actions by the Michigan legislature. In fact, even organizations that the governor cited in his bid for reelection said “Snyder’s overhaul has not yet prompted as much job growth”, and “his tax overhaul being hard on working families and seniors”.
Having said that a recent LinkedIn poll found that the top two drivers of economic development are having an educated work force and a well maintained infrastructure, while tax climate came in a distant fourth behind Access to Affordable energy. Additionally a survey of corporate executives found that the top consideration for where to locate was access to good roads while the previous number one concern was the availability of skilled labor. The data also show that the Republican legislative priorities of tax rates, job training, and "right to work" were all lower concerns when it came to finding a business location.
These findings suggest that if the Republican's goal was to make Michigan a more competitive state improving infrastructure and education not tax cuts and divisive "right to work" legislation should have been the legislature’s first order of business. This failure to understand the motives of corporations is perhaps why even with all of the efforts the governor and his Republican legislative counterparts claim to be putting in to make Michigan more attractive to business, Michigan still ranks as the 26th best state to do business.
The reality is that like refusing to vote for a tax increase, the legislative priorities of these elected officials has clearly been self preservation by enrich top contributors and ignoring constituents and best practices.
Of course failing to honor the will of the people is hardly a new thing for this legislature. When voters decided to eliminate the Emergency Manager Law, legislative Republicans quickly wrote a new law and tacked on some additional taxpayer dollars so they could call it a budgetary item which makes it referendum proof moving forward. This means whether voters like this law or not they are stuck with it. Similarly many of these same legislators have also been attempting to restrict a woman's right to an abortion as well as standing against same sex marriage despite polls that show opposition to these positions.
This astounding hypocrisy illustrates just how spineless these legislators are. They clearly don't trust voters to make the right decisions yet they would rather look incompetent than be seen as a Republican that supports a tax increase.
Making matters worse is the fact that this special election will cost the taxpayers around $10 million. That is $10 million that could have been used to fix a few roads near you. That is $10 million that could have improved the education for thousands of kids. That is $10 million that could have made the tax burden a little less overwhelming for Michigan's working poor. That is $10 million that this legislature squandered because they were too scared or self absorbed to do their job.
With all due respect to the many editorials written that find just enough to like about this legislation to ask Michiganders to vote yes, this vote is way bigger than simply properly funding roads and education. This vote sends the legislature a message about what voters will tolerate. As the old business saying goes, "If I have to do your job, I don't need you". Well, this legislature has proven over and over again that the needs of Michigan resident place a distant second to retaining their seat. Vote no on proposal 1 and tell the Michigan legislature that they either do their job or we will find someone else who will because this sort of continued ineptitude is completely unacceptable.
Friday, April 10, 2015
Education reformers are so gullible
Education reformers believe the public education system in America is broken. Despite having a long list of reasons for these failures, they have yet to find a way to turn their conjecture into successful reform. Charter schools, merit pay, ending tenure, fewer union teachers, teacher evaluations, and teach for America are some of the more popular ideas that haven't actually improved outcomes.
The problem is, each of these ideas assumes teachers are the issue. They aren't properly motivated, censured, cultivated, or eliminated. Unfortunately for reformers these tend to be fallacies based on the media's obsession with a few bad apples. For example the bad teachers meme has become so prevalent that even school districts are convinced it is an issue yet when these districts made a concerted effort to identify educators that needed to be removed they found that only 1.5% were actually ineffective.
If a 1.5% ineffective rate is an epidemic that requires a complete overhaul of the public education system it should be noted that 5% of doctors accounted for 54% of malpractice payouts. From the beginning of the century 23% of military veterans who were discharged received a less than honorable discharge. And according to the Harvard Business Review, 40% of CEO's fail in their first 18 months. Where is the public outrage and legislative action to correct these issues?
While it is certainly true that having good teachers is important, teachers are only part of the equation. The reform movement seems completely uninterested in legislation that makes parents and students more accountable for the child's performance. They aren't addressing the inequalities in resources or safety that impact a student’s ability to learn. And they don't seem very concerned about data that show, when adjusted for poverty, the U.S. already has the best education in the world at every level.
Reformers also tend to be very concerned about the amount of money being spent to educate children today. This too seems hypocritical, given that over the past two decades education spending has only increased by 25% more than inflation which is far smaller than increases in defense spending, health care, college tuition, and CEO wages. This suggests public education is hardly the biggest boondoggle in America, yet many of the people who act like education spending is out of control will be the first to defend the never ending rise in funding for some of these other areas.
Given the concern for improving education and saving money, the latest fad for the reformers is very perplexing. Whether you call it virtual schools, online education or cyber schools, the next great thing in education reform is letting kids take classes over the internet. While there are certainly benefits to children learning from home for both the child and the teacher, the process relies on self-directed learning which studies have shown lower educational outcomes in college students.
Based on these results, it comes as no surprise that the data from across the country shows that children who take these online classes preform worse on standardized tests than traditional schools. It's possible the issues are in execution, but it's also possible that this sort of self-directed learning only works for a small portion of students who are already motivated to learn.
Of course, the data also shows that virtual schools cost less than traditional schools. This would seem to fit with reformers concerns of ever increasing education spending; however, currently tax payers see none of the benefits of these savings since these cyber schools receive the same per pupil funding as their brick and mortar counterparts despite the fact that these schools cost less to operate.
Unfortunately this is the real trend in education reform these days. Corporations are looking at ways to monetize America's children while simultaneously undercutting the power of their greatest potential adversaries.
Sure charter schools were a good start to bilking the public out of millions of dollars under the guise of "education reform", but online schools are the golden goose of for-profit education. Of course, any good corporation knows that one of the fastest ways to boost profits is to lower the wages of employees. This means finding excuses to fire well compensated teachers, offering lower starting salaries with the carrot of earning more for meeting unobtainable goals, and hiring under-qualified educators with only weeks of training who will work for less and only stick around for a few years should absolutely be part of any corporate takeover of education.
The only other obstacle to turning what used to be seen as a civic duty into a fortune 500 company are teachers unions. Having an organization that acts as a balance to corporate greed and works to make sure the needs of children and the people entrusted with their education are represented is clearly an issue for increasing profits. Luckily for these companies, there are enough people who have bought the education reform message hook, line and sinker and enough money to buy legislative compliance that changes have reached the top levels of government. And they have done this despite the fact that education reform has met neither goal of improving educational outcomes or saving money.
The thing voters need to ask themselves is, who do they believe has the best interests of their child in mind more - the person who interacts with them every day and is part of their local community or the corporate CEO 500 miles away who answers to an unelected board and investors. Because right now, the only ones really benefiting from the litany of education reform sweeping the nation are the corporations.
It's time for reformers to take a page out of their own playbook and honestly evaluate the effectiveness of their ideas. If they did, they would realize that the only thing truly broken about public education is education reform. Unfortunately too many of these people aren't educated enough to recognize they're being duped.
The problem is, each of these ideas assumes teachers are the issue. They aren't properly motivated, censured, cultivated, or eliminated. Unfortunately for reformers these tend to be fallacies based on the media's obsession with a few bad apples. For example the bad teachers meme has become so prevalent that even school districts are convinced it is an issue yet when these districts made a concerted effort to identify educators that needed to be removed they found that only 1.5% were actually ineffective.
If a 1.5% ineffective rate is an epidemic that requires a complete overhaul of the public education system it should be noted that 5% of doctors accounted for 54% of malpractice payouts. From the beginning of the century 23% of military veterans who were discharged received a less than honorable discharge. And according to the Harvard Business Review, 40% of CEO's fail in their first 18 months. Where is the public outrage and legislative action to correct these issues?
While it is certainly true that having good teachers is important, teachers are only part of the equation. The reform movement seems completely uninterested in legislation that makes parents and students more accountable for the child's performance. They aren't addressing the inequalities in resources or safety that impact a student’s ability to learn. And they don't seem very concerned about data that show, when adjusted for poverty, the U.S. already has the best education in the world at every level.
Reformers also tend to be very concerned about the amount of money being spent to educate children today. This too seems hypocritical, given that over the past two decades education spending has only increased by 25% more than inflation which is far smaller than increases in defense spending, health care, college tuition, and CEO wages. This suggests public education is hardly the biggest boondoggle in America, yet many of the people who act like education spending is out of control will be the first to defend the never ending rise in funding for some of these other areas.
Given the concern for improving education and saving money, the latest fad for the reformers is very perplexing. Whether you call it virtual schools, online education or cyber schools, the next great thing in education reform is letting kids take classes over the internet. While there are certainly benefits to children learning from home for both the child and the teacher, the process relies on self-directed learning which studies have shown lower educational outcomes in college students.
Based on these results, it comes as no surprise that the data from across the country shows that children who take these online classes preform worse on standardized tests than traditional schools. It's possible the issues are in execution, but it's also possible that this sort of self-directed learning only works for a small portion of students who are already motivated to learn.
Of course, the data also shows that virtual schools cost less than traditional schools. This would seem to fit with reformers concerns of ever increasing education spending; however, currently tax payers see none of the benefits of these savings since these cyber schools receive the same per pupil funding as their brick and mortar counterparts despite the fact that these schools cost less to operate.
Unfortunately this is the real trend in education reform these days. Corporations are looking at ways to monetize America's children while simultaneously undercutting the power of their greatest potential adversaries.
Sure charter schools were a good start to bilking the public out of millions of dollars under the guise of "education reform", but online schools are the golden goose of for-profit education. Of course, any good corporation knows that one of the fastest ways to boost profits is to lower the wages of employees. This means finding excuses to fire well compensated teachers, offering lower starting salaries with the carrot of earning more for meeting unobtainable goals, and hiring under-qualified educators with only weeks of training who will work for less and only stick around for a few years should absolutely be part of any corporate takeover of education.
The only other obstacle to turning what used to be seen as a civic duty into a fortune 500 company are teachers unions. Having an organization that acts as a balance to corporate greed and works to make sure the needs of children and the people entrusted with their education are represented is clearly an issue for increasing profits. Luckily for these companies, there are enough people who have bought the education reform message hook, line and sinker and enough money to buy legislative compliance that changes have reached the top levels of government. And they have done this despite the fact that education reform has met neither goal of improving educational outcomes or saving money.
The thing voters need to ask themselves is, who do they believe has the best interests of their child in mind more - the person who interacts with them every day and is part of their local community or the corporate CEO 500 miles away who answers to an unelected board and investors. Because right now, the only ones really benefiting from the litany of education reform sweeping the nation are the corporations.
It's time for reformers to take a page out of their own playbook and honestly evaluate the effectiveness of their ideas. If they did, they would realize that the only thing truly broken about public education is education reform. Unfortunately too many of these people aren't educated enough to recognize they're being duped.
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