Saturday, July 17, 2004
"in the land of the blind. . .
. . . a one-eyed man will be king."
Who said that?
__________
"The U.S. government plans to introduce by late 2006 more rigorous testing in English language, U.S. history and civics for immigrants hoping to become citizens, the program director said on Tuesday."
How about testing the citizen's who were born here?
This may smack of intellectual elitism, but frankly, the Good Doctor Noyz doesn't give a fuck.
You wanna vote, you gotta pass the test.
Otherwise just plant your fat sorry ass on the couch with the remote and a bag full of BigMacs and shut the fuck up. Oh, I'm sorry, please forgive me. I see now that you are already doing that.
Half of you don't (or can't) vote anyway, so once again, just shut the fuck up and do what your told.
Whoops. I'm sorry, I see you are already doing that also.
The Romans had a phrase: "bread and circuses".
Bread? Most Americans are overweight.
Circuses? I've got about 300 channels on my television. And then there's the hype and the spectacle of this.
We live in a land where one in seven young people can find Iraq on a map.
I can't vouch for the accuracy of the source, but the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors cites a Pentagon official as saying "the four major military branches hope to recruit 206,000 young adults this year and another 150,000 reserve and National Guard members" .
Okay, let's do some quick math. . . carry the two. . . okay. . .
46,280. Approximately 46,000 of the young people the Pentagon is hoping to enlist can't find where they'll fight dubya's war on a map.
Tell me, my dear reader. Are you surprised? Sadly, the Good Doctor Noyz is not.
In early 2000, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, "a nonprofit educational organization committed to academic freedom, excellence, and accountability on college and university campuses, issued a report entitled Losing America's Memory: Historical Illiteracy in the 21st Century
Please allow me to quote from the introduction, it is rather lengthy, but I beseech thee to read on:
What do seniors at the nation’s best colleges and universities know and not know about the history of this nation? What grade would they receive if tested?
ACTA commissioned the Roper organization — The Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut — to survey college seniors from the nation’s best colleges and universities as identified by the U.S. News & World Report’s annual college rankings. The top 55 liberal arts colleges and research universities were sampled during December 1999. . . The questions were drawn from a basic high school curriculum. . .
How did seniors from our nation’s top colleges and universities do? They flunked. Four out of five — 81% — of seniors from the top 55 colleges and universities in the United States received a grade of D or F. They could not identify Valley Forge, or words from the Gettysburg Address, or even the basic principles of the U.S. Constitution.
• Scarcely more than half knew general information about American democracy and the Constitution.
• Only 34% of the students surveyed could identify George Washington as an American general at the battle of Yorktown, the culminating battle of the American Revolution.
• Only 42% were able to identify George Washington as “First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen.”
• Less than one quarter (23%) correctly identified James Madison as the “father of the Constitution.”
• Even fewer — 22% of the college seniors — were able to identify “Government of the people, by the people, for the people” as a line from the Gettysburg Address — arguably one of the three most important documents underlying the American system of government.
• Over one-third were unable to identify the U.S. Constitution as establishing the division of power in American government.
• Little more than half (52%) knew George Washington’s Farewell Address warned against permanent alliances with foreign governments.
What do they know?
They get an A+ in contemporary popular culture.
• 99% know who the cartoon characters Beavis and Butthead are.
• 98% can identify the rap singer Snoop Doggy Dogg.
Beavis and Butthead instead of Washington and Madison; Snoop Doggy Dogg instead of Lincoln?
__________
I love Beavis and Butthead. I used to be Beavis and Butthead. And I gotsa shizzle for my fizzle while I sip my gin an' juice.
But did I miss a meeting? Did someone forget to "cc" me a memo? When did knowledge of pop culture and knowlege of culture seemingly become mutually exclusive categories?
Disgusting. Repulsive. Just plain sad.
Keep the masses entertained and ignorant, throw a little fear into the mix and they will gladly allow you to do whatever you want to rule them. And it helps if you repeat a lie often enough it for it to become true.
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty."
"A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the religion of ignorance that tyranny begins." - Benjamin Franklin
Wait. Thoughtcrime.
Ignorance is Bliss.
Where's the remote? Ah, there it is. . . click. . . click. . . Good "I Love the 90s" is on. Those crazy 90's! What a long time ago. . . "Friends" was a really great show.
I feel better already.
I love Big Brother.
|
Who said that?
__________
"The U.S. government plans to introduce by late 2006 more rigorous testing in English language, U.S. history and civics for immigrants hoping to become citizens, the program director said on Tuesday."
How about testing the citizen's who were born here?
This may smack of intellectual elitism, but frankly, the Good Doctor Noyz doesn't give a fuck.
You wanna vote, you gotta pass the test.
Otherwise just plant your fat sorry ass on the couch with the remote and a bag full of BigMacs and shut the fuck up. Oh, I'm sorry, please forgive me. I see now that you are already doing that.
Half of you don't (or can't) vote anyway, so once again, just shut the fuck up and do what your told.
Whoops. I'm sorry, I see you are already doing that also.
The Romans had a phrase: "bread and circuses".
Bread? Most Americans are overweight.
Circuses? I've got about 300 channels on my television. And then there's the hype and the spectacle of this.
We live in a land where one in seven young people can find Iraq on a map.
I can't vouch for the accuracy of the source, but the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors cites a Pentagon official as saying "the four major military branches hope to recruit 206,000 young adults this year and another 150,000 reserve and National Guard members" .
Okay, let's do some quick math. . . carry the two. . . okay. . .
46,280. Approximately 46,000 of the young people the Pentagon is hoping to enlist can't find where they'll fight dubya's war on a map.
Tell me, my dear reader. Are you surprised? Sadly, the Good Doctor Noyz is not.
In early 2000, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, "a nonprofit educational organization committed to academic freedom, excellence, and accountability on college and university campuses, issued a report entitled Losing America's Memory: Historical Illiteracy in the 21st Century
Please allow me to quote from the introduction, it is rather lengthy, but I beseech thee to read on:
What do seniors at the nation’s best colleges and universities know and not know about the history of this nation? What grade would they receive if tested?
ACTA commissioned the Roper organization — The Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut — to survey college seniors from the nation’s best colleges and universities as identified by the U.S. News & World Report’s annual college rankings. The top 55 liberal arts colleges and research universities were sampled during December 1999. . . The questions were drawn from a basic high school curriculum. . .
How did seniors from our nation’s top colleges and universities do? They flunked. Four out of five — 81% — of seniors from the top 55 colleges and universities in the United States received a grade of D or F. They could not identify Valley Forge, or words from the Gettysburg Address, or even the basic principles of the U.S. Constitution.
• Scarcely more than half knew general information about American democracy and the Constitution.
• Only 34% of the students surveyed could identify George Washington as an American general at the battle of Yorktown, the culminating battle of the American Revolution.
• Only 42% were able to identify George Washington as “First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen.”
• Less than one quarter (23%) correctly identified James Madison as the “father of the Constitution.”
• Even fewer — 22% of the college seniors — were able to identify “Government of the people, by the people, for the people” as a line from the Gettysburg Address — arguably one of the three most important documents underlying the American system of government.
• Over one-third were unable to identify the U.S. Constitution as establishing the division of power in American government.
• Little more than half (52%) knew George Washington’s Farewell Address warned against permanent alliances with foreign governments.
What do they know?
They get an A+ in contemporary popular culture.
• 99% know who the cartoon characters Beavis and Butthead are.
• 98% can identify the rap singer Snoop Doggy Dogg.
Beavis and Butthead instead of Washington and Madison; Snoop Doggy Dogg instead of Lincoln?
__________
I love Beavis and Butthead. I used to be Beavis and Butthead. And I gotsa shizzle for my fizzle while I sip my gin an' juice.
But did I miss a meeting? Did someone forget to "cc" me a memo? When did knowledge of pop culture and knowlege of culture seemingly become mutually exclusive categories?
Disgusting. Repulsive. Just plain sad.
Keep the masses entertained and ignorant, throw a little fear into the mix and they will gladly allow you to do whatever you want to rule them. And it helps if you repeat a lie often enough it for it to become true.
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty."
"A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the religion of ignorance that tyranny begins." - Benjamin Franklin
Wait. Thoughtcrime.
Ignorance is Bliss.
Where's the remote? Ah, there it is. . . click. . . click. . . Good "I Love the 90s" is on. Those crazy 90's! What a long time ago. . . "Friends" was a really great show.
I feel better already.
I love Big Brother.
|
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