Sarah Palin, Republican Vice Presidential Candidate

[SwampdonkeyPLD]

People would have a field day because he said, "I don't want my kids punished with a baby."

[Beckwin]

She wasn't a member of AIP but her husband was and she spoke at their convention :/

oh and the kind of debate she's talking about belongs in a philosophy class.

[Demosthenes11]

You're a bit late Saph.. the book banning list was proven to be fake this past weekend.

And from her own quote - she wants both to be debated side-by-side in a public school science class. How is that not pushing to have creationism taught in the science curriculum?

I am super anti-creationism (didn't vote for RP because of it), but I don't see anything wrong with having a debate about it in a classroom setting. The kids can weigh the pros and cons of each argument and they can choose on their own.

[zoobernut]

If creationism is taught are there other philosophies and beliefs from other religions that should be taught too? The main issue that I have with creationism being taught is the majority of the time this argument comes up the proponents want to teach Catholic or Christian creationism which I believe is wrong if they want to debate different ideas then all religions need equal representation in schools then I would be ok with it.

[Demosthenes11]

there are a lot of theories regarding evolution that don't get taught too
What you teach in school is generally a popularity contest with a small bit of minority to make yourself feel good

[heartslaught]

The problem with intelligent design/creationism/complex reason/whatever new label they will throw on it is that it holds no weight in reality. Creationism was a concept thougth up by not just Christianity, but every other religion to explain what was, at that time, a large mystery of "How did we come to be?". The problem with religion is that people become so deeply seeded in it that it makes them blind and ignorant. Do I care about religion, no (I'm a staunch atheist and wear my A proudly), do I think epople can believe what they want about the unexplainable, and the supernatural, absolutely. It makes for wonderful fictional, stories, and can provide comfort in a reasonable manner that can make life's difficulties a little bit easier to handle (catastrophe, death, afterlife etc etc you know what I'm implying).

What is wrong is when religion blinds people from reality, and is used by people with less than noble intentions, just to make their views law, though their view as no validity whatsoever in any manner, supernatural or natural. It has come to the point even where it is infecting our infrastructure globally, the very infrastructure that gives us law, food, water, shelter, progress etc. I could go on for hours about the bullshit that's in this world just mecially and in biology and physics (quackwatch being a GREAT medical resource of quackery btw). It's hampering progress, and we know. Those who preach such things, such as Sarah Palin and others, have no reason they should even be allowed to breath in my opinion. Their uneducated/unethical decisions can directly lead to deaths if you connect the dots well enough, and once again, we can provide evidence for this (read anti-vaccination movement currently and measles and mumps outbreaks starting to creep up around the country... yeah, nuff said, correlation anyone?) that these decisions DO HURT people.

This is why anyone who believes in what Palin and others do are public emeny number one in my book. They can say what they want, and I'll defend they're right to say (their ignorance reinforces even more strongly what we know to be sound theory and fact) whatever they want in whatever setting. But when your decisions and speech can directly lead to injury or death? Responsibility and prudence are wonderful things to have when speaking, you do not have those, you do not deserve to lead, and should be shot on sight.

I could rant more, but this sums up Palin and the republican ticket for the most part, as a whole (not saying there aren't moderates out there who are true conservatives and not neo-cons, meet plenty of them in my life, friends with many), but please, educate yourself, vote responsibly, and DO NOT vote republican, thank you.

[Xno Kappa]

We should teach Scientology along with Creationism and Evolution too. Hell scrap the whole science curriculum and just make it an endless theological debate.

P.S. Creationism is retarded.

[Kuya]

Was reading today on Factcheck.org about Palin.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/157986
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2...ing_palin.html

She did not demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library. Some of the books on a widely circulated list were not even in print at the time. The librarian has said Palin asked a "What if?" question, but the librarian continued in her job through most of Palin's first term.

So what about that list of books targeted for banning, which according to one widely e-mailed version was taken “from the official minutes of the Wasilla Library Board”? If it was, the library board should take up fortune telling. The list includes the first four Harry Potter books, none of which had been published at the time of the Palin-Emmons conversations. The first wasn't published until 1998. In fact, the list is a simple cut-and-paste job, snatched (complete with typos and the occasional incorrect title) from the Florida Institute of Technology library Web page, which presents the list as “Books banned at one time or another in the United States.”

She was never a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a group that wants Alaskans to vote on whether they wish to secede from the United States. She’s been registered as a Republican since May 1982.

Palin has not pushed for teaching creationism in Alaska's schools. She has said that students should be allowed to "debate both sides" of the evolution question, but she also said creationism "doesn't have to be part of the curriculum."

Palin, Oct. 25, 2006: Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both. And you know, I say this too as the daughter of a science teacher. Growing up with being so privileged and blessed to be given a lot of information on, on both sides of the subject – creationism and evolution. It's been a healthy foundation for me. But don't be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides.

Thank God we finally got the facts. Shame she actually fired the librarian and only brought her back because the town protested her decision.

[Olo401]

Thank God we finally got the facts. Shame she actually fired the librarian and only brought her back because the town protested her decision.

She's quite Nixonian with her penchant to fire public officials..

[zoobernut]

there are a lot of theories regarding evolution that don't get taught too
What you teach in school is generally a popularity contest with a small bit of minority to make yourself feel good

I agree that what is taught in schools is a popularity contest but to me that is only ok when dealing with science based theories. When we start getting into religion based theories I no longer agree with that style of teaching.

Just because Christianity and Catholicism are the most popular and widespread religions in this country does not mean they should have any weight in government or public schools. It is a slippery slope which I do not want to go down. Like I said if they want to start letting religion have influences in public schools then teach them all, and if they do not want to teach them all then send your kids to a private school and leave the public schools out of it.

[Elvis]

Most widely practiced religions in the world:
Christianity (2.1 billion)
Islam (1.3 billion)
Nonreligious (Secular/Agnostic/Atheist) (1.1 billion)
Hinduism (900 million)
Chinese traditional religion (394 million)
Buddhism 376 million
Primal-indigenous (300 million)
African traditional and Diasporic (100 million)
Sikhism (23 million)
Juche (19 million)
Spiritism (15 million)
Judaism (14 million)
Bahai (7 million)
Jainism (4.2 million)
Shinto (4 million)
Cao Dai (4 million)
Zoroastrianism (2.6 million)
Tenrikyo (2 million)
Neo-Paganism (1 million)
Unitarian-Universalism (800,000)


Source: Time Almanac 2004 Pearson Education Needham, MA 2003 pg. 332

[Blarg]

Most widely practiced religions in the world:
Christianity (2.1 billion)
Islam (1.3 billion)
Nonreligious (Secular/Agnostic/Atheist) (1.1 billion)
Hinduism (900 million)
Chinese traditional religion (394 million)
Buddhism 376 million
Primal-indigenous (300 million)
African traditional and Diasporic (100 million)
Sikhism (23 million)
Juche (19 million)
Spiritism (15 million)
Judaism (14 million)
Bahai (7 million)
Jainism (4.2 million)
Shinto (4 million)
Cao Dai (4 million)
Zoroastrianism (2.6 million)
Tenrikyo (2 million)
Neo-Paganism (1 million)
Unitarian-Universalism (800,000)


Source: Time Almanac 2004 Pearson Education Needham, MA 2003 pg. 332

Where are the Jedi's?

[Elvis]

Wiped out by the Flying Spaghetti-Magic Teapot Rastafarians

[Tyche]

Pretty, petite Cindy McCain sits snugly in the driver's seat of a 2004 Cadillac sedan that's been converted into a race car, one hand grasping the steering wheel, the other working the four-on-the-floor. Dressed in dark straight-leg jeans, tan sneakers, a cropped white denim jacket, and white polo shirt, her shoulder-length blond hair pulled into a ponytail and stuffed under a baseball cap, she casts an image distinctly different from her typical one of pastel dress with pearls -- the standard-issue candidate's wife uniform. It's a crisp, clear April day, and McCain is decidedly not on the campaign trail. At the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Chandler, a suburb 18 miles outside Phoenix, she is doing what over the past three years she has come to love: negotiating a racecourse. But even as she rounds one curve after another, downshifting and upshifting, a cameraman is in the passenger seat filming her for a promotional campaign video. Because when your husband is fourth-term Arizona Senator John McCain and he's running for president, everything you do is part of the message. Cindy does her best to ignore the cameraman. Finally, she pulls into a holding area, drops him off and speeds away again.

Lol, she races drift cars. That's awesome.

[Churchill]

People who pay for Bondurant are worthless.

[Olo401]

Wow.. hey pohi - Bob Barr's on Rachel Maddow's new show. I'll see if I can find a youtube link later.

[Churchill]

barr was on colbert late august.

he is a pretty uninspiring dude. he reminds me of fagcock news editor from superman.

[Senoska]

The class room is no place for debate.
End

[Kuya]

The class room is no place for debate.
End

[Senoska]

Things that children are tought are decided by academics in the fields, peer reviewed ideas that have stood the test of time, you do not let the children decide what they "want to learn" or "want to believe" evolution is a peer reviewed scientific theory that has almost 200 years of actuall research backing it.

Children are not to decide what is tought to them, no debate on what is tought to them.