Re: [Phys-L] Does anyone doubt that someone is Politicallybaiting...

["John Clement" <clement@hal-pc.org>]

While we are debating how many g's can dance on the head of a pin, education
can be destroyed.  It is not defamatory to quote the problematic text
verbatim.  My interpretation is quite logical given the quoted text.  These
forces have actually tried to change university education in TX, so it is
coming close to home.  These people need to be exposed and denounced for
their blatent attempts to inject sectartian doctrine into the schools and to
prevent students from having improved critical thinking.

Of course most classes have no effect on critical thinking, so if they just
kept quiet, they will get their wish.  Classes that claim to improve
critical thinking generally don't.  And even Feynman couldn't get the
textbook publishers to remove outrageous errors, so I realize that my
comments will not promote any real action.  But I think people need to be
aware of education issues, and the fact that there are strong reactionary
forces that pay no attention to research because they think they have a
corner on "truth".  None of us have a corner on "truth".  Incidentally the
same document defends corporal punishment in schools despite the fact that
the psychologists have shown that it is not effective and it has some bad
long term effects.

True TX is world unto itself, but the national scene has similar forces in
play.  If this sort of thing goes on too long we can see our country sliding
into third class status in education and science.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX


> Whoever started this thread with the defamatory title and 
> certainly now 
> Marty are, I believe, in violation of the forum 'rules'.  
> This name calling 
> crap (and I don't care if it is the so called 'right' or the 
> so called 
> 'left'--I'm offended by both) is why I quit the list about a 
> year ago and if 
> the rest of the membership doesn't shut this stuff down, I 
> for one will be 
> be gone again.  We have quite enough in the way of derogatory 
> comments 
> passing back and forth just on Physics topics, we don't need blatant 
> political posturing as well.  Everybody, please take your hatreds, 
> bigotries, political and religious rants to more 
> 'appropriate' forums. 
> Let's concentrate here on berating each other for how we deal 
> with 'g', 
> centrifugal force, and special relativity!