Sex education in Texas

Huffpo offers some disturbing information from the Texas approach to "sex education."

Texas lawmakers cut sex ed from two six-month courses to a single unit of "abstinence only" education. But early indications showed that the program wasn't working. In fact, teens in almost all high school grades were having more sex after undergoing the abstinence only program. By 2007, Texas had the highest teen birth rate in the nation.
Texas now has the highest teen birth rate in the nation, and Rick Perry, the Governor of Texas who is leading the abstinence crusade in Texas, now wants to be President of the U.S. The Huffpo article mentions a segment of the abstinence-only training some of the young Texans are receiving in a PUBLIC school:
"Things to Look for in a Mate:" I. How they relate to God A. Is Jesus their first love? B. Trying to impress people or serve God?

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Republicans saving us from high-efficiency light bulbs

Think Progress reports on the latest episode of dysfunctionality of the modern Republican Party:

By a voice vote on Friday, the House passed a “light bulb ban” amendment to the 2012 Energy and Water Appropriations Act (HR 2354). The amendment, offered by climate denier Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX), prohibits spending to enforce the incandescent lighting efficiency standards in the 2007 energy law signed by President George W. Bush. These standards have already spurred the lighting industry to create innovative new incandescent bulbs that are dramatically more efficient than the century-old design the Tea Party is bent on defending. This amendment will hurt jobs, hurt manufacturing, and hurt the environment — helping instead coal-powered electricity producers who depend on wasteful use of energy. The standards were originally proposed by Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), who turned his back on better light bulbs in order to curry Tea Party favor and get the chairmanship of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. This is but the latest example of House Republican leaders promoting a right-wing, dirty energy agenda that harms families and businesses rather than investing in innovation, new products, and jobs — even if they came up with the idea in the first place.

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The problem with the test culture dominating education

In the June 24, 2011 issue of Science, Deborah Stipek, Dean of the Stanford University School of Education, spoke about against the dominant educational paradigm we impose on our children:

The film "Race to Nowhere," which continues to receive attention since its release a year ago, documents the unhealthy consequences of the competitive “teach to the test” climate that many U.S. students experience. The film, in which I was interviewed, puts in clear relief the pressures that youth are under to amass large numbers of Advanced Placement (college-equivalent) classes, win science fairs, excel in the arts and sports, and in other ways distinguish themselves from the competition for admission into a few select universities that parents and schools believe are critical for future success. Research on motivation makes it clear that focusing attention entirely on performance, whether grades or test scores, destroys whatever intrinsic interest the subject matter might have had.
I suspect that there is no way to succinctly discuss education. "Race to Nowhere" features lots of highly motivated students, the kind of students that Stipek seem to have in mind. Here's the trailer: Compare "Race to Nowhere" to "Waiting for Superman," featuring students desperate to get out of crappy schools. This is night and day, a completely different situation from that discussed by Stipek. What's really scary is that both of these situations are being characterized as failures by the respective documentaries.

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Free Speech Above All

Johann Hari on Religious Censorship This video is an impassioned declaration on the importance of not allowing "sensitivities" and an unwillingness to offend become a force against free speech.  It is also, underneath, an argument for rejecting the pseuodthink of irrational defenses of absurdity.

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