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9751 [lbo-talk] 'American kids, dumber than dirt' -- rank: 1000

On Oct 31, 2007, at 11:52 AM, JBrown72073 at cs.com wrote: > Comforting to know it was not original to you, but it's still > disturbing, > though not puzzling, that when groping for a metaphor for the worst > sort of human > one can think of, cunt is what comes to this guy's mind. Well yeah, but "prick," "dick," (both male) and "asshole" (gender- neutral) are pretty synonymous, though "cunt" admittedly has greater shock value. Doug

Document Size:	5230
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Oct 31 09:12:34 PDT 2007

9752 [lbo-talk] 'American kids, dumber than dirt' -- rank: 1000

On Oct 30, 2007, at 11:22 PM, Miles Jackson wrote: > Psychometricians will hate this answer (they think IQ measure general > intelligence), but I contend that IQ tests measure academic skills and > knowledge. When you look at the items on the Stanford-Binet or the > WAIS, you see items that require knowledge typically gained in school: > math, vocabulary, logical reasoning, even geography. In short, if you > want to know who will succeed in academic settings, give the person ...

Document Size:	5315
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 30 19:28:51 PDT 2007

9753 [lbo-talk] SWP splits from Respect -- rank: 1000

[via Lou Proyect's list - I'm not endorsing this, and would be happy to hear LT's side of things] <http://www.marxsite.com/SWPsplits%20repect.html> The Big Lie How the SWP s bureaucratic factionalism is wrecking Respect By Phil Hearse and Liam Mac Uaid (28/10/07) Stop Press. Already this article is out of date. It was written on 28 October, but today (Oct 29) SWP and Respect national secretary John Rees held a press conference with Tower Hamlets Respect councillors who have resigned th ...

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Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 30 19:27:54 PDT 2007

9754 [lbo-talk] Americans pissed, sez Greenberg -- rank: 1000

On Oct 30, 2007, at 5:47 PM, Seth Ackerman wrote: > It's hard to square David Brooks' line with this stuff: Brooks isn't always the most reliable guy, as people who've fact- checked him have found out. But focus groups are good for exploring how people feel beyond simple yes/no poll questions, so maybe that's part of the explanation. Doug

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Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 30 15:02:30 PDT 2007

9755 [lbo-talk] Americans pissed, sez Greenberg -- rank: 1000

On Oct 30, 2007, at 5:38 PM, Seth Ackerman wrote: > Have public opinion researchers ever tried to actually measure whether > (or the degree to which) Americans overinflate how well they're > doing or > how optimistic they are about their own lives? Maybe someone on your > public opinion list would know? Just posted a query. Doug

Document Size:	4982
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 30 14:51:04 PDT 2007

9756 [lbo-talk] This Crazy World -- rank: 1000

On Oct 30, 2007, at 5:25 PM, Dennis Perrin wrote: > Here's my reply to a certain C. Johnson, proprietor of Little Green > Footballs, who threatened legal action against yours truly for > saying that I > received a death threat at his fine establishment. > > <http://dennisperrin.blogspot.com/2007/10/life-is-beautiful- > precious-flower.html> > Just signed onto LGF and found ads from the Financial Times and Wal- Mart. DIdn't realize hateful stupidity was so respectabl ...

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Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 30 14:42:04 PDT 2007

9757 [lbo-talk] 'American kids, dumber than dirt' -- rank: 1000

On Oct 30, 2007, at 4:09 PM, Wojtek Sokolowski wrote: > In my book, standardized testing is an educational version of > fascism and a > crime against humanity. The article that started all this was based around the testimony of a veteran HS teacher in Oakland - pretty far from Carrol's fantasy of elite academics, by the way. One of his complaints was that so much time is spent on testing and preparing for testing that not much teaching can go on. That point got lost in all the defen ...

Document Size:	5406
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 30 13:23:13 PDT 2007

9758 [lbo-talk] Americans pissed, sez Greenberg -- rank: 1000

On Oct 30, 2007, at 3:09 PM, Carl Remick wrote: > However, I am confounded by his point > -- i.e., polls show that Americans think their private lives are just > ducky, but they also think the wheels are coming off the nation as a > whole. > > If that isn't proof positive that Americans are dumber than shit, I > don't know what would qualify. Sometimes pollsters use questions about how people perceive neighbors or their larger world as a way of getting a handle on their rea ...

Document Size:	5514
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 30 12:43:27 PDT 2007

9759 [lbo-talk] 'American kids, dumber than dirt' -- rank: 1000

On Oct 30, 2007, at 3:12 PM, dredmond at efn.org wrote: > Actually, it does matter. Some folks will always learn outside of the > university, but universities are indispensable centers of knowledge, > research and learning. Speaking of which... Financial Times - October 30, 2007 Yale president urges US leaders to escape their 'insular' thinking By David Turner in London Published: October 30 2007 02:00 | Last updated: October 30 2007 02:00 according to the head of Yale University, Presi ...

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Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 30 12:41:11 PDT 2007

9760 [lbo-talk] 'American kids, dumber than dirt' -- rank: 1000

On Oct 30, 2007, at 2:39 PM, Carrol Cox wrote: > It seems that this thread is just another explosion of blame-the- > victim. Hey if everything's so great with the masses, why is there a "victim" and why is there a matter of "blame"?

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Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 30 12:22:12 PDT 2007

9761 [lbo-talk] Americans pissed, sez Greenberg -- rank: 1000

<http://www.democracycorps.com/reports/analyses/ Democracy_Corps_October_30_2007_Memo.pdf> RE: FINDING THEIR VOICE AS THE AGENTS OF CHANGE The state of the country and the Democrats on[e] year before 2008 election If Americans have ever been angrier with the state of the country, we have not witnessed it; certainly not in 1992 when discontented voters brought the Republican Party down to an historic low, giving one in five of their votes to an unstable 3rd party candidate and putting B ...

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Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 30 11:42:33 PDT 2007

9762 [lbo-talk] Anarcho-Punk & Lance Hahn (1967-2007 -- rank: 1000

On Oct 30, 2007, at 11:55 AM, Tayssir John Gabbour wrote: > I'm kind of "stuck" at Iggy Pop and Fugazi There are far worse places to be! Doug

Document Size:	4844
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 30 09:07:38 PDT 2007

9763 [lbo-talk] 'American kids, dumber than dirt' -- rank: 1000

On Oct 30, 2007, at 11:00 AM, Miles Jackson wrote: > The trend is clear: more and more jobs require > formal education credentials. That's not so true. The BLS's jobs projections forecast the greatest need for associate's degree or less, with moderate amounts of on-the- job training. Almost half the new jobs created from 2004-2014 will require only a HS diploma - see table 6 in: <http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/11/art5full.pdf>

Document Size:	5144
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 30 09:01:07 PDT 2007

9764 [lbo-talk] America, paradise of (rich gay) exiles -- rank: 1000

<http://men.style.com/details/blogs/thegadabout/2007/10/the-new-gay- pro.html> The New Gay Promised Land Unable to come out at home, many rich young foreigners opt for exile in America. By David Kaufman Ever since he was a child, Alberto knew that he wanted to move to New York. At first, the scion of wealthy, politically connected Panamanian landowners and industrialists (who, like the other men in this story, asked that his name be changed) followed a parentally approved plan: He got ...

Document Size:	11545
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 30 07:19:11 PDT 2007

9765 [lbo-talk] US fascism Awareness Week ( was Islamo..) -- rank: 1000

On Oct 30, 2007, at 9:56 AM, Charles Brown wrote: > Carrol Cox > But it was > not because of any efforts on our part that the number approving has > dropped from 90% (or whatever) to 30% (or whatever). > > ^^^^^^^ > CB: This is not true. We should take some credit for making some of > this change. Yeah. It's probably a bad idea to take political advice from a chronic depressive. Doug

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Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 30 07:10:06 PDT 2007