tagged w/ zealots
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Right-wing fundamentalists such as Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum hate public schools, which he suggests are government schools wedded to doing the work of Satan, dressed up in the garb of the Enlightenment. Santorum, true to his love affair with the very secular ideology of privatization, prefers home schooling, which is code for people taking responsibility for whatever social issues or problems they may face, whether it be finding the best education for their children or securing decent health care. Actually, Santorum and many of his allies dislike any public institution that enables people to think critically and act with a degree of responsibility toward the public. This is one reason why they hate any notion of public education, which harbors the promise, if not the threat, of actually educating students to be thoughtful, self-reflective and capable of questioning so-called common sense and holding power accountable. Of course, some progressives see this as simply another example of how the right wing of the Republican Party seems to think that being stupid is in. But there is more going on here than the issue of whether right-wing fundamentalists are intellectually and politically challenged. What makes critical education, especially, so dangerous to radical Christian evangelicals, neoconservatives and right-wing nationalists in the United States today is that, central to its very definition, is the task of educating students to become critical agents who can actively question and negotiate the relationships between individual troubles and public issues. In other words, students who can lead rather than follow, embrace reasoned arguments over opinions and reject common sense as the engine of truth. What Santorum and his allies realize is that democracy cannot function without an informed citizenry and that, in the absence of such a citizenry, we have a public disinvested from either thinking reflectively or acting responsibly. There is nothing more feared by this group of fundamentalists than individuals who can actually think critically and reflectively and are willing to invest in reason and freedom rather than a crude moralism and a reductionistic appeal to faith as the ultimate basis of agency and politics. What Santorum and his appeal to theocracy longs for is a crowd of followers willing to lose themselves in causes and movements that trade in clichés and common sense. This is the Tea Party crowd with their overt racism, dislike for critical thought and longing for outlets through which they can vent their anger, moral panics and hatred for those who reject their rigid Manichean view of the world. This is a crowd that embraces the likes of Santorum and other fundamentalists because they provide the outlets in which such groups can fulfill their desire to be amused by what might be called the spectacle of anti-politics.
As the anti-public politicians and administrative incompetents in Arizona made clear in their banning ethnic studies and censoring books critical of a conflict-free version of American history, critical pedagogy is especially dangerous. Not only does it offer students a way of connecting education to social change, it also invokes those subordinated histories, narratives and modes of knowledge in an attempt to give students often rendered voiceless the capacities to both read the word and the world critically. But the religious fanatics and privatizing fundamentalists do more than censor critical thought; they also substitute a pedagogy of punishment for a pedagogy of critical learning. Too many children in America now attend schools modeled after prisons. Schools have become places where the challenge of teaching and learning has been replaced by an obsession with crime, punishment and humiliation. Too many young people are being charged with criminal misdemeanors for behaviors that are too trivial to criminalize.Right-wing fundamentalists such as Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum... more
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Praise The Lord for American missionaries bringing Christian salvation to South Korea. And please Lord, save me from your followers... Buddha has left the building.Praise The Lord for American missionaries bringing Christian salvation to South Korea.... more
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Sin? Fornication? You seek these things? Meet the Mormons, Billy (Jarryd Meyer) and Mr. Rudolf (Sam Sero).
Directed by Sam Sero
Written by Jarryd Meyer and Sam Sero
Starring:
Dave Mitchell as The Barfly
Tayla Erdy as Attractive Girl
Samuel Paul as The Bartender
Caileig Scott as Girl On the Phone
The Mormons:
Jarryd Meyer as Billy
Sam Sero as Mr. Rudolf
Produced by Poopdog Entertainment
Cinematography by Michael Matney and Zach Voytas
Sound by Ben Roche and Samuel Paul
Edited by Jarryd Meyer, Sam Sero and Eric Wahlstrom
Location Provided by Locals Sports Bar
Special Thanks to Alec Schwimmer, Lenneal McKudo, Chris Voutsinas and Colin Oh
http://www.youtube.com/bonerbuddiesSin? Fornication? You seek these things? Meet the Mormons, Billy (Jarryd Meyer) and... more
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Private schools in Pakistan's troubled north-western Swat district have been ordered to close in a Taleban edict banning girls' education. Militants seeking to impose their austere interpretation of Sharia law have destroyed about 150 schools in the past year. Five more were blown up despite a government pledge to safeguard education, it was reported on Monday. Here a seventh grade schoolgirl from Swat chronicles how the ban has affected her and her classmates. The diary first appeared on BBC Urdu online.
THURSDAY JANUARY 15: NIGHT FILLED WITH ARTILLERY FIRE
The night was filled with the noise of artillery fire and I woke up three times. But since there was no school I got up later at 10 am. Afterwards, my friend came over and we discussed our homework.
School in Swat allegedly destroyed by the Taleban
The Taleban have repeatedly targeted schools in Swat
Today is 15 January, the last day before the Taleban's edict comes into effect, and my friend was discussing homework as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
Today, I also read the diary written for the BBC (in Urdu) and published in the newspaper. My mother liked my pen name 'Gul Makai' and said to my father 'why not change her name to Gul Makai?' I also like the name because my real name means 'grief stricken'.
My father said that some days ago someone brought the printout of this diary saying how wonderful it was. My father said that he smiled but could not even say that it was written by his daughter.
WEDNESDAY 14 JANUARY: I MAY NOT GO TO SCHOOL AGAIN
I was in a bad mood while going to school because winter vacations are starting from tomorrow. The principal announced the vacations but did not mention the date the school was to reopen. This was the first time this has happened.
Map showing Swat valley
In the past the reopening date was always announced clearly. The principal did not inform us about the reason behind not announcing the school reopening, but my guess was that the Taleban had announced a ban on girls' education from 15 January.
This time round, the girls were not too excited about vacations because they knew if the Taleban implemented their edict they would not be able to come to school again. Some girls were optimistic that the schools would reopen in February but others said that their parents had decided to shift from Swat and go to other cities for the sake of their education.Private schools in Pakistan's troubled north-western Swat district have been... more
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Across a conference table in an Iranian vice president's office, tea and sweet pastries are offered before cultural diplomacy.
An ancient clay cylinder, regarded by scholars as the world's first declaration of human rights, helps to seal a deal that could open a new diplomatic channel between Britain and Iran.
On the table is a symbol rarely seen in Tehran, unless it's being burned by protesters outside the British embassy. A mini Union Jack stands alongside an Iranian flag.
I'd been warned that, as a BBC journalist, I might not be welcomed into this Iranian government building in traffic-jammed downtown Tehran.
The launch of the BBC's Persia TV service has prompted a furious denouncement of British 'spies' in the country.
But as I've arrived in esteemed company, I'm waved through and - most surprisingly - offered a seat at the conference table.
The deal is signed for the cultural exchange between Iran and the UK
On the table is a symbol rarely seen in Tehran, unless it's being burned by protesters outside the British embassy
To my left Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, whispers: "Well, that's a result."
Facing us on the Iranian side is a team led by a deputy vice-president.
Mr MacGregor's primary role is to secure the loan of artefacts, ornaments and Persian silk carpets for the British Museum's forthcoming exhibition Shah Abbas: The Remaking of Iran.
The third in a quartet of planned shows about great emperors, the exhibition will reveal how the roots of modern Iran can be traced back more than 400 years, to the reign of the greatest leader of the Safavid dynasty.
Jet set curator
Neil MacGregor has forged a role as Britain's cultural ambassador to the world.
He travelled to Beijing in 2005 with Tony Blair to sweet talk the Chinese into agreeing to the biggest ever overseas loan of Terracotta Warriors and other treasures from the court of Qin Shihuandi, the First Emperor.Across a conference table in an Iranian vice president's office, tea and sweet... more
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Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been left destitute by Israel's three-week offensive against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, the UN estimates.
The United Nations says that some 50,800 people are now homeless and 400,000 are without running water.
Correspondents in Gaza City say entire neighbourhoods have been flattened and bodies are still being recovered.
Israel says it will allow 143 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid into Gaza plus 60,000 litres of fuel.
CONFLICT IN FIGURES
More than 1,300 Palestinians killed
Thirteen Israeli deaths
More than 4,000 buildings destroyed in Gaza, more than 20,000 severely damaged
50,800 Gazans homeless and 400,000 without running water
In depth: Gaza conflict
Q&A: Gaza conflict
Who are Hamas?
Middle East conflict: History in maps
An International Committee of the Red Cross spokesman said on Monday evening that 10 ambulances carrying medical supplies had travelled into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south.
Earlier, Israeli spokesman Mark Regev told the BBC: "Medicines, foodstuffs, energy, all will be reaching the Gaza Strip in the volume that is required and in an expeditious manner."
The BBC was unable to verify whether the food and fuel convoys reached Gaza.
Palestinian medical sources say at least 1,300 Palestinians have been killed and 5,500 injured during the conflict. Thirteen Israelis have been killed since the offensive began on 27 December.
Israel called a ceasefire on Saturday, saying it had met its war aims. Hamas later declared its own truce, with one of its leaders claiming a "great victory" over Israel.
Scrap metal
As the ceasefire continues to hold, Palestinians in Gaza have been returning home to assess the damage.
The BBC's Christian Fraser travelled to Jabaliya on the northern edge of Gaza City, where the Israeli tanks first crossed over the border. He says entire neighbourhoods have disappeared.Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been left destitute by Israel's three-week... more
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PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistani security forces, backed by artillery and tanks, have killed 14 Taliban insurgents in heavy fighting in the Mohmand region on the Afghan border, a government official said on Sunday.
Pakistan is struggling to stem Islamist militant influence and violence in the northwest as it keeps a wary eye on its eastern border with India after militant attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai led to a spike in tension between the neighbors.
The latest fighting in the northwest broke out Saturday evening when militants attacked troops conducting searches.
"They launched the attack from a hideout. Our troops responded quickly and destroyed it and killed 14 miscreants," Miraj Khan, a government official in the region, told Reuters.
Two paramilitary soldiers were killed in the clash that went on for several hours, he said.
Pakistani security have recently stepped up their operations in Mohmand, which is to the north of the city of Peshawar, to fight al Qaeda and Taliban militants fleeing a military offensive in the neighboring Bajaur region, to the north.
Last week, more than 600 militants, many from Afghanistan, attacked a military camp and two nearby checkposts in the region and six soldiers and 40 militants were killed, the military said.
The United States and Afghanistan have for years urged Pakistan to eliminate militant bases in lawless ethnic Pashtun tribal regions on the border from where Taliban infiltrate into Afghanistan to fight U.S.-led forces.
Intensified Pakistani efforts against the militants has led to what some officials call reverse infiltration, with some Taliban coming back into Pakistan to protect their rear bases from the Pakistani military.PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistani security forces, backed by artillery... more
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