What the Oklahoma Students Did Not Know

by Pa Rock
Former Educator

Yesterday I noted that high school students in Oklahoma and Arizona had done very poorly on a citizenship test that (one would hope) even their parents could have passed. Today I came across a very good web site that got into the nuts and bolts of exactly what the students did not know.

Jeff Hoard is a freelance writer and researcher who lives in the woods of British Columbia (that's in Canada, kids). He states that in his spare time he searches for signs of "Idiocracy." Not surprisingly his searches led him to the story on the citizenship survey of Oklahoma students. The information that follows was pulled from Jeff's blog, The Idiocracy Index.

The question on the survey that drew the highest percentage of correct answers from the 1,000 students who were polled was this: What ocean is on the east coast of the United States? Sixty-one percent (610 students) were able to correctly answer that it was the Atlantic Ocean. Presumably, some had actually been there.

The question that garnered the least number of correct responses was this: How many justices are on the Supreme Court? Only ten percent (100 students) knew that nine justices sit on the Supreme Court. That was probably the toughest question on the survey, but a new justice was recently appointed to the Court, stirring a lot of news about the Court and its structure and balance, so more students should have gotten that right. (Are we watching too much Survivor and not enough news programs?)

The other questions went like this:

What is the supreme law of the land? Twenty-eight percent (280) knew that it is the Constitution.

What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? Twenty-six percent (260) correctly answered that those amendments are collectively known as the Bill of Rights.

What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress? Survey says: The Senate and the House. Twenty-seven percent (270) of the students got that correct.

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? The author of that critical document in our history was Thomas Jefferson. Only 14% (140) of students knew that answer.

There was an upsurge of correct answers on this question: What are the two major political parties in the United States? Yet, even on something that basic and well known, less than half of the students surveyed knew that those two political parties are the Democrats and Republicans. Forty-three percent (430) answered correctly.

We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years?
Just 11% (110) knew that the correct answer was six.

Who was the first President of the United States? Twenty-three percent (less than one in four) knew that George Washington was our first President. Come on guys, he's on the dollar bill!

Surprisingly, at least to me, more of the students knew who is in charge of the executive branch than knew the father of our country. Twenty-nine percent (290) answered correctly that the head of the executive branch is the President.

Here is another interesting way to look at the results of this survey:

Of the 1,000 students who were polled, 46 got none of the answers correct, 158 got only one answer correct, 246 got two answers right, 265 (the highest concentration) correctly answered three questions, 177 managed to answer four right, 80 got half correct- five out of ten, 22 got six right (the passing point), and six proved to be real scholars by getting seven correct. None of the 1,000 students who took the survey got more than seven out of ten correct.

So what is the problem? Why did a thousand high school students in Oklahoma do so badly on a test covering what should be a very basic part of their political and historical heritage. The answer is complicated. A lot of really talented people can't afford to teach and have to take jobs in industry or other economic sectors to feed their families. Schools are running so scared of test scores that they concentrate heavily on teaching the test, to the detriment of all other knowledge. Parents are working longer and harder, often both parents, leaving children unsupervised and homework unchecked. And the whole world appears to be angry. It is so much easier to stand around and yell than it is to roll up your shirt sleeves and begin to fix problems.

Knowledge itself is also being pushed under the church bus. Sarah Palin tells people that dinosaurs and people walked the earth at the same time - she's seen pictures! Places like Kansas and Texas go crazy trying to push science out of textbooks and replace it with Creationism, whatever the hell that is. (People who want their children to go to competitive universities and become medical doctors want real science taught in classrooms. People with serious illnesses and injuries - even fundamentalist Christians - want to be treated by people who have been educated in real science.)

Education will get back on track in this country when teaching salaries are high enough to attract really good teachers away from business and industry. Education will begin to recover when school districts start putting more books in their school libraries, books open to a wide range of real life, and quit allowing small-minded moralists to roam through the stacks and haul books that offend them off to community bonfires. Education will start to mean something again when we revel in ideas and encourage students to step outside of their comfort zone and see what this big world is all about.

Education will have arrived when the spelling bee attracts the same enthusiasm as homecoming, when the honor roll is as anticipated as the football starting lineup, and when every child is praised by their parents for what they have learned in school - every day. It's within reach and well worth the effort.

Science? Science! Republicans Don't Need No Stinking Science!

by Pa Rock
Amused Observer

The Daily Kos (www.dailykos.com) published the results of a poll today by Research 2000 that sheds some light on the likelihood of people to understand or incorporate science into their thought processes. The survey was based on the long established scientific belief that all of the earth's continents were once a massive land mass that slowly pulled apart. It is a concept that is familiar to students in elementary schools - at least those in public elementary schools - and there is a plethora of proof available to anyone who allows their mind to be open.

Survey respondents were asked the following: Do you believe that America and Africa were once part of the same continent?

Forty-two percent of all people surveyed replied that yes, they believed the statement. Twenty-six percent did not, and 32% were not sure.

It gets interesting in the sub-groups. Fifty-one percent of Democrats believed the statement, as did 44% of Independents. Republicans, however, checked-in with only 24% - less than one in four, accepting that statement into their belief system. Republicans also had the highest percentage of no responses with nearly one in two unable to accept the reality of science.

Fifty-percent of respondents from the Northeast believed the statement, as did 46% from the Midwest and 43% from the West. The South, however, lagged far behind with only 32% - less than one in three - demonstrating the ability to recognize science when it stared them in the face.

The racial breakdown was also interesting. Blacks were far more likely to believe in science than Whites. Sixty-three percent of Blacks accepted the statement, while only 35% of Whites did. Latinos recognized science at a rate of 55%, and "Others" were slightly higher at fifty-six percent.

Looking at the overall picture, it starts to make sense. Republicans are less likely to be accepting of science, they tend to be White, and they are most thickly concentrated in the South.

People used to believe that the earth was flat, but most have now accepted the fact that it is round, like a ball. They used to think that the earth was the center of the universe and everything, including the sun, revolved around it, but today most know better. One vacuous Alaskan and some others are still hanging on, however, trying to tell us that dinosaurs walked the earth with humans just a few thousand years ago - even though the fossil record clearly refutes that nonsense. Their drivel will eventually dry up and blow away.

The point is that education will win out - it always does. The South was desegregated, albeit kicking and screaming, a generation ago, and the creationist theories of the ignorant white cracker Republicans, regardless of where they reside, will eventually be washed aside by science and common sense. Education can be painfully slow, but sooner or later it will tug us forward - whether we want to go there or not.

Worse Than al-Qaeda

by Pa Rock
Outraged Citizen

It's easy to be mad at al-Qaeda. Those crazy bastards go around killing people in the name of Muhammad or Allah. Crazy people with a crazy prophet and a crazy God. Killing in the name of their God - what an outrage!

Fortunately, here in America we are better than that. Religion is ... well, religious. It's about love and peace - not hate.

And if you believe that horseshit, let me sell you a prime piece of the Sonoran Desert.

Yesterday a "good" Christian shot and killed a physician in a church in Kansas in the name and spirit of his God. You know the story by now. Dr. George Tiller, a women's reproductive health provider, was gunned down while he was handing out programs at his Lutheran Church in Wichita. The shooter, Scott Roeder, belonged to the "Freemen," a group of whackos who believe that our government is out to get us. He was once arrested for having bomb-making materials in his car. I don't believe that he has had to opportunity to speak to the press, but be assured that he shot the doctor secure in the knowledge that he was doing the Lord's work.

God Bless Dr. Tiller for even attempting to practice medicine in Kansas. The Sunflower State is, after all, the home of homophobic lunatic Fred Phelps and his equally insane daughter, Shirley Phelps-Roper. Kansas has been in a long struggle as the state board of education attempted to pass "creationism" off as science education. And then there is Bob Dole. Kansas is a very strange place!

A few years ago Dr. Tiller was wounded in each arm by a deranged "Christian" woman. His clinic has been burned, and recently suffered serious and expensive vandalism. At least one statewide elected official is thought to have been feeding confidential information about the doctor to members of the state's hate groups.

Conservative clown Bill O'Reilly has been hammering Dr. Tiller as "Tiller the Baby Killer" on his Fox News (sic) Show for several years, and provocateur Ann Coulter has also singled him out for at least one of her abusive tirades. Christian charity at its finest!

Here is another side of Dr. George Tiller. It was posted at The Daily Kos today by someone who actually knew him (www.dailykos.com):

The George Tiller I Knew

by loree920

Sun May 31, 2009 at 06:45:47 PM PDT

Like many in this community, my heart is heavy today. There have been many great diaries that talk about Dr. Tiller's years of service to women, and the threats he has endured throughout the last years of his life. My story is a bit more personal and I want to share it with all of you to give you more insight into the man.

In 1975 my Mom noticed an indention in her left breast. She called and made an appointment with her OB/GYN, Dr. George Tiller. After his initial examination, he ordered a biopsy. While performing the biopsy he immediately knew that the lump was cancerous. Instead of just closing and scheduling surgery, he “grabbed a handful”, his words not mine. Her cancer Dr. credited this quick thinking by Dr. Tiller with saving her life, and due to this she didn’t even have to undergo chemotherapy.

Several years later my Mother and I were driving by his clinic in Wichita. Mom started complaining of chest pains, so I drove into his parking lot and ran in to get help. Dr. Tiller was by Mom’s side immediately, and stabilized her, before the heart attack could cause severe damage.

In 1980 I was pregnant with my first child. I had no insurance and couldn't afford a doctors appointment until I was approved for a medical card.. Mom told Dr. Tiller and he brought me into his office where he examined me, free of charge. I can credit him with the very first picture taken of my son.

The last story I have to share is about my friends who could not have children. Dr. Tiller’s office worked with several attorneys in the Wichita area to provide adoption services for his patients who wanted this option. My friends have a 10 yr. old boy now, who is loved and adored.

I’m not a great writer, so I apologize that this isn’t nearly as eloquent as some of the diaries on Daily Kos. I just wanted to get this story out to you, so you could hear how this man wasn’t just a tremendous fighter for women's rights. He was a brilliant physician, and a kind and compassionate human being. RIP Dr. Tiller and thank you for all you did for my friends and my family.

So the evil "Tiller the Baby Killer" was really a human being - and now he's a dead human being, executed by a "good" Christian who was just doing the Lord's work.

Is anyone surprised that good God-fearing Christian Americans would kill? Certainly not me. Several members of the conservative noise machine are relentless in their castigation of anything that seems directed at alleviating suffering or poverty. Their Jesus was just babbling when he talked caring for the poorest among us - and the meek inheriting the earth - yeah, right! Their God is a very old white man who doesn't like Mexicans or gays, and isn't overly fond of independent women - and those silly stories in the Bible should not be taken literally - except when they meet the greedy interests of well-heeled "Christians."

Yes, but our terrorists don't blow up buildings and kill indiscriminately. Of course they do - remember Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols taking down the Federal Building in Oklahoma City? Or Eric Robert Rudolph, the sick fuck who set off the bomb at the Atlanta Olympics? Mr. Rudolph also earned fame as a bomber of women's clinics before he became a twisted version of a folk hero as he roamed the mountains of North Carolina hiding from the FBI.

If our government was truly invested in rooting out terrorism, it wouldn't have dropped the ball in Afghanistan and rushed off to Iraq to massage George Bush's daddy issues. And if our government was truly, truly invested in stamping out terrorism, our troops would be heading off to places like Idaho and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and blasting those in-bred, gun-toting militia idiots out of their trees. Let the Middle East take responsibility for their own terrorists - we have plenty of our own to deal with here at home.

And our terrorists are just as awful as theirs - maybe even worse.

"There are few things in this world as evil as a 'good' Christian." -- Pa Rock

Happy Lincoln Darwin Day!

by Pa Rock
History Major

Jim Schmidt is wishing us all a happy Lincoln Darwin Day. Jim states that he has been privately observing Lincoln Darwin Day for years, but began to publicize the idea in 2003, going so far as to make some Lincoln Darwin Day cards. His current collection may be accessed from his web page: jimschmidt.com

Not only did these two famous individuals, Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin, share the same birth date, February 12th, they were also born in the same year: 1809 - exactly 200 years ago today. Lincoln was born in Kentucky, and Darwin was a native of England. As Schmidt compares the significance of their lives, he notes:

"One freed the mind of ruinous and crippling superstition. The other freed the people from the ruinous and crippling institution of slavery. One slew superstition. The other slew slavery."

Abraham Lincoln, regarded by many, myself included, as America's greatest President, saw the country through its most difficult period and guided the repair of the most significant flaw in the Constitution. But slavery was quickly replaced by Jim Crow laws and lynchings as poor White America tried desperately to keep poor Black America "in its place." Only today, over a hundred and forty years after the end of the Civil War, is a post-racial American landscape finally appearing on the horizon.

When Charles Darwin published The Origin of the Species in 1859, a treatise on how species evolved over time through a process of natural selection, he was immediately labeled as a heretic by the religious community, and regarded as naive by most scientists of the time. The scientists eventually came to see the sense of Darwin's ideas, but that enlightenment was much slower to follow in religious circles. Indeed, some communities in America today still angrily decry science and demand the inclusion of a Hebrew fairy tale that they call creationism in science books. Many people keep their kids out of public schools solely for the reason that they do not want them exposed to the concept of evolution.

Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin ventured beyond the safety of old ideas and the status quo. They braved public scorn in order to advance the lives of those struggling to free themselves from the chains of slavery and the irrationality of religious dogma. Today we are a better people living in a better world because of these two individuals - who were born on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean two hundred years ago today.

Happy Lincoln Darwin Day! (Next year expect a card!)

'Splain Yourself, Sarah!

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Actor Matt Damon is in a major snit over Sarah Palin's creationist views. Apparently McBush's silly girl holds with some fundamentalist thinking that the Earth is only six thousand and some-odd-years-old (created on a Tuesday, if memory serves), and that humans and dinosaurs co-existed around four thousand years ago - and the fossil record be damned! One version of that report has the Governor of Alaska saying that she knows it's true because she has seen photographs of human footprints intermingled with those of dinosaurs.

I haven't seen any photographs like that, but I must confess to having never encountered a Christian fundamentalist home-schooler's science textbook either. The photos are probably between the chapters detailing how a man can live in the belly of a whale, and the best techniques for walking on water.

The Bush administration has had a great time rewriting science, but something tells me that they are going to be small potatoes compared to the outrages that would be foisted on the scientific community by a McBush-Palin administration.

Hey Sarah, who did Cain and Abel marry? Me and Matt Damon want to know!

Dear Sarah Palin

Dear Sarah Palin,
Tonight you are giving "the speech of your life" in Minnesota, and I am sitting at home in Goodyear, AZ, missing it. Please don't take that as a personal rebuff, because I am currently without television service, and when my radio is on I prefer jazz over politics. And besides, what could possibly be left to learn about you anyway? You and your family have pretty much blanketed the Internet news outlets for two days now - and the Internet is where I turn to stay up-to-the-minute on matters of national and world import.

It was through the Internet that I found out that you know how to field dress a moose. And I know that you like to fish, even if you occasionally forget to buy one of those pesky fishing licenses. I am certain that with talents like those you will be (are?) a wonderful grandmother.

But some of the other stuff that I'm reading about you is not as glowing. In fact, if what I am reading is true, you seem to be rather mean and stupid.

Are you forcing your daughter to marry her "fuckin' redneck" boyfriend? Maybe you should visit a few women's shelters and listen to some of their stories before forcing a political solution on a family situation. Did you really move to take funds away from programs for unwed mothers in Alaska? Why would you do something so cruel to a group of defenseless teen girls who made a mistake - a mistake that can occur in the best of families. And do you truly believe, deep in your heart of hearts, that girls who are impregnated by their fathers, brothers, or savage rapists should be made to bear and give birth to the children of their attackers? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you are a mean person. If you answered yes to all of those questions, then you are a despicably cruel person. (And I never even got around to discussing your unconscionable views on polar bears!)

That still leaves stupid.

Teaching creationism in public schools as science is stupid beyond measure. Oh, I guess if you want your children to grow up making poor quality meth for a living and crushing beer cans on their foreheads, it probably won't do them any harm. But if you would like for your children to eventually become doctors, scientists, or work in any field where they have to rely on their intellect, then cluttering school curricula with hokum and nonsense will dramatically diminish their potential.

And teaching (preaching) abstinence as the sole source of birth control - how's that working our for you? Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Shame on you and the moose you rode in on!

Pa Rock