General CE Chat

Random semi-depressing news of the day:
The National Science Foundation scrubs mentions of evolution when submitting the highlights of their work to Congress (for budgetary oversight).
 
berbatrick said:
Random semi-depressing news of the day:
The National Science Foundation scrubs mentions of evolution when submitting the highlights of their work to Congress (for budgetary oversight).
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The denial of evolution is so obscurantist. It's like turning one's back on all rationality. The Catholic Church worldwide has made its peace with evolution; as have Protestant churches in Europe. You wonder why religious groups in the US commit themselves to biblical literalism in defiance of all reason.

It's disturbing that a scientific body in a submission to the American Congress can't mention a theory which provides the foundation for our understanding of life on Earth without endangering its budget.
 
Will Absolute said:
The denial of evolution is so obscurantist. It's like turning one's back on all rationality. The Catholic Church worldwide has made its peace with evolution; as have Protestant churches in Europe. You wonder why religious groups in the US commit themselves to biblical literalism in defiance of all reason.

It's disturbing that a scientific body in a submission to the American Congress can't mention a theory which provides the foundation for our understanding of life on Earth without endangering its budget.
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Damn Texans.

I'm not just saying that as an Okie(:D); the Texas market for school textbooks is so huge that bookmakers have to tip-toe around their outdated views on science to get textbooks approved that will be used nation-wide.
 
Organic Potatoes said:
Damn Texans.

I'm not just saying that as an Okie(:D); the Texas market for school textbooks is so huge that bookmakers have to tip-toe around their outdated views on science to get textbooks approved that will be used nation-wide.
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I didn't know it was down to the Texans. Obviously they took one too many shots to the head at the Alamo. :smirk:
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/16/world/africa/obama-somalia-secret-war.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

(...)
The Somalia campaign is a blueprint for warfare that President Obama has embraced and will pass along to his successor. It is a model the United States now employs across the Middle East and North Africa — from Syria to Libya — despite the president’s stated aversion to American “boots on the ground” in the world’s war zones. This year alone, the United States has carried out airstrikes in seven countries and conducted Special Operations missions in many more.
(...)
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berbatrick said:
Erasing Empire
Today’s understanding of the British Empire has been shaped by state secrecy and the destruction of historical records.


https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/11/british-empire-kenya-oman-ireland-state-secrecy/
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If you're interested, a good book which deals with the origins of the 'secrecy' that review talks about is "Spies in Arabia" by Priya Satia, she shows how the British pioneered the use of air strikes to put down the Iraqi uprising of 1920 in order to hide from the British public - who thanks to the likes of Lawrence of Arabia were increasingly more interested in the region - exactly what they were up to in Iraq.
 
2cents said:
If you're interested, a good book which deals with the origins of the 'secrecy' that review talks about is "Spies in Arabia" by Priya Satia, she shows how the British pioneered the use of air strikes to put down the Iraqi uprising of 1920 in order to hide from the British public - who thanks to the likes of Lawrence of Arabia were increasingly more interested in the region - exactly what they were up to in Iraq.
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Thanks for the link. It made me realise that in my school, we never learnt about British colonialism outside India and the US. We knew a little about the Opium Wars, French in Vietnam, Spain and Portugal in South America and the way the continent of Africa was divided into different colonial zones was briefly mentioned. But literally nothing about the Middle East apart from Ataturk.
 
berbatrick said:
Thanks for the link. It made me realise that in my school, we never learnt about British colonialism outside India and the US. We knew a little about the Opium Wars, French in Vietnam, Spain and Portugal in South America and the way the continent of Africa was divided into different colonial zones was briefly mentioned. But literally nothing about the Middle East apart from Ataturk.
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Of all the Brits' colonial subjects, Indians should inform themselves about the British Empire in the Middle East as the Persian Gulf, South Yemen (Aden), and post-Ottoman Iraq were run by the Government of India - the Gulf was regarded as an extension of India itself and many of the diplomatic staff based in places like Bahrain were Indian natives.
 
berbatrick said:
Thanks for the link. It made me realise that in my school, we never learnt about British colonialism outside India and the US. We knew a little about the Opium Wars, French in Vietnam, Spain and Portugal in South America and the way the continent of Africa was divided into different colonial zones was briefly mentioned. But literally nothing about the Middle East apart from Ataturk.
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I never learned about Belgium's atrocities in Congo until a few years ago.
 
Sports Direct 'bugged' our visit to Shirebrook warehouse, say MPs

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37899067

One of the six, Anna Turley, MP for Redcar, said: "At the end of the meeting, we sat down to have a private conversation in a room by ourselves.

"A lady came in with some sandwiches, which was very kind. I saw her take too long to do it, she put it down and I saw her put a recording device on the floor.

"She left the room and I went over to pick up the device and there it was: a camera and a recording device for the conversation that we were having privately.

"I'm very disappointed."
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:lol:
 
JustAFan said:
Weird. Any word on any sort of welfare or tax scam associated with these two?
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Apparently to get better rates on health insurance...?

To be fair, having been on Obamacare in OK, I'd have a fake marriage to get better rates. It's ridiculous...
 
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