Cerro Coso Community College offers an online AA degree in mathematics. You take three semesters of Analytic Geometry and Calculus (I, II, II), Linear Algebra, and two other elective math courses. (I don’t have to take gen ed since I have a BA or higher.)
A university lecturer friend of mine has concerns over the amount of information learned by students in online math classes, and I think it is a fair concern. Having just finished my first online math course, I thought I’d review it.
If they didn’t want to be shot at then they shouldn’t have tried to exercise their first amendment rights.
Sweet buttery Christ, preserve us from a future with TSA checkpoints in random public spots. Is there any civil liberty people won’t willingly give up to protect them from something scary, but incredibly unlikely?
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Julian Sanchez, showing why he deserves to be <heart>’ed hard and often:
I’m biased against the President of the United States. I don’t like his, or his opponent’s, ideology. I don’t like the amount of power that his office wields.
But when the President says:
What does he mean by the “that” in bold? Is he speaking about the “roads and bridges?” I submit not, as those are “those” and not a “that.”
The President means to say that a person who has a successful business didn’t build that [successful business]. It is an elementary point of grammar. The success is a communitarian, collective one, and the credit must be spread around. Yes, you worked hard but “there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there.” Of course, you’re smart but, “[t]here are a lot of smart people out there.”
You were forced to participate in a system where the government took money from some people, then redistributed some of it to others, and provided services with some it. And since you were forced to participate in this system, the system gets the credit for your accomplishments. You didn’t accomplish them. They’re the accomplishments of the community, or society, of a beneficent government which has done so many great things for you. It is a call to believe in what the government can do. It is also used as justification for higher taxes.
It would be a good message, too, except for one thing: government isn’t voluntary. You can’t opt out of taxes and decide to use private roads, schools, retirement plans, etc. You are forced to do so, and then this compulsion is used as justification for further compulsion.
Respect for your fellow persons begins with acknowledging their autonomy–their right to make decisions for themselves. The President’s words, while they may be compelling rhetoric, cannot cover up the basic fact that he’s arguing against individual autonomy.
I think we all remember when Hillary Clinton approached Angela Merkel with tears in her eyes because the German Chancellor wouldn’t consider restructuring Greek debt.
Good God, your know someone is on the fringe when you cannot tell the difference between someone pretending to be a crazy feminist, and a skepchick-type feminist expressing their opinion. That’s right, feminism in the secular movement has reached poe-tastic proportions!
So lets see if you can tell me which one of the following is someone pretending to be crazy, and which is a serious feminist (being supported by who else but ‘Freethoughtbloggers’ and skepchick).
Is it a)
There has been a lot of sexually harassing by text (textual harassment) at TAM, and therefore the skeptichicks are planning to implement a policy banning such harassment at their conferences. To ensure that women feel safe at conferences this policy will strictly prohibit people sending unwanted text messages, specifically including the following:
( . ) ( . )
8====)
😉
=P
or is it b),
…that wearing a T-shirt at TAM saying that says…
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So, it’s come to this.
(S/S: 17July2012)
California State University, Bakersfield–my beloved alma mater–is offering classes in pseudoscience. Granted it is through the extended university and also granted that the EU is generally a profit center for Universities, but that is no excuse. What doth it profit a man to gain $209 if he loses his intellectual integrity?
If you’re unaware that the three courses described above are pseudoscientific twaddle that don’t belong in a reputable University, then turn off your goddamned computer right now and pick up a book. (Start with Carl Sagan, move to James Randi, then turn your computer back on and go to http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/)
I’ve noticed (though I’m by no means the first) that the religious and the politically partisan share some common thought patterns.
God is good and everything that is good comes from God. God gets 100% of the credit for good things (“Praise the lord, we found a cool apartment!”) and 0% of the blame for the bad things (“That tsunami was just a natural disaster. Maybe it was caused by man’s sin.”) If a prayer request appears to have been answered, well then it was God. If a prayer request goes unanswered, well mysterious ways. (Penn Jillette once said he wished he could play poker in mysterious ways.)
Continue reading
Gerard Murphy of Catholic Monthly Newsletter has opinions.
Helping victims of a College Education
ONE tragic side effect of modern education is that it leaves many young people more obtuse than they were when they first entered college or university. They end up with their B.A.s, Ph.D.s or M.Sc.s, and not knowing God, or with no vibrant relationship with him.
Can you imagine going to school to study Mathematics and not being taught that 1+1+1 can equal 1?
Yet, having thus become no-brainers and no- hopers, they think they are so cool.
“Cool” is a word the kids today use, right?
Oscar Pistorius is a double amputee who runs track using prosthetic legs. Some say this may give him an unfair advantage over whole bodied individuals.
I say that it poses and interesting question into the purposes of track and field competitions. Say two people, Adam and Bert, are competing in a foot race. Each competitor trains 8 hours a day, has the best equipment, and is in top physical form. But runner Adam was born with a slight genetic edge over runner Bert, so Adam wins. Is it fair to reward Adam for a characteristic over which he has no control?
I haven’t been following the latest contretemps over the extent of Romney’s involvement with Bain Capital during the time he was running the Olympics. Mostly because I frankly don’t care who wins the election–nothing is going to change.
But also because I cannot imagine a less interesting subject than SEC filings. Someone needs to put together a non-partisan timeline of facts accompanied by the jury instructions which would be given in a hypothetical criminal trial involving whatever it is Romney is alleged to have done. You would think that one pundit somewhere on cable news would do this, but one supposes it is easier to just bloviate ignorantly.
Rational self interest, young men in various states of undress, and a welcoming attitude in West Fucking Virginia. It’s enough to make me wish I knew how to smile.
Chick-fil-A offers free bigotry with purchase
Some have opposed the company’s support of the traditional family. “Well, guilty as charged,” said Cathy when asked about the company’s position.
“We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.
I used to get irritated by phrases such as “the biblical definition of the family unit” because, well… Polygamy, Rape victims forced to marry their rapists, Conflict between divorce laws in the Old Testament and New, and even conflicts within the New Testament itself (no divorce allowed, *MAN* may divorce wife if she is unfaithful, No divorce allowed, No divorce among believers, but things get complicated when unbelievers are involved. Continue reading
Faithful see image of Virgin Mary in West New York tree
These always look like vaginas to me. Though I will acknowledge that vaginas are not my area of expertise.
Ros-Lehtinen is first GOP member of Congress to back marriage equality
Asked by the Washington Blade whether she’s a supporter of same-sex marriage in addition to backing DOMA repeal, Ros-Lehtinen initially expressed confusion about why the question was being asked, saying, “I don’t know why you’re asking that. It’s such a weird way.” But she later affirmed she’s a supporter of marriage equality.
This is much larger news than the President’s craven announcement concerning gay marriage. Gays will never be mainstreamed until there is a bipartisan consensus around their formal legal equality, even if there is no consensus on what that the exact contours of that equality are.
“As a result of Attorney General Eric Holder being held in contempt of Congress for withholding information in the investigation of the Fast & Furious scandal, two conservative bloggers have lodged a formal complaint with the Office of Bar Counsel in DC to get Holder disbarred.”
This falls into the category of things that would get a normal person sanctioned by the bar association, but since the person in question has so much power, he is held to a lower standard.
Forbes: The Dog-Eat-Dog Welfare State Is Lose-Lose
“That’s the beauty of capitalism. Because all economic relationships are voluntary, people only enter into them when each party thinks it’s to his advantage. When you accept a job, for instance, it’s not because the employer forced you to work at the point of a gun. It’s because you valued the paycheck more than other possible uses of your time. It’s a gain for you and a gain for your employer.”
See, the problem isn’t with what they’re saying. I tend to agree with 95% of Objectivist political philosophy. The problem is that Objectivists are awful writers. They actually try to incorporate stock phrases and cliches into their writing because they are the stock phrases and cliches used by the Dear Leader.
Don’t get me wrong, I respect Ayn Rand quite a bit. But she wasn’t perfect and she’s dead now. Reciting her words and treating her ideas as inerrant is a combination of creepy and tiresome to people not devoted to following her. I suppose you could say that I think Objectivism has a lot in common with religion; which is to say they’re imperfect human endeavors bereft of revelation.
If making an awkward Nazi analogy rendered one unfit to hold office, I’m afraid we wouldn’t have any politicians left. Ok, so I guess it turns out I agree with Ben Grant.
Seriously, could anything be more interesting than this? As I was writing the title of this post, I literally became so excited that I had to step outside for some fresh air. It’s all just too much.
The skeptic community has a Misogyny Problem, but the exact extent and nature of the problem is unclear. It didn’t start with Elevatorgate, much in the same way the US Civil War didn’t start at Fort Sumpter. Shit was reportedly getting bad for years before some doofus made a pass at Rebecca Watson.
DOJ Alleges Glaxo Paid Dr. Drew $275K To Talk Sexy About Wellbutrin
“The allegations date back to March and April 1999, when the good doctor was co-hosting Loveline on both the radio and on MTV… and also possibly getting paid $275,000 to mention Wellbutrin without revealing that he was getting paid to do so.”
I’m shocked, shocked to find less than ethical doctors on television.
My inaugural post is a photo of Stephen Krupa. He’s the most beautiful, wonderful man in the world, and he’s agreed to marry me. (All the worse for him.) In any event, I can’t think of a better way to start a blog.
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