quote:

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A New Mexico high school teacher has been disciplined after a parent says the man told his black son that Santa Claus is white.

Officials at the school in Rio Rancho, about 15 miles north of Albuquerque, said Saturday that the teacher recently was disciplined for his comments to the student, but they declined to say how.

The move came after students at Cleveland High School were told they could come to class dressed as Santa, an elf or a reindeer.

Michael Rougier told KOB-TV his ninth-grade son, Christopher, arrived wearing a Santa hat and beard, and the teacher asked the boy: "Don't you know Santa Clause is white? Why are you wearing that?"

Joementum posted:

A school in Albuquerque told students that they could come in dressed up as Santa, an elf, or a reindeer. Obviously, the War on Christmas is in full swing. Inevitably, someone had a problem with this display of holiday Christmas cheer.


Good call! The black children should obviously only be allowed to dress up as Santa's factory workers or as the animals pulling his sleigh.

Joementum posted:

A school in Albuquerque told students that they could come in dressed up as Santa, an elf, or a reindeer. Obviously, the War on Christmas is in full swing. Inevitably, someone had a problem with this display of holiday Christmas cheer.


Good call! The black children should obviously only be allowed to dress up as Santa's factory workers or as the animals pulling his sleigh.

HJE-Cobra posted:

Here's some hard-hitting journalism from well-known news source Kotaku. Seems a Florida Tea Party facebook page posted on their wall an image from the game Bioshock Infinite!

http://kotaku.com/tea-party-facebook-group-posts-bioshock-image-satirizin-1483821325

It says "It is our holy duty to guard against the foreign hordes" on it, and is a liiiitle crazy and racist. I mean, that was the point of the image in Bioshock Infinite, but that some Florida Tea Party group posts it on their Facebook wall unironically?

(One of the "foreign hordes" in the image is a Native American, hah)

HJE-Cobra posted:

Here's some hard-hitting journalism from well-known news source Kotaku. Seems a Florida Tea Party facebook page posted on their wall an image from the game Bioshock Infinite!

http://kotaku.com/tea-party-facebook-group-posts-bioshock-image-satirizin-1483821325

It says "It is our holy duty to guard against the foreign hordes" on it, and is a liiiitle crazy and racist. I mean, that was the point of the image in Bioshock Infinite, but that some Florida Tea Party group posts it on their Facebook wall unironically?

(One of the "foreign hordes" in the image is a Native American, hah)

joeburz posted:

I don't know if that was written too well or too poorly, it was just awful to read.

Joementum posted:

quote:

Some of the passages in the “Evangelii Gaudium” attracted the criticism of ultraconservatives in the USA. As a Pope, what does it feel like to be called a “Marxist”?

Pope Francis posted:

“The Marxist ideology is wrong. But I have met many Marxists in my life who are good people, so I don’t feel offended.”

The most striking part of the Exhortation was where it refers to an economy that “kills”…

Pope Francis posted:

“There is nothing in the Exhortation that cannot be found in the social Doctrine of the Church. I wasn’t speaking from a technical point of view, what I was trying to do was to give a picture of what is going on. The only specific quote I used was the one regarding the “trickle-down theories” which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and social inclusiveness in the world. The promise was that when the glass was full, it would overflow, benefitting the poor. But what happens instead, is that when the glass is full, it magically gets bigger nothing ever comes out for the poor. This was the only reference to a specific theory. I was not, I repeat, speaking from a technical point of view but according to the Church’s social doctrine. This does not mean being a Marxist.”

Joementum posted:

Neal Boortz has the quintessential Smart Take on this whole business about Santa being white, "I’m gonna scream and complain because Martin Luther King is always portrayed as black!"

joeburz posted:

Was the joke supposed to be so good that you don't even finish reading it?

Joementum posted:

The annual Salon takedown of Freidman is worth a read.

Radish posted:

I wonder when they'll post this one.

kik2dagroin posted:

Rush starts off today going off on the Pope. Specifically he was responding to mainstream news sources trolling him by pointing out that he got the ball rolling on right-wingers openly calling the Pope a Marxist.


The most striking part of the Exhortation was where it refers to an economy that “kills”…

FlamingLiberal posted:

The 'lightbulbs are illegal' talking point is still a thing?

SedanChair posted:

Ahaha Francis is master of trolls. "Marxism is wrong. But I've known a ton of Marxists who are good people!"

Joementum posted:

Neal Boortz has the quintessential Smart Take on this whole business about Santa being white, "I’m gonna scream and complain because Martin Luther King is always portrayed as black!"

McDowell posted:

Vince Foster and Whitewater still come up now and then so yeah.

Radish posted:

I wonder when they'll post this one.

mr. mephistopheles posted:

I thought this idiot retired. I feel lied to.

zoux posted:

Dan Patrick's first bill as a senator was to emblazon "In God We Trust" above the rostrum in the Senate Chamber.

Are you aware that's not his real name and also his job is as a right wing local radio talkshow host in Houston?

ReindeerF posted:

This is from the GOP thread, but it's a chance to mention Michael Berry because Dan Patrick is just another boring milquetoast old man conservative:
Yeah, okay, so that's about Dan Patrick, but Michael Berry is funnier. I'm sure some here are familiar, but if not I'll just drop this link for general bio:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Berry_(radio_host)

Wait, what's that thing at the bottom?

http://houston.culturemap.com/news/...er-bashed-gays/

http://www.texasobserver.org/homophobic-radio-host-busted-at-gay-bar/

O RLY

quote:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/15/health/policy/health-care-mandate-was-first-backed-by-conservatives.html?_r=0

To combat President Clinton’s proposal, a large group of Republican senators, including the minority leader at the time, Bob Dole, and several who are still in office, proposed a bill that would have required individuals, and not employers, to buy insurance.

joeburz posted:

Was the joke supposed to be so good that you don't even finish reading it?

skaboomizzy posted:

There are a lot of interesting arguments being made about Thomas Friedman and his columns. I can't make a decision yet on how I feel about his writing, though. I think his next six months of columns will be vital toward making this decision.

Eponymouse posted:

I've never heard of Thomas Friedman, so I looked him up and according to his Wikipedia he is a supporter of "radical centrism". Isn't that a contradiction in terms?

FMguru posted:

Zeroisanumber posted:

I've kind of given up on Salon, mostly because their sensationalism aggravates that nattering little Minnesotan in my head who thinks that everyone should Just Stick To The Facts, k thx. But every year they put that hack Tom Friedman on their Hack List, and every year I enjoy reading the head kicking they give him.

Eponymouse posted:

So to my understanding, radical centrists are the kind of milquetoast libertarians who nod thoughtfully at TED talks.