Site Search:
 
Get TEFL Certified & Start Your Adventure Today!
Teach English Abroad and Get Paid to see the World!
Job Discussion Forums Forum Index Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

3rd debate
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Discussion
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
poro



Joined: 04 Oct 2004
Posts: 274

PostPosted: Sat Oct 16, 2004 5:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

2 over lee wrote:
GWB was born in Connecticut. Some way from Texas, right?


Absolutely correct Lee, he was born in Connecticut, which is a very long way from Texas.

I am still wondering how he managed to get into the Ivy League after he was turned down by the Texas Law School.

Ideas, anyone?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
AsiaTraveller



Joined: 24 May 2004
Posts: 908
Location: Singapore, Mumbai, Penang, Denpasar, Berkeley

PostPosted: Sat Oct 16, 2004 6:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

poro,

The Ivy League colleges have always had Affirmative Action when admitting children of alumni. Some of those children (despite their low scores and grades) receive preferential treatment over others who might be better qualified but, unfortunately, have non-alumni parents.

Actually, many colleges in the U.S. (public as well as private) have such preferential admissions treatment for children of alumni. And chances for admission increase even more in direct proportion to the amount of money such alumni have donated to the college.

I'm sure you won't believe the following: The U.S. government takes the same approach.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
poro



Joined: 04 Oct 2004
Posts: 274

PostPosted: Sat Oct 16, 2004 6:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

AsiaTraveller wrote:
poro,

The Ivy League colleges have always had Affirmative Action when admitting children of alumni. Some of those children (despite their low scores and grades) receive preferential treatment over others who might be better qualified but, unfortunately, have non-alumni parents.

Actually, many colleges in the U.S. (public as well as private) have such preferential admissions treatment for children of alumni. And chances for admission increase even more in direct proportion to the amount of money such alumni have donated to the college.


Thanks for the explanation, AT. I didn't know this, but the way you explain it makes sense.

Quote:
I'm sure you won't believe the following: The U.S. government takes the same approach.


Yes, I do believe it, and I'm sure it applies for the government as much as it does for the administration.

The cost of election in the USA is so high, that a very big majority of politicians are completely dependent on donations. Not only in America, of course, but it is the most extreme example I know of.

One hesitates to say outright that recipient politicians are captive to the interests of their benefactors, but I do struggle to find one who is prepared to go against them.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
moonraven



Joined: 24 Mar 2004
Posts: 3094

PostPosted: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, Bush's father was an alumnus of Yale--and therefore he got in. As to Harvard Law, his dad again pulled strings.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
poro



Joined: 04 Oct 2004
Posts: 274

PostPosted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 11:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

moonraven wrote:
Yes, Bush's father was an alumnus of Yale--and therefore he got in. As to Harvard Law, his dad again pulled strings.


Harvard Law? - wasn't it Harvard Business School, and didn't he get an MBA there?

I wasn't aware Bush had a law degree Question
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
moonraven



Joined: 24 Mar 2004
Posts: 3094

PostPosted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 3:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry about that. It was Harvard Business. But really irrelevant when we are talking about a man who can not even read or write.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
moonraven



Joined: 24 Mar 2004
Posts: 3094

PostPosted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 5:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This bird is not the daft twerp. The daft ILLITERATE twerp is Bush. A man who could not read MY PET GOAT and who cannot read a newspaper is, by all standards, clearly illiterate. We are not talking dyslexia here, as dyslexic people CAN read.

Last edited by moonraven on Sun Oct 17, 2004 5:39 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
moonraven



Joined: 24 Mar 2004
Posts: 3094

PostPosted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 5:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Precisely. That's why he is so likely to be elected.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
poro



Joined: 04 Oct 2004
Posts: 274

PostPosted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 6:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Robert Lubeck wrote:

Fairly recent research cited by Yojana Sharma, "Vast underclass in literacy ghetto", The Times Educational Supplement, February 11, 2000, p.16) indicates that "writing a love letter or reading a story to a child" are skills that "are beyond the capability of nearly a quarter of the inhabitants of the world's richest countries". An astonishing 22% of the population in England and Wales is "functionally illiterate" although functional illiteracy "appears to be highest in the United States and Canada". "It is not necessarily confined to recent immigrants" the report notes.

In this sense at least, Bush really is 'one of the people'.


Robert, leaving Bush out of this for the moment - because of course he is not illiterate, despite what some may say of him - one of the features of "Anglo" education is the very large gap between top and bottom performers in very basic abilities, such as literacy and numeracy.

Such a gap should not be allowed to persist, imo, and one hopes that serious attempts will be made to remedy it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
moonraven



Joined: 24 Mar 2004
Posts: 3094

PostPosted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 11:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

All evidence points to his being illiterate, so what evidence do you have that he isn't?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
extoere



Joined: 23 Feb 2004
Posts: 543

PostPosted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 11:57 pm    Post subject: 3RD Debate Reply with quote

LoonRavin': Evidence that Bush knows both how to read and write can be found in his new bestseller, "Great White House Recipes." On page 69, under "Other Uses For A Pet Goat," Bush writes of his favorite recipe for Mexican Stew: "First, vote Republican. Second, steal a goat ...."

cheers,
ex
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
moonraven



Joined: 24 Mar 2004
Posts: 3094

PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 12:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You must have a LOT of time on your hands these days....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
extoere



Joined: 23 Feb 2004
Posts: 543

PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 12:53 am    Post subject: 3rd Debate Reply with quote

No, not nearly enough time to do everyone .. er, everything I want.
But for you, Loon, I'm like a fly to a warm steaming cone of horse turds!
And, unlike your other little afternoon divertissements, the ones with me are free!

My Time Is Yours,
ex
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
distiller



Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 249

PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 1:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Now I think it is a bit over the top to say that Bush is illiterate but there is plenty of evidence to suggest that he does not choose to read very much. He and his aids have explicitly stated on several occasions that he does not read much of the newspapers other than the sports section. This is splitting hairs a bit, but if the point is this is not a highly curious independently thinking intellectual president than I don' t think that most people would argue against that.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
moonraven



Joined: 24 Mar 2004
Posts: 3094

PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 1:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fortunately, my time is purely my own.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Discussion All times are GMT
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Page 2 of 4

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group

Teaching Jobs in China
Teaching Jobs in China