Beam me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 04/09/2008 9:37:25 AM PDT by 14erClimb
WASHINGTON — Talk about a civics lesson: A high-school senior has raised questions about political bias in a popular textbook on U.S. government, and legal scholars and top scientists say the teen's criticism is well-founded.
They say "American Government" by conservatives James Wilson and John Dilulio presents a skewed view of topics from global warming to separation of church and state. The publisher now says it will review the book, as will the College Board, which oversees college-level Advanced Placement courses used in high schools.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
An AP mindless robot.
Hey, this article is from the AP. They know all about bias:
“Hansen has sent Houghton Mifflin a letter stating that the book’s discussion on global warming contained “a large number of clearly erroneous statements” that give students “the mistaken impression that the scientific evidence of global warming is doubtful and uncertain.”
The edition of the textbook published in 2005, which is in high school classrooms now, states that “science doesn’t know whether we are experiencing a dangerous level of global warming or how bad the greenhouse effect is, if it exists at all.”
A newer edition published late last year was changed to say, “Science doesn’t know how bad the greenhouse effect is.”
The authors kept a phrase stating that global warming is “enmeshed in scientific uncertainty.”
While there are still some scientists who downplay global warming and the role of burning fossil fuels, the overwhelming majority of climate scientists and peer-reviewed scientific research say human activity is causing climate change. Last year an international collection of hundreds of scientists and government officials unanimously approved wording that said the scientific community had “very high confidence,” meaning more than 90 percent likelihood, that global warming is caused by humans.”
The Center for Inquiry was established in 1991 by philosopher and author Paul Kurtz. It brought together two organizations: the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal[1] (CSICOP) and the Council for Secular Humanism[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_Inquiry
“Jump off the cliff, all the cool kids are doing it.” - AssPress.
I like how the activist who founded the inquiry group was FOR secularism and FOR investigating the paranormal.
So Christians are superstious but let’s by all means look for all other sort of metaphysical explanations for the world around us.
ping
My comments did not concern that at all, in fact I agree with you.
My point was the kid is actually taking an interest, whether I agree with him or not is immaterial.
FOX shilling for the left again.
As a former social studies textbook editor, I can say this is astonishing in so many ways. First, it’s almost unbelievable that two conservative writers would be asked to undertake a project like this. Typically, the writers are - well - accomplished academic types that veer to the left. Second, the textbooks reflect their authorship and understandably lean left, as well. Rarely do conservative ideas make their way into a social studies textbook. (That’s because the books are written to satisfy state standards - not entirely their fault.) There is not much latitude there. So do we think publishers are going to get nailed now for their liberal bias? (Wait - don’t answer that..)
Considering the FACT that the earth has actually COOLED since the turn of the century, I'd say the 'evidence' of global warming IS doubtful and uncertain.
Good catch.
He said it with such a smirk on his face, I had to laugh.
Yeah, it's just you. ;)
BTW, my daughter and her best friend won 2nd place for their Science Fair project and now go on to the district level. Their project was about renewable energy and their conclusion read, in part:
Using crops can and does produce a certain amount of energy. But too much has to be used to make enough energy to be useful. Using too much food crops means wasting food.
The lemons and potatoes we have been using for this project can no longer be used to eat, but we are not going to be wasting them. When we are finished with the project we will put them in the compost pile. The compost will later be used as food for the garden for growing more crops, like the potatoes we used.
They're in 4th grade in a public school.
For just a brief, giddy moment I thought someone was actually publicly acknowledging the blatant liberal bias in textbooks.
i m a publik scewl teechur. I teach both English and history. My US government book is filled with liberal bs. It mentions “founders” not “founding fathers”, and it also refers to the Constitution as a “living document” and “an evolving document.” My senior English textbook has The Crucible in it, and the side notes want me to point out similarities between witch hunting and Joe McCarthy.
Believe me, there are more than a few demwitted students. One came in my classroom during the last election proclaiming Kerry should be president. I made him prove to the class Kerry’s qualifications for the job. Needless to say, he left at the end of the hour with a bit more knowlege. A couple weeks ago, same student met me in the hall and said while he wasn’t on the GOP bandwagon, he was at least a conservative Independent and considered McCain the less evil of the bunch. Not too bad, if I might say so myself.
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