What is Digg?159 Comments
- scoot87, on 10/12/2007, -6/+114What ever happened to common sense and logical thinking?
- whiskeymb, on 10/12/2007, -2/+108everybody, the school board backed down and let him back in:
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4234363 - ghm101, on 10/12/2007, -10/+61My guess is, the principle hates this guy personally and is looking for any excuse to shaft him.
- jayhawk, on 10/12/2007, -4/+52But, the U.N. flag is not a violation of the law because the U.N. is not a foreign country; rather, it's an organization we host and belong to. That flag didn't get him into trouble.
- The_Wallbanger, on 10/12/2007, -7/+49@ Saintlick:
Geography is more than just the study of maps, populations, and social culture. The UN is relevant in that it shapes the relationships between the world's nations, for good or for bad. It is very much a part of geography and should be included in class studies. - Godnos, on 10/12/2007, -31/+71only in America, could ***** like this happen,the land of the freely restrained
- Koosebane, on 10/12/2007, -10/+49Only on the Internet would anyone take an isolated, resolved incident and try to make it reflect on an entire country.
- matus, on 10/12/2007, -14/+52@mrfoos
Your analogy is irrelevant to the case. -1. - lnf69, on 10/12/2007, -9/+41Can you say "Xenophobia"? What's the big deal what flags are shown? What are we so afraid of?
- nocountries, on 10/12/2007, -9/+39The maximum sentence is six months' jail!!!
(source: http://www.gustafsonlaw.com/Crim-Sent-Sentencing.htm#Sentencing-5)
so - in the last two weeks we've had:
an Algerian released after 5 years detention without trial
a farmer arrested for displaying US flag upside down
a boy arrested for holding a "***** BUSH" poster
a guy arrested in an airport for wearing a T-shirt with arabic script,
and now a Geography teacher suspended for showing the Mexican flag!
I'd be worried, cuz when they have taken away all your rights, you'll be working as hard as the Chinese - for the same pay! - gothsquirrel, on 10/12/2007, -7/+31"District officials said state law forbids the display of foreign flags unless they are temporary and related to the curriculum." Either that district official is lying to save his ass or I'm going to have to ask "What ***** put that into a law?" This is the kind of law ruining our country. What purpose is there for a law like this ?
- MalDON, on 10/12/2007, -8/+29What the *****, we have a bunch of flags in almost all the classes here. Whats wrong with people these days, is it wrong to learn about other countries. I feel that America needs to be more open minded and not have the mindset that all other countries are bad.
- musters, on 10/12/2007, -9/+26if I was the teacher, I wouldn't care for this very simple reason.
"Paid Leave".
Sounds like free vacation. - Desolite, on 10/12/2007, -9/+24Yes, lets instigate by putting flags up. Surely i can piss off my boss with flags. /sarcasm
i highly doubt it was done to instigate. - TheBarge, on 10/12/2007, -22/+37Huh? Yeah, right, only in America would this happen. Ummmmm... do you think they have US flags hanging in classrooms in China? Iran? North Korea? They may have those flags in their classrooms, just before lighting them on fire.
- fredrated, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17"and whatever Hindus (I apologize for not knowing other religions symbols)"
Some Hindus and Buddhists use the swastika. Wouldn't that look nifty on the classroom wall? - Hungryhaney, on 10/12/2007, -10/+24MrFoos - if we let the cross be displayed, then wouldn't we have to also put the star of David, the orthodox cross, a Buddha statue and whatever Hindus (I apologize for not knowing other religions symbols), Scientologists and other religions believe in? What if a new religion came and asked to paint the walls red with the blood of baby fetuses?
You either allow them all or you allow none. This is not Christian bashing, this is just trying to keep equality. This nation was founded on this principal, among others. - blahblah, on 10/12/2007, -17/+31The fear is that if the children grow up realizing there are other countries in the world, they have a smaller chance of becoming republicans.
- ExCornelius, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16The issue here is how ***** up the education/political situation is, and how many laws are passed every day that no one knows about. It's no surprise that a bureaucrat at a welfare school would use this law in petty ways.
The First Amendment says the government can't use its police power to stop you from voicing your opinion; this is not the issue here. This case involves whether the state can restrict what can be stuck onto its buildings (which they want you to think of as "public"). As for the employment-contract issue, I imagine the flag thing is not specified. - mecole21, on 10/12/2007, -6/+18It's a geography class... shouldn't that have stuff from around the world on the walls...
That's like saying a math teach has to take down they're pi poster that wraps around the ceiling or the english teacher to take down pictures of book covers... and doesnt like every male teacher has sports posters on their walls? wow, this is insane... - asurroca, on 10/12/2007, -12/+24Wow, that's pretty nuts. Somehow, its like a microcosm of our foreign policy, though...
- stonebear, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13It's true. Selective enforcement of policy is an important management tool/weapon.
- sebnukem, on 10/12/2007, -12/+23The US is one ***** up country. I think you can all thank your beloved President for that.
Isn't it ironical that Americans have to celebrate their freedom on the 4th of July with fireworks and booze by hiding from the cops? - RyeBrye, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14That's funny, because in Utah the "in thing" is to have as many obscure country flags plastered in as many places as you possibly can. I don't know who started the "fashion trend" for schools - but even the local colleges are in on it.
- lordmetroid, on 10/12/2007, -10/+20How about doing a better job then what you get paid for? Is that a violation to your work ethics?
- TheBarge, on 10/12/2007, -10/+20@nbhagwat
"Are you planning to follow the examples of Iran, China and N. Korea in the US?? Good you told me. I better find me a country to move to."
What the hell are you talking about? The original commentor said "only in America," so I pointed out other countries. Learn to read. My comment in no way says the US is "planning to follow the examples of Iran, China and N. Korea." - danielwsmithee, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12I live in Colorado so I will fill you guys in. This case does go back to last year. Now that school is starting up again the bickering has begun all over again. My understanding is that originally last year his classroom contained two flags the Mexican Flag, and the U.S. displayed in equal prominence to each other. This was done because his classes had a large Mexican population. As you can guess the media had a hay day because "this is America, not Mexico". It sounds like now he has rearranged his class in a way to leave up the Mexican flag. Personally I am fine with that. It seams a little odd that the only flags up are American, UN, Mexico & China. Where are the rest? If it were my geography class room I would have many flags of many countries not just three.
So in short this is a political game the teacher, principle, press & parents are all playing. - ExCornelius, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14And he's a Democrat. More evidence that all politicians suck.
- cyberdork, on 10/12/2007, -5/+15That's BS. This happens in many countries....
... however, what pisses me off is that this is happening in a country which constantly claims to be the freest in the world which is certainly and OBVIOUSLY not true. I'd like to invite all those Americans who continue believing it to visit Europe.
But who knows, maybe they will think that having to pay for social welfare programs restricts your freedom more than letting children learn about other countries than their own... - NSMike, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12When will people in other countries realize that one moronic administrator in one school district in one township in one county in one state is not representative of all 300 million people that make up the US population?
- halleyscomet, on 10/12/2007, -7/+16@mrfoos
If the display of the cross was actually relevant to the topic being taught, then yes, I would have no problems with it being displayed.
However, I don't think you're talking about displaying the cross in, for example, a comparative religions humanities course, or a history course while covering the Reformation.
I suspect you want to slap it on the front door. That kind of a display would be inappropriate, as it would constitute an endorsement of Christianity by the school.
On a side note, I really hate using the cross as a symbol of Christianity. It's a 2,000+ year old execution device, and while it symbolizes the moment of sacrifice, it also represents the moment when all of Christ's followers believed themselves defeated.
To make it an even worse symbol, it does NOTHING to portray the resurrection. It focuses on the death, but bypasses Christ's return form the dead. The fact that he came back from the dead is what proves he's the Messiah, and if he hadn't come back then he would have been just another crackpot who was executed.
I much prefer the fish as a symbol. It references Jesus' call to become "Fishers of Men," and was in use by Christians a few hundred years before the cross became popular. It was the secret symbol used by Christians trying to keep from being detected and thus being executed. It thus embodies the private nature of Faith, and the fact that it's impact upon our hearts is far more important than whatever posturing we do in public. - TheBarge, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13Please do not assume that this happens in ALL classes. When I was in elementary school (yes in the US) we had many different flags from different countries hanging around the classroom. Blame Colorado or the school district, not the US.
- jeremytai, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12One word - idiot. Former state Rep. Carl Miller is a complete and utter idiot for sponsoring the legislation. The people that voted for him are also questionable. Sounds like something from the Third Reich.
- MioTheGreat, on 10/12/2007, -9/+17So I guess they should start cutting the flags out of the textbooks, and handing them out 'temporarily' for when they're only learning about that country?
- mage1129, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13The First Amendement loses a lot of its power once it enters school grounds, this is why they can ask offensive t-shirts to be removed.
- buglord, on 10/12/2007, -11/+19@Koosebane
It does reflect very badly on the US because
- This happened in a school, which is the last place repressional politics should be practiced. Your bright future is learning that foreign flags are bad, mmmkay?
- This is one incident of several which show the increasingly repressional culture in the US - swordedge, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Our education system has been hijacked by morons!
- whiskeymb, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10please note that the school officials backed down and have let him back:
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4234363 - Otto, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Actually, this law (not "rule"), seemingly started out because "a student painted a mural of a panther flanked by U.S. and Mexican flags in a hallway at Delta High School" and some of the state representatives didn't like it, and thus passed a law to prevent it in an extremely broad way.
See last half of the article here: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4234363 - halleyscomet, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11@thatguy25
Considering the fact that he's a GEOGRAPHY teacher, then I'd say displaying the flags of other nations WOULD be relevant to the course.
Now, if a MATH teacher was displaying the Chinese flag in his or her office, yet has no Chinese ancestry or cultural connections to China, then I would wonder what the heck was going on.
And before you balk about my exception for cultural or ancestral connections, how many of you would balk at someone of Irish descent making a big deal of St Patrick's day, or having an Irish flag in their classroom? I'm not asking you to agree with me, just hoping for consistency.
My Chemistry teacher in High School was a Chinese immigrant. She had a small Chinese flag near her desk, and no one had any issues with it. - Koosebane, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I agee with you one hundred percent.
But remember....that's not nearly as exciting as being a rebel and refusing to conform to whatever THE MAN wants you to do.
Acting in a reasonable manner is boring, keeps you out of the news, and prevents activists from condemning large groups of people who had nothing to do with the original problem.....or whatever other random unrelated problem they care to list. - kgool, on 10/12/2007, -10/+16Or even First Amendment Rights. Seriously, it sounds like the guy was trying to push it, he had been warned a few times, but did nothing. I do not necessarily agree with the law, but with all instances of the Mexican flag being flown above the US flag last year;as the articles states, schools are being overcautios.
- theckhd, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9@ mrfoos
Except we have this thing called "separation of church and state" that's keeps us from putting religious symbols into classrooms unless they're relevant to the topic of discussion. And I fail to see how crosses, stars of david, or crescents as religious symbols are directly relevant to a lesson on latitude and longitude.
However we have no such "separation of geography and state." So while the flags displayed may not be directly relevant to a lesson on latitude and longitude, one hardly has trouble justifying their presence in a classroom where students learn about continents, countries, and the like. - videocrew, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@bonked
***** does not mean "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge"
According to alt.english.usage:
[*****] is a very old word, recorded in English since the 15th century (few acronyms predate the 20th century), with cognates in other Germanic languages. The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang (Random House, 1994, ISBN 0-394-54427-7) cites Middle Dutch fokken = "to thrust, copulate with"; Norwegian dialect fukka = "to copulate"; and Swedish dialect focka = "to strike, push, copulate" and fock = "penis". Although German ficken may enter the picture somehow, it is problematic in having e-grade, or umlaut, where all the others have o-grade or zero-grade of the vowel.
It goes on from there... but your definition is nonsense. - domusvita, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Doubt anyone will make it down this far...but I think this is the critical sentence:
"[Cindy Stevenson] said Hamlin could have complied with the principal's request and then followed policies that allow him to appeal."
I mean, yeah, the law is kind of dumb and whatnot but why be a "if I take these flags down then the terrorists have won" type of jerk?
Just take the flags down, appeal, figure out what the deal is and get it fixed. - Wavey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5That's correct. Your reasons for doing something like this may be perfectly logical and noble -- but defying the law and bucking your bosses is just going to get you in trouble. On the other hand, now he has the media on his side, and he's raised awareness of it, so that might have been what he was shooting for all along.
- Koosebane, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Hey, nocountries....if you can't finish a conversation that's already started earlier in the thread, you probably shouldn't start trolling people further down.
It just makes you appear spiteful and inadequate.
Add whatever you'd like to your list and I'll tear it apart for you....especially if it's more of the same shallow crap you've been using to condemn everyone in the USA.
And as far as being afraid of a certain word? Go ***** yourself.
I believe that clears up one of your little issues quite easily and without a whole lot of fuss. - carpespasm, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8well lets be glad you're not a teacher then, since if he'd simply walked off going "i should hang flags in there more often, paid leave rocks!" then he'd not be someone i want to learn from
- whiterocker, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9Better the pride that resides,
In a citizen of the world,
Than the pride that divides,
When a colorful rag is unfurled. - videocrew, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I live in Georgia (there's a couple Republicans here...) and my high school had a flag for each country from which we had a student hanging in the lobby. My middle school had the same thing, but in the cafeteria. This isn't some broad overarching xenophobic agenda, just a handful of idiots making a lot of noise.
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