Huh?

[swake]

Two different subjects:

1. Study

2. Social Engineering

I am commenting on the second not the first.  

It's sad that I have to be this clear.

Obama said anything about social engineering? Economic policy is social engineering?

So I'm guessing that in your world we should have just let the banking system collapse like we did under Hoover. We should have just grabbed that hot pot again because it seems like social engineering to you and is "creepy".

Brilliant.

Go play the stock market some more, okay Gasp?

[swake]

Not even close to Stern. Here is the latest, she hasn't taken the offer yet. The house she bought, she paid $172k cash.

http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/Will-Bristol-Palin-join-Arizonas-Mix-969-114574989.html

Wrong Palin

[dbacks fan]

Wrong Palin

Check my comments on the first page and you will see how it led to that.

[Gaspar]

Not even close to Stern. Here is the latest, she hasn't taken the offer yet. The house she bought, she paid $172k cash.

http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/Will-Bristol-Palin-join-Arizonas-Mix-969-114574989.html

Sounds like more of a DJ thing.  Good for her.  Perhaps she can secure the border while she's down there.

[Gaspar]

Go play the stock market some more, okay Gasp?

I am. 

[RecycleMichael]

I thought the Sputnik reference was also spot on.

It wasn't just to spend money trying to fly somebody up real high; it was a signal to American kids to try hard at math and science.

Every parent in the 60s wanted their child to work for NASA and to be an astronaut. As children we worked hard to learn as much as we could. We were in a race and the way to win was to study and work hard. America had a job for the best and the brightest.

Now parents just want is their kids to be the fastest and the biggest so they can succeed at sports. It is completely different.

"We need to teach our kids that it's not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair."

President Barack Obama

[Ed W]

I'm beginning to wonder if part of Sarah Palin's appeal comes from these word salad pieces that are without any coherent structure or apparent logic, yet hit all the right buzz words and provide a kind of verbal Rorschach test for her fans.  They find precisely that which they most want to find in her words.

That is beside the point, however, since the focus on that 'sputnik moment' is more about rising to a challenge and having the determination to overcome and excel.  Sputnik really did produce a reaction that pushed science in our schools and universities.  Many of our technological achievements came about due to the space race.  Our rockets didn't have the lift capability of the Soviet's, so we had to reduce weight and bulk.

It's disturbing to see the active distrust and dismissal of the sciences among some factions within our country.  We still face enormous challenges.  Our transportation is dependent on non-renewable fossil fuels, and we'll need something to replace them.  Our food supply is likewise dependent on those fossil fuels, not only for transport, but for the fertilizers that increase yields.  We need to develop new antibiotics as diseases evolve.  It's an endless chess game, where each move forces a counter-move.  The challenges will never stop, but is our will to overcome them just as relentless?

[guido911]

Here's something just freaking hilarious for you Palin bashers:

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/01/28/tracy-morgan-calls-palin-good-masturbation-material-network-apologizes/?intcmp=prn_baynote-js_Tracy_Morgan_Calls_Sarah_Palin_Good_Masturbation_Material_Network_Apologizes

[swake]

Here's something just freaking hilarious for you Palin bashers:

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/01/28/tracy-morgan-calls-palin-good-masturbation-material-network-apologizes/?intcmp=prn_baynote-js_Tracy_Morgan_Calls_Sarah_Palin_Good_Masturbation_Material_Network_Apologizes

Nice job here Guid, you can't defend her idiotic statement so you point over there at something else.

[guido911]

Nice job here Guid, you can't defend her idiotic statement so you point over there at something else.

I didn't think it was idiotic, in fact I agreed with her assessment. I also laughed my a$$ off with the "W-T-F" comment. Here is a take that I agree with as well.

http://bigpeace.com/pschweizer/2011/01/28/sarah-palin-schools-the-washington-post-on-history/

Now to this thread. Please please tell me what the left's obsession is with Private Citizen Palin. Are they afraid of her? Is it because she doesn't kiss Obama's backside? Is there any other public/private figure in this country who is critiqued/attacked as much and viciously as Palin? Sheesh, she posts something on Facebook and the left gets its panties all wadded up. It's freakin hilarious to watch.

One other thing. Right now the middle east is on the brink of total chaos, unemployment claims in this country rose dramatically last week, our government that pushed HCR is handing out waivers left and right, our nation's deficits are skyrocketing, we are at war in Afghanistan (despite Obama's idiotic statement that combat operations there have ended), and on and on. Perhaps talking about Palin is your way of not dealing with what really is important.

[RecycleMichael]

Is there any other public/private figure in this country who is critiqued/attacked as much and viciously as Palin?

Hillary Clinton?

[guido911]

Hillary Clinton?

You are kidding; right? I don't recall Hillary being blamed for the Tucson shootings. Also, the attacks by the left are not limited to Sarah Palin. Her kids have been attacked, her husband recently accused of having an affair, Bristol was just chased out of a speaking gig at Wash U, Trig is apparently not her son, and she had a reporter/stalker move in next door to her home and family.

[waterboy]

It's not the study that is creepy it's the concept of centralized planning.

and Watherboy, don't allege that it's necessary to live through history in order to comment on it.  I am no expert but I have been a very good student of history through that period.  

I made the remark that his analogy was targeted towards those who were around during the time or well informed about that time. Your remarks indicate that you are neither. No doubt you're a smart guy, but I'm betting your remarks are likely from a marketing class in the 90's and just a tad bit incomplete. I just tried to fill in some background.

And if there is no benefit from having lived through a period of time and reporting the firsthand memories, then what is the use of novels and historians? Why interview WWII vets when real history is apparently already figured out long ago?

The economy was booming after Apollo? I guess you mean the whole Apollo series. Yes, but to discount the space race as a key element is not accurate. There was a tremendous positive social and economic effect from the huge investment we made in NASA and the space race. It was reflected in style, art, entertainment, schooling, economics, engineering, science and a lot more. Once we cut funding due to another business cycle it came back to haunt us. I knew engineers who graduated in 1973 in a recession market who drove cabs and waited tables instead of the NASA jobs they had planned for.

[Ed W]

Please please tell me what the left's obsession is with Private Citizen Palin. Are they afraid of her?

The fascination, Guido, is much like watching a similar train wreck, Anna Nicole Smith.  It's fascinating in a bad horror movie sense.  We keep hoping it will get better, but it never does.  For my part, there's a mystery in why she's regarded as being possible presidential fodder when it's so obvious that she's not prepared, not qualified, and out of her depth even in the shallow end of the pool.

We simply cannot understand the adulation from her fans.  It really seems their judgment and critical reasoning are impaired when the subject is Citizen Palin.  That is simply incomprehensible.  

[guido911]

The fascination, Guido, is much like watching a similar train wreck, Anna Nicole Smith.  It's fascinating in a bad horror movie sense.  We keep hoping it will get better, but it never does.

Come on Ed. You (and Swake & RM) are three of the more reasonable debate adversaries I have in this forum. But do you really expect me to believe you hope she will get "better" as in a horror movie? If she is that bad, just ignore her.

As for Palin being qualified to be president? Is she a natural-born U.S. citizen, over the age of 35, and has lived in this country for more than 14 consecutive years? If so, she is qualified. Period. I am unaware of any other qualifications necessary for president. Are there any? Just as a note, I do not think she will be on any presidential ticket again. I think she really enjoys pissing folks like you off. As for being "prepared": How was she less prepared than Obama?

In this vein, what exactly in Obama's background indicated to you that he was "prepared" to be president? Was he a captain of industry, or a governor, or occupied any other position of leadership? No. He was a community organizer, state senator, and U.S. Senator for way less than 1 term. My resume, and perhaps yours, is far more impressive than Obama's.

Chris Christie nailed this point:

Finally, let's talk about your "train wreck" comment. Palin has millions of followers on Facebook, sold millions of books, sells out venues where she speaks, raises millions for Republican causes and candidates, and is perhaps the most polarizing and galvanizing political figure out there today. Seriously, she says "death panels" (whether you believe they will exist or not) twice, and legislation is either rewritten or deleted and Obama has to tamp down the phrase in a speech. Calling her a "train wreck" a la Anna Nicole Smith or having "comics" say they would like to rub one out looking at her image is nothing more than an attempt to marginalize, objectify, or otherwise denigrate and dehumanize a former female vice presidential candidate.

If you want to look at a "train wreck", turn your attention to that gaffe machine Joe Biden.