@kozmic I was married to an elementary school teacher for 16 years and, yes, teaching to a test was always an issue. However, she was so good that she could pretty much do the job as she saw. Growing up, in Iran, she was encouraged to question and became an atheist from the time she could reason. However, her marriage was difficult and that became her central focus. Her kids were brought up with no religion but 2 became S. Baptists and she always wondered where she went wrong. She realized critical thinking actually has to be taught and encouraged. I was brought up Catholic but we kids, all 7 of us, did pretty much as we wanted. Critical Thinking did not come into play until much later. We constantly hear 'think outside the box' except when it comes to questioning social norms. I often get pushback when I say things people don't want or are not used to hearing. True, critical thinking is hard for all of us.

agreed, tho please don't take that as me agreeing with or liking anything Trump has done.
all the shit in the news every day, that's a side show, while we focus on that trump is carefully and deliberately striping away rights and freedoms, gathering more power in his own corporations and generally doing whatever it is he wants. the people are too focused on the stupid things he says and he is quite happy to let them/us
I am not saying that the Donald is likely to be a very intelligent man, he is an egotist and a narcissist, both conditions make it difficult to also be or at least seem intelligent.
the Trump team have some very smart people making things happen behind the scenes, he is playing to his base and distracting the opposition with crass attacks on the media etc, all the while he is actually accomplishing his goals
would not surprise me to learn that an intern taped the Toilet Paper to the bottom of his shoe for that walk op the stairs of Air Force One, that TP got 5 min on the 5:30 news, 5 min on the 6 o'clock news, and almost 10min on the 10 o'clock news, what important news issues got 0.00 air time so we could all laugh at Donald with TP on his shoe

@TiernanMcCann Oh please - Trump is responsible for this booming economy - America is respected around the world again - thanks to Trump!

@TiernanMcCann I don't think that necessarily makes him smart, it just makes him someone without a conscience. Others could easily think to pull this kind of crap. They just have empathy and a conscience, so they don't.

@CommonHuman Trump is a genius, the smartest and most eloquent president this country has ever had. All Americans should be grateful to Trump!

@gater Think again sunshine. Any stand up here only has to say the word "Trump" to get a laugh. I mean it. That man has turned your country into a fucking joke. Of course you won't believe me because I recon your with the 80% of Americans that don't own a passport or could not find North Korea on a map if your life depended on it.
Step outside your comfort zone and smell the coffee. Look at all the protests that accompanied his visit here.

@gater "Trump is a genius, the smartest and most eloquent president this country has ever had. All Americans should be grateful to Trump!"
Yeah sure hes right up there with Lincoln and FDR.

@273kelvin Your comments are a joke

@gater Do you own a passport? Can you point to N Korea on this map without googling it? If the answer is no to both then the jokes on you.

@gater ROFL respected around the world again, maybe in Russia or North Korea but the rest of the free world does not respect trump certainly not Canadians lol

Men have been stupid forever? Yet you are open to meeting men? Is that a disconnect?

@dare2dream it was a joke
..

@Cutiebeauty Some jokes are offensive. Yes?
How about, " Women have been stupid forever lol". Women would take offense.

@dare2dream ok .... A sensitive man... My apologizes ... But only some women not all .. Yes?

@Cutiebeauty You're right. Only some women. Sorry for being too sensitive. I wanted to make my point. Perhaps I pushed it too far.

@dare2dream don't worry about..

@dare2dream It has always been ok to jest at the expense of those with power. Thus the jester could make fun of a king. The reverse is not true, it is not ok for those with power to make fun of those without their advantages. It is in poor taste for a variety of reasons.

@CommonHuman You can make excuses for making broad scale, derogatory stereotypical assumptions if you want. Only you can stop you.

That burns. Especially when he pees.

@PolyWolf one can only hope it does!

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@PalacinkyPDX concentrate on this image: you're standing in a line. the line is moving well. you get to the head and you're at a table. you're handed a ballot. you go into a booth. you vote dem up and down the ticket. the lady at the table hands you an "i voted" sticker. ahhhh, it feels good!

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@PalacinkyPDX i sent my absentee ballot in a week ago )

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