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wow Offline OP
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Ah-HAH
Makes SENSE to me ! You see? Miracles never cease.
Thanks
wow


#19437 02/24/01 07:01 PM
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journeyman
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the implementation of school prayer

When I was in high school (Toronto, Canada), after the anthem we had a minute of silence, which could be filled with whatever thoughts or prayers you wanted to have. Not a bad solution, I thought, and religion could be saved for an elective credit course. It eliminated conflict, without removing the practice of beliefs.

I can still remember in elementary school, grade four, when a boy had to sit out in the hall every morning when our teacher read from the bible. His mother didn't want him listening to it, and apparently the teacher insisted on continuing to read. I always felt bad about this boy, stuck in the middle of the argument. Kids shouldn't have to put up with that.


Ali

#19438 02/25/01 04:11 AM
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What a good idea, that minute of silence thing. That way, everybody could worship to his own god. I don't think people have anything against children praying. What had people up in arms is what god the children were made to pray to.


#19439 02/26/01 05:35 PM
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School prayer
When I was in elementary school, right after WWII, we started each morning with a Bible reading (nearly always from Psalms), the Lord's Prayer, and the Pledge of Allegiance. Nobody every paid any attention to the reading and the recitations of the LP and PA were totally mechanical once you learned the pledge (back in those days most children, or at least the ones I knew, already knew the Lord's Prayer by hear by age 3 at latest). This is why I am personally opposed to religious exercises in school -- it's hard to imagine very many students taking them seriously (maybe a few from very religious families) and I don't think it's a good thing to breed contempt for such things in the young. As to the Pledge, that was dropped after a suit was brought in the Supreme Court, and good thing.


#19440 02/26/01 07:39 PM
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wwh Offline
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I agree that attempts to inculcate piety and patriotism in the schools tend to be counterproductive. But sadly, they are not being taught at home either, and mocked in public.O tempora, O mores.


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This is definitely a non-word topic, but i ran across it as i was cleaning out some files today and thought some of you might enjoy it. i think it's one of the funniest things i've ever read:

This is an actual essay written by a college applicant to NYU. The
author was accepted and is now attending NYU.

3a. IN ORDER FOR THE ADMISSIONS STAFF OF OUR COLLEGE TO GET
TO KNOW YOU, THE APPLICANT, BETTER, WE ASK THAT YOU
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION:

ARE THERE ANY SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCES YOU HAVE HAD, OR
ACCOMPLISHMENTS YOU HAVE REALIZED, THAT HAVE HELPED TO
DEFINE YOU AS A PERSON?


I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I
have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making
them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic
slurs for urban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time
efficiently.

Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.

I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot
bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook
thirty-minute brownies in twenty minutes.

I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.

Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly
defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious
army ants.

I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of
numerous documentaries. When I'm bored, I build large suspension
bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hand gliding. On

Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of
charge.

I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie.

Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening
wear. I don't perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan
mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes.

Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force
demonstration. I bat 400.

My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international
botany circles. Children trust me.

I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly
accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield
in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that
evening.

I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I
have performed several covert operations with the CIA. I can sleep
once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation
in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who
had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.

I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On
weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami.
Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it
down.

I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a
toaster oven.

I breed prizewinning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan,
cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the
Kremlin.

I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have
spoken with Elvis.

But I have not yet gone to college.



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wwh Offline
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My compliments to Admissions at NYU.


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journeyman
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But I have not yet gone to college.

It reminds me of a history teacher I once had. On tests you would get zero for a wrong answer, but you could get a couple humor points if you manage to make the answer interesting.

Ali

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wwh Offline
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Dear Bridget96: I'll bet that "haven't been to college yet" could write a sensational resume after he graduated.


#19445 02/28/01 12:34 PM
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Yep, this is one of the few net things that are actually true!
http://urbanlegends.about.com/science/urbanlegends/library/blbyol3.htm?terms=trombone


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