Big Green: Portrait of a Big Green Activist Who Scares Your Kids

lego-earthBy Mark Hemingway

Of all the questionable lessons being [taught] American public schools students, the idea that Legos are destroying the planet might just be the most absurd.”Riding in the car one day with his parents in Tacoma, Wash., Rafael de la Torre Batker, 9, was worried about whether it would be bad for the planet if he got a new set of Legos,” according to the New York Times.

Where once we dispensed practical advice to children about consumerism like “waste not, want not,” today’s public schools too often teach kids that their new toys make them part of an apocalyptic death cult.

According to the Times, Young Rafael’s class had just watched “The Story of Stuff,” an animated anti-capitalist diatribe by former Greenpeace employee Annie Leonard. The program, which was financed in part by left-wing Tides Foundation, is widely used by teachers suffused with environmental dogma.

Read the rest at the Washington Examiner.

31 Responses to Big Green: Portrait of a Big Green Activist Who Scares Your Kids

  1. Rob N. Hood September 30, 2010 at 11:45 am #

    OMG ! And if that isn’t bad enough, get this: Tyler Durden (8 years old) from Kickapoo KY said just the other day that “math made [his] head hurt” and that “recess [was his] “favorite class” !! AND then there’s pretty little Sally Whittaker from Sale, Mass. who told her Mom last Tuesday around supper time that she wanted to start a recycling program IN THEIR OWN HOME!!!!! What is this world coming to???!!!

  2. paul wenum October 1, 2010 at 10:23 pm #

    Math made my head hurt and I loved recess! Life never changes does it. They are simply children with brains like a sponge. The problem is our educators instructing our children in other matters using their agenda other than language, math, science, biology et al. They should stay away from attempting to social engineer our children. That is the job of you and I as the Parent. That is a major problem in today’s society. A Village does not teach, parents do and unfortunately parents are too involved in other agenda’s than their children’s future. Sad, but true. When’s the last time you sat and read to your child? I did seven days a week and they were writing/reading at 4-5 years old. Takes discipline which most parents today don’t have based upon my observation. Let the government teach them etc. from cradle to grave? That is our primary problem.

  3. Rob N. Hood October 3, 2010 at 10:31 am #

    Cradle to grave, really? Bit of exaggeration there, no? Unless you are also referring to MSM propaganda, which is right-wing owned and operated by a factor of at least 90%, probably more like 95%. Social engineering is not a Left-wing operation. It is a corporate right-wing operation except for the historical leanings of teachers to the Left, which is the general result of higher education. Stuides show the more education the more Left of the dial. Does that mean that all education is leftist propaganda. No. It means an more discerning and logical mind is the result of more education. If education was truly a left-wing based entity, it would be non-existant except for the wealthy elite, just as it used to be in the bad old days.

  4. paul wenum October 4, 2010 at 8:44 pm #

    Just what is “The bad old days?” When in school I was taught reading, cursive writing, language, by the way,Russian/German etc. In my whole time in school a teacher never once brought up a political agenda. We were taught to think for ourselves and suffer the consequences for our actions or in-actions. That is what is missing in today’s society. Unfortunately it is “what’s in it for me.” Entitlement. There are exceptions such as my niece that worked three jobs to put herself through college and is now a registered nurse. She was taught from her parents the work ethic that if you work hard and have a vision it will eventually come. Not enough of those young one’s today. Hopefully things will change. If not we are in deep you know what.

  5. Rob N. Hood October 5, 2010 at 6:46 am #

    Talkin’ about when kings ruled and serfs drooled. It’s not always about you Paul.

  6. paul wenum October 5, 2010 at 9:53 pm #

    It’s not about me, it is about reality today that you will never in a thousand lifetimes acknowledge. No wonder we are in the situation economically we are in today. With people of your mind-set we are all doomed to fail. You do not know what failure is never having experienced it. Trust me, I have and it has made me as well as my family stronger in how we address reality. Just when, will the average person wake up? It is apparent that it is not you.

  7. Rob N. Hood October 6, 2010 at 9:10 am #

    This country, our empire, is no different from the rest that have existed throughout history. It is you and your ilk who don’t get it. The elite are sucking us dry while moving their tentacles onto the next victims. It has nothing to do with anything you post, they don’t care about any of it. All your ideals, and mine, are nothing to these people. They have no allegience to anything except money. And of that they never have enough. If anything they laugh at the little games we play and our tantrums- they laugh all the way to the bank as they say. BTW they are basically not Liberals or Conservatives. They are entities unto themselves (although more right-wing on average to be sure). They use whatever tool they can to further their riches.

  8. paul wenum October 6, 2010 at 10:17 pm #

    Boy, you are out of your league. I, and my staff personally chase people that you outline daily. Yes, there are crooks in this world, Petters, Hecker, come to mind. That said, I believe in working hard for a living to do the best financially for my family legally. If that means I invent something, which I haven’t and I makes millions, don’t chastise me for trying to be the best and making a profit off my hard work or others. That’s what this is about isn’t it? Envy by you to the highest degree!!! Get a patent on something and retire. Wish I could. Join the real world my friend.

  9. Rob N. Hood October 7, 2010 at 12:46 pm #

    Which party’s policies are more in keeping with our national values? Republicans suggest that excluding the wealthiest Americans from tax cuts reflects an unpatriotic and divisive effort to foment a class war.

    But hold on. There’s a fallacy there. Mr. Obama’s plan wouldn’t actually exclude the wealthiest Americans from tax cuts. It would cut billionaires’ taxes — but only for their first $250,000 in income.

    The richest 0.1 percent of Americans (who earn an average of $8.4 million) would get an average tax cut of more than $61,000 under Mr. Obama’s proposal, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Under the Republican proposal, they would get an average tax cut of more than $370,000, the center says.

    Thus, the Republican tax cut would lead to an even more gargantuan gap between rich and poor. As Warren Buffett has said: “There’s class warfare, all right. But it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”

  10. paul wenum October 7, 2010 at 6:52 pm #

    National values? Democrats entitlements? Getting things for free is a national value? What ever happened to earning it? Those days are slowing setting in the West. Feel sorry for my children and what is ahead for them. They have no clue nor do you.

  11. Rob N. Hood October 8, 2010 at 7:03 am #

    U have a clue? Have yet to see that.

    Corporations have First Amendment rights and are considered “people” by the courts. Even though this stemmed from a clerk’s erroneous notations on a railroad right of way court case in the 1890’s, the ruling has stuck. Most politicians don’t want to upset the applecart and risk losing any amount of the big corporate donations, perks and graft to dry up. This includes both major political parties in the U.S. And now thanks to our sick excuse for a Supreme Court the corporate giants can spend as much money as they want to further influence and already anti-democratic and perverse election process.

    Wake up.

  12. paul wenum October 8, 2010 at 9:43 pm #

    I am awake and I am a corporation. Does that make me evil?

  13. Rob N. Hood October 12, 2010 at 12:16 pm #

    Of course not. I differentiate between good/evil and large faceless multi-national (non-national) corporations. It is “they” or “it” that is evil.

    There are many Tea Partier guys who after WWII went to college on the G.I. Bill, got a great job,
    bought a house with an FHA loan, his kids got a college education with a student loan,
    drove to work on an Interstate Highway, is now on Social Security and Medicare and is
    now voting Republican to get the government off his back!!!

  14. paul wenum October 12, 2010 at 6:20 pm #

    I’m not a Vet, never received a student loan, (out of my pocket from working/saving) worked hard all my life and still do, drove country roads, now the interstate, not on social security or medicare. Yes, I want the government off our backs. Will retire when the word retirement is in the Bible. Haven’t found it yet.

  15. Rob N. Hood October 14, 2010 at 10:16 am #

    You’re perfect. Should clone yourself.

  16. paul wenum October 14, 2010 at 10:52 pm #

    No I’m not perfect nor is anyone on this site. I’m simply an American citizen just like you that’s states what I believe. After watching/Listening to Obama tonight my mind is made up on who I will vote for come November. Names unknown to you or others. That is a personal choice. Hope you vote as well. Only time will tell the outcome. Won’t it? Later.

  17. Rob N. Hood October 16, 2010 at 7:34 am #

    Lyndon LaRouche??

    Only the annointed will win- or a few spoilers, which in this case will hurt the Reeps more than the Deems this time around.

  18. paul wenum October 16, 2010 at 11:15 pm #

    Your choice. Vote is all that the public asks. People that chastise without conviction bore me.

  19. Rob N. Hood October 17, 2010 at 7:19 am #

    Sorry. Don’t mean to bore ya. I don’t have conviction? Really? I beg to differ. You just don’t like my convicitons thus choose to pretend the only convicitons that matter are the same old same old ones. Times, they need a changin’.

  20. paul wenum October 17, 2010 at 10:26 pm #

    They said that in 2008. Look what it got us.

  21. Rob N. Hood October 25, 2010 at 1:16 pm #

    Ya think BO could work miracles? In two years time no less??!! Hmmm… Now who’s simple-minded?

    Income disparity in the US is now as bad as it was right before the Great Depression at the end of the 1920s. From 1979 to 2006, the richest 1% more than doubled their share of the total US income, from 10% to 23%. The richest 1% have an average annual income of more than $1.3 million. For the last 25 years, over 90% of the total growth in income in the US went to the top 10% earners – leaving 9% of all income to be shared by the bottom 90%. Source: Jared Bernstein and Heidi Shierholz, State of Working America.

    In 1973, the average US CEO was paid $27 for every dollar paid to a typical worker; by 2007 that ratio had grown to $275 to $1. Source: Jared Bernstein and Heidi Shierholz, State of Working America.

    Since 1992, the average tax rate on the richest 400 taxpayers in the US dropped from 26.8% to 16.62%. Source: US Internal Revenue Service.

    The US has the greatest inequality between rich and poor among all Western industrialized nations and it has been getting worse for 40 years. The World Factbook, published by the CIA, includes an international ranking of the inequality among families inside of each country, called the Gini Index. The US ranking of 45 in 2007 is the same as Argentina, Cameroon, and Cote d’Ivorie. The highest inequality can be found in countries like Namibia, South Africa, Haiti and Guatemala. The US ranking of 45 compares poorly to Japan (38), India (36), New Zealand, UK (34), Greece (33), Spain (32), Canada (32), France (32), South Korea (31), Netherlands (30), Ireland (30), Australia (30), Germany (27), Norway (25), and Sweden (23). Source: CIA The World Factbook.

  22. paul wenum October 25, 2010 at 7:01 pm #

    I see the days of “earning an income” slowly vanishing in America. Let’s all be like France We will all be poor, but By God “we will all be equal” not having worked for an income, just a show up and collect a check society. France, by the way, is a beautiful country with wonderful people. Unfortunately they are now in a conundrum that has festered for years and unlike America, they are trying to mend their ways by dealing with the entitlement problem head on and it’s about time but as you know they are finding major resistance. If a person is used to getting paid for nothing or simply showing up and then the checks stop or you are told to work until your 62 after three generations you’d be ticked. They will change for the better. I feel sorry for my children in the following years as well as you and your family if things don’t change and continue in the current direction. Never thought I would see the day, but it is coming. Just when will people wake up? Unfortunately not in my lifetime, but I sincerely hope that I’m wrong. Hope you love bread. That’s what they seem to live on in France. Darn good bread too! A little cam cheese/wine will make your day. Hope America has some excellent bakers in line for the “Shovel Ready” jobs ahead.

  23. Rob N. Hood October 27, 2010 at 9:42 am #

    Wow… you forgot to mention the FACT that is it elite white collar corporate/finance/banking criminals that are CURRENTLY decimating the American dream and way of life. And have been for decades. NOT anything remotely leftist. Delusion, Paul is thy name.

  24. Rob N. Hood October 29, 2010 at 7:26 am #

    BTW I like bread. And wine too. Damn those Frenchies!! And so there’s this…

    Appearing in the latest edition of The Journal of Politics published by Cambridge University Press, the research focused on 2,000 subjects from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. By matching genetic information with maps of the subjects’ social networks, the researchers were able to show that people with a specific variant of the DRD4 gene were more likely to be liberal as adults, but only if they had an active social life in adolescence.

    Dopamine is a neurotransmitter affecting brain processes that control movement, emotional response, and ability to experience pleasure and pain. Previous research has identified a connection between a variant of this gene and novelty-seeking behavior, and this behavior has previously been associated with personality traits related to political liberalism.

    Lead researcher James H. Fowler of UC San Diego and his colleagues hypothesized that people with the novelty-seeking gene variant would be more interested in learning about their friends’ points of view. As a consequence, people with this genetic predisposition who have a greater-than-average number of friends would be exposed to a wider variety of social norms and lifestyles, which might make them more liberal than average. They reported that “it is the crucial interaction of two factors – the genetic predisposition and the environmental condition of having many friends in adolescence – that is associated with being more liberal.” The research team also showed that this held true independent of ethnicity, culture, sex or age.

  25. paul wenum October 29, 2010 at 7:28 pm #

    I read the same study. Written by liberals. Taken with a grain of salt, if that. They “Hypothesized.” Nice word. Kinda like that word actually. Better come up with something original.

  26. Rob N. Hood November 1, 2010 at 9:07 am #

    You poo poo EVERYTHING that is not a part of your internal programming – do you realize that? Where did that programming come from? Outside brain-washing or Genetics. THAT is the question I’d love an answer to. My own theory is the simplest- BOTH factor in. Which is what the study above tentatively asserts. It’s also simple logic. But could be wrong, that is why it is THEORY. What is it about that you don’t understand??

  27. paul wenum November 1, 2010 at 9:35 pm #

    What is it I don’t understand? It is you.

  28. Rob N. Hood November 3, 2010 at 6:47 am #

    Are you a Tea Partier by any chance? It’s dawning on me now that all you regulars here are… That would explain a lot.

  29. paul wenum November 3, 2010 at 6:36 pm #

    I’m an American. Very simple.

  30. paul wenum November 3, 2010 at 11:24 pm #

    By the way, it is all theory, no substance, assertions, et al. More holes than a mole digs. Let’s get back to reality. So I should be liberal if I had a Kennedy style social upbringing? Man, what “Grant” under the stimulus package did they receive???? You believe everything you read, do ya????? “Space Balls” here we come!

  31. Rob N. Hood November 4, 2010 at 6:50 am #

    Idiocy. Very simple indeed.

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