Monday, March 10, 2008

How dumb can a state be?

In a recent article, The New York Times reported that the lawmakers in the State of West Virginia, where I obtained my Ph. D., gave final approval to a bill that allows hunting education classes in all schools where at least 20 students express interest. My question is: How more stupid can you be? Whereas states such as California, where I live now and call my home, and ‘developing’ countries such as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) are investing in biotech, software, nanotechnology and other technologies that are shaping the 21st century, here is a stupid state investing in hunting education! This is akin to the Middle Eastern countries investing in education where almost 55% of the PhDs awarded are in Islamic studies! The modern world is being run by neither the 26 English alphabets nor the hundreds of Arabic or Chinese characters, but by ‘0’s and ‘1’s — it’s a cyber world.

West Virginia ranks among the bottom five of the 50 states in the U. S. in almost all categories — per-capita-education spending, healthcare, infrastructure spending, corporate tax incentives…And, here is a state that, for the first time in its history, voted for a Republican presidential candidate — George Dubya — in 2000. Why? Because Dubya in the last minute flew in NRA President Charleston Heston who convinced the dumb mountain dwellers that, if they voted for Al Gore, they would lose their rights to own guns and couldn’t hunt anymore! The result: West, by Gawd, Virginia is still stuck in the 20th century and, with its corrupt politicians, is emulating third-world countries. West Virginia is a beautiful state, but its politicians are making it ugly.

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