Aporia

Palestinian soccer and lemonade

2010-05-09T08:44:00.010-04:00

I love soccer enough to be watching my third live game today; to understand why Messi is considered, by some, to be the best; and, to recognize a few of the hunks featured in the June 2010 Vanity Fair. And being a 40-something American-born female, I ususally have no reason to root for any particular team besides loyalty to our U.S. teams, of men/boys and women/girls, when they compete

2010-03-16T13:04:00.001-04:00

bit via @AlfieKohn - Elem tchr gives slushies only to top 3 readers; next day, a mom brings in slushies for the whole class. Delicious ice-cold subversion!

2010-02-09T09:50:00.001-05:00

The 10 Bona Fide Best Sites for Sharpening Your Critical Thinking Skills

post-SoTU: will 2010 be oPOTUS's year of nothing?

2010-01-29T19:36:00.006-05:00

SoTU = State of the Union addressoPOTUS = Obama President of the United StatesWhat no one should forget is that many, perhaps most, who voted or supported Obama did so as a vote for change - and on that lexical point - the Nobel committee was right.While he got my vote, Obama was not was not my first choice but I didn't think that Hilary as candidate was winnable given her last name. Obama was

the writer's advice: Do Something of Your Own

2010-01-29T07:26:00.004-05:00

What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though. + Holden Caulfied in The Catcher in the Rye (1951) How reading one novel, changes a high school student; hear the now adult writer/director Jim Sadwith's

Trivia Convergence: a hero and kid's TV

2010-01-26T14:44:00.005-05:00

I covet a book. What else ihs new? But this time there's also some serendipity. National political figures that continue to feel special today - probably because their force and personality remind me of my mom - are Barbara Jordan and Shirley Chisholm. So I enjoyed hearing the "Tell Me More" episode where I learned of the 40th anniversary expanded edition of Shirley Chisholm's biography Unbought

labor, smears, fixes: why #HCR matters to me

2009-09-20T07:55:00.015-04:00

20090922: added embed of Paul Hipp's YouTube video.Listening to the on-going brouhaha over health care reform, I realize that I'm forced to admit that I'm more liberal than I think am. A meme I encountered on Facebook had a supporting role in forcing this realization. You see, I think of my political views as moderate to conservative since I do occasionally agree with the likes of Scalia; and I'm

2009-07-10T13:09:00.001-04:00

wondering what it says about me & my relationship to my tween that yesterday I was thrilled to realize (from browsing Make) that I could actually buy used pallets instead of scrounging or, worse yet, having to talk to store clerks

A quote for the day

2009-06-02T08:07:00.003-04:00

... Don't waste too much effort in searching for conspiracies. Most of the harm done in the world is out of stupidity, not by design. Be on the watch for skulduggery...but don't fall into the trap of thinking that every evil thing that occurs in the world in part of some diabolic master plan. The notion that whatever is wrong with the world can be blamed on somebody (never, of course, one's self)

a striking book cover, Femmes of Power: Exploding Queer Femininities

2009-03-19T10:31:00.005-04:00

Preparing to post some old photos on Facebook, I've had to re-trace forgotten moments, i.e., before having a child - back when we entertained and attended lectures. There were some photos from a reading or lecture by Joan Nestle, who I haven't thought of in ages. (See what parenthood does!) And that is what unblinking led to this seemingly innocous entry. via joannestle.blogspot.com More book

on thinking about citylife and graffiti

2009-03-03T15:59:00.005-05:00

originally posted to Prince of Petworth in response to "New Apartments At Georgia Ave. and New Hampshire Gets Tagged And I Get Intimidated By Street Thugs". Cities reflect its creators/developers first, then they are enhanced/redacted/molded by those of us who live in it AND choose to have a presence. And, the latter ain't easy whether regardless of color or place of origin. The exchanges above

K'Naan's post-concert ordeal in Sweden (w/a Lupe instrumental)

2009-02-27T13:49:00.004-05:00

K'Naan - Kicked Pushed

Re-post of the re-do of a Facebook mutation of a 2003 "BBC's Big List of Books They Think People Haven't Read"

2009-02-24T19:41:00.007-05:00

I first saw it on Facebook, courtesy of Jennifer Hoffman. But, I now am wiser and that know this is merely a reconstituted meme (thanks to The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent. ). I like to think of it as the next "25 Things" or "The three English words that end in -gry" riddle . Here's how it was presented to me: The BBC's Big List of Books They Think People Haven't Read Apparently

attempting to login: blip.fm

2009-02-13T12:55:00.003-05:00

strangeness galore...first, a brief flash-y on-screen progress indicator with the blip.fm color scheme, followed by this quasi-DOS visual assault: Happened twice.

books - where what & how

2008-06-04T14:41:00.006-04:00

Funny that today I should find Luc Sante's "The Book Collection That Devoured My Life" having just started a book purchased long ago but unpacked only last week - Nicholas Basbanes' A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books. What do we do with all those books...a questions not fully fathomed until you've moved into your beloved's family home (a row house in

Cities reflect its creators/developers...?

2008-04-03T11:05:00.003-04:00

Cities do not change over the centuries. They represent the aspirations of particular men and women to lead a common life; as a result their atmosphere, their tone, remain the same. Those people whose relations are founded principally upon commerce and upon the ferocious claims of domestic privacy will construct a city as dark and as ugly as London was. And is. Those people who wish to lead

Science (+ Math) vs. News: Who trumps whom?

2008-04-02T19:35:00.005-04:00

Topic: phthalate plasticisers.In the domain of things we wished didn't happen...aka, when bad things happen to good points of view. OK, that's a bit over the top. How about -- "There is no such thing as objectivity?" Regardless of the frame, over at the thestatsblog some poignant issues are being raised as to the merits of phthalate bans and PBS's failure to cover both sides of the matter.

Black Rabbi in Chicago crossing boundaries

2008-03-17T14:32:00.001-04:00

A-A authors who converted to Judaism: Julius Lester Carolivia Herron This NY Times article "Black Rabbi Reaches Out to Mainstream of His Faith" reminded me of my youthful days of reading Chaim Potok whose Hasidic depictions enraptured me. I grew up Southern Baptist and consented to being baptised, late as a teenager, merely to please my mother who wanted to have a place to bury me if I were to

Colt .45 in comics: sippin' and chillin'

2008-03-06T18:10:00.005-05:00

I rarely drink alcohol since personally it's not as yummy as orange soda or an IBC Root Beer. And, I have absolutely no idea what Colt .45 tastes like since I never ran in those circles. But, being an overly educated brown-skinned person who's only lived in urban areas, I know what it signifies to me: a cheap high more bang for your buck packed in a whopping 40 ounces. So it's amusing to read at

Nike celebrates a century of Converse shoes

2008-03-04T15:59:00.002-05:00

In college I was the proud owner of a pair of black leather "Chucks" -- and, I just realized that actually everyone in the family has a pair. So if you don't need to quibble over the actual birth day and the cheap marketing ploy, you can probably enjoy the photos @ Boston.com.

Inhabitat » VIDEO: Grow a Treehouse

2008-02-11T14:30:00.000-05:00

Just another nifty notion from people with way more time and brains than I in this "Grow a Treehouse with Terreform" video on Inhabitat.

Why I'm Thinking Obama Can

2008-02-08T09:43:00.000-05:00

If it was just about who I want, I'd vote for Hilary in a heartbeat even as I am cognizant of what happened the last time Bill got bored in the White House -- think back to 1995 & re-think Monica Lewisky as a presidential distraction because he had time on his hands because of Congress' government shutdown. But if the question is who I think can win, then I'm another vote now squarely behind

Classroom Incident Sparks First Amendment Debate - News Story - WISC Madison

2007-12-28T16:31:00.000-05:00

Of course, this wanna-be librarian thinks tearing up a book is sacrilege but would I feel threatened by someone ripping pages out of the Bible? Doubtful unless maybe if it had some significant historical import...and I knew that was why said person was desecrating the book. Then, I would consider the act one of terrorism -- to use a much overused word. And that would be equally true for historic

Listenin to...

2007-12-21T13:20:00.001-05:00

remixes uploaded and created by Dez

When USB accidents happen

2007-11-17T11:06:00.000-05:00

The Risks Digest offers up a scary tale of what your cell phone may be doing to your laptop when you're not looking. Caveat emptor!

Do you buy meat thinking it's been carbon monoxided?

2007-11-14T08:36:00.000-05:00

Regardless, you may want to read ABC News: Hill Debates 'Carbon Monoxide Meat' where you can learn that CO makes meat and fish look fresh indefinitely. The FDA's David Acheson, who along with other FDA and USDA officials sat at a table covered with various samples of year-old meat that still appears fresh, and said that 'this particular issue is not a safety concern even remotely high on our

"If you ask amateurs to act as front-line security personnel, you shouldn't be surprised when you get amateur security"

2007-11-01T10:49:00.000-04:00

Fav infosec guru Bruce Schneier clarifies what's important -- and ignored in by most current government attempts to makes "US" safe in Schneier on Security: The War on the Unexpected, which originally appeard in Wired.com.

"the Chemistry Set is toast"

2007-11-01T08:47:00.000-04:00

The 12 Angry Men Blog's recalls my own youth with two chemistry sets in its take on the "Endangered Species - The Chemistry Set.."

Is saying you got kiddie porn the same as actually having it?

2007-10-31T11:59:00.000-04:00

What a slippery slope the porn plane becomes if the Supreme Court agrees with Slate Magazine's characterization of the legal merits when the Solicitor General Paul ...Clement says that to be liable under the PROTECT Act, you need not be selling or advertising the porn. It's enough to say you have it. A sad day indeed. Oral arguments were yesterday.

DNA Pioneer, Suspended Over Racial Comments

2007-10-21T09:25:00.000-04:00

The Wall Street Journal's Health Blog brings us old news from the UK where the October 14, 2007 The Sunday Times Magazine displayed more than we wish to know about how Doc Watson thinks. But, a few days later he goes on to assure us, he didn't really mean what his words said:To all those who have drawn the inference from my words that Africa, as a continent, is somehow genetically inferior, I can

Street Mathematics vs School Mathematics

2007-10-17T10:13:00.000-04:00

I love what I know of the mathematician Keith Devlin -- aka The Math Guy on NPR's Weekend Edition -- who is a researcher at as well as the executive director of Stanford University's Center for the Study of Language and Information. Here are two good reasons for my adoration: His October 2007 "Devlin's Angle" at MAA Online wherein he adds fuel to my qualms about school math in Kinds of Math

Richard Scarry's The Best Word Book Ever: 1963 vs. 1991

2007-10-02T12:19:00.000-04:00

Who wins? Us or our children? Perhaps this is a good place to reference Sidney Hook's 10 rules for discourse from "Ethics of Controversy" given that #1 is Nothing and no one is immune from criticism. And, #4, reminds us that while words may be "legally permissible" does not mean they are also "morally permissible". Here, I'm reminded of my unease when J., in first grade, brought home an alphabet

someone on the "social graph"

2007-09-23T11:22:00.000-04:00

Or, as he says, let me declare the problem statement, as I see it, and the underlying assumptions I've been making. The someone is Brad Fitzpatrick whose company developed LiveJournal and its backend software all of which were purchased by Six Apart.

Conspiracy Theory + Schoolhouse Rock

2007-09-15T07:49:00.000-04:00

"Media-opoly" from Saturday Night Live's TV Funhouse skit was created by Robert Smigel and broadcast on "Saturday Night Live" during the March 14, 1998 airing on NBC, a subsidiary of GE; it was shown only once and edited out of subsequent reruns. According to Lorne Michaels, he "didn't think it worked comedically." More commentary @ http://snipurl.com/contheoryrock

Soul Sides: my fav audioblog

2007-09-01T16:01:00.000-04:00

Trying to explain to C the source for a song that she was grooving on...I was listening to Soul Symphony, the downloadable mix of some Asian guy's first soul/jazz/funk mix CD...I realized how little I really knew about DJ O-Dub. So I went and read his bio only to discover that I probably have heard (maybe, even read) him without knowing given the breadth of his portfolio. Also, he maintains

Finally, a news-y item to get the child to wash better, more often

2007-08-13T22:28:00.000-04:00

aka Cheerleaders' Lemonade Stand Makes Folk Ill

A cultural transliteration: Harry Potter to the 'hood?

2007-07-12T22:18:00.000-04:00

Is that even practical? Readable? A possible answer resides in one Troy CLE.Now, I offer a long intro en route to the point...As a black kid who grew up in that lap of all that is black and soul-identified -- Memphis, TN, I left as a Jethro Tull loving folkie it is only fitting that I'd remain at the margins with a list of Eurocentric literary favs that include classics such as Stendahl's The Red

this just in from Threat Level @ Wired Blogs

2007-07-11T12:31:00.000-04:00

Security Researcher Wants Lube Maker Fined For Privacy Slip.There are just so many delights in the headline even as I pity those affected by this April 2007 FUBAR. Among the 200,000 suffering are the San Franciscans so dramatically showcased here in the researcher's own Yahoo maps mash-up of the addresses that were sent a nice wet package of Astroglide. All these tidbits, and more, available

Play has begun to do real work

2007-06-25T18:03:00.000-04:00

Speaking of class, the quote below, on virtual transactions, reminds me that there are no new stories, just repeated failures to learn. Real-money trading harms the game, they argue, because the overheated productivity of gold farms and other profit-seeking operations makes it harder for beginning players to get ahead. Either way, the sense of a certain economic injustice at work breeds

One social scientist thinks that Facebook | Myspace mirror class divisions in US society

2007-06-25T12:08:00.000-04:00

So the question of the new generation isn't Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?. Instead it's why are the well-off on Facebook and the subalterns* on Myspace. See a working draft of the paper:boyd, danah. 2007. "Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace ." Apophenia Blog Essay. June 24. http://www.danah.org/papers/essays/ClassDivisions.html *"N.B.,

Theremin cover of Gnarls Barkley’s "Crazy"

2007-06-25T07:55:00.000-04:00

There are about 5 people in the world who know this but I've got a major jones* for the Theremin, the only instrument played without being touched. (I also happen to love this song!) The Theremin was invented in 1920 by a Russian physicist named Lev Sergeiyvich Termin (whose name was later changed to Leon Theremin); he also invented the first electronic listening device, or "bug", for the USSR.

What exactly is Abt?

2007-06-12T11:22:00.001-04:00

C. has worked for one company for more than ten years. And, that company is Abt Associates, Inc. Often, the people I expect to have heard of it haven't (e.g., a school principal) and those I'm not expecting to have (random soccer parent). When queried about her job, I usually say something about it being a think tank/consulting firm then make some joke about Halliburton largely because both

Serendipitous unblinking

2007-05-24T14:05:00.000-04:00

Despite the fact that I'm the owner of two books about knots and keeping trying out various cross-platform geometry visualization software, I still am wowed by this book's title: The Shoelace Book: A Mathematical Guide to the Best (And Worst) Ways to Lace Your Shoes But, then again who am I to be surprised; it's only been a few weeks since I bought a book about a topological object The Mobius

From whence do the best bloggers originate?

2007-05-24T13:32:00.000-04:00

Or, as The Boston Globe put it "Where the bloggers blog".

Family Guy -- The World is Beautiful with Gore as President

2007-05-23T07:12:00.001-04:00

The depraved insanity of re-imagining!

Best analogy involving porn

2007-05-17T09:55:00.000-04:00

The bastion of good family morals, Utah, is now behind policing Wifi for the kids. Old news from April but I like the quote so much! You can read the details from a local perspective courtesy of the Deseret Morning News. Of course, I'm more fond of the commentary wherein aim is taken at proposing to ban all open wifi networks and to mandate wifi network providers police traffic content vigorously

ohmygod, now I know why my cell ... CINGULAR bites

2007-05-16T17:47:00.000-04:00

Serendipity at work again. This time browsing the cell phone sub-section of The Consumerist I discovered the truth about the pre-ring utterance emitted by our GSM cellphone, a Sony Ericsson z525a -- N.B., the american is important to me since discovered in December 2006 that the only difference between it and the international version is that us USA-ians can't install security-signed third party

MySpace: bound to keep getting dirtier and uglier

2007-05-08T16:13:00.000-04:00

We have this kernel by way of /. post that brought me to the Post's “OFF/beat” blog. "MySpace Photo: Costs Teacher Education DegreeTeacher Sues For Diploma And Damages". Regardless of the merits of the action's sentiment, do we really want to go down this slippery slope? If the institution in question actually has legal standing to re-direct a student's degree shouldn't more college students be

What kind of [???] are you?

2007-05-07T13:06:00.000-04:00

Not enough of a programmer to have a code preference but knowledgeable enough to appreciate the humor in "Programming languages and their relationship styles"; nevertheless, if I were to guess as to how I'm perceived...hard to choose between ADA (which I've only read about) and Assembler (which I never really grasped). But, we do exist on a continuum so when I'm feeling more flexible, it'd be a

Futsal? Indoor soccer w/outside smarts

2007-04-25T13:36:00.001-04:00

Who knew that a soccer-related game about which I've never heard is slated to become an Olympic sport in 2008. Furthermore, it seems like it'd be good for skill building during the winter months for adults and children. I write that having finally understood the physicality of hockey once I'd played indoor soccer a few years back. Wikipedia is kind enough to explain that the portmanteau word, or

Beeman leaves for U of MN

2007-04-24T14:10:00.000-04:00

On any college/university campus there are always those profs whose classes you never take but you end up knowing them by reputation and/or domain. So into that Brunonian pool I can't put political commentator Darrell West whose poli sci course I tooked (if not finished) or Barrett Hazeltine in whose "gut" Engin 9 I fumbled and managed to pull a C. (Note: "guts" aren't easy if you have zero

"Baby Got Back" Gilbert and Sullivan Style

2007-04-24T10:36:00.001-04:00

As anyone who has spent any significant time with the J-man knows, he has a fondness for Sir-Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back". [The child has a propensity to just break into song extemporaneously.] Methinks we can thank that parental amusement kid-friendly closing medley in Shrek for his awareness that the song even exists. And this tasty bit on YouTube is a riff from a 1980 production of the comic

As if we didn't know...from watching US 'pro' athletes: it's ugly out there!

2007-04-17T20:29:00.001-04:00

And as if there's not enough to fill a third grader's parents minds, I can start to anticipate all that I want to avoid as it relates to sports...in high school. The report, “What Are Your Children Learning? The Impact of High School Sports on the Values and Ethics of High School Athletes,” summarizes the responses of 5,275 high school athletes to a written survey administered in 2005 and 2006.

the strangest thing....

2007-03-22T22:54:00.001-04:00

the strangest thing.... Originally uploaded by the doubtful guest. Exquisite photos and maps are what thrill me. It use to be folk music but I guess age does something... I never was into the great outdoors but as fate would have it, the child is crazy about animals. So now I find myself -- when not fighting with said soon-to-be-nine child -- seeking out interesting animalia. Life is

If Suess Returned as Dylan

2007-03-10T16:46:00.001-05:00

This find courtesy of Music For Maniacs whose blog-ish description says its "dedicated to extremes in music, 'Outsider' recordings and utterly unique sounds". Quite the earful...as well as a complete *FREE* download in Dylan Hears A Who! Other recent delights sighted there include Elvis re-done in Latin and an Arabic-flavored Shaft theme. 20070321: N.B. someone must have gotten a

The prospect of education can feel more promising...

2007-03-09T13:24:00.001-05:00

...despite my complaints -- sometimes, in light of the Internet age. My childhood had none of the immediacy of events like a total lunar eclipse such as this; as seen from the UK 20070303: Blogged with Flock

Strangeness I hadn't considered

2007-03-02T14:40:00.000-05:00

Admittedly, I am an oddball since I was Googling for D.I.Y. hand sanitizer recipes since we have a constant need to minimize cross-contamination between child, hermit crab(s), and hamsters) but others find tastier bits than I: reasons to avoid coffee pots in hotel rooms (makes me glad I don't travel or drink coffee) just how drunk can one get off liquid hand wash (again, glad that I'm more of a

Turning Obsessed?

2007-01-20T10:23:00.000-05:00

Googling teach logic "third grade" I found the writings of one Rick Garlikov. So far much to like. I didn't imagine my life as an adult and parent being so consumed with elementary education--that's the thought I had while reading "Teaching Effectively: Helping Students Absorb and Assimilate Material". So have I become obsessed?How to teach without seeming to given that you already sent the

2006 MLK tribute @ YouTube

2007-01-14T13:26:00.000-05:00

...featuring a medley by Sounds of Blackness.

Biggest brain-wiggley: Boeing 747 as glider

2007-01-11T01:43:00.000-05:00

"brain-wiggley" is my del.icio.us tag for oddities of various proportions. I bumped into this via digg.

A Clue as to How I Was Forged...Mentally, That Is

2007-01-02T17:34:00.000-05:00

Dateline 12.2006: U Memphis Campus School has been named as one of the top schools in TennesseeAlmost all of its students - 99 percent - scored "proficient" or "advanced" in both reading and math. When I lived down there, MSU was Memphis State, but now it's gone and matured/re-branded. Campus School, AKA the elementary laboratory school for the College of Education at the U of Memphis for

A Film that I Imagined Making Once Upon a Time

2007-01-01T11:53:00.000-05:00

Do some good for a cause close to your heart and invites others by watching this film; two for the price of one.Inspired by love and concern for his two daughters, and wondering what kind of planet they will inherit, actor and award-winning director Turk Pipkin traveled the world to pose the toughest questions of our time to some of today's greatest minds. The result is Nobelity, a highly

If you build, they will come...

2006-11-30T12:40:00.000-05:00

Aren't the naysayers missing the point of the now-$150 laptop education initiative? Part of the problem in un-, under-, poor, [insert negative adjective] places, is that children miss out because they just never get to have certain experiences that many can easily take for granted elsewhere. The One Laptop Per Child effort is attempting to short circuit that problem in one arena for one segment

Things Left Out of Parenting Books

2006-11-30T10:27:00.000-05:00

No one mentions what a bear schooling is. Yes, there's the question of whether public or private depending on your income level and your residence within any given city or neighbhorhood. But no one really prepares you for the extent to which a child's education is a massive engagement for those of us who practice anything resembling attachment parenting or just simply trying to be an engaged

Statistics channeling East Coast rap = ... ?

2006-09-28T15:08:00.000-04:00

The question remains is "Statz-4-life" stranger than product from Weird Al? .

Pinball Coffee Table

2006-05-23T18:13:00.000-04:00

This has a high lust factor!!

" Friends With Money "

2006-05-21T15:10:00.000-04:00

A funny read a few days after listening to a "disadvantaged" teen sorting through her Yahoo! [junk] mail looking for responses to some recent job applications speaking aloud to herself affirming she'd like a credit card whereupon the clinician at the site tried to get her to see why credit cards + joblessness + adolescence were a bad mix. And, this blog post somehow relates to a discovery, in

Proof as to Why We Were All Screwed in OH

2006-04-24T03:39:00.000-04:00

The Conyers Report, aka Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio GAO Report 50-956 Elections: Federal Efforts to Improve Security and Reliability of Electronic Voting Systems Are Under Way, but Key Activities Need to Be Completed

The real post--A-bomb Hiroshima, a 1st person acct 60 yrs late

2005-11-27T10:37:00.000-05:00

After the physicality of an event in time all else is interpretation. And, journalists are not necessarily any better than any other human at defining boundaries. How different would our understanding of Vietnam if we'd had only embedded reporting upon which to rely. It's 60 years later til we can read 1st hand accts, and only recently has other scholarship begun to re-define the textbook account

The clarity of simple thinking!

2005-11-06T13:52:00.000-05:00

I love reading/hearing/seeing Alan Kay! Today, science (a concern with what is real) is mixed with mathematics (a concern with what is true) is mixed with engineering (a concern with how something can be made). Each worker in each of these fields also partly works in the other two. Each field has a different temperament associated with it: mathematicians tend to be idealists, scientists realists,

"Do what you love, forget the money"

2005-11-06T13:33:00.000-05:00

Can One Be Smart Enough about Blogging?

2005-09-07T10:11:00.000-04:00

Another unintended consequence of techne too intertwined in our lives? Or, another to file under eth-tech @ del.icio.us. From TVC Alert Research News, 7 September 2005: (2 Sep) In this follow-up column, Ivan Tribble offers cautious advice to bloggers, who are also seeking new employment, especially in an academic environment. He continues to argue that it's especially important for bloggers to '

political doublespeak

2005-09-03T11:37:00.000-04:00

Reality re-defined by the power of language? Try to understand better and Google it—define:doublespeak! BBC News [UK] August 30th, 2005 Families of Israeli Arabs shot dead on a bus in Galilee are not considered terrorism victims because their killer was Jewish, the defence ministry says. Under Israeli law, only attacks by "enemies of Israel" are considered terrorism, the ministry said. The

Must blobbing heads and clueless commentators annoy!!!

2005-09-02T18:34:00.000-04:00

Ahhh, nothing like another disaster whose magnitude forces me to crawl out from my cave and actually want to see news coverage. But, it's mere moments before I need to run screaming far away from reality because (1) OK, this ain't brain surgery, to quote a former professor and (2) could I have some actual analysis of why the circumstances are what they are. Is that too much to ask? I listened

Culturally Situated Design Tools: teaching math through culture

2005-08-12T01:55:00.000-04:00

Very cool if you're into elementary math and relating geoblocks/patterns to different ethnicities.

Gifted males and the "Bartleby Syndrome"

2005-08-10T17:35:00.000-04:00

Because, I ask you -- can we ever know enough about genius and gender?

"Hyena People of Nigeria"

2005-08-06T00:32:00.000-04:00

Pieter Hugo's photo series shows that there are more than one way to live tough.

define:melungeon

2005-08-05T15:03:00.000-04:00

OK, watching Weird USA last nite/this morning, I learned the existence of a word of which I'd never heard - "melungeon" - whose meaning seems, to me, a more specific type of mulatto. Googling for a definition brings up a lone Wikipedia entry. Yet another example of serendipity? In May 2005, while looking for who all might be of mixed Japanese-black ancestry because of international nite @

Finding comics on the brain

2005-07-02T00:50:00.000-04:00

First, I bumped into the amusing "Whatever happened to Speedy Gonzalez?" via growabrain: Comics & Cartoons Archives. Then, yet another encounter with Shujaat, from Al-Jazeera; this time in his (?) "Choppers for Food Programme" , again, courtesy of growabrain. Encountered some Middle East heroes in AK Comics, then with some time to spare, wandered over to Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children.

girls' development as explained in "the pizza story"

2005-06-13T23:29:00.000-04:00

My interactions w/the K-4 set makes me curious as to what does happen @ schools. I recall some of what I think I wasn't taught @ school & much of what I merely imbibed in the home of one, often, angry black woman. My most vivid memory is of a conversation w/her (aka my mom), my brother (approx. 20 yrs my senior) about the solution to South Africa was arming legions of us folk and aiding in an

MBTA riders in search of better outcomes

2005-06-13T14:57:00.000-04:00

And, "MBTA resolves to coordinate trains" [May 2005]. Pat of Plymouth says that after rushing home from caring for her 93 year-old mother in Pennsylvania to tend to her hospitalized husband, she got the boot from a Plymouth & Brockton bus. She wasn't loud or drunk or throwing food. She was $2.13 short on her $16 one-way fare.

The one-finger victory salute...

2005-04-25T00:24:00.000-04:00

...from W. direct to the people!

no 2004 "Patterns of Global Terrorism" from State

2005-04-20T00:23:00.000-04:00

When is no news not good news? When the State Department decides to stop publishing an annual report on international terrorism--especially when combined with the US' top terrorism center saying that were more terrorist attacks in 2004 than in any year since 1985, the first year the publication covered. The annual "Patterns of Global Terrorism" report is submitted in compliance with Title 22 of

End of an Era? Adobe's buying Macromedia

2005-04-19T14:13:00.000-04:00

I've not found anyone cheering yet but...many people blown away about the cognitive effect. Does anyone else remember the MA-based Allaire? Travel back to January 17, 2001: "The outlook for the next fiscal year is a little muddier as [Macromedia] today announced the purchase of Web applications platform developer Allaire (Nasdaq: ALLR), which owns the HomeSite webpage editor and the ColdFusion

The 1st cell phone was a brick!

2005-04-18T22:06:00.000-04:00

The DynaTAC8000X weighed 2 pounds See wireless evolution in photo of Rudy Krolopp, lead designer of the first cell phone, sitting with the DynaTAC8000X and Motorola's new Razr cell phone in Schaumburg, Ill. "The brick" weighed 2 pounds, offered just a half-hour of talk time for every recharging and sold for $3,995." And, I'm growsing b/c I didn't get bluetooth w/my Nokia 3120.

Planning as a Criminal Act

2005-04-15T12:05:00.000-04:00

Palestine. Pretty much sums it up!!! Read it and think.

City Kid, Country Kid - a lot of the same needs

2005-04-04T20:06:00.000-04:00

Harvard PR, but also a good read in "Urban Legends of Rural Schools" which is an interview with Donna San Antonio, a Harvard University School of Education lecturer and author of Adolescent Lives in Transition: How Social Class Influences the Adjustment to Middle School. Regardless of locale, schools still have work to do to: build diverse learning environments and the skills to teach in them

One Conservative Hoping for a Change in Another

2005-04-04T18:26:00.000-04:00

As blogs have shown anything is possible with the right amount of force. Fareed Zakaria thinks that the issues of the World Bank might bring about transformation in one Paul Wolfowitz, its quite-criticized incoming president. I'm not familiar with Zakaria but perhaps it's another dynasty in the making. Catch Brit-sounding Bombay-born neo-con/neo-liberal/yadda yadda yadda intellectual's new weekly

"worlds enough and time / to spare an hour to find a rhyme"

2005-03-26T19:29:00.000-05:00

Unbeknowst to me, the British Association for the Advancement of Science decided to celebrate national science week and the year of Einstein in verse, based around the work of the famous physicist. The competition was open to the public, and the winners were announced March 17, 2005, with the adult prize going to a versified imaginary conversation with Einstein. The title quote above is from

The SP2 Nightmare as Personal Stories of Technology Support

2005-03-25T10:21:00.000-05:00

Anecdote as confirmation! February 25, 2005 gave rise to "The SP2 Nightmare: Why I Will Never Install Or Buy Again A Microsoft OS - Personal Stories Technology Support".

seeme hearmes & a hearme brain-wiggly

2005-03-25T05:37:00.000-05:00

seeme is my del.icio.us tag for film related stuff. And hearme is for audio-related stuff. And brain-wiggly is for the odd, stop-and-say-what stuff. Cinematical's Michael W. Geoghegan has relaunched his weekly movie-review podcast program Reel Reviews Radio. And Cinema Minima is a great movie news site team-blogged by correspondents from around the world. And finally, fina a Harry Potter

SF in mono

2005-03-24T20:29:00.000-05:00

More leads on things to hear. Lead me to URLs for folks whom I know but whose highlighted writings I'd missed: e.g., Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Fisherwoman's Daughter" and Cory Doctorow's "To Market, To Market: The Branding of Billy Bailey".

design : Massive Change :: liver : ?

2005-03-21T23:15:00.000-05:00

Considering how untraveled I am, how did I ever get exposed to culture? How did I ever know anything prior to the Internet? Go think big thoughts after visiting Massive Change: the Future of Global Design, a project by Bruce Mau Design and the Institute without Boundaries, commissioned and organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery. Exhibit now at the Art Gallery of Ontario thru May 2005. [bread

It's not always about overscheduling a child...

2005-03-21T18:02:00.000-05:00

Depending on where you end up, having a child in BPS can seriously suck and/or demoralize in ways I thought not possible. And Lucy Stone would probably be fine if didn't consider art, music, or exercise a mere enrichment in kindergarten - grade 2 (althought I think the last 2 are available in 3rd grade). So my spirits are lifted when I find that others seek (and find and can afford) solace

Brain-wigglies when it comes to animals and technology

2005-03-21T10:13:00.000-05:00

African Elephants text msg more than humans in the US. Who knew? I do not make us these stories up; they just find me! BTW, only 25 percent of Americans use SMS. ...And the Quack-Project lets you learn the the obvious but initially odd fact that animals sound differently across languages. The mere idea is enough to cause you to stop and think; after you get over the initial brain freeze, go

Feynman-Tufte Principle

2005-03-19T19:20:00.000-05:00

Visual display of data should be simple enough to fit on the side of a van. www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/si_05

What is "reading" if it can be said you can read delicious nonsense?

2005-03-07T00:59:00.000-05:00

My usual blipverting led me far and wide today but as usual pedagogy seems topmost. Personally, I have no recall of learning how to read. If memory were something to trust, I'd say I was a favor pupil in 1st grade. I attended a traditional public school for the first year and a half whereupon I disembarked and landed at Campus School, a place that was far from typical I imagine. It was what

Chess & the female mind

2005-03-03T18:25:00.000-05:00

Courtesy of WSJ.COM (aka The Wall Street Journal), OpinionJournal introduced me to Susan Polgar--"the pretty, gracious and friendly 35-year-old mother of two boys"-- who just so happens is "currently the top-ranked woman player (and No. 11 overall) in the U.S., and No. 1 among women on the active list (and No. 199 overall) in the world, according to FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs)".

Why Black-Middle Class Youth Are Behind

2005-03-03T18:04:00.000-05:00

Do we even count as middle class? Hard to believe. Anyways...even if the income don't make the cut, we exist as "middle class" so...caught a snippet of Dr. Ronald Ferguson, economist and lecturer at Harvard University, on Tony Brown's Journal. The tiny sound bite I awoke to hear (fate intervening?) suggested that we are doing the right thing as parents--talking about nature, not leaving Jordan's

diy home on the web via .Mac

2005-03-02T23:30:00.000-05:00

Scripting Dot Mac by Matthew Russell gives me another something to add to that list-o-things to do! "Recently we compared .Mac to Spymac's Wheel, and in the process provided a good overview of .Mac services. One of the tools missing, especially for those who want to publish web pages on their .Mac account, was server-side scripting. Well, just because it isn't in the package doesn't mean you