War & Art

I’m a casual listener to “free jazz” or “free improvisational jazz” and on a Chicago listserv I came across this performance. It is a Lebanese guy, playing his trumpet in a melody-less free jazz style with explosions in the background. Mazen Kerbaj, the artist, does not seem to be trying to make any overt political statements, just simply presenting what is. I don’t quite know what to make of it but after listening to it through a couple of times I can’t get the performance and the whole idea of it out of my head.

Follow this link to hear an excerpt of his performance.

The Prophecies Newt: World War III?

From the Yahoo Buzz log:
On July 15, Newt Gingrich [pictured] told The Seattle Times that "America is in World War III."

The Buzz log goes on to say that WWIII prediction searches are up 4,000%.

From the Seattle Times Article:
Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich says America is in World War III and President Bush should say so.

The rest of the article goes on to talk about partisan politics and talks little else about the claim. While it certainly is attention-grabbing to claim so, I don’t really see how this WWIII analogy fits the current situation.

Research Resources for Students

Ask for Kids
http://www.askforkids.com/
Ask.com
www.ask.com
Yahooligans
http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/
Encarta
http://www.encarta.msn.com/
AOL @ School
http://www.aolatschool.com/

Infoplease
http://www.infoplease.com/
The National Student Research Center—the website looks straight out of 1999 so use with caution.
http://www.youth.net/nsrc/
Kids Click
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/KidsClick!/
Discovery School’s homework helper
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/KidsClick!/

Do you know of any more good sites? Let me know.

Plagiarism

There are probably other sites like it, but while researching reference sites for students, I came across this site.

At Turnitin, we believe the best means for preventing plagiarism is preemptive education. Research Resources is designed to help educators and students develop a better sense of what plagiarism means in the information age, and to teach the planning, organizational, and citation skills essential for producing quality writing and research.

For students, this site offers:
Plagiarism defined, in easy-to-understand terms
Tips on how to avoid both internet-based and conventional plagiarism
Guidelines for proper citation, and links to help with specific citation styles
Suggestions for developing good research and writing skills
Answers to frequently asked questions, including explanations for often misunderstood concepts like fair use, public domain, and copyright laws
Definitions for important research-related terms

Educators will find:
Suggestions for integrating plagiarism education into lesson plans
Tips for creating assignments that discourage plagiarism and encourage original thinking
Information on the causes of plagiarism today
Help with identifying different types of plagiarism, in particular plagiarism from the internet
Printable handouts for students on plagiarism, proper citation, and paper writing

President Bush Makes Veto History

Going almost six years without a presidential veto is unheard of, but this week Bush vetoed the legislation passed by Congress that would expand federal research on embryonic stem cells. Bush’s first veto of his presidency was contrary to the majority of public opinion, including and many high profile people—from Nancy Reagan (President Reagan’s wife) to Michael J. Fox (actor)—and many in his own party, that support stem cell research. Bush said that stem cell research would be crossing a “moral line” during his press conference (pictured, form Getty Images). Surrounded by embryo-adopted children, Bush said, “This bill would support the taking of innocent human life.”

Despite the bill's popular support, Congress was unable to come up with the required 2/3 to override a veto.

Why has Bush only had one veto so far in his presidency? It’s a complicated issue, and there are a number of issues but the main one is that his party, the Republicans, are also in control of Congress. I think also that the state of war that we’ve been in since 9/11 has given Bush unprecedented power over the government.

Here’s an interesting graphic of other presidents and their vetoes from the Christian Science Monitor. This article is from 2005, so the information about GWB is obviously now out of date.

There's also a comprehensive list here.

Tens of thousands of immigrant supporters rally in Chicago against deportations

After finishing up guiding a bike tour yesterday, I caught the tail-end of the immigrant rally. This has been the third major rally in Chicago recently. I didn’t stick around to listen to the speakers but I was amazed at the sheer number of American flags present and couldn’t help but think about how someone must be making a lot of money off of this rally.

Immigration is a current hot-button issue, although it has been receiving less media and political attention recently. It’s a very difficult issue. I really wish that people would not come to this country illegally but if I were in their shoes I would want to come to the U.S. too. This is the land of opportunity. Where else can you find the American dream but America? Plus, people wouldn’t come to the U.S. illegally if they couldn’t find work. It seems like if we’re serious about stopping illegal immigration then we need to provide easier legal means to get here and stop people from hiring illegal immigrants (and therefore be prepared to pay a lot more for services and goods). It’s easy enough for me to just blog about this but for around a billion people around the world who live in extreme poverty the issues are often a matter of survival.

Many of the marchers were carrying signs saying, “No human is illegal.”

You can read an article about the march here.

File under stranger than fiction

In 1965, Charles "Robert" Jenkins [pictured right], an American soldier, did something impossible to understand. He deserted to North Korea and got stuck there.

For 39 years, six months and four days, he was trapped in a bizarre Stalinist state — hungry, suffering, told by the government how to live, what to read, and even when to have sex. Never before has an American lived among the secretive North Koreans so long and escaped to tell the tale.

I know that conditions are terrible in North Korea, and we don’t really need an American to go through it to really understand how bad it is, but this segment that 60 Minutes recently re-ran about it seems beyond fiction. The article is here and at the time of this writing you could watch the video on the 60 Minute’s site.

The War That Made American

It’s the 250 year anniversary of the French and Indian War (1754-1763), and PBS has a terrific series about it. It has realistic reenactments, primary source reports, and keen insight into the events of the time. George Washington is featured prominently and I’m stunned that I know so little about his pre-Revolution life.

Check out the website here.

Since I don’t have cable, PBS is a great resource for the kind of TV that I like. They have been rebroadcasting this series along with the equally excellent Liberty! The American Revolution.

Simplified Speleeg?
When I was reading through this very interesting article about the push for simplified spelling I was shocked to find out that it’s an old idea.

“It's been 100 years since Andrew Carnegie helped create the Simplified Spelling Board to promote a retooling of written English and President Theodore Roosevelt tried to force the government to use simplified spelling in its publications. But advocates aren't giving up.”

Andrew Carnegie and Teddy teaming up? Who knew? Teddy Roosevelt had his hands in many pots and was certainly a progressive but I never knew that there was any serious consideration about simplified spelling 100 years ago.

As strange as this seems, the article points out that we have just 42 sounds in English but 400 ways to spelling them. I remember my third grade teacher telling us that in his native language (Lithuanian, I think) they spelled words phonetically and I was so jealous.

The article goes on to say that the idea of simplified spelling actually goes back further to attempts by Benjamin Franklin, Daniel Webster and even Mark Twain. Spelling was standardized in America around the time of Franklin and Webster (of Webster’s Dictionary fame) and I can’t help but wish that they would have simplified it back then.

Wut due yue thheenk? Wood it bee u good ieddeeyu tue chaenj or iz it tue much trubool?

Although it would be a cumbersome transition, I think in today’s online world with IM and text messaging that it would be a good idea. Granted, students would have to learn both systems, but it’s much easier to read “old” spelling than to have to spell it yourself. Maybe I’m just biased because I’m not very good at spelling.

World Cup
The World Cup my not be such a big deal here in America, but it is certainly a world event. I’ve been catching as many games as I can but for an international perspective, I’ll go to my man in Guatemala: Ross. He’s there on summer vacation and here's what he had to report via email 6/28/06 from Lake Attitlan in Southwest Guatemala:

“As you can imagine, everyone in [Central America] is nutso about ¨Futball.¨ I was in Mexico for their first win. Quite a hoot. Saw the U.S. hopes shot down while in Belize, alongside the Mexican snorkelers parked at the bar who saw their own parish as Angola, Portugal, Italy, and Argentina’s players rocked various bar room screens with their footwork. Not even the market place hustlers could peel there faces from their tiny TV’s to sell ya a rug. If walking down the sidewalk here you suddenly hear an enveloping roar, somewhere in Germany someone just scored a goal. Everyone in Guatemala was rooting for Argentina to kick Mexico’s butt. Since virtually every European we’ve met this trip is Dutch, we picked up Holland as our new favorite, but then today the Portuguese took them down with numerous spats more reminiscent of hockey than soccer. We need a new team to root for, and a sign to guide us there. A South American team will probably win the most friends...”

Alas, it’s now down to France and Italy. It should be a good game and I'm sure that Elmwood Park will be cheering Italy on. This world cup seems to have gone so fast, it’s a shame that we’ll have to wait another four years for the next one.