QUOTE OF THE DAY

I may not have a daughter, but if I did, let me tell you what I'd want for her. I'd want her to live in a society that treated her like an adult, when she became one. I want I society that respects her personal decisions, her body, and her property. I don't want her to become a drug addict or a sex worker. But if she became a drug addict, I would want her to be treated by doctors, not police officers. If she became a sex worker, I'd want her to able to organize for the decent wages and better working conditions, without fear of legal repercussion.

I want my daughter to be able to take society's respect for her person and property and internalize it. I want my daughter to reject substance abuse, not out of fear of law enforcement, but because she cares about her body enough not to risk harming it. I want her to reject sex work, not because of the criminal world it associates with, but because she views sex as something important, do be done with someone you love. I want my daughter to be a good person, and that can only happen in a free society.

from: The Daily Beast, Andrew Sullivan,

THREAD: The Daughter Test.

HERE IS . . .

the greatest description of today's news media, ever. We constantly hear about the media's faults, from both sides of the aisle, particularly when concerning politics; but Andrew Sullivan from The Daily Dish just nailed it.

"They have the perspective of someone with ADD watching a NASCAR race."

Read the entire post here.

SOME THOUGHTS ON BLOGGING

I realize that my actual audience is minuscule, and that is fine. I want you to know I appreciate each and every one of you. But I confess, occasionally I wonder why I continue. The only reason I ever come up with, is that I really enjoy it. And, like my poetry, even if no one else ever reads what I write, that's enough.

I'd like to share with you intrepid few, a little something I found on The Daily Dish, from blog scholar Scott Rosenberg:
(The emphasis is my own)

"A blog lets you define yourself, whereas on a social network you are more likely to be defined by others. [...] A blog lets you raise your voice without asking anyone's permission, and no one is in a position to tell you to shut up. It is, as the journalism scholar Jay Rosen puts it, "a little First Amendment machine," an engine of free speech operating powerfully at a fulcrum-point between individual autonomy and the pressures of the group. Blogging uniquely straddles the acts of writing and reading; it can be private and public, solitary and gregarious, in ratios that each practitioner sets for himself. It is hardly the only way to project yourself onto the Web, and today it is no longer the easiest way. But it remains the most interesting way. Nothing else so richly combines the invitation to speak your mind with the opportunity to mix it up with other minds."

When I open my blog page, I feel at home. It is a comfortable place where I can share some of the things inside of me. I make full disclosure here no more than I would in a classroom or on the job. That's only common sense.

My thought here is that I am using reading and writing skills, as well as research skills and critical thinking. I am also building technical skills.

There are plenty of voices warning us to keep our kids away from the internet with its snares and pitfalls. But I think teaching them of its wonders and potential is a better way. For educators, it is a wonderful, barely tapped tool to both capture and expand the imaginations of our students. We can use it to teach the aforementioned skills, along with responsibility and making good choices.

GREEN IS A GOOD COLOR

In Foundation, Issac Asimov said (as Salvor Hardin) "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."

Our world seems to be awash in incompetence these days.

Political discussions are so often bereft of common sense or empathy, something that frustrates and confounds me. We look at the struggles in the world around us, and often forget that we have been there too. It can be very tempting to step in where we are not needed, but just as devastating are the times we fail with our support when it is needed. I'm not talking about guns and bombs, but a true respect for all human rights, the spirit of our own constitution; forgetting economics, and saying, "No! This is unacceptable!"

I am following the valiant struggle for justice going on in Iran at this moment. There is so much I would like to say, but my thoughts are muddled so silence would be the better choice.


The green ribbon at left is their symbol for victory, and below it I have posted a feed with current information. It links to The Daily Dish, by Andrew Sullivan, a respected British blogger and political commentator. There is an almost real time following of the events on the internet as they unfold. The internet has given us a way around the censorship and propaganda of the oppressors as well as the disinterest of a profit driven media.