Tom Jefferson’s apples – for sale!

February 6, 2007

Moving to Utah (in the early Tertiary, if I recall correctly) took our family from the spud fields of southern Idaho, and plopped us in the middle of fruit orchards on the foothills of the Wasatch Front. There, protected from eastern winds and too-early sunlight by Mt. Timpanogos, farmers grew Bing cherries, pie cherries, peaches, apricots, and a lot of apples.

Our bus route to school was lined with orchards; missing the bus could make a wonderful experience wandering through the tended rows, finding the occasional clusters of wild asparagus (mark that down for next Sunday . . .), and discovering songbirds’ hiding places.

For a while our athletic fields abutted orchards. Late autumn football practices were sometimes made merrier when the migrant pickers took pity on us and tossed a few pippins over the fence.

In a perfect world that I imagine, orchards are close by many schools. Children get to see the blossom of the cherry trees heralding spring, and when they return to school in the fall they see the ripening apples, and then the harvesting of the apples. Time is measured, and history demonstrated, by the natural rhythms of agriculture.Newtown pippins, apples from Monticello

How about an apple from Thomas Jefferson’s farm? You can buy the trees from the foundation that runs Monticello. In that perfect world I imagine, the orchard near the school would feature at least one tree from Tom Jefferson’s orchard, one from George Washington’s, and several would be direct descendants of Ohio Valley apple trees planted by John Chapman, Johnny Appleseed himself. When teachers discuss the farms and actions of these men, even daydreaming kids could look out the window and see history staring back at them.

For the Albemarle (or Newtown) Pippin (malus cv.) pictured here, the Monticello catalog waxes freely:

In comparing the fruits of Europe to those of America, Jefferson wrote from Paris, “They have no apples here to compare with our Newtown pippin.” In 1759 Benjamin Franklin imported barrels of the fruit into London and, by 1807 it appeared on the Horticultural Society of London’s “Select List” of apples. England’s Queen Victoria once waived the import tariff for the pippin and it was said that, “they were eaten and praised by royal lips, and swallowed by many aristocratic throats. The name Albemarle Pippin first appeared on the editorial page of Richmond, Virginia’s The Southern Planter in 1843, saying “the very best pippin we know is grown in the county of Albemarle, ” which is where Monticello is located. The green-skinned, yellow-fleshed pippin is known as the Prince of Apples. It’s mouth-watering flavors actually improve with storage. This apple is self-pollinating, but planting more than one enhances production. Grows 14 to 16 feet in height. Early 1700’s.

Zones 5-9.

Trees begin shipping February 26; supplies are limited. Proceeds support the restoration and education programs at Monticello. One may purchase a part of history to come live in one’s yard.

4 Comments | Education, History, Lesson plans, Thomas Jefferson | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Pork producers agree to reason on breast feeding

February 6, 2007

Humor would be impossible without the newspapers, but a lot of really funny stuff happens that never makes it there.

Shortcut: The National Pork Board is working for a happy solution with The Lactivist, who had previously been threatened with legal action for promoting breastfeeding with a t-shirt that says: “The Other White Milk.”

When I taught in a program that included the district’s teen pregnancy courses, I had a kid who one day, out of the blue, insisted that he’d never let his “baby momma” breast feed his son, “because I don’t want him growing up to be homo.”  When such eruptions of ignorance and bigotry occur, what is to be done?

As luck would have it, he was studying the Progressive Era, and we had a lengthy discussion on public health issues, and how to improve the health of the population overall.  We found several websites (which, if available through the district’s filters, were non-objectionable) discussing the value of breastfeeding in giving kids a head start on health and brain development.   My student was skeptical.

In the face of that kind of health-threatening ignorance and such bizarre hoaxes, one quickly comes to understand that radical campaigns to promote breastfeeding are required — even those that depend on humor.

You will get a few laughs, and eventual hope for a happy resolution, following the story of Lactivist’s tussle with the marketers at the Pork Council, with a special tip of the old scrub brush to Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.

Leave a Comment » | Hoaxes, Humor, Public education, Public health, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Noteworthy: Primordial Blog

February 4, 2007

Thanks to P. Z. Myers, I found a very interesting blog by an intermediate grades teacher in Ross River, Yukon Territory (that’s Canada, folks).  Go check out Primordial Blog.  It’ll give fits to hoaxers of all stripes, including especially intelligent design, creationism, and history hoaxers.

Leave a Comment » | Accuracy, Creationism, Education blogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Dissent effective: Stimson resigns from detainee post

February 4, 2007

Charles Stimson resigned Friday. Stimson is the attorney who was deputy secretary of defense for detainee affairs. You may recall he was the person who suggested in a radio interview that business clients of lawyers who provide legal counsel to detainees should pressure the attorneys not to represent the detainees, a suggestion that is contrary to the ethical canons of attorneys.

According to the New York Times:

Stimson drew outrage from the legal community — and a disavowal from the Defense Department — for his Jan. 11 comments, in which he also suggested some attorneys were being untruthful about doing the work free of charge and instead were ”receiving moneys from who knows where.”

He also said companies might want to consider taking their legal business to other firms that do not represent suspected terrorists.

The Defense Department disavowed the suggestion. Attorney General Albert Gonzalez also disavowed Stimson’s remarks. But Stimson said that the controversy hampered his effectiveness on the job. The NY Times said:

Stimson publicly apologized several days after the radio interview, saying his comments did not reflect his values and that he firmly believes in the principles of the U.S. legal system.

But it didn’t completely quiet critics.

The Bar Association of San Francisco last week asked the California State Bar to investigate whether Stimson violated legal ethics by suggesting a boycott of law firms that represent Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Earlier posts:

2 Comments | 6th Amendment, Democracy, Dissent, Ethics, Iraq, Jurisprudence, Justice, War | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Chuck Colson hoaxed, or hoaxing; you should act

February 3, 2007

Chuck Colson claims to have found God, while in prison, and changed his ways. He’s got a newspaper column and radio feature called “Breakpoint” which generally covers issues at least tangentially related to ministry and church work.

But he’s either fallen victim to a great hoax, or he’s in on it and spread it.

Ed Brayton at Dispatches from the Culture Wars alerted us to Colson’s “Breakpoint” commentary dated February 2, in which Colson repeats the disproven claims that Judge John E. Jones of the Middle District of Pennsylvania “plagiarized” significant portions of his decision. The charges are completely out of line, and have not held up under scrutiny. The claims were invented by people at the Discovery Institute who have no knowledge of how federal civil trials work, who misinterpreted trial procedures, and who made an invalid count of the words in the decision (failing to account for most of the 129 pages of the work for reasons that have never been explained).

If this catches you unaware of the issue, you can catch up with several posts. Attorney and Panda’s Thumb contributor Tim Sandefur explains how the charges are false here. Sandefur’s earlier explanation of the statistical errors behind the false claims is here (also at Panda’s Thumb).

You should act. If your local newspaper carries Colson’s column, notify them of the hoax. Give them the links above, and urge them to contact the press people at the National Center for Science Education for comment. Tell them they can quote Panda’s thumb, and that they can contact Sandefur, Brayton, or me, for comment.

Similarly, if your local radio station carries Colson’s commentaries, notify the station. Stations need to check to be sure they are not broadcasting hoaxes for license renewal reasons (though the FCC polices this issue rarely, and not often well).

Were Colson a practicing attorney, of course, he’d probably remember how federal trial procedures work, and not make such errors.

You can help him recall.

22 Comments | Accuracy, Creationism, Evolution, Hoaxes, Intelligent Design, Journalism, Justice, Plagiarism | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Seymour Papert recuperating at home

February 2, 2007

MIT’s Media Lab last updated Seymour Papert’s condition on January 10 — it said he’d been moved to a rehabilitation facility closer to his home, in Bangor, Maine. Vietnamese publications, including VietnamNet Bridge, report he’s home now (Vietnam was where he was struck by a motorbike in early December).

Prof Papert’s family said that he had been discharged from the hospital in Boston in the U.S. He is now still undergoing treatment at home. Luckily enough, he will not have any after-effects after the head trauma and now he can speak.

The $100 laptop idea, the XO Computer, steams on.

Leave a Comment » | Classroom technology, Education, Pedagogy, Technology, Technology in the classroom, XO laptops | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Eleanor McGovern

February 2, 2007

The past few weeks have been studded with the deaths of people important to my life, or important in history. The string is a long, unnecessary reminder that there are a lot of people holding history in their memories whom more historians need to get out and interview, even (and perhaps especially) high school-age historians.

Eleanor and George McGovern

Eleanor McGovern died in Mitchell, South Dakota, last week. I wonder how many of the town’s high school history teachers ever thought to invite the woman to speak?

McGovern was the probably the first spouse of a presidential candidate to campaign alone, without the candidate along. The respectful, rather long obituary in the Los Angeles Times made that a focus point of its tribute (free subscription will eventually be required). That was the place I first got the news of her death, while I participated in a Liberty Fund seminar in Pasadena, California, last week.

I was recruited to politics by a McGovernite in early 1972, in Utah. Over the next few months we saw Eleanor McGovern look cool, calm, intelligent and charming in her husband’s losing campaign. She may not always have been so cool as we saw — the Times piece mentions she was nearly ill before the first-ever Sunday interview program solo appearance by a candidate’s wife.

That she was both pretty and smart probably scared the opposition more than anything she ever said. Read the rest of this entry »

3 Comments | Campaigns, Dissent, Elections, History, Lessons of Vietnam, Politics, Presidents, U.S. Senate, Vietnam, Watergate scandal | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Molly Ivins

January 31, 2007

Molly Ivins died tonight. It’s really quite unbelievable, to me.

Here’s the Austin American-Statesman story, “Molly Ivins, queen of liberal commentary, dies.”

Here’s a tribute from Editor & Publisher.  And a recent interview with E&P.

Molly Ivins graphic, copyright Tim Porter 2001

Graphic by Tim Porter, copyright 2001

4 Comments | Accuracy, Ethics, First Amendment, Journalism | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Carnival of Education #104

January 31, 2007

Gate to Boston Latin school

Median Sib hosts the 104th Carnival of Education. If you’re not reading these regularly, you’re missing a lot in education. Even more useful is checking out the blogs the selected posts come from. This week’s posts include pieces on science education in Florida, the misfiring of the intended incentive pay to Houston Independent School District teachers, standards under NCLB, and more.

And, as EduWonks suggests, one might learn more by perusing the 57th Carnival of Homeschooling at PalmTree Pundit — a couple of good geography teaching posts there.

It’s like this internet thingy is some information highway or something.

Image: Gateway to Boston Latin School, probably the oldest operating public school in America. Ben Franklin’s schooling was obtained at this school (probably in an earlier building!)

Leave a Comment » | Ben Franklin, Charter schools, Classroom technology, Education, Education blogs, Education spending, Homeschooling, No Child Left Behind Act, Pedagogy, Politics, Teaching, Technology in the classroom | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

31st Carnival of the Liberals

January 31, 2007

Blue Steel’s Pollyticks.com hosts the 31st Carnival of the Liberals. Not nearly so stuffy as the conservatives, and certainly much less well represented in the blogosphere, the posts carry a better information-to-rant ratio than most blog carnivals.

Carnival of the Liberals #31

Leave a Comment » | Current History, Politics, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

The Gospel about Millard Fillmore

January 31, 2007

Great title for a sermon, yes?

Does the sermon live up to the title?  The Rev. John Robinson preached the sermon on September 18, 2005, at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco — at least, that’s what it looks like from the sermon archives where I stumbled on the thing. Fillmore was a Unitarian, so that sect might take a bit of pride in his accomplishments.

One historian said of Fillmore: “He came to the Presidency by the only road available to a man of limited ability, the death of his predecessor.” He was accused of being both pro-slavery and abolitionist. It was said he did “not have courage” “but was just inflexible.” They accused him of having “no position except equivocation,” that he was “without personal earnest conviction, personal force, or capacity for strong personal leadership.” His general rating as a president has been, until recently, below average, way below. He is judged bad or poor in his religiousness by those who judge such things. He was rejected by the religious community of which he was a member. He was a Unitarian.

There are three reasons to tell the story of Millard Fillmore: First, he illustrates the on-going tension in our free religious community, between the prophetic and the practical – the privilege of moral purity and the necessity to make real world decisions. Second, he illustrates well how difficult it is to judge our contemporaries. And third, to help restore Millard Fillmore to his rightful place in history.

I wish the good Rev. Robinson had included footnotes with the sermon.

7 Comments | Accuracy, History, Millard Fillmore, Politics, Presidents | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Nixon’s dead, but dirty tricks live on

January 31, 2007

Do I correctly recall that President Bush suggested Republicans and Democrats can work together?

How long ago was that?

Already the right-wing hoax machine is out in force (Swift Boat Veterans again?). A couple of people sent me the latest hoax against Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, claiming she was advocating a 100% tax on incomes of the rich. To be really fair and accurate, we need to note the hoax has been circulating since at least October.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in her office

Pelosi didn’t say she favors a 100% tax. The e-mail circulating is a hoax.

Snopes.com, that grand internet ally for getting the story straight, has a debunking post up.

Here are a few of the victims of the hoax:

It’s almost painful to watch how quickly some people succumb to hoaxes like these. One hopes the perpetrators of the hoaxes get the same twinge of regret that Mencken got from the Fillmore bathtub hoax — but one may be hoping against experience.

So far as I can tell, no one who posted the hoax has yet corrected the post, or noted the error (in a few places, others have written in to note the hoax).

5 Comments | Accuracy, Bad Quotes, Bogus history, Current History, H. L. Mencken, Hoaxes, Politics, Quotes, Voodoo history | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Memories of a one-room school

January 28, 2007

Not just one room, but one room populated mainly by one family and cousins. Dying Man’s Journal has some reflections on a Canadian one-room school.

Some of my students could use such a school. It would be very good for them.

I am reminded that we learn so much  more than just the subjects taught, while we are in school.  A good school provides an education for life.

2 Comments | Classroom size, Classroom technology, History | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Why we need to study history

January 27, 2007

Do we want to prevent future genocides?

Then we need to study history.

I came across this article from the Azeri Press Agency, noting the death of historian Eric Feigl, who “disproved” the story of the Armenian genocide.

Amazing.  Is there an official association of voodoo and bogus historians?

(Here’s a collection of Los Angeles Times pieces about the Armenian genocide and current events around it, including the murder of a reporter who argued for Turkey’s recognizing the events.)

1 Comment | Accuracy, Armenian genocide, Bogus history, History, Voodoo history | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Molly Ivins “still not dead”

January 27, 2007

Texas newspaper columnist Molly Ivins fights cancer in an Austin area hospital. Molly Ivins

Editor & Publisher:

Her assistant Betsy Moon says she may be able to go home Monday. She adds that those close to Ivins are “not sure what’s going to happen, but she’s very sick.”

The 62-year-old columnist had taken an earlier break from her syndicated column, but resumed writing earlier this month.

Last October she had suggested this headline to an E&P interviewer: “Molly Ivins Still Not Dead.”

Ivins’ column carries a strong defense of traditional American liberalism, the love for education, home, family and a good story. Fiercely dedicated to getting the story right when she was a beat reporter (I encountered her when she covered the Rocky Mountain area for the New York Times), Ivins contributed some of the best stories on politics over the past three decades that I have read her work.

Heal up, get back to work, Molly.

Also see:  “A ‘troop surge’ is not acceptable to most Americans,” Bangor (Maine) Daily News, January 17, 2007

Tip of the old White House scrub brush to Virgotext.

2 Comments | Accuracy, Freedom - Political, History, Journalism, Texas, Texas Freedom Network | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

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