Why is this an issue again?
Here’s the encore post of the original 2006 post quoting Jefferson on the topic of religious freedom, and what it means.
Can we lay off Obama now? It’s no slam on America that he knows U.S. history better than most of us. It’s encouraging.
34 Comments | 
America's founding, Barack Obama, Bill of Rights, Civil Rights, First Amendment, History, Religion, Religious Freedom, Thomas Jefferson | Tagged: Barack Obama, Bill of Rights, Christian nation, First Amendment, History, Religion, Religious Freedom, Thomas Jefferson | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
From the same people who brought us Goodnight Bush, some of the attractions at the theme park that is planned for the campus of Southern Methodist University; or attractions that might be planned, if the litigation ever ends.
In a more serious vein:
Leave a Comment » | History, Humor, Libraries, Museums, Politics, Presidents, Texas | Tagged: Books, Humor, Libraries, Library, Politics, President George W. Bush, Satire, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Heck, while we’re looking at Cuba, take a read of Fidel Castro’s comments on Sen. Richard Lugar’s proposal to talk to Cuba.
Leave a Comment » | foreign affairs, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, Politics | Tagged: Castro, Cuba, Embargo, Foreign Relations, geography, History | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Here’s a very odd news item. It’s odd because, first, the disaster at Chernobyl is widely dismissed, and certainly out of the news, so it’s unusual to see any news item that suggests it remains a big problem, or that hints at what a big problem it was (especially from a nominally communist view); and second, who would have predicted Cuba would play a role at all?
I found this at a blog dedicated to news from and about Cuba, Nacho’s Blog/El Blog de Nacho. I’m guessing “acn” is a Cuban news agency:
(acn) – Havana – Over 20,000 children suffering from different diseases have been seen in Cuba as part of the Cuban Medical Program for Children of Chernobyl, marking last Wednesday the 19th anniversary of its creation. The plan began in 1990, when children and their relatives began to arrive en masse from Russia, the Ukraine, Byelorussia, Moldavia and Armenia to the former Pioneer Children’s Camp in Tarará, east of this city. Dr. Julio Medina, coordinator of the Program, explained that from 700 to 800 children arrive in Cuba annually to be treated by multidisciplinary teams of Cuban specialists. So far, patients with blood diseases have been treated, especially with different variants of leukemia; bone marrow and kidney transplants have been done, as well as cardiovascular surgery due to congenital malformations.
Ukrainian Dr. Nadiezhda Guerazimenko, coordinator of the Program in that country, highlighted the professionalism of Cuban doctors. She added that the best example of this statement lies in the high figure of patients who have returned to their respective countries cured of their ailments. The Program has a significant impact in the health and recovery of children and their families. In its almost two decades of existence, it has treated more than 16,000 Ukrainians, almost 3,000 Russians, and 671 Byelorussians. Some 40,000 people died immediately and millions were contaminated as a result of the nuclear disaster on April 26, 1986, which at first hit the Ukraine, and then extended to Russia, Belarus and different parts of Europe and Asia. The event caused several types of diseases, like leukemia, tumors, heart malformations, kidney problems, psoriasis, vitiligo and alopecia. Many of the children and youngsters seen today in Cuba weren’t even born when the disaster occurred. However, their parents were affected by the radiation.
______________
Yes, it turns out “acn” is the Cuban News Agency.
1 Comment | Disasters, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, Health care, History, Nuclear Nonproliferation, Nuclear power, Science | Tagged: Chernobyl, Cuba, disaster, geography, Health care, History, Nuclear power, Nuclear Safety | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
First e-mail of the day, from an early-riser friend:
A short while ago I caught a replay, on C-SPAN, of President Obama’s speech in Hradcany Square in Prague. I tuned in so as to catch almost all of it — practically all I missed were the introductory remarks. And they were cheering, I tell you. Can you say, “Ich bin ein Berliner” ??This guy isn’t fooling around. He’s no Bush. He’s a “people’s President.” He’s charismatic. He’s exactly who we need and when we need him.
Obama talked about reducing and eliminating nuclear weapons. Some people still dream of peace.
See also these sites:
President Barack Obama and wife Michelle, in Prague - photo via Politico
The printed version of Obama’s remarks, below the fold.
3 Comments | History, International law, Nuclear Nonproliferation, Nuclear weapons, Peace, President Obama, Presidents | Tagged: Europe, History, Nuclear Nonproliferation, Nuclear weapons, Peace, Prague, President Barack Obama, War | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
The FDR Library in Hyde Park has an exhibit on FDR’s legendary First 100 Days. Accompanying the exhibit is a flyer, available on-line in .pdf, that is tailor made for a quick PowerPoint on the events.
Cover of the .pdf flyer on the FDR Libraray's exhibit on the First 100 Days
A 24-page guide to the exhibit is also available, with even more details — though a lot of the images would be more difficult to put into a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation.
For government classes, these guides might offer a project on comparing Roosevelt’s first three or four months to Obama’s first months in office.
I’m wondering about printing at least a class set of the guide . . .
Resources:
Leave a Comment » | Cartoons, Classroom technology, FDR, Great Depression, History, History images, History museums, Political cartoons, President Obama | Tagged: FDR, First 100 Days, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Great Depression, Obama, President Obama, Roosevelt Library | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
“I guess I’m not really used to people with tears in their eyes.”
ROSALIE BORK, a reference librarian in Arlington Heights, Ill.
Read the story here in the New York Times, “Downturn Puts New Stresses on Libraries.”
Leave a Comment » | Current History, Economics, Employment, History, Libraries | Tagged: Economics, Education, Libraries, Recession, Safety Net, Unemployment | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
National Poetry Month. April. Good stuff.
Farmschool lists great stuff going on, including Gottabook’s 30 Poets/30 Days. “A Little Poem for Poetry Month.“
Are you subscribed to Poem-A-Day?
Have you asked your city to issue a proclamation? No? Get the proclamation and start lobbying!
Get ready for Poem in Your Pocket Day (April 30).
History teachers will crack out the “Concord Hymn” and tell the story of Paul Revere, of course. Maybe a little Joyce Kilmer to reveal the tragedy of World War I, or “Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” depending on how far the world history or U.S. history courses are.
1 Comment | Education, History, History and art, Lesson plans, Literature, Poetry | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Amazing the things you stumble into.
The boards in Feynman’s office, at his death. From Physics Today, 1989. Image posted at H. Kleinart’s site.
(Click on the image for a much larger view.)
Feynman's last boards
2 Comments | Feynman, History, Physics, Science | Tagged: Chalk Boards, Feynman, Last Boards, Physics, Richard Feynman, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Discovery of the Day reminds us of the importance of April 1 — no, not April Fools:
Let’s Start With a Bang
April 1, 1948: A paper published in the Physical Review proposes that the universe was created through a massive event that caused it to expand rapidly. This idea, developed by physicist George Gamow and his graduate student, Ralph Alpher, was later ridiculed as the “Big Bang” theory, although it never mentioned an explosion. Follow the debate between “Big Bang” and the competing “Steady State” theory of the universe. And check out the inside joke included in the Physical Review paper.
And when you click on that last link to see the joke, be sure to scroll down to Dr. Victor Alpher’s response, in which he suggests the joke may not have been exactly as I described it earlier.
6 Comments | Astronomy, Big Bang, Heroes, History, Physics, Science | Tagged: April Fools, Astronomy, Big Bang, Heroes, Ralph Alpher, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Leisure Guy, in his leisure no doubt, has some time to look seriously at political criticism and its accuracy. For example, recently he wondered about the claim that FDR didn’t do anything to help the U.S. out of the depression, and perhaps helped prolong it. [I have corrected a minor error; he had FDR being inaugurated in January of 1933. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the last president to be inaugurated in March; the term was changed to start in January during his presidency.]
This graph is from an interesting post by Paul Krugman, but I was fascinated to see that you can tell when FDR took office. He was elected, as you know, at the end of 1932, and he took office in late January [March] of 1933. Can you find that spot on the graph?
But of course, Right Wingers will tell you that FDR made the Depression worse. Some will even say that FDR started the Great Depression.
Leisure Guy didn’t include a link to Krugman’s post, drat it. It doesn’t appear to be this one, though it covers some of the same territory. Update: Oh, here it is: “Partying like it’s 1931.”
3 Comments | Economics, Employment, FDR, Great Depression, History, John Maynard Keynes, Politics, Presidents | Tagged: Economics, FDR, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Great Depression, History, Keynesian Economics, Politics, Recovery | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Creationism lost on the votes that had been planned for weeks, on issues members of the State Board of Education were informed about. But creationists on the board proposed a series of amendments to several different curricula, and some really bad science was written in to standards for Texas school kids to learn. Climate change got an official “tsk-tsk, ain’t happenin'” from SBOE. And while Wilson and Penzias won a Nobel Prize for stumbling on the evidence that confirmed it, Big Bang is now theory non grata in Texas science books. Using Board Member Barbara Cargill’s claims, Texas teachers now should teach kids that the universe is a big thing who tells big lies about her age.
Phil Plait wrote at Bad Astronomy: “Texas: Yup. Doomed.”
A surefire way to tell that the changes were bad: The Discovery Institute’s lead chickens crow victory over secularism, science and “smart people.” Well, no, they aren’t quite that bold. See here, here, here and here. Disco Tute even slammed the so-conservative-Ronald-Reagan-found-it-dull Dallas Morning News for covering the news nearly accurately. Even more snark here. Discovery Institute’s multi-million-dollar budget to buy good public relations for anti-science appears to have dropped a bundle in Austin; while it might appear that DI had more people in Austin than there are members of the Texas SBOE . . . no, wait, maybe they did.
SBOE rejected the advice of America’s best and greatest scientists. If it was good science backed by good scientists and urged by the nation’s best educators, SBOE rejected it. If it was a crank science idea designed to frustrate teaching science, it passed. As the Texas Freedom Network so aptly put it, while SBOE closed the door on “strengths and weaknesses” language that favors creationism, they then opened every window in the house.
Read ’em, and tell us in comments if you find any reason for hope, or any reason the state legislature shouldn’t abolish this board altogether. (What others should we add to the list?)
5 Comments | Biology, Education, Education quality, Environmental protection, Evolution, History, Physics, Religion, Science, Texas, Texas Citizens for Science, Texas Freedom Network | Tagged: Biology, Education, Environmental Science, Evolution, geology, Physics, Science, Science Standards, Texas, Texas State Board of Education, War on Education, War on Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Cover from the single release of “Big Yellow Taxi,” from the Joni Mitchell album, “Ladies of the Canyon.” Wikipedia image.
I was looking for lyrics to a Joni Mitchell tune. I discovered she has a very good website.
She lists bands and performances that covered “Big Yellow Taxi.” Silly thing to notice, but it’s a long list. A veerrrrrrrry long list. It looks like she’s been covered on that one song by bands with names starting with every letter in the alphabet.
Well, once I noticed that, I had to check. No band with a name starting with O, Q, or X has covered the song. The other 23 letters are all represented. Oh, but she lists bands whose names start with “the,” and there is a band named “The Quality Kids.” Does that count as Q? Nearly 230 different covers of the song all together.
Does that count as success?
Here’s Joni singing “Big Yellow Taxi” herself, in 1970 (39 years ago! as long ago as Jack Benny is old), at a festival at the Isle of Wight.
[Isle of Wight Festival video not available in U.S. at the moment; BBC tape substituted, below, March 2016]
P.S. — Mitchell also has a page that counts the covers. “Big Yellow Taxi” is #2 in most recorded, at 228 covers. #1 is “Both Sides Now,” with 615 covers.
More:
5 Comments | Environmental protection, History, Music | Tagged: Big Yellow Taxi, Entertainment, History, Joni Mitchell, Music | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
More bad news than good news from the Texas State School Board: Yes, the board failed to reintroduce the creationist sponsored “strengths and weaknesses” language in high school science standards; but under the misleadership of Board Chair Don McLeroy, there is yet <i>another</i> series of amendments intended to mock science, including one challenging Big Bang, one challenging natural selection as a known mechanism of evolution, and, incredibly, one challenging the even the idea of common descent. It’s a kick in the teeth to Texas teachers and scientists who wrote the standards the creationists don’t like.
Texas Freedom Network’s blog headline tells the story: “Science Under Siege in Texas.”
Do you live in Texas? Do you teach, or are you involved in the sciences in Texas? Then please send an e-mail to the State Board of Education this morning, urging them to stick to the science standards their education and science experts recommended. Most of the recent amendments aim to kill the standards the scientists and educators wrote.
TFN tells how to write:
You can still weigh in by sending e-mails to board members at sboeteks@tea.state.tx.us. Texas Education Agency staff will distribute e-mails to board members.
You don’t think it’s serious? Here’s Don McLeroy explaining the purpose of one of his amendments:
Live blogging of SBOE activities today by Steve Schafersman of Texas Citizens for Science, here, and by the Texas Freedom Network, here.
3 Comments | Creationism, Darwin, Education, Education quality, Evolution, History, Religion, Science, Science and faith, State school boards, Texas, Texas Citizens for Science, Texas Freedom Network | Tagged: Education, McLeroy, public schools, Religion, Science, Science Standards, Texas, Texas State Board of Education, Voodoo science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
If you’re not thinking of Edward R. Murrow’s reports from the roof of the building in London as the bombs fell, you’re not aware of how grave things are in Texas.
The Texas Freedom Network is live-blogging the hearings in Austin, before the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE). Testimony of a sort is being offered on whether to force Texas kids to study false claims of scientific error about evolution.
Steve Schafersman of Texas Citizens for Science is live-blogging, too, here at EvoSphere.
Schafersman listed several ways you can keep up with the hearings:
I will be live blogging the Texas State Board of Education meeting of 2009 March 25-27 in this column. This includes the hearing devoted to public testimony beginning at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, March 25. I will stay through the final vote on Friday, March 27.
Go to the following webpages for further information:
State Board of Education
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index3.aspx?id=1156March 25-26 SBOE Meeting Agenda
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=3994March 25 Public Hearing with Testimony, 12:00 noon
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=4034State Board rules for Public Testimony
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=3958#Public%20TestimonyCurrent Science TEKS as revised in 2009 January
http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/home/sboeprop.htmlFor the live audio feed, go to http://www.tea.state.tx.us/ for the link.
Leave a Comment » | Creationism, Evolution, History, State school boards, Texas, Texas Citizens for Science, Texas Freedom Network, Voodoo science, War on Education, War on Science | Tagged: Creationism, Education, Evolution, McLeroy, National Center for Science Education, NCSE, Texas, Texas Citizens for Science, Texas Freedm Network, Texas State Board of Education | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
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Ed Darrell on Texas's Colorado River
Come on in, the water's fine. Come often: Cleanliness is next to godliness.
