April 16, 2007
Uh-oh. Running behind.
One of the reasons I list various carnivals is to make sure I have a note of the good ones somewhere easy to find. Busy-ness in the last week just kept me away from the keyboard.
Carnivals you ought to check out:
Oekologie 4.1: Over at Behavioral Ecology. Lots on climate change, of course, and some very nice bird photos.
Carnival of the Godless at Neural Gourmet has a good run down of the Blog Against Theocracy, and complaints about it, too.
Carnival of the Liberals #36 is up at Truth in Politics. Well, that’s an obvious pairing. Free speech, the president and the Constitution, tyranny in the Middle East, and quite a bit more.
Carnival of Education #114 is back at The Education Wonks. State legislatures may be wrapping up their sessions, but education issues are heating up.
Skeptics’ Circle #58 finds a hangout at Geek Counterpoint, with several posts that get at how we know what is true — good stuff for historians and economists to ponder.
This is as good a time as any to remind you that that Fiesta de Tejas! #2 is coming up on May 2 — deadline for post nominations April 30. You may e-mail entries to me (edarrellATsbcglobalDOTnet), or submit them at the Blog Carnival portal to the Fiesta.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
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Curricula, Economics, Education, Education blogs, Education reform, Education spending, Fiesta de Tejas!, Free market economics, Free speech, Freedom - Economic, Freedom - Political, History, History blogs, History video sources, Religious Freedom, School discipline, Science, Science and faith, Teaching, Technology in the classroom, Testing, Texas, Texas Lege, Weblogs | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
April 4, 2007
A Don’s Life hosts History Carnival 51, which is fun and informative if only because blog author Mary Beard offers a slightly different view of things, being several time zones and an ocean away from America.
This carnival features several entries related to the Battle of Thermopylae, especially surrounding the release of the Film “300,” and several entries pondering the history of slavery, coming just at the end of the commemoration of the end of slavery in the British Empire. Both of these topics offer good material for enrichment for AP world history classes, and good information for anyone else wishing to avoid repeats of the errors of history.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
1 Comment | Capturing history, Current History, Curricula, Education, Freedom - Political, History, History blogs, History museums, Video and film, War, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 31, 2007
Today’s the last day to nominate your post, or another’s post, for the inaugural (and we hope not last) Fiesta de Tejas! blog carnival of Texas history and other things Texan.
Send the good stuff! You can send it through the Blog Carnival entry site for Fiesta de Tejas! (which is a good idea, since it saves copies), found here, or send it to me directly at edarrell AT sbcglobal DOT net.
Map image: Texas relief map from Geology.com
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Leave a Comment » | Education, Education blogs, Education reform, Education spending, Fiesta de Tejas!, Fiesta Texana!, History, History blogs, History museums, Lesson plans, Texas, Texas history, Texas Lege, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 30, 2007
. . . what’s the difference?
The Education Wonks host Education Carnival 112.
Lots of carnivalia at Framed: Discourse & Democracy, with Carnival of the Liberals #35.
And, while we’re at it, one of my favorite blogs hosts the 57th Skeptic’s Circle, at Aardvarchaeology. It’s well worth a browse. Brain learning, how do we tell what’s accurate, etc.
Photo: Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
1 Comment | Education, Education blogs, Education reform, Education spending, Politics, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 26, 2007
Here are some of the posts I’ve been thinking about over the past couple of days:
Iraq and Vietnam: Writings by Hudson has been reading about LBJ and Vietnam. Santayana’s ghost appreciates the exercise.
Camels in the Outback, camels in the dogfood: Would you believe a million camels are feral in the Australian Outback? And now, with a drought, it’s a problem. The Coffee House alerts us.
What if everybody in your organization came to you for help? The Drawing Room tells us why you’d be wise to work for such a thing.
U.S. soldiers protest the war: No, not the current war — African American soldiers protest the Filipino conflict. Forgotten soldiers, forgotten war — you’d do well to reacquaint yourself with this chapter of U.S. history at Vox ex Machina.
Leaks about the incident that got us into the war: No, not yet the Iraq war (see how you jump to conclusions?). POTUS reflects on LBJ and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, and the leaks and lack of intelligence that may have gotten us into a quagmire.
Earthquakes in Tornado Alley: Tennessee Guy points to an article that wonders about the New Madrid Fault, and whether it is tensing up for “the Big One” to shake West Tennessee (and the rest of the Midwest), or it is going to sleep for a millennium.
Science and racism: A collection of Darwin’s writings that touch on race and slavery, for your bookmark file.
Cool school libraries: We’re not talking about air conditioning.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
1 Comment | Charles Darwin, Civil Rights, Dissent, Education, Elections, Evolution, History, History blogs, Leadership, Lessons of Vietnam, Patriotism, Politics, Presidents, Public libraries, Santayana's ghost, Theodore Roosevelt, Vietnam, War, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 25, 2007
At Georgia on my Mind, elementaryhistoryteacher took my challenge to Texans as a challenge to historians in Georgia, too — “Battle of the State Blogs.” Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to inspire with a locker-room speech.
It may take us a couple of months to get up to speed, of course, but this is the state that produced Molly Ivins, John Henry Faulk, J. Frank Dobie, Kent Biffle, and Dwight Eisenhower — not to mention Stevie Ray Vaughn.
C’mon Texans! Send in your blog entries: Fiesta de Tejas! Shooting to publish on April 2, no foolin’.
Easy submission form here, at the Blog Carnival.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
2 Comments | Fiesta de Tejas!, Fiesta Texana!, Texas, Texas Freedom Network, Texas history, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 24, 2007
We’d better hope it’s a tongue-in-cheek title, but the Carnival of the Decline of Democracy 2.6 is up at Ken Goldstein’s Random Thoughts, Notes, and Incidents. It’s a short one — it would appear democracy’s decline is overstated.
And, how do they come up with the “2.6” count?
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Leave a Comment » | Patriotism, Politics, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 24, 2007
This site will challenge your hoax detectors — just enough facts to ring true, enough humor to make the parodies appealing and likely to be repeated as fact. This Day in Mythstory is written by Chris Regan, a humor writer formerly with “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”
When the professionals hoax up history, at least they do it in good faith.
(This site is probably funnier if you know which parts are accurate, and which are not. Basically, the historical events cited are real, though the reasons given are suspect. Each of these pieces might make a good warm-up to get students discussing what is accurate, and what is humor.)
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Leave a Comment » | History, Hoaxes, Humor, Teaching, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 23, 2007
Mardi Gras marks the end of merriment for Christians who spend Lent thinking about atoning for past sins, in preparation for Easter. Mardi Gras ends with the arrival of Ash Wednesday. So, why are we talking carnivals?
Learning carnivals can be as onerous as Lent, right?
We hope not, actually. Yes, it’s Lent, but weblog carnivals continue, and those carnivals are to our advantage, entertainment and betterment.
The Education Wonks host the 111th Carnival of Education. One post in that carnival deserves special mention: Friends of Dave.org complains that education reform simply is not happening, but it’s not because we don’t know what to do. We know how to improve schools and educational outcomes, Dave argues, and first on his list is “high quality teachers and staff.”
It’s a marvelous summary of education reform studies over the past 40 years. And almost sidles into the real problems: We lack the will to pay the money to get the job done. You may disagree with my conclusion, but I challenge you to pick anything other than a nit in Dave’s post, and I challenge you to identify a better, quicker, and cheaper solution.
And, let me take this moment to plug the upcoming carnival of Texas history and all things Texas, Fiesta de Tejas! If you blog for history, or for Texas, please pass the plug along to your readers, and invite them to submit entries. We publish on April 2.
Image: Euclid, from “The School of Athens”
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Leave a Comment » | Education, Education blogs, Education reform, Fiesta de Tejas!, History, History blogs, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 20, 2007
Brainshrub hosts the 34th Carnival of the Liberals, an Ides of March edition, with ample warnings to would-be-tyrants, or to leaders who refuse to listen to their people, or to the sages who know better.
COTL is rather unique in that it limits the number of posts to about a dozen. It’s generally a quick read, packed with information. 
Mentioning it also gives me a chance to plug the pending Fiesta de Tejas!, a carnival of Texas history and other things Texas. We’re aiming for April 2, no foolin’. Details are a few posts down on this blog.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Leave a Comment » | Accuracy, Business Ethics, Civil Rights, Politics, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 16, 2007
Is it just technical, or is it something I said? Does the Chinese government have no use for Millard Fillmore, who sent an expedition to Japan to open up trade there, or is it the thought of bathtubs that puts them off?
Any way it is sliced, according to GreatFirewallofChina.org, this blog is not viewable in China.
Test your own, or someone else’s: Test.
Odd consideration: Fox News is also blocked from China. Who could object to that, except on principle? On the one hand, one appreciates the good taste shown in blocking the site. On the other hand, even garbage journalism has rights in the U.S.
Okay, we’ll stick with principle: Not even Fox News should be blocked.
And, just to be sure, if a site you test produces a result that suggests it is available in China, will you let me know? I found very few available.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
9 Comments | Free speech, Freedom - Political, Freedom of Information, Human Rights, Technology, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 15, 2007
Early Modern Notes hosts the 50th History Carnival. Early Modern Notes was the inaugural host for the carnival, back in 2005. A lot of history under the bridge since then.
Posts at the Carnival include a small handful of tributes to the late Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., whose death should remind us how valuable can be the contributions of historians who get the ear of policy makers. The Carnival also features posts useful to teachers, on grading and plagiarism.
The host sprinkled “Bonus links” throughout the Carnival, including this link to the 21st Teaching Carnival at the Salt Box, which I had missed earlier this month. Good ideas, nice presentation — you could learn something if you dropped by.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Leave a Comment » | History, History blogs, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 6, 2007
Haiku, nothing! Limericks are everywhere!
Blue Gal has the 33rd Carnival of the Liberals. It’s a huge disappointment for those radical right wingers who hope that such a compilation will be bereft of care and thought, and substance. Go see. 
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
1 Comment | Politics, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 5, 2007
Really.
I can’t gloss this at all, and so far it checks out as presented. Political Teen Tidbits is a blog run by a bright young Texan with a conscience. She’s trying to draw attention to the bizarre cases that keep coming out of Texas’ immigration detention practices.
Political Teen Tidbits thinks we should let the 9-year-old Canadian kid out of jail. Go read the details — what do you think?
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
1 Comment | Dissent, Ethics, Human Rights, Immigration, Jurisprudence, Justice, U.S. Constitution, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 1, 2007
You are a social scientist? You do not pay adequate attention to trees, in my view (with a few exceptions). History is not only made with treaties signed under great trees, but history is made when forests move (ask Macbeth), or when orchards and forests are planted. Economics would be nowhere without a building to do the economics in, and that building most likely owes much of its structure to trees — as does our entire economy (checked lumber prices lately?). Don’t get me started on agriculture.
And then there are those trees that inspire (Isaac Newton, Joyce Kilmer), and those that simply give us beauty.
You have many good reasons to check out this compilation of posts, a web carnival, all about trees: Festival of the Trees #9. If you check carefully, you’ll even find some history involving Thomas Jefferson there.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Leave a Comment » | History, Natural history, Thomas Jefferson, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 