In working to make quality common, and valuable, W. Edwards Deming seems to have learned a little about life along the way.
In 1989, he sketched out this diagram.
I think it speaks for itself, but what do you think?
W. Edwards Deming’s Life Diagram
Tip of the old scrub brush to Richard Sheridan, from whose Tweet I took the diagram.
The Deming Cycle for continual improvement
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2 Comments | 
Business, Leadership, Management, Quality, Teaching | Tagged: Business, Continuous Improvement, Leadership, Life Diagram, Management, Quality, Teaching, w edwards deming | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
13-year-old paperboy Chester Kahapea happily hawks a commemorative edition of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin with the headline showing the state had achieved statehood after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the law authorizing Hawaii as a state. Star-Bulletin photo by Murray Befeler.
Hawaii’s official statehood day is August 21, commemorating the day in 1959 when Hawaii was recognized as a member of the union of the United States of America. Hawaiians should fly their flags to day in honor of the date (you may, too).
Hawaii formally celebrates the day on the third Friday in August (last Friday, for 2013). I hope you joined in the festivities (it’s a holiday in Hawaii) — but under the U.S. Flag Code, you may certainly fly your flags on August 21, regardless which day of the week that is.
Specimen copy of the ballot used by Hawaiians in a June 27, 1959, plebiscite to approve conditions of statehood. Image from Hawaii Magazine, 2009
After the U.S. annexed Hawaii in 1898 (in action separate from the Spanish-American War) attempts at getting Hawaii admitted as a state got rolling. After World War II, with the strategic importance of the islands firmly implanted in Americans’ minds, the project picked up some steam. Still, it was 14 years after the end of the war that agreements were worked out between the people of Hawaii, the Hawaiian royal family, Congress and the executive branch. The deal passed into law had to be ratified by a plebiscite among Hawaiian citizens. The proposition won approval with 94% of votes in favor.
Some native Hawaiian opposition to statehood arose later, and deference to those complaints has muted statehood celebrations in the 21st century.
Other than the tiny handful of loudmouth birthers, most Americans today are happy to have Hawaii as a state, the fifth richest in the U.S. by personal income. The nation has a lot of good and great beaches, but the idea of catching sun and surf in Hawaii on vacation might be considered an idealized part of the American dream.
U.S. and Hawaii flags flying together.
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From Prologue, the blog of the National Archives: This petition, rolled onto a wooden spool, was signed by 116,000 supporters of Hawaii statehood and presented to the U.S. Senate on February 26, 1954. (RG 46, Records of the U.S. Senate)
U.S. postage stamp issued in 2009 commemorating the 50th anniversary of Hawaii’s admission to the union.
Contrast the first class postage price above with the airmail postage price of this stamp issued in 1959 — August 21, 1959 7¢ Rose Hawaii Statehood stamp. Wikipedia image
This is an encore post.
6 Comments | Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, Statehood, World War II | Tagged: Flag Etiquitte, Fly your flag today, geography, Hawaii, History, Kingdom of Hawaii, World War II | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Ho Chi Minh at his typewriter. Photo from EarthStation 1
The image looks to me to have been lifted off of a film or video; by the non-white color of his beard, this must have been taken sometime before 1955. I’ve found no other details on the photo, especially nothing on the typewriter. Anybody know the date of the photo, the occasion, the location, or the typewriter?
But there you go: Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the Vietnam freedom fighters against the Japanese in World War II, then against the French colonialists (his forces then called Viet Minh, and later Viet Cong), and then of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and the United States after 1954, until his death in 1969.
Ha! A second photo of Ho and a typewriter, from Greg Hocfell:
Ho Chi Minh at his typewriter. Photo via Greg Hocfell
Might those photos be from the same session? Ho looks about the same age, his hair and beard are about the same color, and he’s wearing a dark shirt with white buttons in each.
More:
1 Comment | History, Technology, Typewriters, Vietnam | Tagged: History, Ho Chi Minh, Technology, Typewriters, Vietnam | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Found this wonderful page with a list of resources on Millard Fillmore, available on line from the Library of Congress. The list was compiled by Library of Congress’s Virtual Services, Digital Reference Section.
Completely cribbed from that site:
American Memory Historical CollectionsAbraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress
An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1824-1909
“I Do Solemnly Swear…”: Presidential Inaugurations
Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1820-1860 & 1870-1885
The Nineteenth Century in Print: Periodicals
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Happy researching! Teachers, be sure to make your students aware of these sites (I presume other presidents are covered, too).
Leave a Comment » | DBQ sources, DBQs, Historic documents, History, Library of Congress, Millard Fillmore, Research | Tagged: DBQ, History, Library of Congress, Millard Fillmore, Original Documents, Research | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
MoveOn.org posted this photo on their Facebook page:
First Amendment Area?
I presume (the post doesn’t say) this is a photo from Ferguson, Missouri. I presumed incorrectly. It’s a sign from the Bundy Ranch standoff.
My first thought was, “Do they have a 2nd Amendment area?” My second thought was, if we put up signs saying “2nd Amendment Area” will cops enforce it?
It’s probably a violation of prior restraint law, of course. The sign is an indication of just how bizarre and sick things are in Ferguson, Missouri, at the moment. It’s also an indication of how bizarre things were at Bundy Ranch.
Tip of the old scrub brush to Randy Creath.
10 Comments | Bill of Rights, Civil Rights, First Amendment, Free press, Free speech, Freedom - Political, U.S. Constitution | Tagged: Bill of Rights, Constitution, Ferguson Missouri, First Amendment | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
PrintsOldandRare.com had a copy of an 1864 Illustrated News with Millard Fillmore on the cover.
Prints Old and Rare: “1853 Portrait of Millard Fillmore. Antique engraved portrait of Fillmore from the May 28, 1853 issue of the Illustrated News, surrounded by text discussing the history of his administration. 11×16 in. SOLD”
What was the contemporary judgment on the last Whig President, whose own party refused to nominate him for a term of his own?
One wonders if there isn’t another copy of that newspaper floating around out there, or whether it might be available at the Library of Congress.
Just about a decade later, some people thought Fillmore might be a good nominee for the Democrats, against Lincoln. In a look back in history in the Columbia (Missouri) Daily Tribune, we find this news report out of Fulton, Missouri, repeated by Rudi Keller:
FULTON — Former President Millard Fillmore was a tested leader who would preserve the Union and heal political divisions, Editor John Williams wrote, announcing his preference for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“We have tried him and we know that he will do us justice,” Williams wrote.
The Democratic National Convention was scheduled to begin Aug. 29 at Chicago. Fillmore, 64, was gaining some notice as a potential candidate, but most Democrats were focused on Maj. Gen. George McClellan. Nicknamed “The Young Napoleon,” McClellan was a meticulous officer who thoroughly organized the Army of the Potomac but was relieved of command because of his cautious approach to combat.
Missouri had 22 delegate seats at the convention, with U.S. Rep. William Hall of Randolph County, banker Weston Birch of Howard County and former U.S. Rep. Thomas Price of Cole County included in the delegation.
Williams wrote that while he preferred Fillmore, “McClellan will do — he is a Christian — a soldier and a patriot. Although a war man we believe he would favor peace at once, with the most liberal terms, and on the condition of the Union. If not McClellan, then some other good man…”
Democrats nominated McClellan. Lincoln won.
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Leave a Comment » | Elections, History, Millard Fillmore, Presidents | Tagged: 1853, Elections, History, Illustrated News, Millard Fillmore | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
This is how it’s done right:
“You are the reason we are here.”
No Common Core Standards, no testing schedule, just a genuine welcome. Bet there’s a lot more learning that goes on behind that door than many others.
Tip of the old scrub brush to @Kiwigirl58, Sahila ChangeBringer.
Leave a Comment » | Classroom management, Education, First day | Tagged: Classroom management, Education, First Day | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Maasai school in Tanzania. Photo by Noel Feans, “We rule the school.” September 2009; Creative Commons copyright, Wikimedia image; also on Flickr
Another photo illustrating classroom technology in different cultures.
4 Comments | Africa, Classroom technology, Education, Travel | Tagged: Africa, Classroom technology, Education, Maasai, Tanzania, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Sunset at the home of President Truman. @GoParks @Interior #POTUS
In the late afternoon light, one gets a better view of just why Harry Truman was so fond of this house. Who wouldn’t be?
Something to visit when you’re next in Independence, Missouri.
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Leave a Comment » | Harry Truman, History, National Parks, photography, Presidents, Travel | Tagged: Harry Truman, History, Independence Missouri, National Parks, photography, Presidents, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
A few miles from the New Mexico border, in Chromo, Colorado:
East of Durango, along U.S. Highway 160 84, a school building with a sign suggesting it was built in 1895. The map said it was Chromo, Colorado. Photos by Ed Darrell; use with attribution is encouraged.
Difficult to tell how many rooms; it could have had up to four classrooms at one point, I reckon. The belfry is still there, but the bell is long gone — a prize for some scavenger if it was not removed for re-use, or for a museum.
Bigger windows that many modern schools, windows students could use to actually look outdoors. Modern school architects seem to want students to be unaffected by the outdoors, or light from outdoors, often.
Off in a field by itself, there was plenty of room for kids to run around, at recess.
In this photo the sign is legible: “State of Colorado 1895 Approved Standard School.”
Was this a standard design, or does “standard school” refer to the program of instruction offered?
There were a few homes and farms close by. The community has always been small. How many students learned to read, learned how to handle numbers, read the greats of American history and literature in these walls? Who were they, and where did they go?
How big a mark can a school, or a teacher, actually make?
More:
5 Comments | Classroom technology, Education, History | Tagged: Chromo, Classroom technology, Colorado school building 1895, Education, History, John Little, One-room School | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Getty images. A young boy at the blackboard of a school in Gaza, August 2014. Via BBC.
Gaza got bombed 97 years ago when the British seized it, in World War I.
In the 21st century, things have not changed enough for the people who live in the area.
It’s even worse in Gaza than it was for the West Bank earlier.
3 Comments | Civil Rights, Classroom technology, Education, History, History images, Human Rights, Israel | Tagged: Civil Rights, Classroom technology, Education, Gaza Strip, History, Human Rights, Israel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Yosemite National Park, Facebook site: About forty members of U.S. 6th Cavalry, Troop F, shown mounted on, or standing beside their horses, and lined up atop and beside the Fallen Monarch tree in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, Yosemite, 1899.
Giant sequoia trees can be found only in the United States, and only in or near the Sierra Mountains in California.
How massive are they? The tree above, with the 6th Cavalry’s F Troop posing on and around it with their horses, is 26 feet in diameter at its base, where it fell, and 285 feet long, Redwood doesn’t rot like other woods. The tree is still there, today, looking much like it did 115 years ago (Comments on Yosemite NP photo).
The Fallen Monarch, in Mariposa Grove, in 1907:
Fallen Monarch, Mariposa Grove of Yosemite NP, in 1907, with a stage coach and team of six horses posing on top.
When did the tree fall? Hundreds of years ago, perhaps?
More:
Yosemite NP Nature Notes 11: Big Trees
5 Comments | Conservation, National Parks, Travel, trees, Yosemite | Tagged: Conservation, Fallen Monarch, Travel, trees, Yosemite National Park | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Logos for great scientists; from Twitter, https://twitter.com/aneyeofsky/status/495615741912416257/photo/1
These are quite creative. I wonder who invented them?
Other possibilities?
Maybe:
Edison’s logo?
3 Comments | History, Humor, Science, Signs | Tagged: History, Humor, Science, Signs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
I don’t generally post these posters, except to take issue . . . but this one made me chuckle.
Daily Edge poster, “Not Reagan, you idiot. Obama.”
Text, with English teacher editing:
He created 9.9 million jobs in a record 53-month stretch of uninterrupted job growth.
He reduced the deficit by $800 billion within 5 years, and grew the stock market by 142% within his first 2,000 days.Not Reagan, you idiot: Obama.
3 Comments | Accuracy, Politics, President Obama | Tagged: Accuracy, Politics, President Obama | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Making those nice photographs of the Milky Way and stars isn’t so easy as it looks.
I made my most successful efforts on our recent swing through Colorado, New Mexico and West Texas. Here’s a shot I got that almost shows the Milky Way, probably has Polaris in it, and because it was a timed exposure, also captured star movement and an airplane flying overhead. Photo was taken from the Army Corps of Engineers campground at Abiquiu Reservoir, a few miles from Georgia O’Keefe’s home.
Abiquiu Stars – Time photograph of stars against a pinon pine, pointing north; Milky Way almost visible in the East.
Leave a Comment » | Astronomy, Milky Way, photography, Time-lapse photography, Travel | Tagged: Abiquiu, Astronomy, Camping, Milky Way, New Mexico, photography, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Ed Darrell on Texas's Colorado River
Come on in, the water's fine. Come often: Cleanliness is next to godliness.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
