Here’s an idea your class could carry out in its own blog: Alaskan Librarian covers part of the Constitution each monday — here’s the middle of coverage on the amendments.
There’s a bell ringer or 27 bell ringers in there somewhere.
Constitution Monday
October 2, 2010
1 Comment | 
History, Libraries, U.S. Constitution | Tagged: Alaskan Librarian, History, Libraries, U.S. Constitution | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
Annals of Global Warming: Another broken campaign promise: 2010 hottest year on record
October 2, 2010Last November and December, in their campaign to impugn science and promote air pollution, climate change “skeptics” said that global warming is done, and that we are in a new planetary cooling phase.
It’s one more broken campaign promise from the anti–climate science politicians, like Anthony Watts: 2010 on track to be the hottest year on record.
“The interesting thing about it is the temperature anomaly map for June shows it was pretty much warm everywhere over land except for a few places,” said David Easterling, of NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., which released the data. “That’s somewhat of an uncommon pattern to see almost all the land mass being that warm.”
Only the U.S. Pacific Northwest, northern Europe and southern China were cooler than average, according to NOAA.
As the Earth continues to heat up from rising levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, the planet is likely to see more record-breaking years. “As we continue to get warmer, the odds of any given year breaking the record are pretty high,” Easterling said.
Indeed, four of the five warmest years on record have come in the last decade. The reigning warmest year on record is 2005, followed by 1998, 2003, 2006 and 2009, Easterling said.
We don’t even have to see their intimate e-mails to know they fibbed to us. The thermometer on the patio has the news.
Last year, when the world’s leaders were preparing to meet in Copenhagen, harpies from the radical and crazy right insisted that global warming had ceased its advances, and the global cooling would be the norm for the near and midrange future. They promised!*
Good heavens! Do you think they were fibbing when they said the scientists were wrong, and mean? Were they fibbing when they said CO2 is not a pollutant?
How many more broken promises? (/sarcasm off)
Would Copenhagen’s result been different had this information been available a year earlier?
See also:
- The news from NOAA, the horse’s mouth
- [Washington] Post Carbon; also, Post story here
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* Note: No, they didn’t promise, not really. Critics of taking action for a better future never promise anything solid. They only carp that whatever being done is wrong, unnecessary, and too expensive. Plus, they complain that the food is horrible to the point of being inedible, and the portions are too small.
4 Comments | Climate change, climate_change, Cost of Green, History, Politics, Science | Tagged: Climate change, Global warming, History, Politics, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Original Navajo Code Talkers: Two remain
October 1, 2010Alan Dale June died in September in Window Rock, Arizona. He was 91.
Alan Dale June, Navajo Code Talker, accepted the Congressional Gold Medal from President George W. Bush, in a ceremony in the U.S. Capitol on July 26, 2001. June died in September 2010, at 91. Photo Credit: John Klemmer, U.S. Senate Photo Studio.
June was one of three surviving Navajo Code Talkers out of 29 who developed the code and system by which they communicated by radio across the South Pacific Ocean, in Navajo. Using a simple code for troops, ships, airplanes and other armaments, the Navajo Code Talkers passed crucial information between far-flung American forces, on regular radio waves. Japanese forces could easily intercept the broadcasts, but they did not speak Navajo, nor did they break the Navajo code.
After the original 29, many more Navajos got training and performed the critical communications functions.
I met several of these men through the good graces of my brother, Jerry Jones, who helped promote their recognition when he worked in Page, Arizona, in public relations for the Salt River Project’s Navajo Power Station. Jerry drew deep inspiration from the quiet dignity and great humility of these patriots. He would have been gratified to see them get the Congressional Gold Medal, a belated and too-small recognition for the great service they rendered our nation.
RIP, Alan Dale June.
More:
- Photos and news from the July 26, 2001 Congressional Gold Medal ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, from the site of U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman.
- Navajo Nation Council tribute to June
- Notice and tribute in Kayenta Today
- August AP story on the last three survivors of the original 29
- Brownielocks, a website devoted to the Navajo Code Talkers; also features the names of the World War II Comanche Code Talkers, and Code Talkers from other tribes
- Website dedicated to Samuel Tom Holiday, one of the Code Talkers
8 Comments | 1941-1945, Navajo, veterans, World War II | Tagged: Alan Dale June, History, Navajo Code Talkers, Navajo Tribe, South Pacific, World War II | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Columbus’s most prized possession
September 28, 2010Columbus feared that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella would not honor pledges they had made to him as recompense and honor for his great work of discovery on their behalf. Before his final voyage, he assembled a legal document showing those promises made to him, and his work for Spain.
This illustrates, once again, the human dimension of the great drama of the age of exploration, of Columbus’s stumbling on to the America’s in his efforts to get to China.
On January 5, 1502, prior to his fourth and final voyage to America, Columbus gathered several judges and notaries in his home in Seville. The purpose? To have them authorize copies of his archival collection of original documents through which Isabel and Fernando had granted titles, revenues, powers and privileges to Columbus and his descendants. These 36 documents are popularly called “Columbus’ Book of Privileges.” Four copies of his “Book” existed in 1502, three written on vellum and one on paper. The Library’s copy, one of the three on vellum, has a unique paper copy of the Papal Bull Dudum siquidem of September 26, 1493, which extended the Spanish claim for future explorations.
Borrowed with permission from Mr. Darrell’s Wayback Machine.
3 Comments | 1492, Age of Exploration, Columbus, Geography - Physical, Historic documents, History, How do we know what we know, Libraries, World history | Tagged: 1492, Age of Exploration, Columbus, geography, History, History Channel, Library of Congress | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Debunking creationist claims of human and dinosaur footprints together . . .
September 26, 2010. . . from 1983!
Steve Schafersman, now president of Texas Citizens for Science, played the yeoman then:
Description of the program:
Did humans coexist with dinosaurs? The tracks tell the tale. Dr. John R. Cole, Dr. Steven Schafersman, Dr. Laurie Godfrey, Dr. Ronnie Hastings, Lee Mansfield, and other scientists examine the claims and the evidence. Air date: 1983.
Tip of the old scrub brush to the National Center for Science Education.
99 Comments | Creationism, Evolution, geology, History, Paleontology, Science, Voodoo science | Tagged: Creationism, Dinosaurs, Evolution, geology, History, National Center for Science Education, Paleontology, Science, Steve Schafersman, Voodoo science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
H. W. Brands on the study of history, with technology
September 26, 2010Spent half a day with H. W. Brands, professor of history at the University of Texas, and author of at least one of my favorite history books, The First American (and several others).
Brands banned the use of computers for notetaking in his classrooms this fall. It’s not the notes he objects to, of course, but the students’ side-activities of checking e-mail, eBay, and ESPN, rather than paying attention to the lecture, and other activities in lieu of taking notes.
Nominally our discussion centered on the decade of 1890 to 1900, the Reckless Decade, as Brands’ book on the era titles it. Brands took a larger, circular route to the topic, today. These discussions come under the aegis of the Dallas Independent School District’s Teaching American History Grant, and the Gilder-Lehrman Institute chipped in today, too. We are a polyglot group of teachers of American history, and a few other related social studies subjects, in Dallas high schools.
I asked about technology beyond lecture, or “direct instruction” as the curriculum and teacher berating rubrics so dryly and inaccurately phrase it. Brands focused on the effects of connected students in the lecture, a problem which we officially should not have in Dallas schools. We discovered he’s using Blackboard (probably the electronic classroom standard for UT-Austin). I’ve used Blackboard in college instruction, and a somewhat less luxurious version in high schools. Blackboard works better than others I’ve tried.
Over several hours Brands said he teaches best when he performs well as a story teller — when the students put down their note-taking pencils and listen. Two observations: It helps to be a good story teller, and, second, that requires that one know a story to tell.
Our grant could give us better stories to tell. Most educational enterprises produce great benefits as by-products of the original learning goal. Our teacher studies of history are no different.
3 Comments | Classroom management, Classroom technology, History, Teachers, Teaching, Technology, Technology in the classroom | Tagged: Classroom, Classroom management, Dallas ISD, H. W. Brands, History, Teaching, Technology | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
What does urban sprawl look like?
September 22, 2010Teachers looking for a good way to portray urban sprawl, for geography and history classes, should take a look at this photo essay at the New York Times; unfortunately for teachers, Christoph Gielen’s stunning aerial landscapes cannot be copied for PowerPoint.
Gielen’s work is well known, and many of those same images can be found at other sites. Images to illustrate “urbanization” and “urban sprawl” from internet sources generally carry a lot more punch than the stock photos delivered with textbooks. Mind the copyrights.
(Caption from New York Times presentation): Untitled XI Nevada, 2010 This Vegas-area community was built by the same company that designed the circular communities on the outskirts of Phoenix in “Untitled X / XII / XI.” Credit: Christoph Gielen (Go see the presentation at the Times site to see the other photos)
More resources:
- A Gielen exhibit at Culturehall
- Architect Alex MacLean also created stunning images of human developments on land, as portrayed in Harvard Magazine, in the January/February 2009 issue; MacLean’s book, Over: The American Landscape at the Tipping Point
3 Comments | Education, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, Social Studies, Urbanization | Tagged: Christoph Gielen, Education, geography, History, Nevada, New York Times, Social Studies, Urban Sprawl, Urbanization | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Tony Horowitz on Ray Charles and chess
September 21, 2010Trumpeter Tony Horowitz, one of those portrayed playing chess with Ray Charles, wrote in to compliment Charles on his chess acumen, and acumen at life in general. Take a look again at Ray Charles and Tony Horowitz playing Chess Games of the Rich and Famous.
1 Comment | Chess, History, History images, Music | Tagged: Chess, History, History images, Music, Ray Charles, Tony Horowitz | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
One more place to lose your heart, or stir it, near San Francisco
September 20, 2010Did I mention that San Francisco is one of my favorite cities in the world?
A lot of reasons. My father had businesses there (1930s?). My parents wooed in and around there. Our Favorite Aunt Linda did well in the area (Marin County, but that just adds to the beauty).
I was accepted at Hastings College of Law. We figured we had enough saved that we could either pay tuition at Hastings, and live on what Kathryn could earn, if she could get a job; or we could buy a house in the D.C. area, keep our jobs on Senate staff, and pay tuition.
We had a wonderful week in San Francisco getting no job interviews. On our last night we found a Tower Record Store and stocked up (back in the days of vinyl) for the next four years at George Washington, and sadly left the city. In a fit of irony, Tower Records opened a store across the street from GW’s law school two years later.
Earlier, after the 1976 elections, I hid out at Aunt Linda’s joint, Red Robin Catering, tending bar, washing dishes, washing a lot of lettuce, and generally trying to make a car payment and enjoy San Francisco. She catered the opening of the Marin/San Francisco ferry, which meant more than a dozen trips overall, as I recall, serving champagne mostly. Now I look back on how unfair it was that my youth did not include electronic cameras.
Early mornings — and there were more than a few — the city is just unsurpassed in beauty. Cousin Steve pushed me out of bed to go see the Muir Woods at near dawn (I confess I did not go often enough). Some nights I’d just cruise across the Golden Gate Bridge for the views.
Like this one, a composition from several shots from the same place, woven together with the wonders of electronic camera software:
Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco, and fog, from Marin County - Wikimedia image, panorama photo stitching by Mila Zinkova
It’s shot from Marin County, west of the Golden Gate Bridge, I think — that’s the North Tower of the bridge, with the Bay Bridge and the city of San Francisco in the background.
Discussion at Wikimedia: Those are crepuscular rays coming through the trees. There’s an SAT vocabulary word for you: Crepuscular.
More crepuscular rays from Marin County, Wikimedia photo by Mila Zinkova
More:
2 Comments | Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, photography, Travel | Tagged: Fog, geography, Golden Gate Bridge, History, photography, San Francisco, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
O, say! Does that woman’s lamp still burn beside the golden door?
September 12, 2010Liberty stands gazing out at about 265 feet* above the water of New York Harbor, a fixture there since construction in the 1880s.
The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States and is a universal symbol of freedom and democracy. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886, designated as a National Monument in 1924 and restored for her centennial on July 4, 1986.
The Statue of Liberty has been a fixture in the U.S. and American psyche, too. Excuse me, or join me, in wondering whether we have not lost something of our former dedication to the Statue of Liberty, and the reasons France and Americans joined to build it.
Poem-a-Day sent Emma Lazarus’s “The New Colossus” out this morning (Poem-a-Day is a wonderful service of the American Academy of Poets — you may subscribe and I recommend it). There it was, waiting for me in e-mail. My students generally have not heard nor read the poem, I discover year after year — some sort of Texas-wide failure in enculturation prompted by too-specific requirements of federal law and state law, combining to make a slatwork of culture taught in our classrooms with too many cracks into which culture actually falls, out of sight, out of mind; out of memory. I fear it may be a nationwide failure as well.
Have you read the poem lately? It once encouraged American school children to send pennies to build a home for the statue. Today it wouldn’t get a majority of U.S. Congressmen to sign on to consponsor a reading of it. Glenn Beck would contest its history, Rush Limbaugh would discount the politics of the “giveaways” in the poem, John Boehner would scoriate the victims in the poem for having missed his meeting of lobbyists (‘they just missed the right boat’), and Sarah Palin would complain about “an air-bridge to nowhere,” or complain that masses who huddle are probably up to no good (they might touch, you know).
Have you read it lately?
The New Colossus
by Emma Lazarus
Liberty Enlightening the World; French: La Liberté éclairant le monde - Wikimedia Commons image
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
AAP makes poems available for iPhones, too, and you can see how it appears, phrase by phrase. “The New Colossus” takes on more of its power and majesty delivered that way.
Is the Academy of American Poets playing politics here? It’s September 12. Yesterday many Americans took part in ceremonies and service projects in remembrance of the victims of the attack on the U.S. on September 11, 2001. In much of the rest of America, there is an active movement to nail shut the “golden door,” to turn out a sign that would say “No tired, no poor nor huddled masses yearning to breathe free; especially no wretched refuse, no homeless, and let the tempest-tost stay in Guatemala and Pakistan.”
Would Americans bother to contribute to build a Statue of Liberty today? Or would they protest against it?
Does that lamp still shine beside the golden door?
Stereoscopic image of the arm and torch of Liberty, at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia; Robert N. Dennis Collection, New York Public Library. The arm was displayed to encourage contributions to the fund to build a pedestal for the statue, from private donations.
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* I’m calculating Liberty’s gaze at about 40 feet below the tip of the torch, which is just over 305 feet above the base of the statue on the ground. The base is probably 20 feet higher than the water, but this isn’t exact science we’re talking about here.
32 Comments | History, Homelessness, Icons of history, Immigration, Patriotism, Poetry, Poverty | Tagged: Emma Lazarus, Golden Door, History, Homelessness, Icons of History, Immigration, New Colossus, Patriotism, Poetry, Poverty, Statue of Liberty | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Michigan’s flags at half-staff for 9/11 remembrance
September 10, 2010From Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm:
September 9, 2010
Granholm Encourages Citizens to Observe September 11, National Day of Service and Remembrance
LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm is encouraging Michigan citizens to observe the National Day of Service and Remembrance on Saturday by lowering flags and observing a moment of silence in tribute to victims and heroes of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States . In April 2009, President Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which officially recognized September 11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance. Saturday marks the ninth anniversary of the attacks.
In compliance with an executive order issued by Governor Granholm, flags will be flown at half-staff Saturday in remembrance of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. Granholm also encouraged citizens to observe a moment of silence on Saturday at 8:46 a.m., the time the first plane crashed into the North Tower at the World Trade Center .
“Let us all observe a moment of silence to reflect on and remember the tragedy of September 11,” Granholm said. “In our reflections, let us honor the memories of the victims and heroes of that day and keep their loved ones in our thoughts and prayers.”
Executive Order 2006-10 provides for the lowering of flags to honor those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, and is consistent with federal law which designates September 11 of each year Patriot Day. For more information on the proclamation designating each September 11 Patriot Day, visit the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs website at www.michigan.gov/dmva
When flown at half-staff or half-mast, the United States flag should be hoisted first to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff or half-mast position. The flag should again be raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day. Procedures for flag-lowering were detailed by Governor Granholm in Executive Order 2006-10.
Governor Granholm will volunteer at a Habitat for Humanity event in East Lansing on Saturday in recognition of the National Day of Service.
For information on volunteer opportunities across the state, visit the Michigan Community Service Commission at www.michigan.gov/volunteer or www.serve.gov
# # #
1 Comment | 9/11, Citizenship, Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today | Tagged: 9/11, Citizenship, Disasters, Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, History, National Day of Service | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Sleeping dog at the Palace at Knossos
September 10, 2010
Sleeping Dog at the Palace at Knossos, Crete (Greece) - photo copyright 2010 Kenny Darrell (free use with attribution)
You recognize the three maidens, of course, the Ladies in Blue fresco. Dogs wander all over Crete, Kenny discovered. Strays? Neighborhood dogs just not bound by a fence?
Maybe this mutt is just a lover of history, or archaeology. Dreaming of the Knossos that was? Who will tell the dog the fresco is a reproduction? Do they duplicate the dog at the display in the Heraklion Museum?
Kenny got inspiration from roaming the ruins of the palace. Some of his colleagues, he reported, were less interested, because they were ruins. They had hoped for more of a palace to tour. Walking through a cradle of civilization, but craving the comforts of guides and air conditioning . . .
From Kenny’s stay in Crete early in the summer.
See also:
2 Comments | Archaeology, Greece, History, photography, Travel | Tagged: Archaeology, Crete, Greece, History, Palace at Knossos, photography, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
World history teachers, take quick note! Paleolithic sources
September 7, 2010More accurately, sources on the paleolithic.
K. Kris Hirst at About.com blogs about archaeology at least weekly — I just subscribe to her stuff and get it when it comes. So, file this under “I get e-mail.”
This week, she’s got stuff world history teachers could use on the old stone age. See if this doesn’t pique your interest:
From K. Kris Hirst, your Guide to Archaeology
It’s the beginning of a new school year, and as every one knows, World History begins with the Paleolithic period–the Old Stone Age, the evolutionary moment from which all of our amazing human culture derives. Keep that trowel sharp!
Guide to the Stone Age
The Stone Age (known to scholars as the Paleolithic era) in human prehistory is the name given to the period between about 2.5 million and 20,000 years ago. It begins with the earliest human-like behaviors of crude stone tool manufacture, and ends with fully modern human hunting and gathering societies…. Read moreControl of Fire
The discovery of fire, or, more precisely, the controlled use of fire was, of necessity, one of the earliest of human discoveries. Fire’s purposes are multiple, some of which are to add light and heat, to cook plants and animals, to clear forests for planting, to heat-treat stone for making stone tools, to burn clay for ceramic objects…Read moreThe Invention of Footwear
Believe it or not, we humans have worn shoes of one sort or another for some 40,000 years! Read more…The Ileret Footprints
Not as well known and much younger than the Laetoli footprints are the Ileret footprints, two sets of fossilized footprints of a possible Homo erectus or Homo ergaster discovered at the FwJj14E site, near the modern town of Ileret in Kenya. Read more…
See what I mean? Go see what else she’s got. Some of us are going into the third week, and are already past that lecture . . .
1 Comment | Anthropology, Archaeology, Education, Lesson plans, Prehistory, Science, TEKS, World history | Tagged: Anthropology, Archeaology, Education, History, Lesson plans, Prehistory, Science, Stone Age, TEKS, World history | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Labor Day history
September 6, 2010A bit more on Labor Day and history, from this site and others:
More from Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub:
More from other sites:
- U.S. Department of Labor History page
- “Labor Day in Michigan” from Michigan in Pictures
- Labor Day photographs from the Library of Congress
- Poster and song, “Look for the Union Label,” from the ILGWU site (International Ladies Garment Workers Union)
Union Label poster from the AF of L, early 1900s. Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University. Copyright Labor Arts Inc. (here under Fair Use for education)
7 Comments | History, Holidays, Labor and unions, Music | Tagged: History, ILGWU, labor, Labor Day, Labor Unions, Music | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Labor Day 2010 – Fly your flag!
September 6, 2010
Poster from the Office of War Information, 1942
It’s Labor Day 2010 in the United States, a federal holiday, and one of those days Americans are urged to fly the U.S. flag.
The poster was issued by the Office of War Information in 1942, in full color. A black-and-white version at the Library of Congress provides a few details:
Labor Day poster. Labor Day poster distributed to war plants and labor organizations. The original is twenty-eight and one-half inches by forty inches and is printed in full color. It was designed by the Office of War Information (OWI) from a photograph especially arranged by Anton Bruehl, well-known photographer. Copies may be obtained by writing the Distribution Section, Office of War Information
- Digital ID: (intermediary roll film) fsa 8b04027 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8b04027
- Reproduction Number: LC-USE6-D-005707 (b&w film neg.)
- Repository: Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division Washington, DC 20540 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
2 Comments | Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, History, Labor and unions, World War II | Tagged: Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, History, Labor Day, Labor Movement, World War II | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
