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Howard Dean reamed by RNC chairman after his 911 comment on the Diane Rehm show "Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie blasted Democratic presidential frontrunner Howard Dean on Friday for suggesting that President Bush may have been warned in advance about the 9/11 attacks." Perhaps Mr.Gillespie didn't take the time to read the Newsweek article suggesting the same thing or perhaps he hasn't read of these predominately major media stories that call into question the administration's no prior knowledge claim. Just wondering?
comment posted at 9:06 AM on Dec-6-03

The popular PBS series Frontline has done a couple investigative reports on Iraq, but for their next one they are doing something interesting: live dispatches blogging from Baghdad throughout the next few weeks as they film and conduct interviews. The finished show is set to air next month.
comment posted at 2:13 PM on Dec-4-03

Professor Pollkatz's statistics. Interestings graphics on Bush approval/disapproval. This one, for example, clearly proves that whenever Bush's approval was high, it was driven by an event (the two major events being September 11 and the Iraq war) and steadily declined afterwards. This page shows that FOX polls consistently overrate Bush, while Zogby polls consistently underrate him. [more inside]
comment posted at 1:45 PM on Dec-4-03
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comment posted at 2:58 PM on Dec-4-03

Now children, time for spelling--B is for: Bechtel? Schools have been highlighted as an under-reported success story of the new Iraq: “We want young Iraqis to learn skills and to grow and hope, instead of being fed a steady diet of propaganda and hatred," says the pres, but...."The first time they came here, they went from classroom to classroom with guns dangling over their shoulders, asking the terrified children whom they loved more, Saddam Hussein or George Bush," says a principal. (more inside)
comment posted at 5:54 PM on Dec-3-03
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comment posted at 6:22 PM on Dec-3-03

Necessity Is the Mother of Invention. (NY Times, reg. req.) Amy Smith teaches MIT students about the politics of delivering technology to poor nations and the nitty-gritty of mechanical engineering and helped start the IDEAS competition; she herself designed (among other things) a screenless hammer mill suited to third-world conditions and using "materials available to a blacksmith in Senegal."

Smith's entire life is like one of her inventions, portable and off the grid. At 41, she has no kids, no car, no retirement plan and no desire for a Ph.D. Her official title: instructor. ''I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing. Why would I spend six years to get a Ph.D. to be in the position I'm in now, but with a title after my name? M.I.T. loves that I'm doing this work. The support is there. So I don't worry.''...
Likewise, the inventors who most inspire her will never strike it rich. ''There are geniuses in Africa, but they're not getting the press,'' she says. She gushes about Mohammed Bah Abba, a Nigerian teacher who came up with the pot-within-a-pot system. With nothing more than a big terra-cotta bowl, a little pot, some sand and water, Abba created a refrigerator -- the rig uses evaporation rather than electricity to keep vegetables cool. Innovations that target the poorest of the poor don't have to be complicated to make a big difference. The best solution is sometimes the most obvious.

A rare optimistic story for these downbeat times.
comment posted at 6:04 PM on Dec-3-03

Teaching the Test
As a student at Jefferson Davis High here, Rosa Arevelo seemed the "Texas miracle" in motion. After years of classroom drills, she passed the high school exam required for graduation on her first try. A program of college prep courses earned her the designation "Texas scholar." At the University of Houston, though, Ms. Arevelo discovered the distance between what Texas public schools called success and what she needed to know. Trained to write five-paragraph "persuasive essays" for the state exam, she was stumped by her first writing assignment. She failed the college entrance exam in math twice, even with a year of remedial algebra. At 19, she gave up and went to trade school.

This doesn't look good for our new, unfunded, "Leave No Child Behind" education bill. Smells like another bait and switch to me.
comment posted at 1:19 PM on Dec-3-03

One Nation Under God(s): George W.Bush unwittingly restarted an old theological debate. Is the God that the Jews, Christians and Muslims worship the same God? Or to be more accurate; notwithstanding the different forms of worship and beliefs, is it the same God in different guises? Fundamentalists in all three monotheistic faiths tend to disagree. For other believers - to ruthlessly simplify - God is necessarily one. Either way it's still a fascinating question (possibly not only for religious folk) and has important consequences in an increasingly divided and antagonistic world. What's it be? One God or one's God?
comment posted at 7:07 AM on Dec-2-03

All your sperm are belong to us : play the condom game.
comment posted at 2:36 PM on Dec-1-03

BlogStop. Where the last word of an entry must be used as an acronym for the next entry. Simple.
comment posted at 12:10 PM on Aug-1-03

Astrid Lindgren goes to Nangiyala... She wrote some of the most read and loved childbooks in the world. Have you read her books about Pippi Longstockings and The brothers Lionhart?
comment posted at 10:35 AM on Jan-28-02