Monthly Archives: January 2004

Looking for a Good Encyclopedia?

This entry was posted in Information on by

Give the Wikipedia a try. Heck, contribute to it.
Dan Gilmour has an update. It is:

an encyclopedia created and operated by volunteers, is one of the most fascinating developments of the Digital Age. In just over three years of existence, it has become a valuable resource and an example of how the grass roots in today’s interconnected world can do extraordinary things.
Almost anyone can be a contributor to the Wikipedia. Almost anyone can edit almost any page. (Only serious misbehavior gets people banned.) Thousands of people around the world have added their expertise, and new volunteers show up every day.

For instance, is your junior high student writing a report on weblogs. S/he could do worse then starting here. Many of you could probably find something useful to add to the entry.
Via Prestopundit.

One Child Who Was Left Behind

This entry was posted in bush Education on by

Ok, I haven’t picked on someone’s use of the english language in a long time.
From Ampersand who picked it up from Trish Wilson:

George W. Bush on January 23, 2004

The illiteracy level of our children are appalling.

’nuff said.
Well, not quite enough. Trish quotes the entire paragraph for context and w’s closing sentence is:

I expect you, as mayors, to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations. I challenge you to keep raising that bar and standards.

I probably have no hope of ever understanding what he means by ‘soft bigotry’ but I do know that low expectations is a problem that does permeate our culture

“Though your qualifications are quite impressive, I regret to inform you that we have selected another candidate. It was felt that your demeanor and therefore presence in the classroom would serve as an unrealistic expectation as to what high school students could strive to achieve or become.

and that setting high expectations can lead to success.
Thanks to Resurrection Song and The World Wide Rant for the pointer to the Marquis Harris story.

Absentee Voting

This entry was posted in Politics on by

Atrios thinks absentee voting disrupts the rhythm of a campaign:

…but more generally I really really don’t like the proliferation of easy vote-by-mail. I know many disagree with me on this subject, but a campaign has a certain rhythm to it and voting weeks in advance tends to undercut that.

Well, the ‘rhythm’ of a campaign means little to me. I sometimes make my election decisions early and sometime the day before. When I complete the process I seal the envelope, lick the stamp and put it in the mail.
I find that I put much more effort into the process then I ever did when I headed to the voting booth especially for the minor offices.
Atrios, go to the booth if you like. I’m all for voting by mail. And will be, as well, for internet based voting when the muiltitude of security issues are resolved.
Via NTodd.