Great stuff from Joshua Marshall at Talking Points Memo. He articulates pretty clearly my view of the whole “Bush lied” idea.
Month: June 2003 (Page 4 of 7)
You hate me! You really hate me!
I’ve won an award!
Paraphrasing Maureen Stapleton in the best Oscar acceptance speech ever: “I’d like to thank everyone I’ve ever met in my entire life.”
Don’t skip over the intro this time – this is one Flash page that’s worth it. What I especially like about this idea is a common symbol, the black spot, we can use to demonstrate how we’re “mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore.” How we won’t stand for another Orwellian program to push us further through the sausage grinder.
I know it’s a pipe dream that a black spot will get us out of all this trouble we’ve gotten ourselves into. But I refuse to stop trying.
“I pledge to do my duty…and take my country back.”
Geek pride moment
I just finished writing a search engine from scratch for Fighting Bob that uses SQL Server full-text indexing, along with some fairly complex SQL and Cold Fusion code. I’m sure it’s not perfect, and I’m sure lots of other people could do the same thing in their sleep. But I’m still pleased.
I’ve been thinking a lot about teachers lately. Whether it’s Mrs. du Toit’s railing about evil public schools, or an absolutely gorgeous essay/poem by Taylor Mali, or the “60 Minutes” story on the inner-city debate team, it seems I’m fated to think about teachers and their impact this week.
Everyone has horror stories. Bob Scripture, the truly evil phy ed teacher, used to make kids sit in an imaginary chair against the wall for just about any offense, like making the wrong turn in square dancing. (Yes, we had square dancing in elementary school phy ed. And lots of other strange stuff.)
But what I remember most from my public (!) education were the people who challenged me, supported me, gave me the confidence to succeed. They taught me that questioning is the only way to learn, and they taught me that continually learning is the best way to live. These people are heroes, no question.
Two people who come immediately to mind are the now-infamous Bill Keys, and the (to me) legendary Patricia Lehman, both teachers at West High School in Madison back in the day. Keys had a wonderful anarchy about him, a twinkle in his eye that inspired me greatly. He was one of the people who made me realize how much words and writing matter.
Pat Lehman encouraged me both to try the school paper, and to apply to Northwestern University – these decisions shaped my life immensely. Just to give you an idea of how great a teacher she was, her class in linguistics and grammar was incredibly popular (and fun and challenging) among jaded and cynical teenagers. She had an intelligence, a warmth that was almost magic. I owe her more than I can say.
Finally, a quote from “Finite and Infinite Games,” a wonderful little book I’ll most likely write more about in the future.
“To be prepared against surprise is to be trained. To be prepared for surprise is to be educated…Training repeats a completed past in the future. Education continues an unfinished past into the future.”
Mrs. du Toit and her ilk want more training. I want more education.
I have an impulse to post a comment on Andrea’s site. Or three. My fingers are twitching. Isn’t there someone I can call who can talk me down? Anyone?
I need a sponsor.
UPDATE: Too late. I’ve already done it. Now I just need to stop at one.
UPDATE PART DEUX: Three. Stop at three.
John already linked to this, but it’s so beautifully written, passionate, and true, I had to “pass it on” here:
This is your story – the progressive story of America.
Please read this. We need to decide what we want our country to stand for – what we want it to be. That’s the struggle that matters.
Should it be considered odd that the thing I hate most about Michael Savage’s web site is the stupid flag, star and eagle repeating background that obscures the text? Even more than the hateful spewage that sits on top of it? I am such a web geek.
Question for comics fans
Exactly what are Bruce Banner’s pants made out of? (I’m not even going to comment on the pose in the linked image. Nope. No comment.)