January 2010
16 posts
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The Tablet Could Spur A Media Revolution, But It... →
An interesting analysis of the much-anticipated tablet, and how it may be publishers that need to step up to make the tablet into something truly useful.
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Is the Supreme Court decision really about free... →
Iron Knee has an excellent summary of the arguments for and against the recent Citizens United ruling.
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The "Devastating" Decision →
givemesomethingtoread:
Against the opposition of their four colleagues, five right-wing Supreme Court justices have now guaranteed that big corporations can spend unlimited funds on political advertising in any political election.
Seems to give a fairly concise summary of the Citizens United decision.
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How does Haiti differ from post-tsunami Aceh? →
Quoting the core of this BBC News article below. It is sad that the US, which seems to be controlling the disaster response, has such a military bias.
Within days of the tsunami hitting Aceh, on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, an Australian army combat engineering battalion had landed with a large force of trucks, earth-moving equipment, and water purification systems. ...
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Report: FBI abused authority to obtain US phone... →
From a commentary by the EFF’s Kurt Opsahl: “The Washington Post reported today that the ‘FBI illegally collected more than 2,000 U.S. telephone call records,’ using methods that FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni admitted ‘technically violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act when agents invoked nonexistent emergencies to collect...
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Motion to Amend →
The Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United appears to hand over the entire government, from federal to local levels, to any business which thinks it could make more profits by controlling politicians. It is an historically bad ruling.
I plan to sign the petition at this link as soon as they clarify their privacy policy.
We, the People of the United States of America, reject the U.S. Supreme...
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Media offers full, blunt, hideous picture of... →
The images coming out of Haiti are more graphic than those from recent natural disasters, and the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s not clear if this reflects the magnitude and proximity of the disaster, or some change in the willingness of newspapers and other media to accurately present the full horror of the earthquake that devastated the desperately poor nation on Tuesday...
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A rare glimpse of the cave of crystals →
Awesome video in an interesting article.
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What Makes a Great Teacher? →
givemesomethingtoread:
For years, the secrets to great teaching have seemed more like alchemy than science, a mix of motivational mumbo jumbo and misty-eyed tales of inspiration and dedication. But for more than a decade, one organization has been tracking hundreds of thousands of kids, and looking at why some teachers can move them three grade levels ahead in a year and others can’t. Now, as...
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Haiti's real deal with the devil →
Pat Robertson thinks that Haiti is poverty stricken (and earthquake-stricken) because the country made a deal with Satan to help them overthrow the French.
Back in May, the Times Online provided some slightly better insight into Haiti’s past. Beyond a vague assumption that Imperialism had probably screwed Haiti somehow, I didn’t know much about the country’s history. Reading...
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Have hospital, will travel →
A 100-bed hospital, built in 36 hours. Doctors Without Borders uses inflatable lifeboat fabric to set up portable, reusable trauma centers in disaster zones, including Haiti. Help support smart, innovative humanitarian action.
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America's Secret ICE Castles →
“If you don’t have enough evidence to charge someone criminally but you think he’s illegal, we can make him disappear.” Those chilling words were spoken by James Pendergraph, then executive director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Office of State and Local Coordination, at a conference of police and sheriffs in August 2008. Also present was Amnesty...
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MIT’s big wheel in Copenhagen →
It looks like an ordinary bicycle wheel with an oversized center. But packed inside that unassuming hub is a veritable Swiss army knife’s worth of electronic gadgets and novel functions.
The new wheel, developed by researchers at MIT, can store energy every time the rider puts on the brakes, and then give that power back to provide a boost when going uphill or to add a burst of speed in traffic....