Category Archives: Uncategorized

Quindlen: No Child Left Untested

In the 6.13 Newsweek, Anna Quindlen draws down on a subject near and dear to my heart – the replacement of education with “assessment.” On the whole, she’s “enraged by the process, and by the forced march that seems to have replaced creative thought, critical thinking and joyful learning for so many kids.” Yup. Testing isn’t teaching. Passing scores aren’t

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Critical thinking, ideologues, moderates, and predictability

ultimate_seeker was poking at some of what I said on the “What is a moderate?” post (post + comments here). I thought I’d pull my most recent comments up to the top here, as they raise an interesting question about the relationship between critical thought and Grant’s definition of a moderate. ____________________ I’ve always felt like genuine critical thinking drags

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What is a moderate?

Of potential interest – Jack Grant of Random Fate and The Moderate Voice has recently taken on the task of defining “moderate.” His initial take contrasts moderates with ideologues, explaining that moderates are people with “deeply held principles” who are “willing to listen to those advocating other beliefs and principles and weigh them against his own beliefs and principles.” Key

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Reporters are like dogs

drdenny has a fantastic take on why CNN is in such trouble these days. Read it here. Denny is so right. Somewhere along the line journalists slipped into thinking that news is something that happens and then you go cover it. Of course, news is happening all the time. As long as there are politicians and wealthy business interests, news

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Environmental quality fun-n-games at the White House

Bush Aide Softened Greenhouse Gas Links to Global Warming By ANDREW C. REVKIN Published: June 8, 2005 A White House official who once led the oil industry’s fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming, according to internal documents. Let me make sure I

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Future history lesson: the death of hypocrisy

HIST 376: Ancient American Political and Social History State University of New York – Mars Campus Professor X60062 Johnson Case Brief: “Hypocrisy” and the American Political Context June 7, 2205 Scholars examining America circa 2000 occasionally look back with some curiosity at the antiquated concept of “hypocrisy,” which dictionaries of the day defined thusly: noun. Inflected Form(s): plural -sies Etymology:

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Covenant

Originally posted last September – but it seems appropriate to repost in light of yesterday’s rant…. _____________________________ Covenant Our legions are marching on theCity of Rain, our bleedingbare feet, bone against concrete,tearing ruts in the King’s highway.

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