Is American gun culture ruining Canada?

According to the American network CNN, Canada blames U.S. for gun violence. The blame is deserved, yet the reasoning is simplistic.
America is the world's great gun culture. Its love of guns was born in a time when a gun was a tool often needed for survival in the wilderness. That time has passed, but the love of guns continues.
In some segments of American society, having a gun is equated with being strong and self reliant. Folks without guns are weak. Men without guns are unmanly.
These attitudes have crept into Canadian society because we live next to the world's predominant media provider. We see, hear, and read American gun culture 24/7.
But Canada has always been next door to American gun culture and has always been tuned in to American culture. So why is the situation deteriorating now?
The gun culture is a huge contributing factor, but the real source of evil is another American import: right wing fiscal conservatism. Over the last decade, Canadian social programs have been cut back severely to match a free enterprise driven, lower the taxes mentality that politicians have imported from south of the border. Children in poorer urban neighbourhoods, most of which are populated by recent immigrants, have fewer educational and job opportunities. Programs which helped them have been cut back. They see the images of wealth on TV and know they don't have much of a chance of attaining that wealth. They feel powerless; they reach out for what a source of power. They get a gun.
Right now Canada is in the midst of a national election campaign and a proposed change to gun laws is one of the big issues. I support the Liberals' proposed tightening of controls over gun ownership. But if our politicians truly want to stop gun violence they also need to restore social programs that support poor people and give the young a fighting chance in life.

Technorati Tags: Canada, commentary, culture, gun control, Paul Martin, poverty, Liberal party, United States

Censorship or management rights?

The ever excellent Blog of a Bookslut reports on a blogger who was fired by Sur la Table for something he wrote. You can look at his posting here. I'm not sure that there is anything in it that justifies his being fired. You be the judge.
The fact that the firing of a blogger is now the subject of further blogging is, as they say, a sign of the times. It used to be that people had freedom of speech, in theory, but less so in practice. What I mean is that most people can't get their opinions on CNN, or even in the letters to the editor section of a major newspaper, without someone's editorial approval. With blogs, the words go straight out to the world. As has the story of the employer's reaction.
The fired blogger probably feels vulnerable, but now that the story is loose in the blogosphere it's the corporation that could end up feeling the heat. Their customer service page gives contact information.

Technorati Tags: blogging, censorship

Asian Mixed Marriage in BC, Canada

Thetyee.ca has an excellent article on trends in Asian mixed marriage in British Columbia. Marriage between whites and Asians is very common in and around Vancouver, but it still presents problems. Particularly interesting is the profile of a Jewish/Chinese marriage.

Technorati Tags: British Columbia, Canada, British Columbia, puppy

Let me make this perfectly clear

In a Boxing Bay article in the Washington Post, Howard Kurtz reports on how US President Bush has summoned newspaper editors to the White House to urge them not to publish stories which he feels are harmful to national security.
The real issue, of course, is the independence of the American press, balanced against its duty to operate within the law. The real, real issue is the danger of the government using its power to censor stories that cause it political embarrassment.

Technorati Tags: censorship, George W. Bush, Howard Kurtz, United States

Writer fined for 'Turkish insult'

BBC NEWS has a report on Turkish writer Zulkuf Kisanak who was sentenced to five months in jail for "insulting" the Turkish nation with a book, Lost Villages, that described the forced evacuations of Kurdish villages. The sentence was later reduced to a fine. Kisanak maintains that he was merely reporting fact and is not guilty of breaking any law. About 60 Turkish writers are facing similar charges for alledgedly insulting their country. The BBC article has a sidebar with links to other stories about the prosecution of Turkish writers.

Technorati Tags: books, censorship, literature, Turkey

When God is the master of ceremonies

SPIEGEL has a lengthy and thoughtful interview with philosopher Daniel Dennett on the subject of "intelligent design". Dennett goes beyond denying that the idea has any validity to asserting that its adherents are socially irresponsible.
A remarkably cool discussion of a hot button topic.

Technorati Tags: culture, Darwin, ideas, creationism, intelligent design, Spiegel, religion, United States

What is the NY Times Saying about Blogs?

Today's NY Times has an essay titled What Are the Blogs Saying About Me. In it, Pamela Paul comments on how being "blogged" affects various writers. The Times also publishes a companion article on the most blogged about books of 2005, with links to selected blog postings.
These Times articles have closed a loop of some kind, with bloggers' postings drawing commentary from the most mainstream of all publications, that refers readers back to the blogs. Where is the margin? Where is the center?

Technorati Tags: blogs, commentary, culture, New York Times

That Mona Lisa Smile

New Scientist has an article claiming that Software decodes Mona Lisa's smile. Using emotion decoding software, Dutch scientists claim to have identified the feelings behind the smile. Click on the link to see what they came up with.
Come on, we all know her smile signals relief because she's just barely made it to the bathroom on time.

Technorati Tags: culture, Mona Lisa, da Vinci, technology

OpinionJournal Interviews Orhan Pamuk

On the day before his trial, Orhan Pamuk, author of the novel Snow, is interviewed by The Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal. The piece is a serious one, but its placement in the "Arts and Leisure" section trivializes the man and his predicament.

Technorati Tags: books, censorship, commentary, culture, Turkey

Sometimes We Should Repeat History

The Oxford University Press blog has an interesting article on Roger Williams & Church-State Separation. Williams was the seventeenth century founder of Maryland. He had been ousted from Massachusetts by the Puritans because he advocated religious freedom. They, by contrast, advocated theocracy.
Author Edwin S. Gaustad makes the point that American is experiencing a similar conflict today and argues for the wisdom of Williiams' position.

Technorati Tags: commentary, history, ideas, religion

This is why I'm proud to be a Canadian!

Canada's most prestigious medical journal has just published Refrigerator blindness: selective loss of visual acuity in association with a common foraging behaviour
Apparently we men can't help it: staring into the fridge in a kind of stupor is a natural male behaviour. I'm glad my tax dollars are being well spent.

Technorati Tags: health, men, Canada

Pinter's Nobel Acceptance Speech

Harold Pinter has used his Nobel acceptance speech as an occasion to blast US foreign policy. Although the speech is outspoken, it is nowhere near as audacious as his 1966 interview with The Paris Review:

• The other night I watched some politicians on television talking about Vietnam. I wanted very much to burst through the screen with a flamethrower and burn their eyes out and their balls off and then inquire from them how they would assess this action from a political point of view.

Here's a link to the latest news coverage of the speech Google Search: pinter "nobel speech"

Update:You can hear Pinter's speech on the Nobel prize site.

Technorati Tags: arts, books, drama, nobel prize

You can't go wrong listening to poetry

Poetry Archive has a huge collection of sound files of poets reading from their works. Search for a favourite or click "Lucky Dip" and hear let the software choose one at random. I got Charles Causley
on my second try. Not bad.

Technorati Tags: books, culture, poetry

Fresh news doesn't pay the bills

Sydney H. Schanberg, writing in The Village Voice, claims that something he calls "fresh news" is what "keeps citizens feeling connected to the decisions and events that alter their lives". And that blogs won't be able to provide it. Oh, really?
When the London underground was bombed it was videobloggers who gave us the first pictures because they and not the newspapers who were there. Bloggers give us the real stuff, direct from the scene. Print and television news outlets are increasingly controlled by large media conglomerates. The news increasingly reflects corporate agendas. The phenomenon is especially visible in TV news channels like CNN and Fox. In place of investigative reporting they give us powder puff portraits of business "leaders" whose companies advertise with them. In place of honest reviews they deliver plugs for movies and TV shows made by production companies owned by their parent corporation.

Technorati Tags: blogs, commentary, newspaper

Feeble logic in support of Wal-Mart

The Wall Street Journal has an editorial explaining why unions would be bad for Wal-Mart. The logic is that Wal-Mart sells to poor people; unionization would raise prices; unionization would hurt poor people. Huh? Aren't a lot of Walmart workers poor people? In fact, about 1% of the American workforce, according to the Journal, is employed by Wal-Mart. Wouldn't it help the economy, and create jobs, if suddenly 1% of the workforce (plus their spouses and dependents) were to have more money to spend on consumer goods?
There have been a couple of popular books out attacking the marketing giant lately. Check out How Walmart is Destroying America
and The Case Against Wal-Mart
.

Technorati Tags: business, Wall Street Journal, United States

Digital Web Magazine - Resurrect Your Writing, Redeem Your Soul

Digital Web Magazine has an excellent article about writing for the web titled, poetically, Resurrect Your Writing, Redeem Your Soul. The web does enforce a new style of writing on bloggers, advertisers, and others, but within that style there is still room for good writing, and bad. It's the author's responsibility to write well within the conventions of the form.
Maybe the bestseller status of Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots, and Leaves is the first sign of a renewed care for style.

Technorati Tags: blogs, culture, language, writing

One execution every 10 days in the US

CNN is predicting that the 1,000th execution since the Gary Gilmore execution in 1976 lifted a 10 year long moratorium in the States will take place within the next week. The article mentions two or three likely candidtates for the milestone event.
I have two reactions to the story. First, sadness that such a wonderful people as the citizens of the US could tolerate this situation. And second, thankfulness that I live in another country.

Technorati Tags: commentary, capital punishment, United States

A great news and commentary site

If you're not subscribing to the International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News feed then you are missing out on some of the most interesting and sophisticated analysis of world affairs on the web. It's always good to get out of the box, and over here in Canada we're too comfortable with
American news channels such as CNN and MSNBC. By hearing the same point of view over and over we come to accept it as normal or natural. How refreshing to look at the world from a European perspective.

Technorati Tags: commentary, culture, Europe, ideas, internet, news, Germany

The $12,000 Microsoft Xbox

Check it out on eBay. Somebody actually paid $12,000 for an Xbox.

Technorati Tags: games, Xbox

Support free expression!!

MoorishGirl's blog mentions Free Expression is no offence, a book of essays issued by PEN in response to a bill before the British parliament which proposed to ban any publication offensive to any member of any religion. The book link is to amazon.uk; it's not available in the US or Canada yet.

Technorati Tags: books, commentary, censorship

Reading Anxiety

In my previous post I mentioned not having enough money or time to every read all of the books in my Amazon wishlist. Before you could say "synchronicity" I came across Book World's suggestion that one could avoid reading anxiety by keeping lists of favourite books instead of lists of books yet unread. Of course she got the idea from Box Of Books, a blog which is driven by reading anxiety.

Technorati Tags: blogs, books

One of my favourite things: NY Times100 Notable Books of the Year

You know the year is winding down when the New York Times lists its 100 Notable Books of the Year . I always read the list carefully and make sub lists of things I want to read. And then I check my local library's online catalogue to see which ones are in. Only a few ever are and those are hard to borrow because there are always people who have put "holds" on them. It's one of the downsides of living in a small town with a small library.
If a book is really calling out to me to buy it, I include it in my ever expanding Amazon wishlist. I will never have enough money to buy all of the books on the wishlist, nor a long enough life to read them even if I did.

Technorati Tags: books

How many patents does this post violate?

The Guardian Unlimited has an interesting and scary article on intellectual property and on what has been patented so far. One click shopping? Amazon owns that. XML? Microsoft is trying to patent that. Somebody is claiming ownership of clickable links.
My plan? To patent the short rhetorical question.

Technorati Tags: internet

A rant on Drucker

The Economist has a long and balanced article on Peter Drucker titled Trusting the teacher in the grey-flannel suit . I work in management, specifically educational administration, and think that the application of management by objectives to teaching and learning has lead to the present mediocrity in North American and is the real answer to the questions "Why can't Johnny read?"
He wrote many books; The Essential Drucker provides an introduction.
The rant: Management by objections has lead to outcomes based education, in which education is viewed as a product doled out in measurable units that will give students measurable skills. Such skills need to be observable, or they don't exist. These observable, measurable skills are finite and are all that counts about education. Looked at another way, if you can't mark it you shouldn't teach it. Or, looked at from the point of view of the student: if it's not for marks, I'm not doing it or learning it.
Such a philosophy places an upward limit on learning. Or, more precisely, it places a disincentive on learning for its own sake, for the joy of exploring an idea to its fullest. Intellectual curiosity is not rewarded in outcomes based learning. It gets in the way of the lesson plan.
Outcomes based education leads to classes where students spend all their energy copying the powerpoint instead of considering the ideas being put forth. Remember the points for the test and success will follow.
Dumbing down is now the preferred method of instruction in most elementary, secondary, and undergraduate programs. Soon it will be possible for people of average intelligence to attain degrees from "good" schools.

Technorati Tags: management

The news just keeps getting better

On the heels of a report that caffeinated coffee is not bad for your heart (see previous post to this blog), comes the news from Scientific American that sweets help to reduce stress.
Can I deduct visits to Tim Horton's as a medical expense?

Technorati Tags: health, heart

I just knew it: Decaffeinated coffee may be harmful to your heart

The American Heart Society web site has an article saying that decaffeinated coffee could promote an increase in harmfl LDL cholesterol in the blood. As one who likes his coffee strong and black, I feel calmly smug.
I wonder if anyone is working on the health benefits of scotch? If you are contact me if you need someone to test your theories.

Technorati Tags: health, heart

The rich live in their own ghettoes. Institutionalized racism is a daily reality.

SPIEGEL carries an interview with the liberal Islamic philosopher Tariq Ramadan. The title of this post is a direct quotation from it.

Technorati Tags: books, commentary, culture

Artblogs

Terry Teachout, in the Wall Street Journal, comments on the rise of blogs about the arts, aka artblogs. Written by practicing artists, critics, or motivated amateurs, these blogs are in serious competition with small market arts reporting.
The article is also a treasure trove of links to artblogs.

Technorati Tags: blogs, culture, arts

Top 20 geek novels: The results are in

The Guardian Unlimited has published the results of its Top 20 geek novels poll. Idoru didn't make the list (sigh). The winner was The HitchHiker's guide to the Galaxy It's a bit too lighthearted and whimsical for my taste.
.

Technorati Tags: books

Dover Pennsylvania: intelligent voters

The voters of Dover Pennsylvania earlier this week elected a school board that did not include supporters of so-called "intelligent design". Here's the New York Times story. Pat Robertson was not happy.

Technorati Tags: commentary, culture

The Dilbert Blog

The Dilbert Blog: what can I say? This one's gonna be hugely popular.

Technorati Tags: blogs, culture

In Joy and Sorrow: Kurk Vonnegut and John Fowles

Today (November 11) is Kurt Vonnegut's birthday. Here is how one blog is celebrating it: Backwards City: Happy Birthday, Wanda Jane
How fitting that the author of Slaughterhouse Five, one of the classic antiwar novels, was born on the anniversary of the end of WWI.
Sadly, earlier this week we lost John Fowles. Here is the BBC story. The French Lieutenant's Woman is his masterpiece, but I've always had a soft spot for The Collector, and taught it several times in my former life.

Technorati Tags: books, culture

Is Paris Blogging?

Boing Boing has a brief article on the French government's silencing of blogs that appear to be sympathetic to rioters, along with several links to news coverage of it.
Always, always blame the messenger.

Technorati Tags: blogs, commentary, culture, internet

Career suicide or what?

The Guardian reports that Leondardo DiCaprio is set to star in the movie version of Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. I haven't read the book, but I understand it's a non-fiction book about the decision-making process, espeically snap decisions. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't movies usually have plot, character development, conflict? What next: Critique of Pure Reason, the cartoon?

Technorati Tags: movies

Again, with the lists?

So much to read, so little time. Rely on the wisdom of crowds
and the software of Google. Most major newspapers and tv networks with an online presence publish lists of their most emailed articles.

Technorati Tags: commentary, internet, newspaper, news

Blogging: It's a good thing

Who’s afraid of the big, bad blog? : The question is posed by the Financial Times in an analytical piece that examines why business fears, yet needs to adapt to, the blogging phenomenon. Unlike the Forbes editorial, which I referred to in a recent post, the author of this article doesn't break out in mad dog foaming at the thought of all those uncontrollable blogs out there. But I think he's naive to believe companies have a shot at getting people to take their information from corporate blogs.
Word up guys: the phenomenon really is uncontrollable. Video killed the radio star; blogs will do the same for corporate marketing strategies.

Technorati Tags: blogs, internet

Wine attacks alzheimer's

One of the goals I'm tracking on 43things.com is to enjoy great wine. Now this article in Scientific American suggests that a compound found in red wine might counter the effects of alzheimer's.
I'm off to do some medical research with an Aussie shiraz!

Technorati Tags: wine

What are the top 20 "geek novels"?

The Guardian is asking What are the top 20 "geek novels"? Click on the link and vote. Alas, I don't see my personal choice, Idoru by William Gibson among the choices.

Technorati Tags: books

Google ads mismatches

As a part of my endless, and largely pointless, web surfing I recently came across a site dedicated to Trepanation: the practice of removing a small bit of bone from the skull and, in effect, making a hole in the head which is eventually covered over by skin. Neurosurgeons often perform the procedure as part of an operation. This particular web site, though, touts trepanation as an end in itself, as an "alternative" form of medical treatment.
Anyway, I noticed that the site had an "ads by Gooooogle" box in the right column and that one of the ads was "Drill holes in tile fast". I couldn't help but wonder, first why google would want to associate its advertisers with such a site, and second, would any true believer in trepanation follow up and buy a porcelain drill bit to relieve the pressure in his head?
There's a fad in here somewhere: find and record silly or tasteless google ad mismatches.

Technorati Tags: internet

Chain of Command

Defense AT&L: Everything we need to know about program management, we learned from punk rock. I first came across this article in excerpt form in Harper's. It seemed so absurd that I had to hunt down the original. Basically, the authors hold punk rockers up as role models for people who design weapons systems: they're rebels, they "stick it to the man", they are "loud and in your face".

Technorati Tags: culture, commentary

Whatever du jour

One of the more interesting mainstays of the web is the "Of the day" site. You know, "Quote of the Day", "SAT Question of the Day", that sort of thing. A google search for the phrase "of the day" returned 180 million hits. Even if that doesn't translate into 180 million sites, you can bet there are hundreds, if not thousands, of them dedicated to doling out a nugget trivia relating to some subject or phenomenon every twenty-four hours. Among the more unusual are the Cruel Site of the Day and the Positive quote of the Day.
For a time I seriously considered creating a blog called "'Of the Day' Of the Day". Every day it would present a different "Of the Day" site. But then I did a Google search for stupid site of the day and changed my mind. The web can be a cruel place.

Technorati Tags: culture, internet, puppy

Crazy, nutty, obsessive

Michelle Pauli, in the Guardian Unlimited: Culture Vulture blog has an interesting story about National Novel Writing Month (apparently November is it), as well as a link to the National Novel Writing Month web site, where you can enter your tome in a contest.
More fascinating yet is her account of the stir the whole thing is causing in the blogosphere.

Technorati Tags: culture, literature, novels

It's all about control

Everyone is commenting on the Forbes Magazine Editorial attacking blogs. It's a mildly hysterical attack characterizing blogs as electronic lynch mobs and warning about the dire effects a hostile blog article could have on a brand name company. I suppose the only rational response is a big "boo".
Recent attacks on the blogging phenomenon have characterized it as everything from elitist, to unprofessional, to thuggish. What it really is, is a phenomenon that large corporations cannot control or spin or silence.
Adapt or die.

Misleading Food Labels

Slashfood has this interesting article on the six most misleading food labels. The trick seems to be to get the names of as many fruits and vegetables in the big letters of the package and trust that nobody reads the small print.

Jane Urquhart reviewed

The Independent has a nice review of Jane Urquhart's latest novel A Map of Glass. I haven't read it myself yet, but I did enjoy her Away
a few years back. Canadian novelists are getting quite a bit of attention abroad; wish I could say the same for our poets.

Rumpole of the death bed

The Washington Post has a very well written review of Rumpole and the Primrose Path, the latest in John Mortimer's series on the cigar-smoking defender of petty thieves. It would appear that the old gaffer is now in a nursing home, awaiting the grim reaper. It's a daring ploy on the part of the author John Mortimer and a bit of a risk. Sure, we'll all cheer for Rumpole as he battles with yet another form of pompous bureaucracy, but won't some people be turned off at the thought of their own impending death? And will it mark Rumpole of the Bailey as old fart reading only? Perhaps it already is.
What next? Spenser and Hawk clocking villains with their canes? Updike has killed rabbit off. Will Mortimer do the same with Rumpole? Should he?

Technorati Tags: culture, literature, novels

Bring on the leeches

Have we hit the wall as far as innovations in technology are concerned? Entering a dark age of innovation

del.icio.us Tags: web ideas

How the Web changes your reading habits

This is all very interesting but what if you don't want to "forage for information"? What if you just like to read?

Smart idiots

We've all had to deal with them: smart people who defend stupid ideas. Why do they do it?

It's all about the rhetoric

Schopenhauer was the crown prince of gloom and bitterness, but he had a sense of humour. He was one of those little trolls who loved to drive people nuts with his arguments.

A's for everyone

It's all over but the crying. The grades are posted and the marksharks are churning the waters. Read more.

Diggin' the arts in Moscow

There used to be an iron curtain: now there's arts and ideas.Check it out.

Tests a failure

Georgia is abandoning standardised testing in its community colleges. What a surprise!Standarisation is another word for mediocrity.

I are confuse

If you can't trust Microsoft's grammar checker whom can you trust? Scholars who study such things say it lets too many errors pass. Read the article.
Here's an idea: pay attention in English class.

Didn't Plato write about something like this?

Capitol Bill Aims to Curb Leftist Professors
In Florida, university students could sue professors who teach theories that challenge their values.

Site of Interest

Sign and Sight
The subtitle is "Arts, Essays, Ideas from Germany". If, like me, you don't read or speak German, this site is a great source for articles from German newspapers and magazines. Main emphasis is on politics, cultural issues, and the arts.

Build it and they will take over

Trading Places
Management guru Peter Drucker gives an overview of the complexities of multiple world economies, all of which began in the States. No matter how you cut it, most of what's in the world's interest doesn't seem to be in the best interests of the US.

Cheaters are good for education?

How cheating helps drive better instruction
According to someone named Greg van Belle, cheating can improve education by driving teachers to change the way they create assignments. The day I visited the site all of the ads along the side were for essay mills. Hmm, what conclusion will young minds draw?

Is Frantz Fanon Still Relevant?

The Chronicle: 3/18/2005: Is Frantz Fanon Still Relevant?
Homi K. Bhabha is sort of sure, but then again, maybe not. Have globalisation and the wired world made struggles for national determination obsolete? Sounds to me he's being seduced by the dark side.

ipod, therefore ??

New York Seen by Laura Conaway
Ipods are drawing a lot of criticism as isolating, expensive status symbols. Now they are inspiring street art.
I wear mine at the gym so I don't have to listen to the crappy music they play over their sound system.

The perfect education system?

New Statesman - Inside Islam's ''terror schools''
What happens when students and faculty have a perfectly shared vision? In the madrasas of Pakistan everyone "knows" right from wrong. Of course, no women need apply.

Site of Interest

I've discovered this very interesting online journal called the Electronic Journal of Radical Organizational Theory which comes out of the University of Waikato in New Zealand. I've been in college administration for about 6 years, and have always felt a little out of place, because I've "risen" through the ranks and am not a trained administrator. EJROT is a refreshing change from the neo-con, consumerist pose struck by most management theorists.
The article by Mary Boyce, listed below, is from this site.

Site of Interest

Eduguru

Gramscian activism meets public administration policy

At the nexus: The transformative practice of public administration Dr. Lisa A. Zanetti Assistant Professor
The received wisdom in schools of public administration is that you work from theoretical models and apply them to something called "real life". What if we were to ask the "real" people what they thought was important in their lives and build policy based on their experiences? Who would need all those highly paid experts?

Now that I have tenure I'll tell you what I really think!

Teaching critically as an act of praxis and resistance
by: Mary E. Boyce

What happens when a post modernist takes a job teaching in a school of management? A crisis of conscience and identity. Great motivation for a soul searching article:"this paper presents an overview of critical pedagogy, shares examples of taking a critical perspective in the teaching of management and organization studies, and considers teaching as an arena of praxis and resistance."

It hurts to self-assess

Learning Abstracts, March 2001, Volume 4, Number 2: "LEARNING FROM THE LEARNING COLLEGES:
OBSERVATIONS ALONG THE JOURNEY
Kay McClenney
The "League for Innovation" is an organization of (mostly) American community colleges. A few years ago they launched an intiative to create "the learning college," using a select number of "vanguard" colleges as test adopters of theories put forward by Terry O'Banion. This article is an update on the project. Read between the lines for the true story.