http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/07/953476/-Notice-to-All-Banker-Types-from-a-Teacher?detail=email
"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Friday, February 20, 2015
THE STORY: American Democracy is Owned by the Rich | Al Jazeera America
In a study of Senate voting patterns, Michael Jay Barber found that "senators' preferences reflect the preferences of the average donor better than any other group." In a similar study of the House of Representatives, Jesse H. Rhodes and Brian F. Schaffner found that, "millionaires receive about twice as much representation when they comprise about 5 percent of the district's population than the poorest wealth group does when it makes up 50 percent of the district." In fact, the increasing influence of the rich over Congress is the leading driver of polarization in modern politics, with the rich using the political system to entrench wealth by pushing for tax breaks and blocking redistributive policies.
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American Democracy is Owned by the Rich | Al Jazeera America
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/2/new-evidence-suggests-that-the-rich-own-our-democracy.html
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American Democracy is Owned by the Rich | Al Jazeera America
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/2/new-evidence-suggests-that-the-rich-own-our-democracy.html
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"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
Local Food With a Big Twist: Oregon Super-Cooperative Takes Aim at the Corporate Food System by Mary Hansen and Liz Pleasant — YES! Magazine
http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/local-food-with-big-twist-our-table-sherwood?utm_source=YTW&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=20150220
"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
The Crackdown on Little Free Library Book Exchanges - The Atlantic [feedly]
The Crackdown on Little Free Library Book Exchanges - The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/02/little-free-library-crackdown/385531/
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http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/02/little-free-library-crackdown/385531/
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"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
Nice analogy noticed by a LOVESalem foreign correspondent
"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
>
> http://www.theautomaticearth.com/2015/02/sucking-beer-out-of-the-carpet-nicole-foss-at-the-great-debate-in-melbourne/
>
> She likens the use of unconventional oil (tar sands, fracked oil, ... all the very expensive and low-flow stuff) to sucking spilled beer out of carpet, compared with conventional cheap and high-flow oil. I've not heard this before from her.
> I'd rather suck wine myself, nearly spewed mine when she made this remark. I have her to thank for getting me interested in the finance angle of Peak Everything, . . . . Meanwhile, I'm hearing regular reports on NPR of layoffs throughout the unconventional oil businesses, including biggies like Halliburton and Schlumberger (oil service companies). Setting the stage for future shortages.
> cheers
> Tooj
>
> p.s. After downloading, go to around minute 33 for her 10 minute segment.
>
> http://www.theautomaticearth.com/2015/02/sucking-beer-out-of-the-carpet-nicole-foss-at-the-great-debate-in-melbourne/
>
> She likens the use of unconventional oil (tar sands, fracked oil, ... all the very expensive and low-flow stuff) to sucking spilled beer out of carpet, compared with conventional cheap and high-flow oil. I've not heard this before from her.
> I'd rather suck wine myself, nearly spewed mine when she made this remark. I have her to thank for getting me interested in the finance angle of Peak Everything, . . . . Meanwhile, I'm hearing regular reports on NPR of layoffs throughout the unconventional oil businesses, including biggies like Halliburton and Schlumberger (oil service companies). Setting the stage for future shortages.
> cheers
> Tooj
>
> p.s. After downloading, go to around minute 33 for her 10 minute segment.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Multnomah County's 20-year bridge plan emphasizes earthquake endurance [feedly]
Wow -- a stinging rebuke that puts the local plans ("Ignore the existing bridges that we know will collapse in a big quake while we pump $60k per month for a decade to our friends at CH2M Hill to spin fantasies of a giant new highway and bridge built right through homes, while still outside the urban growth boundary") to shame.
The bizarre and confusingly named "SKATS" -- Salem Keizer Area Transportation Study -- is supposed to be the local transportation planning body for this region, but has instead strangely committed to this boondoggle, seemingly just to profit CH2M Hill, the contractor who is the only winner in all this.
As grifters go, CH2M Hill makes sister Cylvia look like a rank amateur.
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Multnomah County's 20-year bridge plan emphasizes earthquake endurance
// Politics & Elections
Multnomah County plans to spend $1.3 billion in 20 years on 53 bridge projects with an emphasis on earthquake durability.
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Sunday, February 15, 2015
A hopeful story: Lentil Underground [feedly]
Lentil Underground
http://www.resilience.org/stories/2015-02-14/lentil-underground
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http://www.resilience.org/stories/2015-02-14/lentil-underground
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"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
Super insulated high-efficiency zero-loss passivhauses just became a lot more enticing
This, Instead of feeling like you're living in SuperMax prison cell ...
http://digg.com/video/the-artificial-skylight-that-you-wont-believe-isnt-real
"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
http://digg.com/video/the-artificial-skylight-that-you-wont-believe-isnt-real
"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Math Education: The cold hard truth about why the US is falling behind in math [feedly]
We let mathematical eunuchs and virgins determine the math sequence and drive all the play and fun out of it, and then wonder why nearly everyone subjected to math in school hates it.
The better question with math education in the US really is "What equips the few who persist in enjoying math after a few years of schooling to do so, despite our schools?"
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The cold hard truth about why the US is falling behind in math
// Susan Polgar Chess Daily News and Information
The real reason why the US is falling behind in math
By Tara Holm
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The cold hard truth about why the US is falling behind in math
// Susan Polgar Chess Daily News and Information
The real reason why the US is falling behind in math
By Tara Holm
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
If my seatmate on an airplane asks me what I do for a living, I tell the truth: I'm a mathematician. This generally triggers one of two responses. Either I'm told that I must be brilliant. . . or I hear about the person's inability to balance a checkbook. The truth is, I'm not brilliant, just persistent, and I hate balancing my checkbook. Both responses, however, point to a fundamental misunderstanding about what mathematics is supposed to do and its current — and unfortunate — trajectory in American education.
Calculators have long since overthrown the need to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division by hand. We still teach this basic arithmetic, though, because we want students to grasp the contours of numbers and look for patterns, to have a sense of what the right answer might be. But what happens next in most schools is the road-to-math-Hades: the single-file death march that leads towards calculus.
We are pretty much the only country on the planet that teaches math this way, where students are forced to memorize formulas and procedures. And so kids miss the more organic experience of playing with mathematical puzzles, experimenting and searching for patterns, finding delight in their own discoveries. Most students learn to detest — or at best, endure — math, and this is why our students are falling behind their international peers.
When students memorize the Pythagorean theorem or the quadratic formula and apply it with slightly different numbers, they actually get worse at the bigger picture. Our brains are slow to recognize information when it is out of context. This is why real-world math problems are so much harder — and more fascinating — than the contrived textbook exercises.
What I've found instead is that a student who has developed the ability to turn a real-world scenario into a mathematical problem, who is alert to false reasoning, and who can manipulate numbers and equations is likely far better prepared for college math than a student who has experienced a year of rote calculus.
What can we do as parents? At my house, we sometimes talk through simple logic puzzles over dinner. There are lots of good examples on the Internet, even pirate puzzles to please my son. Sudoku, despite claims to the contrary, is all about logical problem solving.
Or how about family board games night once a week? I'm not talking Candyland-style games, all luck and no skill. Some favorites in my household include logic puzzles like Rush Hour and board games like TransAmerica, Clue, and Carcassonne. Of course, there's also always checkers and chess. These games teach kids to think logically several steps ahead, all while having fun. And they are far more effective than the SAT prep booklets which litter the homes of high school juniors each year.
More here.
If my seatmate on an airplane asks me what I do for a living, I tell the truth: I'm a mathematician. This generally triggers one of two responses. Either I'm told that I must be brilliant. . . or I hear about the person's inability to balance a checkbook. The truth is, I'm not brilliant, just persistent, and I hate balancing my checkbook. Both responses, however, point to a fundamental misunderstanding about what mathematics is supposed to do and its current — and unfortunate — trajectory in American education.
Calculators have long since overthrown the need to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division by hand. We still teach this basic arithmetic, though, because we want students to grasp the contours of numbers and look for patterns, to have a sense of what the right answer might be. But what happens next in most schools is the road-to-math-Hades: the single-file death march that leads towards calculus.
We are pretty much the only country on the planet that teaches math this way, where students are forced to memorize formulas and procedures. And so kids miss the more organic experience of playing with mathematical puzzles, experimenting and searching for patterns, finding delight in their own discoveries. Most students learn to detest — or at best, endure — math, and this is why our students are falling behind their international peers.
When students memorize the Pythagorean theorem or the quadratic formula and apply it with slightly different numbers, they actually get worse at the bigger picture. Our brains are slow to recognize information when it is out of context. This is why real-world math problems are so much harder — and more fascinating — than the contrived textbook exercises.
What I've found instead is that a student who has developed the ability to turn a real-world scenario into a mathematical problem, who is alert to false reasoning, and who can manipulate numbers and equations is likely far better prepared for college math than a student who has experienced a year of rote calculus.
What can we do as parents? At my house, we sometimes talk through simple logic puzzles over dinner. There are lots of good examples on the Internet, even pirate puzzles to please my son. Sudoku, despite claims to the contrary, is all about logical problem solving.
Or how about family board games night once a week? I'm not talking Candyland-style games, all luck and no skill. Some favorites in my household include logic puzzles like Rush Hour and board games like TransAmerica, Clue, and Carcassonne. Of course, there's also always checkers and chess. These games teach kids to think logically several steps ahead, all while having fun. And they are far more effective than the SAT prep booklets which litter the homes of high school juniors each year.
More here.
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Coolest Valentine's Date EVAH. Roy Zimmerman - Funny Songs About Ignorance, War and Greed - Performance Schedule
Take your sweetie out for an evening of wit, whimsy, wisdom and fine musicianship . . .
To a Roy Zimmerman show, in other words!
This is Roy's Third Valentine's Day show in a row at the UU congregation of Salem, and each year the crowd gets a little bigger as news of this talented, tenaciously touring troubadour travels telephonically, telegraphically, and telepathically 'till Ts trail off tiredly . . .
But never mind that, come enjoy another great show, with old favorites mixed with Roy's new stuff from "The Faucet's On Fire!"
Saturday, February 14 8 pm SALEM, OR
The Faucet's on Fire!
UU Congregation of Salem
5090 Center Street NE
Salem, OR
$18 or pay what you can
"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
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