grist for the mill
A not-so-secret research cacheMonday, November 29, 2004
Arson uproots Detroit family: "The family has endured a dozen break-ins in the past few years. Crime in their neighborhood has gotten so bad, neighbors post incidents through an e-mail list serve in hopes of thwarting repeats, Serra said."
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Detroit Pension Bonds
Some city council members are resisting, arguing this debt exposes the city to risk. The fact is, the debt already exists. The only real question is whether the city pays it off at a better interest rate.
Friday, November 26, 2004
WEBMASTRY: "What happened? How have we gotten to this point? Why do more and more people believe that universal truth is just a click away via a single source? Most importantly, what does this mean for the information professional? There is enough here for more than my column, probably enough for a couple of dissertations.
Let's start with Google. This column is not an attack or an attempt to blame Google or any other person or group. Far from it! Google should be commended for what it has done, not only with technology, but even more interestingly with how it has positioned and marketed its service. What can we, as a profession, learn from Google?
With almost zero traditional advertising, Google has exploited the power of word-of-mouth marketing to become synonymous with Web search and, for some people, research itself. "
Let's start with Google. This column is not an attack or an attempt to blame Google or any other person or group. Far from it! Google should be commended for what it has done, not only with technology, but even more interestingly with how it has positioned and marketed its service. What can we, as a profession, learn from Google?
With almost zero traditional advertising, Google has exploited the power of word-of-mouth marketing to become synonymous with Web search and, for some people, research itself. "
William Gibson: "Re Creationism, I must point out an unfortunate subtext that's no longer quite so obvious. Having grown up in the previous iteration of the rural American south, I know that what *really* smarted about Darwin, down there, was the logical implication that blacks and whites are descended from a common ancestor. Butt-ugly, but there it is. That was the first objection to evolutionary theory that I ever heard, and it was a very common one, in fact the most common. That it was counter to Genesis seemed merely convenient, in the face of an anthropoid grand-uncle in the woodpile.
Like the man says: Look at those cavemen go.
"
Like the man says: Look at those cavemen go.
"
William Gibson
From William Gibson's Blog:
"I call on every man and woman of good will all over America today...to take a stand on this issue. Tomorrow may be too late. The book may close. Don't let anyone make you think that God chose America as his divine messianic force, to be a sort of policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with judgement, and it seems that I can hear God saying to America 'You are too arrogant!
If you don't change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power! And I will place it in the hands of a nation that doesn't even know my name. Be still and know that I am God.'"
-- Martin Luther King, 4 April 1967
From William Gibson's Blog:
"I call on every man and woman of good will all over America today...to take a stand on this issue. Tomorrow may be too late. The book may close. Don't let anyone make you think that God chose America as his divine messianic force, to be a sort of policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with judgement, and it seems that I can hear God saying to America 'You are too arrogant!
If you don't change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power! And I will place it in the hands of a nation that doesn't even know my name. Be still and know that I am God.'"
-- Martin Luther King, 4 April 1967
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
The New York Times > New York Region > The City > 'New York Was Our City on the Hill': "I remember going to the same hospital's women's clinic with my mother for one of her regular checkups when I was 16. She had a headache, her blood pressure was high, and the doctor told her that she'd have to be hospitalized that day if she wanted to avoid a stroke.
'Doctor, I have children at home and work tomorrow,' my mother said, before signing papers declaring that she'd been advised of the treatment for her condition but had refused it. On the bus home, I watched her carefully, fearful that she would keel over and die for our sake, but she made it home, and despite the persistent headache, she went to work the next day."
'Doctor, I have children at home and work tomorrow,' my mother said, before signing papers declaring that she'd been advised of the treatment for her condition but had refused it. On the bus home, I watched her carefully, fearful that she would keel over and die for our sake, but she made it home, and despite the persistent headache, she went to work the next day."
Worldandnation: Haitian pastor dies on U.S. doorstep: "Unlike Cubans fleeing communism, who are allowed automatic entry if they reach U.S. shores, undocumented Haitians are routinely detained. U.S. officials have gone as far as arguing that the Haitians represent a national security threat; Attorney General John Ashcroft recently cited intelligence reports that Muslim terrorists were trying to use Haiti to infiltrate the United States.
In Dantica's case, what most perplexes immigration rights advocates is Homeland Security's insistence on isolating him from his family.
Said Pratt: 'To not allow a man who is 81 years old to spend the few remaining hours of his life with those closest to him - that's unconscionable.'"
In Dantica's case, what most perplexes immigration rights advocates is Homeland Security's insistence on isolating him from his family.
Said Pratt: 'To not allow a man who is 81 years old to spend the few remaining hours of his life with those closest to him - that's unconscionable.'"
Monday, November 22, 2004
MITCH ALBOM: Blame it on dumb view of respect: "Oh. And by the way. Maybe the league wants to notice that the beverages being tossed Friday night were distinctly amber and pungent: as in beer. The hypocrisy of selling alcohol all night, then complaining when people behave like drunks, is beyond comment. Who says you have to sell booze at sporting events? Show me one law. Show me one mandate. David Stern, the NBA commissioner, can get high and mighty, but he surrenders credibility when he wags one hand at drunken behavior but hugs the beer companies' money with the other."
Friday, November 19, 2004
An Indian and a Gypsy: May 2004: "We went to high school together in Matewn,West Virginia. We have been married for 48 years and have three children,nine grand-children and five great grand-kids.
After retiring in 2000 we sold our house,bought a motor home and started our full time adventure. "
After retiring in 2000 we sold our house,bought a motor home and started our full time adventure. "
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Medical examiner: fetus died from premature delivery induced by trauma: "Spitz said authorities told him the teens decided to bury the fetus after realizing it wouldn't fit down the toilet. "
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Saving John Kerry: "Was there a better Democrat in the field? Maybe. Dick Gephardt would have been a formidable opponent for President Bush--and perhaps a better candidate than Kerry. But he's about it. Joe Lieberman had a better chance of winning the Republican nomination. Howard Dean would have been an unmitigated disaster. Ditto the not-ready-for-prime-time Wesley Clark, and the oddball Sharpton/Kucinich show.
And how about that John Edwards? If his performance as a vice presidential candidate is any indication, he might have been as bad for the Democrats as Dean. Edwards's only electoral victory came in his 1998 Senate race against a 70-year-old first-term senator. Then he lost every presidential primary save South Carolina, delivered a disappointing convention speech, was beaten in the vice presidential debate, and was an ineffective campaigner for Kerry down the stretch. His supposed strength was that he could connect with Southerners, but forget carrying his home state: Edwards couldn't even carry his home precinct. Never has so large a reputation been created by so little actual success. "
And how about that John Edwards? If his performance as a vice presidential candidate is any indication, he might have been as bad for the Democrats as Dean. Edwards's only electoral victory came in his 1998 Senate race against a 70-year-old first-term senator. Then he lost every presidential primary save South Carolina, delivered a disappointing convention speech, was beaten in the vice presidential debate, and was an ineffective campaigner for Kerry down the stretch. His supposed strength was that he could connect with Southerners, but forget carrying his home state: Edwards couldn't even carry his home precinct. Never has so large a reputation been created by so little actual success. "
Cops: Teens ended pregnancy with a baseball bat: "And for several weeks, her 16-year-old boyfriend struck her in the belly with a baseball bat in an effort to terminate her pregnancy, police said.
In October, the 16-year-old girl had a miscarriage in her Richmond Township house, said Michigan State Police Sgt. Jim Haggerty. Afterward, the teens wrapped the fetus in plastic and buried it in an open field in northern Macomb County's Richmond Township, police said."
In October, the 16-year-old girl had a miscarriage in her Richmond Township house, said Michigan State Police Sgt. Jim Haggerty. Afterward, the teens wrapped the fetus in plastic and buried it in an open field in northern Macomb County's Richmond Township, police said."
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Friday, November 12, 2004
State high schools fail federal standards for variety of reasons: "The state reports that 436 of its 937 high schools did not make adequate yearly progress in 2004. All of Detroit's public high schools were listed as failing, as were several schools in the state's largest cities such as Grand Rapids and Lansing.
But a wide range of suburban, small town and rural schools across Michigan also missed the mark -- including schools in Bay City and Brighton, Wolverine and Walled Lake.
Schools that fail repeatedly must allow students to transfer to other schools and could lose some federal funding, a penalty that most often hurts large urban districts."
But a wide range of suburban, small town and rural schools across Michigan also missed the mark -- including schools in Bay City and Brighton, Wolverine and Walled Lake.
Schools that fail repeatedly must allow students to transfer to other schools and could lose some federal funding, a penalty that most often hurts large urban districts."
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
The Seattle Times: Local News: Teaching often out of reach for minority aides: "Research suggests students perform better when taught by teachers of their own race, yet in many urban school districts such as Seattle's, where minorities account for more than half of the enrollment, most teachers are white. On the other hand, more than half the district's teacher aides are minorities. "
Monday, November 08, 2004
I Am The Change: "But on the other hand, I am starting to see Jig's point. At times, there might be something to gain by toning it down. Do we really think that the millions and millions of conservative Bush supporters are all idiots? Could it be that easy? Is there another framework we could use to understand the ideological opposition? Yes, and it is a less self-righteous one."
Trial is last hope to stop a killer: "The trial is attracting national attention. Watts, who has confessed to killing 13 women and is suspected in dozens of other killings, is to walk free from a Texas prison on April 9, 2006, after 24 years behind bars, a situation that appalls Bunten.
Watts will be released because of a controversial 1982 plea bargain he made with Texas officials, after he was arrested trying to kill a woman in her Houston-area apartment.
Prosecutors there convinced him to confess to 13 killings, including the stabbing death of a Grosse Pointe Farms woman, in exchange for immunity. Prosecutors then allowed him to plead to a lesser charge of burglary, and he was sentenced to 60 years in prison. But under an old law, since repealed, he earned good time points and will be paroled in 18 months.
He has pledged to kill again."
Watts will be released because of a controversial 1982 plea bargain he made with Texas officials, after he was arrested trying to kill a woman in her Houston-area apartment.
Prosecutors there convinced him to confess to 13 killings, including the stabbing death of a Grosse Pointe Farms woman, in exchange for immunity. Prosecutors then allowed him to plead to a lesser charge of burglary, and he was sentenced to 60 years in prison. But under an old law, since repealed, he earned good time points and will be paroled in 18 months.
He has pledged to kill again."
Saturday, November 06, 2004
The Underground Railroad
Journalism Under Fire
Journalism Under Fire: Part biography, part reprimand, part love letter to the promise of his profession—this speech, given by Bill Moyers at a Society of Professional Journalists conference on Sept. 11, 2004, will be referred to for years to come by those who are worried about the state of journalism. It’s a true classic: “I believe democracy requires ‘a sacred contract’ between journalists and those who put their trust in us to tell them what we can about how the world really works.”
The Internet @ 35
Thirty-five years ago it wasn't called the Internet and almost nobody knew about it. Today almost everybody knows about it and many people use it every day. (In 2002, the UCLA Internet Project found that 71% of Amercians use it.)
Also - A new generation of wireless-sensing technology being developed at UCLA promises to connect the physical world in the same way that the Internet has linked the virtual world
Also - A new generation of wireless-sensing technology being developed at UCLA promises to connect the physical world in the same way that the Internet has linked the virtual world
Friday, November 05, 2004
T610 Photo Blog: "Here at this photo blog I try to post images which I take from my city Tehran ( Iran's Capital ). All the photos here will taken by a Sony Ericsson T610 mobile phone. and cause of that I named here ' T610 Photo Blog ' ! "
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Newsday.com - AP Washington Alan Keyes, Narrowly Avoids Throwing a Hissy : "Keyes said that despite the loss, he thought he did a good job spreading his message of moral values in the short time he had to campaign. Republicans drafted Keyes in August after primary winner Jack Ryan dropped out amid a scandal over sex club allegations in his divorce files. Keyes is from Maryland and had never lived in Illinois. "
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Ways and Means: Paying For College: "Costs are also rising at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The average costs at a four year public HBCU for in state students is about $3,419 and for out of state students, $8,452. At four year private HBCUs, tuition and fees are $8,747 on average. There are many ways for students to finance their education, including scholarships, student loans, work-study, summer and part-time jobs during college, and Pell Grants. Most college students turn to federal and private loans to foot the bill for their academic studies. College students borrowed over $47 billion in federal loans and $7.5 billion in non-federal loans during the 2002-2003 school year."
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