Education

Okay, having just made fun of Italian fascists for being terrified of Christmas ornaments that emphasize commonalities between Islam and Christianity, I come across an even more disgusting phobia. The Taliban are so terrified of school girls that they are declaring jihad against them:

Taleban militants in the Swat valley in north-west Pakistan have threatened to kill girls who attend school.

A local Taleban commander ordered parents to stop sending their daughters to school by 15 January.

In comments broadcast on an illegal radio station, he threatened to blow up schools which enrolled female students.

This year alone, Taleban militants have destroyed more than 130 schools in the Swat valley. They want to bring in Islamic sharia law in the region.

Militant attacks on schools in the region have deprived more than 17,000 students of education.

What fucking dickheads! There is something deeply pathological about people who are terrified of school girls. It would be outright pathetic if it wasn't for the fact that they actually carry out violent attacks on children for simply wanting an education.

It has been just over a year since I learned about the site Free Rice. I got addicted, then forgot about it. Now I am reminded of it again and getting readdicted.

Free Rice is fun and feeds the poor around the world. You play educational games and for every answer you get right, rice is donated to feed the hungry. Last night my wife and I had a nerdy good time with world capitals, chemical symbols and famous paintings, and in the process donated some 16,000 grains of rice to feed the hungry. Given that sometimes I get addicted to this kind of nerdy game anyway, it''s nice to be able to feed some people as well.

Do you know the capitals of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan? How about the difference between a Fanz Hals and a Bruegel? Learn math, science, Spanish, French, famous paintings, etc. while helping to feed the hungry. What could be better?

About a year ago I introduced readers to a neat little site called "Free Rice." Basically back then you could play a vocabulary game and for each answer you got right sponsors would pay for 20 grains of rice to feed the poor around the world. In their first month of operation last year this effort raised enough to feed 50,000 people for one day. Not a huge thing, but a nice little effort.

Slides of the presentation Chris Rabb and I gave at "Facing Race" on both 2007 and 2008.

This was the moment that John McCain sealed not just his fate, but the fate of the Republican Party this year. There will be no comeback in 2008:

John McCain cedes the "health" of the mother to the Democratic Party, thus alienating women voters. But I see something deeper in this clip. It cedes "health" altogether. It admits that to the Republican party, the healthcare crisis is not of concern to them. "Health" is, to McCain and the Republican Party, so unimportant that it gets put into finger quotes. John McCain has just defined "health" as nothing but a rhetorical talking point.

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Geezus.

Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo found out about this gaffe via El País, Spain's "paper of record".

John McCain, is being interviewed by a journalist with an obvious Castillian accent. She asks him a series of questions about his future policies towards Latin America (which was the focus of the press conference).

Then in the last 30-40 seconds of the clip she asks him if he's looking forward to meeting with Jorge Zapatero, the prime minister of Spain. This is a somewhat tricky diplomatic question. Since winning the elections more than a year ago, Zapatero has not had a chance to visit the White House, nor has George Bush gone to Spain for an official meeting.

What does McCain do? Give his standard talking point about meeting with friendly countries only and standing tough against rogue and hostile countries.

The reporter re-frases the question 3 more times, with the last one being, "what about Europe? Spain is in Europe". McCain sticks to the talking about as if Spain were a Latin American threat to the United States.

Here's the audio clip :

Friggin' brilliant words of wisdom.

When someone picks my pocket, I am not going to be chasing them down, to find out if he feels like a thief deed down in his heart. I am going to be chasing them down so I can get my wallet back. I don't care what he is but I need to hold him accountable for what he did.

This is how we need to approach these conversations about race.

Treat them like they took your wallet and focus on the part that matters. Hold each person accountable for the impact of their words and actions.

I don't care what you are.

I care about what you did.

Picture from the Boston Herald.

What a sad day.Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who was elected with a wave of hope, has turned his back on migrants.

Governor Deval Patrick has decided against taking action to allow illegal immigrants to pay resident tuition and fees at state colleges and universities this fall, an administration official said yesterday, crushing advocates who were counting on the governor to deliver on a pledge to support the students.

Maria Sacchetti - Boston Globe (22 May 2008)

This is a sad day for hundreds of migrant youth, whose only hope to go to college this year was crushed.What makes this an even harder pill to swallow is that Patrick is turning his back on a promise he made during his campaign.

We will have in-state tuition for undocumented aliens when I am governor.

Deval Patrick - WBZTV (4 April 2006)

No...not "Jon Stewart." I'm talking about John Stewart, Provost of John Muir College at the University of California, San Diego. I found out this morning that John Stewart, a man who had a profound affect on my life in college, died last year.

I am an alumnus of John Muir College and UCSD and I knew John Stewart. I should note that we never called him John or Dr. Stewart or Professor. He was always "John Stewart." I don't know why. Some combination of closeness and respect. I probably last talked to John Stewart some 20 years ago, though he may have written me a letter of recommendation or two after that. But probably even that level of contact ended by 1990 or so. For a few years now I have wondered if he was still alive and well. When I knew him he was already 70 or so, and he was backpacking in the backcountry with myself and other gung ho college kids. He might not have been the fastest of the bunch, but I am willing to bet he could have out hiked us if push came to shove. He retired the same year I graduated, so my graduating class was the last he presided over as Provost. I remember being asked to give a short speech at a tree planting ceremony in his honor, an event where the music was played by folk singer and marine biologist Sam Hinton, another friend of John Stewart's. I can't remember what I said, I just remember feeling honored to be asked to do honor to this man. The tree is probably still there, I suppose.