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CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- The sister of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson made an emotional appeal Saturday for the safe return of her 7-year-old son, who disappeared after a double shooting Friday on Chicago's South Side.
"All I ask, I don't care who you are, just let my baby go, please," Julia Balfour, Hudson's sister, said at a news conference Saturday night. "I just want my son."
Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, and brother, Jason Hudson, were shot to death Friday in their home. The child, Julian King, has been missing since.
Hudson was said to be in Chicago on Saturday night but did not attend the news conference. The missing child's father, Greg King, attended but did not speak publicly.
Earlier Saturday, Julia Balfour's mother-in-law said that police had questioned her son, William Balfour, in the slayings.
Michele Davis-Balfour insisted that her son had nothing to do with the shootings and urged the public to focus on finding the missing boy.
"Out of no means did my son do this. This heinous crime to this family is unbelievable. It's unbearable," Davis-Balfour told WLS in Chicago.
"Whoever has Jennifer Hudson's nephew or Julia Balfour's son, please, I'm begging you, me and my family are begging you to return that son." Watch Davis-Balfour's emotional appeal »
Police issued an Amber Alert for Julian and asked residents to look out for a 1994 white Chevrolet Suburban with Illinois license plate X584859.
Julian is described as being 4 feet, 11 inches tall and weighing 130 pounds. He was wearing a striped brown polo shirt and khaki pants when last seen, authorities said in the Amber Alert.
WLS reported late Friday that a suspect, whom it now identifies as William Balfour, was in custody but that the boy was not with him when he was detained.
Chicago police spokesman Daniel O'Brien would not comment on whether a William Balfour was in custody or whether police had questioned a man by that name.
"Police have and continue to speak with numerous" people, O'Brien said. He said no charges had been filed against anyone in connection with the murders. Watch the police news conference »
William Balfour says on his MySpace page that he is married to Jennifer Hudson's sister Julia and has a stepson.
"I might as well let you all know that Jennifer Hudson is my wife's sister I'm proud of her and wish her nothing but the best in what she do," he wrote.
According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, Balfour, 27, is on parole. He spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possessing a stolen vehicle.
His MySpace page also says he lives on Chicago's South Side.
Deputy Police Chief Joseph Patterson said the bodies were found about 3 p.m. Friday (4 p.m. ET), when a relative arrived and found the body of a woman on the living room floor. The relative backed out of the house and called police, Patterson said. Authorities found a man shot to death in a bedroom.
The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said Saturday that Donerson and Jason Hudson suffered multiple gunshot wounds and ruled the deaths homicides.
The FBI is working with Chicago police to find Julian, Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis said. There is no evidence that the boy has been taken across state lines, which would make the abduction a federal offense. The action is being taken as a precaution because it would be possible to cross state lines in the amount of time the boy has been missing, he said.
Neighbors reported hearing gunshots earlier Friday, Patterson said. Authorities found no signs of forced entry to the home and were not sure whether other items were missing. Watch the scene outside the house »
"You've got two people who were killed inside a home. That alone will produce a great deal of evidence," Weis said of forensic evidence at the crime scene.
Hudson won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Effie in the film version of the Broadway musical "Dreamgirls." She competed on the third season of "American Idol" in 2004, making it to the top seven contestants before being eliminated from the contest.
All About Chicago • Jennifer Hudson


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One of the most fundamental issues concerning the formation of society, government, and federations is the lines of individual freedom verses government power. For the States and United States, there are no two philosophical schools of thought more influential on this matter than the philosophies of the Enlightenment period and Georg Hegel. As shown inPart 1, the United States was emphatically founded on Enlightenment philosophy; but in the late 1800s, Hegel's philosophy greatly influenced and controlled the minds and actions of American law, politics, and education. However, the two philosophies are hardly compatible and form completely different structures of governance. When both are used by American politicians, collision is inevitable.
Hegel Philosophy
According to Hegel, the existence of "freedom" has its foundation in the "origin in the will" (Georg Hegel, Philosophy of Right, Ed. University of Chicago, Trnsl. T.M. Knox, [Encyclopedia Britannica, Oxford University Press, 1952], 12). The will goes through a process leading to self-consciousness; thus, to "posit any content in himself by his own effort" (13). Hegel calls the destination of this process "individuality" (14). From this individuality, the will creates specific determinations and seeks to realize them (15). In short, the individual attempts to accomplish in real life what his will desires.
Hegel claims that for the individual to objectify his will, his subjective determinations must be made "universal" through an objective forum (17-18), or else, his will remains in a non-rational condition—like an animal. Hegel says, "the absolute goal…of free mind is to make its freedom its object, i.e. to make freedom objective as much in the sense that freedom shall be the rational system of mind, as in the sense that this system shall be the world of immediate actuality" (18). In a word, subjective freedom must have a rational method through which to objectify or make real his freedom. Hegel calls this kind of freedom,Moral Freedom, Idea of Freedom, and Ethical Life.
Hegel determines that this individual realizes this moral freedom through the State. Hegel says, "[t]he State is the actuality of the ethical Idea." (80). To Hegel, the State is the only means through which individual freedom has any objectivity. He reasons in this manner, "Whoever wills to act in this world of actuality has eo ipso [by the thing itself] submitted himself to its laws and recognized the right of objectivity…In this objective field, the right of [objective] insight is valid as insight into the legal or illegal" (46). Hegel further reasons, "the nature of man consists precisely in the fact that he is essentially something universal, not a being whose knowledge is an abstractly momentary and piecemeal affair" (Ibid). Hegel means, exercising objective Moral Freedom is only accomplished by complying with the laws of the State.
Hegel sets forth premises to justify his position regarding "objective freedom", stating, "the origin of evil in general is to be found in the mystery of [individual] freedom" (48). In other words, evil arises out of the subjective will without the State's laws to determine whether those actions comply with objective freedom (i.e. legal or illegal). All individual freedom without the State amounts to irrationality, absurdity, and contradiction. In particular, Hegel is extremely sensitive about people in society who might claim their actions comport to a higher law than man's law (i.e. natural and divine law). In mocking these positions, Hegel touts, "You actually accept a law…and respect it as absolute. So do I, but I go further than you, because I am beyond this law and can make it to suit myself" (54). Of course, this higher law Hegel mocks is the same law upon which the Enlightenment philosophy is based—the foundation of American jurisprudence.
Hegel's disdain for the Enlightenment philosophy is clear when he states in part, "this babble has made reasonable men just as sick of the words 'reason,' 'enlightenment,' and 'right,' &c., as of the words 'constitution' and 'freedom'" (89). Hegel believes the Enlightenment philosophy is incredible because it is based upon reason and logic, and not upon the "concept of the State". Hegel presupposes that since logic is based upon interpretations deduced by human mind, logic will interfere with the concept of the State, which is to objectify subjective freedom. Thus, Hegel believes the Enlightenment philosophy of America's independence is not only unreasonable and contradictory, but evil because logic cannot and must not get in the way of the "concept of the State".
To prevent this "evil" in society where people claim a higher law than man's law, thus abusing their freedom, Hegel concludes, "the ethical order is freedom or the absolute willas what is objective, a circle of necessity whose moments are the ethical powers which regulate the life of individuals" (55, emphasis added). "Ethical freedom" is the STATE, to determine all objective freedom for the individual. Notice as well that Hegel equates "freedom" with the "absolute will" of the State. Thus, to a Hegelian, society is free where the State has absolute control over individuals. Hegel further states, the State's power "is an absolute authority and power infinitely more firmly established than the being in nature" (55). Since the power of the State is absolute and its power is infinite, it follows that "these laws and institutions are duties binding on the will of the individual" regardless of logic, reason, and the purposes and ends of society and government (56). The STATE is the end unto itself because only it is reality.
Even more than the individual having a duty to submit to this absolute State authority, Hegel declares that the individual's destiny "is fulfilled when they belong to an actual ethical order [i.e. State], because their conviction of their freedom finds its truth in such an objective order, and it is in an ethical order [i.e. State] that they are actually in possession of their own essence or their own inner universality" (57, emphasis added). Hegel means, an individual is destined to be a subject of a State and his essence as a human is fulfilled by being subject to the absolute will of the State. Upon these premises, Hegel ultimately finds that individual rights are found not in nature or God, but in the State. He says, "by being in the ethical order [i.e. State] a man has rights" (57).
Hegel finds that individuals are completely inferior to the State in all regards: in life, liberty, and property. A "patriot" of the State is one who sees his interests as subservient to the interests of the State; he must act in accordance with all state laws and institutions. Hegel says,
"[a]s the substance of the individual subject, it is his political sentiment [patriotism];…as the substance of the objective world, it is the organism of the state. The political sentiment, patriotism pure and simple, is assured conviction with truth as its basis…In this sense it is simply a product of the institutions subsisting in the state, since rationality is actuallypresent in the state, while action in conformity with these institutions gives rationality its practical proof." (84, brackets not added).
Clearly stated, Hegel determines that patriotism equates to obedience to the State in all regards. More than a person being patriotic by recognizing his objective freedom through the State, the individual must sacrifice his life, liberty, and property to and for the State. Hegel determines, "[the individual's] relation [to the State] and the recognition of it is therefore the individual's substantive duty, the duty to maintain this substantive individuality, i.e. the independence and sovereignty of the state, at the risk and the sacrifice of property and life" (107). Hegel further states that "[s]acrifice on behalf of the individuality of the state is the substantial tie between the state and all its members and so is a universal duty." (107). Were a person to invoke natural rights granted by God to protect his life, liberty, and property against the State, or were a person to even question the actions or authority of government, Hegel would find that person to be ipso facto unpatriotic.
Quite clearly, under Hegel's philosophy, the State is absolutely and infinitely supreme; and the individual has a duty to sacrifice his life and property for the State because the individuals' "objective freedom" cannot exist except by the State. The individual exists for the State; not the State for the individual. This duty to sacrifice one's life, liberty, and property for the State is universal in time and conditions regardless of whether the State is in a state of war or peace and regardless of constitution. If the State requires the sacrifice, the individual must make the sacrifice; and the State is the sole determiner of its own needs. Put inversely, the State is the sole determiner of which individuals need to sacrifice for the State; and this determination has nothing to do with reason or logic, but only with the "concept of the State".
By Hegel's own admission, these ideas contrast sharply to the ones which founded and birthed the United States of America and its constitutions: the Enlightenment Period.
Enlightenment Philosophy
The American Declaration of Independence mirrors Enlightenment philosophy. Even someone who is only vaguely familiar with the Declaration would recognize its principles are incompatible with Hegel's philosophy. The Declaration recognizes the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Hegel recognizes no such right. In the Declaration, the State is not the method of obtaining objectivity of freedom, but is the protector of freedom and is ultimately under the control of the people for whose benefit it was created.
These concepts were specifically advanced by Enlightenment philosophy and were described as immutable. Samuel Pufendorf says, "the fundamental laws of nature [are] truth and necessity aris[ing] directly from the very character of human nature; and [are]conclusions…deduced from these principles" (Pufendorf, Two Books of the Elements of Universal Jurisprudence, Ed. Knud Haakonssen, [Liberty Fund, Indianapolis, IN, 2009], 218). Thus expressed in the Declaration, "We hold these truths to be self-evident". For the American colonies, the belief that God judged the actions of mankind equipped them to secede from Great Britain, given the truth of individual freedom and limitations of State power.
To Hegel, there was no "immutable truths" of right and wrong relative to the State's judgments and actions. There was only the power of the State. To Hegel, the ultimate judge is not God, as the Declaration declares ("the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions"). Rather, the "history of the world [is] the world's court of judgement" (Hegel, Philosophy of Right, 110). As will be seen in this article's subsequent parts, this Hegelian concept of "history" has a fundamental bearing on how those in political power control the State.
As a fundamental premise of understanding human nature, society, and government, John Locke explains that individual freedom is found in the laws of Nature created by God. Individual freedom is a natural, inherit right granted by the Creator of life and matter. He states that political power (i.e. the State) is founded not upon the "concept of the State" but rather upon this: "all men are naturally in…a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of Nature" (Locke, Concerning Civil Government, 25). Civil liberty was substantively a matter of "life, liberty, health, and indolency of body; and the possession of outward things such as money, houses, furniture, and the like" (Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration, Ed. Charles Sherman, [D. Appleton-Century Company, 1937], 3). It was a matter of individual freedom. Thus, "no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions" (John Locke, Concerning Civil Government, Ed. Alexander Campbell Fraser, [Oxford University Press, 1952], 26). This law of nature restricts government as well, for at least "they are subject to the Divine sovereignty and the law of nature" (Samuel Pufendorf,Two Books of the Elements of Universal Jurisprudence, 34).
Upon the recognition that God created man, individual freedom contains the right to use the grants of God for the individual's benefit. Locke states, "for men being all the workmanship of one omnipotent and infinitely wise Maker; all the servants of one sovereign Master, sent into the world by His order and about His business; they are His property, whose workmanship they are made to last during His, not another's pleasure." (Locke,Concerning Civil Government, 26). By definition, the State is not the objective form of individual freedom. Enlightenment philosophers acknowledged that the individual, as a workmanship of God, is a moral being, answerable to God primarily and man secondarily. This philosophy acknowledges that God equips individuals with certain rights independent of society and government. The State is not the objectivity of rights, as Hegel proposes. God is.
With this individual freedom, God grants to him certain authority respective of his rights. Samuel Pufendorf recognizes that "[a]uthority over persons and actions which are one's own is called liberty" (Two Books on the Elements of Universal Jurisprudence, 89). Where no individual authority exists, no individual liberty exists. Thus, were individual freedom to exist only through the power of the State, no liberty would exist at all; it would depend entirely on the State's arbitrary control or otherwise. To the Enlightenment, individual liberty is a matter of individual ownership sanctioned by God and is not subject to arbitrary control of the State.
Individual freedom, or as referenced in philosophical terms, individual morality, is something imposed upon individuals by God, not the State as Hegel proposes. This individual morality and freedom exists independently of the State. Samuel Pufendorf puts it this way, "[morality] does not derive its origin from the arbitrary imposition of men [i.e. government], but only from the disposition of God himself, who has so formed the nature of man that particular actions of necessity are or are not congruent with this nature" (Two Books of the Elements of Universal Jurisprudence, 24).
So, while government may unjustly interfere with individual freedom, we suffer only while evils are sufferable. At some point, individuals may invoke their right and command of freedom and may do as the Declaration states, "alter or [] abolish it, and [] institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." Without the concept of individual freedom and rights, there is hardly room for John Locke's definition of tyranny: "tyranny is the exercising of power beyond right" (Concerning Civil Government, 71). Of course, Hegel does not recognize such a definition of tyranny because he does not recognize natural rights of the individual outside of the power of the State. How can the State exceed powers when it is the realization of the individual's freedom?
This concept of unilaterally executing individual freedom was not new. John Locke stated it clearly in his works as noted in part 1 of this series. Samuel Pufendorf stated the same thing before Thomas Jefferson, saying, "since he to whom sovereignty is given possesses otherwise no right over me, and therefore holds by my mere free will whatever authority he has over me, it is assuredly patent that it rests with me how far I care to admit his sovereignty over me" (Two Books on the Elements of Universal Jurisprudence, 89). Were it not for the supremacy of individual freedom, this right to change, abolish, or secede from government would not be possible. Quite obviously, Enlightenment philosophy rejected what Hegel advocated and placed significant value on the individual as a creation of God with individual freedom.
Observations and Conclusion
Tragically, from the late 1800s until today in America, many in the highest levels of education and politics have adopted the principles advocated by Hegel. Many of them have openly admitted this; others not so bold hide their Hegelian beliefs in Enlightenment terminology. These Hegelians have largely influenced the direction of constitutional law and political direction of the United States. Even a shallow study would reveal this, and these subsequent articles will reveal more of this truth.
As a result, the United States has undergone a change in character to the point that it is unrecognizable as the same country. Instead of wanting individual freedom, many Americans prefer government intervention, management, and control—just as Hegel (and Marx) envisioned—in contradiction to foundational principles of constitutional republicanism and democracy.
To return to true American principles, citizens and their representatives must reject the Hegelian supposition of State power and authority relative to individual freedom, and once again place preeminence on the value of God's creation of the individual, who has the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness independent of government.
Furthermore, we must question authority as it has been told to us. We must require our agents to reconcile their positions of constitutional law and politics with the fundamental notion of individual freedom. If their positions do not reconcile with this fundament tenet of American jurisprudence and philosophy, they may be a Hegelian in disguise.
Subsequent articles are forthcoming on the remaining topics, and will be designed to offer the political student with more tools to judge actions with philosophy.
- Money and Freedom - September 3, 2012
- Why Do I Talk About Marijuana? - August 27, 2012
- Where Reasonable Doubt of 'Evil' Exists, Choose Liberty - July 2, 2012

subset: commoncrawl


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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport has hired an attorney to investigate allegations that former doubles champion Bob Hewitt sexually abused girls he coached, an inquiry that could result in his expulsion or suspension from the Hall.
The Hall of Fame's chief executive officer, Mark Stenning, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that a lawyer with the Boston firm Hinckley Allen Snyder is interviewing people who say they were abused by Hewitt, who played in the 1960s and 1970s and was inducted into the Hall in 1992.
The lawyer, Michael Connolly, will prepare a report for the Hall's 24-member executive committee to help determine whether the Hall should seek to expel or suspend Hewitt or take no action, Stenning said.
No one has ever been expelled or suspended from the Hall, about 30 miles south of the state capital, Providence. Stenning said the Hall's bylaws were changed in April to allow for it, but he declined to go into the details about how that would happen.
Hewitt, 72, won several Grand Slam events during his decades-long career. The Hall's website calls him an "enduringly elegant player" and a "master of the doubles craft."
The AP was not immediately able to contact Hewitt, who lives in South Africa and has not been charged criminally.
The Weekend Post newspaper in South Africa quoted him in September as saying, "I only want to apologize if I offended anyone in any way."
Among those recently interviewed as part of the Hall's inquiry is Heather Conner, of West Newbury, Mass. She says she was sexually abused by Hewitt starting at age 15, when she says he forced her to have sex with him near a high school in Massachusetts.
Conner, who has spoken publicly before and agreed to be identified, is critical of the Hall for not taking action sooner and said she wants to see Hewitt expelled.
"I would think that that would be something," she said.
The AP typically doesn't identify people who say they were sexually abused, unless they agree to be named publicly.
The Hall of Fame's former president Tony Trabert initially promised an inquiry last year, but Stenning told The Boston Globe in May that none was being conducted.
Stenning said Tuesday that had changed. The Hall should have taken steps to investigate more quickly but is now "doing the right thing," he said.
"In hindsight, we certainly could have handled this more swiftly," he said.
Stenning said the statute of limitations for criminal charges in the United States has expired but it doesn't apply in South Africa.
He said he didn't know how many women Connolly is interviewing as part of his inquiry. He said Connolly's report could be presented to the Hall's executive committee this month.
Connolly declined to offer any specifics about his inquiry.


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What you need is a barcode reader. There are hardware ones(mostly handheld style) and software ones(installed on PC or smartphone). You can complete integration with the guide and then start scanning and decoding barcode images. In most case, the data in barcode images will export as plain text.
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!


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WHO Guidance – Safe abortion: technical and policy guidance for health systems
The second edition of this guidance has now been published and is available from: http://extranet.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/70914/1/9789241548434_eng.pdf
RCOG – The Initial Management of Chronic Pelvic Pain, (Green-top 41)
New guidance published in May available from: http://www.rcog.org.uk/womens-health/clinical-guidance/initial-management-chronic-pelvic-pain-green-top-41
RCN – SDI and IUT Accreditation Guidance Documents – Sixth Edition
Accreditation, which is valid for 5 years costs £360 for members and £480 for non-members – re-accrediation is £180 and £240.
Available from: http://www.rcn.org.uk/development/learning/accreditation/LARC_accreditation
"Don't go in without a skin"
Online condoms and lubes provider the Freedoms Shop (Central & North West London NHS Foundation Trust) has teamed up with Terrence Higgins Trust to launch the Summer Lovin' campaign – urging gay men across London to use condoms – with a new online health resource. The downloadable resource brings together stacks of health and sexual safety information, presented in a cheeky, accessible way, while Freedoms is providing a half price condoms


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Reviews for suckas
Mr. T takes on the 1989 KISS release "Hot in the shade".
"You knows it's bad when these fools become bigger clowns after they take the make-up off. Just listen to some of these songs. "Forever"? These idiots made this song feel like it lasted forever. "Betrayed"? That's how their fans felt after having to take this pitiful junk. "Love's a slap in the face"? What kind of crazy fool title is that? I sure don't love this song, but I'll give them the slap in the face they deserve for writing this fool jibba jabba. Hide your heart? Kiss better hide their whole selves after making me put up with this silly music. I don't hate their fans, but I pity the fools that spent good money for "Hot in the shade"."
Labels: KISS, Reviews for suckas


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Welcome to the fourth step in our free professional learning series on class and student blogging!
- Explain how comments are used on class blogs.
- Provide tips for teaching students quality commenting skills.
Why Comments Are Important
Kathleen Morris has shared some thoughts on why comments count in a blog post:
- Comments turn your blog from a static space into an interactive space.
- They allow for back and forth conversation which can lead to a huge amount of learning.
- The fact that comments aren't instantaneous (like online chat) can fuel deeper reflections, responses, and research.
- Comments allow for feedback, constructive criticism, and the adding of ideas and opinions to the original post. The content can grow and evolve.
- It can be encouraging for students to know they have an authentic audience who can connect with them.
- Commenting can be an ideal way for parents to get involved in the classroom (virtual parent helpers!)
- A single comment can be the start of a fantastic working relationship or friendship. You never know where that can take you and/or your students.
The Blogging Cycle
Important parts of the blogging process include encouraging students to:
1. Read other students' posts.
2. Comment on other students' posts.
3. Write posts in response to other students' posts.
It's amazing how even just a few comments can make students realize they are writing for a global audience — for many it's incredibly motivating.
Must Watch Video
We recommend you watch The Possibility of Student Blogging by Andrea Hernandez and Slivia Tolisano.
This video provides an excellent explanation of the blogging, the commenting process, the impact of quality blogging on student literacy, and the importance of writing as part of a global audience.
Remember, discussions in comments are important for reflective learning. Comments that challenge or suggest alternative options encourage you to reflect, revise, evaluate, and review your thoughts.
Back to Top
How Comments Work
By default, comments are enabled on all newly created blogs, and a comment form will appear at the bottom of posts and pages where readers can respond to what you've written.
Note: Comments are disabled on pages by default and can be enabled.
Approved comments are displayed under the individual post or page. You just click on the post title or the comment link to read the comments.
Threaded comments allow readers to reply to other comments inline/nested which encourages better discussion and responses.
Here is an example of a threaded comment on a post:
Dealing With Comments
The great thing about comments is you have control over moderation and approval. Refer to the following support documents for more information on dealing with comments.
Examples Of Comments On Class Blogs
These examples of comments on class blogs to demonstrate just a few of the ways comments can be used by educators and students.
- Two Truths and One Lie: A Culture Exchange (Miss Jordan's grade 3/4 students in Australia had a commenting conversation with some of their blogging buddies in the USA)
- Learning in 21 — You Are Invited (Grade 3 students wrote a comment to their teacher)
- St Charles Borromeo students run a Mystery Word competition that students can comment on.
- Roslyn Green's high school history class (Night of Notables) and English class (G is for Gratitude) wrote some insightful reflections in their comments.
How To Add Comments
To leave a comment on a post, simply:
1. Click on the heading of the post you wish to comment on or the 'comment' link at the top or bottom of the post.
2. Scroll down the page to the comment form or click on Reply (to reply to a specific comment).
3. Enter your name and email address –- your email address is hidden and only the blogger sees it (If you are logged into your Edublogs account you won't need to add these details).
4. Write your comment in the box.
5. Enter the anti-spam word.
6. Select 'Notify me of followup comments via e-mail' if you want to get an email when other people comment (so you know if people reply to you etc.).
7. Click Post Comment
Below is a video from Kathleen Morris explaining how to add a comment for students.
Note: Email address isn't required in her example as the email requirement has been disabled in Settings > Discussion.
Want to make your own 'How to comment' video? Try a free tool like Screencastify or Loom.
Teaching Quality Commenting Skills
If commenting skills are not taught and constantly reinforced, there can be a tendency for students to limit their comments to things like,
- "I like your blog!"
- "Awsom 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 :)"
- "Cool!!!!!!!!!!!!"
While enthusiasm is high with these sorts of comments, students are not developing their literacy skills or having meaningful interactions with other members of the blogging community.
Conversations in the comment section of a blog are such rich and meaningful learning experiences for students. Conversations begin with high quality comments.
Blogging is an authentic avenue for developing student literacy skills. When you invest the time in teaching, modeling, revising, and promoting high quality writing of comments, students can make great gains in their overall literacy development.
Set your standards high from the start and reap the rewards!
Developing strong commenting skills also provides a good foundation for when you move students on to writing posts on the class blog or their own student blogs.
The following diagram summarizes a scaffolded approach to blogging in the classroom. It begins with the teacher being responsible for the posts while the students learn quality commenting skills.
We explained this progressive model more in step three.
How To Teach Quality Commenting Skills
In her post on commenting, Kathleen Morris shares eight ideas to encourage a culture of quality commenting.
- Blogging guidelines: Set high standards to ensure students are using correct writing conventions and practicing things like asking questions, staying on topic, making connections, complimenting in a specific way etc. See below for examples.
- Be consistent: Consider spending a couple of minutes each day or a few times a week focusing on commenting as a whole class. You might read comments together, write replies together, and have students come up with constructive feedback. Embed blogging into your routine.
- Use mini lessons. You can embed on-the-spot commenting tutorials into whole class blogging time. You might choose a comment to reply to as a class. The teacher can model how to write a quality comment with input from students. Check out some mini lesson ideas Kathleen put together with annotated examples a number of years ago.
- Use explicit lessons. Come up with a few more detailed lessons on commenting. For example, Kathleen used to give her grade two students some example comments to sort. Older students could find examples themselves and analyze them on a much deeper level.
- Integrate. When you use literacy lessons to teach various conventions (like letter writing, editing, grammar, spelling, punctuation etc.) have students practice these concepts through commenting. If you have literacy rotations, blogging is always an excellent activity station!
- Involve parents. Family members have the potential to be regular commenters on your class blog. We need to bring this potential to life. Just one idea is sending parents an email asking them to comment on a specific post with their child. Well know blogger, Linda Yollis, gives parents suggestions, such as typing for their child but leaving errors for them to correct. Step six of this series offers lots of ideas on helping parents and students connect with the class blog.
- Connect with others. There are so many ways you can connect with other classes around the world to create authentic opportunities for both writing and receiving comments. The Student Blogging Challenge which begins in March and October each year is a good place to start. #Comments4Kids is a Twitter hashtag you can use and follow too.
- End with a question. A question at the end of a blog post is an invitation to comment. You can teach students about using open ended questions, and help them understand the etiquette of replying to comments too.
Six Activities For Developing Commenting Skills
Here are some suggestions for activities you can use to develop your students' commenting skills.
1. Commenting videos
Videos can be a great way to introduce students to the art of commenting.
Watch this video by Linda Yollis' students about leaving quality comments.
Linda's students have also created this excellent video with tips for quality writing on blogs.
Watch Ten Tips For Great Blog Comments by Bloggin' Frogs students.
Silvia Tolisano's students put together this impressive report into quality commenting.
Check out Nicolas Weiss' Leaving High Quality Blog comments video for quality commenting explained for high school students.
2. Create commenting guidelines for your blog
Facilitate a collaborative discussion with your students to create your own commenting guidelines.
Here are some examples of commenting guidelines to look at from different age groups:
- Ms. King and the Grade 1/2 Busy Bees are encouraged to write Wow Comments.
- Grade 5 teacher, Keith McCray uses a simple Star, Wishes, Wonder approach
- Huzzah in Canada is a grade 6/7 class that has a fairly detailed set of commenting guidelines with student input.
- Sometimes commenting guidelines have more of an academic focus, like these ones from the old English 10 blog.
- Kae Cunningham combined her blogging guidelines and commenting guidelines on one page on her high school blog.
- Heather Alexander's TAG approach that she uses for her year 9-12 students could be used for any age. TAG stands for:
Tell them something you like about their work
Ask them a question
Give a suggestion
Remember, use others' guidelines for ideas but don't copy others' work without permission and acknowledgment.
A page is a good place to document guidelines. Refer to Step 2: Set Up Pages for more information on pages.
As an alternative to displaying guidelines through text, you could get your students to create their own videos on writing quality comments.
Watch this Comments video shared by Andrea Hernandez made by a 5th Grade student.
3. Create a commenting guideline poster
A poster is a great way to make a visual representation of your commenting guidelines.
A poster could be made by the teacher or the students.
Display your poster in the classroom, on a blog page, and send it home to share with parents and caregivers.
You could make a digital poster in Canva, PowerPoint, or any number of online tools
Short on time? Kathleen Morris has shared her commenting guidelines poster on her blog which you're welcome to download and use.
4. Develop a quality comment evaluation guide or rubric
Point system
Linda Yollis' class uses a point system for evaluating comments. A one point comment is a general comment that doesn't add much to the conversation. A two point comment is a good comment that adds something to the conversation.
Check out Linda Yollis' evaluation guide and how she teaches commenting to see if you want to set up a quality comment evaluation guide for your class.
Another idea for setting standards for commenting, writing, or blogging in general is using a rubric.
Teachers could make this to meet the needs of their class, or students could create their own.
Here are three examples:
- Kathleen Morris created a blogging rubric which isn't restricted to a certain year level.
- Heather Alexander created this rubric for blog entries.
- Silvia Tolisano shares a blogging and commenting rubric on her Langwitches blog.
5. Get your students to practice commenting
Publish a blog post about commenting and what you define as a quality comment and then have your students practice leaving a "quality" comment on the post.
Check out Jan Smith's "I'm New Here" post. It's an excellent example of introducing students to reading student blog posts and learning how to write comments.
6. Try paper blogging
Paper blogging is a hands-on, concrete way of introducing students to writing posts and comments using paper and post-it notes.
You'll find a detailed explanation of how to paper blog with your students here. You'll find an example of using paper blogging activity with students here.
Other advice and tips
The following is Fiona Stafford's reflection on commenting and strategies she uses with her Grade 6 students:
After some time, I noticed a stand-still in commenting. It appeared that students were posting a lot but not commenting, which limited the amount of student learning from their peers via feedback. So, over time, I incorporated a number of strategies to encourage the students to comment on other people's blog posts. The different tactics I employed to enhance feedback via commenting were: allowing some time in class to do it; setting expectations to comment as a part of their weekly home learning; making it compulsory for parents to comment somewhere on their child's blog site as confirmation that their home learning had been completed; making the majority of their home learning via their blogs; getting them to set a blogging goal in order to move forward with the process; and introducing a 'what's trending?' page to our class blog. The rationale behind this page was to encourage students to suggest other students' blog posts that were worthy of their attention and encourage people to give feedback. So far, this has been working. But, this is still an ongoing journey. This journey into the Blogosphere has and continues to provide just as much learning for me as it does my students.
Commonly Asked Comment Questions
There are some commonly asked questions that we receive at Edublogs Support. Let's break them down.
1. How do you enable comments on pages?
Most Edublogs themes support comments on pages and by default comments are disabled on pages.
You can enable comments on pages using Quick Edit as follows:
1. Go to to Pages > All Pages
2. Locate the post or page you want to enable comments on.
3. Hover over its title to bring up its action menu.
4. Click on Quick Edit, deselect 'Allow Comments' and then click on Update.
2. Why won't comments display on pages?
Most Edublogs themes support comments on pages, however, there are a few themes that don't.
If the theme you are using doesn't support comments on pages, and you would like this feature, then you will need to use an alternative theme.
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3. How do I make comments display on my homepage?
Traditionally comments are designed to be displayed under a post and you view the comments by clicking on the post title or the comments link. It is done this way because posts can have hundreds of comments and displaying them directly under a post on the post page can make it hard to read the content.
Most teachers display the comments on their homepage by adding the Recent Comments widget to the sidebar. You'll learn more about widgets in step five of this series.
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4. How do I remove the option to add email address to comments?
By default, anyone leaving a comment must leave a valid name and email address.
If the 'Comment author must fill out name and e-mail' is unchecked in Settings > Discussion, any visitor can leave a comment and isn't required to enter an email address. Please note, readers will still see the name and email address option on the comment form but the email address is no longer required to submit a comment.
This option is often used when teachers don't want students to use their email address.
Learn more about Discussion settings here.
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5. How do you stop the "Posting comments too quickly" message?
Comments allow your readers to add feedback to your posts and pages.
Unfortunately, if all your students are submitting comments at the same time to a class blog on your school computers they may see the 'You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down' message and they might lose their comments.
This happens because the computers on your school network use the same IP address and Edublogs, which is powered by WordPress, has comment throttling to protect blogs against spam bots.
Find out how to prevent the posting too quickly message here.
6. How do I moderate all comments?
The default comment setting on all newly created blogs is 'Comment author must have a previously approved comment before a comment appears'.
This means any visitors that have had a comment approved on the blog in the past will have their comment immediately posted and only comments from new visitors are placed in the moderation queue.
To moderate all comments you need to change it to "Comment must be manually approved" in Settings > Discussion.
Your Task
Blogging is about sharing, collaborating, and learning from each other. So here's your chance to ask a question, comment, and get involved!
Complete the following tasks:
- Choose one of the Activities for developing commenting skills, complete the activity, and then leave a comment to share what you created or to let us know how you went. If you created something for your blog like some commenting guidelines, feel free to put the link to your blog in the comment so we can take a look!
- Read through the most recent comments in reply to this step and leave a response to another person's comment.


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Transitioning into spring does not mean that we must leave our shiny metallics behind. Below are a few fun looks for your babiekins to shine bright in this upcoming season.
Photography: Jolielili Photography | Assistant: Caroline Baslacq | Makeup: Audrey Georges | Hair: Max Dumont Coiffure
Clothing & Accessories//Catimini, Lili Gaufrette, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Kenzo, Zara, GAP, OVS, Iossy, CKS, Friboo, Molo


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Nambiar, P. and Bridges, T.E. and Brown, K.A. (1995) Quantitative forensic evaluation of bite marks with the aid of a shape analysis computer program: part 1; the development of 'SCIP' and the similarity index. Journal of Forensic Odonto-Stomatology, 13 (2). pp. 18-25. ISSN 0258-414X,
Quantitative_forensic_evaluation__part_1.pdf Download (28kB) |
Bite marks left on human tissue and bitten material have become an important aspect of scientific evidence used for the conviction or acquittal of a suspect. Expert opinion has often been based on subjective comparisons rather than any objective metrical analysis and many experts will agree that there is a need to employ additional comparative tests to achieve unbiased objectivity in their investigation. In this study, an interactive shape analysis computer program ('SCIP' - Shape Comparison Interactive Program) has been employed in an attempt to derive experimentally a quantitative comparison, in the form of a Similarity Index (S.I.), between the 'offender's' teeth and the bite marks produced on a standard flat wax form. The S.I. values obtained using 'SCIP' were evaluated in a variety of experimental bite mark situations. It was found that in no case could the S.I. values produced by comparison of the bite mark with the dental casts from non-perpetrators be confused with the much lower S.I. from comparison of the bite mark with the dental cast of the perpetrator. The use of the Similarity Index derived using the 'SCIP' program is recommended as a simple, accurate and objective means of comparing bite marks in suitable forensic cases.
Item Type: | Article |
Funders: | UNSPECIFIED |
Additional Information: | Cited By (since 1996): 8 Export Date: 30 September 2012 Source: Scopus CODEN: JFOSE PubMed ID: 9227070 Language of Original Document: English Correspondence Address: Nambiar, P.; Forensic Odontology Unit, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia Chemicals/CAS: wax, 83062-05-9 |
Uncontrolled Keywords: | 'SCIP' Bite marks Person identification Quantitative shape analysis Similarity Index wax accuracy article bite comparative study computer program controlled study criminal law dentistry female forensic science human male normal human offender priority journal Bites, Human Dental Arch Dental Models Evaluation Studies Forensic Dentistry Image Processing, Computer-Assisted Least-Squares Analysis Pattern Recognition Predictive Value of Tests Reproducibility of Results Software Support, Non-U.S. Gov't |
Subjects: | R Medicine > RK Dentistry |
Divisions: | Faculty of Dentistry > Dept of General Dental Practice And Oral & Maxillofacial Imaging |
Depositing User: | Mr Ahmad Azwan Azman |
Date Deposited: | 07 Nov 2012 02:24 |
Last Modified: | 07 Nov 2012 02:24 |
URI: | http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/3864 |
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IRUn's House of Whatever
Just like my own username suggests, this blog will probably involve almost anything that pops into my head that I have the guts to post to the internet. IE, the subject material will vary greatly depending on my moods and whatnot.
Expect randomness. May be a good or bad thing. I 'unno. Point being, if you feel like reading my probably biased opinions and maybe derprastic opinions, then who am I to stop you from reading away?
"I'd offer a more meaningful quote, but I BS any decent ones. Perhaps this one will do the job?"


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Cuban windsurfer rescued after four days at sea by U.S. Coast Guard
- Submitted by: lena campos
- Society
- 02 / 23 / 2014
A Cuban man who attempted to windsurf across the Florida Straits to the United States was rescued on Friday after four days at sea, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The man was one of three who left the communist-ruled Caribbean island on Tuesday, only one of whom reached Florida unassisted.
Under the "wet foot/dry foot" policy of the Cuban Adjustment Act, Cuban migrants who make it onto United States soil are allowed to remain while those intercepted at sea are returned to their home or a third country.
On Friday afternoon, the man was spotted by a boater on the Marquesas Keys, an outcrop of small, uninhabited islands about 20 miles west of Key West, according to U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Peter Bermont.
"He was unable to move himself and the officers had to use his surfboard to carry him," Bermont said.
Many Cubans have died trying to cross the Florida Straits separating the southeast coast of Florida from Cuba and known for its sharks, difficult currents and sudden squalls.
The windsurfer who completed the crossing, identified as Henry Vergara Negrin, 24, said he left Jibacoa, Cuba, near Havana at 9 a.m. Tuesday with two companions on separate boards, according to a report by the Key West, Florida, police.
Negrin is the first reported Cuban windsurfer to make the treacherous crossing in two decades. Half a dozen windsurfer attempts were documented during the 1990s, including Lester Moreno Perez who in March 1990 attempted the crossing aged only 17, and was rescued by a freighter 30 miles from Key West.
Negrin took 9-1/2 hours to make it ashore at Key West's luxury Reach Resort. A hotel spokeswoman said guests and a bartender helped him.
Negrin told police his companions' sails went down and he lost sight of them four hours into the journey. He said he knew his companions only as Amando, 28, and Dwarta, 23. Dwarta was found disoriented and drifting Thursday morning about seven miles south of the Florida Keys, the Coast Guard said.
Source: Reuters.com


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I had an interesting experience recently that is a bit off topic from my usual posts, but since birth is about becoming a parent, I thought it wasn't totally inappropriate to share here.
One day, towards the end of my children's and my recovery from an icky cold/cough, my daughter was using drawers and chairs to climb around in the kitchen, and I discovered her with a bowl and a wisk trying to combine cornstarch, salt, and an egg. (Yes, she is very independent for a three year old.) At first I was angry at her for making a mess, but I soon realized that she was, in fact, showing an interest in baking, so I decided to stop yelling at her, get out my measuring cups, and let her help me bake something.
Since I suspect my son is has a problem digesting dairy, if I was going to bake, I needed it to be something without dairy and something without margarine, since I was out of Earth Balance vegan margarine (did you know that many commercial margarines have whey in them?). I decided on the Amazing Vegan Brownies recipe from www.godairyfree.org. One thing I love about this recipe is how food-storage friendly it is--everything in it can be stored for a long time since it doesn't use milk, eggs or even any milk or egg substitutes. (and I had just a few weeks before this taught a lesson for a Relief Society activity on the importance of and how to start a home supply of food). The taste and texture were a little strange, but they were still brownies to me. My husband thought they were awful, but he pretty much hates all "health food," especially unusual desserts.
When the brownies were in the oven and I was cleaning up the kitchen, I thought about the Waldorf idea that parents should try to incorporate their children into their daily work routines. I haven't completely figured this out yet, but I like the idea of involving my kids in my chores instead of putting on a movie or a TV show off the DVR (we have 90+ episodes of Dora the Explorer recorded) for them while I work. My daughter watched a lot of tv while the sickness went through the house--of course that makes sense when she was so sick she couldn't get up to play, but she was getting better and I didn't want her to get too used to it, so making the brownies was a good opportunity for us to actually do something. I haven't fully figured out involving her in my cleaning, but she does like to help scrub the toilets when I do swish and swipe, likes to help wipe the table, and she will help me make beds sometimes. She also loves to help me bake, and there are lots of things she can do--I let her dump the ingredients into the bowl after I measure them.
As I finished cleaning up the kitchen, I noticed that my daughter had disappeared to her room. I went to check on her, and found her sitting on her bed looking at a book. It was one of my favorite picture books, The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman. I thought, "Of course!" We had just read the book at bedtime the night before and in her cooking experiments, my daughter was trying to apply what we had read in the real world to the book. By baking with her, I had just taught an integrated literacy/math lesson without realizing it! The Seven Silly Eaters is about cooking and baking. It tells the story of a mom of seven children who each only eats one food, and the mother works constantly to keep them all happy by making each food for each child. In the end, they combine the foods together and make a cake. A recipe for the cake is on the authors website, and I hope to make it with my daughter some time to further expand her experience with the story (though I will have to use a milk substitute in it if I make it while I'm still dairy-free).
I learned from the experience to always pay attention to what my children show interest in, (even if they are making a mess with it) because where there is interest, there will be opportunities for learning.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
2 comments:
- AnonymousMarch 16, 2011 at 9:26 PM
How wonderful! I've had to somehow integrate housework with my friend's toddler while watching her one afternoon because she insisted on helping me do the dishes. My first reaction was to distract her so that I could finish doing it quicker but caught myself and allowed her to double check my work for any misses and she seemed to enjoy being a part of it. Perhaps it wasn't very efficient but it was a learning experience.
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DSL 2.1r1 on old Laptop
The developers of Damn Small Linux have announced the availability of the first release candidate of version 2.1. My gentoo install is quite dated on my aging laptop, and due to speed and other certain hardware considerations (like a whiny harddrive after a couple hours of compiling), it isn't likely to be updated again. I decided to see if dsl could run on this ancient Dell laptop.
Damn Small Linux is a damn small linux distribution, literally. For those who don't know, it's a 50mb livecd that is also installable onto your harddrive or an usb key. It's a fully functional system consisting of an graphical interface featuring the fluxbox window manager and many useful applications and utilities/tools.
The Change log for 2.1r1 includes:
1. Improved SATA boot time support (see f3)
2. USB 2.0 boot time support fixed typo
3. Torsmo replaces asmem, wmcpuload, & wmnet to better support both window managers.
4. Ted replaces Flwriter
5. Updated xtdesk improved dragging when double click enabled.
6. New Icontool GUI controls many icon features.
7. Added missing tools section to jwm menu.
Well, the first test, to see if it would boot with only 80mb ram.
I needed to download and dd the bootfloppy img due to the fact that this laptop is so old, it doesn't support booting from the cdrom. How long before it's a fish sinker? Well, that may be inevitable, but it's not a fact today. My old laptop did in fact boot dsl on a p1 with only 80mb ram. However, (you knew there was a however, right?), the video/display wasn't very readable when just hitting enter at the boot prompt. I decided to reboot and try some of those fb modes the F2 options screen suggests is for laptops. Crossing my fingers I tried fb1024x768. When that didn't work, I tried fb800x600. That was the ticket. I was in. I was thrilled. I was comforted by the telltale "beep, beep" of the pcmcia network being activated (although it turned out to be short-lived). Then I was asked about which x server module to use, xvesa or xfbdev. I chose xfbdev and was asked about my lang and mouse. At the answering of those questions, X started and looked beautiful and my scroll ball mouse device worked too. Damn Small Linux scores again!
Fly in the ointment:
My old and commonly recognized pcmcia wireless network card (linksys wpc11 rev3 that uses orinoco) was incorrectly detected as some Bromax unsupported/unknown card. One can modprobe orinoco and it'd get loaded without error. Still no wlan or eth0 device was available. Also not correctly setup was my netgear FA411 wired pcmcia netcard (that uses 8390). However, we did have some luck with a 3Com/Megahertz 3CCFEM556B. So, whoops. One strike against. Have to, a laptop just isn't any fun if the wireless doesn't work. It's not just me, please see this post for confirmation.
Sound is another small issue. Actually it isn't. It wasn't correctly detected or setup, but in all fairness, it never is. It works fine in Linux, but I have to pass some specific options to the kernel for it to work. It's an old dell latitude XPIcd and I always have to use /sbin/modprobe sb io=0x230 irq=5 dma16=5
. I can't tell you how long I spent finding that solution my first Linux install on this thing! So, we'll give dsl the brownie point there.
But how would it perform on such a low resource system?
Well, overall, most excellent. Most light applications, like emelfm, Ted or xpaint opened within a few seconds. Dillo took about 9. Sylpheed required 3 or 4. However, mozilla took about 70 seconds to open and another 4 or 5 to render the dslos.com start page. It took about 6 second to render other sites at that point and there was a marked delay or unevenness (is that a word?) with scrolling. Of course, this isn't really a reflection on damn small, just an interesting note. Another thing, xmms was running at the time, which was requiring some cpu cycles to stream that default classical station it was playing. In addition, we're still running from the livecd at this point as well. I'd have to install Opera if I was going to install this onto my hard drive for sure, but given the fact that the pcmcia stuff is somewhat broken, I think I'll forgo the install and wait for the next rc.
I found dsl to work rather well on this old laptop. Applications functioned well and looked quite nice, save mozilla. The video was great looking, the mouse device, cdrom and floppy worked fine of course, and the sound works with a bit of nudging. Some pcmcia cards work and some that should don't. The torsmo looked and worked great. I never did find that gui icontool in the menu (oh, ok, founnd it... hey, that's neato). In addition, I think there should be some kind of battery monitor. Once they sort out the pcmcia stuff, I'm sure it would perform much better from the harddrive.
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Re: A wonderful review on DSL ?
Its wonderful and tell tale DSL install.
Love your review of DSL.
Yeah, I'm going to soon replace gentoo with a binary distro and I think dsl will be the one.
Thanks for saying! I suffered with the "butterfly syndrome" as I hit submit, as I often do. I appreciate it.
great review... UPDATE .....
Added 128 mb of memory for a total of 160mb.
DSL now loads and works like a hot damm. Even found an older PCMCIA 3com network card and I had connectivity. Looks like the perfect distro for this laptop. Never would have beleived it if I hadn't tried it.
But tried it on a compaq presario 1200 with 32 meg mem. (k6 475 mhz processor)and it was next to useless. It booted up but took way too much time to get anything running.
Will try to upgrade the memory to 128m and try again
Great review but... Sorry for the duplicate...
DSL has lots of trouble on a compaq presario 1200 k6 475 with 32 m memory.
DSL boots up but just thrashes away continously. Got to find a 128 meg memory module to add or else its a doorstop.
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Muppets From Space
Out of all the Muppet features produced since 1979, I would rank "Muppets from Space" as the least effective of the bunch. It's not an easy decision, since the picture features numerous gut-busting one-liners and a general Muppet anarchy that's satisfying. It's a fine motion picture, yet in terms of Jim Henson-style wonderment and overall cleverness, "Muppets from Space" comes up short. It's entertaining enough, but lacks the magic the Muppets are so skilled at summoning.
Gonzo (performed by Dave Goelz) has found himself struggling with his identity, taking time to fret over his origins, fearful he'll always be labeled a "whatever." When an alien civilization attempts to communicate with the depressed blue daredevil, Gonzo is puzzled, driven to comprehend this mysterious development. Also taking interest is K. Edgar Singer (Jeffrey Tambor), a member of a covert government force dedicated to investigating alien incidents. With all signs pointing to contact, Gonzo takes off to meet his own kind, while Kermit (Steve Whitmire) and the rest of the Muppets head off to support their pal, called in to rescue the long-beaked one when Singer brings him in for intense questioning.
There's an absence of inspiration floating around "Muppet from Space" that director Tim Hill ("Alvin and the Chipmunks") can't seem to suppress. It's a flat Muppet feature with an exciting premise, handing Gonzo a rare opportunity to hog the spotlight, giving him a poignant story of belonging that seems ripe for a meticulous investigation. Instead, the picture is a mishmash of dark and light moods (with a dash of hallucinatory imagery) struggling to squeeze humor out of pedestrian situations, supported by a soundtrack of funk hits from the 1970s that's just completely wrong on all levels. The tunes fit as comfortably as a cable knit sweater in July, creating a crater in the picture where a thoughtful run of musical numbers should rightfully be.
There's a gloominess to "Muppets from Space" that's disconcerting. While Gonzo's story is remote enough, dealing with existential concern and violent outbursts from Singer (Tambor is miscast here as a frustrated threat), the script heads in a few puzzling directions, namely Rizzo (Whitmire) and his adventures as a tortured lab rat trapped in a cage. The Muppet antics are blissfully manic and humorous, yet a few turns add a slight cruelty that invites disinterest. Nothing's overtly violent, but the typical Muppet mayhem is slightly barbed for this outing, which doesn't mesh well with climatic plays for an emotional attachment.
Making beautiful music together are the Muppet performers, with this 1999 film merging the classic line-up with personalities from the short-lived ABC program "Muppets Tonight." Emerging from the occasionally awkward pile-up unscathed are Pepe the Prawn (Bill Baretta), a sublime addition to the Muppet ranks okay, and Bobo the Bear (also Baretta), who portrays Singer's bumbling right-hand man ("The goat?"). While familiar faces are pushed to the background for this adventure (Kermit and Fozzie Bear basically cameo), the new generation of Muppets contribute genuinely hilarious moments to the dry feature, establishing an unusual vibe to the proceedings.
Also of interest are displays of late '90's pop culture influences, including a running joke with Rizzo and his love for the girl group "Mice Girls," "Independence Day" and "Shawshank Redemption" parodies, and various appearances from stars of the decade, including a pre-surgery Kathy Griffin, "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, and Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes, here reprising their "Dawson's Creek" roles. Nostalgia fanatics will have a blast with many of these cameos.
The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation reveals a consistent pattern of black crush, diluting overall detail. Poor Bobo the Bear gets it the worst, with the character's dark eyes barely visible during select moments. Colors are in wonderful shape overall, with HD boosting the vibrancy of the hues, capturing the natural appearances of the Muppet creations, while detail on the felt and assorted costumes is quite strong, approach familiar faces with a whole new degree of texture. Also intriguing is the picture's use of still frames when all characters have exited the scene -- a HD revelation I've never noticed before. The Blu-ray is not a remarkable viewing event, but something satisfactory that makes the Muppets stand out.
The 5.1 DTS-HD sound mix doesn't dig into the thumpy, funky mood as expected, keeping away from overt low-end appeal. Soundtrack selections are crisp and clean, perhaps a little overpowering at times, stepping on a few lines of dialogue, while scoring is light but noticeable. Directionals are compelling for more slapstick encounters and intergalactic visitors, though the dialogue stays rigidly frontal, even with multiple characters competing for screen time. Voices sound strong, retaining personality. Danish, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish tracks are also available.
English SDH, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Danish, Finnish, French, German, Greek Hindi, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish are offered.
"Outtakes" (6:06) supply some mix-em-ups for the Muppet performers, who botch lines and blow takes, yet always stay in-character. It's extremely impressive.
"Shining Star" (2:03) is a music video from The Dust Brothers featuring Jeymes.
A Teaser Trailer and Theatrical Trailer are included.
After an hour of amusing, occasionally uproarious shenanigans with Gonzo and his frantic friends, "Muppets from Space" dies an unnecessary death once the moment that pays off all the alien suggestion arrives. Subduing the comedy to stage some vibrant extraterrestrial pageantry, the movie loses focus, reaching for awe with a lackluster conclusion. A shame, really, but the climax is a harsh miscalculation that ends the film on an unsatisfying note. Despite the laughs it scores and the iconic characters it parades around, "Muppets from Space" is only a minor note in the franchise, proving once again just how badly Jim Henson's careful leadership is missed.
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(i will say in advance, sorry if this post is a little chaotic. bloggers formatting has been giving me no end of grief with this post... delaying it by several days, and i've decided to give up. so just imagine it to be nice and well laid out like i'd planned... pleaseeeeee) since i've been looking into the history of alberta's fossil hunting, and about to look for some fossils while i'm at it, i thought maybe it'd be handy to know some of the dinosaurs that have been found around the province. in case i run into some (hopefully!)... and so you're on the same page as me. _ despite coming from the same general time period and geographic area, these dinosaurs didn't all co-exist at the same time. that's because 15 million years is still a HUGE span of time, and a lot of things changed during it. _ as you'll recall from my last post on the geology of alberta, that big chunk of 15 million years can be broken down into small blocks that we call formations. these aren't just made up to break up the time any which way. the formations mark traceable and important changes that happened here in alberta throughout the end of the cretaceous. some mark changes in climates, environments, and living things. others mark the dramatic change of land being flooded by an ocean, and others the draining of that ocean leading to once more land. _ seriously if you want to learn more about how and why we figure out these formation read the alberta geology post first (same link as the one in the last paragraph... just giving you a second chance to click it is all). _ so let's take a look at these dinosaurs formation by formation. this immediately will help you get an idea of not only which albertan dinosaurs coexisted, but start to see the evolutionary changes that were happening here at the end of the age of dinosaurs. i'm only going to cover layers with dinosaurs, and skip the marine ones... for now. _ 1. Milk River (84 million years ago [mya]- ?mya this is the earliest (as in furthest back in time from the present) record of the cretaceous in alberta. it begins around 84 million years ago, but we don't know for sure exactly when it extends to datewise (layerwise we now where the milk river ends as it is replaced by marine deposits of the Pakowki). it is exposed around the milk river of the southmost part of alberta, hence the name. _ there are dinosaur fossils (as well as other animals) present in this formation, however they have not been extensively collected or studied... until recently. a great deal of emphasis has been placed on increasing our understanding of this early part of the cretaceous by palaeontologists the last 5 years or so. _ as most of these finds have not yet been completely published or even preped yet, most of these dinosaurs haven't been positively identified. _ we know there are hadrosaurs, certatopsians, ankylosaurs, dromaeosaurs, troodontids, ornithomimids, and tyrannosaurids of various types. however as of yet, we don't know exactly what kinds. whether they are new or types already known... 2. Oldman Formation (77-76 mya) the base layers of alberta's most dinosaur rich area, dinosaur provincial park, are made of the oldman formation. the oldest formation that reliable specimens and studies have so far been produced from. at the same time despite DPP's abundance of dinosaurs and other fossils, they do not come from its base layers. the oldman seems to have been an environment with less elements needed for fossilization. _ yet at the same time because the area has been worked so heavily in the last hundred or so years enough discoveries have been made in the oldman that we have a descent fossil record for it. Hadrosaurs gryposaurus- a duckbill first found by george sternberg in 1913, in the oldman formation. it has a confusing history of identification due to its looking very much like kritosaurus. also not helping this IDing has been some palaeontologists trying to group the first ever discovered duckbill, hadrosaurus, into this family as well. _ it was fairly typically of the crest-less hadrosaur, except for its the rather large and "swollen" looking nose. corythosaurus- though this duckbill has been found in the oldman, most of the most spectacular examples of corythosaurus come from the later dinosaur park formation. this does show however it was a long surviving genus. lambeosaurus- again another dinosaur whose remains are found in both the dinosaur park and oldman. Ceratopsians centrosaurus brinkmani- one of the most recently discovered of alberta's dinosaurs was this new unique species of centrosaurus. it differs from later centrosaurs due to the unique ornamentation on its frill. centrosaurus b. was naturally a member of the centrosaurinae, or the short frilled ceratopsians. albertaceratops- found in 2001, this another one of the most recently discovered dinosaurs in alberta. _ albertaceratops was another short frilled ceratopsian (a centrosaurinae), it was a unique amongst this group as the only one to have longer eye horns than that on its nose (it didn't have a nose horn at all... just a little ridge of bone sticking out). chasmosaurus- there was a long frilled ceratopsian (a ceratopsinae) present in the oldman. chasmosaurus would go on into dinosaur park formation. Ankylosaurs euoplocephalus- this one of the longest surviving ankylosaurs was present in the oldman, but went on until the horseshoe canyon. _ Theropods dromiceiomimus- first discovered in 1926, but not recognized as a new type of ornithomimid (it was first thought to be a struthiomimus) until 1972. dromiceiomimus was unique among the ostrich mimics due to its especially large eye size, and long legs. this leg size is evidence this would have been the fastest of dinosaurs, but with no footprints to prove this is just a hunch. daspletosaurus- this was possibly the direct ancestor of us tyrannosaurus rexes, and they were the top predator of the oldman. apart from being about a 1/3 smaller than us t-rexes, daspletosaurs were otherwise as heavily built and proportioned as us. they would survive into the dinosaur park era. charlie sternberg first found daspletosaurus in 1921, but thought it was just a species of gorgosaurus. it wasn't until 1970 that dale russell decided it was different. _ 3. Dinosaur Park Formation (76-74 mya) this is among the most dinosaur rich deposits in the world, and has produced many of the best known of dinosaurs. for the animals that survive into this formation from the oldman, i've done their proper blurb here as most were first found in this formation (i don't remember if any were first found in the oldman). Hadrosaurs brachylophosaurus- a crestless hadrosaur, discovered in 1936, but not worked on till 1956 by charlie sternberg. it had a paddle like plate over the front end of its skull, and a very wide beak for a dinosaur park duckbill. gryposaurus-this duckbill has been found in the dinosaur park formation, but was much more common in the oldman. prosaurolophus- found by barnum brown in 1915, was a fairly non-descript crestless duckbill. apart from a ridge above and in-between the eyes. lambeosaurus-one of the first crested duckbills to have ever been found in the world. first found by lawerence lambe in 1898, but not formerly named till after his death. part of why lambeosaurus was named in honour of canada's first domestic palaeontolgist (a sad reason), but also done so in recognition of his many achievements. two species of lambeosaur are found in dinosaur park. in older books you'll see these as being thought to be male and female of each other. however due to darren tanke's lost quarry project, we now know that these "boys" and "girls" lived at different times, with the girls all coming from the bottom layers of the formation, and the boys coming from the top ones. meaning either they had some clever time travel dating techniques or they were different species. lambeosaurs had very cool crests. one the front end was a squared off circle and behind that a prong sticking out backwards. corythosaurus- this crested duckbill is among the most common large dinosaur in the dinosaur park formation. it is a fairly typical duckbill other than it looks like it has had a dinner plate stuck on the top of its head. _ the first corythosaur was found by barnum brown in 1912. parasaurolophus- this crested hadrosaur is probably the most famous duckbill of them all, but yet one of alberta's rarest. only a couple have ever been found. this has lead to the idea (plus details of the anatomy) to the idea this was a more inland duckbill, that didn't actually live on the flood plains that were dinosaur park in the cretaceous. levi sternberg found the first one ever here in alberta in 1920. however the next year 1921, his father charles found more in new mexico, an area these dinosaurs are commonly found in (though a different species to the alberta ones). Ceratopsians styracosaurus- among the most spectacular of the short frilled ceratopsians. this multi horned (all but the nose horn were on the shield like frill on the rear of the skull). it was first found by charles sternberg in 1913, but barnum brown in 1915 found a rather spectacular specimen in the park as well. centrosaurus- the nose horned, short frilled ceratopsian. lawerence lambe first discovered them in 1904, but they are among the most common fossil remains in the bonebed layers of dinosaur park. these massive bonebeds are currently thought to be the remains of herds of these ceratopsians caught in tropical storms that would cause the ocean to flood the very flat floodplain that was dinosaur park, and bury whole herds of these guys! chasmosaurus-this long frilled ceratopsian was another of lambe's finds, back in 1901. it is notable due to its rather short horns, but mega huge frill (which was so big it needed to two big holes to keep its weight down). pachyrhinosaur-like ceratopsian- the newest alberta dinosaur is one that looks very similar to pachyrhinosaurus, but the specimen was missing its frill. a key feature for IDing it one way or the other as any of the currently known pachyrhino. Pachycephalosaurs stegoceras- the discovery of the complete skeleton of this boneheaded dinosaur by george sternberg in 1923 helped solve one of the biggest dinosaur mysteries of that era. in 1901 lambe had found and named the first bony skull cap, but no one could figure out what sort of animal it had come from. for years this was the only complete pachycephalosaur known, and is still the most intact skeleton for this group. colepiocephale- a newly renamed genus of bonehead (its latin name MEANS knucklehead! how great is that?!?) in 2003. it was first found by levi sternberg in 1945, but he thought it was another stegoceras. there are several more bonehead dinosaurs theoretically from alberta, but due to their incomplete nature palaeontologists are constantly arguing what they are. as of such i'm out of the loop (and as these guys are among my least fav dinos... i don't keep a close eye on them). _ Ankylosaurs edmontonia- this clubless armoured dinosaur (a nodosaurid) is found in the dinosaur park formation, but its would live on into the later horseshoe canyon. the first one was found here in 1915, but was not recognized as being edmontonia until 1928. panoplosaurus-was similar to edmontonia, in that it was covered in armour (like all ankylosaurs) and had spikes along the neck and sides with particularly massive ones above the shoulders. panoplosaur had a different skull structure to edmontonia however which was used to separate the two. euoplocephalus-this is the classic clubbed ankylosaur (partially because so many of them have been found throughout most of the formations of alberta!). _ lambe found the first incomplete remains in 1902, but nearly every museum that received skeletons from the great canadian dinosaur rush ended up with a euoplocephalus (not because they were common in any one formation, but again because they were findable nearly everywhere dinosaur bearing in the province). Theropods chirostenotes- has taken nearly half a century to take form. bits and pieces of this oviraptor had been found throughout the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, but it was not realized they all went together until a complete skeleton was preped in 1988 (though it had been found in 1923). the discovery of chirostenotes was a pretty big deal. not only was it among the first north american oviraptors found (the first if you count when it was found, rather than recognized), but it was further proof for the land bridge connecting north america and asia in the late cretaceous. unnamed therzinosaurid- there have been bits and pieces (especially the trademark finger claws) of a plant eating therzinosaur found at DPP. however not enough of this animal has been found to make a clear ID. needless to say this was yet another asian dinosaur that in the geologic record suddenly just showed up in north america. if not a land bridge, than how? struthiomimus- was the first ever ornithomimid from which a relatively complete skeleton was found. back in 1914, henry osborn wishing for some small dinosaurs for his growing collection of alberta dinosaurs in new york, asked barnum brown to try and find some small theropods. as if in answer to this request (which doesn't usually happen when you go fossil hunting!) brown discovered a complete skeleton! _ since then many more specimens of this dinosaur have been found. it may have been among the most common of small dinosaurs in dinosaur park in the cretaceous (but it is hard to say as small animals don't fossilize well there) as it is the most common for whom fossils are found today. it is also known from the horseshoe canyon formation. _ ornithomimus and dromiceiomimus- both these ostrich mimics were also present in the dinosaur park formation, but their blurbs are elsewhere. troodon-the intelligent raptor relative (but not a true member of) was present in dinosaur park, but its most famous remains are from the horseshoe. so its proper blurb shall wait until than. saurornitholestes- the most common dromaeosaurid in the dinosaur park era by far. its teeth are extremely common at micro fossil sites, and though skeletal remains weren't found till more recent, 1974, it now has more material than any other small predatory theropods (where as the more common ornithomimids didn't eat meat remember). this guy differed from most other north american raptors by being more lightly built, and having a slender skull... very similar to the asian velociraptor hmmm another case of a land bridge... maybe! dromaeosaurus- the first raptor known from good skeletal material found by barnum brown in 1914 in alberta. this however has remained the ONLY skeletal material known. contrary to various TV shows and documentaries, dromaeosaurs never lived with tyrannosaurus or edmontosaurus. it has only been confidently found in the dinosaur park formation (and POSSIBLY, based on some teeth, in a similar timed layer in montana... perhaps!). in fact based on its rarity, despite being the longest known raptor, dromaeosaurus is one of the least understood of this group of dinosaurs. gorgosaurus- this tyrannosaurid was easily the most common large theropod of dinosaur park, and this geologic unit has produced more complete skeletons of this tyrannosaurid than any two other tyrannosaur species combined (other than tarbosaur, who is possibly starting to match gorgosaurus on complete skeletons). gorgosaur was found by charlie sternbergs in 1913. barnum brown and the sternbergs would find many more during the dinosaur rush, and still more have been found since. however based on the argument over whether gorgosaurus is actually an early albertosaurus you might have to sub the first discovery with that of albertosaurs mentioned below. here's my take on the gorgosaurus vs. albertosaurus issue. daspletosaurus- again this heavier built (but otherwise same sized as gorgosaurus) tyrannoaurid was present in the dinosaur park formation as well. this led to the only instance where two large tyrannosaurid species lived in the same environment. it has been speculated that they ate different prey. the heavier daspletosaur possibly favouring the horned ceratopsians, and the lighter gorgosaurus going for hadrosaurs. there isn't really any evidence to support this though (the fact a montanan daspletosaur has been found with an edmontosaur in its gut. which doesn't really seem to make this idea of different prey work if you ask me). gorgosaurus was clearly more common, and so daspletosaurs may have been upland predators who just occasionally wandered down to the flood plain (maybe following upland herbivores like parasaurolophus and stegoceras?). next we travel to drumheller, and the layers i'll be looking at a lot in the next while. Horseshoe Canyon (72-67 mya) Hadrosaurs saurolophus- was the first complete dinosaur skeleton found in canada, by barnum brown in 1911. this first skeleton and the remains of a few other animals buried with it are the only record of this dinosaur in canada. yet an almost identical animal from a similar timeframe existed in cretaceous china. (*cough* land bridge*cough**cough*) despite it being technically a crestless (hadrosaurid, as opposed to the crested lambeosaurids) this duckbill had a shaft of bone sticking off the rear of the skull. though this appears to be a crest (which in a way i guess it is), scientifically the crests of the crested duckbills were elaborate hollow structures. saurolophus' spike was just a solid spike of bone... edmontosaurus- the classic duckbilled duckbill. it has a VERY complicated history with earlier discoveries in america during the bonewars (getting more than 10 names during that time). however a complete skeleton found by levi sternberg in 1912 just downriver from drumheller would go on to become the type specimen for this dinosaur. since than, MANY more edmontosaurs have been found. in fact, with no competition, this is the single most common dinosaur to find in the horseshoe canyon formation, and possibly alberta (just due to the number of them you find around drumheller... dinosaur park has so much more variety than the horseshoe, so it doesn't produce any single animal in such numbers!). edmontosaurs was the classic crestless duckbill build, with a massive broad duck like beak on the end of its snout.
Hypsilophodons parksosaurus- a later surviving hypsilophodont first found by william parks in 1926, but he felt it was a species of thescelosaurus. charlie sternberg reassessed this in 1940, found it was a different animal, and so renamed it in honour of its (sadly passed on by this time) discoverer. Ceratopsians it was also the most common ceratopsian to exist during this time in the northern areas of the province. a massive bonebed in pipestone creek has preserved the remains of dozens and dozens of these animals, including skulls of nearly every growth stage of this animal. which has shed huge light on how short frill ceratopsians all looked growing up. which was identical! they seriously all looked the same until just before adulthood when they would start to grow and develop their unique frill and head ornamentation (such as horns and bone bumps). the first pachyrhino was found by charlie sternberg in 1946 near drumheller. however the rich northern deposits weren't found near grande prairie till 1972, by local teacher al lakusta. arrhinoceratops- this long frilled ceratopsian is known from only a single skull found in 1923. it is unusual for having a very puny nose horn, that was so small it was thought to not exist when the specimen was named in 1926. anchiceratops- it is known from a few specimens, all of which are found near marine (aka ocean) sediments. indicating this long frilled ceratopsian preferred coastal environments and plants. the first skull was found by barnum brown in 1912. other significant specimens were found by charlie sternberg in 1924 and 1925. eotriceratops- one of the most recently discovered albertan dinosaurs. so far only the giant skull of this massive short frilled ceratopsian is known. based on it, this animal appears to be a very close ancestor of triceratops (hence the name, with the latin eo meaning "dawn of"). another interesting thing about this specimen was that it was found in a coal seam. a rock layer that normally doesn't preserve fossils. _ Ankylosaurs euoplocephalus- the long lived ankylosaur made it up to the horseshoe, before disappearing forever... Theropods ornithomimus- was a fairly typical ornithomimid, and the first known (from finds in america by marsh during the bonewar). the first mostly complete skeleton of an ornithomimus was found in 1917 in the horseshoe canyon formation, but is now also known from the dinosaur park and scollard formations as well. the most complete skeleton of an ornithomimid ever found was a ornithomimus from the dinosaur park formation, that even had the delicate beak along the mouth preserved (confirming these dinosaur had bird-like beaks). troodon- famous for being one of the smartest of all dinosaurs, it has a very complex history and was a mystery for a long time, as it was named based solely on teeth. alberta's contribution to the troodon sage was solving the questions once and for all. a complete-ish skeleton was found in 1969 (at the time called stenonychosaurus) which would eventually be realized to be the owner of the troodon teeth. among the most famous specimens of troodon found were those by jack horner while out surveying the site the tyrrell museum was being built on with phil currie. among these was an intact braincase. the one upon which currie would do the famous study proving the relatively large brain of troodon. atrociraptor- is the newest alberta theropod, was this short snouted and tall skulled dromaeosaur. due to these features it is affectionately known around the tyrrell as the bulldog raptor. it is so far only known from a single skull, but its teeth are very common in drumheller bonebeds showing that it was probably very abundant (the horseshoe has a very poor fossil record of intact smaller animals. you only get them in the form of micro fossils such as teeth). albertosaurus- was the largest predator of the horseshoe era. i have a nice detailed look at this tyrannosaur here. it was first found in 1884 by joseph tyrrell. further west up the red deer river around the town's of huxley and rumsey you find layer from the very end of the dinosaurs' reign. including those that i was found in... The Scollard Formation (67-64 mya) this formation is rather fossil sparse compared to the others of the province (except perhaps the milk river), and has only produced a few remains. Hypsilophodons thescelosaurus- was fairly large for a hypsilophodontid. the best known specimen, and nearly complete skeleton was found in alberta. a new skeleton is being worked on by my good friend caleb brown, but he hasn't published this yet. so i'm not allowed to say anything more! Hadrosaurs
Ceratopsians leptoceratops- was a small primitive ceratopsian, that ironically lived alongside (or i guess technically underneath) the last and most advanced of the horned dinosaurs. it was the first small ceratopsian to ever be found, by barnum brown in 1910. however this first specimen (which was damaged) was put to shame by the discovery of 3 skeletons by charlie sternberg in 1947 just outside of drumheller. one of these 3 skeletons is 100% complete (a very rare find!) and the only such skeleton for a ceratopsian known! triceratops- the most famous of ceratopsians, was present in alberta. it was one of the long frilled chasmosaurinae, but this is hard to tell based on its frill (which is among the shortest of this subdivision of the horned dinosaurs). triceratops had long been known from the united states since 1887, and even from neighbouring canadian province saskatchewan as of 1921. it wasn't till 1946 that charlie sternberg finally found them here in alberta. they were the most common of large herbivores in the scollard. _ Anyklosaurs ankylosaurus-first discovered in montana by barnum brown in 1906. when brown came up north to alberta a few years later, he would discover the most complete skull of this the last armoured dinosaur in 1911. it apart from this one spectacular early find has proven very rare otherwise in alberta. Theropods ornithomimus- the classic ostrich mimic would survive right till the end... tyrannosaurus- known in many ways better from finds in the states, but to me the alberta finds are the most important. as the t-rex from alberta was MY mother! the story of how charlie sternberg found here in 1946 is told here. the second tyrannosaur was found in the rockie mountains in 1981 by a bunch of crowsnest pass high skool students. this was my aunt black beauty. |
alberta's dinosaurs
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