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Anyone up for a mid week ramble on the hill?
To fit in with my offshore schedule and family commitment the good dates for me are:
Thur 5 May
Tues 10 May
Wed 11 May
09.00 at Esson's car park (Bennachie Centre)?
Anyone up for a mid week ramble on the hill?
To fit in with my offshore schedule and family commitment the good dates for me are:
Thur 5 May
Tues 10 May
Wed 11 May
09.00 at Esson's car park (Bennachie Centre)?
..still recovering from op though so I'll have to see how fit/slow I am etc...
Dick - Thurs 5 or Wed 11 could possibly suit me.
Dick, when you first mentioned this I thought you were talking about an evening meet(?)
All three of the dates are fine for me, but can we please make it a late afternoon start, say 16:00?
I'm not so sure if I want to take a day off work just for Bennachie
Oops! Sorry about that, it's a part of "The New Deal" that I hammered out with Sandra after she and my daughter got annoyed (severly pissed off is more like it) about Steve and I heading up Braeriach during the family hols.
When I'm ashore Monday is washing and ironing day, Friday is hoover and polishing day, Saturday and Sunday are family days and I can please my self on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. As long as I'm back by 16.00 to fix supper, though I get some leeway on that!
I keep telling Sandra that I've heard that some women would kill to get a saint like me but she doesn't believe me ;¬)
OMG, you poor sod I see your predicament. Oh the joys of single life!
If everyone's ok with Thursday 5th May, I'll try to get the day off.
Dick- I'm afraid I can't make it out of work during the week, but good on yer!
That said, I like the sound of the new deal! I'd settle for that quite happily, so long as I get go up Braeriach as well! )
Dick - I know that Bob is a great cook and all, but could you visit me on Monday and Friday some times?
Aye, I'm available for hire; based on the standard contactor questions of "What's the hours and what's the rates?" ;¬)
It's not really as bad as it sounds; Sandra thinks that I'm semi retired (despite the fact that I do 2016 hours per year to her 1800) so she thinks that I should help around the house!
How about cookin' us all a nice 3 course packed lunch for the meet? I'll bring the crockery and glasses, and Lindsay can supply the wine and beer - Only joking.
Spoke to she boss devil this morning. Probably ok for the 5th, but depends if I can get cover. Will know in the next day or so. Bloke who should cover for me is off at the mo.
watch this space....
Will do ;¬)
I'll see if Steve (son in law) is up for it too - I'll ask my daughter!
Jan: I hope you feel fit soon and can make it too.
Jan, yes it would be great if you can make it. Then at least I won't be the only one dragging my ass behind these two "mountain goats"
Mountain roly-poly in my case, we ate the goat last time out!
you weren't playing the goat then.... ;o) lol
You should go to Glen Shiel or Affric, there are wild goats there!
I can do 5th May...but I am going to be REALLY slow with LOTS of stops and may not even make it to the top (everyone is allowed to go on without me and collect me on the way down).
What time and which car park?
Thur 5 May, 09.00 at Esson's car park (Bennachie Centre).
A suggested route, with Jan in mind: Follow the Gordon Way from Esson's (NJ 699 216), it's fairly gentle, to the base of the Monymusk Triangle (NJ 680 212) after that the track rises up, not too steeply, between Garbet Tap and Bruntwood Tap to NJ664 221, that's about 4.5km so far.
That gets us on to the top, more or less. The Gordon Way then follows the 450 metre contour line to the west. We could follow it to Watch Craig (NJ 653 224), 8km so far, and come back via Oxen Craig, Craigshannock, Mither tap and down through the triangle back to Essons. That's about 12km in all, the last time I did it I took about 5 1/2 hours, thus proving I'm no mountain goat or fast mover!
The ascent via the Gordon Way and descent from Mither Tap through the triangle probably represent the least stressful options though I'm open to suggestions.
Could you manage that Jan?
Sounds good Dick. I normally used to park in the (god, I can't remember) Pitcaple(?) car park. Not the Back o' Bennachie, the other one. So any route out of Esson will be new to me.
Back o' Bennachie car park, over Millstone Hill and through the triangle to Mither Tap and return is fun too, about 10km and 5 hrs, but parts of the ascent of Milstone hill from the car park might be tough for Jan.
One day I'd like to combine this route with a route that takes in all the Bennachie tops including the seldom visited Black Hill. It would take me all day and I'll be knackered at the end of it but by god it would be fun!
You can probably guess from the times that I like to "stand and stare" a lot ;¬)
Ooops, for Back 'o Bennachie car park above read Donview car park!


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Jamaica team rewards communities who joined 'Operation Get Ready'
On Thursday, October 9th 2014, Projects Abroad Jamaica honored residents from the Manchester and St. Elizabeth communities for their participation in Operation Get Ready.
The Operation Get Ready competition was launched on July 3rd 2014. It aims to get residents in vulnerable communities ready for the hurricane season and other natural disasters. Projects Abroad Jamaica offers a Disaster Management Project which facilitates individuals from across the world, instilling vital town planning and disaster management skills in Jamaican communities.
In keeping with this mandate, the 'Operation Get Ready' disaster management campaign was set up to assist vulnerable communities with their preparations for hurricane season. The aim is to decrease the damaging effects of hurricanes and other natural disasters and build climate change awareness.
A total of eleven communities took part, with all groups being awarded a certificate of participation. The New River community in St. Elizabeth won first place while Treasure Beach and Alligator Pond were awarded second and third place respectively. The winner received $80,000.00 worth of disaster supplies, while the first and second runners up were awarded $50,000.00 and $20,000.00 worth of equipment.
Over a three month period the participants were challenged to get their communities ready for this year's hurricane season. The residents engaged in activities such as drain cleaning, the construction of trenches, tree pruning, solid waste management, and shelter management. They also participated in climate change and disaster management workshops, hurricane drills and simulations, as well as first aid and CPR training.
Volunteers visited the communities once every two to three weeks to conduct follow-up assessments and to monitor the work being done. They also conducted disaster management workshops with community leaders.
New River representative, Kinsley Clarke, commended Projects Abroad Jamaica for the 'Operation Get Ready' initiative, explaining that it was a very timely project which he hopes will have longevity. "We need to get more agencies on board to participate in this activity," he stressed, while also emphasizing the awareness it brought to the community and thanking Jamaica Country Director, Dr. Bridgette Barrett, for her persistency and insight.
Bridgette responded that "the important thing we need to take away from the competition is that our community is 'our community' and it is about moving from one stage to another. I want to encourage you beyond today as getting prepared is a continuous process. We are committed to ensuring that we continue to engage the Social Development Commission (SDC), the National Environment Planning Agency (NEPA) and other important stakeholders to participate in this initiative."
Initiatives such as Operation Get Ready will ensure that when disaster strikes, the local community is well-prepared to handle it.
Read more about Disaster Management in Jamaica.


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The Crime Of Hunger
Last month, thousands of people gathered for the biennial Terra Madre Slow Food conference in Turin, Italy, and heard one of the most profound statements yet made by this important organization. And that is the right to food is an essential human right. Father Alex Zanotelli, one of the speakers at the conference went further. He said the 40,000 mostly women and children who die from hunger in the world every day is "the greatest tragedy and shame of the world."
A half dozen countries have introduced the right to food into their constitutions and that number is growing. It is a recognition that, as Fr. Zanotelli said, "Poverty is created, hunger is wanted." In other words, we have the means to end hunger, but we choose not to. And that is immoral and should be illegal. As we enter the heart of the holiday season, let's determine to give each other the gift of ending hunger by making access to good, clean and fair food a basic human right.


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The station is about to conduct a fund drive next week. So it seems an appropriate time to talk a bit about public broadcasting. I used to teach Mass Communications Law, read deeply into the history of broadcasting, and remember many of the changes. When I was growing up, New York City was the only place in the country where you could receive seven television stations and many radio stations on both AM and FM dials. We even had competing classical music stations! The contrast was stunning when one drove outside the New York metropolitan area. Often there was a single accessible station. So I think it's a good time to stop and take note of what has happened.
In most countries, government stations have been used for pure PR on behalf of whichever politicians controlled it. The BBC, organized by the grandfather of a good friend of ours, was the rare exception. It too was quite political – except that Lord Reith didn't like the incumbent government and fought it – giving the BBC the reputation for independence it has to this day. Elsewhere, government funded trash.
The American airwaves had been organized for political purposes here as well. University broadcasters who had dominated the airwaves in the 1920s were systematically driven off the air in favor of private broadcasters, first by Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, then by the Federal Radio Commission and finally by the FCC or Federal Communications Commission. Many Americans kept pushing for educational broadcasting. Eventually, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio were the response to that pressure.
When national public broadcasting was first proposed I was leery of it. And I was not alone. Public broadcasting was organized, here, however, with a system of checks and balances. Participants had to be not-for-profit organizations, whether or not affiliated with a university. A large share of the control was placed in the local broadcasters through their ability to buy and air what programs they chose. And advertising was severely limited to what we have come to call underwriting so that broadcasting would be relatively free of commercial influence as well. Even so there have been efforts to control the public broadcasting system for political ends rather than maintain its independence.
I have been delightfully surprised at the result – professional, balanced, penetrating, fair and accurate reporting told in ways we can all understand. Of course I could get the news elsewhere. But not while multitasking – driving, eating, or getting dressed. I'd have to stop, look and read. I couldn't get the news as easily or as pleasantly. I enjoy and admire the people who bring us the news and interviews, both on national programs and those which originate right here in Albany.
I do not have a crystal ball. I do not know how all the new forms of communication will affect public radio and who will come out on top. But I know from working in many cities that we have a jewel in this one, a station that has the admiration of people who run public radio stations in much larger places, and it shows in the programming we have. Indeed it shows in the programming that WAMC has maintained in spite of budget cuts. Public radio in general and WAMC in particular are jewels, well worth supporting and protecting.
— This commentary was broadcast on WAMC Northeast Report, May 29, 2012.


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The Global Impact of Climate Change: Balance Through Responsibility, Compassion and Human Consciousness with His Holiness the Dalai Lama (Full Version)
Date: 6/1/2012; 93 minutes
His Holiness the Dalai Lama joins esteemed scientists Richard Somerville and Veerabhadran Ramanathan at UC San Diego to discuss the need for humanitarian values and universal responsibility in responding to the impacts of climate change on communities and ecosystems. This lecture is part of the Dalai Lama's "Compassion without Borders" symposium in San Diego. (#23963)
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Yeah, that brilliant flash of light you saw streaking through the dark sky last early this morning? Not the space shuttle making its last ever night time launch from Cape Canaveral.
Unfortunately for you, the launch was postponed, possibly to Monday, and you were either drunk, stoned, both, or you were "visited" and you're about to mold a mountain out of mashed potatoes. Which is too bad, considering the night launch could have been seen all along the Eastern Seaboard. [MSNBC]


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- Collaborative/Inclusive Strategies
- Challenges in Teaching Mathematics to the Visually Impaired
- Arithmetic Calculation Using the Braillewriter
- Solving Quadratic Equations
- Solving Systems of Equations in Three Variables
- Linear Measure, Perimeter, and Area
- Transformations, Line Symmetry, and Tessellations
- Geometric Constructions
- Teaching a blind student how to graph on a coordinate plane: No tech, low tech, and high tech tools
Collaborative/Inclusive Strategies
- Adapted educational aids are a necessary component of any mathematics class. They are especially needed to supplement textbooks that have omitted tactile graphics or contain poor quality ones. However, they are also needed to help in interpreting mathematical concepts - just as their sighted peers benefit from various manipulatives. It is very beneficial to the entire class when the Braille student's aid is a fun and useful tool for the sighted students and teacher as well.
- Math teachers need to verbalize everything they write on an overhead or blackboard and be precise with their language. If the Braille learner still has difficulty keeping up, the math teacher should be encouraged to give the student/vi teacher a copy of their overhead transparencies prior to class if pre-prepared or immediately after. Another alternative might be for a classmate to make a copy of their notes to share.
- Math teachers need to give worksheets, tests, etc. to vi teachers to transcribe into Nemeth far enough in advance, so that the Braille student can participate with their fellow students in class - not later alone.
- Relate various mathematical applications to student activities enjoyed by blind students as well as the sighted students -
- Put various mathematical concepts to song or at least teach similar to an athletic cheer.
- The FOIL method for multiplying binomials F - O - I - L: First, Outside, Inside, Last!!!!
- Quadratic formula sung to the tune of Pop Goes the Weasel
- Be sure to include athletic experiences that a blind student can relate to; include the parabolic curve of a diver, as well as the football quarterback's pass.
- Put various mathematical concepts to song or at least teach similar to an athletic cheer.
- Math teachers need to realize that it is their job to teach the mathematical concepts to their students. This is not the job of the VI teacher. The vi teacher can be very helpful by insuring that all materials are in proper Nemeth code and all graphics are of good quality if the math teacher is able to supply these in print in a timely manner. However, any math teacher will tell you that there is always that teachable moment that you cannot anticipate. This is when it is imperative that the math teacher has some tools at his/her disposal. It is the responsibility of the VI teacher to expose the math teacher to the various tools and aids available to him/her. Math teachers can be quite creative, as many VI teachers have discovered.
- Blind students should not be excused from learning a math concept because they are blind: "Blind students can't graph." "Blind students can't do geometric constructions." Not only can they graph and draw geometric constructions, with the right tools, they can often do so better than their sighted peers. Consideration should be taken into account however with regard to number of problems assigned. It is permissible to shorten the assignment, as long as the student can demonstrate competence in the content area.
- It is very important for all students (and especially for the VI student) to use as many senses as possible when learning a new math concept. They need to read a new math problem, write it, listen to it, tactually explore it through manipulatives, and when possible move their body and/or manipulative through space. If it's a fractional problem involving food for example, they can even taste and eat the problem.
- There is an ongoing need for four-way communication among the math teacher, the VI teacher, the family, and the student. Braille textbooks, materials, and aids need to be ordered early. The source of a problem needs to be discerned as quickly as possible - is it the math concept, the Braille, or the quality of the tactile graphic? Vocabulary in itself can be a problem. Fractions have numerators and denominators in print and Braille; however, they have "tops" and "bottoms" in print and "lefts" and "rights" in Braille.
- For classroom test taking, the student should be given the test in Braille (with an option for partial oral administration; for example, in the case of students with learning disabilities who need word problems read) and supplied with appropriate tactile graphics, aids, abacus, and/or talking calculator. Blind students should be given at least twice the time to complete tests. At times, it may be desirable for the blind student to take the test separate from the group due to the needed extra time, use of aids (especially those involving speech), and/or partial oral administration.
Challenges in Teaching Mathematics to the Visually Impaired
A college student working on her bachelor's degree in mathematics education asks questions about teaching a visually impaired student.
(1) What are some of the challenges that you are faced with when teaching the vi mathematical concepts?
Susan replies: One of the most difficult challenges has been teaching concepts involving three-dimensional objects. 3-D problems are found in all levels of mathematics. They are often difficult for students with vision to understand, especially when trying to create 3-D objects in a two-dimensional drawing. Such a drawing, even when tactually raised, makes little sense without sighted "perspective." Yet, the textbooks continue to draw these 3-D raised line drawings that seem to contradict what the math teacher has just taught the student. For example, a teacher may have just explained to a student that a cylinder has two bases which consist of two congruent circles and their interiors and let them examine several real cylinders. Then, when the homework is assigned or the test is administered, they are given a two-dimensional drawing that would seem to indicate that a cylinder only has one base and it consists of an ellipse and its interior. Sometimes my students would be better off without the "picture." Whereas, it may help the sighted student, it often causes confusion for the blind student. In addition, the blind student has to learn what the 3-D object really feels like, and then what it "feels" like as a sighted person would see it. Talk about extra work! In addition to solid geometry, algebra can also cause similar problems. For example, when solving linear systems with three variables, many sighted students have difficulty visualizing a three-dimensional graph. Most mathematicians would agree that it is impractical to use a two-dimensional graphing display to solve a system of three equations in three variables, and this is for people with vision! The study of vector calculus and the calculus of space create an even greater challenge; however, I leave this to others.
The next most immediate challenge is keeping up with the advancement in math technology tools for the sighted. The scientific graphing calculator is becoming a required tool in more and more math and science classrooms. Once not allowed, they are now becoming a requirement for coursework and even standardized tests. There is no such equivalent to the TI-8? series for the blind. The GRAPH-IT software program from Freedom Scientific does graph certain functions, but again, it is limited, and it is not a stand-alone calculator. It requires a PC (or notetaker) and an embosser. ViewPlus Technologies has created the Accessible Graphing Calculator program which is intended to have capabilities comparable to a full-featured hand-held scientific and statistical graphing calculator, but as yet, it cannot graph multiple functions at the same time nor work with matrices. The blind student can work the majority of these problems without a scientific graphing calculator, but the point is that they are at a disadvantage if they must do everything "manually."
The Nemeth Code allows the blind student to braille all the necessary mathematical symbols for the highest level of mathematics, but often the Nemeth Code is not taught to the blind student as they progress through their lower level math classes. (Although I feel Nemeth Code is relatively easy to learn for students, most sighted vi teachers seem to have a great fear of it, possibly due to lack of proper instruction in their college training program and roadblocks for self-teaching.) This creates great difficulties as they progress into Algebra and most students MUST use the Nemeth Code (or some other tactual code) to be successful in higher mathematics. Often, remediation must take place while trying to learn new concepts. For many years, translation software has been available to convert literary print to literary braille, but converting print math to Nemeth Code proved much more difficult. It is just in the last few years that three Nemeth translation software products have come on the market, as well as a computerized Nemeth tutorial to assist teachers in producing Nemeth materials.
(2) Much of the language of mathematics relies heavily on visual reference hence, how does this challenge the vi student?
Susan replies: I have already touched on some of this in answering your first question. However, I have some specific pet peeves I can address here. Over the years, many new symbols have been created to supposedly make it easier for a sighted student to learn mathematics or to save print space. One of these is the raised negative sign which usually appears in elementary school and disappears at the start of Algebra I. This symbol creates confusion and takes up considerable space in Nemeth Code. For example, to write (-3, -4) (with the negative signs raised) one must use 12 cells, whereas using the regular minus sign uses 8 cells. In Geometry, we have the print symbols for line, ray, and line segment which consist of a picture of a line, a ray, or a line segment drawn above two points, such as line AB. These pictorial abbreviations help a sighted student remember the definition of a line, ray, and line segment and save space. They merely cause confusion for a blind student, make him/her learn the picture symbols which only help a sighted student, and take up considerable more space than merely writing out the word. For example writing "line AB" in braille would take up 8 cells, and writing the pictorial symbol takes up 12 cells. In addition, the symbols representing the picture of the line follows the AB, so the student has to read all of the cells before they can figure out whether AB is a line, a ray, or a line segment. Nevertheless, advanced high school and college mathematics contains even more "pictorial" symbols, which the vi student needs to assimilate, right along with their sighted peers if they are to succeed.
Yes, the language of mathematics does rely heavily on visual reference, and the teacher of the visually impaired is challenged to be quite creative at times. Creative teachers can help their vi students learn to be creative as well. Braille students usually need to learn the print way and the braille way; the print way to communicate with their sighted peers and teachers and the braille way for their own understanding. Although this is often double the work, sometimes it can be double the understanding and double the creativity.
Our new algebra book this year really stressed the visual concept of "shadow" to lead into the section on solving systems of inequalities. Rather than skip over such a seemingly difficult concept to teach a blind student, we jumped in with both hands (literally) making birds and animals and trying to explain how our hands could block the path of light to a surface, and define a region of darkness. Everyone could remember when we went on the last field trip in the hot Texas sun, and someone said "Let's get out of the hot sun and into the cool shade." The building had created a nice shaded region by blocking the heat of the sun in that area. Later on as we were graphing our inequalities on our graph boards, one student really liked and understood why that side of the boundary line should be shaded, but he was having difficulty with the boundary line being dashed or not included in the solution. In his mind, he couldn't see how we could exclude the boundary line (or wall casting the shadow). I said "The wall was just painted and it's still wet, so you can get as close as you want, but just don't touch it." He really liked that answer, and I don't think he'll ever forget the concept.
In Geometry when teaching the concept of symmetry, textbooks and teachers often use examples in nature (including the human body) and two-dimensional pictures. These are all good examples to use. Paper folding can be a lot of fun and makes a lasting impression as well. However, one needs to very careful with using the alphabet, which most textbooks do use. If you use raised line drawings of print letters, these may just "look" like pictures to the braille students (which is fine) but one needs to designate them as such. If you simply state "Which letters have a vertical axis of symmetry?" you will have different answers from your braille students because the braille letters have different lines of symmetry from the print letters. One year on our state-required test for graduation, they asked how far a certain letter of the alphabet had been rotated. The braillist wisely drew a raised print letter on its side. The problem was that the blind student didn't know what the print letter looked like before rotation!
Solving Quadratic Equations Graphically, by Factoring, and by Using the Quadratic Formula
A vision teacher asks: I have a braille using student in 11th grade math. He and his class are going to be solving quadratic equations with graphing calculators next week. He has Graphit on a BNS. My question is: is there a way either using Graphit or the scientific calculator on the BNS to reveal the roots of an equation. If not, is there something you would recommend, preferably so he can do the work independently?
Your help would be much appreciated.
Susan replies:
The ability to "see" the connection between a graph and its equation can be helpful to both visual and tactual learners. I still do this the old fashion way with my low vision and braille students; they manually graph selected quadratic functions on large print graph paper or graph boards. The x-intercepts are revealed to be the roots of the related quadratic equation. Then we move on to using the Accessible Graphing Calculator (AGC) from ViewPlus Software. Graphing calculators simply allow students many more opportunities to make that connection in a brief period of time.
To solve a particular quadratic equation in standard form (reveal its roots), your student should be able to instruct Graph-It (or the AGC) to graph the related quadratic function. Then, the zeros will appear as the x-intercepts. In other words, the real roots of the quadratic equation will be the values of x where the function crosses the x-axis.
For example: Graph y=x2-2x-3 (y=x^2-2x-3) to find the roots of 0=x2-2x-3 (0=x^2-2x-3). The graph crosses the x-axis at x=-1 and x=3. Therefore the roots of 0=x2-2x-3 (0=x^2-2x-3) are -1 and 3.
If the roots are not integers, you will probably not be able to determine the exact value of the roots in this manner, but solving quadratic equations graphically is still a quick way to determine the NUMBER of real roots, and this is extremely valuable information. I might add that when my braille students manually graph a quadratic function with integral zeros, they get exact answers. When a low vision student uses his TI-82 scientific graphing calculator and the trace feature, he gets decimal approximations of the correct zeros! For example, if x=1, the graphing calculator might say x=1.0021053. We often get similar approximations on the AGC.
Since we can only find approximate solutions to quadratic functions by using the graphing method, the math teacher will next teach your student how to solve SOME quadratic equations by factoring. Finally, the teacher will introduce your student to the quadratic formula which will allow him to solve ANY quadratic equation.
With the right tools and your guidance, your student should be able to complete all of the above work independently.
Solving Systems of Equations in Three Variables
A private tutor for a state rehabilitation department asks: I tutor a visually impaired individual in college who has just successfully completed elementary and beginning algebra. He is currently taking intermediate algebra. What would be the best approach in solving systems of equations in three variables for a visually impaired student? I would greatly appreciate some suggestions on how I should go about teaching such problem solving.
Susan replies: Even most sighted students will have difficulty trying to visualize a three-dimensional graph. So, these suggestions will work for these students as well. I mention this because this method of instruction allows a better integration of the blind student into the regular math classroom. It is more of a kinesthetic approach, and many sighted individuals prefer this learning style.
Use a corner of the classroom as that part of space where the x, y, and z axes are all positive. This simulates the first octant (When graphing in space, space is separated into eight regions, called octants.) Then place three braille rulers to represent the x, y, and z axes. Ask your student to locate (1,0,0), (0,2,0), and (0,0,3) [using units of 1 inch or 1 cm]. Then ask him to plot (1,2,3). If he has been using a graphic aid for mathematics (rubber graph board) or other coordinate plane to plot 2-dimensional coordinates, it may take him some time to get adjusted to the fact that he needs to think of moving to the front or back along the x-axis. He moves right or left along the y-axis, and now he will move up and down along the z-axis. Next, place a box in the corner and ask your student to find the coordinates of each of its vertices. Then rotate the box 45 degrees or place the box on its side. Did the coordinates of the vertices change?
At this point you could move to a two-dimensional graph board or raised line graph paper divided into 4 quadrants and placed on a table. Then graph the first two coordinates on the graph board and have your student raise his finger up to illustrate going up the z-axis into space or down (beneath the table) to illustrate going down the z-axis. At this point, he is really having to do a lot of visualization, but hopefully he is starting to locate the 8 octants in his mind's eye.
Remind your student that just as a system of two linear equations in two variables doesn't always have a unique solution of an ordered pair, neither does a system of three linear equations in three variables always have a unique solution that is an ordered triple. Just as the graph of ax+by=c on a coordinate plane is a line, the graph of ax+by+cz=d is a plane in coordinate space. These three planes can appear in various configurations similar to the way two lines in a coordinate plane could intersect in one point, in infinitely many points (actually the same line), or in no points (parallel lines).
This is the time to pull out three planes (actually several sets of three sturdy sheets of paper - braille paper perhaps or cardboard). First show your student an example of the three planes intersecting at one point, so that the system has a unique ordered triple solution. (You may be able to find a nice cardboard box that contained a set of 8 glasses nicely separated (by the perfect manipulative) to nestle in the 8 octants. If so, this really helps the student retain the "picture" in his mind.) Next, have the three planes intersecting in a line, and therefore, there are infinitely many solutions to this system. (This is reminiscent of a paddle wheel.) You could then show him various ways that three planes would have no points in common, and these systems would have no solutions. (Form a triangle with the three planes. Find a cardboard box arrangement for six glasses. In the classroom, use the floor, the tabletop, and the ceiling.) If all three planes coincide, there are again infinitely many solutions. If two of the planes coincide and the third plane intersects them in a line, there are infinitely many solutions.
At this point, some teachers will simply state that it is impractical to use graphing to solve a system of three equations in three variables, and have their students use linear combination or substitution to solve the system, after first reducing the system to two equations with two variables. Then the student can use the familiar techniques for 2x2 systems. Usually textbooks provide systems that can be solved relatively easily by linear combination and substitution, but even they can often be quite time-consuming. One has to be very careful to avoid computation errors, since one mistake early on may not be detected until the final check of your answer, and many pages of work may have already been recorded. However, if the student has suitable technology, he can use matrices to solve a 3x3 system rather easily. Unfortunately, a graphing calculator with this type of sophistication (which is user-friendly) does not exist for the blind, and finding the inverse of a 3x3 matrix by hand involves a great deal of computation. It is only an attractive solution, if calculators can carry the burden. (My students and I have developed a tedious technique using Scientific Notebook and JAWS.) None of this will still mean anything to the student unless you can relate it to real-world problems. Be sure to include such problems that perhaps involve banking and consumer awareness. (For example: If a business sells three kinds of snacks by the pound, how many pounds of each makes up the magic combination? How much should a parent invest in three different investment tools paying different yields to accumulate a college fund for their infant? If a factory has three levels of pay (based on productivity), how many hours at each pay scale are required to complete a particular order?)
Other teachers may feel that it is important to include even more manipulative activities because they offer students an excellent opportunity to bridge the gap from the concrete to the abstract. Depending on your own philosophy, the curriculum requirements, your student's learning style, visual memory (if any), and time constraints, you may or may not wish to try the following activities.
Take a piece of print isometric dot paper and make a "raised dot" version [For example, xerox it onto a piece of capsule paper and run it through one of the tactile imagining machines. (See Math Graphs Made by Others for Students)] or use a geoboard. Next you or the student can create a three-dimensional axis system using raised lines or rubber bands. (If using the paper, be sure that the student can still tactually discern the dots from the axis lines.)
Then have your student graph an ordered triple such as (2,5,-1). Locate 2 on the positive x-axis. Then move 5 units along in the positive direction, parallel to the y-axis. From that point, move 1 unit along in the negative direction, parallel to the z-axis. You have arrived.
To graph a linear equation in three variables, let's graph 3x+2y-3z = 6. First find and graph the x-, y-, and z-intercepts. To find the x-intercept, let y = 0, and z = 0, and solve for x, and continue in a similar manner for the other intercepts. Connect the intercepts on each axis and a portion of a plane is formed that lies in a single octant. [Solution: The three intercepts are: (2,0,0), (0,3,0), and (0,0,-2).]
Linear Measure, Perimeter, and Area
A college student working on her bachelor's degree in mathematics education asks: In teaching the topic of Measurement to a blind student, I have a concern: How should I approach teaching him Perimeter and Area?
Susan replies:
I would teach linear measurement very similarly to the way one would teach a sighted student. In the United States we have two systems of units that we use to measure length.
I would allow my students to measure several real world items using both customary and metric braille rulers, emphasizing the concept of precision. We would also work on several problems requiring estimation and use of the most "sensible" unit of measure within each system. In addition, we would convert from one customary unit of length to another, and from one metric unit of length to another. The student should also be exposed to raised line drawings and be required to measure these as well.
From here we could move on to the concept of perimeter. For a beginning student we could define perimeter to be the distance around a shape (later, a polygon). We might have the student walk around the outside of the school building, the "perimeter" fence of the campus, or around the track and count the number of paces. A student on the track team would soon learn how many times around the "perimeter" of the track resulted in a kilometer, a mile, 100 yards, etc. Then I would present the student with a raised line drawing - perhaps of a square. Using string, we could trace the perimeter of the square and snip it to be exactly the same distance. Then the length of the string would equal the perimeter of the square. We could then examine and determine the perimeters of raised line drawings of a rectangle, triangle, trapezoid, pentagon, etc. with each side appropriately marked in braille with customary and/or metric units. Having calculated the perimeter of many different figures, the student can eventually discover the formula for the perimeter (or circumference) of a circle.
When learning about area, we can say that just as we can measure distance around shapes, we can also measure how much surface (area) is enclosed by the sides of a shape (or polygon). Luckily, my classroom's floor is composed of square foot tiles, and we go about determining how many such square tiles are required to cover the surface area of this floor. Everyone is delighted when we find a much easier way to determine this by multiplying the length and width of the room. Then one can progress to various manipulatives. Paper shapes made out of raised line graph paper can be cut into pieces and reassembled to form new shapes with the same area. Rubber graph boards can be partitioned with rubber bands to form shapes, and grid squares can be counted to determine area. Wooden tiles can be assembled to form various shapes and determine area as well. This knowledge can then be transferred to raised line drawings illustrating area. The student should advance through finding the area of a square, rectangle, parallelogram, triangle, and complex shapes. Eventually, the student can investigate and use the formula for the area of a circle.
Geometric Constructions
A teacher writes: The student I work with is a ninth grade braille reader who is in advanced classes. Since she does not like to use foil or the Sewell raised line drawing technique, I was hoping you might have information on how my student can learn to bisect angles tactually.
Susan Replies: For constructions, my students don't use foil or the "usual" Sewell raised line drawing technique either. We use some type of rubber on a flat surface - whatever you have available. Some of my students and I happen to like an old Sewell raised line drawing board which has rubber attached to a clip board so that I can clip my braille paper to this to keep it from sliding. But, others use a rubber pad on top of a regular wooden drawing board or table. Still others might like a similar rubber on wood board from Howe Press because it too has a way of clipping the paper down.
Next, you will need a braille compass from Howe Press. The compass has a regular pointed end, but the other end has a small tracing wheel attached. I have not been able to find these compasses anywhere else. Should you find another source, please let me know. Next you will need a straightedge - any "print" ruler will do if you don't have a plain straightedge, since the student is a braille reader. Finally, you will need a tracing wheel. Use one from the homemaking department, or Howe Press, or the APH tactile drawing kit, or the local hardware/hobby shop.
For your student to bisect an angle you would first take a piece of braille paper (not the flimsy Sewell plastic) and place it on your rubberized surface (board). Draw the angle you wish the student to bisect using a straightedge and tracing wheel. Remove it from the board. Label the angle with an "A" at the vertex using slate and stylus or your braillewriter. Return the braille paper to the board. Ask the student to bisect angle A. The student should first reverse the paper. Place the compass point on A and draw an arc, locating two points B and C on the respective rays of the angle. Reverse the paper. Place the compass point on B and draw an arc in the interior of the angle. With the same compass setting, place the compass point on C and draw an arc, locating point D - the intersection of the two arcs. Reverse the paper. Draw a ray, AD, which is the angle bisector of angle A. Voila!!
Using a similar technique with only a compass and straightedge, a blind student (or anyone else) can also copy a line segment, bisect a segment, copy a triangle, copy an angle, construct the perpendicular bisector of a segment, etc. These are the same basic techniques that the math teacher would use except that the braille student would usually prefer reversing the paper so as to take the most advantage of the raised drawing on the reverse side. The end product is easily graded by the math teacher - allowing the student to stay in the regular classroom setting throughout the construction.
See the Resources Pages if you need to order any of the items mentioned above.
Transformations, Line Symmetry, and Tessellations
A VI teacher writes: I have a seventh grade braille student who will soon be studying a math chapter in a regular classroom. Among the topics are the following:
- Translations (slides)
- Reflections
- Line Symmetry
- Tessellations
I have some ideas for the teacher. However, being blind myself, I know these concepts can be very difficult to grasp. I would appreciate any ideas which I might share with the classroom teacher.
Susan replies: I usually introduce translations, reflections, and rotations (sometimes called transformations) together. As a firm believer in the use of manipulatives (for the sighted as well as the blind), I pull out my box of assorted triangles and quadrilaterals. I select two congruent non-regular polygons and place one on top of the other; two scalene triangles are my favorite. I then proceed to slide, flip, or rotate the top manipulative to demonstrate a translation, reflection, or rotation. The bottom manipulative remains in place as the original figure. This correlates well with most print textbooks which may show the original figure in red and the transformed figure in black. If you wish the student to translate a figure to a given point, rotate it to a new position, and reflect it over a given line, you could use four congruent figures. I would probably want to use magnetic manipulatives or ones with velcro in a confined space, to keep things in place. Be sure to show the student the textbook tactile graphics illustrating the same transformations, so they will become familiar with what the "average" textbook furnishes them. If these graphics are not of high quality, make your own using some type of Stereocopier and capsule/swell paper. Furthermore, I show my students examples of test questions on transformations from one of the many TAAS mathematics release tests in braille - produced by Region IV, Houston, Texas. Region IV has superb tactile foil graphics.
When we reach the topic of line symmetry, I remind my students of when they were younger and made valentine hearts by cutting a folded piece of paper. Believe it or not, my high school students have fun folding a piece of braille paper and cutting out hearts or some other symmetrical design. I tell them the folded edge is a line of symmetry. Then, I get out my manipulative box again, selecting two congruent right triangles. After placing one on top of the other, I flip (reflect) the one on top over the line segment formed by one of the legs to create a larger isosceles triangle with a line of symmetry (altitude) down the middle. You can also have your student use paper folding to determine symmetry lines for figures studied so far (rectangles, hexagons, etc.). Again, be sure to show the student the textbook tactile illustrations of symmetry and/or make your own graphics as outlined above.
Tessellations or tiling patterns is an arrangement of figures that fill a plane but do not overlap or leave gaps. In a pure tessellation, the same figure is used throughout. I usually begin with having my students check out my classroom floor, which is composed of square tiles. I also have a set of tables in the shape of isosceles trapezoids, which create a tessellation. Then I move to textbook or home-made tactile graphics of tessellations using rectangles, equilateral triangles, parallelograms, right triangles, regular hexagons, etc. Let the students explore to find that any triangle or quadrilateral can be used to tessellate a plane, but that only certain polygons with more than four sides tessellate a plane. Tessellations that use more than one type of polygon are called semi-pure tessellations. At this point, I get out my wooden Discovery Blocks from ETA (various and duplicate sizes of triangles, squares, rectangles, and parallelograms) and let them design their own tessellation. One young man designed an incredibly beautiful tessellation and placed the blocks inside a frame. It was quite a magnificent piece of parquetry.
Please visit the Resources Pages for more information on any of the resources I have mentioned above.


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Bindenstrich-Ethik: Hyphen-Ethics
April 10, 2008
During breaks I would walk through empty rooms to discover changes curators had made in their spaces. I was a teenager when I began to feel at home in the silent, often light-filled buildings that held public art collections. I was annoyed by, resented, then was intrigued by, read about, studied, spent time with pieces that came to be my favourites. Visual artists were deeply informed about and experimenting with emerging, complex theories, cultural studies, political philosophy . . . academics did their best to avoid them until it became impossible to do so.
Reading Slavoj Žižek's Organs without Bodies is a lot like my non-linear NGC meanderings in the 1990s. His writing provokes me but there is enough brilliance there that makes me keep his book in the reading stand beside my monitor, opened at different pages on different days. He is not a lazy thinker. Each page is like a hypertext reader indexing a myriad of artists, philosophers, scientists and entrepreneurs. He discusses Hawkins, Hegel, Heidegger and Hitchcock with equal comfort because he has actually 'read' and analysed' their work.
I was drawn to his chapter section on hyphen-ethics more because of the probing, unsettling questions it raises than because of his conclusions. It will be one of those recurring themes that will be part of my own lifelong teaching, learning and research.
"What is false with todays discussion concerning the ethical consequences of biogenetics is that it is rapidly turning into what Germans call Bindenstrich-Ethik, the ethics of the hyphen – technology-ethics, environment-ethics, and so on. This ethics does have a role to play, a role homologous to that of the provisional ethic Descartes mentions at the beginning of his Discourse on Method: when we engage on a new path, full of dangers and shattering new insights, we need to stick to old established rules as a practical guide for our daily lives, although we are well aware that the new insights will compel us to provide a fresh foundation for our entire ethical edifice (in Descartes case, this new foundation was provided by Kant, in his ethics of subjective autonomy). Today, we are in the same predicament: the provisional ethics cannot replace the need for a thorough reflection of the emerging New (Žižek 2004:123)."
"In short, what gets lost here, in this hyphen-ethics, is simply ethics as such. The problem is not that universal ethics gets dissolved in particular topics but, on the contrary, that particular scientific breakthroughs are directly confronted with the old humanist "values" (say, how biogenetics affects our sense of dignity and autonomy). This, then, is the choice we are confronting today: either we choose the typically postmodern stance of reticence (let's not go to the end, let's keep a proper distance toward the scientific Thing so that this Thing will not draw us into a black hole, destroying all our moral and human notions), or we dare to "tarry with the negative (das Verweilen beim Negativen)," that is, we dare to fully examine the consequences of scientific modernity with the wager that "our Mind is a genome" will also function as an infinite judgment (Žižek 2004:123-4)."
"The main consequence of the scientific breakthrough in biogenetics is the end of nature. Once we know the rules of its construction, natural organisms are transformed into objects amenable to manipulation. Nature, human and inhuman, is thus "desubstantialized," deprived of its impenetrable density, of what Heidegger called "earth." Biogenetics, with its reduction of the human psyche itself to an object of technological manipulation, is therefore effectively a kind of empirical instantiation of what Heidegger perceived as the "danger" inherent to modern technology. Crucial here is the interdepedence of man and nature: by reducing man to just another object whose properties can be manipulated, what we lose is not (only) humanity but nature itself. In this sense, Francis Fukuyama is right. Humanity itself relies on some notion of "human nature" as what we inherited and was simply given to us, the impenetrable dimension in/of ourselves into which we are born/thrown. The paradox is thus that there is man only insofar as there is inhuman nature (Heidegger's "earth"). (Žižek 2004:124)."
Slavoj Žižek is a dialectical-materialist philosopher and psychoanalyst. He also co-directs the International Centre for Humanities at Birkbeck College. The Parallax View appeared last year.
Webliography and Bibliography
Žižek, Slavoj. 2004. "Against hyphen-ethics." Organs without Bodies: on Deleuze and Consequences. New York/London: Routledge. pp. 123-132.
Titles >> Subtitles: Organs without Bodies >> on Deleuze and Consequences >> Consequences >> Science >> Cognitivism with Freud, Autopoiesis, Memes, Memes Everywhere, Against Hyphen-Ethics, Cognitive Closure?, "Little Jolts of Enjoyment",
folksonomy: cultural studies, theory, philosophy, Deleuze, globalization, democracy, democratization, war on terror, Joan Copjec, biogenetics, hyphen-ethics, capitalism, Richard Dawkins, Jacques Derrida, Daniel Dennett, ethics, Ethical turn, Habermas, Kant, Laclau, Levinas, Lacan, Varela, religion, Pascal, Spinoza, The Quite American, Hegel, Heidegger, Massumi, Fukuyama, liberal democracy, Self, personhood, ethics, mind/brain, mind body, psychoanalysis, nature/culture, technology, mind and consciousness,
More by Slavoj Žižek:
Žižek, Slavoj. 2003. "Bring me my Philips Mental Jacket: Slavoj Žižek welcomes the prospect of biogenetic intervention." London Review of Books. 25:10. May.
Žižek, Slavoj. 1999. "Attempts to Escape the Logic of Capitalism." Review of Vaclav Havel: A Political Tragedy in Six Acts by John Keane." London Review of Books. 21:21. October 28.
Žižek, Slavoj. 1999. 'You May!' London Review of Books. 21:6. 18 March.
April 8, 2008
In 2004 just before I became totally lost in my cybernarcosis, cyberdeliria, enraptured by the deep internet I played with the digital image of the foremost German Romantic landscape painter David Casper Friedrich's (1774-1840) Wanderer Overlooking the Sea of Fog (1818 ) His anti-classical work was part of a new synthesis of art, philosophy, and science focusing on the natural world which seemed somehow embued with the spiritual experiences of life. Friedrich's timeless depiction of a wanderer looking out over a sea of fog evokes the journey of life towards higher more difficult summits. I enjoy the irony that the man depicted in his original image was a mere warden, not a world traveller. David Casper Friedrich gained the admiration of the poet Goethe, "the initiator of the tradition of the Bildungsroman, the novel of formation" (more). "In Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship the protagonist undergoes a journey of Bildung, or self-realization" (more).
|"With interventions into man's genetic inheritance, the domination over nature reverts into an act of taking-control-over-oneself, which changes our generic-ethical self-understanding and can disturb the necessary conditions for an autonomous way of life and universalistic understanding of morals (Jantschek 2001 cited by Habermas cited in Žižek 125)."
- Bildung is the painful struggle to form/educate one's natural dispositions through which an individual develops his/her moral identity.
- Žižek summarized Habermas' concern with biogenetics argued that biogenetics threaten a vital concept of moral identity formation based on the painful lifelong struggle (Bildung) to realize one's innate potential while educating one's natural dispositions. Direct biogenetic interventions render the notion of such an education meaningless. Also, at an intersubjective level
tag cloud: biogenetics,
Webliography and Bibliography
- Habermas, Jurgens. Lecture. Marburg.
- Jantschek, Thorsten. 2001. "Ein ausgezehrter Hase." Die Zeit. July 5.
- Žižek, Slavoj. 2004. "Against hyphen-ethics." Organs without Bodies: on Deleuze and Consequences. New York/London: Routledge. pp. 123-132.


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PARIS (CNN) — An armed robber held up a jewelry exhibition in the French resort city of Cannes on Sunday, stealing jewels worth $53 million (40 million euros), a Nice police official told CNN on the condition of anonymity.
The robbery — the third such heist around the city since May — took place Sunday morning at the Carlton Hotel, according to Philippe Vique, deputy prosecutor for organized crime in the prosecutor's office for the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. He could not confirm the value of the jewelry.
The robber, whose face was covered by a hat and a scarf, threatened to shoot the exhibitors and guests, Vique said.
Security guards were present but unarmed, he said.
The exhibitor, Leviev Extraordinary Diamonds, confirmed the heist and said it was "relieved that no one was injured in the robbery."
The gems were supposed to have been on display until the end of August.
The robbery follows two major jewel heists this year at events tied to the Cannes Film Festival.
During the festival in May, a necklace worth $2.6 million (2 million euros) was stolen from a hotel party shortly after more than $1 million worth of jewels were stolen from a safe in a hotel room.
Jeweler de Grisogono said the necklace was part of a collection making its debut.
The jewels were from the Swiss firm Chopard, which was sponsoring the festival.
The high-profile thefts follow a brazen heist in neighboring Belgium in February. Eight masked, heavily armed men used two vehicles to burst through a hole in the perimeter fence at Brussels Airport and nabbed $50 million in rough and polished diamonds from the hold of a Zurich-bound aircraft before speeding away. More than 30 arrests have been made in that incident.
And in 2008, four armed robbers — two disguised as women — walked into luxury jeweler Harry Winston's store on Paris' famed Champs Elysees and swiped an estimated $111 million worth of merchandise in the span of 15 minutes. Those gems were found in 2011, hidden in a rain sewer at a house in the Parisian suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis.


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via press release:
E!'s Save One Show Is Back!
Save One Show 2013: Vote to Rescue Your Favorite Endangered Series!
It's that time, TV fans! Save One Show time! We've prepped you all week with insider info on all your favorite shows that are on the bubble, and now you need to put that info to good use!
In case you are unfamiliar with the Save One Show competition, here is the gist:
Every spring, right around this time, the network executives decide which shows will live or be axed for the upcoming TV season, and our Save One Show campaign gives you guys the opportunity to pick the series that most deserves to stick around. And then we fight like hell to make sure it does!
After we get our winner, we announce it on E! News and on E! Online, and then we take your message directly to that network. The powers that be will get your message loud and clear. And in the past decade, we've successfully help rescues shows like Felicity, Angel and One Tree Hill. When we get down to the final round, we even get the stars of the shows involved. Last year, Community was our winner, and it lived to see another season.
Below are 25 network shows on the bubble; only 10 will make it to the next round. Brutal, but necessary. This poll closes on Sunday, April 21 at 9 p.m. PT. Good luck!
Which show should be saved?
Beauty and the Beast, CW
Body of Proof, ABC
The Carrie Diaries, CW
Community, NBC
Deception, NBC
Golden Boy, CBS
Go On, NBC
Guys With Kids, NBC
Happy Endings, ABC
Hannibal, NBC
Hart of Dixie, CW
Last Man Standing, ABC
Malibu Country, ABC
The Neighbors, ABC
The New Normal, NBC
Nikita, CW
Parenthood, NBC
Red Widow, ABC
Rules of Engagement, CBS
Smash, NBC
Suburgatory, ABC
Touch, Fox
Vegas, CBS
Whitney, NBC


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I've been teaching for over 20 years. I have taught special education and general education. Most of my career has been spent teaching first graders. Now I'm teaching 2nd grade! I taught at the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater for the Early Childhood program. I have also taught for Cardinal Stritch and Aurora University. I love working with teachers.
I use Daily 5 to teach my language arts block. I use a writer's workshop format. I'm adding Guided Math to my schedule!
Who's Who Among America's Teachers 2004-2005
I have certifications in special education and elementary education. I have my masters in general education.
I have a blog at www.littlepriorities.blogspot.com
PreK, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, Homeschool
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WASHINGTON—It just gets worse and worse. We already knew that Alberto Gonzales—who, unbelievably, remains our attorney general—was willing to construe the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions however George W. Bush and Dick Cheney wanted. We knew he was willing to politicize the Justice Department, if that was what the White House wanted. Now we learn that Gonzales also was willing to accost a seriously ill man in his hospital room to get his signature on a dodgy justification for unprecedented domestic surveillance.
The man Gonzales harried on his sickbed was his predecessor as attorney general, John Ashcroft. The episode—recounted this week in congressional testimony by Ashcroft's former deputy, James Comey—sounds like something from Hollywood, not Washington. It's hard not to think of that scene in "The Godfather" when Don Corleone is left alone in his hospital bed, vulnerable to his enemies, and Michael has to save him.
It was the night of March 10, 2004. Several days earlier, Ashcroft had been stricken with a severe case of pancreatitis and rushed to George Washington University Hospital, where his gallbladder was removed and he was placed in intensive care. Ashcroft's wife had banned all visitors and phone calls.
Ashcroft's illness came amid a fight between the White House and the Justice Department over the program of warrantless domestic electronic surveillance that Bush had authorized following the 9/11 attacks. Justice had reviewed the program and expressed doubts about its legality.
Comey, serving as acting attorney general because of Ashcroft's illness, refused to sign off on a reauthorization of the program until changes were made. The night before the current authorization was to expire, Comey said, he was being driven home when he got a call from Ashcroft's chief of staff, who had just heard from Ashcroft's wife that Gonzales, then serving as White House counsel, and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card were on their way to the hospital. They wanted to get the ailing Ashcroft to overrule Comey and sign the reauthorization.
Comey ordered his driver to turn around and managed to get to the hospital first. Rather than wait for the elevator, he ran up the stairs. "And Mrs. Ashcroft was standing by the hospital bed," he testified, "Mr. Ashcroft was lying down in the bed, the room was darkened. And I immediately began speaking to him, trying to orient him as to time and place, and try to see if he could focus on what was happening, and it wasn't clear to me that he could. He seemed pretty bad off."
Gonzales was carrying an envelope when he and Card arrived. Gonzales told Ashcroft they were there "to seek his approval for a matter," Comey recalled. Ashcroft refused to sign anything, told them why, and said that, in any event, Comey was the acting attorney general with the full powers of the office.
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"I was very upset," Comey said. "I was angry. I thought I just witnessed an effort to take advantage of a very sick man."
Now let's fast-forward a couple of years—to February 2006, after the secret surveillance program had become public. Gonzales, testifying before Congress, said there had been no serious disagreement within the administration about the legality of conducting such widespread electronic eavesdropping without seeking court warrants.
In fact, there was nearly an insurrection. Comey and other high-ranking Justice Department officials threatened to resign if the White House continued the surveillance program as it then was constituted. "Mr. Ashcroft's chief of staff asked me something that meant a great deal to him," Comey testified, "and that is that I not resign until Mr. Ashcroft was well enough to resign with me." Ultimately, Bush and Cheney agreed to modifications that addressed Justice's concerns.
Gonzales' testimony in 2006 was that officials expressed no reservations that "dealt with the program that we are talking about today." Presumably he was being extraordinarily careful with his words—"the program that we are talking about today" had already been modified, two years earlier, to avoid what threatened to become a Wednesday Night Massacre. Before those changes, the attorney general neglected to tell Congress, the program had caused a legal riot.
The image I can't get out of my head is of Alberto Gonzales carrying a document for Ashcroft's signature into the man's hospital room, attempting a sneaky end-run around the deputy whom Ashcroft left in charge of the department, knowing full well that Ashcroft was seriously ill and almost certainly medicated. What did he intend to do, guide the man's hand?
This is the attorney general of the United States, ladies and gentlemen. Heaven help us.
© 2007, Washington Post Writers Group


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First Excerpt Published in Edible Phoenix Magazine
An excerpt from Chasing Chiles: Hot Spots Along the Pepper Trail by Kurt Michael Friese, Kraig Kraft and Gary Paul Nabhan, Chelsea Green Publishing, March 2011.
When we crossed the US–Mexico border into the estado de Sonora, we could feel something different in the landscape. It was especially visible along the roadsides, a feeling that was palpable in the dusty air. Less than half an hour south of Nogales, Arizona, we began to see dozens of street vendors on the edge of the highway, hawking their wares. There were fruit stands, ceviche and fish tacos in seafood carts, tin-roofed barbacoa huts, and all sorts of garish concrete and soapstone lawn ornaments clumped together. Amid all the runof-the-mill street food and tourist kitsch, we sensed that we might just discover something truly Sonoran.
Dozens of long strings of dried crimson peppers called chiles de sarta hung from the beams of the roadside stands, ready for making moles and enchilada sauces. Hidden among them were "recycled" containers used to harbor smaller but more potent peppers: old Coronita beer bottles and the familiar curvy Coca-Cola silhouette filled with homemade pickled wild green chiltepines. These were what we sought—little incendiary wild chiles, stuffed into old bottles like a chile Molotov cocktail and sold on the street.


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You were one of the first chums to actually take notice of me.
What's up with people leaving??
Godardian You are the most passionate mother fucker about every topic discussed. But thats a good thing.
I championed GT and Godardian before it was the cool thing to do 8) Let's make this thread about me and how I'm not leaving


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For those of you who thoroughly enjoy hearing athletes and coaches say "we're taking it one game at a time and right now all we're focused on is the _________ game", you may not want to read this post. I prefer it when athletes, coaches, fans openly project and look past weak opponents.
Our schedule over the next 6 games is as follows:
- @ New Orleans, Carolina, Houston, @ Jax, @ Chi, Detroit
Of these games, I am most worried about the 3 away games. Of course, we have to play well to win the others (except the Detroit game), but these 3 concern me the most. I think this next game in New Orleans is especially important. If we can take down Brees and Bush and co it would make coming home for two tough, but very winnable games easier. Carolina is solid, but they've played a fairly weak schedule and Delhomme has been erratic this year – I am confident we can win this one at home. Houston has Sage Rosenfels (and hopefully still will by then) who may be the least clutch QB ever. At Jax could be tough and at Chicago is always tough. Detroit is hideous. So, I can see us going at least 4-2 and maybe even doing better than that. I believe 4-2 may end up being sufficient for the playoffs. I will say this, if Chicago loses this weekend to St. Louis, they are done.
Factors going forward:
- Will Kyle Orton work diligently to get his QB rating back in the 70s where it belongs?
- Will Matt Forte hit a rookie wall?
- Will Ryan Grant pick up steam like he did in the 2nd half of last year and run wild?
- Will Mike McCarthy stay focused himself? I noticed last weekend, MM was pumped up and even yelling at the officials early in the game – he wanted it. Not sure he's been that way in all the previous games.
- Will the Williams duo be suspended (and as some are speculating, possibly Allen too for dirty play)
- Will AP be able to remain injury free for the remainder of the season?
- Will national writers continue to be mysteriously duped into thinking Gus Frerotte is a quality QB (Kevin Seifert, ESPN's NFC North blogger – a former Star Tribune reporter, says "Frerotte is the most experienced — if not the most careful — quarterback in the division and isn't fazed by big-game pressure." Not sure what he means by "careful" but I'm pretty sure it doesn't mean 11 picks in 9 games, a sub-60% completion percentage, fumbling/getting sacked a lot a 77 QB rating. Not sure either why Seifert would say Frerotte's not fazed by big games – he was not terrible in New Orleans but that's about it.
STEVE ADDS: I think Seifert was probably saying that Frerotte is not the most careful, rather than suggesting that he is careful. And perhaps he meant that Frerotte isn't fazed by big-game pressure because, a) his vast experience includes very few big-games, because he sucks, or, b) he is so consistently bad in big games that there is little pressure on him to do well. Either way, we've warned our readers about Seifert's reporting in the past. I don't think it's fair to judge the guy's entire body of work by one mistake, but it was the really the only story going at the time and it was a rather significant mistake to make.


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Moderator: Van Canna
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, looting, violence and other criminal activity became serious problems. With most of the attention of the authorities focused on rescue efforts, public security in New Orleans degraded quickly. By August 30, looting had spread throughout the city, often in broad daylight and in the presence of police officers.
"The looting is out of control. The French Quarter has been attacked," City Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson said. "We're using exhausted, scarce police to control looting when they should be used for search and rescue while we still have people on rooftops."
Incapacitated by the breakdown of transportation and communication, as well as overwhelmed numerically, police officers could do little to stop crime, and shopkeepers who remained behind were left to defend their property alone.
Looters included gangs of gunmen, and gunfire was heard in parts of the city. Along with violent, armed robbery of non-essential valuable goods, many incidents were of residents simply taking food, water, and other commodities from unstaffed grocery stores.
There were also reports of some police officers looting. Significant looting continued in areas of the city with few, if any permanent residents, such as the Lakeview, Gentilly, and the Midcity regions.
"Sniper fire" was also reported throughout the city, targeted at rescue helicopters, relief workers, and police officers.
Looting and "mayhem" was also hampering efforts to evacuate the Tulane Medical Center, as well. "If we do not have the federal presence in New Orleans tonight at dark, it will no longer be safe to be there, hospital or no hospital," Acadian Ambulance Services C.E.O. Richard Zuschlag told CNN on August 31. Several news sources reported instances of fighting, drug use, theft, rape, and murder in the Superdome and other refuge centers.
Do what a deputy sheriff friend of mine did: he taught his family(some as young as four years old)to shoot an SKS. He himself had an AR15A2; budgetary complaints(chronically sick toddler for four months)prevented arming said family with his choice of a rifle.
When word got out, that anybody menacing said family would shot at by everybody in the home; that ended both the death threats and menacing behaviours(Like people stopping a shouting obscenities from cars).
Like it or not, outlaws WILL kill/injure/take hostage children; this is to break the will of the family to resist.
Active Shooters - Final Solution
Since the killings in Connecticut, we have heard all manner of proposed solutions to these problems. Most of the solutions proposed smack of stupidity and cowardice...and a few other things. In this article I will state why I think these events occur, and how to best stop them.
I begin with the assumption that man is evil and selfish - and dark. If left in the wilds, to his own devices,to live as an animal, man becomes a predator with nothing to curtail the drives to eat, rest, and procreate...by force. It is only civilization, and with it, morality, or the sense of right and wrong, that elevates man from a self-serving animal, to the status of human being.
In our western civilization, right and wrong is defined in the book that has defined our culture from the first century - the Bible. If we remove the Bible, and its Author, from our society, we immediately lose the authority to define what is right and what is wrong. And in modern America's idiotic desire to "never offend anyone", we have sacrificed the definition of what is right and what is wrong, for some sense of approval by those who are wrong.
Americans do not care if they are called, but do not call them intolerant. God is who defines good and evil, and right and wrong. But Americans don't want to hear about that...it might offend someone.
The problem is that without the light of good that our biblical culture brings, there is nothing holding back the darkness. And when nothing holds that back, the forces of evil grow stronger, and you see them flex their muscles in Columbine, Aurora, and in Connecticut.
Want to stop that from happening again? Really stop it? Invite the light of good back, and the Source of that light and see how society changes.
Now that will not happen overnight, and it will never happen in the most left-leaning regions of
So what to do in the interim?
Why does the left hate self-defense?
Posted May 16th, 2007 at 1:20 PM by Jon Ham
A man in South Africa, Aldred Tissong, may face murder charges for shooting two armed men who broke into his house. According to news reports:
If the Director of Public Prosecutions found that neither Tissong nor his wife were in mortal danger, Tissong could be charged with murder.
"The best that the accused can do is to get himself a lawyer as soon as possible, so that he does not say something that can be used against him at a later stage."
When two armed men break into an occupied home, they forfeit their right to leave alive, in my view. Government can't expect law-abiding homeowners to be able to assess the intention of thugs and criminals who invade their homes. The invasion alone should be a right to shoot to kill. As the headline on the story says, he was trying to protect his family.
It's pretty black-and-white, but the anti-gun zealots see only shades of gray, and they project their wimpish dislike of self-defense on everyone else:
Judy Bassingthwaighte, national director of Gun Free South Africa, said a firearm usually complicated matters even more.
"There's also the emotional suffering that Tissong will be going through because he presumably took a life.
"It's dangerous to own a firearm and we must ask ourselves if it's worth it."
Well, Mr. Tissong's family is safe and alive. His only peril right now is from the state, which is not sure he should have been allowed to protect his hearth, home and family.
Actually one of the most legitimate forms of usage for guns is not violence but the threat of violence. In other words a large about of general non-violent people leads to protection for gun owners and everyone else. If many good men own guns they have little need of them, if few they always have need of them. Over all a larger part of the population owning guns means less death...
Your love of guns and racist hearts are an abomination to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a sin to believe you can save yourself by killing.
Someone show that limey b*astard Piers Morgan this! Shut him up.
Kill yourself, you racist p*rick.
Ben TheF*uckingMan Swann
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It's been a while since I've blogged but I'm trying to get myself back on it again. I thought I'd kick off on the backs of our seed investment into appRenaissance announced today.
The CEO of appRenaissance is Bob Moul, whom I had backed in his last company Boomi in 2008. They were a pioneer in the cloud based integration market and Bob led the business to a great exit in 2010 to DELL. Bob left DELL a year later to jump back into the startup world. He eventually caught the mobile bug and joined appRenaissance as CEO earlier this year. When I got the call, it was a no-brainer and we were delighted to partner together again. It got me thinking, what changes the second time around?
- Price and terms get figured out quickly. Seasoned entrepreneurs know the game; they know the pros and cons of too high/too low; they know the danger of running out too quickly or overcapitalizing; they don't get sucked in by the hype in the echochamber; you don't have to unwind all the misconceptions that exist out there. There is a tremendous clarity that allows us to virtually waste no time in coming to a handshake. Whether it was Bob Moul at appRenaissance or Chet Kanojia at Aereo, the conversation took a total of 10 minutes and we were onto building something great.
- Don't need proof because the trust is there. For first time entrepreneurs, generally people like to see some evidence of execution. We want to see what you've been able to accomplish, before and now. The relationship is so new that it's hard to take people simply on their word. We want to see it in some numbers somewhere. The second time around, we already know what you can do and have done before. We're glad to take early risks blindly because the trust is there.
- Neither side worries about protecting outside case scenarios. You know the ones I mean… Spending a few weeks defining "Cause" and how to get a ladder of severance lengths based on that. Taking great pains to ensure you approve budget because someone might set one at zero and pay themselves insanely. Having to define exit thresholds and multiples because both sides worry about blocking (or not accepting) an exit because someone didn't think they made enough money. In general, we never get hung up on the above, but they are real and these are the outside cases that strangers might try to protect. The second time around everyone focuses on the core issues, dealing with things that set up good governance and good mutual accountability, and knock them down easily.
- It's a lot more fun. If you've had a good outcome with someone, it's likely the second time, an entrepreneur will be thinking bigger, focused more clearly and will want to build longer. Bob's goal now is no less than to build a big public software company based in Philadelphia. We love BHAGs like that – it clarifies the mission and energizes all around.
Since starting FirstMark in 2008, I am getting my first wave of entrepreneurs coming back for our second time together, and it's fantastic. We've made it a point to build early, deep and longstanding relationships that make us a place to go again and again. They serve as the best references for new entrepreneurs (first time or repeat) we endeavor to work with. And I look forward to doing so in the future with the many incredible first time entrepreneurs I'm so privileged to be involved with now.


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