The Sleeper Must Awaken  

(from words by Duncan Idaho and Duke Leto Atriedes)

I think, what a joy it is to be alive,

and wonder if I will ever leap inward, 

to the root of this flesh, 

and know myself as I truly am.

The root is there, but it is tangled in the web that is both future and past at once.

It only awaits a word to free me.

Because of this a person needs change.

Change jars something deep within us, 

and allows us to grow.

Without change, something sleeps within us, and seldom awakens.

To be a complete human, the sleeper must awaken...

“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. 

It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — God damn it, you’ve got to be kind. Kurt Vonnegut, from "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm pretty sure I'm just talking to myself here, perhaps a mirror, or even an evil doppelganger, because no one else seems to be coming 'round here no more...

Just in case, if any of my bright, shiny STUDENTS are listening, leave me a comment or send me an email. Cheer up an old man, and get 100 points extra credit. That's right, 100 points free and clear, for only a little teeny, tiny email or comment!

This offer expires Friday, August 20th, 2010, so act now. 

Free shipping and handling!

Our lines are open, so respond quickly. 

The first 50 callers (emailers/commenters) get a free cookie with each response!

Act Now! (This means you!)

JG

Judge Orders Gray Wolf Back On Endangered List

by The Associated Press - posted on NPR online

A federal judge on Thursday reinstated Endangered Species Act protections for wolves...saying the government made a political decision in removing the protections..

The decision puts a halt to wolf hunts in Montana and Idaho planned for this fall. Montana wildlife regulators last month set the wolf-hunt quota at 186, more than doubling last year's number, with the aim of reducing the state's wolf population.

Gray wolves were listed as endangered in 1974, but following a reintroduction program in the mid-1990s, there are now more than 1,700 in the Northern Rockies.

 

Welcome to our new students, and welcome back to the old ones! 

It's time to put aside the joys of Summer, and get back to work and the more sublime pleasures of school. If you've found this page, then you've probably already visited our class home page at http://www.nakedscience.org/mrg. As we discussed in class, please visit this blog every now and then for interesting and thought provoking articles, videos, and audio clips, as well as some blather from yours truly. To get some extra credit, include your name in a comment on the various postings, or send me an email at jgiacobbe_southpointe@cox.net

Good Luck in Block I!

Requiem in pace et amor

We lost a longtime friend this weekend. Brisco County, Jr., our faithful companion of 10 years, passed away, and crossed the Rainbow Bridge. He brought us great joy and companionship through the years, and we can only hope we offered him the same. 

He traveled with us across the mountains, to the sea, and back again, always vigilant, always watchful, always ready to play and run like the wind. We can never fill the whole his passing has left in our lives, yet we will only tolerate wonderful., loving memories of our short time together. He was brave and stoic until the end, of course...

Goodbye old friend, and I'll see you on the other side...

 

Eighteen states and the District of Columbia advanced to the second round of a national competition for federal financing to support education reform.

Eighteen states and the District of Columbia were named as finalists on Tuesday in the second round of a national competition for $3.4 billion in federal financing to support an overhaul of education policies.

The much-anticipated decision by the federal Education Department eliminated almost half of the 35 states that entered the competition, called Race to the Top.

The finalists are Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Carolina.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/education/28education.html?ref=education

Many States Adopt National Standards for Their Schools

Less than two months after the nation’s governors and state school chiefs released their final recommendations for national education standards, 27 states have adopted them and about a dozen more are expected to do so in the next two weeks.

Their support has surprised many in education circles, given states’ long tradition of insisting on retaining local control over curriculum. The quick adoption of common standards for what students should learn in English and math each year from kindergarten through high school is attributable in part to the Obama administration’s Race to the Top competition. States that adopt the standards by Aug. 2 win points in the competition for a share of the $3.4 billion to be awarded in September. 

for the rest of the article, click here 

 

Come on Arizona, lets get with the program dudes! It's race to the top, not a political partisan driven race to mediocrity. We have so much good raw material here, and if we really want a bright future for the state, it's going to be due to having a well educated, highly skilled young workforce. 

 

Dear Arizona Legislature and Honorable Governor, lets have a race to the top, instead of spending so much energy racing and chasing after ghosts and fictional enemies of the state.

jg

 

Brisco & Dixie Get Some Quality Time with Mommy!

Arizona regents panel rejects change to scholarships

Associated Press

An Arizona Board of Regents committee on Thursday rejected another proposal by the three state universities to change a popular college scholarship program for high achievers.
The AIMS scholarships pay tuition and fees at the state's three public universities for high school students who perform well on the standardized Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards test.
But the scholarships are costing too much and the universities want more discretion to funnel some of the money toward need-based scholarships. The award is a scholarship that equals the cost of tuition, renewable for up to four years.
An estimated 8,394 students received the AIMS scholarship in the 2009-10 school year, or about 8 percent of undergraduate students at Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/07/15/20100715aims-scholarship-regents-panel.html#ixzz0tp0DQguN

Don't worry, about a thing, cause every little thing, gonna be all right...

from CNN.com...


Is the world ready for good news?

"Someone has written, in presenting the conference, that good news is a species that is becoming extinct. If you look at any newspaper ... we are bombarded by bad news," he said as attendees chatted at a welcome party at Keble College on Monday. "But if you dig, if you look under the surface and search, you will find a lot of new technology, new science, new art, new ways of thinking, politically, socially, philosophically that may give you, when you string them all together, a more optimistic view of the future."

This article is about the third global TEDGlobal 2010, conference in Oxford., UK.

It includes everything from artists (like singer Annie Lennox) to tech guru's (like Steve jobs) to actual geniuses like Richard Dawkins and Stephen Fry.  How exciting! Oh, what wonderful times we live in!

What the hell is wrong with Texas these days?

These guys used to have a really top notch education system, but it appears as if they are descending into the abyss of mediocrity, heck, maybe even inadequacy. Such a shame.....

Court Rules Against Creationism Degree
nsta.org | June 23, 2010
A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by a creationism think tank and school that attempted to force the state of Texas to allow it to offer a master's degrees in science education.…

What is the meaning of Life, The Universe, and Everything!

MORE AT ATHEISTNATION.NET

Today in Science History

On June 19 in 1623, mathematician-physicist Blaise Pascal is born in Clermont-Ferrand, France. Pascal was a child prodigy, but was denied access to mathematics books by his mathematician father, who wanted the boy to learn history first. However, legend has it that after he was told that geometry was the study of shapes and forms, he independently discovered (without books or training) the first 32 theorems of Euclid, in the correct order. His dumbfounded father then allowed him to study mathematics.
—from The Illustrated Almanac of Science, Technology, and Invention

Today in Science History

On June 15 in 763 B.C., the first eclipse in recorded history is seen over Nineveh, Assyria.
—from The Illustrated Almanac of Science, Technology, and Invention

Will Truth Win Out Over Prejudice & Political Posturing?

Stats contradict immigration rhetoric on crime

From the Phoenix Business Journal - by Mike Sunnucks

Gov. Jan Brewer, State Sen. Russell Pearce, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and others supporting the state’s new immigration law say it is needed to stem waves of crime. However, new reports show crime is on the decline.

Arizona is main conduit into the U.S. for Mexican cartels and smuggling rings and Phoenix is a hotbed for human smuggling related kidnapping, they say. “We’re out here on the battlefield of illegal immigration and all the crime that comes with it,” Brewer said on Fox News last month. Brewer referred to the situation as “the terror which our citizens live in day and day out along the border.” Arpaio and Pearce have made similar comments on CNN and other national news outlets.

However, the article goes on to say...

Crime in the Valley and Arizona is on the decrease, according to recent statistics.

The city of Phoenix reported 131,052 crimes in 2004. That number fell to 109,784 in 2008 and 90,024 in 2009, according to the Phoenix Police Department. Phoenix had 9,679 drug crimes last year compared to 10,741 in 2004.

Statewide, the Arizona Department of Public Safety said there were 255,133 serious crimes in Arizona in 2009. That is down 12 percent from 2008. DPS reported 341,101 serious crimes in 2002 and 291,380 in 2001.

“Statistically...the overall crime rate is lower now than it has been in recent years, however the level of attention being paid to a number of recent pieces of legislation, periodic crime sweeps conducted by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department, and incidents of violence along Arizona’s border with Mexico only increases the national and international perception that Arizona is not open for business,” Rickert said.

GPEC, Thunderbird and some other business and community leaders want to launch efforts to combat such negative images propelled by the law.

Cabrera said Brewer and others are creating an “apocalyptic view” of Arizona that will discourage students from studying here, tourism and high-wage job growth. “That’s not helpful,” Cabrera said.

PHOENIX CRIME

Year        Murders        Violent crimes        Drug crimes        Total crimes

2003       254                 9,816                         8,975                     122,047
2004      238                10,503                        10,741                   131,502
2005      238                10,782                        10,114                   121,636
2006      253                11,240                         9,856                     117,446
2007     244                 11,125                         9,928                     117,872
2008     196                10,864                          9,145                     109,784
2009    139                 9,282                            9,679                     90,024


Source: Phoenix Police Department

Nation Undecided On Whether It Hates Celtics Or Lakers More - from The Onion

WASHINGTON—The NBA Finals have thrown the nation's basketball fans into a state of angry confusion this week, as the bitter debate over whether they despise the Celtics or Lakers more rages on. "Kobe is such an egotistical prick that it's really easy to detest the Lakers, especially with that clenched-jaw face he makes, but come on—you have to hate the Celtics because the Big Three are so much more fucking annoying," said Jeff Connor, a St. Louis native. "I'll admit that I can't stand Pau Gasol, just because the guy rubs me the wrong way, maybe due to his disgusting greasy hair. Phil Jackson is a pretty huge asshole with all that loud whistling he does, but Rondo is the most irritating little shit, and I loathe that fat sweaty hog Glen Davis. Ray Allen is actually okay. That dick Kevin Garnett, though, is a chest-pounding idiot." After much discussion, a consensus appears to be near, as Americans are agreeing to hate the Lakers and Celtics equally

Think you of the fact that a deaf person cannot hear. Then, what deafness may we not all possess? What senses do we lack that we cannot see and cannot hear another world all around us? (Orange Catholic Bible)

Ant Colony Comes To Halt After Death Of Popular Worker (from The Onion)

OLD BRIDGE, NJ—The transportation of nourishing bread crumbs came to an abrupt halt Thursday morning when ant colony 000082567KLN00067X collectively paused to remember the life of veteran worker FL77542PM4. Workers HJ997462M and IK002620FC secreted primer pheromones to signal the start of the solemn moment, and Queen XHB004-65B memorialized the event by releasing a scent trail from her engorged abdomen. Known throughout the superorganism for being in constant locomotion, FL77542PM4 had been a member of the colony since he first emerged from his pupal casing, and was considered an expert at nest construction. The service ended when fellow workers marched over his body, tore apart his thorax, and began feeding their fallen compatriot to their young

Funny Cartoon from Joe's Big Blog: