Month: August 2004

a truism

One of the great frustrations about news, be it radio, TV, or paper, is how often we assume the reporter got the facts right about stories we don’t know firsthand but how often they screw up on stories we know about. CJR Campaign Desk: Archives: Last night, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, to use Atrios’ words, went “nuclear” on Matthew Dowd, a senior Bush-Cheney strategist and Hardball guest.

One of the great frustrations about news, be it radio, TV, or paper, is how often we assume the reporter got the facts right about stories we don’t know firsthand but how often they screw up on stories we know about.

I was reminded of this, somewhat obliquely, when I saw this lead on the CampaignDesk website:

CJR Campaign Desk: Archives:
Last night, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, to use Atrios’ words, went “nuclear” on Matthew Dowd, a senior Bush-Cheney strategist and Hardball guest.

Apparently, Matthews was incensed that the RNC would take a clip of his program and edit it down to both simplify his question of a candidate and strip the candidate’s answer of any depth or nuance (and with Kerry, nuance is substance).

So we go from:

MATTHEWS: Do you think you belong in that category of candidates who more or less are unhappy with this war? The way it’s been fought? Along with General Clark, along with Howard Dean, and not necessarily in companionship politically on the issue of the war with people like Lieberman, Edwards and Gephardt? Are you one of the anti-war candidates?”
KERRY: “I am, yes, in the sense that I don’t believe the president took to us war as he should have, yes. Absolutely. Do I think this president violated his promises to America? Yes, I do, Chris. Was there a way to hold Saddam Hussein accountable? You bet there was and we should have done it right.”

to this:

“Are you one of the anti-war candidates?” and Kerry replying, “I am, yes.”

CampaignDesk makes it clear that Matthews was more upset about his show being used as a political tool than being one himself, as they have noted before. I’m sure it’s too much to hope this could be a trend, but it would be nice if these folks took their jobs as seriously as they take themselves.

Study: charter schools leave children behind more than public schools

The New York Times > Education > Nation’s Charter Schools Lagging Behind, U.S. Test Scores Reveal: The first national comparison of test scores among children in charter schools and regular public schools shows charter school students often doing worse than comparable students in regular public schools. The data shows fourth graders attending charter schools performing about half a year behind students in other public schools in both reading and math. Put another way, only 25 percent of the fourth graders attending charters were proficient in reading and math, against 30 percent who were proficient in reading, and 32 percent in math, at traditional public schools…. They looked at low-income children in both settings, and broke down the results by race and ethnicity as well…. Charters are expected to grow exponentially under the new federal education law, No Child Left Behind, which holds out conversion to charter schools as one solution for chronically failing traditional schools.

The New York Times > Education > Nation's Charter Schools Lagging Behind, U.S. Test Scores Reveal:

The first national comparison of test scores among children in charter schools and regular public schools shows charter school students often doing worse than comparable students in regular public schools.

The data shows fourth graders attending charter schools performing about half a year behind students in other public schools in both reading and math. Put another way, only 25 percent of the fourth graders attending charters were proficient in reading and math, against 30 percent who were proficient in reading, and 32 percent in math, at traditional public schools.

Because charter schools are concentrated in cities, often in poor neighborhoods, the researchers also compared urban charters to traditional schools in cities. They looked at low-income children in both settings, and broke down the results by race and ethnicity as well. In virtually all instances, the charter students did worse than their counterparts in regular public schools.

Charters are expected to grow exponentially under the new federal education law, No Child Left Behind, which holds out conversion to charter schools as one solution for chronically failing traditional schools.

I have to wonder if the people in support of charter schools actually spend any time in any schools or if their beliefs are driven by ideology (hmm, initiatives driven by faith rather than facts: that’s a new one). As someone who does spend time in schools, it’s clear to me that the weak link isn’t the school in most cases. If the parents who work on these charter schools spent as much time and effort on working with their current school — not with the bureaucrats or district staff but with the classroom teachers and the kids — perhaps they’d realize that setting up an additional school isn’t the solution.

now playing: Renew My Subscription (Exclusive Track) from the album The Spine by They Might Be Giants |

Solved: migrating data from Yahoo calendar to iCal

I found a workaround that I somehow missed before. I found an online calendar service — ScheduleWorld.com — and used their spiffy Java application to import the CSV file from Yahoo and then export it as an iCal .ics file. Worked like a champ.

I found a workaround that I somehow missed before.

I found an online calendar service — ScheduleWorld.com — and used their spiffy Java application to import the CSV file from Yahoo and then export it as an iCal .ics file.

Worked like a champ. Of course, their online, univerally-accessible calendaring application is pretty interesting. Syncing it with iCal might be useful as well.

In the long run, this has not made us more secure, it has made us less secure.

America’s most famous thinker on where we are and how we got here: ” ‘I guess at the moment I’m a little bit more optimistic than many people in Washington, who are generally panicked by events since the beginning of April. Actually, I think people should be more panicked by events in the long term. Increasingly, I find it hard to imagine a series of events that will lead to a good outcome. There’s a much easier path towards civil war than there is to a stable, democratic Iraq. In the long run, this has not made us more secure, it has made us less secure. It is appalling.'”

America’s most famous thinker on where we are and how we got here:

Fukuyama thinks there were two key causes for the Bush administration’s decision to attack Iraq.

The first was the way the Cold War ended. Central players like US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Mr Wolfowitz saw the success of the hardline Reagan policy towards the Soviet Union.

Do these people understand anything at all? The policy that toppled the Soviet Union was Truman’s . . .

Later, in the Balkans, they saw the failure of the Europeans to act decisively. This persuaded them that America could wield its power morally and unilaterally, and that Europe should not be trusted.

And I suppose the effective exercise of power in this hemisphere — Haiti as a perpetual basketcase, the Somoza regime(s), the former oligarchy in Mexico, Noriega, the druglords in Colombia, possible tampering in the Venezuelan elections — shows some kind of moral strength?

‘I guess at the moment I’m a little bit more optimistic than many people in Washington, who are generally panicked by events since the beginning of April. Actually, I think people should be more panicked by events in the long term. Increasingly, I find it hard to imagine a series of events that will lead to a good outcome. There’s a much easier path towards civil war than there is to a stable, democratic Iraq. In the long run, this has not made us more secure, it has made us less secure. It is appalling.’

Well, yeah. Power, like nature, abhors a vacuum. Did the breakup of Yugoslavia after the death of Tito fail to register with these brainiacs?

Earlier in the article, Fukuyama cites the neocons historical aversion to nation-building (Bush even mentioned the idea as something he wouldn’t entertain during his first campaign). So what are we doing there? I’m inclined to say, vote ’em back in so they have to deal with the mess, but my experience with children tells me it’s sometimes better to just clean it up yourself. They may not learn from their mistake.

now playing: Lark’s Tongue In Aspic: Part Two from the album Frame By Frame [2 – 1972-4] by King Crimson | Buy it

guilty pleasures

Well, not exactly. I have been reading the Sandman series in the collected volumes, at the expense of a lot of my other reading. It’s amazing stuff, even if you like Gaiman as I do. If you like fantasy at all, have a passing interest in mythology, or just like a good story and don’t mind having it with a generous helping of dynamic art, track these down. I suppose I’m late to the party with these, but they’re too good to miss.

Comic books? At my age?

Well, not exactly. I have been reading the Sandman series in the collected volumes, at the expense of a lot of my other reading. It’s amazing stuff, even if you like Gaiman as I do.

I suppose I’m late to the party with these, but they’re too good to miss. If you like fantasy at all, have a passing interest in mythology, or just like a good story and don’t mind having it with a generous helping of dynamic art, track these down.

I’ve also read Maus and Here my Troubles Began. Also recommended but make sure you keep it out of the sight of the young and impressionable: not exactly for kids, even considering the value of the lessons.

And if you still think illustrated novels/graphic novels/comics are kids stuff, I commend Understanding Comics to you. If nothing else, it’s a devastatingly quick but thorough history of art, storytelling, and literature. (Hmm, Amazon tells me he has a new one I need to check out.)

now playing: Kite from the album All That You Can’t Leave Behind by U2 | Buy it

FreeCycling and philanthropy

I recovered from my hangover thanks to the passage of time, a weekend trip to the Stillaguamish River, and a conversation with the group moderators. We discussed the inherent tension of this phenomenon: someone makes up their mind to give something away and their expectations are set, either ex nihilo or from prior experience. Unfortunately, people tend to forget that the notion of getting stuff for nothing might attract a different kind of person than what you might find at Westlake Mall. Not that we’re all beggars, but one of the reasons for doing this is to reduce the impact of consumerism on the whole system: fewer car trips, thoroughly used up products or multiple uses of a product.

I recovered from my hangover thanks to the passage of time, a weekend trip to the Stillaguamish River, and a conversation with the group moderators. We discussed the inherent tension of this phenomenon: someone makes up their mind to give something away and their expectations are set, either ex nihilo or from prior experience. Unfortunately, people tend to forget that the notion of getting stuff for nothing might attract a different kind of person than what you might find at Westlake Mall. Not that we’re all beggars, but one of the reasons for doing this is to reduce the impact of consumerism on the whole system: fewer car trips, thoroughly used up products or multiple uses of a product.

Anyway, my latest adventure has revolved around getting some bikes for a school bike safety program. I put up a WANTED listing for bikes and/or parts. Lo and behold, I now have 9 bikes, complete, and we have a line on a “truckload” of more of them. They’re not the latest thing from Trek or Specialized but they are good deal better than nothing: for some, it will be their first experience with a bike.

I’ve always wanted to be a philanthropist, but I never had — or just assumed it took — loads of money. There are other ways to get there, it seems.

moderated comments

I got a couple of comment spams so I switched to moderated comments for now. Easy to do . . . I hope I can switch it off, but three in 24 hours (all from the same place) were not something I wanted to see become a pattern.

I got a couple of comment spams so I switched to moderated comments for now. Easy to do . . . I hope I can switch it off, but three in 24 hours (all from the same place) were not something I wanted to see become a pattern.

The Canadian Songbook

now playing: Helpless from the album Hymns of the 49th Parallel by k.d.

Just pulled k. d. lang’s latest from the iTunes Music Store. Oh, my. 4 stars and currently 3rd ranked in sales, it’s a wonderful addition to any collection. Having seen her once, and having a bunch of her discs, I’ve been enjoying her amazing voice for years. But this is a new approach. Simple but thoughtful arrangements of songs by modern Canadian songwriters: not the voices who inspired her in her youth on the prairie but her peers and current inspirations.

now playing: Helpless from the album Hymns of the 49th Parallel by k.d. lang | Buy It