zenpundit.com

I have a decent cell phone that doesn’t involve a switchboard operator named Mabel. Nice to be connected now everywhere.

It’s late, so I’ll do this quickly:

Top Billing! Art Hutchinson – Preparing One’s Mind to See

Great post by Art on perception and our mental constructs through which we filter reality. Many points of interest to consider in light of Boyd’s OODA Loop. Things in which Dr. Chet and Dan of tdaxp would be interested

Insurgency Research Group – Militias, Tribes and Insurgents: The Challenge of Political Reintegration in Iraq

Hidden Unities – “If You’re An American… You’re An American”

Chicago Boyz ( David Foster) – Obamian Acolytes vs Joe the Plumber

A wide-ranging debate over history and the limits of free speech at Progressive Historians

CTLab (Michael Innes) – Readings of Note

MountainRunner – Arming for the Second War of Ideas: the Department of Global Affairs

SWJ Blog – Dave’s rant along with Mediating Between Crusaders and Conservatives

That’s it…because I’m tired and have to get up in five hours.

Spent much of the day, laboring on Sliderocket for a major presentation at work. Have to say, I think it blows Powerpoint all to hell in terms of visual quality. I was a private Beta user but now it’s public, so if you do a lot of slides, check it out. Not sure if Sliderocket is compatible yet with Web 2.0 slideware platforms like Slideshare but as this presentation will be proprietary, I do not care.

“He was basileus who became tyrannos….” 

Via Ian , here is a link to eminent classicist and historian Donald Kagan’s introductory course to Ancient Greek History at Open Yale courses. Right now I’m listening to a lecture where Kagan is distinguishing between the Greek views of monarchy and tyranny, something I happen to be teaching my own students via the writings of Polybius.

A hundred plus years ago, when most Americans did not finish their elemntary school education, much less go on to high school, philanthropists like Andrew Carnegie liked to build public libraries because they were the university of the poor man. Today when the overwhelming percentage of Americans graduate high school, however marginal the actual competence of the grads might be and a significant plurality have at least some college, platforms like Yale Open courses and Stanford iTunes let anyone with an internet connection access the best education available on mainstream subjects on their own time, their own pace and for free.

 A state of affairs that could be leveraged fairly easily to systemically enrich other levels of education, public and private.

The venerable Chicago Tribune is crossdressing as some kind tabloid/Britney Spearsish online coloring book? WTF?

What jackass corporate suit thought that the Tribune looking more childish than the Sun-Times was a good move ? You know it’s an embarrassment when the Trib’s own website doesn’t even try  to emulate the garish style of the dead tree version.