Wednesday, January 09, 2008

...what is really going on here...


David Geoffrey Smith
International Forum on Education and Society,
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

On Enfraudening the Public Sphere, the Futility of Empire and the Future of Knowledge after 'America'

ABSTRACT This article examines various ways the current Bush Administration in the USA is conducting an information war to mask its larger imperial aims. The implications of this for public education and for the meaning of public knowledge are explored, particularly through Enrique Dussel's analysis of Euro-American modernity. The 'myth' of modernity has two faces, the surface face of 'emancipative reason' and the historically silenced underside face of 'sacrificial reason.' Understanding the continuity between these is foundational for any new global ethic, and for the epistemic conditions of future human knowing.

Read this article, here...


....hmmmm...


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Monday, January 07, 2008

...test your word skills, feed the hungry...

Here is an interesting way to make a difference where everyone can participate.

Play a word game and get a right answer... rice will be donated to the hungry!

This novel approach to leveraging the power of the internet is organized by the World Food Program of the United Nations. You can feed the hungry beginning now.

Just click here --> http://freerice.com or on the logo above!


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...some quotes from the press:

“What if just knowing what a word meant could help feed hungry people around the world? Well, at FreeRice it does . . . the totals have grown exponentially.”

- The Washington Post

“Web game provides rice for hungry . . . FreeRice went online in early October and has now raised 1 billion grains of rice [by November 9].”

- BBC News

“Addictive, yes. But . . . each correct answer results in the donation of rice to help feed the hungry around the globe. Perhaps that qualifies the game as a good addiction . . . one with redeeming qualities, something that’s, oh, didactic and edifying.”

- Kansas City Star

“People from all walks of life and from around the globe have written in to express their appreciation for the game . . . Secretaries admit to playing it during boring business meetings.”

- Christian Science Monitor

“Every grain of rice is essential in the fight against hunger . . . FreeRice really hits home how the Web can be harnessed to raise awareness and funds for the world’s number one emergency.”

- UN World Food Program

“A teacher of fourth and fifth graders on the Yurok Indian reservation in Klamath, CA, . . . emailed the WFP. ‘My students absolutely LOVE the free rice site. Almost daily they earn several thousand grains of rice!’ she wrote. ‘You cannot imagine the joy in my heart when I look out and see 25 kids doing vocabulary work and enjoying it.’”

- School Library Journal

“The Web site offers a greater gift, the gift of awareness about world hunger.”

- NPR National Public Radio

Freerice.com is an international, viral sensation. Folks from Thailand to Germany and India are just as enthusiastic . . . improving thousands of lives, all with a simple, collective, click of a mouse.”

- CBS Evening News



...please, help the hungry...

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Thursday, January 03, 2008

Blogger Detained in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi authorities have detained a popular blogger for violating the kingdom's laws, a senior Interior Ministry official said Tuesday. It was the first known arrest of a Saudi online critic.

...from blog of Fouad Ahmed al-Farhan, a leading Saudi blogger who has been held without charge since early December 2007:"We believe al-Farhan is being held for comments published on his Web site, Alfarhan.org. On December 10, Saudi security agents detained al-Farhan at the Jeddah office of the IT company he owns. Security agents later visited his home and confiscated his laptop."

read more | digg story

Saudi Arabia is one of U.S. most significant allies in the middle east.



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Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Problems at polls permeate U.S. political process

From Florida in 2000 to Ohio in 2004 and Louisiana in 2007, problems at the polls permeate American politics. Some are caused by technology, others by dirty tricks, others by human error. Many are caused by voter registration systems that are being computerized but remain dependent on the actions of applicants, bureaucrats, even postal workers.

read more | digg story





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