I Speak of Dreams

Antique Technology Misunderstood

Why do these saddles look different? And what's with that last one, it looks like a cross between the two?

An anthropologist looks at contemporary saddlery and draws the wrong conclusion because he doesn't understand the history and the technological demands.

SANTI SENA, Alturas Calling

I told you about how the Rainbow Family Gathering 2004 had come to a very rural and isolated area in Northeastern California. While there was some tourism benefit, it was mostly burden to the locals. It is the habit of some of the Rainbows to stick around to do scrounge mooch off the locals don't have anything more productive to do help clean up..

Well, evidently two Rainbow Family folks decided the local grocery store* needed cleaning up--or out--or some righteous vibes or something. That private property rap is like, so restrictive. Or like Babylon or something. Or the Santi Sena wasn't around to get these dudes righteous.

Censorship Alert

I got the story from EdNews, and it seemed odd.

Censorship Alert in Texas!> July 27, 2004, 7:49AM Critics take aim at 120 library books for [adult] young readers By BETH KUHLES, Chronicle Correspondent

A new group has formed to address the selection and placement of books at the Montgomery County Memorial Library System, and it is targeting 120 works aimed at children and young adults.

It turns out that the tussle in Montgomery County has been going on for a while, starting in August 2002 over Robie Harris's books for teens on sexuality. (Here's an interview with Robie Harris--sure comes off as a radical, now doesn't she?)

The "Library Patrons of Texas, Inc.," seems to be a new iteration of " Citizen’s Task Force for Family-Friendly Libraries". Family Friendly Libraries® used to be a stand-alone, and now is part of Citizens for Community Values, which is (gasp of surprise!) affiliated with Focus on the Family (More local Citizens for Community Values sites here, http://www.liccv.org/">here here, here,

(But the Pensacola group, here seized the CCV name and is countering the fundamentalist push);

On 3-D Learning and SOI

Cheryl Allis rebuked me for not doing enough research on a trademarked test. She was right, I should have dug more. However, digging more just made me less likely to recommend the product, 3-d learning

It took me several iterations to find the SOI background materials. I do fault 3-d Learningfor not having a link to the source of the test. . If you want people to be able to check your assertions about a given test, wouldn't it be good to have links right your website to the instrument in question?

On Boundaries and Staying Clear

Let me see if I can say this straight. One person, A, used an image in a way that offended another person, B. B protested. A called him some names, and denied that the details of image were offensive. B kept his wits about him, and said no, it was the way the image was used, not the details. And then person B goes on his way to talk about other stuff that I find interesting.

So why do I care about this scenario, above? Because I need to learn how to keep on thinking clearly around people who say things like "You are WRONG to be offended!" and "HOW could you possibly think that way!". It's an ongoing project for me-- I'm kind of handicapped in that regard, I freeze up. Hence my interest in the thinking of people like Suzette Hadin Elgin*

Person B modelled the sort of behavior I want to emulate--thoughtful, compassionate, but able to set boundaries and move on.

Ah the Joys of Reading

There are wonderful people just around the corner.

I love romance novels. Really, I do. You can't talk me out of this habit either. Shame doesn't work, or intellectual one-upmanship. They're a constant source of reliable entertainment, though not always in the way the author intended.

It's all about the heaving bosoms, manly and otherwise.

You have to go read, I laughed out loud. (Thanks to Making Light, in the particles.

Students with Dyslexia: ASL as a Foreign Language?

Here in California, families contemplating college for their children regard the University of California "a-g"  requirements* as a floor, not a ceiling.   For Californians, a second language is required:

"e" Language Other than English -- 2 years required, 3 years recommended. Two years of the same language other than English. Courses should emphasize speaking and understanding, and include instruction in grammar, vocabulary, reading, composition and culture. Courses in language other than English taken in the seventh and eighth grade may be used to fulfill part of this requirement if your high school accepts them as equivalent to its own courses.

Well, what if you are so dyslexic that  subtle sound discrimination and the sound-symbol association is still a struggle?  If you have trouble quickly comprehending the sound difference between pin and pen (for example), a second language is going to be difficult to pick up.   What do you do then?   

Vocabulary Enlargement

My daughter is in high school. In the US, kids who are planning to go on to college put a lot of effort into the acquisition and mangement of a large vocabulary*  Thanks to JenEx**, I found a site I enjoy:  Vocabula

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*I'm not saying they USE the vocab, but they are tested on it.  Mo'fo' not included.

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**Also a good book referrer AND future adoptive mom.  Go Jen!!

How to Remember Where You Put Things

I started this blog partially as a way to help me remember* ideas and connections and interesting things.

I stopped by Doc Searles who had two provocative things:

Ignorant Folk Rebuked

Ed Brayton writes a magisterial post refuting the claims of Robert Meyer, who thinks he knows enough about Steven J. Gould's thought and evolutionary theory in general to disparage them.

Today's target is one Robert Meyer, who wrote this train wreck of an article, Were We Fooled by Stephen J. Gould?, on a site called intellectualconservative.com. If this article represents what they consider to be intellectual, it's time to redefine the term. It's one of those extraordinarily common articles where someone who clearly knows nothing whatsoever about evolutionary theory nonetheless feels qualified to spout off about it, combining smugness with ignorance along the way. In it, Meyer goes for the two oldest and most often refuted lies about Gould. They were in fact refuted by Gould himself, as we shall see. But Meyer, either out of ignorance or utter dishonesty (take your pick), repeats them nonetheless.

I'm grateful to know how to find people like Ed, who can say what I want to say much more clearly, forcefully, and incisively than I can.