I am so thrilled! One of my students and his colleague put this together for a Memphis tourism contest... I helped him *a little* pointing him in the direction for some background material and research... and this is the result of their combined efforts.
I am just... thrilled! Go! Watch! It's only 3 minutes long!
I am debating the ethics of something.
I have come into the possession of what purports to be Sarah Palin's high school report card from January 1982. It's circulating the internet, though I haven't seen it on any of my usual websites.
I would link to it in a heartbeat... but... do I post it here?
I just don't know.
She's made such a mockery of things, and claims such superior knowledge... and yet, I can show that she is really a very poor student with a very poor record. If this is what it purports to be.
What should I do? I have no problems taking some flak... but is it ethical?
UPDATE: This solves the problem for me: Assignment Desk, and Daily Kos
I've attended or taught eight classes, had five doctor or vet appointments, and five other appointments this week... it's been insane. It may sound like no biggie to some of you, but some of these appointments were three hours long - and the majority were between an hour and a half and two hours. Not counting travel time.
Lots to study. Am writing a biography of Rufus King for one class, mainly from primary sources, and doing dissertation research... and lots of work for the stats class. And it's a short week this week. Further, I am on three committees, and two of them met this week... and I filled in on another on Friday pending elections for someone to fill the spot. It's just been crazy. Next week's not much better - all my time keeps getting filled, and not with homework. I've got to call a stop to it. Now.
And, I was up until six this morning working on readying my new laptop for use today - I needed to be up and running first thing today since I have SO MUCH to get done today and tomorrow. Short night's sleep. But I got everything transferred from the old laptop to the new one just fine and am pretty well ready to back up everything to the backup drive and get the old laptop ready for Crash. But not today.
Hobbes-kitty had a low blood sugar ep yesterday - had to get Karo syrup on his paw for him to lick to stop him from shaking so much and reduce his insulin intake. He's fine now, but we watch him closely. We've finally found a variety of moist food he likes (thank goodness) and he mioauws when he wants food, so that helps, too. The flip side of this? Jen the greyhound is terribly, terribly jealous of all the attention his arch-enemy has been getting and is acting out with her toilet habits. If it's not one thing! Then, we had a trauma taking Hobbes' blood sugar last night... took TWELVE TRIES. His pads just don't want to bleed for us... and I think the styluses (stylii?) we have are too thin or not long enough - we just couldn't get a good sample. Need to ask the vet what she uses. However, the really heartbreaking part is that Hobbes was so terribly patient - just let us poke away at him without protest (unlike the hissing, spitting, clawing, biting hellion he is over at the clinic). And then when we let him go, he purred and rubbed up against us. All was forgiven. ::heart breaks:: Sweet boy. Oh, and his blood sugar was 140 after all that. Not the 364 at the clinic the day before. ::phew::
Made homemade from scratch split pea soup last night. Just had a hankering for it - and have ever since Crash bought the spiral smoked ham a couple months ago. It's been sitting in the freezer since then, just staring at me, and a couple weeks ago we glazed it and cut it up into manageble pieces, and froze it again. I pulled down three bage of it, including the hock, a couple of days ago and made a gallon and a half of soup last night. It's divine. I *love* split pea soup, even in the summertime. Yum.
There's not much else going on... will be reading until late into the night tonight - need to pick up an obscure book from the university library tonight, and then will really be off to the races. So much to do. And truly - so little time to do it.
The whole mess in our city - mayoral politics, city schools, city council, police department - all of it, is making me quite cranky again, and while I am quite willing -and able - to fight the good fight (and will continue to do so here) it's well, amusing and sad, to find that some really creepy people are stalking me and my specific posts about the police department. All I can say to those people is to get a life. It is my right and duty as a citizen to speak out against moral injustitces - and real, concrete problems - in our government, and you're not going to shut me up.
In other news, tomorrow Crash and I are playing in church - we've chosen a bunch of nice pieces for violin and piano, and will (I hope) do well for our visiting pulpit guest, Connie Barlow. I haven't played piano in ages, and while it comes back pretty easily, I second guess myself... but Crash is so easy to play for, and we have such a good connection that it is a gentle and easy thing to fall back into it. As for Connie Barlow, I am really looking forward to hearing what she has to say. She and her husband, Rev Michael Dowd, are both speaking at UU churches in town tomorrow - he at Church of the River, and she at our church - and it should be an exciting time. Rev Dowd will be speaking at our church on Monday night at 7 as well.
Crash is not feeling well today. I think it has to do with lifting out a moldy old air conditioner to have it cleaned and refurbished at his folks' house yesterday; he's stuffy and coughing and his back hurts. Poor guy. And this his last full week of vacation.
Went to the doc yesterday and found that, officially, I have lost 20 pounds since February, and 18 of them since late May. Hmmm. Tried on a bunch of clothes today that I have been holding onto for ages because I just couldn't bear to part with them, but they were much, much to small... and viola! They fit! I am sending a pile of my old clothes to a friend of mine - some of them are just lovely - and some of them I am going to alter before school starts. Maybe. They pretty much look ok as loose, swirly things (they're mainly dresses) and I can wear them on teaching days. It's nice to be losing the weight, but dang... I wish I had *some* appetite... this thing of only wanting two cartons of chocolate soy milk during the day has got to stop; I need more nutrition than that. Dinners are a struggle to get down, and last night I pretty much resorted to more soy milk and a vitamin - nausea was too intense. Doc is working with me to help get more food down, and I am to report back to him in a month - sooner if this doesn't wane some in the next week or two.
Looking forward to school starting next month - this is the first time I have been excited about school starting in a while; last year and last semester I was filled with trepidation. Not so this year - at least not yet. I am feeling much more confident in my teaching and in my research and things are going much, much better at this point in my career.
Well, I am off to peruse the CA and other news outlets (I ::heart:: Google News) to see what's going on this weekend in city government and various other stupidity around town; breaking news doesn't stop in this county just because it's the weekend. You may see me back here in relatively short order. What a state of affairs we have here. ::shaking head::
Interesting twist today.
Ends up that a local - and very controversial talk show host - Thaddeus Matthews - has filed suit in Chancery Court to unseal the Godwin-Blogger case. Apparently, Matthews believes - with some merit - that the police department is trying to get to his unnamed sources in the police department who have been supplying HIM with confidential whistleblower information which is protected under the First Amendment and Tennessee's Shield Law.
Meanwhile, yesterday, Hizzoner Mayor Herenton stated that this whole thing was "not about whistleblowers" and that there are "serious issues" behind the case. Yeah. Right.
As the Editor said in today's Commercial Appeal it would be "nice to think that this is not about vindictiveness" but the appearance of it does not make it so. It *is* a "ham-fisted pusuit of bloggers' identity ... [and] an improper use of public resources."
Interesting thing is, I've gone back through my stats and referrers from the past couple of days... and even I have been hit by someone looking for my specific ISP and post ID. Go for it. I have never hidden my derision about this city's corruption behind a cloak of anonymity - and I have been honest in my hits. They're barking up the wrong tree if they think I've got anything to say beyond what is here.
Further, I *know* I was the third listing on Google for most of the day yesterday if you searched for "memphis police department blog". I looked based on a referrer. If they see that as a threat, well, as the Knoxville News Sentinel says, "This one is shaping up to be the online version of smashing down the wrong door."
Get over it, Godwin - and Herenton - and whomever else is so thinskinned that you can't take some honest heat. There's corruption in high places in this town and it HAS to go if we are ever to rise above the spot we're in. And if that means you have to go, too, well, that's a problem of your own making, now, isn't it?
Check out this article about the Memphis Police Department's attempt to crack down on a website that is critical of the police director, MPD policies and staff. The City has actually joined in on this and filed suit to find out who the anonymous blogger is behind the site, which, while admittedly edgy, does not use data other than what is available through anything but the public record or the rumor mill in the MPD. (the blogger's site can be found here). Can anyone say First Amendment?? Just because Larry Godwin doesn't like what is being said about him and about his force does not mean that he can file suit to shut down a website which is saying things that are legal (though sometimes in bad taste... the Asshole of the Month thing is a little borderline, but I see where it's coming from).
Meanwhile, the main blogger, who posts under the amusing name Dirk Diggler, has retained an attorney, Paul Levy, who is part of a Washington DC-area group called Public Citizen Litigation Group, and he is seeking to quash the attempts by the MPD to obtain the name(s) of the bloggers - and to find the legal basis for the Director Godwin's witchhunt. (read more here and another good one here at the Memphis Flyer)
This is nothing more than another example of how the top administration in this city has collectively gone plumb out of its cotton-pickin' mind. Power plays by Hizzoner the Mayor Willie Herenton over the Superintendency of the School Board, the City Council's petulant move to cut funding for the City Schools, the ongoing fraud investigations (and convictions) within upper echelons, and now this... it really makes me wonder what on earth they think they are doing up there in their marble towers. They aren't living in the real world, and they see threats where there aren't any.
And now they are attempting to shut down a vital section of the internet simply because they can't take the heat from some anonymous blogger who believes a little honesty in public service is a good thing. Larry, you've really gone over the top... I believe our police force - the men and women who patrol our neighborhood - are decent, honest people; I have met many, many of them by stopping them on my street and chatting for a moment while they are on patrol. They are friendly, helpful and kind when needed... and they do their job well in an area where solid policing is a necessity. But I just don't know about the upper echelons. Some of the people I have worked with - Sgts, Lieuts... even a Captain or two - have been overwhelmingly responsive to the needs of the community. But there are clearly some bad eggs... and I am now wondering seriously if that bad policing doesn't start with the top. Certainly this boneheaded move does not speak well of the good judgement we expect from officers... and bespeaks of vendettas and personal feelings getting in the way of being bigger and better than the words on the screen.
This smells like a rat... and bloggers everywhere should be paying close attention to what is happening here in Memphis. Such an unlikely venue... yet the repercussions of the decisions that come out of this case could have a chilling effect on all of us.
I'll try to update as often as I can about it... but in the meantime, please make sure to be vigilant, too. This is nothing to sneeze at. Larry Godwin and the City of Memphis are dead serious in this threat - and we should be dead serious about opposing it.
What a chilling state of affairs for us all.
ADDENDUM: Thanks, Ms. Theologian, for pointing out this website: cyberSLAPP, which deals with frivolous suits of this type that threaten to chill the internet's basis in free speech and the right to anonymity.
Oh, yes... we *definitely* are displeased!!
Not sure how *this* choice picture escaped the Palace walls, but this ... this one is a goodie. ::giggle::
And in my reality, it is only the Queen who is displeased at the moment; I am doing rather well, and am ignoring tummy troubles to concentrate on homework and just *being* with Crash. Tomorrow, he is spending the day with his dad, so I will have plenty of time to finish up the reading and the paper for Tuesday.
We have gone from a beautiful sunny morning to a mostly-overcast afternoon... probably more rain, doggone it. Those grass seeds are probably going to rot in place. Grrr!
Crash has become addicted to the "random song" feature on Songfacts and spends hours on end flipping through them. Thought I would pass the link along to y'all so you can irritate your spouses, too. ::grin::
Woke up this morning to Crash telling me my tummy was being exceedingly loud... and he wanted to know if I needed anything. I hadn't heard anything, but decided to stay home just in case it had an explosion in mind and so I could snag a little more zzzzzs. BUT, I didn't get much sleep anyway; the next door flipper decided to start work at 10 a.m. Ahh well... up and reading isn't all bad.
Still laughing at the funny picture. Formidable old bat, she is.
Well, I really need to get back to it. I have nothing profound to say and I am just sitting here staring at the screen (and giggling at the picture... it's all about the picture right now)... Maybe later I will have more to relate, but right now? Bupkiss.
Is this working as a link for anyone? Another Handmaid's Tale I can't tell from here, and until someone can tell me from the readership if this is working, I am a bit stymied and don't want to try to keep using the functionality if it's not, well, functional.
For tech support: the http:// header keeps repeating itself in the URL section of the link dialogue box that pops up whenever I C&P my URL, and further, the link icon won't even activate if there are em-dashes, semicolons or other punctuation marks between words I have highlighted for inclusion for the title of the new link.
For everyone else: Typepad is working to resolve the problem - and they are incredibly responsive - so I know this won't last long as an issue... but in the meantime, it's a holiday weekend and I am going a little nuts.
I've got to say that I do like the behind-the-scenes changes 6A has made... it's just a little tough getting used to a new composition screen on-the-fly. ::grin:: I'll get there.
You can bet I will be thinking *very* carefully about the weather as we head across the prairies and plains this summer... looking out for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes (found this spectacular image at www.KSN.com, btw). Speaking of amazing tornado shots, check this from the Weather Channel: Yikes! (I'm having some problems with Typepad's linking service on the Compose Post page, which is why you are getting full URLs at times. It's intermittently working, and we hope to be up and fully functional soon... bear with me!).
Today we had a really amazing storm - nothing like what they have been seeing on the Plains, but lots of thunder and lots of heavy rain and a REALLY DARK HOUSE at 3:30 in the afternoon ... SPOOKY!... I am hoping it didn't wash out ALL of our grass seed from two days ago; the seed is now in clumps in puddles, puddles which are quickly absorbing back into the ground. I tried to get out there with a rake, but things are just too wet. We've pretty well decided to see if this will sprout, and then if it does, to overseed again at midsummer to catch any bare spots. I think it's the best we can hope for at this point.
Still plugging away on homework... interesting books, but it's a holiday weekend and I wish that I would have gotten this done earlier this week. If wishes were dollars...
Been having major problems with the DSL modem... ordered a new one yesterday from AT&T high speed services, so we should be cooking with a much better, much faster connection this time next week. Our current modem is ... hmmm... five years old and seems to be giving up the ghost. We're going with a modem/wireless gateway with wireless-n capability. We'll see how this works; I hate getting away from my Linksys router - I've been really loyal to Linksys and their magnificently reliable equipment. Like I said, we'll see.
SO MUCH TO DO before the 4th... and so much to do before the 12th/13th... everything is just smooshed together and it is hard to separate out what needs doing now, what needs doing this week, and what must be accomplished next week... Lists are my friends.
Well, I am going to scoot and see how much reading I can fly through tonight. I'm well into one of the books, and about a quarter of the way through the second one. I think I need to write them up separately, but am pondering it carefully... there are some commonalities, but they may be too different to pull them together in one paper. The last thing I want to do is write something contrived for a professor I really like... and besides - when I write a good paper the discussions end up being much better and more interesting, so I have extra incentive to put a lot more effort into the front end. Means a lot of work this weekend... which means flying through a lot of pages tonight and tomorrow and synthesizing them tomorrow night.
Have a good one!
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My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Sister Neutron Bomb of Patience.
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