Creativity Central

There is a well-spring of creativity right here in West Ashley in the form of Ashley River Creative Arts Elementary School.  This school was the first Creative Arts Magnate School established in South Carolina in 1984.  They are currently half way through a remodel to better serve the community’s children.  Principal Martha “Jayne” Ellicott has had to adapt to the ever changing surroundings.  This year they moved from the old part of the school into the newly constructed portion.  After they moved, the old part was torn down and the rest of the new building is currently under construction.  They are not waiting for things to be done, though. more »

Faith, the Bible and God-Part 1

I have been at turns an atheist and an agnostic and I am now a Christian, though as you will see, some of my views do not mirror the mainstream Christian doctrine.  But that is one of the things you will find over the next few posts:  Christians are not a monolithic group of people.  Given the title, and the fertile ground this implies for ideas, I will be breaking my thoughts up into a variety of posts.  I thought it important that I start with one of the biggest contentions between a wide variety of people, creationism.  This one topic sets people off against one another, Christian and non, educators, parents and teachers, but there are even, as we shall see, larger issues at stake, issues that I think many people are not paying attention to. more »

Freedom…

Freedom is either for something or from something, freedom of speech, for example, or freedom from religious persecution.  Freedom is often touted as the greatest advantage that the United States has over many other countries in the world.  While we do submit to an ever growing number of laws and codes, there are certain things that are held as inalienable.  Even though I doubt many Americans could recite all the amendments to the Constitution (myself included) we do have a general idea of what we they are. more »

The Death of Romance

No, I am not talking about Sanford again.  Nor am I talking about flowers and candle-lit dinners.  What I am talking about is the state of being Romantic.  A few examples:  Taking a steamship to Europe is romantic, flying is not; receiving a telegram is romantic, an email is not; tall ships are romantic, motor boats are not.  Are you beginning to get the picture? more »

SC Educational Television-Fifty Good Years

South Carolina Educational Television is celebrating fifty years of broadcasting this year, and I would like to acknowledge publically the excellent work they do bringing the very best programming available on television into our homes.  From locally produced documentaries to those that bring us the world, ETV is the most useful tool to opening your mind to what is going on in the world.  There are currently five TV stations in the ETV network that produce shows as far ranging as the quirky Making It Grow to the informative The Big Picture.  In addition to the programs ETV produces, they also bring us shows from around the globe via PBS. more »

The Year of Nothing

Obama is calling for more bipartisanship.  Meanwhile Nancy Pelosi is playing hockey in the House of Representatives, body checking the Republicans out of every legislative play there is.  Much the same is going on in the Senate.  But now that the Democrats have lost their filibuster-proof majority, what is going to happen this year concerning all those issues the rest of us would like to see some action on-Healthcare, financial regulation reform, education.  More than likely, we will see very little action out of Washington. more »

The Fate of Libraries?

It is strange to note that Carnegie, who built so many libraries, never bought a book for a single one, nor paid for anyone to work in any of them.  Populating the libraries with both books and librarians, were left up to the municipalities in which they were built.  Carnegie, anything but a social progressive, was only concerned with erecting marble and granite edifices upon which he could see his name.  It may be that the building long outlive the use for which they were built. more »

Yemen as Paradigm

The first time Yemen popped up on the radar screen for many was the Christmas day bomb attempt when Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab tried to set his underwear on fire while on a plane to Detroit.  When I speak of Yemen being a pattern, it is not necessarily for the exportation of terrorists, though that may be one side effect.

One way or another we are going to get off of oil as our main energy source.  Someone may discover a new simple green technology that takes the world by storm (though this is the least likely).  It could be that we slowly wean ourselves off of oil while switching to different sources.  Last, at some point or another, the oil will simply run out.  When there isn’t any more to drill, we’ll have to find something else. more »

Education-The Answer to all Problems

Here I am talking about education again.  When you get down to it, every problem there is can be solved by education.  Poverty, terrorism, new energy sources, all of these and all the other problems in the world can be solved by education.  Does this mean it’s easy?  Not at all.  It is very difficult to change the course of a culture, to make parents understand that their children’s education is the most important thing there is; not just pay it lip service, but to actually get them to know and work towards their children’s education.  That’s here in America where children’s attendance at school is (supposedly) mandatory; imagine the places where the parents have to pay for school, or where there are no schools.  Unfortunately, we have to worry about our own problems. more »

Reading or Technology-Bookfuturism

I posted the following on Bookfuturism.com but wanted to put it up here as well.   Bookfuturism is a site run by Timothy Carmody and is inhabited by those who are interested in the reading, book, tech, and publishing worlds.  The goal is to establish a dialog about the future of the book and publishing industries.  Stop by and wander around.  You are sure to find something to pique your interest.