History and Patriotism

I thought I had posted this one in a timely manner but better late than never.

Memorial Day Weekend is one that many people look forward to as the official beginning of summer.  In addition, it is time to remember all those who have died in military service defending this country.  But today, Friday the twenty-eighth of May is another anniversary.  I’ll get to that in a moment.

First let me ask you a question:  what does it mean to be a patriot?  What is the difference between nationalism and patriotism?  All these car lots with American flags flying from their cars, does that mean they are patriotic, does it mean the people who buy them are?  What about the man putting up a flag against the HOA covenant?  With cookouts and beach-going, how many will truly take time this weekend to remember those who have died in the past.  But not just for the defense of the country.  Others have been killed by our government because it was considered in the best interest for the country. more »

What Good are Computers?

Even the most sophisticated super computer, at its very heart, is simply a calculator.  With all the videos, music and graphics that run across our screens, the only thing that the CPU looks at are ones and zeros—that’s it, nothing else.  The CPU then moves these binary strings of numbers around to different areas of control throughout the computer, producing everything we see and hear.

In addition, computers can only do what they are programmed to do.  If you were to look around, you could find software that could do just about anything you wanted.  Running simulations, meteorological, medical, astronomical or mechanical is one of the computer’s fortes.  Add to this the interweb and we have more information at our fingertips than at any other time in history.  In a matter of seconds I can find out about rainfall in Tajikistan or the number of high school graduates who don’t know who the first president is.  Anything you want to find out is at your fingertips. more »

What Kind of Education Do You Want?

What do you want from education?  What should be taught in school, how should it be taught?  It seems that there is a gold standard of education somewhere out there but we never really get any closer.  Do we know if we are getting farther away?  This is becoming an ever-more complicated world and to survive, no to live the way one should be able to live students have to learn more and more as time goes by. more »

The Only Two Tips You Will Ever Need For Better Writing

Although this advice would certainly work for writing any kind of fiction, or perhaps even creative non-fiction, it is aimed at the literary style of writing.  Although there are only two rules to becoming a better writer, they are somewhat involved so I will try to be both thorough and succinct.

#1-Read the best books you can get your hands on.

Yes, this does mean the classics, but so many others as well.  Seek out the best writers from South America, Europe, Africa and Asia.  Look beyond the walls of English Literature.  See this for a small list of books you may want to look up.  The main reason I read so much literary criticism isn’t to see what people think of such and such a writer or the expounding of theories, but to find new books I have never heard of before.  If you truly can’t stomach reading criticism, then go to the library and look at the works referenced sections of these books.  Reading, though, is where this tip gets involved. more »

Is Literary Fiction a Genre?

Earlier this week I was at a publisher’s website and they said they published the best literary fiction available today.  I looked through some of their titles and a few did seem intriguing.  I then went to their submissions page to see what hoops an author had to jump through and I saw the line “we do not accept genre fiction.”  This got me to thinking about classifications and writing styles, subject matter and scope.  Surely we who read a great deal know exactly what they mean by genre, but how many genres are there?  These pigeon holes can range from the standard romance to science fiction, westerns to fantasy, detective to historical fiction.  But if we are using these terms as a classification device, then would not literary fiction also be a genre? 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 »

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 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 »

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.