Rich and Strange Aeons

the collapse of US schooling

2022-09-07T02:11:26Z

Longish piece, with lots of links. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/teacher-shortage-quit-public-schools_n_630e5a85e4b0dc23bbec8261

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a few long links

2020-07-31T04:23:47Z

On phonics vs. cueing in teaching kids to read. Fairly long. I find it baffling that alteratives to phonics were ever seriously considered. What do people think the alphabet is for? Mapping letters to sounds in a composable way is the entire point!
https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2019/08/22/whats-wrong-how-schools-teach-reading

Old urbanism vs. sprawl in Bellevue Kentucky. Not too long. Makes the point that old walkable mixed use neighborhoods aren't just nice, they're more economically efficient -- more tax value, less infrastructure expense.
https://granolashotgun.com/2015/08/31/middle-of-the-road-kentucky/

Two pieces by the same guy on covid-19 aerial transmission and hygiene theater. People should worry less about sterilizing surfaces and more about not breathing each other's air.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/07/why-arent-we-talking-more-about-airborne-transmission/614737/
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/scourge-hygiene-theater/614599/

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Charter school scams

2015-05-27T05:42:09Z

Charter school scams: cut funding to public schools, then replace them for "underperformance" with charters that hide or cook their books.

http://www.alternet.org/education/great-charter-school-rip-finally-truth-catches-education-reform-phonies

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Nice personal essay on homeschooling

2013-11-18T00:42:34Z

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/11/paris-was-my-middle-school-classroom/281489/

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Math talent vs. effort

2013-10-28T20:15:21Z

http://qz.com/139453/theres-one-key-difference-between-kids-who-excel-at-math-and-those-who-dont/

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Why college?

2013-03-27T12:32:54Z

Yglesias says college lectures started before the printing press, when books were expensive and being lectured at made sense. Why did lectures survive the printing press? Granted, there's often areas where key knowledge is mostly in people's heads, especially in advanced or in hands-on fields. But we use "some guy hired for his research ability drones on" for settled academic fields, too. He notes that learning calculus in school is socially accepted, while teaching it to yourself from a workbook is 'weird.'

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/03/26/books_and_moocs_lots_of_ways_to_learn.html
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/02/27/education_signaling_learning_and_credentials.html

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links: planets, gays, labor, JPL, etc.

2012-10-17T04:50:02Z

Earth-sized planet found around Alpha Centauri B. With a three-day orbital period, so kind of hot.
http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=25109

"Gay like me"; evangelical pretends to be gay for a year, discovers the closet sucks
http://freethoughtblogs.com/singham/2012/10/15/when-a-christian-fundamentalist-pretends-to-be-gay/

Tycoon opts for unilateral geo-engineering
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/oct/15/pacific-iron-fertilisation-geoengineering
Side note: AIUI, iron fertilization hasn't done much in past experiments. I marvel that no one's suggested it simply to boost fisheries: more algae -> more plankton -> more fish. The open oceans are nutrient deserts, AIUI.

Online "bullying" by liberals
http://offbeatempire.com/2012/10/liberal-bullying

People objected to Uzbekistan forcing children to pick cotton. The government listened; now they're forcing asthmatic doctors and nurses to pick it instead.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19931639
Mysterious kidney disease is killing sugar cane workers. Leading hypothesies are "handling nasty chemicals" and "they're working themselves to death in the heat". http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/14/kidney-disease-killing-sugar-cane-workers-central-america
Sugar, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, high fructose corn syrup...

I'm sad this never passed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Domain_Enhancement_Act

Ben Franklin, futurist: http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/2012-October/074565.html

1998 article on high levels of violence in the South: http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/26/weekinreview/ideas-trends-southern-curse-why-america-s-murder-rate-is-so-high.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

The second Cuban missile crisis: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19930260

Atheist science-snark vs. religion: http://i.imgur.com/r3RDQ.png

JPL planetary surfaces infographic: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/infographics/infographic.view.php?id=10795
Rovers; http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/infographics/infographic.view.php?id=10889
Stellar evolution: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/infographics/infographic.view.php?id=10737
There's lots more.

The changing economics of professional chess: http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/10/09/wages_and_technological_change_in_chess.html

The fall of California's colleges, or the Mississippification of CA: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/NJ06Dj01.html

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