The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach

Author: mongreldogs

  • Unintentionally ironic; unintentionally chilling

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    mongreldogs
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    During this morning (Wed Jan 3)’s Morning Edition on NPR, they ran a story on the detention of Jose Padilla. Quite without intending to, the story bespoke the parlous times and the threat to our Republic.

  • Congress, the Koran, and Oaths

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    mongreldogs
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    So for about a month there’s been a tempest-in-a-teapot “raging” over the decision by newly elected Democratic Representative Keith Ellison to use a Koran in his private swearing-in ceremony. Some loudmouths, including Rep. Virgil Goode, have decried this and insisted that Mr. Ellison use the same traditional book as all previous representatives, to wit, the…

  • Late Night Blogging

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    mongreldogs
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    So it’s about 1:15 AM local time and here I am sitting at my computer starting a blog entry. A sure sign I’m becoming addicted? Probably not. It’s just one of those nights when sleep seems determined to stay away and, since once of my New Year’s objectives is to write more, this outlet seems…

  • The Library’s the Thing

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    mongreldogs
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    OK, I’m admittedly behind the time on this whole “social networking” thing. Back in my day, you used computers to avoid interacting with people, gosh darn it! And you liked it! But today I finally stumbled across one of these sites that might actually entice me into being (Internet) social: LibraryThing, a site where you…

  • Happy New Year 2007

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    mongreldogs
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    Yeah, it’s lame to post just a “Happy New Year” message. But it’s after midnight and I don’t feel like writing much more, so there. 🙂

  • The Holy Grail in Teaching

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    mongreldogs
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    The Holy Grail, in teaching, would be the development of an assessment tool that has the following properties: It accurately reflects the actual learning that has occured. It cannot be spoofed by students who don’t learn/prepare/read etc. It is fair. It is easy to grade. It is, in like manner, easy to administer.

  • Review: Eragon

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    mongreldogs
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    Eragon (the movie) fantasy/adventure Cast details, etc., are in the IMDb entry. InstaRating: 2 out of 5 Having little else to do while school is out, I decided to see Eragon, this season’s epic high fantasy. I went with some trepidation, as the commercials made it seem overwhelmingly, well, cheesy. In hindsight, I had no…

  • Makeover for 2007

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    mongreldogs
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    Yesterday I spent more time than really justified in playing around with the look-and-feel of The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach. It began innocently enough: I finally reached my breaking point on the comment spam, receiving two blocks of 48 spams within an hour. (And yes, they came in discrete quanta of 48. Odd.) Considering the…

  • Saddan is Dead: Can We Go Home Now?

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    mongreldogs
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    Today, Iraqui President and dictator Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging after a conviction for atrocities committed in his name. Before going any further, let me clarify something so willfully obscured by some commentators on the right: Saddam Hussein was a Very Bad Man. He did terrible things and — while I am myself still…

  • Death and The Pardon

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    mongreldogs
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    It was announced yesterday (2006 Dec 27) that Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States, passed away at the age of 93. I will admit that I’ve always had a soft spot for the Ford presidency, derided in popular culture as one of the least effective in history. I generally root for the underdog,…