The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach

Author: mongreldogs

  • Review: Interface

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    mongreldogs
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    Interface by Neal Stephenson and J. Frederick George (c) 1994 Bantam Dell InstaRating: 3.5 out of 5 An experimental biochip is implanted in a governor of Illinois after he suffers a massive stroke. Its stated purpose is to repair the connections in his brain, giving him access to speech and motor skills again. Unknown to…

  • Politics and Teaching

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    mongreldogs
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    So, Election Day has come and gone. I took time to talk about it in each of my classes today — and yes, I know I teach physics; more on that later — and I thought I’d ruminate some here. Full disclaimer: I am a lifelong Democrat who had been reasonably certain they’d find a…

  • *ping*

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    mongreldogs
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    Just a stay-alive post to indicate that I’m still around, though unable to write about teaching because, ironically, I am too busy teaching.

  • Running the Race (My speech given as Distinguished Faculty recipient)

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    mongreldogs
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    I have had the honor of being named as the Hun School’s first recipient of a new Distinguished Faculty Endowed Chair. One of the prices is that, today, I had to give a speech at the first-ever Convocation. Since some people have asked, and since I have an ego the size of Montana, I decided…

  • From 2001 October 7: I Want to Speak Now

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    mongreldogs
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    2001 October 7: I want to speak now. I have wanted to speak since September 11. The words would not come. The attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was, almost literally, unthinkable. And language is the substrate of thought. Scholars have often claimed that what you cannot say, you cannot think. I…

  • And the Sky Swept Clear of Angels : 9/11, 5 Years, and Lost Worlds

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    mongreldogs
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    Though exiled to the swamps of New Jersey, I am a native New Yorker; and so this date arrives every year like a punch in the gut. I no longer think of the attacks every day, but it took 18 months before that ceased. When I do think of them, I am immediately transported back…

  • The Dignity of Labor

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    mongreldogs
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    Today we celebrate Labor Day for approximately the 119th time. A teacher friend of mine calls Labor Day less a holiday than a stay of execution, especially since we begin in earnest the day after. And for years people have made the joke that we celebrate labor by taking a day off from doing any.…

  • Just pointing the way…

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    mongreldogs
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    … to a webcomic (“xkcd“) that I just stumbled across. It’s kinda odd but has the occasional math/science bent that endears it to me. (“Dr. Elizabeth? I accidentally took the Fourier transform of my cat” or “Schroedinger’s Comic“) It also has a flash of geek-inspired sentimentality (“My normal approach is useless here.“) that tugs at…

  • Uncle Pennybags a Socialist?

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    mongreldogs
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    I’m really not a fan of the me-too blog, which just strings together links to the original thoughts of other. But I saw this on Cosmic Variance and thought it was brilliant, so here we go: “Lessons from Monopoly“. It’s an interesting analysis of the socio-economic implications of the Parker Brothers game. As seems to…

  • Another chime in the death knell of the Republic

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    mongreldogs
    in

    The end of a democracy comes when participants start gaming the rules to ensure particular outcomes, rather than following the rules and allowing voters an honest chance to influence government. We have reached and, I would say, starting wading across that Rubicon. Today, another madness has been added to the sad litany of rules-gaming and…