Archive for March, 2007

Sometimes It Just Comes Down to Money

Posted March 31, 2007 By Dave Thomer

Chris Lehmann at Practical Theory recently wrote a post titled “School 0.5,” about the frustration he feels when he realizes that Philadelphia school just don’t have the resources to implement the technology-driven reforms that he and other education bloggers and thinkers refer to as School 2.0. He also has a follow-up post where he discusses […]

Corrected Info on Fattah

Posted March 30, 2007 By Dave Thomer

Please note an update to Wednesday night’s post on the Philadelphia mayoral election aand Chaka Fattah’s decision not to release his tax returns. Thursday’s Inquirer reports that there is, in fact, a confidentiality agreement that allows NBC10 to terminate Renee Chenault-Fattah’s contract if there is a breach of confidentiality. The Inquirer says that Chenault-Fattah provided […]

Philosophy Lost in USA Today

Posted March 29, 2007 By Dave Thomer

I’m just going to throw up a link to an article in yesterday’s USA Today discussing Lost’s use of philosophical figures as namesakes for many of its characters. I’m quoted a couple of times in the article, but the real interesting discussion is probably in the comments thread. (There goes the online edition beating the […]

The Marriage of Politics and Media

Posted March 28, 2007 By Dave Thomer

I find it a little disconcerting that I’ve picked a preferred 2008 presidential candidate before a preferred 2007 mayoral candidate. There is something about everyone in the running that rubs me the wrong way. That may say something about my mood right now. It might even say something good about the crop of candidates, in […]

Feeling Brighter

Posted March 27, 2007 By Dave Thomer

I walked home from physical therapy, after dark, in a short-sleeved shirt, and felt fine. Granted, it’ll probably be about 15 degrees cooler tomorrow, but I’ve been amazed at how much better I’ve felt the last few weeks, now that earlier Daylight Saving Time has kicked in and it’s getting a little warmer. (By the […]

For the Sake of Whose Children?

Posted March 26, 2007 By Dave Thomer

Jill Porter in the Philadelphia Daily News had a column last Friday saying that John Edwards should end his presidential campaign because of the recurrence of Elizabeth Edwards’ cancer. Most of her points seem pretty weak to me, and Porter seems to know it. She quotes a breast cancer survivor who says that the decision […]

An Ontological Dating Argument

Posted March 25, 2007 By Dave Thomer

I went to Neil Sinhababu’s site to research something for a longer, more serious piece I wanted to write. And I will still write that piece. Tomorrow. Because what I found on Neil’s site was a link to a webcomic called Lump of Clay, which did a long series of strips attempting to use the […]

A Lot to Mull Over

Posted March 24, 2007 By Dave Thomer

The forum at the Library went pretty well today, I believe. When the conversation between Kloppenberg, Kuklick, and Westbook expanded to include the audience, there was definitely an intellectual energy that I found welcome. It brought me back to the excitement I felt when I first started studying pragmatism, and felt like I had found […]

Even My Senator Won’t Vote

Posted March 23, 2007 By Dave Thomer

OK, this is ridiculous. Arlen Specter, ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, apparently decided to abstain from a voice vote on whether or not to authorize the Senate to issue subpoenas to Karl Rove and others in the US Attorney fiasco. Cameras picked up his lips moving when the “ayes” were called for. […]

A Local Note

Posted March 22, 2007 By Dave Thomer

The Greater Philadelphia Philosophy Consortium is hosting a public forum on American Pragmatism and American Politics this Saturday at the Free Library on Logan Circle. The event is at 1:00 PM in the Montgomery Auditorium. I’m actually pretty excited about it, because three of the people other than John Dewey who are most responsible for […]