Lying With Statistics
When doing some research for the previous blog, I came across a New York Times article that cited a very reputable survey [the General Social Survey] that released data showing that the percentage of...
View ArticleStandardized “Objective” Tests
Standardized objective tests appear to have become the agreed-upon criteria for evaluating the “effectiveness” of teachers and schools in educating students. Regardless of all the rhetoric, it’s fairly...
View ArticleLimits
Recently, the New Yorker had a feature article on Aaron Swartz, which featured some excerpts from his writing and interviews with people close to him. The article/profile was both interesting and...
View ArticleThe National Game?
Once upon a time, baseball was the national game. For some it still is. Others, I suppose, would pick football… or basketball, or even NASCAR. I doubt we have the consensus on a national pastime...
View ArticleCriminal Priorities
Last week thirty-five teachers in the Atlanta school system were arrested/indicted for cheating… that is, they were accused of changing and inflating students’ scores on the standardized tests that...
View ArticleApril Question
You don’t seem to be traveling or making as many appearances these days. Why not? The simple answer is money. Because of the closures of so many bookstores [which limits the locations for signings]...
View ArticleProductivity, Technology, and Society
U.S. worker productivity dropped in the fourth quarter of 2012, and overall worker productivity growth has lagged for the past several years, even as unit labor costs have risen. The economists’...
View ArticleBullying… and Bullying
With the firing of the Rutgers University basketball coach for bullying, the media and educational concern over bullying by teachers and coaches has intensified. In the case of the Rutgers coach,...
View ArticleMusings on Safety…?
We all want our food to be safe to eat, the vehicles we drive to be mechanically and technically sound, the medicines we take not to be unduly hazardous to our health… and so forth. But the problem we...
View ArticleRight… and Responsibility
Now that the U.S. Senate has killed pretty much any attempt to place any meaningful controls on the use and sale of firearms in the United States, it’s time for a more objective look at the situation....
View ArticleCapitalism and the “Business Model”
These days, and for the past decade or so, in almost every venue of government and public works, the politicians and much of the public have extolled the virtues of operating everything from schools,...
View ArticleCONDuit Appearance Cancelled
Unhappily, for a number of reasons, all well beyond my control, I will not be able to attend CONDuit this Memorial Day Weekend in Salt Lake City. This is not a matter of health, either mine or that of...
View ArticleArticle 2
Rex Regis is through all editorial work and in production. The scheduled release date is January 2014. Also, for those who haven’t noticed, the next SF novel, a stand-alone entitled The One-Eyed Man,...
View ArticleArticle 1
In between writing, I’ve managed to read a few books here and there, among them The Glass Butterfly by Louise Marley and an older novel — Seeker — by Jack McDevitt, as well as Iain M. Banks’ The...
View ArticleElectronic Soma… or Addiction?
In Aldous Huxley’s 1932 classic novel, Brave New World, the government keeps citizens in line with soma, a drug described as having “all of the benefits of Christianity and alcohol without their...
View ArticleAbsolute Rights?
Absolutes? I’m skeptical of them, if not downright hostile. Sometimes an absolute is a good guide. After all, as a general matter of principle, it is not a good idea to go around taking other...
View ArticleMay Question
This month I’m going to try to reply to dozens of questions at once. The form of these questions is essentially as follows: I really liked [name of book]. Won’t you please write more about [main...
View ArticleThe World – A Better Place Today?
If someone had asked that question a century or so ago, in most places in the world there would have been one of two answers. In the western hemisphere, or in those areas dominated by western...
View ArticleThe Magic of Recluce Audiobook
My audio publisher — Tantor Media — has agreed to publish the first two Recluce books — The Magic of Recluce and The Towers of the Sunset in audiobook format. Both books are scheduled for release in...
View ArticleAuthority, Civility… and Civilization
Yesterday Ricardo Portillo died in a Salt Lake hospital. He died from terminal brain injuries caused by a single punch to his temple. Why? Because he was a volunteer soccer referee and he had...
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