Hello, my name is tigtog, and I have a sports-viewing addiction. I apologise for not mentioning this earlier. I’m not as heavily addicted as some (I can give it up anytime, honest!), but I do enjoy a bit of biffo… Read More ›
Culture
The milieu through which we swim
Busy day, recommended
Spent the day doing holiday things with the kids in various air-conditioned spaces (it was HOT today) which was fun, capped off with a coupla hours in the cinema watching Little Miss Sunshine, which mr tog and I were very… Read More ›
We know war is hell, but don’t expect any help when you come back
From August, this collaborative post on PTSD-denial between Respectful of Otters and Idealistic Pragmatist dissects a scornful Canadian columnist’s hatchet-job on veterans with ongoing mental trauma problems arising from their military service. The columnist concerned is joining an increasing number… Read More ›
Education preoccupations
An article in Thursday’s The Australian caught my eye regarding Labor backbencher Craig Emerson proposing mandatory school-based education until the completion of Year 12 for all students. The ideal of an extended education so school-leavers have more skills and knowledge… Read More ›
Even death won’t save you from James Blunt
From a list of the UK’s most popular funeral songs: 1 – “Goodbye My Lover” – James Blunt 2 – “Angels” – Robbie Williams 3 – “I’ve Had The Time Of My Life” – Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley. 4… Read More ›
Dangerous Deppths
OK OK, I know that’s an atrocious pun. But that’s an absolutely gorgeous art shot of dear Johnny, and I needed some cheering up after this week in politics.
So, it has come to this
There’s been a sense of dispiritedness in most of my favourite blogs this past weekend. I’ve shared it. Despite several times in the past few years pointing out signs of incipient fascist tendencies in the Bush administration, I always wondered… Read More ›
What I’m not reading, either
Tim Sterne put a loverly post up at Sarsaparilla a while ago about the stacks of unread reproaches surrounding him as he struggles through his days. I wot of what he wrote. The main unread reproach for me is Patrick… Read More ›
Rounding up good stuff
Jill at Feministe has a couple of strong articles on the religious exceptionalists in the US and their increased co-opting of a “warriors for Christ” message for evangelical youth: Where Can I Find Me A Warrior Poet? and her review… Read More ›
Public schools not challenging enough?
In all the angst about education, the Literature Wars and the History Wars and is public education running down beyond hope, I find this excerpt from my son’s state high school newsletter encouraging.
These are the research projects chosen by the 6 students doing Extension History for their HSC this year:
- Does the evidence from the ancient town of Pompeii support that it was built for the wealthy?
- Explain the philosophies of Michel Foucault and their impact on the development of Post-Modernism
- Assess the effects of Gorbachev’s reforms on the collapse of the USSR
- Evaluate the differing interpretations of the causes of Alexander the Great’s death.
- Does History end with Liberal Democracy?
- What are the differing interpretations of the 1951 seventeen point agreement?
- What are the objectives of historians who have written about the Holocaust?
Hoyden About Town 