All those topics that i wish i had time to pursue more earnestly.

Gloria’s Oversexed Mind: Must love pandas:
Must love pandas

momma panda carrying baby panda.

Crooks and Liars » Justice, Guantanamo Style:
This is justice Guantanamo style. This is the process that the government contends is the functional equivalent of habeus corpus. It’s a joke. The question is whether the Supreme Court will have the courage to say so.

—

just remember … this is not them doing it… torturing people… if you are and american from the u.s., this is us. we allow this to happen, and we should be ashamed. this could be your mom or dad being tortured, or your son or daughter, as it surely is for someone. torture is horrible and wrong and never justifiable.

How the Bush Administration REALLY Treats Soldiers:
if you don’t re-enlist, you’ll be thrown in 5th Brigade, the Stryker unit on Ft. Lewis that was being stood up, and yes, they were deploying as soon as they could.
—

an indentured army is not the way to go, forcing or coercing re-enlistment through means such as these will not help anyone, and it will hurt the military more than we can possibly imagine, as rumors spread in the military, not just amongst people, but amongst generations of people. we have to do the right thing, if someone wants out and they have completed their obligation, we have to let them out.

Cultural Ethnography: A Brief Report:
A user in the usability lab is like a tiger in the cage, helpless!
Study him in his natural habitat!
—
this is a short report from an hci practitioner who has moved into the realm of ethnography. i think it captures one of the main failures of much of hci lab centricity, though… it could be states more broadly as. behavior in lab environments is not normal behavior, that includes the mental process and mode of preparedness of the individual, thus lab based hci does not map onto everyday use of computers in homes, businesses, etc. except in the most general senses of interaction’

Chicago: In the News:

Truth About Santa-Claus [PIC]:

—
the sad thing is… that in many ways… it is true.

Talking Points Memo | Annals of Reporting:
Actually, if you look at what he says, it seems Skube’s editor at the Times oped page didn’t think he had enough specific examples in his article decrying our culture of free-wheeling assertion bereft of factual backing. Or perhaps any examples. So the editor came up with a few blogs to mention and Skube signed off. And Skube was happy to sign off on the addition even though he didn’t know anything about them.

—-

in an ironic twist, michael skube and his editor contrive to do in print journalism what they intended to critique as part of the tendencies of the blogosphere. now… anyone who reads or watches the news, knows that print and other media are rife with unsupported opinion, look at the recent story about ving rhames’s dogs, or the NYT coverage of the Iraq war… (though the persistent presence of paid cia and military employees in the newsrooms is partially to blame there).

Preserving the Outpouring of Grief:
Preserving the Outpouring of Grief
Va. Tech Archives 60,000 Items Sent as Condolences

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/18/AR2007081800588.html?referrer=emailarticle

—

archivalia points us to this story about the archives at virginia tech

Welcome to Bridges to Understanding:

—-

this looks like a great project. it teaches kids to document and share their lives.

PNC Financial Services Group MediaRoom – News Releases:
In fact, teachers say they value social skills – such as following rules and directions, and being able to play and share well with others — over academic skills as a better predictor of children’s success in school.

—

interesting opinion…