US State Department’s Official Blog

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The US State Department has an official blog that they’ve named DipNote.  I’m assuming that the "Dip" is short for "Diplomat" but given that to at least one generation of Americans the term "dip" is slang for a stupid person it’s an interesting name choice. 

Anyhow, as Erin Teeling at the Bivings Report points out the folks at State have opted to allow comments on the blog that appear to be un-moderated.  From Bivings:

What I found incredibly surprising was that the blog actually allows comments.
And they don’t appear to be censored.  After a quick scan of the
comments on several blog posts, I realized that both positive comments and comments critical of the State Department or US Government are freely flowing.  Here’s an example–a comment that appeared on a post about Burma.

Roy in Oregon writes:
"Thou hypocrite,
cast first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see
clearly to pull the mote that is in thy brother’s eye." Luke 6:42

Let me see — You are a political appointee in the most
secretive administration in U.S. history… How is that helping "create a
free flow of information crucial to democratic development?"

— You are the member of an administration which quite
improperly and illegally harvested telephone information without
appropriate judicial warrants…. That doesn’t discourage "free flow of
information?"

— Your President authorized pressuring Internet Service
Providers to release information about legal (but private) citizen use
of the internet… Who can trust this administration to protect the
principles of "freedom of expression?"

Brother, how about first removing the beam (and the
blinders) from your own eye and working to end the murderous cabal
which employs you?  Posted on Mon Oct 08,  2007

Pretty bold.  And the comments are loaded with others very similar
to this one.  It seems like DipNote is actually a legitimate forum for
discussion rather than just a false front.  In an era where so many
media outlets, organizations, and political campaigns are concerned
about "inappropriate citizen content" appearing on their websites, I am
finding the openness of DipNote pretty refreshing.  I have to say, I’m
even impressed.  Why is it that so many newspapers remain unwilling to
open their sites to various types of user commentary, but the US
government appears willing to reduce barriers to two-way communication?

I would love to see all branches of government, at every level from local to federal, engage in this kind of communication.  I think it would go a long way toward bringing more transparency to government and greater participation from the citizenry.

Go Deacs! Who Farted?

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P8030321Last night I had the privilege of attending the Wake Forest-Florida State game at Grove Stadium, er, BB&T Field.  I went with my uncle Frank James and my cousins Jeff and Chris James.  To say that we had some nice seats would be an understatement.  That picture you see to the left was taken from my seat with an Olympus Stylus 710 with a 3X Zoom lens, which is to say the seats had to be good for the camera to get that picture.

The Deacs won 24-21 in a tight, fairly sloppy game.  My biggest regret is that I wasn’t using the video capability of the Olympus when the Deacs scored their first TD.  It was an 83 yard run by Josh Adams that started right in front of us.  Here’s a link to some video I did shoot.

On the weird front there was a guy sitting somewhere in front of us who was cutting some of the most horrifically smelly farts you could imagine.  The odor was so bad that it wafted over several rows and the ladies behind us got so fed up they left before the fourth quarter. The guy seemed to burp them out whenever an exciting play happened so you couldn’t help but inhale them as you cheered.  Before the ladies left they informed us that the smell had been happening all season, so I feel for the season ticket holders who have to attend the games knowing that they’re going to be dealing with a stench that could peel paint.

On the good luck front as we were walking through the parking lot to get to the stadium a couple of girls in a golf cart stopped and handed us some free chicken sandwich meals from Chick-fil-A.  We’d been planning on getting dinner before the game but didn’t have time so we readily took the freebies.  The sandwiches were still hot and quite tasty so my hat’s off to the Chick-fil-A marketing people and the young ladies they hired to hand out the freebies.

This was my first Wake football game and you can count me as hooked.  Grove Stadium, er, BB&T Field is a great place to see a game and offers a fantastic atmosphere if you disregard stinky in our section.  If you get the chance I highly recommend you go.

Good Customer Service?!

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It’s become so rare to get effective, prompt customer service that I just had to share this experience.  My mom is currently on a long trip to South America and the Galapagos islands and so her communications have been limited to sporadic email.  Before she left on her trip she put her Netflix account on temporary suspension, but unbeknown to her they had already shipped her two DVDs right before she changed her account status.  While sailing towards the Galapagos she was able to check her email (how cool is that!) and had a note from Netflix saying that she had two of their DVDs and if they weren’t returned promptly she’d be buying them.  She attempted to contact them but was only able to find their 800 number and since she couldn’t call it didn’t do her much good.  So she shot me an email and asked if I could handle it for her.

Yesterday I logged into mom’s Netflix account and found the customer service number.  Right under the number is a status message giving the current wait time on the 800 number.  Seeing that it was less than a minute I called and within 30 seconds I was talking to a rep and one minute after that we had the issue resolved.  As any of the 13 year old girls on my daughter’s soccer team would say, "O-M-G!"

The status message on the website is a great feature that Netflix provides and having a staffer answer the phone who is obviously empowered to use a little creativity to fix the problem is a massive winner in my book.  I’ve been a Netflix fan for years, but this really is icing on the cake.

By the way this happened the same day that I had a not-so-smooth experience with our van.  The battery died and since it was still under warranty we took it back to the dealer to trade it it.  The customer service was fine and the folks very helpful, but the system they have to deal with is a little tortured.  Despite the fact that I had the receipt showing that the battery had indeed been purchased there and was less than 24 months old they still had to do a load test to verify that the battery was dead. That was fine and the load test showed that our battery was as dead as a doornail, but unfortunately the tester that they’d found wasn’t the official Mazda load tester that spits out a receipt that’s required in order to get the new battery.  After searching for about 20 minutes they found the official load tester and were able to get me my new battery, but it took about 45 minutes.  In my mind once they found that the battery was dead they should have given me the new battery and dealt with the receipt issue after I was gone, but because the parts department wouldn’t release the battery without the receipt the service department had to find the right tester before I could get it.  In other words the dealership made their problem my problem.  To their credit their service employee didn’t push me aside despite being very busy, so two thumbs up for him.  To their discredit they have a system in place that puts unnecessary stress on the customer.

Still, yesterday was that rarest of occasions: a good customer service day.

ChallengeFest

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This past weekend was largely spent on the soccer fields at the Sara Lee Complex and Hine Fields here in Winston-Salem.  My daughter Erin’s soccer club, Twin City Youth Soccer Association, played host to the ChallengeFest, which is a mid-season tournament for "Challenge" level teams.  All the kids played four games in two days and by the end I can tell you that all of our girls were fried.

Our girls went 2-2, winning two games against teams from our Challenge League (teams for Davidson County and Statesville) and losing 2-1 on Saturday to a team from the Trianle area and 3-1 yesterday to a team from Clayton.  The two losses came in the afternoon games (second games of the day) and in both games our girls played with only one sub due to injuries and our opponents had at least four subs each.  Both teams were as skilled as any team we’ve played this year and our girls took a 1-0 lead into the last 20 minutes of both games before running out of gas and giving up some late goals.  All in all our girls played very well and "left it all on the field."

A couple of highlights for our family: Erin scored her teams goal in the 2-1 loss on Saturday, and yesterday she showed a little fire towards the end of the afternoon game.  The Clayton team played a more physical game than our girls are used to and the ref let most of the pushing go unabated so our girls were getting pretty frustrated.  Erin had the ball near the sideline right in front of our bench and after getting the treatment from one of the more aggressive players on the other team she screamed at her. I believe she said "Stop pushing you idiot!"  Then she immediately felt guilty and not long after that I saw her fighting tears as she was playing.  Personally I was proud of her for not retaliating physically, which is what her old man would have done in the same situation, and I have no problem with her venting.  The name calling was understandable but still not necessary, but since she already felt guilty I didn’t feel any need to say much about it, especially when I would have used much more colorful language in the exact same situation after administering physical redemption as well.  I was VERY happy to see that she had some fire in the belly.

All in all it was a good weekend, but will someone explain to me why our girls were playing in 90 degree heat on October 7?  At this rate we’re going to be hanging out at the pool on Christmas.

Thanks!

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Last Friday I posted an item about DonorsChoose.org and the Blogger’s challenge I set up.  I chose four programs chosen from over 180 that I found for the Winston-Salem Forsyth County schools and this morning I logged in and found that one of them is already fully funded.  I don’t get to see who funded what so I’m simply going to say thank you here to the kind folks who have funded the "Love You Forever" program at Easton Elementary School.  For a refresher, I’ve pasted the description of the program below, and for those of you who may want to fund some of the other programs in the challenge here’s the link to the challenge page.

"Love You Forever"

Literacy, big word, but it simply means
reading. There many components to reading. My classroom library is
lacking in variety, components, and enthusiasm. I am a new kindergarten
teacher who inherited a classroom that was started in the middle of
last school year. There were 10 small books in the classroom and no big
books or books with tapes. Through the graciousness of other teachers,
some books have been donated.

This is a class of 16 students that are new to school, many
have never been to a preschool or had any formal training. They have
had little exposure to the world of books. These precious students are
most at risk, and have a harder time mastering the basics. I am eager
to get them reading. I want them to gain respect for books and what
they have to offer. A book for these kindergarteners to take home and
share would be the start they need. The children will be taught the
responsibility of caring for books and returning them when assignments
are completed.

I am honored just to have the opportunity to make such a request
to such a wonderful giving organization. Thank you for considering my
proposal.

My
project needs take home readers, books with tapes, and concept books
for the classroom. Requested are: a science book and tape set, learning
to write transition kit, ‘The Story of Ferdinand’, guided reading book
bundle, and much more. The cost of this proposal is $272, which
includes shipping for any materials requested and fulfillment.

links for 2007-10-06

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Supporting Some Local Students Via Their Teachers

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If you’re a returning visitor to this old blog you’ll notice a new feature on the left hand column.  I’ve entered the "Blogger’s Challenge" for DonorsChoose.org and I’m hoping to raise some money for four different education projects here in the Winston-Salem Forsyth County schools. That widget you see at the top left is the "thermometer" showing how I’m doing.  Here’s my challenge page on the DonorsChoose.org site so you can see the five projects I’ve chosen.

DonorsChoose is an organization that lets teachers submit proposals for funding projects for their classrooms.  Donors can review all of the proposals and then make donations for the project via the DonorsChoose site.  Simply put it’s a way for people to contribute directly to education projects that they find worthy.

I searched for all the programs in the Winston-Salem Forsyth County schools and found 180 of them.  I sifted through those and came up with four that I particularly liked and added those to my challenge.  The goal is to raise $1,564.70 which is the combined total for the four projects, but I’m not greedy.  Anything we can do will be gravy.  Below are excerpts from the proposals submitted by the teachers for each of the projects I selected, or if you want you can visit my challenge page to check them out.  One thing you’ll notice is that the schools all have high poverty or high need student bodies. My personal philosophy is that the schools in higher income areas are able to hit up their own parents for funding.  In other words if I think a project at my kids’ school is worthwhile then I’ll chip in for it.  For these projects the teachers don’t have that resource so they need to reach outside their community for help.  Thanks ahead of time for any support you can give.

Beginning Podcasting ($246 Project Request)
I am a media coordinator at a low- performing, 70% minority, economically disadvantaged high school.

As a means of addressing literacy issues in our school I would
like to assist our students in the creation of an online literary
magazine. Student work would include poetry, stories, essays, and peer
critiques, as well as original artwork, photography and cartoons. In
order to meet AYP and state standards for End-of Course study, any
opportunity for reading and writing would improve their performance. In
addition, using web technology as a "hook" would generate student
interest, while teaching a variety of technology skills for future use,
such as podcasting, blogging, and web page production.

Our population would greatly benefit from a variety of
non-traditional learning environments. The hands-on production of an
online literary magazine, which I plan to implement, is just such a
format for learning. This project will also give me many opportunities
to work collaboratively with the English and Art teachers integrating
the Information Skills curriculum into both core and elective classes.

My project needs a color document scanner, microphone and headphones. The cost of this proposal is $246, which includes shipping for any materials requested and fulfillment.

"Love You Forever" ($272 Project Request)

Literacy, big word, but it simply means
reading. There many components to reading. My classroom library is
lacking in variety, components, and enthusiasm. I am a new kindergarten
teacher who inherited a classroom that was started in the middle of
last school year. There were 10 small books in the classroom and no big
books or books with tapes. Through the graciousness of other teachers,
some books have been donated.

This is a class of 16 students that are new to school, many
have never been to a preschool or had any formal training. They have
had little exposure to the world of books. These precious students are
most at risk, and have a harder time mastering the basics. I am eager
to get them reading. I want them to gain respect for books and what
they have to offer. A book for these kindergarteners to take home and
share would be the start they need. The children will be taught the
responsibility of caring for books and returning them when assignments
are completed.

I am honored just to have the opportunity to make such a request
to such a wonderful giving organization. Thank you for considering my
proposal.

My
project needs take home readers, books with tapes, and concept books
for the classroom. Requested are: a science book and tape set, learning
to write transition kit, ‘The Story of Ferdinand’, guided reading book
bundle, and much more. The cost of this proposal is $272, which
includes shipping for any materials requested and fulfillment.

Help at Home for the Whole Family ($407 Project Request)

I teach in a school which is nearly 100%
free and reduced lunch. I teach a Title 1 Pre-k class which has 15 four
year old students who need an extra academic boost to be successful in
regular school. Most of our parents have multiple children and
desperately need resources to help their children at home.

It would be wonderful if we had kits that had books, activities,
and tapes to help parents support the work we do at school at home. I
conduct parent workshops with my parents and the number one complaint
they have is they don’t have anything to help their child at home. If I
could provide this type of kit for my parents it would not only help
the children in my classroom, but all the siblings at home. Older
children could read to the younger ones. The whole family could get
involved!! These at home book kits with books, tapes, and activity
cards (plus the bag to carry them with) would fit the need perfectly.
Thank you in advance for helping these families have the resources to
help their children at home. This would greatly empower our parents
while at the same time supporting our instruction at home!

My project needs themed book learning sets and bags to encourage reading at home. The cost of this proposal is $407, which includes shipping for any materials requested and fulfillment.

Wild World of Science ($640 Project Request)

I am a second year teacher working in rural
North Carolina. I work in a wonderful new school in Forsyth County just
outside of Winston Salem, North Carolina; unfortunately we have very
limited funding. I am requesting some exciting science items to use in
my 2nd grade classroom. This year I have students who would greatly
benefit from the use of science centers and hands on manipulatives. In
the coming school year I want to offer my 2nd grade a world of exciting
science adventures.

This proposal is for several science bags with books, games and
puppets that the children can use to help develop their scientific
inquiry. The students will be able to use these in the science center
in our classroom. I am also requesting some non-fiction science reading
materials to be used in the center as well as a butterfly cage and some
manmade habitats for the children to observe animal life cycles.

These items I am requesting would encompass all the Major
Concepts/Skill areas as outlined in the North Carolina Standard Course
of Study. Including Strands: Nature of Science, Science as Inquiry,
Science and Technology, Science in Personal and Social Perspectives.
These centers and manipulatives will reinforce the competency goals as
stated in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study and assist both
teacher and student by providing new and exciting ways to learn and
teach science.

75% of the student population at my school eat on a free or
reduced lunch. Many of my students have no access to science
experiences or scientific reading materials. This would be highly
beneficial to those students who want to learn but have limited or no
access to all things scientific.

Please help me with this vital project. If I could afford this
on my own I would gladly fund this project, unfortunately I am on a
beginning teacher salary with little extra funds. Any and all help
would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

The
cost of science center activities, including science bags on recycling,
floating and sinking, weather, how a seed grows, what magnets can do,
as well as butterfly lifecycle models, and books on science poetry. is
$640, including shipping and fulfillment.

Everything Old is New Again

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Hbvan
I get a kick out of listening to my teenagers talk.  Sure I’ve complained in the past about their mind-numbing ramblings, but they also remind me of how little perspective I had when I was their age.  Put another way they remind me about how I used to think anything that happened before 1975 was ancient history.  For instance last night we saw a commercial for a new mini-van (don’t remember which one) that had rear passenger seats that swivel and an expandable table on a post between them.  The kids thought that had to be the coolest, most innovative thing ever.  Obviously they haven’t seen re-runs of the 70’s era Hardy Boys show that starred Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy. If they had they would have seen a cooler-than-reality version of the kind of van that we who grew up in that era knew all too well.  It seems that every neighborhood had some kid who’s parents had one of those "customized" travel vans, often with the wacky portal on the side, that was the ride that everyone wanted to borrow for dates because, well, you figure it out.

I was thinking about the "everything old is new again" theme when I came across this article (via Sue Polinsky) about a doctor in NY who doesn’t have an office, only makes house calls, and schedules his appointments using his Google Calendar and text messaging.  This sounds radical, and in fact it is, but when you think about it one of the things that the people in the pre-baby boomer generation speak wistfully about is their old family doctor who used to make house calls.  I always assumed that they missed the house call because of the convenience, but really I think they miss the personal touch and attention that were mandated by house calls.  And guess what we all are looking for now?  A doctor who takes time to give us attention and doesn’t make us feel like we’re part of an assembly line.

Still in the "everything old is new again" mindset I read Dana Blankenhorn’s piece Who Is to Blame and segued into the related "those who forget history are doomed to repeat it" mindset.  From Dana’s piece:

In many of the pieces I’ve written here on this subject, I have gone
into my own personal history. I have discussed the conservatism of my
teen-age years. I have discussed the lessons of my father. When you’re
thinking about current events, I bet you do the same. You reflect on
what has happened in your own life, what your parents taught you, and
the legends of your grandparents.

That’s really all history is. The word story is at the heart of it.
History changes with every generation, as we attempt to make sense of
the past in terms of the future.

That’s really why I enjoy listening to my kids.  They remind me of what I used to be, how I used to think, and how many times I’ve changed my mind over the years.  I view history very differently now than I used to, just as I view the world around me differently. Sometimes it’s a good thing and sometimes it’s not. 

When I was just a few years older than my kids are now I was working as an intern near Dupont Circle in Washington, DC.  Every day I would walk to the same deli to buy lunch and usually there was an elderly, blind homeless woman sitting outside the door begging for change.  I’d been admonished by my Mom not to give beggars money because they’d just blow it on booze or drugs, but this woman somehow tugged at my conscience more than any of the other homeless I’d run across.  I really didn’t know what to do, but one day it occurred to me that I could buy her a meal.  I bought her a chicken salad sandwich, some chips and a drink and handed it to her on my way out.  I never stopped to wonder if she even liked chicken salad, I just saw a woman who needed a meal and I bought it for her.  Today I’d think about whether or not she’s allergic to something in the food and if she got sick would I be liable?  I’d also think to myself that I donate some of my money to charity, give to my church and by extension I’m helping those in need.  Obviously my perspective has changed.

My kids, however, still see things as if they’re all new and ask questions accordingly.  Why are there homeless people?  Why don’t we just build apartment buildings to house them?  Why do parents get divorced instead of just working it out?  On the lighter side they’ll talk about some great song they’ve just heard and when I hear it I have to inform them that it’s a cover of a cover of a song that was first performed by some guy that died over 30 years ago.  It truly breaks their hearts to learn that most of their cool new beats are regurgitated from performers that are older than their parents.  Of course the same thing happened to me at their age, and it’s going to happen to my grandchildren in fewer years than I’d like to think about.