Non-Mainstream Media
I've been spending a lot of time online lately looking for alternative news sources. I've found some good ones like Alternet and Yellow Times, but there are some really bad sites out there, too.
This article about unions just blew my mind. Using this tragedy to push the standard pro-big-business-screw-everyone-who-isn't-white-because-all-those-people-choose-to-be-poor is beneath even the Republicans. When Reagan took office in 80, the first thing he did was smash the Air Traffic Controllers union. The first thing I did was go out and have a PATCO hat made, just like the ones I saw them wearing on television. It was a miserable, dirty, underhanded thing for him to do, and now, 22 years later, his little buddy's little buddy is doing the same. Besides violating the policy of checks and balances that our government is founded upon, and besides ignoring the results of an independent study, this move is a typical Ashcroftian/Orwellian technique that will allow the ascendancy to remain so at the expense of the rest of us.
I usually get incoherent when I talk about politics, believing as I do that we have a moral responsibility to our neighbors (something the Christian Right, huge backers of the Republicans, doesn't seem to understand, despite all their talk about faith-based initiatives). The Republicans define "neighbor" as, "anyone who looks like me." Fine and dandy if you're a white middle-class bigot, but you're screwed if you're not.
My grandmother put it best many years ago. "Joseph," she said, "I'll tell you the difference between Democrats and Republicans." I listened attentively, because she was a great politico. "Republicans will steal from you." I nodded as if I understood. "And Democrats will steal from you, too." I looked a little puzzled. "But the Democrats, they'll give you a little back." It was her turn to nod.
Saturday, February 09, 2002
The Marriage Thing
Today I'll write about marriage, because this morning my wife read this blog for the first time and commented that I spend too much time talking about money. I acknowledged that I do so, but offered in my defense the fact that I even admitted as much here. She wasn't impressed. So I did a quick little web tour on marriages, and came up with a couple interesting things. To begin, almost every site about marriage talks wants to sell you something, be it advice or a device, that will keep your marriage happy. Yes, I think the web is the first place I'd look if Amanda and I were on the rocks. Who better than an anonymous figure with a bad site designer and a paypal account to help me out with the most important thing in my life?
A Relationship Quiz About Marriage
While the site is selling a seminar that will make you "divorceproof," the quiz is interesting. Actually, it's mostly pretty frightening, but I'm not one to stay with the national trends too long.
Marriagebuilders.com
I think it's interesting that this site claims it is "the #1 infidelity support site on the internet. Why? Because we have more experience helping couples successfully recover from infidelity than anyone else. And our information and support forum are free." Yikes. I guess it's a pronouncement on the state of marriage today. It's disappointing.
About.com on Marriage
There appears to be a good deal of information here, but the banner ad above it is for a private investigator, one who will help you find out if your spouse is cheating on you. Great. Let me just peruse the top ten ways to sustain my life-long commitment, while I sneak a little peekaloo to see if she's stepping out behind my back. Isn't one of those top ten ways trust?
More Quizzes from the Couple Place
Hey, at least these are fun. They take the sting out of the statistics that say you might as well flip a coin on your wedding day to determine if you'll stay together.
Today I'll write about marriage, because this morning my wife read this blog for the first time and commented that I spend too much time talking about money. I acknowledged that I do so, but offered in my defense the fact that I even admitted as much here. She wasn't impressed. So I did a quick little web tour on marriages, and came up with a couple interesting things. To begin, almost every site about marriage talks wants to sell you something, be it advice or a device, that will keep your marriage happy. Yes, I think the web is the first place I'd look if Amanda and I were on the rocks. Who better than an anonymous figure with a bad site designer and a paypal account to help me out with the most important thing in my life?
A Relationship Quiz About Marriage
While the site is selling a seminar that will make you "divorceproof," the quiz is interesting. Actually, it's mostly pretty frightening, but I'm not one to stay with the national trends too long.
Marriagebuilders.com
I think it's interesting that this site claims it is "the #1 infidelity support site on the internet. Why? Because we have more experience helping couples successfully recover from infidelity than anyone else. And our information and support forum are free." Yikes. I guess it's a pronouncement on the state of marriage today. It's disappointing.
About.com on Marriage
There appears to be a good deal of information here, but the banner ad above it is for a private investigator, one who will help you find out if your spouse is cheating on you. Great. Let me just peruse the top ten ways to sustain my life-long commitment, while I sneak a little peekaloo to see if she's stepping out behind my back. Isn't one of those top ten ways trust?
More Quizzes from the Couple Place
Hey, at least these are fun. They take the sting out of the statistics that say you might as well flip a coin on your wedding day to determine if you'll stay together.
Sunday, February 03, 2002
Super Bowl Sunday
Yeah, like this is the only blog to use that opener today. Actually, I probably won't watch the game because I'm two sets of reviews and two stacks of papers behind. I've spent the day checking out a great site, Alternet. Here's what they say they do: "At AlterNet.org, we are doing something about information overload and corporate media irresponsibility. Our website is designed to serve as your 'online helper,' leading individuals, policy professionals and journalists alike to sources for information and insight. There is a word for this role. It is an 'infomediary.'" It looks like a great site, with nice links and provocative stuff.
So I was thinking this morning about EKU and money (like you could get away with a post that didn't dwell on this), and realized that, with the English Department's new commitment to hire people at market value, they're doing a good thing for themselves politically. They're creating a ghetto of disgruntlement, settled between the senior faculty, who come the closest to being satisfied with their salaries (is anyone, anywhere, really satisfied with what they make?), and the newest of the junior faculty, who will actully be making more money than us, pulling down what the market says they should be making. Bracketing us on both sides, we're far easier to ignore, or just wring hands and exclaim, "we'd really like to do something, but there's nothing we can do." I've got some great plans, all budgeted out, but nobody is asking.
I spent yesterday interviewing candidates for Governor's Scholars in Louisville. I got sick on the way home, and had to pul over at a damn rest stop to puke. It's the same old same old, a bad headache, then nausea, then feeling like I've got the flu for about 15 minutes, then tossing, then feeling better except for the headache. This has been pretty regular for a while now; maybe it's migraines or something like that. Hell, if I actually trusted my doctor I'd see her, but I think I need a new primary care physician.
Yeah, like this is the only blog to use that opener today. Actually, I probably won't watch the game because I'm two sets of reviews and two stacks of papers behind. I've spent the day checking out a great site, Alternet. Here's what they say they do: "At AlterNet.org, we are doing something about information overload and corporate media irresponsibility. Our website is designed to serve as your 'online helper,' leading individuals, policy professionals and journalists alike to sources for information and insight. There is a word for this role. It is an 'infomediary.'" It looks like a great site, with nice links and provocative stuff.
So I was thinking this morning about EKU and money (like you could get away with a post that didn't dwell on this), and realized that, with the English Department's new commitment to hire people at market value, they're doing a good thing for themselves politically. They're creating a ghetto of disgruntlement, settled between the senior faculty, who come the closest to being satisfied with their salaries (is anyone, anywhere, really satisfied with what they make?), and the newest of the junior faculty, who will actully be making more money than us, pulling down what the market says they should be making. Bracketing us on both sides, we're far easier to ignore, or just wring hands and exclaim, "we'd really like to do something, but there's nothing we can do." I've got some great plans, all budgeted out, but nobody is asking.
I spent yesterday interviewing candidates for Governor's Scholars in Louisville. I got sick on the way home, and had to pul over at a damn rest stop to puke. It's the same old same old, a bad headache, then nausea, then feeling like I've got the flu for about 15 minutes, then tossing, then feeling better except for the headache. This has been pretty regular for a while now; maybe it's migraines or something like that. Hell, if I actually trusted my doctor I'd see her, but I think I need a new primary care physician.
Thursday, January 31, 2002
Swapping Music Files
I guess the only reason I stay online many nights is to download music files. Tonight is no different, as a dozen or so creep their way through the ether to my collection and I play games, read news, and in general avoid all my work (I've got two sets of papers to grade, plus two sets of music reviews due). I know that there's a battle raging about this, with people saying "information seeks to be free" and others saying "I need my gouge." I guess I actually side with the people who need their gouge, but I down stuff anyway. I think that there is such a thing as copyright, and people should be given just compensation for their work. However (and maybe this is easier to see with warez rather than music), I just don't want to give money to the evil empire, be it Microsoft or Virgin Records. So I'll continue to swap files (although I down much more than I up), but I won't feel good about it until I think, "I can burn yet another cd of my faves." In fact, the only thing I find onerous is the slow down times on this dialup. So let's get this straight (bless me father, for I have sinned): I know it's wrong to download these files, but the good of not paying for them outweighs the bad of any moral qualms I have about the project. I'd like to think I'm more enlightened than that, but I'm not. Of course, the ramifications of getting caught are severe, but I'm willing to take that risk. I'm a two-bit copyright thief; there are much bigger pirates than me.
I'm also advising a research panel in exo-, paleo-, and astrobiology. Consequently, I've been spending a lot of time on sites like Sky and Telescope, Astronomy.com, and Space.com. They're good compendiums of info about all things out there. While I'm at it, I might just learn about the wonderful scope that Amanda bought me a few years back. I'm still looking for star parties in the area, but there seems to be nothing.
I guess the only reason I stay online many nights is to download music files. Tonight is no different, as a dozen or so creep their way through the ether to my collection and I play games, read news, and in general avoid all my work (I've got two sets of papers to grade, plus two sets of music reviews due). I know that there's a battle raging about this, with people saying "information seeks to be free" and others saying "I need my gouge." I guess I actually side with the people who need their gouge, but I down stuff anyway. I think that there is such a thing as copyright, and people should be given just compensation for their work. However (and maybe this is easier to see with warez rather than music), I just don't want to give money to the evil empire, be it Microsoft or Virgin Records. So I'll continue to swap files (although I down much more than I up), but I won't feel good about it until I think, "I can burn yet another cd of my faves." In fact, the only thing I find onerous is the slow down times on this dialup. So let's get this straight (bless me father, for I have sinned): I know it's wrong to download these files, but the good of not paying for them outweighs the bad of any moral qualms I have about the project. I'd like to think I'm more enlightened than that, but I'm not. Of course, the ramifications of getting caught are severe, but I'm willing to take that risk. I'm a two-bit copyright thief; there are much bigger pirates than me.
I'm also advising a research panel in exo-, paleo-, and astrobiology. Consequently, I've been spending a lot of time on sites like Sky and Telescope, Astronomy.com, and Space.com. They're good compendiums of info about all things out there. While I'm at it, I might just learn about the wonderful scope that Amanda bought me a few years back. I'm still looking for star parties in the area, but there seems to be nothing.
Sunday, January 27, 2002
The Steelers Game
Right now we're in the beginning of the fourth quarter of the AFC playoff game, and New England just lost a challenge. The Steelers are still down, but this could be a good close one at the end. It's different, being here in Kentucky when the Steelers are playing. I work with one person from Pittsburgh, and she's having a grand time this season. To be honest, I haven't caught any game except the one my brother took me to when I was in the Burgh. Nevertheless, I can say that I'm a serious fan. I never lost faith in Kordell, even durin gthe past two years. I guess I never lose faith in any of the Burgh teams, even when I know they'll lose.
The semester proceeds apace. The comp classes are OK, and the poetry class is going well. Our Allyn and Bacon sales rep is moving into the technical side of the business, so I'm hoping for better responses from their tech people, especially with their web stuff that I use in the comp classes. I am in the process of completing my Report of Professional Activity and Development (RPAD), which the University uses to determine merit pay. Of course, there will probably be no merit pay both this year and the next, and if there it is will be 1% or so. Typical EKU; minimal stuff being done to retain faculty. I know I'm just the tip of the faculty exodus iceberg. So I'm doing this RPAD, where I'll spend a few hours detailing my activities instead of actually doing something productive. Let's see, if I get the maximum merit possible, and there's actually merit money this year, I might see an extra five bucks in every paycheck for this work. Yeah, that's incentive, EKU style.
Right now we're in the beginning of the fourth quarter of the AFC playoff game, and New England just lost a challenge. The Steelers are still down, but this could be a good close one at the end. It's different, being here in Kentucky when the Steelers are playing. I work with one person from Pittsburgh, and she's having a grand time this season. To be honest, I haven't caught any game except the one my brother took me to when I was in the Burgh. Nevertheless, I can say that I'm a serious fan. I never lost faith in Kordell, even durin gthe past two years. I guess I never lose faith in any of the Burgh teams, even when I know they'll lose.
The semester proceeds apace. The comp classes are OK, and the poetry class is going well. Our Allyn and Bacon sales rep is moving into the technical side of the business, so I'm hoping for better responses from their tech people, especially with their web stuff that I use in the comp classes. I am in the process of completing my Report of Professional Activity and Development (RPAD), which the University uses to determine merit pay. Of course, there will probably be no merit pay both this year and the next, and if there it is will be 1% or so. Typical EKU; minimal stuff being done to retain faculty. I know I'm just the tip of the faculty exodus iceberg. So I'm doing this RPAD, where I'll spend a few hours detailing my activities instead of actually doing something productive. Let's see, if I get the maximum merit possible, and there's actually merit money this year, I might see an extra five bucks in every paycheck for this work. Yeah, that's incentive, EKU style.
Tuesday, January 22, 2002
Love That Poetry
So this modern poetry class is going swimmingly. Today we did Dickinson, which was OK. I'm not a big Emily fan (I think there are two kinds of poetry lovers int he world, Emily lovers and Walt Lovers. I'm a Walt lover.), but I enjoyed the poems nevertheless. Thursday is Hopkins, whom I can do in my sleep. Something about the Jesuit training makes him easy for me.
Anyhow, I'm still waiting to hear from schools, although I am preparing more applications. The Chronicle online has been berry berry good to me. Lunch with the Provost on Friday was heartening, but he said what I thought he would; there's no cash available, and even if there were, fixing the broken salary structure here is not a one-year project. Many people will be looking at continuing years of salaries under their market value. The Provost let me know that he wishes I would stay, but he certainly understand the need to improve myself professionally. One thing he did suggest was an administrative internship for a year. This would give me a chance to see if I could do that kind of work. I think workign with the Governor's Scholars Program this summer will also provide me with such an opportunity.
The office is finally through its flux. The couch is gone, as is a metal bookcase. In their place is a beautfil, huge, wood bookcase that now takes up almost a whole wall. It's great to get more of my books organized. Now I just need to get myself a two-seater couch for the office and things will be perfect. I had to rearrange all the posters and stuff, because of the wall space I lost, but it's all done now and looks very spiffy.
So this modern poetry class is going swimmingly. Today we did Dickinson, which was OK. I'm not a big Emily fan (I think there are two kinds of poetry lovers int he world, Emily lovers and Walt Lovers. I'm a Walt lover.), but I enjoyed the poems nevertheless. Thursday is Hopkins, whom I can do in my sleep. Something about the Jesuit training makes him easy for me.
Anyhow, I'm still waiting to hear from schools, although I am preparing more applications. The Chronicle online has been berry berry good to me. Lunch with the Provost on Friday was heartening, but he said what I thought he would; there's no cash available, and even if there were, fixing the broken salary structure here is not a one-year project. Many people will be looking at continuing years of salaries under their market value. The Provost let me know that he wishes I would stay, but he certainly understand the need to improve myself professionally. One thing he did suggest was an administrative internship for a year. This would give me a chance to see if I could do that kind of work. I think workign with the Governor's Scholars Program this summer will also provide me with such an opportunity.
The office is finally through its flux. The couch is gone, as is a metal bookcase. In their place is a beautfil, huge, wood bookcase that now takes up almost a whole wall. It's great to get more of my books organized. Now I just need to get myself a two-seater couch for the office and things will be perfect. I had to rearrange all the posters and stuff, because of the wall space I lost, but it's all done now and looks very spiffy.
Tuesday, January 15, 2002
The Semester Starts
OK, it's now two days down in the new semester, and I've met each class once. The comp classes will be the usual grind, with students already trying to get over on the course. Won't happen. The modern poetry course looks great, although I did a quick poll of the class and found out that the most favored poet that we are covering this semester is Plath. Don't get me wrong; if you're going for the confessional school she's the best. But somehow she influences the forests of drivel that these teenage shoegazers call poetry, and I can never forgive her for that. Some lonely sentimental overly romantic goth reads Plath, and figures that if he or she just gushes out feelings on the page, fills it with rancor or bitterness or self-pity, that it's poetry. Wrong.
I've spent most of my time on campus today setting up other people's computers for networked printing. One colleague asked me if I was getting release time to do this. I just laughed and told her to talk to the chair. Right, like I'd get release time. Hell, I asked three times this semester for release time that was coming to me and didn't get it. Oh well, I'll bank it. If I'm here next year, I'll take it. If not, consider it a donation for the cause.
One new site to look at: The Voice of the Shuttle has been redone, and it now looks as good as it works. It used to have a kind of homespun charm, but now it appears super-efficient and still has the best humanities links out there.
OK, it's now two days down in the new semester, and I've met each class once. The comp classes will be the usual grind, with students already trying to get over on the course. Won't happen. The modern poetry course looks great, although I did a quick poll of the class and found out that the most favored poet that we are covering this semester is Plath. Don't get me wrong; if you're going for the confessional school she's the best. But somehow she influences the forests of drivel that these teenage shoegazers call poetry, and I can never forgive her for that. Some lonely sentimental overly romantic goth reads Plath, and figures that if he or she just gushes out feelings on the page, fills it with rancor or bitterness or self-pity, that it's poetry. Wrong.
I've spent most of my time on campus today setting up other people's computers for networked printing. One colleague asked me if I was getting release time to do this. I just laughed and told her to talk to the chair. Right, like I'd get release time. Hell, I asked three times this semester for release time that was coming to me and didn't get it. Oh well, I'll bank it. If I'm here next year, I'll take it. If not, consider it a donation for the cause.
One new site to look at: The Voice of the Shuttle has been redone, and it now looks as good as it works. It used to have a kind of homespun charm, but now it appears super-efficient and still has the best humanities links out there.
Friday, January 11, 2002
Frankfort
Did the Posters at the Capitol thing yesterday. What a joke. We set up and stood around for hours, and the governor didn't have time to see any of the work (he only took the time for two group photos, which of course made it look like he was an integral part of the whole thing -- politics at its finest). The only time the legislators walked by was when everyone was supposed to be listening to Gordon Davies, the god of higher ed in the commonwealth, give a speech. So of course no one was around to explain any of their work to the representatives, except my students and I, who were waiting to get their pictures taken with the University's new president. In the end, as the topper on the day, she never showed for the photo, so the students didn't get their pictures taken with her. Great.
One of the students and I went to see the general assembly in action, and it was a typical legislative day. After getting started an hour late, we listened to some high school girl sing "God Bless America," then heard about 5 minutes of reporting from the clerk, then the speaker suspended the rules and held a meeting in his office. This meeting was only supposed to last 10 minutes. After 15 minutes, we left. Of course, the assembly never reconvened for the rest of the day. Their schedule was to be there until 6, then take an hour, then hear the governor's "state of the commonwealth" speech at 7. Instead, they knocked off at 3:30, having done absolutely nothing for the day. The student was amazed that, even when the clerk was reading his reports, nobody was paying any attention. There were private discussions, photos, and general self-serving behavior throughout the room. EKU's new president was scheduled to speak, but she was mightily dissed, as all she could do was pose at the damn speaker's podium for pictures.
Two things you should never see being made -- sausages and laws.
And guess what these guys (and they are predominantly guys, and they are overwhelmingly white) make? Much more than they deserve, working 90 days every two years.
Did the Posters at the Capitol thing yesterday. What a joke. We set up and stood around for hours, and the governor didn't have time to see any of the work (he only took the time for two group photos, which of course made it look like he was an integral part of the whole thing -- politics at its finest). The only time the legislators walked by was when everyone was supposed to be listening to Gordon Davies, the god of higher ed in the commonwealth, give a speech. So of course no one was around to explain any of their work to the representatives, except my students and I, who were waiting to get their pictures taken with the University's new president. In the end, as the topper on the day, she never showed for the photo, so the students didn't get their pictures taken with her. Great.
One of the students and I went to see the general assembly in action, and it was a typical legislative day. After getting started an hour late, we listened to some high school girl sing "God Bless America," then heard about 5 minutes of reporting from the clerk, then the speaker suspended the rules and held a meeting in his office. This meeting was only supposed to last 10 minutes. After 15 minutes, we left. Of course, the assembly never reconvened for the rest of the day. Their schedule was to be there until 6, then take an hour, then hear the governor's "state of the commonwealth" speech at 7. Instead, they knocked off at 3:30, having done absolutely nothing for the day. The student was amazed that, even when the clerk was reading his reports, nobody was paying any attention. There were private discussions, photos, and general self-serving behavior throughout the room. EKU's new president was scheduled to speak, but she was mightily dissed, as all she could do was pose at the damn speaker's podium for pictures.
Two things you should never see being made -- sausages and laws.
And guess what these guys (and they are predominantly guys, and they are overwhelmingly white) make? Much more than they deserve, working 90 days every two years.
Tuesday, January 08, 2002
I did it
Well, I finally wrote to the Provost, to tell him of my seeking a new position. I told him that I knew that he couldn't afford, either economically or politically, to match what I would be offered anywhere else. He understood that, thanked me, and wants to meet to talk about my professional future. Will he tell me that money is coming, to just hang on a while longer? I'm not sure. I know that EKU had 50k to spend on faculty adjustments this year, and I got less than 700 of it. I'm looking at positions that will raise me over 10k, so I know that Mike can't come up with that kind of scratch. As I've said before, it's been 5 years and a promotion, and I still can't make what the average college grad makes. Pitiful. And pitiful me for staying here for so long, watching bad move after bad move, hoping against hope for something different.
Anyway, the semester starts next week. I've got two comps and one modern poetry. The comps will be onerous, but what can you do? Hopefully I'll be gone for a god deal of the semester, doing on-campus interviews. I know that I'm going to at least three conferences, and at one of those I'll accept an award for innovation and excellence in teaching. That should certainly help in the job search.
So here's my new favorite site: fark.com. This place compiles the news, all the strange stuff that slips between the cracks. It's as informative as slashdot, but doesn't take itself or the news so seriously. Check it out.
Well, I finally wrote to the Provost, to tell him of my seeking a new position. I told him that I knew that he couldn't afford, either economically or politically, to match what I would be offered anywhere else. He understood that, thanked me, and wants to meet to talk about my professional future. Will he tell me that money is coming, to just hang on a while longer? I'm not sure. I know that EKU had 50k to spend on faculty adjustments this year, and I got less than 700 of it. I'm looking at positions that will raise me over 10k, so I know that Mike can't come up with that kind of scratch. As I've said before, it's been 5 years and a promotion, and I still can't make what the average college grad makes. Pitiful. And pitiful me for staying here for so long, watching bad move after bad move, hoping against hope for something different.
Anyway, the semester starts next week. I've got two comps and one modern poetry. The comps will be onerous, but what can you do? Hopefully I'll be gone for a god deal of the semester, doing on-campus interviews. I know that I'm going to at least three conferences, and at one of those I'll accept an award for innovation and excellence in teaching. That should certainly help in the job search.
So here's my new favorite site: fark.com. This place compiles the news, all the strange stuff that slips between the cracks. It's as informative as slashdot, but doesn't take itself or the news so seriously. Check it out.
Friday, January 04, 2002
Surgery -- drugs
It looks like my surgery went well. I'm able to get around without crutches (although I'll probably need them if I go out of the house), there's not too much bleeding at the site, and the drugs they gave me are pretty good. Not vike good or OC good, but good nonetheless.
I'm looking at a weekend of watching DVDs and reading and getting online for as long as my leg can stand the dependent position. The area is looking at 3 to 6 inches or more on Sunday. I love the runs on bread and milk, as if nothing but gruel will do when you're snowed in. I imagine that Krogers will be jammed tomorrow, with everyone loading up just in case we can't get to the store for, ohmygod, three days.
I've got an appointment with the surgeon on Tuesday and that Poster thing in Frankfort on Wednesday, so I'm hopin gthe snow will go away soon. Off to more drugs and TV and lounging. It's a tough life.
It looks like my surgery went well. I'm able to get around without crutches (although I'll probably need them if I go out of the house), there's not too much bleeding at the site, and the drugs they gave me are pretty good. Not vike good or OC good, but good nonetheless.
I'm looking at a weekend of watching DVDs and reading and getting online for as long as my leg can stand the dependent position. The area is looking at 3 to 6 inches or more on Sunday. I love the runs on bread and milk, as if nothing but gruel will do when you're snowed in. I imagine that Krogers will be jammed tomorrow, with everyone loading up just in case we can't get to the store for, ohmygod, three days.
I've got an appointment with the surgeon on Tuesday and that Poster thing in Frankfort on Wednesday, so I'm hopin gthe snow will go away soon. Off to more drugs and TV and lounging. It's a tough life.
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