text:
Burch: Getting away with murder?

Thursday, September 6, 2012 at 10:05pm
By Michael R. Burch

I must question why as a society we are often very quick to apprehend and prosecute some alleged murderers — for instance, those believed to be guilty of killing in our own neighborhoods and cities — but not the worst ones. Among modern-day Americans, who has caused more deaths than George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld? After all, they launched an invasion of Iraq on false premises. How many completely innocent women and children did they cause to die prematurely and unjustly? (To cause the unjust, premature death of an innocent person is, of course, murder.)

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu recently called for George W. Bush and Tony Blair to face prosecution at the International Criminal Court for their roles in the invasion of Iraq. Tutu, a retired South African Anglican Church archbishop, wrote an op-ed piece for The Observer in which he said that Bush and Blair should be made to “answer for their actions.” (The Observer is a British weekly first published in 1791, making it the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper.)

The Iraq war “has destabilized and polarized the world,” wrote Tutu, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1984 for his role in ending South African apartheid. “Those responsible for this suffering and loss of life should be treading the same path as some of their African and Asian peers who have been made to answer for their actions in The Hague,” he added. Tutu was referring to the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.

“The then-leaders of the U.S. and U.K. fabricated the grounds to behave like playground bullies and drive us further apart. They have driven us to the edge of a precipice where we now stand — with the specter of Syria and Iran before us,” said Tutu, who last week withdrew from a conference in South Africa due to Blair’s presence at the event.

Other prominent figures — such as world-renowned MIT professor Noam Chomsky, the author of more than 100 books who is considered by many scholars to be earth’s greatest living scientist — have also called for Bush and Blair to be tried for war crimes. Most of the peace activists and many of the liberals I know call Bush a war criminal. Many Europeans agree, as he was forced to cancel a trip to Geneva, Switzerland, due to threats of protests and possible legal action if he touched down there.

According to Ray McGovern, writing for AlterNet, “George Bush can’t travel overseas for fear of arrest and prosecution” leaving him “doomed to become America’s first better-stay-at-home former president.” McGovern was a senior CIA analyst.

McGovern not only accuses Bush of war crimes, he has even “served” symbolic war crimes indictments to the White House himself, acting for a “people’s tribunal” in a sort of attempted citizen’s arrest.

I think Tutu, Chomsky and McGovern have a good case, which deserves a public hearing at the very least.

In the recent past the U.S. government has hunted down and killed notorious death merchants such as Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.

But what about the death merchants of the U.S. and its allies? There are rumors that the CIA and/or Israel’s Mossad may have assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists, even though the U.S. and Israel have nuclear weapons, have never allowed U.N. inspections of their nuclear facilities, and would consider it an act of terrorism if their own scientists were assassinated.

U.S. drones have even been used to kill American citizens in Yemen without trials or even hearings on the orders of what seems to be a secretive U.S. government death panel.

Israeli attacks on Gaza — at times including white phosphorous — have killed many with virtually no resistance, making that “war” seem more like a massacre.

So I would add Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu to the list of suspected war criminals.

It seems obvious to me that there is a terrible double standard. The U.S. and Israel can murder civilians with impunity via extrajudicial assassinations, without due process of law.

Why do we lock the door and throw away the key for deranged people like John Hinckley and Mark David Chapman, and yet let mass murderers live lives of freedom, privilege and opulent luxury?

Michael R. Burch is a Nashville-based editor and publisher of Holocaust poetry and other “things literary” at www.thehypertexts.com.

Filed under: City Voices

109 Comments on this post:

By: dargent7 on 9/7/12 at 4:41

I also read that Tutu statement.
Yet, 45% of America thinks Saddam was behind 9/11 and we were justified in invading Iraq.
15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi as was bin Laden. Attacking Saudi Arabia would of been the logical target.
Cheney wanted the Iraqi oil fields, plain and simple. 9/11 gave him his trigger and a plan.
The fact that he and Rice thought they could fool America into believing all the "faulty intel" lies is really beyond belief.
Yet, Rice was applauded at the RNC for her crazy marble-headed philosophy that Romney also espouses, that the role of the USA is to "rule the world" with an iron fist, militarily, with pre-emptive strikes where ever we see necessary.
Taking on the role of "Gods" which Romney believes he will once become as a Mormon.
If there is a God, I hope to Heaven He keeps Romney & Co. out of the W.H. this November. If those clinically insane Republicans get the office keys we'll be in more wars then we can count using both hands.

By: Ummm... on 9/7/12 at 4:52

Heads of State seem to hold a "license to kill." The unjustified war of aggression in Iraq was a horrible stain on America's honor, and although some Democrats went along with the misguided, evil act, our current president voted against it. Not only was the Iraq war morally indefensible, it cost taxpayers a TRILLION dollars. Obama was right to oppose the war then, and he's the right person to lead this country now. If the Teapublicans and neocons regain control, you can bet a war with Iran is just around the corner- Bush and Cheney nearly destroyed the economy, Romney and Ryan just might finish the job.

By: BenDover on 9/7/12 at 4:58

Hysteria level: Moonbat

By: Captain Nemo on 9/7/12 at 5:07

Come on Ben you know Mike is right and Bush and the gang are criminals.

By: Ummm... on 9/7/12 at 5:09

Little Bennie is just confirming that the Teapublicans aren't only hypocrites, they're also morally bankrupt.

By: Ummm... on 9/7/12 at 5:12

Oh, and I forgot to say, nice "thoughtful and cogent" comment, Little Bennie.

By: dargent7 on 9/7/12 at 5:32

All one needs to know about Big Ben is that he admired GW Bush's "stones" to invade, bomb, and occupy Iraq.
Anyone who thinks it takes "balls" to ruin a country, kill it's civilians, kill US soldiers in the process, well, there's no arguing with that.
I'd rather have a beer with Charles Manson than with BenDover.
One's just clinically insane. The other, a Republican. Same thing.

By: Captain Nemo on 9/7/12 at 5:34

I wonder what the old bird will have to lie about today. Does anyone want to hazard a guess?

Looking forward to seeing you old boy.

By: Captain Nemo on 9/7/12 at 5:37

I like Ben, but he does go over the deep end with Bush. I just can't help wonder if he does this just for the fun of it. ;-)

By: Rasputin72 on 9/7/12 at 7:19

I think this is quite odd. If I were in a position to do so I would be screaming my head off for an investigation for Desmond Tutu. The man uses his peace mantra to undermine western civiiozation. I would try him as an intellectual terrorist.

By: Ummm... on 9/7/12 at 7:37

The bigoted monk chimes in only to prove he is the most morally bankrupt of all.

By: budlight on 9/7/12 at 8:11

Burch, I think you would make a great president --- of Iraq. Why don't you move there and then get involved in their way of life, their government and then become their leader.

Why don't we prosecute the presidents who invaded other countries during world wars I and II, or the Korean War (Invasion of Normandy)? Or maybe Desert Storm? Or better still, let's go back and prosecute the civil war criminals.

You are always stirring up something. Well, Obama has not gotten us out of Afghanistan and therefore he has perpetuated the continuance of killing and also having Americans killed by having them go there. He has not spoken out against the Muslim doctor who, by the way, is constantly costing the government (my tax dollars) money because he won't shave his sleezy beard. Claims it is in line with his religious beliefs. Where were those religious beliefs before he commited a heinous crime and killed innocent people at Ft. Hood? Hmmmmmm! Were his beliefs in remission? Or in hiding? Or was he just not a good Muslim until he carried out a Geeee-haaaad (Jihad)?

Rasputin72 on 9/7/12 at 8:19
I think this is quite odd. If I were in a position to do so I would be screaming my head off for an investigation for Desmond Tutu. The man uses his peace mantra to undermine western civiiozation. I would try him as an intellectual terrorist.

Rasp, you are correct. He and obama both (if obama were intellectual, that is). He's a community organizer prone to emotional outbursts (ie, the boston nutty professor defense and his chiming in on other state issues where he has no bizzzinness!).

By: bfra on 9/7/12 at 8:19

Bud's comment & Raspy's comment -- 2 nut cases agree with each other. Come on yogi & Ben your commrads are in a (see who can sound the dumbest discussion), about time for more false comments.

By: dargent7 on 9/7/12 at 8:30

A + B = C.
9/11 happened. Who's fault that was, Clinton's or Bush's, we'll never know.
All I know was GW Bush was president at the time, had the PDB's, had top secret CIA and FBI clearence, and could find out anything availble that was available to know.
That's his job description.
So, Cheney, who lives and bleeds oil, saw an opportunity to capture Iraqi's oil fields.
Besides 50% or so of American morons would not question it.
Turns out, it didn't turn out quite according to plan.
Old white men living in a bubble called Washington don't know shit about middle America or 90% of the world.
So, now, we're digging out, or will dig further in if Romney's elected.

By: Mike Burch on 9/7/12 at 9:13

I agree. I think Cheney and Rumsfeld had two main goals for Iraq:

(1) They wanted to "secure" Iraq's oil fields for Cheney's big oil buddies.

(2) They wanted to show all the nations in the Middle East that they would have to bow down to the US-Israel hegemony, or suffer the consequences. This would allow the US and Israel to essentially rule the Middle East. And this is why the US and Israel are talking about attacking Iran ... not because Iranian nukes would be a threat, but because Iranian nukes would prevent Israel and the US from invading other nations and maintaining their dominance of the region.

By: Moonglow1 on 9/7/12 at 9:14

Moonglow1: Tutu is correct and it will be his voice and others who could make it happen. I would add Condi Rice, Colin Powell, and Paul Wolfowitz to the list on neocon war criminals. I do not agree with most Americans that Colin Powell is a forthright military man. He made the case in front of the UN for war by testifying that Saddam had mobile labs stuffed with chemicals. My son and I roared with laughter at such a lame concocted lie. Unfortunately, the American public could not see through the lie.

At the DNC, they should have shown on the big screen images of Abu Grab superimposed with images of these neocon criminals.

By: Mike Burch on 9/7/12 at 9:19

Barack Obama and the MAJORITY of house democrats voted against the invasion of Iraq. But enough democrats joined the republicans for the war bill to pass.

Just one more reason to vote for REALLY SMART politicians rather than chauvinists who hate Muslims, gays, women and everyone else who isn't a lily-white male. Too many of them see war as an "opportunity." Robert Gates, the former secretary of defense, actually said that we need to pay down the debt on past wars before seeking other "opportunities."

Romney and Ryan want to increase defense spending to $8 trillion over the next 10 years. That means more unwinnable wars, in my opinion. Dumbasses with bad attitudes will want to play with their expensive toys, showing off their machismo.

If we want peace, we have to elect politicians with hearts and brains that work simultaneously. None of the most prominent Republicans seem to fit that bill, and especially not Romney, Ryan, Santorum, et al.

By: Mike Burch on 9/7/12 at 9:28

I think BenDover should study the history of pre-WWII Germany, because the GOP is saying and doing the same things Hitler and the Nazis did in the early days, while they were amassing power. Fears and lies are being used to push gullible people into cutting spending for everything except war, in preparation for the "American century" Romney and the Romulans keep extolling. The "American century" means the same thing as the "thousand year Reich" and is based on "American exceptionalism" which is the same thing as "Deutschland uber alles" (Germany over all).

People who vote for Romney and the Romulans are voting for war, racism, fascism, bigotry and the middle class being turned into serfs of the superior 1%, who prove their superiority by being rich, healthy and dominating everyone else. They are like the bullies at high school who belittle and beat up anyone who doesn't walk, talk and look like them.

Romney was a bully in high school. One classmate compared him to the Lord of the Flies. He is a classic sociopath, unable to relate to the suffering of people he doesn't identify with. So he can't empathize with gays, girls who have been raped, the poor, the sick, the elderly. And he especially can't empathize with Muslims in the Middle East who sit atop the oil he and his rich cronies need to rule the world.

So people like BenDover need to think twice about voting for Romney, which will be like slitting the throats of everyone they love who isn't a rich white alpha male.

By: MusicCity615 on 9/7/12 at 9:41

you have a lot of hate in your heart. I will pray for you.

By: Mike Burch on 9/7/12 at 9:51

I think stirring things up is what the founding fathers did, when they saw tyranny. I just wonder why we threw off the shackles of mad King George, only to bow down to mad King Bibi and Big Oil.

I think Barack Obama really needs to think about the wisdom of using drones and US troops to establish democracies overseas. But he did vote against the invasion of Iraq, and he has ended one war and is trying to end the other. He is not a warmonger like GWB, Cheney and Rumsfeld. Actually, GWB may not have been a warmonger either, just so stupid he was led around by the nose by his neo-con advisers (emphasis on CON).

I think GWB, Cheney and Rumsfeld are criminals, and I think President Obama is commander in chief of a nation that is killing people unjustly. But at least Obama has the goal of ending the wars, while the neo-cons are already salivating for another war with Iran.

By: Moonglow1 on 9/7/12 at 9:57

Moonglow1: People cannot grasp the horror of the New GOP. It is true that their politics mirror those of Hitler. How? One example is by demonizing Islam in the same way Hitler demonized the Jews. The New GOP restricts women's rights, they overturn laws, and they rig elections. They re-write history, control the media, and financial system. They promote globalization at the expense of American jobs and by "sheltering" money in off shore accounts.

So go ahead: vote these New GOP Tea Fascists in. If you do, prepare for the disappearance of the Great Middle Class.

Of course I am speaking to Tennesseans whom are the most poorly educated in the USA. I think only MS is lower in the numbers of college educated than TN.

By: Mike Burch on 9/7/12 at 9:58

You make a good point about Colin Powell. I would love to see him hooked up to a lie detector and forced to tell the truth. But I think there is a big difference between Powell and goons like Cheney and Rumsfeld, and that is motivation.

It seems clear that Cheney and Rumsfeld WANTED war and only needed an excuse to attack Iraq, which was their goal (and Israel's) long before 911. So they used the false testimony of an Iraqi codenamed "Curveball" (the name says worlds) to justify the invasion of Iraq, and when the Plames tried to cast light on the sordid scheme, Cheney did what he does best: lie and connive.

I don't think Powell wanted the war, but he is a military man who takes orders from the commander in chief. Working for GWB, when GWB was being told what to do by Cheney, was probably a lot like being a general under Hitler.

I wish Colin Powell would come forward and tell the truth about what happened. I think what he did was wrong, but he may not have known the poor quality of the intelligence at the time. The only person who really knew was probably Dick "the Penguin" Cheney.

By: Mike Burch on 9/7/12 at 10:07

I agree with you about the GOP and its racism, chauvinism and fascism.

Albert Einstein, who was a great humanitarian and peace activist as well as one of the greatest thinkers in human history, made the same points about the leaders of Israel in 1948. He pointed out that men like Menachem Begin (a future prime minister of Israel) were fascists, and he predicted what would happen to Israel if they came into power. Today Israel is a prison state very similar to Syria or Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Israel has banned the brightest Jewish minds from even entering the country (Noam Chomsky, Richard Falk, et al). People who call for equality for non-Jews are ridiculed and physically attacked. Peace activists are being murdered, including American citizens like Rachel Corrie and Furkan Dogan.

But the government and media make it seem as if all this is somehow "necessary" for "national defense."

I think that the US is in danger of something similar if the GOP keeps winning elections. I was a Reagan Republican, but I left the part in horror once I understood the dark path it was taking.

Anyone who watched the DNC should be able to see the crystal-clear difference between the two parties. The GOP has become a party of chauvinism, racism, homophobia, intolerance. The only people who will prosper under a Republican administration are the people who are already wealthy. But what happened to the top 1% in Germany, Italy and Japan, once they had their way? Their lust for more money and power was their own downfall.

By: BenDover on 9/7/12 at 10:13

We invaded in '03 because Iraq was in clear violation of the '91 cease fire; because the intelligence reports showed clearly the despot we were dealing with; because he was paying for terrorist attacks against ally nations; because he tried to assassinate an American President; and because we were fed up with Saddam continually playing cat and mouse with the inspectors AND our Troop escalations... that were the only thing that gained any cooperation from Saddam with the inspectors at all.

Given the circumstances and intel. it would have been irresponsible not to take this guy out.

By: Ummm... on 9/7/12 at 10:26

Wow- maybe Little Bennie doesn't have the two brain cells to rub together that we all seem to give him credit for. Take out Saddam- a two-bit dictator who poses absolutely no threat whatsoever, but insane Kim Jong Il can brandish his nuclear weapons with impunity? Your pretzel logic holds no water, Little Bennie. (But nice try at being "thoughtful and cogent.")

By: bfra on 9/7/12 at 10:31

Ben - Your 11:13 comment is so full of it! WMDs was the main reason given for bombing Iraq. No WMDs, even with all the false reports continuing, No WMDs. However, you did include 1 of baby Bush's reason, which all repubs denied, "Saddam tried to kill my daddy". It was an ill begotten war, caused by greed, money hungry & power hungry crazies in Bush's group.

By: Mike Burch on 9/7/12 at 10:31

Unfortunately here in the South the biggest problem we have, ironically, is our Christian churches. In the South, Americans are taught to take things on faith rather than think for themselves. Thus many southerners "know" things that are simply not true. They "know" that it is the will of God for Israeli Jews to dispossess Palestinians, leading to 911 and two unwinnable wars fought on false premises. They "know" that it is a "sin" to abort a pregnancy, even though in nature a high percentage of pregnancies do not come to term. They "know" that God prefers Jews to non-Jews, Christians to non-Christians, men to women, heterosexuals to homosexuals, etc.

This is what children are brainwashed to believe in our churches. Anyone who doesn't believe the Bible is threatened with an "eternal hell," a terrible idea for young children to process.

We don't allow religious people to sexually abuse innocent children, but we still allow witch doctors to abuse them emotionally, psychologically and spiritually, with a "hell" that was never once mentioned by the Hebrew prophets, or in Biblical chronologies covering thousands of years. Hell was a pagan Greek dogma created on purpose to brainwash and control the masses. Greek philosophers like Celsus pointed out that no wise man believed in hell, because they understood its purpose.

Today our children face possible extinction -- whether through war or climate change -- largely because we allow them to be brainwashed before they have the chance to think for themselves. I am a very intelligent person who has read widely and been published more than 1,400 times, and it took me nearly 50 years to deprogram myself. And it was a harrowing experience. So I feel incredible empathy for all the children I see toddling off to Sunday School to be taught that God and Jesus are intolerant bigots who send billions of people to hell if they think for themselves.

By: BenDover on 9/7/12 at 10:49

Actually all of those were very valid reasons for taking out Saddam. The Democratic leadership in congress and Bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate agreed.

After we went in though the question became do we finish the job or leave the country to certain civil war, collapse and chaos. It was the experience the country had in '91 that caused us so much trouble in the Iraq War because Bush 41 sparked an insurrection and then left the rebels and their families to be slaughtered en masse by Saddam. Needless to say they had trust issues as to whether we'd do the same thing again and it wasn't helped by the leading Democrats (the same ones who supported invasion) echoing Al Qaeda 'quagmire' propaganda for political gain all during the '04 campaign.

You guys don't even realize how much your whole world view is the product of a political and media spin-cycle that rewrites history as it happens.

By: Mike Burch on 9/7/12 at 10:54

You might try studying the REAL history of the Middle East.

Long before Saddam Hussein came to power, the US was funding and supporting terrorism in the Middle East.

Menachem Begin was the preeminent terrorist in the Middle East. He killed British civilians and Jews who wanted peace with Palestinians. Other prime ministers of Israel were members of terrorist organizations. They killed Brits, Jews and Arabs indiscriminately. But because Americans Jews had money and therefore political influence, the US donated more than 130 billion dollars in financial aid and advanced weapons to Israel's terrorists over the years.

Israel even attacked and nearly sank a US navy ship, the Liberty, killing more than 30 US sailors and wounding more than 100 others. If any Arab nation had done that, there would have been hell to pay. But because the terrorists were bribing American politicians, there was no US reprisal.

The CIA engineered a coup of the first real democracy in the Middle East: Iran's, in 1953. The elected leader of Iran had been TIME's man of the year, but when big oil wanted him taken out, our terrorists in the CIA took him out.

Our government then installed another terrorist as a puppet ruler: the Shah of Iran. That of course led to the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini, who hated the US for very good reasons. So we started supplying yet another terrorist with money and weapons: Saddam Hussein. He went to war with Iran as our ally, with more than a million people dying. So of course we are still at odds with Iran, not because Iranians hate us without reason, but because they distrust us for very good reasons.

To say that the US attacked Iraq because Saddam Hussein was a "terrorist" is laughable. As long as he committed acts of terrorism FOR the US, he was on our payroll. It was only when he stopped following our orders that our government decided to attack him and "secure" Iraq's oil fields.

The two biggest terrorists in the Middle East are Israel and the US, because they have by far the most military power, and are willing to kill anyone who resists their dominance. If our government acted with some degree of justice in the region, we could have peace with the Muslim world, but to date we have acted more like Hitler than Gandhi.

By: BenDover on 9/7/12 at 10:55

Violation of the cease fire was enough by itself. Bush's mistake was he went to the UN instead of just pulling the trigger like Clinton did in Kosovo and Iraq; and like your loving Obama did in Libya.

By: Ummm... on 9/7/12 at 10:57

Go easy on him, Mike. Little Bennie has a fragile ego (even though he considers his commentary "thoughtful and cogent").

By: BenDover on 9/7/12 at 10:58

Oh blow it out your @$$ Burch. I know all of that history and not one lick of it mattered in light of the potential threat Saddam posed and his history of 12 years of thwarting every UN sanction and Resolution ever thrown at him.

The only reason we met with any resistance in the Security Counsel was that Germany, France and Russia were exploiting the Oil for Food program.

By: BenDover on 9/7/12 at 11:03

"You might try studying the REAL history of the Middle East."

I want you to cut and paste one fact I've posted that's inaccurate, Burch

By: bfra on 9/7/12 at 11:06

Ben - Your advice to Mike should really be taken by you, you get more like yogi with every comment.

By: MusicCity615 on 9/7/12 at 11:12

mike is the epitome of a hypocrite. One week he writes a story how he thinks Christianity should be outlawed, then the next week he has the audacity to compare Romney to... Hitler? Burch writing propaganda outlaw a religion is exactly seems very Hitler like to me... but why argue? "I am a very intelligent person who has read widely and been published more than 1,400 times". Good for you. You still have a lot of hate in your heart, and quotes like the aforementioned make you a pompous @sshole.

If Burch saw an atheist making fun of / bullying a Christian for believing what he believed, Burch would say the atheist is justified in his actions.

If Burch saw a Christian making fun of / bullying an atheist, Burch would say that the Christian is Hitler and should go to jail.

By: MusicCity615 on 9/7/12 at 11:27

In the meantime-

US adds an anemic 96k jobs in August, July's actual jobs number reduced by over 100k, Unemployment is down because people have STOPPED looking for work, 88 million Americans are out of work, and America's debt is now over $16Trillion and counting (and obama wants to spend more money).

Democrat, Republican- these are horrible numbers. Obama states he wants "more time." More time for what? To spend more taxpayer money for his donors' failed businesses? More time to divide this country more than it already is? More time to NOT meet with his jobs council but play MORE golf?

The middle class obama loves to talk about has reduced under him, so why should we believe in him? Obama has spent more in 3 years than Bush did in 8!

By: dargent7 on 9/7/12 at 11:28

The 9:13am post by none other than Bend-Over is so full of crap.
So, Saddam was "playing cat 'n mouse" with the Imperial Stormtroopers aka, the USA.
So, what?
That's what these 5th century countries do.
They've got nothing else to do...desert, 120 degree temps, sand storms, ugly women, uglier men.
Let them be.
Want to spend $1. trillion +, 6,000 American lives, 20,000 maimed for life, to free the Iraqi people?
Like Cheney, Bush, Rummy gave a rat's ass about "the Iraqi people".
These same old white men want to suppress American women, their bodies, dictate laws criminalizing their actions, and want us to believe the Iraqi women need THEIR help?
If it wasn't so pathetic and sociopathic, it would be laughable.

By: Captain Nemo on 9/7/12 at 11:32

yogi is a no show and Ben steps up to bat...wow. Ben gives us plan D of why we went to war in Iraq, when the evidence shown that there were no WMD,s in Iraq. It was a bluff to keep Saddam's neighbors at bay.

Just admit it Ben, it was a lie.

By: dargent7 on 9/7/12 at 11:32

I'd rather have my President out on the golf course than in the Situation Room coniving and conspiring how to invade another foreign country and make it look like it was, "self-defense".

By: BenDover on 9/7/12 at 11:35

I believe that has been your position all along darge as you have been very consistent.

And your observation is clarified in hindsight.

But that was not the position of the vast majority of the people looking at the intelligence reports at the time, be they republican or democrat.

So the question again becomes, after the invasion what were our choices but to finish the job or abandon the Iraqi people again to ruthless despotism?

By: Captain Nemo on 9/7/12 at 11:36

MS615 is farther evidence that the far right is nervous about the election.

By: Captain Nemo on 9/7/12 at 11:37

yogi I will let you know when I am 15 mins away.

By: dargent7 on 9/7/12 at 11:38

11:58am Bullshit Bend-O.
Hans Blick was given access to inspect Hussein's nuclear arsenal.
Yes, he was screwed around with, but, so what? Enough to trump up the charges, "mushroom clouds", and tie him to 9/11 to fully engage in a full scale ground war?
SCUD missiles cannot reach his own borders, much less Israel. They fly off course or explode upon firing.
Why is it that Bush and Cheney didn't attend the coveted RNC?
Because they are failures and Romney didn't want America to be reminded of failure by his own party.
He just promises more of the same and wants those Oval Office keys very badly.

By: BenDover on 9/7/12 at 11:39

Staying the course with Obama means another $6,000,000,000,000 in debt + interest + inflation + the backloaded costs of Obamacare without any offsetting TARP repayments this time.

By: BenDover on 9/7/12 at 11:41

We're not arguing that darge... the question is that after we go in with a bi-partisan consensus based on flawed intel. what do we do next?

By: MusicCity615 on 9/7/12 at 11:52

Captain Nemo-

If you are going to disagree with me, at least use correct grammar. Thanks

By: Ummm... on 9/7/12 at 12:15

Sorry Little Bennie, but that's not the question at all. Although a few Democrats went along with Bush's sheer stupidity and jingoism, most did not- including our current president. That would make him much, much smarter than you and your Teapublican idiots who killed thousands of innocent people and wasted a trillion taxpayer dollars. But here you are, gleefully supporting a Mormon bishop who will start another boondoggle war with Iran as soon as he gets the chance. If there is a God, he never will.

By: Ummm... on 9/7/12 at 12:43

Oh, and by the way Little Bennie, it's the Security Council (not Counsel- that refers to a legal advisor). You're welcome.

By: Captain Nemo on 9/7/12 at 1:00

That is a come back MS615? You are as lame as yogi. You are evidence that the far right is worried. Your post shows fear and hate.

By: bfra on 9/7/12 at 1:54

Nemo - MS615 must be a fence sitter, here he is supporting Mittens, and otherwise, at every turn he is kissing Karl Dean's ...., who CLAIMS to be a democrat. So that makes MS615 wishy washy.


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text:
Up for Debate: Councilman's 'roundtable' meetings

Friday, June 8, 2012 at 12:37am

Councilman Steve Glover has scheduled public "roundtable" meetings at his office to discuss Mayor Karl Dean’s proposed budget with council colleagues to look for ways to reduce the proposed 53-cent property tax increase. Do you think this is a good and potentially productive idea, too little too late, or simply a convolution of the process? Do you think similar meetings should be held more often on other topics?

Filed under: City Voices
Tagged: Up for Debate

102 Comments on this post:

By: yogiman on 6/8/12 at 3:31

There's nothing wrong with public meetings as long as they are open to the public and advanced notice of such meetings are given to the public before they begin.

By: house_of_pain on 6/8/12 at 4:29

Howdy, folks. I ran into d7 at the market yesterday, and he chastised me for my extended absence. Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.
Have a great weekend.

By: dargent7 on 6/8/12 at 4:52

I was good to see "house". But he's covering up where we actually met.
It was really at Miranda's lounge in the lube section. Not at all similar to Pep Boy's car lubes.

By: dargent7 on 6/8/12 at 5:05

Weekend Update: The Tennessean just started charging $12.00 a month to access any story, op-ed, LTE's in their paper's Internet Ed.
Their circulation has dropped like everyone's, and these clowns don't want their internet edition for free.
The LTE's were always good, but the same sociopaths always responded. You wouldn't believe the b.s. attitudes they hold.
Just as well. Good-bye.

By: Loner on 6/8/12 at 5:13

Good morning, Nashville.

Good to see House_of_Pain posting again.

Had a great time at camp for the past 8 days.....stayed off the internet the whole time.

As far as the UFD topic of the day, I have no comment other than to say that it must be a very slow news day in Nashville this morning....a Councilman schedules a couple of meetings...so what? It's all just grandstanding anyway.

By: Rasputin72 on 6/8/12 at 5:17

I think the roundtable discussion will prove pointless. No one runs for public office that has a clue as to how to run a business. In the public sector these people turn to the brain matter at hand. Raising taxes is to them much easier than making ends meet.

By: Loner on 6/8/12 at 5:19

$12/month to access the Tennessean online? You can blow taps for that idea.....Dead On Arrival....IMO.

Darge, I'm going up to Northport, MI next week....Army buddy reunion....ever been up there? It's a ten hour drive from here.....looks like a scenic area.

By: Ummm... on 6/8/12 at 5:24

Welcome back, Loner. Same old, same old here. Uninteresting topics, insane rants by Yogi, etc., etc.

By: Loner on 6/8/12 at 5:26

Here's the big story of the day from Music City:

There are some things in this life that money simply cannot buy.....good health is one of them.

By: Loner on 6/8/12 at 5:30

Thanks, Ummm, it's good to be back here....troll droppings notwithstanding,

By: gdiafante on 6/8/12 at 5:31

Government shouldn't be run as a business. That's some of the reason why we're in this mess. Everyone keeps runnning their mouth about the intellectual deficit in this country...well it extends to business. Case in point: Wall Street.

As far as the round table...purely symbolic. Give the people the impression that they're involved in the process...make 'em happy. I do the same thing when my kids are upset...I distract them or make them think they're making a decision, when they're not. They buy it, Nashville will too.

By: dargent7 on 6/8/12 at 5:33

Northport? Never heard of it. What's it next to or close to that I may of heard of.
On the lake(s)? Going fishing or water skiing?

re: Bob Welch. Didn't know he lived in Nashville, or where. Peter Green's Mac was 10x better than the commercial Stivie Nicks/ Buckingham edition.
"Then Play On" and "Kiln House" are fantastic. (cir. 1972-75).

By: Loner on 6/8/12 at 5:38

Gd is right, government should not be run like a business, because it isn't a business....when we try to privatize government functions, you get sweetheart contracts...like the Corrections Corp. SNAFU.....or the Haliburton gravy train effect.

"Deregulation" and "Privatization" are the battle cries of the the One-Percenters and their dull-witted dupes....we tried that crap and it backfired.

By: Ummm... on 6/8/12 at 5:39

d7- I share your esteem for the early Fleetwood Mac music, but Peter Green left the band (and the planet, really - way too much acid) in 1970, right before Bob Welch joined in 1971.

By: Loner on 6/8/12 at 5:43

Northport is between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan...on a little spit of land....I think it's a resort type of place for high rollers....our host is quite wealthy, as I understand it....one of the "Magnificent Seven" (our old comcenter gang) made good, or so it seems....I better pack some Grey Poupon.

By: gdiafante on 6/8/12 at 5:46

Loner, ask Raspy about the proper etiquette when in the presence of a 1%er. I've heard that you can't look them directly in the eye and you must bow upon entry and exit or you'll be sorry...

By: dargent7 on 6/8/12 at 5:57

"Ummmm": When you google "Then Play On" and "Kiln House" no mention of Bob Welch. "Oh Well" is incredible.
Just Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood on drums (talk about acid), and McVie doing backing vocals. Buckingham, too.
I lost both CD's in San Diego. Probably get them at McKay's.

By: dargent7 on 6/8/12 at 6:03

L'ner: "is between"?
Lake Mich. in on the west side and Huron is on the east. Only 650 miles apart.

By: Ummm... on 6/8/12 at 6:03

d7- Buckingham joined the band at the same time as Stevie Nicks- he definitely wasn't there for "Oh Well." Welch was a major factor in "Future Games" (a great album), and "Bare Trees" (another winner).

By: Loner on 6/8/12 at 6:04

Good idea, Gd.

Hey, Rasp, are ascots back in style? Should I take some Cuban cigars to the shindig, or is that passe? I got my Navy blue, brass-buttoned blazer out of mothballs...the white slacks and boat shoes should set off my image nicely....any feedback on that?

By: yogiman on 6/8/12 at 6:07

"Say" what you wish about me, Ummm, it's easy to consider the source and ignore it. I must say I'm simply trying to educate idiots like you on the usurper in our Oval Office.

My biggest question is: Are they also in the communist party with him? If not, how can reasonably intelligent people so easily accept someone in our President's office they don't even know and who refuses to identify himself to the point of using fake papers for identity purposes?

I'm still trying to figure that out. Can you tell me why?

By: Loner on 6/8/12 at 6:10

Darge, here's the Google Map image:

It's actually on Lake Michigan...Grand Traverse Bay on one side...Lake MI on the other side.

By: Loner on 6/8/12 at 6:14

I thought the link would take you to a view of Northport, MI...apparently, it is a generic link. Looks like a good place to fish....or drink like one.

By: dargent7 on 6/8/12 at 6:17

L'ner: I know it from memory. Traverse City is way up North, along Lake Michigan.
Lake Huron is on the Detroit side, boarding Canada.
As a young faux black child, I vacationed on Lake Huron.

By: Ummm... on 6/8/12 at 6:21

Yogi called me an idiot. Now I can wear that badge of honor like you other normal folks.

By: gdiafante on 6/8/12 at 6:29

Now see Loner, didn't you miss this...I bet while you were away you didn't hear "usurper" once...I thought I did, but it was just a cat puking.

By: dargent7 on 6/8/12 at 6:29

How's the resident "5150" doing on that Romney family tree and ancestory project?
How's he comming along on the Mormon cult?
How's he doing on Bain Capital and how many cos. they carved up, broke up, sold off, bankrupted, and how many thouseands of employees lost their jobs?
Yet, Romney is running on, "I create jobs".
I'll take the Marxist Obama over him any day of the week.

By: dargent7 on 6/8/12 at 6:32

My personal favorite is, "usurpation".
He can't even spell what he does at adult bookstores.

By: gdiafante on 6/8/12 at 6:33

Yogi has problems with family trees that have more than one branch.

By: BenDover on 6/8/12 at 6:54

This is just a meeting for show. They will pass the tax increase and it will be for the maximum amount available without triggering the referendum.

By: dargent7 on 6/8/12 at 6:54

Yogi has a problem with Obama attending school in Indonesia. Since he went overseas, he renounced his US citizenship.
When Rhode Scholars go to Oxford England to study, like Clinton did, they also renouce their citizenship.
McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone. Just ouside Detroit.
Romney's dad was born in Mexico. Obama's in Kenya.
Romney was born in Detroit and Obama in Honolulu.
Yet, one is a "natural born citizen", the other is a nationalized citizen.
Something like that.
It's getting to the point where we should just hire the President of Toyota to run America.
American bred Presidents are either too stupid, corrupt, or incompetant to run a 350 million person entity like a co.

By: govskeptic on 6/8/12 at 7:13

Just another day of everything turning toward Yogi, what a waste of time but
if showing superiority is your thing, then fine. As to $12.00 per month for
the Gannett rag online, I'd predict a failure at $12.00 per year!

Since 2nd reading of the budget has already passed, one can expect nothing
but a little grandstanding by those seeking a different office or those
with a 2nd term to attempt in the future. The Mayor and his top council
leaders have had his budget and tax increase guaranteed for months now!

By: Rasputin72 on 6/8/12 at 7:24

LONER.......You can never go wrong with a blue blazer and gray slacks and a two color matching tie white or blue button down. I occasionally wear white slacks in May,June,July and August. I do not like white slacks and a sport coat of any type. When I wear white slacks it is always with a blue long sleeve shirt or very nice golf shirts.

I cannot say much for ascots as no one in my world ever wears one. I remember Guilford Dudley wearing one but Guilford was a man with ideas were similar to others I disagree with.
In the summer of course the shoe or choice for me is an Italian loafer with no socks. Church excluded of course.

I still prefer a suit and tie for anything related to business or pomp and circumstance.

By: Ummm... on 6/8/12 at 7:33

Rasputin- ever heard of a "rhetorical question?" (Geez Louise...)

By: yogiman on 6/8/12 at 7:35

You're saying Bill Clinton renounced his U.S. citizenship? What citizenship did he accept on his renouncement? I've never read, or heard, anything on that.

Oh, by the way; is Detroit boarding or bordering Canada?

By: yogiman on 6/8/12 at 7:36

Welcome to the club, Ummm. You have gained the honor of one among many on this site.

By: Rasputin72 on 6/8/12 at 7:40

Ummm.........Have you ever heard of "rhetorical satire" ? How about this? Has your resume ever attracted a call from a job opening paying more than $28,00 an hour?

By: yogiman on 6/8/12 at 7:41

Ugh. Wearing a tie, Rasputin72?

That's why I joined the Navy instead of one of the other services. We didn't have to wear a throat choker

By: gdiafante on 6/8/12 at 7:43

Gov, ever heard of the expression pot, meet kettle?

Rasp doesn't wear white after Labor Day...someone remind me, what is his position on gay marriage?

By: gdiafante on 6/8/12 at 7:44

No, I've never had a job paying $28,00...whatever that is...and you say you went to a private school? Seems they're in as bad shape as public schools...

By: BigPapa on 6/8/12 at 7:45

Government can use some management techniques & hiring & employment practices but it can ultimately NOT be run as a business because there is no check on on government like there is on private business.

If you only hire your friends and cronies in private business, eventually you will go broke and out of business, that's not true in government. You can do that in government and the division or department just gets a reputation as a bad place to be, but it just keeps rolling along- doing it's job very poorly.

By: Rasputin72 on 6/8/12 at 7:49

gdiafante..........I do not believe in marriage because of two things. The first being that the failure rate is 50% or just about the same as a slot machine, The second is that the divorce laws are such that placing your money in a slot machine seems like a good thing to do.

Therefore I do not care whether a man marries another man, a woman another woman or if a man marries a chicken.

By: Rasputin72 on 6/8/12 at 7:53

Gdiafante.........Enlighten me please? What private school are you speaking of ? I obviously am unfamiliar with the school of which you speak or type?

By: gdiafante on 6/8/12 at 7:53

Well, Papa, the problem with that is that the government has a PR problem. It's chic right now to bash the government, its workers and everything related to it, so why would anyone who's qualified want to work for the government?

I think that the government should be streamlined, but, as with anything, it would cost money to do it. Again, it's chic to criticize anything related to government costs, so you can forget that idea too.

IMO, most government workers salaries are not high (you're thinking of the cronies you mentioned in your previous posts). The incentive to work there has always been the benefits, be it health care or pension. Now, both are under attack. If you're not going to offer competive salaries, better than average health care and long-term pensions, what's the point? A sense of duty?

Nope, remember, the government worker has been demonized...

By: bfra on 6/8/12 at 7:54

Logical folks on this board, better put your wading boots on!

By: BenDover on 6/8/12 at 7:54

Why did the chicken cross the road?

By: yogiman on 6/8/12 at 7:54

I don't know about Gov, but I've never hear said expression "pot, meet kettle'. I have heard, many times, "pot calling kettle black" when one person was making a negative comment about a person they disagreed with.

By: BenDover on 6/8/12 at 7:56

To avoid Rasputin's betrothal...

By: Ummm... on 6/8/12 at 7:57

Rasputin, I am shocked (shocked, I say) that someone as materialistic as yourself hasn't got a "trophy wife." It seems so much in keeping with your value system. (Translation: So you couldn't find a woman that would have you, eh?)

By: Rasputin72 on 6/8/12 at 7:58

I have no problem with every government worker making 200,000 dollars a year plus benefits galore. The problem that I see would be that the average worker outside the government is making an average wage of 25% less and with fewer benefits. It is these workers that pay the majority of the $200,000 dollars a year.through taxation.

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How to Make Your Kids Love Maths

How to Make Your Kids Love Maths

I once wrote a post called How to help your child fall in love with maths (even if they hate it) in which I talked about how my children learn maths without a curriculum.

That was three years ago now. I’m pleased to say our approach is still going strong and that Cordie (12) and Jasper (11) love maths more than ever.

Today I thought I’d reflect on what aspects of our maths approach have been most successful, then in my next post I’ll share in more detail what each of my kids are doing for maths right now and what our maths plans are for their senior school years.

1. Let them ask questions

When I learned maths at school my goal was only ever to get the right answers. I would watch the teacher do an example, memorise the procedure and obediently do my sums. It never once occurred to me to ask why a particular maths method worked. (Or perhaps I just learned to suppress that curiosity very early on.)

When it came to exams, I crammed a bunch of procedures into my head, passed with A grades, then promptly forgot everything.  For the next 20 years I had nightmares about going into a maths exam unprepared and not being able to answer a single question.

In contrast, my kids have always been allowed – encouraged – to ask questions. To be honest, by this point there’s no stopping them. In maths, as in life, they don’t accept anything unless they know why. Yes, sometimes regret this. 😉

Over the years I’ve learned to anticipate their questions by encouraging them to work things out for themselves in the first place.

A few examples

So when Cordie wanted to know how the long division algorithm worked, we went in search of answers (thank you, Denise’s Cookie Factory Guide to Long Division).

In geometry, most textbooks just present formulae for the area of shapes. But I knew that my children would want to know why these worked, so we figured them out for ourselves (see below for more details).

How to make your kids love maths

And when we recently came upon trigonometry, Cordie not only wanted to know what this branch of maths was used for but also what all those strange words actually meant. Which was possibly the first time it had occurred to me that sin, cos and tan were anything other than magic buttons on a calculator that when pressed while reciting the appropriate incantation – ‘SohCahToa!’ – spewed out the correct answer.

Of course when your kids ask questions, you need to . . .

2.  Be willing to go off on tangents

The best thing about not following a curriculum is that you’re never tempted steamroll over your child’s curiosity in an effort to finish a bunch of material by the end of term.

So there’s always time for games…

How to make your kids love maths - Playing yahtzee
… like yahtzee to play with probability

And you have time to investigate questions, like ‘What’s the area of a non right-angled triangle?’ Which leads to several weeks of playing with shapes as you figure out the relationships between rectangles, parallelograms, triangles, trapeziums and even circles. Which means your kids never panic about forgetting a formula, because they know everything follows from cutting up a rectangle.

Having time to follow rabbit trails means you have time to explore questions like, ‘What’s trigonometry used for?’ Which leads you to research the history of trigonometry, from right back when ancient astronomers used it to calculate the positions of the stars, to how triangulation is used today in everything from MRI scanners to animation software.

And when your daughter who’s passionate about linguistics asks where the words sine, cosine and tangent come from, you can spend a pleasant half hour discovering how ‘sine’, like the word used to describe our facial cavities (sinuses) comes from the Sanskrit word for ‘bowstring’.

How to make your child love mathsOf course, your child may not be as interested as mine in the etymology of maths terms, but by following whatever it is they are interested in, you’ll deepen their understanding of what they’re learning and make it more memorable.

3. Do buddy maths

Since the early days of homeschooling right up until now when they’re 11 and 12, I’ve done maths alongside my children.

In this way I’ve been able to share my passion for maths, clear up any confusion as soon as it occurs, and head off boredom by moving on as soon as I can see a concept’s been mastered. (Plus of course I’m there to help navigate rabbit trails and answer ‘why’ questions.)

How to make your kids love maths Pythagoras
Pythagoras Lego proof – click image for details

4. Don’t drill them on maths facts (unless they ask you to)

This is a controversial one, and I won’t pretend I’ve never casually suggested to my kids how useful it might be for them to rote-learn their multiplication tables, but they were having none of it.

Jasper couldn’t see the point of memorising something he can quickly work out every time, and (like a lot of bright people) Cordie gets stressed by time pressure.

So I decided I may as well trust mathematicians like Jo Boaler who says that not drilling kids on maths facts is a sure way to increase both their maths confidence and their number sense.

“Drilling without understanding is harmful … I’m not saying that math facts aren’t important. I’m saying that math facts are best learned when we understand them and use them in different situations.”

Jo Boaler

Guess what? It worked! After years of having fun with numbers, neither of my children has a problem with doing rapid mental calculations – for numbers both below and above 12.

5. Do maths anywhere that works for your child

In an ideal world I’d teach my kids sitting down nicely at the table as they write neatly using pencil and paper. I’m easily distracted and repetitive movement in my peripheral vision drives me crazy.

However… as the adult I’ve had to adapt myself to accommodate how my kids learn best – on any given day.

So if my son wakes up with the wiggles and wants to do maths while he leaps  around on a giant ball, I take deep breaths, read problems aloud, and hold up a whiteboard for him.

IMG 2862w
We all learn best when we’re comfortable

I used to worry that Jasper would never be able to be still enough to write out his answers, but I’ve noticed that when his mind is sufficiently engaged he’s quick to grab a whiteboard to draw a diagram or scribble some notes to help him figure out a problem. As maths gets more complex (and interesting) I anticipate him naturally doing this more and more.

How to make your child love maths

* * *

How do you do maths in your house?

What approach to maths works best for your children?

I’d love to hear from you. 🙂

* * *

PS   Bonus maths story – For a behind-the-scenes story about what maths is really like in our house, hop over to my blog about life in a family that embraces its quirkiness, Laugh, Love, Learn.

PPS   Remember my maths nightmares? I haven’t had a single one since I started learning maths this way alongside my children!

Let’s Play Math  Denise Gaskins. A wonderful book all homeschoolers should read. See my review here.

What’s Math Got to Do with It?  (UK title The Elephant in the Classroom) Jo Boaler

Living maths activities we’ve done04

How to make a multiplication tower

How to make your child love maths - Multiplication towers

Fun with tessellations

Pythagoras for kids

How to make your child love maths - Pythagoras for kids

5 Days of maths playtime

How to make your kids love maths

How to teach maths without a curriculum

Let’s Play Math – My review of the book that has acted as our guidebook through our years of learning maths without a curriculum

When every day is maths playtime – Our living maths approach when my children were 8 and 9 years old

Living maths curriculum 2013-14

How to help your child fall in love with maths (even if they hate it)

How my autodidactic 9 year old is learning maths without a curriculum

How we do maths without a curriculum

How to make your child love maths - Maths without curriculum

Why we love Edward Zaccaro more than Khan Academy – About my 9 and 10 year olds’ favourite maths books

Maths – Why Faster Isn’t Smarter

Teaching trigonometry

Teaching trigonometry Resourceaholic. When you introduce your child to trig, I highly recommend printing off a set of logarithmic ratios in table form before you reach for the calculator, and that you start out with the kind of  approach outlined in this article.

Applications of trigonometry Dave’s short trig course

Origin of the terms Sine, Cosine, Tangent The Math Forum

How to use trigonometry to measure the height of a tree The Math Dude

Animated explanations for area of basic shapes I can’t find the one we used, but this is very similar. We cut the various shapes out of coloured card.

Times tables

Fluency Without Fear Jo Boaler, Fluency Without Fear

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10 thoughts on “How to Make Your Kids Love Maths

  1. I have way too many thoughts to get out coherently at the moment. I loved this post and my mind is full.
    But my main thought – I wish we lived round the corner from you and not on the other side of the world.
    And another one – upside-down table, rolling on a ball, pet on lap all while doing maths – yes, yes and yes.
    Yet another – questioning maths rules. Oh yes. “But Mum, don’t you think that there could be a situation, somewhere in this infinite universe, where that isn’t true? I don’t think we should assume it’s always true.” This was about all angles in a quadrilateral adding to 360.
    Last one for now – a super MOOC on Udacity called Intro to Physics. The presenter is really cool and he explains trig principles in relation to finding the circumference of the earth. This is easily one of the best MOOCs we’ve come across.

    Okay, that’s enough for now. I need to head over to your other blog :o)

    1. I loved your daughter’s question… and then when I saw it was about quadrilateral angles I laughed even more. 😂 Aren’t they wonderful?!

      Just checked out the physics MOOC … it looks gorgeous! I’d watch it just for the beautiful shots of Italy. It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for for Jasper, too – thank you!

      Oh and yes – me too re living round the corner! I shall come over there one day and we can talk nineteen to the dozen at each other (or is that just me?). In the meantime, hurray for technology. 🙂

  2. This post makes me happy. It gives me hope that the way I’ve wanted to teach math with my kiddos is the way I not only could teach math, but the way I probably should teach it, too. <3

    1. Thank you, Caitlin! I love Let’s Play Math. Yesterday a friend who’s preparing to become a school teacher asked me to help her prepare for her maths test. She’s nervous because she thinks she can’t do school maths (although she could do applied business maths perfectly well in her previous career). As I happily worked with my friend, I realised quite how much people like Denise Gaskins and Jo Boaler have helped redefine my relationship with maths. 🙂

  3. I miss seeing notifications in my email box letting me know that you’ve posted a new blog post. You inspire me and reading about your approach to homeschooling is always like a breath of fresh air.

    1. I always love hearing from you, Marla. How are you? Are your older children doing any travelling this summer? And how is your book going?

      Thank you for your encouragement, you’re so always so generous about my writing. I’d love to post here more often, but I seem to write quite slowly and Laugh, Love, Learn is still taking up lots of my time. You inspire me to come back here, though. 🙂

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text:
Wizards Sign Jannero Pargo

October 1, 2012

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed free agent guard Jannero Pargo. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not released.

“Jannero brings us veteran leadership and added depth to our backcourt,” said Grunfeld. “He is a hard-nosed competitor and proven outside shooter that will fit well with the mix of veterans and young players on our roster.”

Pargo (6-1, 185) holds career averages of 6.5 points, 2.0 assists and 1.5 rebounds per game while shooting .354 from three-point range in 429 games (18 starts). Originally undrafted out of the University of Arkansas, Pargo began his career in 2002 with the Los Angeles Lakers. He has also spent time with the Raptors, Bulls, Hornets and Hawks.

Pargo comes to Washington after spending the 2011-12 season with the Atlanta Hawks where he averaged 5.6 points, 1.9 assists and 1.5 rebounds while shooting .384 from three-point range in 50 games. The eight-year pro enjoyed his best season in 2006-07 with the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets when he appeared in all 82 games and averaged a career-high 9.2 points per game. He has averaged 5.8 points and 1.5 assists in 40 career playoff games with Lakers, Bulls, Hornets and Hawks.


text:
Video: Satellite shootdown video

By NBC News space analyst
Special to MSNBC
updated 2/27/2008 4:39:04 PM ET 2008-02-27T21:39:04

Last week's Pentagon operation to bring down a falling spy satellite may have been widely termed a "shootdown" of precision accuracy — but the reality is more complex, and much messier.

As military officials take stock of the event's physical and political fallout, it's worth dispelling some of the misconceptions and myths that could otherwise cloud the thinking of policymakers and the public during the debate over past and future "shootdowns."

Myth No. 1: The Navy missile shot down the satellite.

Reality: Hitting a satellite with a missile is not at all like hitting a bird with a bullet and watching it plummet to the ground. An orbiting satellite stays in orbit not because of its power or guidance, but merely because of its forward speed. An attack that does not substantially change that orbital velocity cannot drive the satellite out of orbit, no matter how much physical damage it does.

The only practical way to remove such targets from orbit is by slowing them down. In practice, that occurs as a result of air drag, an effect that can take hours, weeks, or centuries depending on the thickness of the air at the satellite’s altitude. Breaking a big spacecraft into smaller pieces does increase the effects of air drag — as demonstrated dramatically last week — but it is the key role of air drag that makes the critical causal link between "shooting" and "downing" the target.

Myth No. 2: Falling satellites aren’t really hazardous, and since they’ve never hurt anybody before, they were unlikely to hurt anybody this time. Hence, there must have been a secret "real reason" for the missile mission.

Reality: First, counting on a string of successfully dodging bullets is no open-ended guarantee of being bullet-proof forever. The odds have a way of catching up with you, and defying them is an all-too-common fallacy called “normalization of deviance.” At NASA, this attitude laid the foundation for the Challenger and Columbia shuttle disasters.

Second, it’s not true that past safe outcomes always occurred even when countries let their big satellites randomly fall to Earth. Just the opposite is true — for decades, major spacefaring powers have taken deliberate and expensive steps to mitigate the ground-impact hazards of satellites.

All Russian spacecraft and U.S. military satellites heavier than 15,000 pounds are deliberately steered into untraveled expanses of the far southern Pacific Ocean. NASA steered its Compton Gamma Ray Observatory into a precisely planned atmospheric re-entry in 2000, and tried (but failed) to do the same with the Skylab space station in 1978.

In last week's case, the Pentagon said it resorted to the missile-intercept option because the spy satellite's guidance system was inoperable. Now, the mix of motivations for making the missile attack can be debated — but the up-front official claim about mitigating hazard cannot be glibly dismissed.

Myth No. 3: The hydrazine on the spy satellite was unlikely to reach the ground in any concentration worth worrying about.

Reality: Space officials were so concerned about the satellite's full tank of hydrazine fuel because they believed it had frozen solid, due to the low temperatures aboard the spacecraft. They feared that the titanium-shielded "toxic iceberg" would survive intact all the way to the ground and disperse around the crash site, not in the upper atmosphere. Safety officials had never been faced with this type of falling material before.

Slideshow: Month in Space: January 2014 How dangerous is hydrazine? The chemical is considered toxic as well as flammable. U.S. space workers have indeed survived massive short-term dosing by the chemical during fueling accidents, but they did so due to the immediate application of pre-deployed safety measures.

The U.S. might have been held legally responsible for damage following the impact of such a hazardous cargo in a region with active agricultural exports or tourism.

As with the Palomares incident 42 years ago, in which two U.S. nuclear weapons fell to earth in Spain after an aircraft accident, people outside the region might be so spooked that they stop buying the regional exports and stop visiting its recreational facilities. The lost business alone could have cost hundreds of millions of dollars — compared with the estimated $60 million cost of the missile intercept.

Myth No. 4: The missile was aimed directly at the fuel tank, in order to pierce it and let the hazardous contents leak out.

Reality: Sure, the fuel tank was the missile's main target — but the missile didn’t have to hit the tank to crack it open. It’s hard to imagine how the warhead’s guidance system could have spotted the tank anyhow, inside the blob that was the image of the entire satellite. Hitting the target dead center and thus smashing the entire satellite to smithereens was the easiest way to ensure maximum damage to the tank.

Myth No. 5: The satellite disintegrated into more than 3,000 pieces because the fuel exploded.

Reality: Some Pentagon officials seemed to imply this, as evidence that they had achieved the goal of destroying the tank. But the kinetic energy involved in the ultra-high-speed collision was more than enough to impart enough force to cause the violent shattering — it certainly was orders of magnitude greater than the chemical energy that would have been liberated from the ignition of the entire fuel supply, even assuming it wasn’t frozen. That collisional energy was also the reason that some pieces of the target satellite got thrown forward so energetically, even though the missile hit the satellite from the front.

Most of the pieces fell through the atmosphere and burned up within a couple of days of the intercept. As of Tuesday, the Air Force Space Command was reportedly tracking 17 fragments that were still in orbit.

What's the harm in just letting all these myths lie? The danger is that the topic of weapons in space is a serious one requiring serious debate, especially in this election year. Hanging onto the technical myths could lead to misconceptions on one side of the debate ("our missiles were so accurate they could make a precision strike on the fuel tank") or the other ("the shootdown created a cloud of toxic debris that's still in orbit").

If we can "shoot down" the fuzzy thinking that has frustrated a serious exchange of views on this important national security issue, that would represent a much more enduring contribution to the safety of this planet than just protecting one random spot from half a ton of plummeting poison.

© 2013 MSNBC Interactive.  Reprints

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text:
updated 5/8/2008 12:14:37 PM ET 2008-05-08T16:14:37

A Greek cruise ship carrying more than 1,200 people headed for an Aegean island Thursday for an emergency inspection after its hull was damaged, officials said.

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The Ministry of Merchant Marine said the cruise liner Aquamarine had a 5-foot (1.5-meter) gash above the water line and was heading for the island of Milos at reduced speed.

Ministry spokesman Andreas Theofilou said the 872 passengers and 407 crew were not in any danger.

"There is no question regarding the safety of the ship or the people on board," he said.

Theofilou said the Aquamarine's captain informed ministry officials that the cruise ship scraped against a pier when sailing from its port of departure of Iraklio, Crete. The crew later inspected the hull and found the damage 8 feet (2.5 meters) above the water line.

"The ship has reduced speed and is expected to reach Milos in half an hour," Theofilou said.

The Aquamarine, which is operated by Louis Hellenic Cruises, had been heading for the resort island of Santorini, on the last day of a four-day cruise to the Aegean Sea islands and the Turkish port of Kusadasi.

Company spokesman Michalis Maratheftis said the ship brushed against the pier "due to winds and the absence of protective rubber fenders on the pier."

"The gash is well above the water line and there is no danger to the passengers," he said.

In April 2007, another cruise ship operated by Louis Hellenic hit rocks just off Santorini and sank hours later. Some 1,600 people, mostly American tourists, were evacuated from the Sea Diamond, but two French passengers were never found and are presumed drowned.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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