All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

On Book Bans

Blind Injustice

In the last several weeks, there’s been a lot of attention on the fact that some schools and school districts are banning books that they think are inappropriate for one reason or another. Proponents of banning certain books are arguing that by not allowing certain books in, their kids are somehow being “protected.” And then, on the other hand, opponents of the banned books are arguing that the banning of some of them in certain schools and school districts is shameful.

However, what gets lost in the whole discussion on book bans is the fact that the sense of protection that comes from book bans (among those in favor of the bans) is a false one.

But why would I say that?

Let’s think about the sorts of book bans that give some groups of parents a sense of protection: ones that focus on books with certain profanities, with certain…

View original post 604 more words

Minbari Mondays, and Two Lessons in “Exogenesis” (B5:s3e7) About Appearances…

Context, Thought, and Learning: ShiraDest Offers Project Do Better

       This week we are still learning to live with the fact that Ranger Mayann is prohibited from writing to us from Minbar. 

    This week’s lessons:

          1.  Voices, or even physical people, however similar, are not always the person they sound or look  like.

          2.  There are always creative things to do with Dyson’s ideas, even if not all of them were great, on the scale of good and bad ideas.

 

            So, while no Minbari appear in this episode, a Minbari fighting pike (that of Marcus) does.  And remember, kids, “things are not always what they seem” even when your ears tell you that that voice is …

   Knowing who to trust is one of the most difficult tasks in life, as Cmdr Ivanova knows.

    We see, also, in this episode that even a person whom we have known for years can change…

View original post 180 more words

The Imperialist War in Ukraine – Havana Times 

I don’t know if anyone still has any doubts about Vladimir Putin’s openly imperialist policy in Ukraine. He has invaded a sovereign country, a member of the United Nations.

He has used typical tricks that remind us of Hitler. After allegedly protecting the Russian-speaking people in Donetsk and Luhansk, that are the majority in only a third of the Donbas region, Putin wants to occupy all the region claimed by the separatist republics and annex the region, which is coal-rich.

Source: The Imperialist War in Ukraine – Havana Times

Why Vladimir Putin has already lost this war | Yuval Noah Harari | The Guardian

But the most important issue has already been decided. The last few days have proved to the entire world that Ukraine is a very real nation, that Ukrainians are a very real people, and that they definitely don’t want to live under a new Russian empire. The main question left open is how long it will take for this message to penetrate the Kremlin’s thick walls. Source: Why Vladimir Putin has already lost this war | Yuval Noah Harari | The Guardian