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Common Errors in English & Unit Testing links for 2007-09-03

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2007 09 03 ernie Teaching Comments (0) Permalink

links for 2007-09-02

2007 09 02 ernie Recipes
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links for 2007-09-01

2007 09 01 ernie Interesting Web Sites Comments (0) Permalink

Remarks about Bush in the Toronto Star

Today’s Toronto Star contains an opinion piece titled “Bush’s woes ensure little will get done.” The piece discusses the situation that since Bush is unpopular, unsuccessful, and generally viewed as inept, that while the leaders of Mexico and Canada and Bush meeting today, it is likely that they will try to keep their distance from Bush and his ideas.

“Bush is viral,” says a long-time insider who has seen two generations of Canadian and Mexican leaders interact privately with this Uncle of Sam. “Politically, no one can afford to get too close to him.”

An infectious president creates two problems: One for the staggering process to advance shared North American interests, the other for a minority Prime Minister struggling for a majority.

Bush’s unpopularity makes it virtually certain leaders will leave the nearby Montebello resort having accomplished little more than deepening conspiracy theories that the security and prosperity agenda is a cover for accelerated continental integration. Sure, a final communiqué, both written and leaked before the meeting began, boasts new commitments to open borders, but progress on most of the 300-item, two-year-old to-do list is too small to measure.”

The piece also describes Bush as “crossbreed of elephant and lame-duck.” Well put.

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U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 3706
Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 1
Total 3707

DoD Confirmation List Latest Coalition Fatality: Aug 19, 2007

Source: Iraqi Coalition Casualty Count

2007 08 21 ernie Commentary
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American Student Physics Team

The online Washington Post has another great feature article today. This one is titled “Easy as Pi.” It describes the US Student Physics Team that participated in the 2007 International Physics Olympiad in Isfahan, Iran in July. The feature contains links to two video segments. One is a really nice piece in which the five members of the team describe themselves and their experiences. The other piece is a description of the team and competition by the two coaches. It’s well worth goign through this piece as it speaks to an appreciation and love of science, personal achievement, and an understanding of the human condition that comes form meeting and working with people from throughout the world.

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U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 3679
Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 5
Total 3684

DoD Confirmation List
Source: Iraqi Coalition Casualty Count

2007 08 10 ernie Commentary Comments (0) Permalink

Honey’s medicinal side

Today’s online Washington Post contains an article “Sweet Salve
Could Honey, an Ancient Remedy, Make a Comeback in Contemporary Wound Care?” by Erik Fred Trump,  that discusses some of the medicinal benefits of honey, especially when it is used to heal wounds and fight infections.

The benefits of using honey this way isn’t news for many of us, but it sure is nice to see the topic being picked up by medical researchers and the mainstream press.  As stated in the article ”

“All honey is medicinal to some extent. Its low water content allows it to draw fluid away from wounds; its high sugar content makes it difficult for microorganisms to grow. What’s more, worker bees secrete an enzyme, glucose oxidase, into nectar, which releases low levels of the disinfectant hydrogen peroxide when honey makes contact with a damp surface such as a wound. Because of a chemical reaction with tissue, honey also makes healing wounds smell good.

From the time of the ancient Sumerians, who prescribed a mix of river dust and honey for ailing eyes, until the early 20th century, honey was a conventional therapy in fighting infection, but its popularity waned with the advent in the mid-20th century of a potent, naturally occurring antibiotic: the blue-green mold penicillin.”

The article also notes that the current interest in honey as a curative is also related to our over-use of antibiotics.

” One reason for the heightened interest in honey is that traditional antibiotics are proving increasingly powerless against certain microbes.”

So thank the bees and help make the world a better place for them. Your life may very well depend on it.

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U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 3667
Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 12
Total 3679

DoD Confirmation List Latest Coalition Fatality: Aug 06, 2007

Source: Iraqi Coalition Casualty Count

2007 08 07 ernie Commentary Comments (0) Permalink

Worth Noting – Top 100 e-learning Tools

It’s a hot, humid August day so a snow scene is very welcome.

The top 100 e-learning tools gathered through a survey for the top 10 tools conducted by the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies. This collection has been mentioned else where, but it seems to me to be worth noting, so I’ve hopped on the bandwagon. The Centre also has a few other items to consider including

  • DIRECTORY OF LEARNING TOOLS which contains over 1,600 free and commercial tools ranging from “traditional” course development tools to 21st century (E-Learning 2.0) collaboration and sharing tools as well as tools for personal learning.
  • THE LEARNING TOOLBOX offers recommendations and suggestions of tools for creating learning solutions as well as for personal learning and working.

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U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 3655
Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 10
Total 3665

DoD Confirmation List Latest Coalition Fatality: Aug 02, 2007

Source: Iraqi Coalition Casualty Count

2007 08 04 ernie Interesting Web Sites
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Newfoundland Excursion #2

lighthouse woody pointWe’ve been out about a week, arriving in Newfoundland by ferry at Port Aux Basques on Friday, July 13, 2007. The trip across New Brunswick and Nova Scotia was fairly nice and without incident. Found a very good ice cream place, McCabe’s in New Brunswick, a very nice town named Sackville also in NB – with an excellent coffee house/cafe (Bridge St Cafe) , a worthwhile discount clothing store named Frenchy’s – part of a chain, and a good dinner in Antigonish.

We’ve been staying with out friends Barbara Chason and Bill Roberts,View of Woody Point first at their house in Corner Brook, then at their idyllic place in equally idyllic Woody Point, and now again at their home in Corner Brook. Woody Point seems wonderful. we’re thinking of staying for a month or longer next summer. It comes very close to our ideal of a village where we can spend the summer to read or write, with a community and some cultural events. We hiked around the town and the area, went swimming in a brook near the town, visited another town that faces the ocean, and sat out on the porch lst night watching stars and hearing a moose snort in the field next door.

Some unedited pics of our trip are available at my flickr

It’s off to Gros Morne National Park and then off to the northern peninsula of Newfoundland for a few days.

2007 07 15 ernie Travel Comments (0) Permalink

Newfoundland Excursion #1

Sundown in Winterton harbor, NewfoundlandFirst day out. All went well getting to our motel – Comfort Inn 279 Butler St. Brooklyn NY 11217 718 855 9600. It looks brand new. Found out this morning that it has been open 6-7 weeks, from a building engineer in the elevator this morning. All the staff seem very friendly and helpful (as they should be.) I had some concerns before we arrived since it seemed to be in an industrial neighborhood, but it seems fine.

Saw Oliver & Suzanne, and then picked up Karl & Eun-Ha and off we went to Al Di La, a great Italian restaurant in Brooklyn.

Tomorrow we head for Freeport ME.

It’s pretty late now so it’s time to turn in.

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U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 3598
Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 8
Total 3606

DoD Confirmation List Latest Coalition Fatality: Jul 08, 2007

Source: Iraqi Coalition Casualty Count

2007 07 10 ernie Travel Comments (0) Permalink

Counting the Days

Counting the days until January 20, 2009.

According to  timeanddate.com

From and including: Thursday, July 5, 2007
To, but not including : Tuesday, January 20, 2009
It is 565 days from the start date to the end date, but not including the end date
Or 1 year, 6 months, 15 days excluding the end date

The political cartoons available today through the Washington Post site featured commentary on distasteful and unappealing recent actions by Bush and Chaney.

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U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 3586
Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 4
Total 3590

DoD Confirmation List
Latest Coalition Fatality: Jul 05, 2007
Source: Iraqi Coalition Casualty Count

2007 07 05 ernie Commentary Comments (0) Permalink