We've Got a Dog!

The New Haven Register is reporting that North Haven is getting its first police dog! And his name is Zeus! I think it's good for us to be independent in this regard.

"Going Mad in Herds"

Maureen Dowd's latest column, while a bit too clever in the beginning, is a pretty good indictment of where a portion of the national psyche seems to reside just now, focusing on a recent up-tick in the false and bigoted belief that our President is Muslim.

Definitely worth a read.

Summer Reading

If you or your children have not completed your summer reading yet, now is the time!

I'm currently working on a thriller or two myself.

One way or another, please make sure that your children do their necessary reading, for school and for their intellectual development.

Even better, be sure to let your children catch you reading. Your literacy has a very big impact on theirs, which in turn has a big impact on their future success.

What are you reading?

How Much Coverage is Enough?

Depending on what you watched Wednesday night, you got very different impressions of the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq:

Nowhere was the difference between the cable news networks on starker display than in prime-time coverage on the night the last American combat brigade left Iraq following a war that started seven years and five months ago.

MSNBC devoted its entire prime-time footprint to the story, with Richard Engel riding with the troops in a specially equipped vehicle and host Rachel Maddow based in Baghdad. Keith Olbermann anchored the coverage from a New York studio.

Fox News Channel devoted just under 10 minutes to the story, much of it during Shepard Smith's 7 p.m. newscast. The network spent 45 minutes discussing the potential construction of an Islamic cultural center near ground zero, while that story wasn't mentioned on MSNBC at all. CNN, meanwhile, spent an hour on each story.

The news decisions led critics of Fox and MSNBC to suggest politics was at play in the coverage decisions.

Source

Jon Stewart's Bold Take

I thought this fair-minded, bipartisan approach to the Ground Zero "mosque" issue was exactly what both sides need.



[click the image to see the clip]

While I'm on a Roll! TEACHERS...

I saw a discussion about teachers on Chris's blog this past week that I found interesting, and the conversation seemed to stop at a really crucial point. I would have liked to have seen it go forward.

Are teachers, overall, liberal or conservative?

A link was posted by one of the commenters ("Fed Up" or is it just "Fed" now?) showing research to this effect, and I found it really captivating. This research, conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) over the last several decades here in America, had some really interesting perspectives on where teachers fall on the political spectrum - in both directions - being both more conservative and more liberal than the regular public, depending upon the issue and the relative level of education to which they are compared.

I would highly recommend the read if you are either concerned about the state of education (as a parent or educator yourself) or if you have reason to fear the politicizing of the classroom, which I think we can all agree is a terrible thing, barring intolerance, in either direction.

Here it is - http://educationnext.org/american-teachers/

Thanks to Kyle Swartz and the Citizen!

http://northhaven.ctcitizens.com/story/north-haven%E2%80%99s-first-blog-news-junkie%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98must-read%E2%80%99

I am ashamed to admit that this blog has not received much of my attention in a consistent fashion. And quite honestly, no one has been clamoring at my inbox for my return, which is fine by me either way.

Anyways, I wanted to write because I was pleased to learn that I got a mention in today's article about Chris's blog, The North Haven Way. No doubt because either Chris mentioned it or Mr. Swartz was familiar with my small body of work. In any event, all notice is appreciated.

I have always applauded Chris on his dedication and persistence. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for his site and its forum, whether or not we all share common views.

If you have an interest in this blog's continuing, don't be shy. Let me know. :-)

Bravo to Chris Peterson

I am very much in the shadow of Chris's blog and for good reason. We've had our debates and disagreements, but there is no doubt that he has shown a consistent dedication to the maintenance of a local forum that I am not likely to match.

My applause is for his recent post defending our local teachers. As a mother and a parent, I have had reason to meet and interact with many of our town's teachers. They are as professional and compassionate a group of people as I have ever met. I personally have never received the impression that any of our teachers care about anything less than the very best possibilities and potentials of our collective children.

Therefore, I thank and applaud Chris because I know that such a position may cause him grief in this political climate and from his side of the political aisle.

Bravo.