Accidental Blogger
A general interest blog
Category: Educational, Cultural & Social Matters
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Here is a Goodness Gracious Me Christmas Special illustrating among other things the dangers of cultural relativism and political correctness gone haywire. The video is quite long. Watch the whole thing or fast forward to the last clip where a woman being chased by her knife wielding husband seeks shelter. (via Sepia Mutiny)
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The world of biology is throbbing with the excitement of ever new genetic discoveries – it is fast becoming a DNA driven world. Fine with me as long as we accept the findings as physiological facts and don’t make wild leaps of socio- anthropological faith from there. We cannot be sure which way the sharp…
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A School District Saga ( Concluded for now) A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to it’s true principles. …
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Barbara Forrest has issued a public statement regarding the firing of Chris Comer, the director of Science Education for the Texas Education Agency. Her full statement published by the National Center for Science Euducation can be seen here. I am copying the first few paragraphs from there which address the TEA’s motivation and stand regarding…
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The devout hang ’em high legislators of Texas have for long conducted a protracted battle with those who want to maintain a sense of balance, fairness and rationality in school curricula. They want to inject religion into schools every opportunity they see. The recent passing of Texas House Bill 3678 has fulfilled some of their…
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I had a similar debate at another blog many months ago but was reminded of it recently after a casual encounter. Earlier last month, during Diwali I met an Indian American man I know slightly who was on his way to a festive party to celebrate the occasion. He was dressed in a very elegant…
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I have from time to time posted suggestions and comments from readers who have contacted me via e-mail. Narayan Acharya came across an old post while browsing through A.B. recently. The article evoked a certain interesting correlation in his mind and he shared the following thoughts with me. I am publishing them with his permission.…
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The blurb on the website for the controversial Bodies exhibit reads : Celebrate the wonder of the human form in the World Premier of BODIES The Exhibition a phenomenal look at the phenomena we call the human body. With educational relevance for all ages, this exhibition of real human specimens immerses visitors in the complexities…
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Time to feast on those holiday leftovers, and to get ready for Shopocalypse!
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Except for two years in Germany, I have always lived in places where execution is legal for capital crimes. While western Europe, Canada, Mexico and some other nations have done away with the death penalty, most Islamic nations (some of whom still employ beheading and stoning as a means of execution), China, Japan, 37 states…
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My own children are grown up and most of my friends don’t have young kids. So I am a bit out of touch with the latest trends in "sensible" parenting. I used to be a "concerned" parent and have had my own share of "moments of terror" regarding safety which increased exponentially after the children…
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No, not a L’oreal commercial but a personal ad in Craig’s List supposedly posted by a young woman looking for a mate who can provide her with what she thinks she deserves. The ad elicited a response from a man who claims to fit the bill for the kind of spouse the woman is looking…
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Last year I reported the details of a convoluted "charitable scheme" designed by the Bush family to benefit one of their own at the expense of public funds. A.B. readers may have been among the first in the blogosphere to learn this, since the story broke in Houston and the Houston Independent School District’s funds…
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In my comments on Ruchira’s post on IQ below, I noted in passing Stanley Kaplan’s embodiment of the contradiction between the rewards, in aptitude test results, paid by effort and sociological factors, and the claims aptitude tests make to predictive value or to gaging innate aptitude; and the irony of that contradiction with respect to…
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Everyone must be aware by now of the uproar caused by the recent remarks made by James Watson, the Nobel Prize winner for the discovery of the structure of DNA. According to Watson, he feels "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence…
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