Accidental Blogger
A general interest blog
Category: Educational, Cultural & Social Matters
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The story of Kaavya Viswanathan, the young Harvard sophomore who tripped up on her way to literary super stardom by accusations of plagiarism, is well known by now to the readers. Viswanathan’s book, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life contains several passages which appear to have been lifted from another…
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(Originally posted on December 2, 2005) If you could choose between extraordinary fame and fortune or the ability to turn invisible at will, which one would you opt for? A tough choice for most of us. All through life, we struggle between the twin tugs of seeking recognition and craving privacy. We spend much of…
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And in the "news out of Georgia" front, at least one concerned lunatic is trying to save the elementary school children of Gwinnett County from the satanic text of J.K. Rowling’s popular Harry Potter series. Why, Georgia? Why are you trying to make me hate you? I doubt this has made the national news, which…
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Most of us go through life with names chosen for us by someone else. But within that arrangement, we all make personal choices as to what we prefer to be called and by whom. By our middle name or the first. Joe or Joseph, Liz or Elizabeth, Ms or Mrs… it should really be the…
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The racial politics of education in Omaha, Nebraska has come full circle. An overwhelmingly white state, Nebraska’s minority population (African American, Asian and Hispanic) is roughly 10% as reported in the latest available census bureau statistics. Of this, the African American population is mostly concentrated in the two largest cities – Omaha and Lincoln. The…
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Perhaps this could serve as the last word on the debate over who is or is not an *American* and who should or should not be *allowed* to come to America and the recent brouhaha on legal / illegal immigration?
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An Indian textbook suggests that a man may do better by getting himself a donkey instead of a wife. The book, introduced in the central Indian state of Rajasthan which is governed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has sparked protests. The state government insists that the "donkey vs wife" comparison was made in…
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One oft repeated and widely accepted truism during the recent debate in Congress and marches on the streets regarding illegal immigration and the plight of undocumented workers in the US, is that there is little or no support for them among African Americans or recently arrived legal immigrants. The reasons for the supposed disaffection are:…
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We are just recovering from the anti Muslim Danish cartoons, anti Semitic Arab cartoons and other sundry stereotypes which had recently pitched world communities against each other. Today I came across a report that Egyptians, feeling frustrated and powerless against what they see as an anti-Arab/Muslim bias in American foreign policy, have taken to making…
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It should be obvious in this day and age never to put something in writing if you would not want your words to become part of the public record. Among the non-published forms of writing, this is perhaps especially true of email, which is so easily forwarded from person to person. One would especially expect…
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Here are two recent stories from Kansas. One is about the plight of Professor Paul Mirecki of KU who is caught in the midst of a humiliating and violent firestorm over his disparaging comments about Intelligent Design and the Christian right’s overbearing influence in Kansas. The other is the story of a 16 year old…
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