January 19, 2014

Green light comes Monday for public to delve into piles of files at Bush Library

Source: Dallas Morning News

The hulking archives at the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum have thus far sat as a veritable iceberg, with only a sliver being revealed through either museum exhibits or early document releases in the research room.

But the purveyors of history — academics, journalists and others — will soon get their first real chance to start chipping away at the repository that’s tucked deep inside the complex at Southern Methodist University.

Starting Monday — five years after George W. Bush left the White House — the archives of the 43rd presidency become subject to Freedom of Information Act requests.

Researchers are expected to send a flurry of queries, online or in person, on everything from the Iraq war to 9/11 to Bush’s AIDS relief program. Archivists hope they’ll see the payoff from years of advance work in processing and organizing the collection.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/metro/20140118-green-light-comes-monday-for-public-to-delve-into-piles-of-files-at-bush-library.ece

January 19, 2014

Austin--The Plan to Clean Up Dirty Sixth

A plan to transform “Dirty Sixth” into something other than Austin's most infamous place to get drunk is picking up steam.

Public Works Director Howard Lazarus is making the rounds with a presentation on different possible improvements to the stretch of East Sixth Street between I-35 and Congress Avenue. During a December Comprehensive Planning and Transportation Committee meeting, Howard said the goal is to make improvements that bring in a greater variety of businesses and clientele (i.e., not just shot bars and people who go to shot bars).

Jennifer Walker, a spokeswoman for the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau, said any effort to rid the street of its Dirty Sixth designation is welcomed by the bureau and local hospitality industry.

“Currently, {East Sixth Street} is attracting the type of visitor we don’t want to attract,” she said.

More at http://www.austinpost.org/article/east-6th-street-plan .

January 19, 2014

Houston man's pickup burns half-hour after he gets GM recall notice

Houston wrestling coach Allen Paul said he received a recall notice on his 2014 Chevy Silverado just 30 minutes before his truck burst into flames.

Paul said his truck slowed down and all of the dash interior lights came on as he was driving along Richmond around 7 p.m. Tuesday. It was then that he noticed a fireball under the hood.

Paul bolted from the cab and within 30 seconds he said the truck’s front end was engulfed in flames.

Late last week, General Motors issued around 370,000 recall letters for 2014 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks. A software malfunction makes an idling truck heat up to levels that can start a fast-moving fire, melting plastic parts and leading to total destruction of the vehicle, according to GM.

More at http://www.chron.com/cars/article/GM-recalls-370K-trucks-for-fire-risk-5152922.php .

January 19, 2014

What if the NFL logos were Hipsters?

Time to take the excellent logos that designers slaved over and tear them a new one. Time to take those sweet perfect icons of million dollar teams and contort them for the sake of a bad joke. Time to destroy what we love. It’s time to redesign the logos once again.

I teased twitter yesterday with an image of the Patriots logo as a Hipster. Well, that’s my goal this time. To take the logos and bring them back underground, before they were cool. I live in Portland, the Hipster Mecca (although Colorado/Washington legalizing weed has changed that) and I could use an outlet to stick it to the weirdos I deal with day in and day out. The logos are organized by division, in case one of them stumps you.

http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/2014/01/nfl-logos-hipsters.html

The Early Game @ 3:00 Eastern:

[div style="width:20%;"] Boston? Feh. I’m from Foxboro. You’ve probably never been there, it’s way out of the way in the middle of the woods. Only the right people get invited.

@

This ink on my neck represents my love of the obscure indie band Whiskey Anus. They broke up after one song but they will live forever.

The Late Game @ 6:30 Eastern:

[div style="width:20%;"] I only watch Organic football. Yeah, it’s more expensive, but it’s so much better for you. I can’t put that junk football in my body, do you even know what you’re doing to yourself with that? Gross.

@

I spend so much time in my local coffee shop they asked me to pay rent.

January 19, 2014

Drones delivering pizza? Not such a far-fetched idea

SARITA, TEXAS — If someday soon it’s possible to have a hot pizza delivered to your door by a drone, it may be because of work now underway on the remote and sandy shores of the Texas Gulf Coast.

There, where the extra-salty waters of the Gulf of Mexico push their way onto the fertile fields of the historic Kenedy Ranch along Laguna Madre, a team of acclaimed scientists and engineers is carefully researching how to fly airplanes without pilots. They’re conducting their research on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration in this unpopulated area, mainly so no one gets hurt.

To be clear, they’re not there to expedite an order of pepperoni with extra cheese to your house. In fact, many of the researchers bristle at the suggestion that in just a few years the work they’re doing with unmanned aircraft could lead to drones buzzing among birds, treetops and tall buildings, making restaurant and retail deliveries in major metro areas such as Dallas-Fort Worth, 500 miles to the north.

Instead, they say, the real benefit of unmanned aircraft will be in police work, firefighting and other public services — in which remote-control machines can gather intelligence without putting humans at risk.

More at http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/01/18/5496531/drones-delivering-pizza-not-such.html?rh=1 .

[font color=green]I have mixed feelings about this development since I was once a pizza delivery driver. However, if this business model ever goes into effect then I guess that I'll save a small fortune in the tips I give to the drivers.[/font]

January 19, 2014

Former NFL safety Sharper arrested in Los Angeles on suspicion of rape

LOS ANGELES — Former NFL star defensive back Darren Sharper has been arrested on suspicion of rape, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

Sharper was arrested and booked Friday and released on $200,000 bail just before midnight, according to the LAPD. He faces a Feb. 14 court appearance.

LAPD said it is investigating Sharper in connection with two sexual assaults that occurred in October and earlier this month in the West Los Angeles area.

New Orleans Police Department spokeswoman Remi Braden said Saturday in a statement that NOPD is also investigating an allegation of sexual assault filed against Sharper on Sept. 24.

More at http://blog.chron.com/ultimatetexans/2014/01/former-nfl-safety-sharper-arrested-in-los-angeles/ .

January 18, 2014

Truly learning math makes wise thinkers

[font color=green]The following article is an op-ed piece by Southwestern University President Dr. Edward Burger that appeared in the Austin American-Statesman on Dec. 27, 2013 and in the Houston Chronicle on Jan. 17, 2014. Dr. Burger is an award-winning professor in mathematics and has appeared in nearly 4,000 online video lessons.

For full disclosure purposes, I am an alumni of Southwestern University and a math major.[/font]

The question that educators and legislators in Texas should be discussing right now is not whether high school students should be required to take two years of algebra. This is an excellent example of investing time, money and effort to thoughtfully and carefully answer the wrong question.

The right questions for all of us are: What positive and profound lifelong habits of effective thinking are we offering within all of our math classes? And if the content of the algebra curriculum will be quickly forgotten after the last required exam (or even before), then why bother to offer any algebra?

Currently, too many of our math classes — as well as other classes — focus on mindless memorization and repetition that is designed to game a system focused on scores on standardized tests that measure the ability to perform a certain act — an act that requires neither deep understanding of the content nor the necessity to make meaning of the material. Like magic, the moment the final exam is over, poof, the material is forgotten and magically disappears. Think it’s a joke? Math educators know otherwise. The overlap in middle school algebra, Algebra I and Algebra II is conservatively around 60 percent, and more realistically around 75 percent. Our curriculum acknowledges its ineffectiveness at inviting students to make meaning of algebra: Those who study algebra in school are doomed to repeat it.

We need to replace our current math classes with meaningful mathematical experiences that teach students how to think through math rather than simply memorize formulas about math.

-snip-

When teachers give assignments, they should always be asking themselves “What permanent benefit — what habit of thinking — will students get out of this exercise?” Teachers should craft assignments that promote long-term goals such as understanding deeply, learning from mistakes, asking probing questions, and seeing the flow of ideas. In other words, instilling lifelong habits of effective thinking.

More at http://www.southwestern.edu/live/news/8830-making-math-meaningful-is-essential-but-missing .

Cross-posted in the Texas Group.

January 18, 2014

Truly learning math makes wise thinkers

[font color=green]The following article is an op-ed piece by Southwestern University President Dr. Edward Burger that appeared in the Austin American-Statesman on Dec. 27, 2013 and in the Houston Chronicle on Jan. 17, 2014. Dr. Burger is an award-winning professor in mathematics and has appeared in nearly 4,000 online video lessons.

For full disclosure purposes, I am an alumni of Southwestern University and a math major.[/font]

The question that educators and legislators in Texas should be discussing right now is not whether high school students should be required to take two years of algebra. This is an excellent example of investing time, money and effort to thoughtfully and carefully answer the wrong question.

The right questions for all of us are: What positive and profound lifelong habits of effective thinking are we offering within all of our math classes? And if the content of the algebra curriculum will be quickly forgotten after the last required exam (or even before), then why bother to offer any algebra?

Currently, too many of our math classes — as well as other classes — focus on mindless memorization and repetition that is designed to game a system focused on scores on standardized tests that measure the ability to perform a certain act — an act that requires neither deep understanding of the content nor the necessity to make meaning of the material. Like magic, the moment the final exam is over, poof, the material is forgotten and magically disappears. Think it’s a joke? Math educators know otherwise. The overlap in middle school algebra, Algebra I and Algebra II is conservatively around 60 percent, and more realistically around 75 percent. Our curriculum acknowledges its ineffectiveness at inviting students to make meaning of algebra: Those who study algebra in school are doomed to repeat it.

We need to replace our current math classes with meaningful mathematical experiences that teach students how to think through math rather than simply memorize formulas about math.

-snip-

When teachers give assignments, they should always be asking themselves “What permanent benefit — what habit of thinking — will students get out of this exercise?” Teachers should craft assignments that promote long-term goals such as understanding deeply, learning from mistakes, asking probing questions, and seeing the flow of ideas. In other words, instilling lifelong habits of effective thinking.

More at http://www.southwestern.edu/live/news/8830-making-math-meaningful-is-essential-but-missing .

Cross-posted in the Education Group.

January 18, 2014

Wendy Davis' primary opponent faces fine

AUSTIN — Reynaldo Madrigal, the only opponent of state Sen. Wendy Davis in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, will most likely receive at least a $500 fine for failing to file campaign finance reports on time.

The remainder of the story is behind the paywall at http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2014/jan/17/davis-opponent-faces-fine/ .

[font color=green]Madrigal is a 71-year-old photographer and ran campaigns for Democratic nominee for land commissioner in 2002 and mayor of Corpus Christi in 2011. He is also serving as a part-time judge for the Seadrift community.[/font]

January 18, 2014

Lubbock motel ordered closed after carbon monoxide noted in other rooms; one man deceased

A motel where one person was found dead Thursday morning, Jan. 16, has been told to shut down and repair gas-fired heaters after carbon monoxide was found in the air of other rooms Friday, the Lubbock Fire Marshal’s Office announced.

Atmos Energy, at the marshal’s request, disconnected gas service to the Budget Motel, 805 34th St., after the inspection.

The motel must remain closed until repairs are performed by licensed contractors and the business is re-inspected, according to a Lubbock Fire Rescue announcement.

First responders to a room at the motel Thursday found Harold Rutherford, 59, dead and a woman apparently suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.

More at http://lubbockonline.com/local-news/2014-01-17/motel-ordered-closed-after-carbon-monoxide-noted-other-rooms .