Mathématiques Noir + - × ÷ > < ≠

"Given a choice between two presidential candidates, we’re likely to choose the one who appears..."

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:30:39 -0500

“Given a choice between two presidential candidates, we’re likely to choose the one who appears more confident, regardless of whether or not she’s the wiser, better informed candidate. Leaders of nations, deeply confident in diametrically opposed positions, wage protracted wars with enormous human costs and no satisfactory resolutions.”

- Jason Gots

The Trouble With Confidence | Think Tank | Big Think

ebonymag: Black Men and Natural Hair. December 1967. 1967 was...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:45:44 -0500

ebonymag:

Black Men and Natural Hair. December 1967.

1967 was a good year for the short fro.

"Epidemics seldom end with miracle cures. Most of the time in the history of medicine, the best way..."

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:38:51 -0500

“Epidemics seldom end with miracle cures. Most of the time in the history of medicine, the best way to end disease was to build a better sewer and get people to wash their hands. “Merely chipping away at the problem around the edges” is usually the very best thing to do with a problem; keep chipping away patiently and, eventually, you get to its heart. To read the literature on crime before it dropped is to see the same kind of dystopian despair we find in the new literature of punishment: we’d have to end poverty, or eradicate the ghettos, or declare war on the broken family, or the like, in order to end the crime wave. The truth is, a series of small actions and events ended up eliminating a problem that seemed to hang over everything. There was no miracle cure, just the intercession of a thousand smaller sanities. Ending sentencing for drug misdemeanors, decriminalizing marijuana, leaving judges free to use common sense (and, where possible, getting judges who are judges rather than politicians)—many small acts are possible that will help end the epidemic of imprisonment as they helped end the plague of crime.”

- Adam Gopnik

Perfect.

Mass Incarceration and Criminal Justice in America : The New Yorker

"There is no plan in the current or proposed ESEA or in other federal legislation to stem the rapid..."

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:44:29 -0500

“There is no plan in the current or proposed ESEA or in other federal legislation to stem the rapid slide of families into poverty, homelessness and food insecurity; to address the inequitable distribution of state and local funds to schools; to improve teaching and learning conditions in underfunded, high-poverty schools; or to recruit and train expert teachers who will stay in these schools and stop the revolving door of untrained novices who leave children further behind. There are no significant investments in training to better prepare teachers to teach new English learners, students with disabilities and others with a range of needs.”

- Linda Darling-Hammond

Why Is Congress Redlining Our Schools? | The Nation

"The term “zero tolerance” was first coined during the Reagan presidency and the war on drugs in the..."

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:49:19 -0500

“The term “zero tolerance” was first coined during the Reagan presidency and the war on drugs in the 1980s. Congress enacted the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act in 1986, bringing the war on drugs to school with rules that mandated zero tolerance for any drugs or alcohol on public school grounds. During the Clinton administration, Congress took zero tolerance steps further, passing the 1994 Safe and Gun-Free Schools Act, which mandated a one-year expulsion for students who brought a firearm to school and pumped federal departments of Education and Justice funding into antiviolence programs. Youth, especially African American and Latino males, were considered by criminologists like James Q. Wilson and John Dilulio as superpredators who would fuel an explosive juvenile crime wave in coming decades. A half-dozen high-profile school shootings in the early 1990s, punctuated by the 1999 Columbine shootings, cemented the idea that young people and the public schools they inhabited were dangerous places indeed. Fear of school violence grew and has persisted despite the clear downward trend in documented incidents of violent crime in schools. Since 1993, according to reports issued annually by the National Center for Education Statistics, incidents of violence in school have been steadily dropping. It is a downward trend that echoes the same crime drop in the nation as a whole. But fear of crime in schools has trumped reality and common sense in shaping policies at the state and local school board levels. Zero tolerance, once focused on drugs, alcohol, and guns, now targets an ever-expanding range of behaviors.”

- Annette Fuentes

Arresting Development

"#25. Stop Being Afraid Fear will kill you dead. You’ve nothing to be afraid of that a little..."

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:39:19 -0500

“

#25. Stop Being Afraid

Fear will kill you dead. You’ve nothing to be afraid of that a little preparation and pragmatism cannot kill. Everybody who wanted to be a writer and didn’t become one failed based on one of two critical reasons: one, they were lazy, or two, they were afraid. Let’s take for granted you’re not lazy. That means you’re afraid. Fear is nonsense. What do you think is going to happen? You’re going to be eaten by tigers? Life will afford you lots of reasons to be afraid: bees, kidnappers, terrorism, being chewed apart by an escalator, Republicans, Snooki. But being a writer is nothing worthy of fear. It’s worthy of praise. And triumph. And fireworks. And shotguns. And a box of wine. So shove fear aside — let fear be gnawed upon by escalators and tigers. Step up to the plate. Let this be your year.

”

- 25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing

Seriously. Read this or else.

Moon.

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 00:34:49 -0500

Moon.

"I would like to thank the graduating class for having chosen me as your faculty speaker. I..."

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 00:08:36 -0500

“

I would like to thank the graduating class for having chosen me as your faculty speaker.

I wondered: Why me? I have been teaching math at Stuyvesant for 29 years and was never chosen before. By the way, 29 is a prime number. There are exactly two factors for 29: 1 and 29.

Maybe I was chosen for the approximately 5 basketballs that I confiscated from students during your four years at Stuyvesant. Or the 17 Frisbees I took away. Or the 113 decks of playing cards. Or the 257 cellphones I took away and brought to Miss Damesek’s office. In case you haven’t figured it out, all those numbers are prime numbers.

No, I don’t think so. I think that you heard three months ago that I have metastasized melanoma cancer in my lungs and that you wanted to honor me for my passion for teaching math. Thank you for honoring me.
Photograph courtesy of Stuyvesant High School

Even through all my problems, the best part of my day is teaching math. I have been teaching math for 43 years — another prime number — and still love it. I got lucky. I found a career that I really love.

I have been to many junior-high-school and high-school graduations as a teacher. However, the most important graduations for me were my children’s graduations. Yes, I am a parent of a son and a daughter. Teachers do it, too, you know.

Only when I attended my own children’s graduations did I realize how special parents find graduation. So give your parents a break today. Thank them for everything they have done for you. Let them take lots of pictures. Spend time with them. Let them enjoy it. In fact, please stand up, turn around, face your parents.

I have some homework for you. Assignment No. 1: Volunteer. Tutor for free. Volunteer to help a political candidate. Help your parents. Make dinner, baby-sit, say thank you. Give up your subway seat to someone who is elderly or disabled. Think of others.

Assignment No. 2: Find a career that you enjoy as much as I enjoy teaching math. You will be much happier with your life if you enjoy your job. And if your parents don’t like what you choose, that is their problem, not yours. When they see you happy in your life and career, they will be happy for you, too.

Assignment No. 3: Is 2011 a prime number?

I have loved being part of your four years of Stuyvesant. I have enjoyed watching you grow — physically, mentally and mathematically. I leave you with the following words:

Math is #1.

At 2 a.m. on the day he died, Richard Geller woke from a deep sleep and opened his eyes and began to speak. His son, Jason, was spending the night in the hospital and tried to make out what his father was saying. These would turn out to be the last words Richard Geller ever spoke, and Jason says it was hard to understand him. “Then I realized he was saying: ‘Take one and pass it down, take one and pass it down. Are there any questions?’”

”

- The Lives They Lived - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com

Inspiring!

"A New York State court rightly upheld a state law requiring that prison inmates be counted in their..."

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:13:33 -0500

“A New York State court rightly upheld a state law requiring that prison inmates be counted in their home communities rather than where they are incarcerated. The law, passed in 2010, put an end to prison-based gerrymandering, which counted nonvoting prison inmates as “residents” to increase the population of some legislative districts. That practice artificially inflated the political power of voting residents in prison districts and diluted the voting strength of voters elsewhere.”

- Prisons and Redistricting in New York - NYTimes.com

"I moved to the center of the room and assumed the position. I stared straight ahead. I tried to..."

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:01:21 -0500

“I moved to the center of the room and assumed the position. I stared straight ahead. I tried to brace myself for the blow, but nothing could have prepared me. Swat! The force of the impact nearly knocked me over. I rose on my toes to keep from falling forward. The pain of it crackled through my thin body. My vision blurred. The sound in the room grew muted as if I was listening from underwater. My temples throbbed. My nostrils flared. My nose ran and my eyes watered despite my best efforts to prevent it. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead. I was on fire. My body demanded that I scream, run, cry, do something. But I knew that I could do nothing. I stood firm. “Thanks — may I have another?” That is the way it is often portrayed in movies and literature. Orderly. But that was only an introduction, a test. The hazing sessions quickly accelerated to dangerous affairs beyond imagination or comprehension.”

- Charles Blow, keeping it way real.

The Brutal Side of Hazing - NYTimes.com

azizisbored: Aziz Ansari and Matthew Shawver present… Emojis...

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 09:45:15 -0500

azizisbored:

Aziz Ansari and Matthew Shawver present…

Emojis in Paris (N*ggas in Paris Remix)

Click here for hi res.

Ball so hard …

mckswift: felixsalmon: (via Apple’s massive Grand Central...

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:30:08 -0500

mckswift:

felixsalmon:

(via Apple’s massive Grand Central retail store draws big crowds ahead of 10am grand opening | 9to5Mac | Apple Intelligence)

This is really strange.

#OccupyGrandCentral … kinda

In 1995, Tupac was sued by the estate of a slain Texas Trooper....

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:28:01 -0500

In 1995, Tupac was sued by the estate of a slain Texas Trooper. The Trooper’s family claimed Tupac’s music incited police shootings.

Think.

"I’m frankly quite impressed with Occupy Wall Street, for it did in three months more than the..."

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:18:21 -0500

“I’m frankly quite impressed with Occupy Wall Street, for it did in three months more than the movement of the ’60s did in seven years. The growth and sheer span of their work can only be termed impressive. Over 100 cities? Damn. I think it’s too white, and too college-centric, but at least they’re doing something. For that, if nothing else, they are to be lauded. As for Afros and Latinos and Afro Latinos, I think it’s our job to enter those movements, and give ‘em input., issues and support. I think, if-if- all goes according to plan, this could very well be a turning point for this country, and by extension, the world (for what happens here radiates around the world, because it’s the center of empire). We should remember that every great rebellion in U.S. history led to change, albeit negative or positive. The great Shays Rebellion in Massachusetts, led to changes in the structure of the government, from the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution. The (Jacob) Coxey ‘Army’ of the 1890′s, while initially unsuccessful, was a direct cause of social security years later, for example.”

- - Mumian Abu Jamal speaks to dream hampton on the Occupy Movement

http://lifeandtimes.com/lock-my-body-cant-trap-my-mind

(via jonubian)

That sums it up quite nicely.

"What I do know is that as the events on 9/11 were happening, I sat in a university classroom when..."

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:54:06 -0500

“What I do know is that as the events on 9/11 were happening, I sat in a university classroom when multiple students got up and began to hysterically address the class that Arabs and Muslims were an uncontrollable cancer on this earth and that they finally needed to be put in their place. One student stared me down as she ranted in a panicked state. Two days later, at work I was singled out when one of my colleagues asked me in front of 20-30 people what my background was. When I told him that I was born and raised in America, he was dismissive and told me not to be evasive. So I told him that my parents were Pakistani. To which his follow up question was “And they are Muslim in Pakistan, right?” to which I nodded my head, to which he sounded out an assured “Mmhmmm.” One month later, I was called into my supervisors office and blamed for an incident that I was not present at work the day of the incident in question. Nevertheless, I was subsequently fired anyway.”

- Ayesha Kazmi

Why I Am Not Protesting at Occupy « AmericanPaki

"Perhaps my tears came from repressed anger toward a world that has told me all my life that because..."

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:46:54 -0500

“Perhaps my tears came from repressed anger toward a world that has told me all my life that because I am a woman I will never be good enough to play basketball with men who want to play with me, even if my skill level is the same or better than men. Perhaps my tears are direct reflections of me missing my father and wanting so desperately for him to have been there to defend me against other men. Perhaps I just thought that at thirty-years-old, I wouldn’t have to doubt myself and feel ashamed like I was twelve-years-old again. With all of my experience, education, and wisdom, the fact remains is that this shit still hurts.”

- Tara Conley

-smfh-

There’s no crying in intramural basketball, but there is gender discrimination

"But most notable in these findings is perhaps that although these parents wish for improved public..."

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:42:14 -0500

“But most notable in these findings is perhaps that although these parents wish for improved public education in their communities, they see themselves as the ones responsible for ensuring their children’s academic success. More than two-thirds of those surveyed blame parents and home life — rather than the school systems, teachers and government — for the high rates of high school dropouts and low rates of college completion.”

- Minority Parents On Education: Schools Need Reform, But Children’s Academic Success Is On Us

Not that I like the word “minority” …

Freddie Mercury as you’ve never seen him before. Maybe.

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 17:44:50 -0500

Freddie Mercury as you’ve never seen him before. Maybe.

alkestry: Juan Luis Guerra | A Pedir Su Mano I haven’t...

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 17:16:11 -0500

alkestry:

Juan Luis Guerra | A Pedir Su Mano

I haven’t posted a song in a while, and this is certainly the one to do it for …

nevver: Freedom of Choice [more] So much for...

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 17:14:45 -0500

nevver:

Freedom of Choice [more]

So much for “choosing” our media …