Philosophy etc.

PART I: It is quite interesting to consider what people actually take to be the aims and goals of becoming or being educated. What does it mean to receive an education? What are the aspirations of an educational system? President Obama addressed the centenary gathering of the Urban League today and chose as his central topic: "Education" . I'll not enjoin your attention to the minutia of his entire presentation, but instead try to engage several larger issues. Referring to education as an economic issue, as the POTUS did, may have merit, but merit of the most ancillary sort. It is a by-product of our consumerist culture which seeks the commodification of all social and cultural creations for the purpose of producing the most economically viable "products/things" which yield profit or material benefits. Our approach to education must resist this. To say that education has economic implications is trivially true. The field or study of economics is a social scie...

I do indeed appreciate CNN's attempt to keep us aware of the progress, or lack thereof, that some recovery efforts have made in Haiti following the horrific affects of the most recent earthquake there. But, . . . it is disconcerting that the voice of the Haitian peoples is being filtered, and often silenced, by the "perspectives" of non-Haitian, visiting inhabitants. The CNN staff could better serve their desire to inform its audience in this regard if they focused more on descriptive reporting, and let the "Nationals" of Haiti lend perspective from the vantage point of citizen inhabitants and residents. The residents of Haiti aren't merely residing in Haiti to report the stagnant food transfers and snail-paced reconstruction of the formerly anemic physical structures that had been demolished. The CNN reporters are primary candidates to provide this sort of information. The Haitian inhabitants are there for the long haul. We're willing to listen to them ...

RACE? Power? etc. Whatever it is, the manner by which the ideals and/or policies of the POTUS are criticized must locate higher ground. I thought that the rabid US nationalist ascribes "respect and honor" to the office of the presidency irrespective of its occupant. Well, Bush did get a lot of heat from his detractors, but it just doesn't seem to have the same vitriol as the remarks made against Pres. Obama. Race, Power, etc. Whatever it is, it reeks of inconsistency and utter disrespect.

Well, I guess the crowning of Steve Nash as "lord and savior" will have to wait at least two more games. To be sure, he is a good player, but might he be put in a broader historical basketball context? I really do prefer the current mayor of Sac, CA -- Kevin Johnson, as an all-around better point guard in the Phoenix uniform. But let's add Isaiah Thomas (irrespective of his antics as a teammate and basketball administrator), Magic Johnson, Tiny Archibold, Sam Jones, Dennis Johnson, Mo Cheeks, etc. Brother Nash is good, but is ALWAYS a defensive liability. I'll say more later, but this is enough to irritate his fans.

Somebody please explain the moral problematics with the "most recent" Catholic church fiasco!