The Dragon and the George by Gordon Dickson: Book Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/11/dragon-and-george-by-gordon-dickson.html

It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis: Book Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/11/it-cant-happen-here-by-sinclair-lewis.html

Rabbit Redux by John Updike: Book Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/10/rabbit-redux-by-john-updike.html

The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer: Book Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/10/insidious-dr-fu-manchu-by-sax-rohmer.html

American Black Out: Movie Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/10/oh-movies-ive-seen-part-4.html

FahrenHYPE 9/11 and Michael Moore Hates America: Movie Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/10/oh-movies-ive-seen-part-4.html

Started: The Golden Fleece by Robert Graves

Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein: Book Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/10/starship-troopers-by-robert-heinlein.html

Peace Breaks Out by John Knowles: Book Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/10/peace-breaks-out-by-john-knowles.html

Caesar by Colleen McCullough: Book Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/09/caesar-by-colleen-mccullough.html

Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman: Book Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/09/crisis-on-infinite-earths-by-marv.html

So, you've probably already seen this already.  It's all over Twitter and Facebook:
Christianity Today, an influential evangelical magazine, says Trump ‘should be removed from office’
...and you might be thinking to yourself, "But why is this such a big deal? What even is Christianity Today and what are its biases and what is its history?"
Well, I've got you covered.  See HERE or HERE.

As for the text of the actual Christianity Today editorial:
I'm reluctant to give Christianity Today too much credit for saying the obvious at such a late date.  But this is the world we live in now. In a world where absolutely none of the Republicans voted to impeach Trump, and in a world where 99% of white evangelicals still support Trump, it is important that the most influential conservative evangelical Christian magazine has come out against Trump.  Maybe this will convince people who otherwise wouldn't have been convinced by the mainstream news?
At any rate, it's worth reading, and worth sharing with any white evangelicals in your circle:
The full article here:
Trump Should Be Removed from Office

And a quote to give you the flavor below:

But the facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.
The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.

Rosa by Jonathan Rabb: Book Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/09/rosa-by-jonathon-rabb.html

I've been on twitter recently, and I've been noticing that some people are getting a little bit too jubilant about this impeachment. 
So let's keep this in perspective.
Whatever happens, Trump has won.  You can mock him for being only the 3rd President to ever get impeached if you want, but he is still a U.S. President.
It's like if the Hamburglar got impeached.  Sure, you can be happy about the fact that the Hamburglar's getting impeached, but Geez Louise how did we ever get to a point where the Hamburglar is President?
Now, don't get me wrong, as I've said before, impeachment needed to be done.  Even if it is doomed to fail in the Senate, it needed to be done.  Some sort of message needed to be sent that this kind of behavior is unacceptable.
But, if it fails in the Senate (and all indications are that it will) then this will not materially affect Trump in any way. 
Also, the fact that not one Republican supported impeachment is a real worrying sign of just how bad things have gotten.
So what is everyone so happy about?  If this is treated as just some sort of symbolic victory to gloat about to the Republicans, then it will just get them madder and increase polarization in this country, and will likely increase Trump supporter's turnout in 2020. 
To re-iterate: I'm not saying (like some strategists have) that impeachment shouldn't have been done because it will increase Trump's 2020 chance.  Impeachment needed to be done.  But it should be treated as a solemn affair, not as an opportunity to dunk on Republicans or gloat about the misfortunes of our political rivals.

A friend posted this on Facebook today.
From the Atlantic:
The Doves Were Right. I Was Wrong.
Americans like me ignored—or scorned—protesters who warned of an endless quagmire in Afghanistan. Next time, we should listen to the critics.

First thought: "Finally, a prominent supporter of the war is admitting his mistake."
But actually, a close reading of the article reveals the author was just 21 years old at the beginning of the Afghanistan war.  Two years younger than myself.  Now he's a middle-aged columnist.

But then, that's how it goes.  The Afghanistan War is America's longest war ever.  We've all become old men while the Afghanistan War has been going on.  There are people who will be voting in the next election who weren't even born yet when the Afghanistan War started.

The Atlantic article, and The Washington Post article it references, are both must reads for finding out just how much this war has cost America, and what a complete disaster it has been from the beginning to now.

The obvious comparison is, of course, the Vietnam War.
People often say America lost the Vietnam War, but America never really lost.  We were the most powerful military in the world. There's no way we could ever have been defeated by a third-world nation of rice farmers.

But, we could never have won either.  There was no way we could invade a country we didn't understand, re-structure it so that it was just the way we liked it, and then leave and expect everything to stay like we had left it.  The moment we left Vietnam, the Vietnamese would just go back to structuring their society like they wanted.
We never really "lost" the war.  We could have stayed in Vietnam forever if we had wanted to.  But the one thing we couldn't do is leave and expect things to stay the way we had left them.

In the same way, we can stay in Afghanistan forever if we want to.  But there's no way we can ever win this war.

1632 by Eric Flint: Book Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/09/1632-by-eric-flint.html

I'm going to repeat myself slightly from an older post, but bear with me.

In 1995, Charles Murray was speaking at Calvin College.  One of our teachers offered us extra credit if we would go.  There was a lot of bad things in the news about Charles Murray at the time, but he completely charmed the audience (me included).  Everything he said in the speech seemed so reasonable and moderate, it was hard to imagine why so many people were upset with him.

In 2017, Charles Murray somehow got himself back into the spotlight.  If my memory of the chronology is correct, some students protested one of his speeches, and then Murray become one of the cause celebres for the anti-cancel culture movement.  Sam Harris had Charles Murray on his podcast.
I listened to that podcast episode in full, and commented on it in this post here.  I gave Murray a somewhat cautious, but largely favorable write-up in that post.  Murray came across as so reasonable and moderate, it was difficult to see why so many people were upset with him.

Enter Youtuber Shaun, who thoroughly takes apart Murray's book The Bell Curve and demonstrates why it is such bad science, and why Murray and his collaborator were deliberately skewing the data to fit their thesis.  And suddenly, it becomes clear why so many people have been upset with Murray.

I suspect the reason Charles Murray has been able to stay relevant for as long as he has is because he is so charming in person.  But perhaps appearing so moderate and reasonable in speeches and interviews is all  part of Murray's grift.  It allows him to mask the insidious arguments of "The Bell Curve" behind a facade of reasonableness and moderation.

At any rate, Shaun's video is definitely worth watching, for a thorough critique of all the problems with The Bell Curve.


The Bell Curve

From the Guardian:
Pensacola shooting: Saudi student kills three at Florida naval air station, says official

See, in relation, this post I wrote from 2017, in which I argued that Trump's Muslim ban didn't make any sense, because (I argued) Iranians, who haven't committed any acts of terrorism against US citizens, were included in the ban, but Saudi Arabian citizens, who have committed acts of terrorism, were not.included.

I bring this up, because I suspect somebody somewhere is going to argue that this incident is more evidence that the Muslim ban is necessary.  But actually it's evidence that Trump's Muslim ban is not working.

Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett: Book Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:

http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/08/thief-of-time-by-terry-pratchett.html

Lesson on Writing an Email (in the context of complaining about a restaurant)

(TESOL Worksheets--Writing)
[Note: The lead-in is self-plagiarized from HERE]

Google Drive Folder HERE
Lesson Plan: drive, docs, pub
Slideshow: slides, pub
Model Text: docs, pub
Handouts: docs, pub
Answer Keys: docs, pub

Regular Past Tense Pronunciation Lesson

(TESOL Worksheets--Past Simple, Pronunciation, CELTA Style Lesson Plans)

Google Drive Folder HERE
Lesson Plan: drive, docs, pub
Slideshow: slides, pub
Model Text: drive, docs, pub
Picture cards: drive, docs, pub
Card Game--Adapted from https://teachinggamesefl.com/2015/11/22/pronunciation-game-ed/ by Mike Asbury: drive, slides, pub
Update: Online version: slides, pub

Senator Bobby - Wild Thing - 45rpm Novelty! 1967

My 10th grade history teacher played this for us in class one day.  He was trying to make the point that nowadays the Kennedys are heavily mythologized, but back in their day, comedians used to get a lot of mileage out of mocking their idiosyncratic speech patterns.  After their assassinations, this kind of humor quickly went out of style, and they became  martyrs.

I was thinking about this today (for whatever reason it randomly popped into my head), and I thought, "Hmm.  I wonder if that old record my history teacher played for us is on Youtube."  Turns out, it is.



...It would have been back in 1993 and 1994 that I was taking 10th grade American history.  Strange to think that about the same distance of time now separates 2019 from 1994 as 1994 was separated from 1967.  I wonder if there are 10th grade high school history teachers now who are teaching their students about 1994.

Rabbit, Run by John Updike: Book Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/08/rabbit-run-by-john-updike.html

Jokes Using Comparative and Superlative Adjectives (and adverbs)

(TESOL Worksheets--Comparative Adjectives, Adverbs)
[I designed this originally to be used in a lesson with comparative and superlative adjectives, but upon closer inspection a number of these are actually adverbs.  Oh well.  I think it is still legitimate as a way to practice the comparative and superlative forms, even if the adjective/adverb distinction gets a bit muddled  All of the jokes are taken from my previous lessons on jokes--here, here and here.]

Google Drive Folder HERE
Slideshow: slides, pub
handout: docs, pub
Crossword Puzzle: drive
Crossword puzzle answers: drive



Jokes Using Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs

What kind of dog keeps the best time?

What gets bigger and bigger as you take more away from it?

What’s worse than finding a worm in your apple?

What animal is best at hitting a ball?

 What is the world's tallest building?

What is the fastest country in the world?

English is the most spoken language in the world.  But what is the least spoken language in the world?

What is the biggest kind of ant?

Two men were walking through the woods when they saw a bear.  The men ran.  The bear started chasing them.  "It's no use," said one man.  "We can't run faster than the bear."
"I don't have to run faster than the bear," said the second man.   "_________________________."

What kind of dog can jump higher than a building?

What’s the unluckiest kind of cat to have?

What is the longest word in the English language?

What gets wetter as it dries?

Reference Pronouns: Reading Skills Lesson

(TESOL Worksheets--Reading, Pronouns, CELTA Style Lesson Plans)

Google Drive Folder HERE
Lesson Plan: drive, docs, pub
Slideshow: slides, pub
Reading text: drive, docs, pub
Pictures: drive, docs, pub
Communicative Follow-Up: docs, pub

More, Less, Fewer: Lesson Plan

(TESOL Worksheets--More Less or Fewer, CELTA Style Lesson Plans)
[A simplified version of this lesson (made simpler for elementary students), which also re-uses this presentation]

Google  Drive Folder HERE
Lesson Plan: drive, docs, pub
Slideshow: slides, pub
Listening Script and Worksheets: docs, pub
Scrambled Sentences: drive, docs, pub
Update: Online version: slides, pub

The Second Tome Around Tag



Dane Reads Video HERE: https://youtu.be/MyVDfHItfPg

----------------------
QUESTIONS:
----------------------
1) Do you buy second hand books?
2) What is / was your latest purchase?
3) What condition do you find acceptable? ie, tatty or not tatty etc
4) After you have read said book, do you keep it for a re read or re donate it?
5) Do you have a favourite place you like to go to, when looking for second hand books?
6) Hardback or Paperback, do you have a preference?
7) Have you found any real gems?
8) OPTIONAL - Find a book from your shelves that you can donate to a good cause or your local Charity / Goodwill shops
9) Go ahead and tag some peeps!

Tag Playlist HERE:

Like, Hate, Love + Ving Lesson Plan

(TESOL Worksheets--Present Simple, Word Patterns, Gerunds, CELTA Style Lesson Plans)

Google Drive Folder HERE
Lesson Plan: drive, docs, pub
Slideshow: slides, pub
Model Text Story: drive, docs, pub
Like, love, hate table: drive, docs, pub
Human Bingo: drive, docs, pub
Update: Online version: slides, pub

Going To Lesson Plan

(TESOL Worksheets--Going to, CELTA Style Lesson Plans)

Google Drive Folder HERE
Lesson Plan: drive, docs, pub
Slideshow: slides, pub
Listening Activities: docs, pub
Picture Matching Activity: drive, docs, pub
Pictures listed in order of the listening (for teacher's reference): drive, docs, pub
Human Bingo: drive, docs, pub

Quantifiers for Countable and Uncountable Nouns (Updated)

(TESOL Worksheets--Countable and Uncountable Nouns, Quantifiers, adjectives, CELTA Style Lesson Plans)
[This is a revised, and hopefully improved, version of this lesson HERE].

Google Drive Folder HERE
Lesson Plan: drive, docs, pub
Slideshow: slides, pub
Human Bingo: drive, docs, pub
Quantifiers Cards: docs, pub
Quantifiers Matching Game: docs, pub
Countryside versus City Story: docs, pub

From the BBC:
Climate change: 'Bleak' outlook as carbon emissions gap grows
This is the kind of news that really should be dominating everything, but instead is buried as one of the minor stories on the BBC website.  The content, however, is devastating.

The Nosy BookTuber Tag!



I was tagged by Dane Reads in this video here: https://youtu.be/1XnKWviDlIM

----------------------
QUESTIONS:
----------------------

1. How many books have you read this year?

2. Of the books you've read which is your favorite? Which is your least favorite?

3. Do you have a favorite time and place that you like to read?

4. How many hours per day do you have the opportunity to read?

5. Do you read only physical books, e-books or audiobooks or a combination of either three?

6. What is your main pet peeve when trying to read?

7. What is the strangest place you have found yourself reading?

8. Are you a critical reader or do you read just for enjoyment?

Tags Playlist HERE

The Channel History Tag!



Dane Reads tagged me in this video: https://youtu.be/yaEOQmI1Ch0

----------------------
QUESTIONS:
----------------------
1. Tell us about your very first video and where you were in life when you filmed it.
2. Tell us about your most viewed video and what went into creating it.
3. Tell us about a video that you were most excited about when you finished it.
4. Tell us about a point in your BookTubing/AuthorTubing career that was particularly challenging either creatively or personally.
5. Tell us about a moment in your BookTubing/AuthorTubing career that was a high point for you, or something you’re particularly proud of.
6. Tell us about an aspect of being a content creator that you had to try really hard to get good at or are still struggling with.
7. Tell us a story that sticks out in your mind that happened as a result of you being a part of BookTube/AuthorTube.
8. Alright, you just spent however long talking about yourself. You’re awesome. We know. It’s why we watch your content. Tell us about someone else in the BookTube/AuthorTube community that you think deserves more attention than they get at the moment.

Tags Playlist HERE

From io9.gizmodo.com:
10 Cult Favorite (or Should-Be Cult Favorite) Movies Lurking on Disney+

I don't have a Disney+ subscription, but I did grow up on the Disney Channel in the 1980s.  (Back in the 1980s, the Disney Channel had a different format.  It was largely just a place to re-run old Disney content.)  And I have TONS of nostalgia for these old Disney movies.

So, here are my thoughts on io9.gizmodo's list:

1. The Black Hole (1979)

Oh, man! I love The Black Hole! I remember this got played on the Disney channel when I was in second grade, and I was so obsessed with it!

2. Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959)
I totally remember watching this off the Disney channel when I was young.  I love Darby O'Gill and the Little People

3. Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
Loved this movie when I was a kid.  This one and the sequel as well!

4. The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969)
Absolutely loved this movie when I was a kid.  Still love it.  I love the whole Dexter Riley trilogy. 

5. Return to Oz (1985)
This is a bit of strange one, but I do remember seeing it as a kid on the Disney channel and have fond memories of it.

6. Mr. Boogedy (1986)
I was just talking about this movie in a recent post.

7. The Black Cauldron (1985)
I've got tons of nostalgia for this movie.  As I mentioned here.

8. Flight of the Navigator (1986)
Oh man! I remember my grandma taking me to see this in the theatres back in 1986.  I absolutely loved this movie!

9. Fuzzbucket (1986)
Hmmm.... I don't think I remember this one actually...

10. The Cat From Outer Space (1978)
I've got vague memories of seeing this on the Disney channel when I was younger, but I don't remember anything about it.  It must not have made much of an impression on me.

Today in: Hey! I know that Guy! Gal!
Jewel, a friend of mine from the Melbourne days, is featured in the paper of record itself:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/22/arts/design/modern-origami-art.html

I found this interesting...
DEBATE: Bart Ehrman vs Mike Licona 2018



I know, I've already talked a lot about Bart Ehrman on this blog.  So there's not much new in this video that I haven't already talked about on this blog before.
But I found the back-and-forth nature of the debate interesting nevertheless.

HBO's Watchmen is Fine, You Guys Are Just Mean

I probably shouldn't be commenting on this, because I haven't seen the Watchmen TV series yet.  (I've only been able to catch one episode so far, on a week when my wife and daughter were out of town.  But having a baby around the house does not lend itself to regular TV viewing.  So I won't be watching the whole series anytime soon.)

But I found this video fascinating.  For one thing, it's a good exploration of the themes in the comic book.  (I was a johnny-come-lately to the comic book.  I didn't actually bother purchasing and reading it until 2009 when there was all the hype surrounding the movie coming out.  But being a geek, once I got into it, I really got into it.  And I read quite a bit about the history behind the characters, and about what Alan Moore was trying to deconstruct, and I found the whole thing fascinating.)

Secondly, I find this video interesting because it gets at the whole toxic anti-SJW fanboy culture now which seems to pervade everything geek related (Star Wars, Marvel, etc).  People are always complaining about how liberals are ruining their favorite franchise by making it woke, and this guy points out how ridiculous that complaint has become when it's about Watchmen.

...p.s., for my review of the 2009 Watchmen movie, see HERE.

This article from the New York Times is really a must read.  It does a good job of parsing out exactly what these emails mean:
Stephen Miller’s Sinister Syllabus
Leaked emails from 2015 and 2016 show one of Trump’s top advisers trying to teach Breitbart editors a thing or two about white nationalism.
To quote from part of it:

But suspecting Miller’s ideological allegiances is quite different than knowing them. In the absence of proof, there was room for plausible deniability. That’s how a conservative magazine editor could praise Miller as a “wunderkind” for his command of the “details” of immigration policy while dismissing evidence that Miller was once close to Richard Spencer, a prominent neo-Nazi.
With the emails — supplied by Katie McHugh, a former editor at Breitbart — we now know what Miller was reading and thinking about in the year before he joined the Trump campaign. And there’s no denying the nature of the material.

Also worth watching:
Does Stephen Miller Remain In The White House? | Morning Joe | MSNBC 



All of this is just further confirmation, if any were needed, that I was not too harsh last month when I wrote that there can no longer be any doubt that this is a fascist Presidency.

From uproxx.com:
‘Mr. Boogedy,’ The Weirdest-Looking Title On Disney+, Is Developing A Cult Following

Ha! I actually remember this from back in the day.  One of my classmates had taped it off of TV when it aired, and my 4th grade teacher showed this movie to the whole class.  (I don't now remember what it's educational was... I suspect my 4th grade teacher just wanted to kill time.)   Later in that same year, she also showed us the sequel.
...I don't believe I've seen it since then though...

(Funny how I can remember the movies I saw when I was 9 better than the movies I saw when I was 29.  I guess when you're younger, stuff makes a bigger impact on you.)

Today in Hey! I know that Guy!

...actually I'm stretching the definition of "know" here a little bit.  I went to the same high school as Justin Amash (he was 2 years younger than me).  I knew of him back in high school (the Amash brothers were locally famous within the high school.  They had a reputation for being highly intelligent and over-achievers). As far as I can remember I never spoke to him personally, but I definitely knew who he was back in high school
...whatever.  I'm counting it. Anyway...

From the Rolling Stone:
Justin Amash: The Last Republican in America

The article even references our old high school briefly:

...That familial influence, combined with his years in the Calvinist schools of West Michigan, shaped Amash into the libertarian he is today...

My own two cents:
Justin Amash is someone who people have difficulty classifying.
My own classification is that he is not an ally of the left.  He is a conservative.  But he is also honest.  And that makes him unique in Washington nowadays.
Sometimes being honest is more important than being ideological.  We need more politicians like Justin Amash, from all sides of the political spectrum.

'Global Trumpism': Bailouts, Brexit and battling climate change

In case anyone missed it, Whisky Prajer sent me this link the other day to save me from my depression in a previous post.

Things seem pretty dire, it's true. And it doesn't help if you are at all tapped into social media (and who among us is not?). But I appreciated an hour with this guy's POV -- he doesn't stint on the outrage, but also doesn't seem particularly discouraged by any of it either. And his Churchill quote was spot-on.

I've listened to the whole thing, and I can confirm it's worth checking out.  I'm not sure I agree with everything, but I did find it very entertaining and informative.

Actually for the full experience, watch his lecture first, and then listen to the radio interview as a follow-up.

Mark Blyth - Global Trumpism and the Future of the Global Economy

There's a lot in here, but among other things, there's also a glimmer of hope on climate change.  He believes that long term, systems will always end up doing what is in their best economic interests.  And addressing climate change is in our best economic interests, so sooner or later, we'll do the right thing.  "We'll get through this.  It's what we need."
...I sure hope so.  It's comforting to see he's so confident about it.

Although, he is also saying that we're going to have to hit a few disasters before people wake up.  (He's predicting that losing Miami is what is going to change public opinion.)  So even under his optimistic view, it won't be an entirely painless transition.
And, if you listen closely to him, he is still leaving open the option that we might all die from climate change.  But he doesn't seem to be overly concerned about it.  "Either this works, or we all die, so there's nothing to be concerned about."  (I'm paraphrasing, but only slightly.)

At any rate, a very informative and entertaining couple of hours.  Recommend you give it a listen.  (Put it on in the background while you're puttering around the apartment in the morning.)

DC Universe: Inheritance by Devin Grayson: Book Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/08/dc-universe-inheritance-by-devin.html

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand: Book Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/08/fountainhead-by-ayn-rand.html

I get another shout-out from Dane Reads.  It's much appreciated, as always.

November BookTube Shoutouts [10 CHANNELS]

Today in: Hey! I know that guy!

Featured in this video is one of my former co-workers from the Cambodia days.  (Not the girl, but the guy that she is singing to).
He has a background in music production--something he would occasionally talk about back when I was working with him as a teacher--but since then he's turned his energies full time into music production.  I believe he's still living in Cambodia, and works with both Cambodian artists and American artists.

(P.S.--Despite the fact that he's giving off a "big music star" vibe in this video, he's actually an incredibly friendly guy and easy to talk to.  I remember having several good conversations with him both in work and outside of work.)

Sexy - យូរី (OFFICIAL MV)

Nihilism

I grow increasingly depressed every day.

********************************************************

So the President's son has published a book called “Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us”.  This is the President's son, accusing half the country of thriving on hate and wanting to silence the other half.  Besides being blatantly untrue, this is the kind of rhetoric designed to divide the country and set us at each other's throats.  And the President is promoting it on twitter.

My son, @DonaldJTrumpJr is coming out with a new book, “Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us” – available tomorrow, November 5th! A great new book that I highly recommend for ALL to read. Go order it today!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 4, 2019

In some alternate universe somewhere, people are shocked that the President of the United States could engage in such divisive rhetoric instead of promoting a shared sense of civic virtue.  But of course it's not shocking. It's the new normal.

In other news, day after day more and more solid evidence is coming out that President Trump has engaged in blatant corruption and abuse of power.  All this mountain of evidence has done nothing to break the faith of Donald Trump's core supporters.  Donald Trump still enjoys the support of the Republican party, and conventional wisdom is that the Republican controlled Senate will never vote to impeach him.  So it looks like he's just going to get away with it.

From the New York Times:

Ninety-nine percent of white evangelicals and 98 percent of Republicans who rely on Fox News as their primary news source do not believe Mr. Trump should be impeached and removed, the survey found, compared with 94 percent of Republicans over all.

And I know we now live in a world in which different political groups now live in different realities, so very little facts are agreed upon.  Which makes discourse impossible.  But you can't tell me that Donald Trump's supporters believe that he is good for the country as a whole.  What they know is that politics is us against them, and that they view Donald Trump as one of "us" and he is hurting the "them", and that's more important than what is good for the country.

In other news, the U.S. is pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement.  It's difficult to overstate how devastating this is.  This, quite literary, could mean that the human race will not survive to the end of the century.
On CNN today: 11,000 scientists warn of 'untold suffering' caused by climate change

Even if everyone agreed on the need to take urgent action, it would still be difficult to beat the clock on the climate change apocalypse.  But we can't even agree that this is a crisis.

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In Brazil, the rainforest crisis continues.  Indigenous people who try to protect their rainforest are ambushed and gunned down by loggers.

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In New Delhi, the air has (once again) become so bad that the charts can not even measure it.  It is literally killing people to breathe the air.

The causes are a combination of traffic, farmers burning their crops, and fireworks set off for the Diwali festival.  

An Indian friend tells me that the government in the past had tried to ban fireworks for the Diwali festival, but the outcry from Hindus was so great that the government had to relent.  The fireworks must be set off, even if it means choking the people of New Delhi.

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In Saigon (where I live now) the air pollution is regularly at unsafe levels.  Yesterday on the expats Facebook page, someone posted the air quality number.  The comments were filled with surly people (both expats and Vietnamese) telling him to stop posting this, what was the point?  We all had to live in this pollution anyway, so why complain about it? One of the Vietnamese commenters wrote in a proverb: "You can't run from the sun"

In my apartment, I always worry about the baby.  We have the windows shut and the air-filter on constantly.  Our attempt to purify the air, however, is undercut by our Korean neighbor, who smokes in the hallway right outside our door.

I can some days hear him coughing--hacking--very loudly.  He sounds in pain.  But he keeps smoking.

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A college friend of mine--someone highly educated (a lawyer)--posted this to his Facebook page:

Dan SheaApril 6, 2016 · McGregor, FL, United States
From a Florida ER doctor:
Today I had a 25-year old with 8 kids - that's right 8, all Illegal Anchor Babies and she had the nicest nails, cell phone, hand bag, clothing, etc. She makes about $1,500 monthly for each; you do the math. I used to say, "We are the dumbest nation on earth," Now I must say and sadly admit: WE are the dumbest people on earth (that includes ME) For we Elected the Idiot Ideologues who have passed the Bills that allow this.
Sorry, but we need a Revolution, If the Illegal Immigrant is over 65, they can apply for SSI and Medicaid and get more than a woman on Social Security, who worked from 1944 until 2004. She is only getting $791 per month because she was born in 1924 and there's a 'catch 22' (notch) for her. It is interesting that the Federal Government provides a single refugee with a monthly allowance of $1,890. Each can also obtain an additional $580 in Social Assistance, for a total of $2,470 a month. This compares to a single pensioner, who after contributing to the growth and development of America for 40 to 50 years, can only receive a monthly maximum of $1,012 in Old Age Pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement.
Maybe our Pensioners should apply as Refugees! Consider sending this to all your American friends, so we can all be ticked off and maybe get the Refugees cut back to $1,012 and the Pensioners up to $2,470. Then we can enjoy some of the money we were forced to submit to the Government over the last 40 or 50 or 60 years.
PLEASE SHOW THIS TO EVERY AMERICAN TAXPAYER YOU KNOW

Right off the bat, anyone with any common sense should be able to tell this is ridiculous.  $1,500 for each kid?
But even if common sense weren't enough to make you suspicious, a simple Google search will find numerous sites debunking this.
Factcheck: A Mythical Florida Mom (And Other False Claims About Immigrants) 
and Snopes.com

But the post must have confirmed what my friend wanted to believe about immigrants--that they are all lazy, awful people sucking away our tax dollars, and so we are justified in hating them--and so he posted it without bothering to check it.

I posted the link to the factchecking sites in the comments of my friend's post.  He left the post up on his Facebook page anyway.

Snopes traces this urban legend through various iterations.  It started out as a Canadian story, then got changed through the years as various people added more and more exaggerations to it.

In September 2017, an April 2016 Facebook iteration of the rumor shared by Dan Shea began circulating once again. As of 13 September 2017, it had been shared well more than a quarter of a million times:

Actually it's up to 1.4 million shares now.

All by people who didn't bother to check if this was true, or didn't care.

Dan Shea, who created this rumor, obviously knew he was fabricating it since he added in some of his own flourishes from the original.  And if he didn't know before, he knows now, because his Facebook page is filled with people commenting and either factchecking him, or yelling abuse at him.  He seems to glorify in the notoriety rather than show any contrition.

And that's not even counting all the other websites this story is showing up at.  A simple Google search of "Today I had a 25-year old with 8 kids" will show this story popping up again and again and again.  It's obviously been making a lot of rounds.

From a Florida ER doctor:
Today I had a 25-year old with 8 kids - that's right 8, all Illegal Anchor Babies and she had the nicest nails, cell phone, hand bag, clothing, etc. She makes about $1,500 monthly for each; you do the math.u

— Julie Converses🇺🇸 ⭐⭐⭐ (@jat1020) April 11, 2019

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What has happened to people's civic virtue?  To the idea of community?  To the idea of all working together for the greater good?  To the idea of sacrificing your own self-interest for the benefit of society?

That sentiment existed at one time, right? 

Can we go back to that?

We are in danger of succumbing to nihilism.  In order to turn around from this, we need to think positively.  Value life.  Take care of your body.  Eat healthy.  Stop drinking. Stop smoking.  Take care of the environment.  Think about what is good for the country as a whole, not what is just good for your faction.  Think about what is good for the world as a whole.  Try to help other people, not to harm them.  Bring good into the world, not hate.

We can do this.  We can change things.  But first we need to stop the way we're currently living.  We can't survive like this.

Syllabus Design by David Nunan

(Book Review)

Started: October 23, 2019
Finished: October 31, 2019

Why I Read This Book
I read this book for professional development generally, and specifically for the Delta Module 3.
This book was frequently mentioned in Delta Module 3 reading lists. (Delta Module 3 is specifically focused on syllabus design).  And my school library had a copy of it, so I picked it up.

The other book frequently mentioned in Delta Module 3 reading lists which was in my school library was Designing Language Courses: A Guide for Teachers by Kathleen Graves.  I started reading Designing Language Courses around the same time, but I found that the style was a bit more discursive.  It was fairly pleasant to read, but not as information rich.  Since I was on a deadline with the Delta Module 3, I switched back to David Nunan.  Syllabus Design by David Nunan, at least in the initial chapters, was very heavy on the type of terminology necessary for Delta Module 3, so the time spent reading it was a lot easier to justify.  Furthermore in Kathleen Graves' book, she mentions Syllabus Design by David Nunan as the textbook she used to teach her class on syllabus design when she was still writing her own book.  So better to start with the original, I thought.  (Although I may later try to finish up Graves' books to see how she expands on Nunan's ideas.)

My History with the Author
I've never read anything by David Nunan cover to cover before (and so have never consequently reviewed him on this blog before).  But I've read parts of some of his books.  This essay on Bottom-Up and Top Down Listening for Elementary Learners required me to read part of his book Second Language Teaching & Learning, which I found very well-written and easy to read.

The Review
This book is part of the Language Teaching: A Scheme for Teacher Education series [LINK HERE].

I've previously reviewed one other book in this series: Speaking by Martin Bygate.  In my review of that book, I complained a lot about the format.
This book has the exact same format.  And so consequently, I have all of the same complaints again.
This book is divided into three sections.  The first section (p.1-71) introduces all the necessary theory.  The second section (p.75-133) is a self-study, which asks the reader to apply the theory critically to selections of real syllabuses through a series of guiding questions.  And the third section (p.137-157) is a series of suggestions for research tasks.
In terms of getting useful information, only the first section is of any value.  And perhaps if I had any sense, I would have stopped reading the book there.  Really the only reason I kept on trudging through the final 86 pages is because I have this quirk where I like to say I've read a book cover to cover so that I can review it on my blog.  But I got very little use out of it.

As with Speaking by Martin Bygate, this book is not really meant to be read so much as it's meant to be worked through.  Almost every page has TASKs that will pop up giving the reader questions to work through.

It's not unusual to have multiple tasks per page, as you can see from this excerpt of page 51.

This was much to my annoyance, because I'm the type of person who prefers just reading a book straight through without having to stop on every page to do tasks.
If there are going to be tasks in a book, I prefer that there be an answer key in the back (at least some of the tasks seemed like they should have clear right or wrong answers), or maybe some sort of commentary you could consult for the subjective questions.  But without being able to check my answers afterwards, I didn't see much point in doing the task.
So I just read through the book without doing any of the tasks.  Which for the most part meant that all the TASKs on every page were just an annoyance to me.
Occasionally, however, you do get the sense that David Nunan was using the task questions to heavily imply what he felt reluctant to say outright.  For example, after quoting Krashen and Terrell's hypothesizes on page 51, TASK 51 was:

Do you disagree with any of these principles?
Consider the principals you agree with: Do you think we need empirical evidence on these, or are they just common sense?
Do you think that Krashen and Terrell can legitimately claim authorship of principles such as 'develop communication skills'?
For which of the principles would you like to see firm evidence?

...so, this is essentially David Nunan saying that Krashen and Terrell don't have sufficient evidence for their claims, but doing it in the form of leading questions, right?

Also, as with Speaking by Martin Bygate, the TASKs are usually located after you've read through the relevant section.  For example, on page 67, there was a list of "Arguments against the use of performance objectives" followed by a list countering the arguments against the use of performance objectives.  As I read through the two lists, I kept wondering why the arguments in the second list didn't seem to line up with the arguments in the first list.  Until I got to TASK 65 on the following page: "Match the arguments from List A with the counter arguments from List B".  Ahh... so that's what I was supposed to be doing.  Why not just put that part first?
And this was a problem throughout the book.  It had also been a problem throughout Speaking by Martin Bygate, the other book I had read in the series.  So it appears to be a problem with the series in general.  Ironic.  You'd think if anyone would understand the concept of "task before text", it would be people working in the teacher training industry.

However, my complaints about the format of the book aside, I did find the information in section one to be pretty interesting.  I liked that David Nunan gave both the arguments for and the arguments against various types of syllabuses.  It got me thinking.
It was also, as I mentioned above, very terminology heavy.  So quite useful for anyone doing Delta Module 3.

Section 2 was examples of real-life syllabuses, to which the reader was supposed to apply the theory from section 1.  I think this could have been really interesting if there had been more guidance or a commentary.  But instead it was just all TASKs.
Without an answer key or commentary on the tasks, I'm not sure how much I would have gotten out of them even if I had done them.  But at any rate, I had no patience to do them.

The third section was all TASKs for independent research.  At this point, the book is no longer even trying to engage the reader.  It's just all lists of tasks, aims, resources, procedures, and evaluations.

I am so falling asleep right now as I read this....

...I complain, but really I have no one but myself to blame.  Clearly this book was not meant to be read straight through at a coffee shop.  It was meant to be used as a reference book.  You're only meant to skim it for relevant information for your essay.  Or, if your ambitious enough to actually do the TASKs, you can use it as a study guide.

I personally just have this weird quirk where I like to read books cover to cover and review them on my blog.  But no sane person need read this one cover-to-cover.

Other Notes

* Page 63, section 5.3 on performance objectives in language teaching had a curious last sentence.  I think it's a mistake, but let me know if I'm missing anything.  

So that last sentence should read: "specifying output rather than input", right?  Because it's based on the student's performance, so we're evaluating the output, right?

Video Review
Video review HERE and embedded below:



Link of the Day
Noam Chomsky on Jordan Peterson, Post-Modernism, Foucault and Ali G

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein: Book Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/07/stranger-in-strange-land-by-robert.html

Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow: Book Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/07/ragtime-by-el-doctorow.html

Paris Babylon: The Story of the Paris Commune by Rupert Christiansen: Book Review (Scripted)



Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2006/07/paris-babylon-by-rupert-christiansen.html