Angry for a Reason

Sea of Green

2009-06-18T01:56:00.000-07:00

Day 5 and indeed the protest is picking up steam. People have asked me, since I have friends in Tehran who (surprise, surprise) are highly political and were around for the 79 revolution if this protest is different then the last round in 99 which eventually fizzled. Indeed it is. It is not just students and it is not just the highly educated. It is spreading to everyone. Women in Chadors join Iran's opposition.

Boorghani is typical of the young reformists who initially backed Mousavi — but that support is growing to include grandmothers, government employees and hotel clerks.

The last time Iran was engulfed in similar anti-government action was a decade ago when a deadly raid on a Tehran University dorm sparked six days of nationwide protests. At the time, they were considered the worst since the 1979 revolution that toppled the pro-U.S. shah and brought hard-line clerics to power. But the student-driven movement eventually fizzled, leaving many people more bitter but the system intact.

This time, though, the protesters are not just affluent students and youth. The middle class is also flooding the streets and even conservative religious Iranians are joining the Mousavi supporters.

.......

"This (the Mousavi opposition) is completely different to 1999. That was between the students and the government. This is between the people and the government. This time it is all of Iran. This is a historic movement," Boorghani said.

Today at 4pm Tehran time there will be a silent march in honour of all the fallen protesters of the uprising. (That link gets updated with names as they become available. Dead bodies are taken from hospitals and thrown into the back of trucks and driven away before names can be taken so there are many unknown.)

A letter from an Iranian medical student:

Hello,

It’s painful to watch what’s happening.

I don’t want anything to do with what has been said this far, as I neither have the strength nor the resilience to face all these unfathomable events.

I only want to speak about what I have witnessed. I am a medical student. There was chaos last night at the trauma section in one of our main hospitals. Although by decree, all riot-related injuries were supposed to be sent to military hospitals, all other hospitals were filled to the rim. Last night, nine people died at our hospital and another 28 had gunshot wounds. All hospital employees were crying till dawn. They (government) removed the dead bodies on back of trucks, before we were even able to get their names or other information. What can you even say to the people who don’t even respect the dead. No one was allowed to speak to the wounded or get any information from them. This morning the faculty and the students protested by gathering at the lobby of the hospital where they were confronted by plain cloths anti-riot militia, who in turn closed off the hospital and imprisoned the staff. The extent of injuries are so grave, that despite being one of the most staffed emergency rooms, they’ve asked everyone to stay and help–I’m sure it will even be worst tonight.

What can anyone say in face of all these atrocities? What can you say to the family of the 13 year old boy who died from gunshots and whose dead body then disappeared?

This issue is not about cheating(election) anymore. This is not about stealing votes anymore. The issue is about a vast injustice inflected on the people. They’ve put a baton in the hand of every 13-14 year old to smash the faces of “the bunches who are less than dirt” (government is calling the people who are uprising dried-up torn and weeds) .

This is what sickens me from dealing with these issues. And from those who shut their eyes and close their ears and claim the riots are in opposition of the government and presidency!! No! The people’s complaint is against the egregious injustices committed against the people.

Today the Iranian football team wore green wristbands in a show of solidarity. They were forced to take them off at half-time.

Persianq is broadcasting live & recorded footage from the streets.

Tehran Bureau is an excellent source of information on what's going on in Tehran. You can also follow them on twitter at @TehranBureau.

If you're tweeting make sure you check Twitspam for a list of bad accounts, liars, gov't spooks, and people posting goatse in the #iranelection and #gr88 channels.

If you read Farsi better then I do here's a list of reliable bloggers and news sources in Farsi that are updating semi-regularly.

Youtube has finally buckled to pressure from the masses and relaxed it's standards in re Irani protest videos and has organised a channel dedicated to videos coming out of the Irani protests.

The Pirate, excuse me, Persian Bay has created a secure forum Why We Protest for Iranians and supporters to gather and talk.

Another pretty good site rounding up info and info on solidarity protests in various cities.

Reliable sources say that the Basiji are randomly attacking people in the street now and that they can be heard speaking Arabic and not Farsi. Rumours that the police and the militia will not attack their own people are true. Only foreign calls are allowed from gov't monitored landlines - will probably not get to talk to my friends, at least not about what's going on.

On Friday Khamenei will preside over Friday prayers. Iranians are calling for global day of solidarity. There will be a march in Tehran with Mousavi.

"Loyalty to one's country, always. Loyalty to one's government when it deserves it." -Mark Twain.

Let the revolution be here and the 30 year reign of terror in Iran be ending.

SEA OF GREEN! SOLIDARITY WITH IRAN!

(I'm too tired to continue - I was up to see the Iran/S. Korea match at 0400 my time this morning. UGH. More as I come upon it.)

This blog has gone green for Iran

2009-06-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

So everyone should be aware that the protests in Iran are not stopping and in fact in many ways have picked up steam. At the protests on the 15th flyers were being circulated with a list of demands:

7 point statement distributed among the protesters in Tehran today:

Dismissal of Khamenei for not being a fair leader
Dismissal of Ahmadinejad for his illegal acts
Temporary appointment of Ayatollah Montazeri as the Supreme Leader
Recognition of Mousavi as the President
Forming the Cabinet by Mousavi to prepare for revising the Constitution
unconditional and immediate release of all political prisoners
Dissolution of all organs of repression, public or secret

Ayatollah Montazeri has released a statement saying that no sane person should accept these results. There have been several reports from trusted sources that the night before Ahmadinejad's victory announcement Mousavi was called and told that he had won with a 57% majority.

Translation: "We write Mousavi, they read Ahmadinejad"

All sorts of communication: SMS, cell phones, texts, internet (twitter & facebook & the like), etc, are all being blocked by the Iranian government. They are also searching for the IP addresses and locations of twitterers and bloggers. If you want to help by setting up a proxy go here for instructions in Windows and a link to instructions for Linux, and here for instructions for Macs. There's instructions to get your IP info to people tweeting/blogging from Iran. I used mine for my friends I met there when I visited way back in the 90s. Whoever they share it with I trust. If you do this do not publish it anywhere public. Also if you are on Twitter please change your location to Tehran and your local time to GMT +03:30. Flood them with targets to hide the actual twitterers.

To follow on twitter the hashtags are #iranelection (which we know is being monitored so be careful - don't RT using the names of any Iranian tweeters), and #gr88 (which we should assume is being monitored as well). I recommend following @persiankiwi as well.

Best of Tweets live round-up
Live-blogging the Uprising (huffpo) Best place to find videos and stuff
A comprehensive breakdown of the current situation in Iran including timeline
Pictures showing that candidates lost votes as the day went on
Why We Protest.net Links for rallies around the world, info, etc.

Rally in Tehran

Also people are pressuring Google to follow in the BBC's footsteps and go green in support of the protesting Iranians. Do what you can. If I have anything that I think is not publicised well enough I will post it here.

Protesters take on the police:

(now this is what you do. They were outnumbered, but they didn't let a few police stop them.)

Wear Green, show your support. The BBC went green (for some reason they have since reverted).

WARNING: This is a video of a man being beaten by the police.

Hopefully the genie is out of the bottle and the revolution and overthrow of Ayatollah Khomeni and his religious thugs will occur. To everyone in Iran: stay safe. To my friends in Iran who will probably not get to read this: you are constantly in my thoughts and in my heart I am there standing by your side on those streets.

I'll be back soon, but in the meantime

2009-05-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

All you British Colombians:

You need to vote on May 12th. First off, Campbell's an ass whose very image induces a blind rage in me, but even if you're not interested in that, we need you to VOTE YES ON STV!

Here's some propaganda:

See you all soon - APS meeting this weekend, and I'm printing the poster Tuesday (the day you should all be voting) so I'll have that time stuff.

They'd never show that this side of the pond

2009-04-02T14:47:00.000-07:00

Keira Knightley's Domestic Violence PSA (it may be triggering)

Got my first acceptance letter

2009-03-30T01:08:00.001-07:00

It's from Clemson University. WOO WOO.

Still waiting to hear back from my first and second choices: SUNY Stonybrook and UH Manoa.

Also starting in on crunch time for my research. The APS meeting is the weekend of May 12th/13th and I will be presenting then. I've got some great stuff about how to improve teaching methods and retention rates for women in STEM from various studies and C.M. Steeles' work on stereotype threat. More on this later.

A little late, but here's something for Int'l Women's Day

2009-03-10T22:18:00.001-07:00

I wrote it as an assignment for a math history class. I could have kept writing. Sophie Germain ROCKS! (and it's written for non-math people to read so if you want to read about a brilliant woman from Revolutionary France here you go!)

Sophie Germain – Revolutionary Mathematician

The streets of Paris were bustling with people. Marie-Madeleine Gruguelin was on an outing to the market with and her two oldest daughters, Marie-Madeleine and Marie-Sophie (just “Sophie” to avoid confusion with all the other Maries in the house) were on an outing to the market. Marie-Madeleine was reticent about taking the girls out, as the air was electric. There had been bread riots occurring with more frequency lately, the King was bankrupt, and the Estates Général had been called for the first time in a hundred and fifty years. Her husband, Ambroise-Francois Germain was asked to serve in the Estates Général, a group composed of what were called the three estates: the clergy, the 1st estate, the nobility, the 2nd estate, and the middle class, which included her husband, the 3rd estate. Everywhere people were writing pamphlets and petitions on their plights to the King. Many were unhappy with what they perceived as a lack of representation in the Estates Général. Marie-Madeleine had to concede that they would always be outvoted due to the structure of the system.
The price of bread had gone up again and Marie-Madeleine feared another bread riot. The women of the working class would instigate these whenever the prices got too high. It didn't affect her family that much as her husband had done well as a silk merchant. There was an assembly outside the Church of Sainte Geneviève; the working women saw her as their own saint. They were there in support of the Estates Général and inadvertently her husband. They were here some days and in front of City Hall other days.

“Maman, why are there so many people here?” Marie-Madeleine asked.

“They're here supporting your father,” her mother replied. “Move along, we've got to get home soon. Your little sister is waiting.”

They made their way down La Rue Clovis back to their apartment. Marie-Madeleine was taking her daughters out less and less these days and refused to take her youngest out at all. There were groups of people amassing on every street, and there were more people begging for food, for work, for money. Food prices were going up, as were taxes. There was so much unrest among the people and many with an overabundance of time on their hands due to the lack of jobs. There were often meetings held at their house. Her husband was among one of the liberal social reformers and he invited many like-minded people over for meetings. Ambroise frequently held meetings in the house with other like-minded individuals. She would continually find Sophie eavesdropping in on the meetings, entranced by what was going on. After a few tries she gave up on trying to keep her away – Sophie would always find a way to sneak back to them. None of her other daughters took any notice of the meetings except to complain that they couldn’t use the front room during these times. Sophie, despite her age, had a keen interest in the tumultuousness happening on the streets of Paris. And she had the opportunity to get the latest news from her father often in these meetings. Ambroise found it amusing that his 13-year-old daughter took such a keen interest in politics. At least this was all she was doing, Marie-Madeleine thought. After all, she could be taking to the streets to find her information and the meetings in the house were much different then those in the street. The air was becoming more desperate and Marie-Madeleine hoped for change to come soon and come peacefully, but she feared the worst. It would only be a matter of months before the Germains would be keeping their daughters inside continually.

In July of 1789 Marie-Madeleine's fears of a violent uprising came to fruition. That afternoon a group of armed people stormed the Bastille, which led to a day of bloody combat and several assassinations. Though they were part of the Third Estate, Marie-Madeleine and Ambroise-Francois felt that it would be best if they kept their children confined to the house until the city calmed down. The children did not react well to this decision. What would they do imprisoned in this house day in and day out with no end in site? Sophie took to her father's immense library to stave off the boredom. She read through everything she could.

It was here that she found a book by J.E. Montucia, History of Mathematics, and in it the story of a man named Archimedes (Osen). Sophie delighted in the odd stories of this man and his inventions, his refusals to take baths, and his obsession with mathematics. But this was not the best part of the story. It was not until she read of Archimedes' demise that she became engrossed with mathematics. The story of Archimedes' death was that as the Romans were capturing his city he was engrossed in a math problem and when engaged by a soldier he ignored that solider, enraging the soldier and prompting him to stab Archimedes. This man gave his life for geometry, for mathematics! This must be one interesting subject indeed. At that moment Sophie put down her book. What could be so interesting about mathematics that someone would give his or her life for it? She sat silently contemplating the subject until she was summoned for dinner. That night she lay in bed thinking of his circles, his diagrams, and his gadgets. Eventually she fell asleep, her mind still racing over the story of Archimedes.

The next day Sophie searched her father's library and found several books on mathematics. Many were older books, but she devoured them voraciously. She found that she would have to learn Greek and Latin in order to study Euler and Newton. Luckily her father had plenty of books on those subjects as well. Every day she spent with her father's books learning as much as she could: Latin, Greek, and about mathematics. She would work through the problems on paper, marveling in their intricate beauty. This went on for some time until one day her parents discovered how she was spending her days. It upset her mother that she was spending her days studying mathematics – this was not something that a young girl did. After dinner one night her upset parents sent her to her room without a book. She sat at her door listening to their conversation.

“This is all she does day and night! How can we keep her from this? It isn't OK for a young girl to study mathematics, especially not this obsessively,” her mother exclaimed.

“We'll just have to watch what she reads. Perhaps we shall no longer give her unfettered access to the library during the day that way we can monitor what she reads,” Ambroise-Francois replied. “There are many other places where she can sit and read since that is how she likes to fill her days. We do not have to keep such a close watch on the other children. When I am not here, if we limit her access to the library, it should not be too hard for you to make sure that she is not reading mathematics books.” The Germains were in agreement: they wouldn't let Sophie into the library on her own during the day and they would then be able to make sure that she did not continue her study of mathematics.

Sophie softly closed her door and tiptoed away from the door. She sat down and thought about ways in which she could sneak the books away from the library without her parents noticing. Surely they would keep close watch on all the books and would notice if they went missing. In that case hiding them in her room was not an option. Sophie decided that she would wait until after everyone went to bed and then go into the library and continue her studies. * Why her parents wouldn't understand her love of mathematics confused her, after all Archimedes gave his life for it, this was obviously a very important subject.

Sophie spent many nights in the library. Then one night, while she was consumed with a geometry problem, her father saw a light coming from the library. He opened the door and discovered his daughter poring over one the books that they had forbidden her to read. He immediately sent her back to her room and removed all of the candles from her room. And so it began. Sophie's parents tried everything: stealing her candles, her clothes, even cutting off the heat to her room at night. No matter what she always had a stash of hidden candles and quilts that she would wrap herself in and continued her studies. Despite all their efforts they continued to find Sophie curled up next to her books morning after morning. At this point the Germains realized that Sophie's love of learning mathematics could not be willed away or forced out of her and they allowed her free reign of the library once again. She was allowed to study mathematics freely during the day and with all her clothes.

In 1794 the École Polytechnique opened in Paris. It's mission statement was to “train mathematicians and scientists for the country”(Perl 64). The school did not admit women, but as with her earlier studies, she didn't let this obstacle stop her from learning even though she could not physically sit in on the classes. She was able to obtain the lecture notes from students in the classes and would send comments to the professors, which would at times include original notes on mathematics problems, but unlike other students she had to use a pseudonym to disguise her femaleness. And so Sophie became M. le Blanc.

During this time she became especially interested in the work of one professor, Joseph-Louis Lagrange. Lagrange was so impressed by her work that he insisted upon meeting the student who had produced it. * Upon discovering that it was a woman who had created it he was surprised, but not put off by it. He praised her for her analysis and would continue to support her and her work, becoming a mentor and a friend. Such encouragement from such a prominent mathematician energized Sophie and gave her more confidence in her work as a mathematician. With this newfound confidence Sophie moved from solving problems in her course work and into studying unexplored areas of mathematics. It was at this point that she became aware of Fermat's Last Theorem**. Fermat's Last Theorem continues to puzzle mathematicians to this day. It states that there are no solutions to equations of the form x^n+y^n=z^n where n ≥ 3.

After many years of work she believed that she had made a breakthrough in Fermat's Last Theorem. She felt that at this time she would need to talk to a fellow number theorist. After reading Gauss's Disquisitiones arithmeticae, a work on the theories of cyclometry, having to do with measuring of circles, and arithmetical forms she became obsessed with the works of Gauss. Using her alternate identity, M. le Blanc, she then sent Gauss the results some of her of work in number theory in 1804. Gauss was impressed by her findings and this began a correspondence between the two. She approached the theorem in a way that no other mathematicians had, possibly owing to the self taught nature of her education. She used a far more general approach then any of the other mathematicians of the day and this intrigued Gauss, whose contempt for Fermat's Last Theorem was well known.

In her letters she showed that she was not trying to prove that there was no solution for each equation one at a time, but instead she approached the Theorem holistically and tried to make a general statement that would cover all the equations. She focused on the equations in which n was a prime number. A prime number is a number such that itself and the number one can only divide it without leaving a remainder. For example 7 is a prime number because only 1 and 7 divide 7 without leaving a remainder whereas 9 is not since 1, 3, and 9 all divide 9 without remainders. Sophie was only interested in a particular brand of prime numbers, p, which were such that 2p+1 was also a prime number. For example 3 is a Germain prime because 2*3+1=7 and 7 is also prime. But 7 is not a Germain prime because 2*7+1=15 and 15 can be divided by 1, 3, 5, and 15 without remainders. She used these numbers to show that it was highly unlikely that any answers existed for the equation x^n+y^n=z^n, when n = p, with p being a Germain prime (as described above)**.

Had it not been for Napoleon's soldiers marching on Germany and Sophie fearing for Gauss's safety we may never have known that she was responsible for this breakthrough. We might know these numbers as le Blanc primes. Though Sophie and Gauss had been corresponding for 2 years by the time Napoleon invaded Germany, Gauss had no idea that M. le Blanc was actually Sophie Germain. Just as Archimedes' death inspired Sophie to begin her studies, so too did it weigh heavily on her mind as she thought of Gauss in Germany and the French army marching through. She worried that Gauss may suffer the same fate that Archimedes did and contacted a General friend of hers, Joseph-Marie Pernety, and asked him to guarantee Gauss's safety (Osen 85). True to his word General Pernety sent an emissary to Gauss's home to make sure that he was safe while they were in nearby Breslau, but confusion arose at the mention of Sophie's name. He did not understand why this woman was making inquiries about his safety – he had been corresponding with M le Blanc! It was after this that Sophie was forced to reveal her identity to Gauss. Upon learning of her true gender Gauss's respect and admiration for Sophie grew. For a woman to study mathematics at this time, and at this level required a high level of determination. He writes:

“But how to describe to you my admiration and astonishment at seeing my
esteemed correspondent M. le Blanc metamorphose himself into this illustrious
personage [Sophie Germain] who gives such a brilliant example of what I would
find it difficult to believe. A taste for the abstract sciences in general and above all
the mysteries of numbers is excessively rare; one is astonished at it; the
enchanting charms of this sublime science reveal themselves only to those who
have the courage to go deeply into it…Indeed nothing could prove to me in so
flattering and less equivocal manner that the attractions of this science, which has
enriched my life with so many joys, are not chimerical, as the predilection with
which you have honored it.” (Bell 1937, pg 262)(Osen, 86-87)

Sophie and Gauss would continue to correspond throughout her lifetime, though they unfortunately were never able to meet face to face.

Though Sophie's work with Number Theory and Germain primes would prove to be her most famous work, she became consumed with the work of Ernst Chladni. Chladni was a physicist who was interested in the mathematics of the vibrations of elastic surfaces in two dimensions. Chladni observed that figures would form when a bow was dragged across the edge of an elastic surface covered in fine powder. Lagrange declared that the current form of mathematical thinking would not be enough and that a revolutionary new form of analysis would be the only way that this problem would be solved. So in 1808, by order of Napoleon, the French Academy of Sciences issued a challenge for all mathematicians and scientists:
“Formulate a mathematical theory of elastic surfaces and indicate just how it agrees with empirical evidence. (Perl)”
Sophie, despite being wholly unschooled and up against highly trained mathematicians found the problem challenging and took to the task of trying to solve it with the passion that marked all her endeavors. In 1811 she submitted her first attempt in an anonymous memoir. Her mentor, Lagrange, was part of the commission that evaluated the submissions and had written that her method of jumping from a line to a surface did not seem complete or accurate. Her work was rejected, but that did not stop Sophie from working on the problem. In 1813 another competition was held. This time Sophie's memoir won her an honorable mention. As you should know by now, this was not enough for Sophie. She tried again in 1816 and this time her work Memoir on the Vibrations of Elastic Plates earned her the prize. But her win did not come without immense criticism. She had won, but the commission had not been completely satisfied with her entry, and Sophie admitted that her connection between the theory and the observation was not rigorous. Many mathematicians for this criticized her, but one may wonder if that is because they themselves could not come up with something better.

Despite this criticism she had an impact on those around her. One of the judges, M.H. Navier wrote on her paper “it is a work of which few men are able to read and which only one woman was able to write.”(Perl) Her win also thrust her into the world that she belonged to. She was welcomed into circles with other noted mathematicians of the time, and able to talk with her peers openly and not have to hide behind letters and the fictitious M le Blanc. She was not one of the most noted mathematicians in the world, and her work would finally be known as her own. She was now able to attend sessions at the Institute de France with other prominent mathematicians, and was the first woman who was able to do so.
Sophie continued to publish papers on elasticity, including one on the nature and extent of elastic surfaces. She also continued to try and perfect her theory that won her the prize in 1816. One of her papers drew heavily from the works of her mentor, Gauss, though it was widely criticized for not thoroughly understanding the potential of Gauss's theories.

In 1829 Sophie developed breast cancer. Though this became her biggest battle she continued her work in mathematics until her death at the age of 55. At Gauss's urging Sophie was granted an honorary PhD from the University of Gottengen (Osen 89), but unfortunately died before she was able to receive the award. Though she made great strides in elasticity and was one of the leading minds of her time, when the Eiffel Tower was erected and the engineers inscribed the names of those who contributed to the study of elasticity of materials of the 72 people listed her name is conspicuously absent (Osen 89). So too in her death certificate was her membership to the French Academy of Sciences overlooked as she was designated a rentière-annuitant (a single woman with no profession) and not as a mathematician.

Her work as a woman who defied the expectations and restrictions of her time is one of the most lasting parts of her legacy. Sophie Germain was not only one of the most brilliant minds of her time, and she excelled almost only through her own devices. Without any formal training and guided only somewhat through her correspondence with leading mathematicians she snubbed societal conventions and changed mathematics in lasting ways. The child of revolution, she gave us a revolution all her own and that was by following her passion and not letting the mores of the day or the obstacles that she faced dissuade her from following her heart. And mathematics is a richer field for that.

Bibliography
Osen, Lynn M. Women in Mathematics. Cambridge: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1974
Perl, Teri. Math Equals: Biographies of Women Mathematicians + Related Activities. Menlo Park: Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1978.
*http://www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/germain.html
**http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/proof/germain.html

WOOT WOOT I'm going to the Spring APS meeting

2009-02-07T20:02:00.000-08:00

So my research prof has asked if I would be interested in presenting my research into differences in performance between men and women on the Force Concept Inventory, a test of basic understanding of Newtonian principles administered at the beginning and end of algebra and calculus based introductory physics courses, at the 11th Annual Meeting of the Northwest Section of APS.

While I'm not interested in going into Education Research and I'm not doing this as a Senior Project (or actually getting credit at all for this this quarter) it is something that I approached him and the other prof who is working on Physics Education research with at the end of last quarter and am highly interested in. I actually chose to get into Physics partly because my dream job is working for the NSF on working on increasing accessibility and retention of women and girls in STEM fields, so it kind of makes sense that this is what I am now doing. (Even though I am now in the mathematics department and in love with group and field theory and research I would never turn down a job at the NSF doing that.)

I am really excited and may be paying out of pocket (since I will have graduated at the end of this quarter) for one credit of independent study to work on this and to get departmental funds to present this at the APS conference. We also talked about me presenting it at scholar's week since it comes after the APS conference and I will already have everything put together. Also, even though this is not a senior project and I'm not officially a physics major I agreed to present my findings to the Physics Department as studies have shown that non-traditional teaching methods, i.e. those that incorporate interactive sessions, show greater improvement in women's scores then in men's (men's scores generally improve well no matter what teaching method is used.)

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

I have to work on my presentation skills. Hopefully I will be able to post some of my findings here as I work on them more. I just received some new data so I'd like to add that first before I start talking about it publicly.

Reasons I shouldn't teach

2009-01-11T17:51:00.000-08:00

I might turn out like this:

Chicago reawakening

2008-12-26T21:48:00.000-08:00

Chicago Compass
Originally uploaded by union_clown

I remembered a part of myself today, a part that went missing years ago that I didn't notice among all the clutter of trauma and flurry of running. It is a part of me that once reawakened caused me to mourn it's absence even though I never noticed that it had gone. It came back to me during my trip to The Field Museum with my dad (though I was left to myself most of the day as I "take too long" to go through an exhibit) where I spent the day wandering amid the relics of civilisations past and dinosaur bones, including the dinosaur that for the first half of my life was my beloved brontosaurus (now apatosaurus (I don't know if the Field Museum was calling it an apatosaurus growing up, all I know is that I called it a brontosaurus and had a brontosaurus lunchbox) Sidenote: brontosaurus shows no red squiggly line of bad spelling whereas apatosaurus does. Hmmmm).

Amid the carvings and the idols of the ancient Aztecs I remembered that child like quality that I had lost for so many years: my need to experience things tactilely. When it was gone I do not remember. I do remember walking through Chicago and having to run my hands over every different kind of stone surface that I would meet. To not just see the buildings and hear the city, but to touch it, to know it, to feel it. I remember, back in art school, asking to run my hands over paintings that were not flat, always liking those with texture more then the others (and making them that way myself). To feel the complexity of emotion, the hidden layers where mistakes and old feelings were hidden away beneath a new coat of paint. To interact with something that was not just flat, and to me that makes it flat in more ways then one-funny for a printmaker, but rich and complex and layered. Knowing that whatever was buried there was just a few scrapes away from exposing itself to the world.

It came to me staring at the first piece in the Aztec exhibit which was a statue of some unknown stone pockmocked with tiny craters. I knew that if I could just touch it my experience would be fuller. That I would somehow understand it more; that I would become more involved in the exhibit. So I did all that I could do: I imagined what it would feel like. I flipped through every single piece of rock that I had ever touched until I came across something that resembled the one standing in front of me. I recreated it's features, even the pieces that had succumbed to age and had fallen off and especially those that were crumbling. I continued to do this throughout the rest of the exhibit. Through the rest of the museum. Imagining what the ancient papyrus in the Egyptian exhibit must feel like, at one point actually getting to feel hieroglyphs. Touching the models, knowing that the texture was wrong but the topography right in my journey from the beginning of the earth.

I missed this. I'm realising as I type this that I have been doing this to a small extent as I have visited my ancient old growth stands, but that is more like caressing an old friend. But these streets, these buildings, all these things that I encountered...they can be friends too. Possibly just acquaintances for a brief time, telling me their story and moving out of my life forever, but at least there will be that.

Calling all Scientists

2008-12-15T20:16:00.000-08:00

Right now I'm doing some research on the Force Concept Inventory and gender differences in performance on the FCI. I have also been in contact with Laura McCullough and will hopefully be receiving a copy of what they used for research, the "Gender Force Concept Inventory." (In which there seemed to be a marked improvement by both sexes except on one problem.) We're (hopefully) going to give the GFCI & FCI (randomly) to both the algebra and calculus based classes next quarter.

Anyone have any resources, articles, etc on this subject? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The cool thing is that J & A approached me with this idea for a research project.

I'll actually post more on what I'm doing later. There's more to what I'm doing, because what J & A are trying to do is figure out how to fine tune inquiry based physics education. J's original proposition was that he wanted to find of if inquiry based classes worked better for men or women, so that's the bigger picture and of course working on IB learning betterment regardless of gender. We're thinking that the FCI is a good place to start, but of course if the questions are crappy then we're never going to be able to accurately gauge how well the class is doing.

Indecision Oh Eh?

2008-12-09T13:04:00.000-08:00

Canucks watch here

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Provinces in Peril

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Provinces in Peril

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

A moment of silence please

2008-12-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

Today marks the 19th anniversary of the École Polytechnique Massacre.

The shooter, who claimed that feminism had ruined his life came into a classroom and separated the nine women from the approximately fifty men and ordered the men to leave. Speaking in French, he asked the remaining women whether they knew why they were there, and when one student replied "no", he answered: "I am fighting feminism". One of the students, Nathalie Provost, said, "Look, we are just women studying engineering, not necessarily feminists ready to march on the streets to shout we are against men, just students intent on leading a normal life." Lépine responded that "You're women, you're going to be engineers. You're all a bunch of feminists. I hate feminists." He then opened fire on the students from left to right, killing six, and wounding three others, including Provost. Before leaving the room, he wrote the word shit twice on a student project He killed 14 women. Here are their names:

Geneviève Bergeron (born 1968), civil engineering student.
Hélène Colgan (born 1966), mechanical engineering student.
Nathalie Croteau (born 1966), mechanical engineering student.
Barbara Daigneault (born 1967), mechanical engineering student.
Anne-Marie Edward (born 1968), chemical engineering student.
Maud Haviernick (born 1960), materials engineering student.
Maryse Laganière (born 1964), budget clerk in the École Polytechnique's finance department.
Maryse Leclair (born 1966), materials engineering student.
Anne-Marie Lemay (born 1967), mechanical engineering student.
Sonia Pelletier (born 1961), mechanical engineering student.
Michèle Richard (born 1968), materials engineering student.
Annie St-Arneault (born 1966), mechanical engineering student.
Annie Turcotte (born 1969), materials engineering student.
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz (born 1958), nursing student.

OH NO! Canada's going to split into tiny pieces!

2008-12-02T22:52:00.000-08:00

BRING IT HARPER. BRING IT!

To those of you who don't pay attention to Canadian politics, you really should right now. This is one of the most interesting times in Canadian political history. Right now 2 of the national parties, the NDP and the Liberal Party have forged a coalition deal that would, when the confidence vote fails (it's only a matter of time Harper, just deal with it) create a coalition government led by the Liberals. (You can read the accord here.) The Bloc Québécois is not formally part of this coalition, but has pledged their support for the next 18 months. (If only we could have Gilles as PM. *sigh*). Not only that, but Green Party leader Elizabeth May has also lent her support to the coalition. That means that 4 of the 5 major parties are UNITED behind this effort. And they have all made concessions. (As one does when one makes alliances like this. And also as one does to actually get shit done in government.)

Let me take a step back. Besides being evil, or as Gilles Duceppe likes to do let's just say that Harper is the Canadian Bush, Harper did a few things to bring this on. He did what every politician does and said that he would make an effort to work with the other parties, then he calls an election (which he said he would not call, btw) and the first thing he does is spit on the other parties. (Well, more accurately poke at them with a sharp stick.)

This is in no particular order, but has a common theme.

1) Proposes to take away public subsidies of political parties. As it stands now, each vote earns the party $1.95.

But because the Conservatives have such a strong fundraising base, their subsidy represents only 37 per cent of the party's total revenues.

By comparison, the subsidy amounts to 63 per cent of the Liberals' funding, 86 per cent of the Bloc's, 57 per cent of the NDP's and 65 per cent of the Greens'.

So who gets hurt? Every single party in opposition to the Conservatives.

Well there are several points in this one link so here's the link and here are the points:

2) Cutting public service pay

3) Suspending the right to strike for federal employees

4) (My favourite) PAY EQUITY! Who needs it!

And he would put a crimp in pay equity – a program that requires Ottawa to pay women equal wages for work of equal value – although there is no evidence that the current system is either iniquitous or expensive.

And then there's the Tories taping a private caucus call of the NDP. (Hello, ever hear of Watergate?)

The Prime Minister's Office handed out copies of the recording to reporters on Sunday, claiming it showed the NDP and the Bloc Québécois had long conspired to topple the Conservative government.

And there's also that whole thing where Harper and the Tories like to insult the Bloc at every opportunity. (Because they're evil and THEY HATE CANADA AND ARE TRYING TO DESTROY THE COUNTRY! HIDE YOUR CHILDREN! THE QUÉBÉCOIS ARE COMING!)

One poke too far? Did he seriously think that a *larger* minority in Commons would somehow make the opposition go against the Charter of Rights? That they would let you bulldoze through them doing whatever the hell you wanted? Yet he continues to show that he thinks that getting several more seats for the Tories makes him able to do whatever he wants without the confidence of the Commons. There was supposed to be a confidence vote that Harper put off until the 8th trying to stave off the inevitable. What happens now is up to the Governor-General. She has several (historic) options: If Mr Harper asks her to prorogue (all bills, motions, etc are expunged and the parliament is in recess), her likely response is to ask him to prove that he has the confidence of the House. He can’t do that, so he’ll either have to ask for an election or resign. If he asks for an election, she can’t really grant it to him given that she has a letter from the coalition - according to convention she pretty much has to allow the coalition an opportunity to demonstrate that they can govern. An election will be the last resort. This is what I'm hoping for and this is what historically happens. But we shall see, not won't we.

To see *exactly* what's been happening may I suggest CPAC (It's the Canadian CSPAN). December 1st's Question Period (I hope this works as a direct link to the video if not just search) is rather good and December 2nd's is even better. It was all over the news as this is a rather historic time in politics and times like these have never been seen in Canadian Parliament. (At least not broadcast.)

BRING IT HARPER!

Of course they want the prorogue, because it would give them more time to spread their lies. They're calling the opposition alliance and possible unseating of the Tory government an undemocratic, illegal coup. As one expert said Harper either doesn't know parliamentary politics or he's lying. I know which one my money's on. They're also saying that the separatists are going to be running the nation. Um, well, no, the Bloc is not part of the coalition and Duceppe already said that he pledged to support and do what's best for CANADA during the next 18 months under the coalition government. Again I say OH NOES! THE SEPARATISTS ARE RUNNING THE COUNTRY! OMG CANADA IS DOOMED! During the 12/1 Question Period session Harper kept saying that they refused to sign the Coalition Accord in front of a Canadian flag when there's a lot of footage of them IN FRONT of a Canadian flag. The guy just can't stop lying. Here's to a new government and soon.

But for some brevity (and common sense) in this situation may I suggest Canadian Cynic and Bloodless Coup!.

Vote for real change!

2008-11-02T22:10:00.000-08:00

Vote Cynthia McKinney! 5% is a win: 3 words: public campaign financing.

I got tagged with the song meme

2008-10-30T19:13:00.000-07:00

and since I have a stupid programming class that takes me about 30 hours a week per assignment, a really hard mathematical modeling class, and the Putnam Competition training class, which means an extra hour and a half uncredited class each week with ridiculously hard homework (questions from past tests, and this is a a test that over 50% of the people who take it get a 0/120 on), this is about all I have time to write about right now. So here we go:

Step 1: Put your music player on shuffle.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 37 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing.
Step 3: Check off the songs when someone guesses both artist and track correctly.
Step 4: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING!
Step 5: If you like the game, post your own.

1. "One-two one-two in the place to be, yes indeed/As we proceed to give you what you need/Always smokin that 'dro weed, we have......(band name)"

2. "How many tears do you cry if love should break your heart in two?"

3. "Some guy tried to rub up against me on a crowded subway car"

4. "I'm gonna make a change, for once in my life."

5. "Take a trip with me in 1913 to Calumet, Michigan in copper country."

6. "I fell in love again, all things go, all things go."

7. "It was a thrilling ride. Ya you turn me on..." (the begging was too

8. "You asked me so where have you been"

9. (this is not the first line since that is the name of the song..this is the next line) "Two days not hungover in a bar up on high kiss the smugness goodbye with two bourbon decays and wine."

10. ".....Cruelty makes its holes, but on the shoreline time will hold its promise." (...-song title)

11. "...feel the pressure. Yo, you better plan ahead, gather your thoughts."

12. "...love might bring us back together, I feel so good.."

13. "Butterfly searching for a relax, pulling from the jazz stacks cause it's Sunday." (alright, you better know what band this is or don't talk to me ever.)

14. second line: "And the grief it's caused no one will ever know."

OK, I'm skipping one, because it's like ALL the title to the song. You can check it out if you don't believe me: "Drinkin Lum Y Alla" by Leadbelly.

15. "Well sit by my side if you love me."

16. "All the time we spent in bed, counting miles before we said fall in love and fall apart things will end before they start."

17. "I am a tu tu tu tu tu tu tu tu tough tough guy"

18. "Je me balladais tranquille, sur une ile sans le moindre style." (I'll love you forever if you know this.)

19. "Dressin my voice up on the phone, underneath the envy rotting in my bones."

20. "When an early autumn walks the land and chills the breeze and touches with her hand the summer trees, perhaps you'll understand what memories I own."

21. "...Oh I want to be in that number..." (now you have to figure out WHICH singer since this is the easiest one EVER)

String of Coltrane and Thelonius Monk (i.e. NO lyrics), Glenn Miller singing in German(?) and I couldn't find the lyrics online so I'm skipping it instead of guessing.

22. "Planets be the champ of this amplified sound, swimming in this art of up the boogie down."

23. "Now I'm just a boy, I watch too much TV (no body knows, no body knows)."

24. "Back in the days, my pops said right on."

25. "There's a port on a western bay and it serves a hundred ships a day."

26. "They tell you to do it, grow up and toe the line"

Coltrane

27. 3rd line: "Act like ya know, not now but right now"

28. "Who is it? Who’ll get the sting, who’ll get the stripes?"

29. "Just one more drink and then I should be on my way home."

30. "I'm saying something very curious, I swear to god nobody listens to me."

31. "It isn't by chance I happen to be a boulevardier, dear, the toast of Paree."

32. "Here am I with my desire, I feel it burning just for you."

Miles

33. "It was late last night I made my rounds."

34. "See it coming at my head."

35. "I'm so lonely because I live on a ..... in the heart of a city." ....: song title

36. "There are holes in what we knew."

37. "Look in the mirror time to face up"

It took me 47 "songs." (Some of them were my Pimsleur Arabic lessons). It kept playing no lyric jazz as well. I tried to note the music stuff, but I guess I could have just kept it too myself. My player also apparently favoured similar songs today. If I had done this on Tuesday it would have been 90% oldies

Canadian PM Debate drinking game

2008-10-02T17:20:00.000-07:00

This list was compiled from rules from the last PM election cycle and from the "Canadian Indecision" group on my knitting site Ravelry.

Take a drink whenever Duceppe:
Starts talking about things not releated to the question
Takes over Layton’s turn to speak
Speaks french for no apparent reason

drink whenever layton mentions boardroom tables and/or kitchen tables.
drink whenever harper infantilizes/effeminizes dion.
drink whenever one of the party leaders accuse harper of being pro-alberta and/or pro-oil companies.

drink when Stephen Harper sounds smug
drink when May or Layton make a grandiose promise they'll never be able to fulfill.
drink when anyone completely ignores the question and goes off on an unrelated rant

Take 2 drinks if:
Harper calls the Green Shift "a tax on everything"
Harper or Layton accuse May of being a Liberal
Dion says "stimulation"
anyone blames a previous government for something

3 drinks if Harper makes vague (or overt, basically any) reference to a group (or province, *coughNFLDcough*) that he doesn't need to get elected

start drinking whenever anyone mentions the sponsorship scandal and don’t stop until (presumably) harper shuts up.

If anyone agrees with Harper chug the rest of your drink (or a new one and yes you still have to do it if you're crying)
start doing shots when elizabeth may brings out the bong.

While we're on the subject of debt

2008-09-24T20:53:00.000-07:00

Marcy Kaptur rocks!

Hey Washington!

2008-09-24T14:42:00.000-07:00

Are you going to buy my debt next? What's a couple of thousand dollars in student loans compared to $700 billion?

Score one for Disability Rights

2008-09-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day and finally Congress did something right. (Well the Senate anyway.)

On September 11th the Senate passed S. 3406, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. This is a big fucking deal for people with disabilities. Now I'm gonna ask you to send a short email to you reps and ask them to vote for it (it had 77 cosponsors in the Senate (including my own, Patty Murray, who I love, and Hillary Clinton) so hopefully that's some indication that it will easily be passed in the House as well). What is so great about this? It changes the language, it removes some of the worse paragraphs, it gives people with disabilites (more) legal recourse if discriminated against, and it changes the definition of disability as well as putting in writing (thank god-this is something that means a lot to me personally as someone *on* disability who is mostly functional on medication) that the determination of whether or not one has a disability is made without taking into account things that aid in helping the person to lead a "normal" life. Observe:

'(E)(i) The determination of whether an impairment substantially limits a major life activity shall be made without regard to the ameliorative effects of mitigating measures such as--

'(I) medication, medical supplies, equipment, or appliances, low-vision devices (which do not include ordinary eyeglasses or contact lenses), prosthetics including limbs and devices, hearing aids and cochlear implants or other implantable hearing devices, mobility devices, or oxygen therapy equipment and supplies;

This is important because the courts ruled in the past that there have been rulings that have said that if such assistive devices improve your life then, viola! you are no longer disabled as in the 1999 case Sutton v. United Airlines. My life is 10x better on medication and I'm continually scared of being kicked off of disability as a result which means no Medicaid and no medication. Whee. What a catch-22. I become almost fully functional with medication and then I am kicked off because I am only fully functional to fall back into my less then desirable state of functioning just to go back on SSI-D and medication. Whee again. And I'm not the only one who lives with this fear.

Back to the legal recourse. Many different types of disabilities were not included and were being discriminated against and not recognised by the courts under the current laws. Non-physical disabilities, i.e. the ones that most people think of when they hear the term 'disability' were generally discriminated against, because, well, if you can't see it it doesn't exist, right? Wrong. And this Bill is changing the laws to make sure that people like me are covered. If the government pays me disability why then am I not included in the ADA? Hmmmm.

In a statement, Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, praised the bill's introduction: "The ADA Amendments Act is the most significant civil rights bill of the 110th Congress. This act will correct narrow court interpretations that have restricted ADA coverage in the workplace, and taken away coverage for people with diabetes, epilepsy, serious heart conditions, mental disabilities, and even cancer."

I am writing first as a HURRAH that this was passed for the 43 million people in the US living with a disability, but also to ask that you do contact your reps (whether you actually vote or not-I don't care and they don't know) because this bill needs to pass the House. This amendment needs to happen. For me. For the 43 million others and all those undiagnosed. For the people who are usually left behind when talk of civil rights is brought up.

(Oh and while you're at it you should add something about HR 676 single payer healthcare-then no one would have to worry about going without medical care or medication.)

Also, currently there are Disability Rights Activists blocking all the doors at McCain's Campaign Headquarters (follow the happenings through Twitter) What are they asking for? Housing! Call McCain headquarters at 703-297-8900 to tell them to get the housing platform to McCain!

IVAW pictures are now up.

2008-09-05T18:29:00.001-07:00

no words
Originally uploaded by union_clown

I stopped trying to think of titles for the pictures, they speak for themselves. Even titling this one "no words" seems to be taking away from it a little. Find the rest of the photos here.

There's also another set with all the miscellaneous stuff I saw around the DNC that I didn't have any other home for. You can find it here.

2 photo sets up from DNC

2008-09-05T03:39:00.001-07:00

Storm stirring shit up
Originally uploaded by union_clown

But not the IVAW since that's huge. I'm going to be doing that tomorrow so it ~~will~~ should be up by tomorrow evening.

Green and Black march

and

18 Million Voices 88th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment/Hillary's Speech Celebration

RNC Updates

2008-09-04T22:03:00.000-07:00

**SUPER IMPORTANT**: Undercovers/provacatuers consistently wearing ipod earphones and shiny black shoes. DO NOT ENGAGE, but don't get paranoid.

Dump trucks and snow plows between marchers and Xcel Center.

John Doe who has been water striking has been bonded out. It is believed that no more John Does remain in jail.

Cops are still dropping protesters off in random locations after release. Keep number for rides on you: 651.356.8635

100+ people on Marion Bridge detained and handcuffed face down @ 19:38.

27 arrested at 12th & Cedar, march leadership targeted; one reporter arrested: Susan from Uptake.

Cops again using pepper spray, tear gas, percussion grenades/flash bombs on protesters.

Curfew rumours false; city employees advised to evacuate downtown.

Ramsey County Jail phone #651.292.3698

I wonder (RNC post)

2008-09-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

If they're doing what the cops did in Denver where they had their badge numbers embroidered in black on their uniforms so that they technically were identifiable, but god damn if anyone could actually make out what the hell their badge numbers were.

Also, police are trading pepper spray for the offer of flowers. Because flowers are apparently weapons of mass destruction and terrorism.

For more news check out Twin Cities Indymedia and as I posted below, for up to the minute action text "Follow TCIMC" to 40404 (their twitter feed, which is a fucking brilliant idea and makes me want to run to all these places that people are needed even though I can't.)

Day 1 of uploading

2008-09-03T14:17:00.001-07:00

Starts tomorrow.

RNC real time update

2008-09-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

1595 Selby, the I-witness office is being surrounded by police who are claiming that there are hostages inside.

I'll post more when I get updated. Anyone you know in the area please tell them to go, observers are needed.

If you are in Minne, the way to get updates is to text "Follow TCIMC" to 40404.