CAVEAT EMPTOR!

Books Often Give History a Facelift. Schoolbooks have always been pawns in adult political fights. By Richard Rothstein. [New York Times: Education]

The School board in Cobb County Georgia (Home of Bob Barr, Newt Gingrich, et al)  requires a sticker in the front of life sciences texts (we called it biology) which warns the student that evolution is just a theory (duh -- that's what I was taught!) and that there are other theories in contention to explain life as we know it (I like Monty Python myself). 

Perhaps we should require warnings in all texts used by K12 telling the students that grown ups picked these books according to the political goals of the grown ups and that the local board does not pretend to place a warranty on the educational content of the book.

10:16:14 AM    

No Voice for Netizens?

Faint political voices rise from e-mail. If you want to get through to your mayor, you're better off meeting in person. Still, a study finds that e-mail is slowly transforming the notoriously tech-adverse political world. [CNET News.com]

The PEW study jives with what I have read in other studies, especially Governance.com.  Doesn't mean we should abandon the method, just means we need to develop a method that makes email more valuable than a signed petition.  Interaction, real support, something that tells a rep you are engaged in the process, not just a drive by emailer!

10:06:07 AM