Today it seems as if half the nation is on one side or the other of this ideological divide. Currently, however, those pursuing rights devoid of their own exercise of responsibility are in charge of our government and their radical zeal threatens to profoundly transform our nation into one which will forever punish those who value rights borne of responsibility and reward those who would be responsible to no one or nothing while endlessly demanding benefits that they have neither earned nor deserve.

- Edward Wimberley, “On Rights and Responsibilities: One Cannot Exist Without the Other”

REALLY good article which touches a lot of topics, but focuses on an “ideological struggle” in the USA right now.

Some excerpts:

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More videos like this here.

I have created a survey to facilitate research for my undergraduate senior thesis. The survey deals with assessing problematic Internet use amongst a demographic of predominantly college students. Anyone is welcome to fill this out and the more responses I get, the more productive my research will be. The survey is short and should take no more than 10 minutes of your time. Please pass this information on to ANYONE who might be interested!

Click here to access the survey

Language learning community LiveMocha tweeted yesterday that they will soon be offering free spoken Arabic lessons online. No details about which dialect, but it will probably be Egyptian. Passing this along as I know Kabob once said he was interested in learning Arabic. (www.livemocha.com)

The Qur’an is written in literary Classical Arabic, probably a totally different lesson.  Here is a learning book for literary Arabic.  Here’s a bunch of online resources.

smARThistory.org is a free multi-media web-book designed as a dynamic enhancement (or even substitute) for the traditional and static art history textbook. Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker began smARThistory in 2005 by creating a blog featuring free audio guides in the form of podcasts for use in The Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Smarthistory.org.

After lampooning “Top Ten” lists I thought I’d make one.    Here’s five free courses I’d like to take and I think some of them will interest my co-bloggers here too:

5. Literature/Anthropology > Understanding Television.  The class takes a cultural approach to television’s evolution as a technology and system of representation, considering television as a system of storytelling and myth-making, and as a cultural practice, studied from anthropological, literary, and cinematic perspectives.

4. Music and Theater > Hip Hop.  This class explores the political and aesthetic foundations of hip hop. Students trace the musical, corporeal, visual, spoken word, and literary manifestations of hip hop over its 30 year presence in the American cultural imagery.

3. Special Programs > Kitchen Chemistry.  This seminar is designed to be an experimental and hands-on approach to applied chemistry (as seen in cooking). Cooking may be the oldest and most widespread application of chemistry and recipes may be the oldest practical result of chemical research.

2. Special Programs > Lego Robotics.  LEGO® robotics uses LEGO®s as a fun tool to explore robotics, mechanical systems, electronics, and programming.

1. Comparative Media > Video Game Theory and Analysis.  This course will serve as an introduction to the interdisciplinary academic study of videogames, examining their cultural, educational, and social functions in contemporary settings. By playing, analyzing, and reading and writing about videogames, we will examine debates surrounding how they function within socially situated contexts in order to better understand games’ influence on and reflections of society.

In an article posted in the September issue of Money magazine, Penelope Wang gets to the bottom of the expenses, burdens, and the waste of time in which college may be. I think I speak for all my college friends who attended my university with me that it was pretty much the MOST AWESOME TIME OF MY LIFE (a solid 10 out of 10 in my book). College taught me how to learn, gave me a vast amount of social experience, and forced me to take care of myself. These are things I think everyone should have the privilege to experience. But recently, there has been much speculation that the costs incurred from attending a four-year university may overshadow the opportunities granted from gaining a degree at one of these esteemed institutions. Now, I’ll put it out there that I’m Probama for this election, despite the fact that I’m not voting for either party this time around. For those who care to know: why am I not voting in the most important election of my lifetime?
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The internet and inexpensive travel are making the world a smaller place, but language is still a formidable barrier.  Fortunately for us, lots of foreigners are learning English.  But many people still need to learn at least the basics of a foreign language for their job to interact with clients, suppliers, and partners abroad.

This demand has brought success to self-teaching programs like the Rosetta Stone or the Pimsleur approach, both of which you do alone, without a teacher or a learning partner.  Enter Livemocha, the social networking response.

Livemocha is a free online community for people interested in learning a foreign language.  It combines pre-made lessons with user-created flash cards and exercises.  But the best part is that it connects you with native speakers of the language you’re trying to learn, with text, voice, even video chat.  Immersion is definitely the key to learning a language, so practice speaking with a real person is what really makes a difference.

Livemocha is not the best language learning tool per se, but the site harnesses the web as a powerful supplement to foreign language study.  Highly recommended for learning for your job or just for personal interest.  I myself started learning Spanish and Mandarin Chinese for fun, but both will actually help me scrutinize foreign documents at my job.

For more information, go to livemocha’s home page at www.livemocha.com