Category: military
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War Over TikTok
The article caught my eye this morning: “US lawmakers vote 50-0 to force sale of TikTok despite angry calls from users” (ArsTechnica, 7 Mar 2024.). It highlights a proposed bill in the US House of Representatives which would require the Chinese government to entirely DIVEST (sell off) TikTok to non-Chinese owners. I have a few…
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Understanding Rising Populism, Warfare and Authoritarianism
We should not only be teaching “traditional courses” like history and social studies in our U.S. schools today, we should be explicitly studying warfare and the multitude of ways nation states as well as non-state actors wage war with each other across at least five dimensions: In extra-terrestrial space, in cyberspace, in the air, on…
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Learning About Russia
The Russian-initiated war in Ukraine is continuing into its second year, and it’s hard to believe not only the harsh and cruel realities of that conflict which are ongoing, but also the dismal prospects for both regional and global peace at this point in human history. (March 2023) It’s a good time for all of…
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Reflections on Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy (Part 1)
This week I am attending a 4 1/2 day robotics workshop at Carnegie Mellon University, learning how to teach middle school robotics with the “Lego Spike Prime” robot platform. This is based on the Scratch programming language from MIT, which I love and have been using for over 10 years. In this podcast reflection (from…
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Putin and Christian Nationalism
Whether or not you are a follower of Jesus and publicly profess “Christianity” as your faith, it’s important to pay attention what many “Conservative Christians” have been saying and continue to say about Vladimir Putin and his cultural / political agenda. I want to recommend two recent articles and OpEds on these topics. First, check…
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The Fragility of Democratic Institutions – Memories of Cairo in November 2017
On November 16, 2017, I had the privilege of dining in my Cairo hotel restaurant with Ahmed Ragheb, a long-time friend of my parents who I first met in 1978 when we lived in Columbus, Mississippi, and my dad was a T-37 squadron commander. Ahmed had an amazing military career in the USAF as a…
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Interactive Google Earth Updates and Map Tools: Solar System Exploration and Nuclear War
In this week’s EdTech Situation Room podcast (tomorrow/Wednesday evening at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain) I’m going to share several new space related features in Google Earth as well as some new Google Maps mashups (at least new to me) that can be used in the classroom to interactively explore and discuss current…
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Reflections on Comancheria, Identity and Frontier Terrorism
I never thought much about my own family bloodlines and ancestry until we moved to Oklahoma in 2006. As I got to know teachers and school staff members in my role (at the time) working as an “education advocate” for AT&T, I learned that all public schools in Oklahoma have “Indian Education” programs and students…
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Using 8 Bit Games and Humor to Present Serious Political Messages
The website and political game project “GOP Arcade” (@GOParcade) offers telling insights into not only the issues of the 2016 election in the United States, but also the ways media and gaming can be used to influence voters and communicate serious political messages. The site features 8 bit online games (that means they have very…
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Batting 1-1 With Three More Pitches Coming
I’ve been wanting (and perhaps even NEEDING, as other bloggers might be able to understand) to write about our son’s college application journey for a long time. This isn’t just his journey, although it certainly is principally his decision to make and entirely HIS life to live. It’s also a journey for our family, and…