December 2011
1 post
7th Generation
the bonfires and the ice how the 7th generation Amendment can
solve the problems of hot flat and croweded by glen Czplewski university of
colorado, Denver For Carmine Iadarola environmental politics
23 november 2011
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We know the Rocket’s upward whizz;
We know the Boom before the Bust.
We know the whistling Wail which is
The Stick returning to the Dust.
We know how much to...
May 2011
1 post
This evening, we got the astounding news that The United States of America has killed Osama Bin Laden. At once I am flooded with a series of emotions. My first thought when the breaking news bulletin preempted the Celebrity Apprentice was that someone had got Gadafi, however quickly, George Gregory corrected me, telling us that first President Obama would make an “announcement” about bin Laden,...
October 2010
5 posts
Are foreigners deleting Wikipedia's India... →
MUMBAI, INDIA: Wikipedia, the free web-based, collaborative and multilingual encyclopedia project run by Wikimedia Foundation, is accessed by millions of … See all stories on this topic »
In Rancorous Times, Can Wikipedia Show Us How to... →
That’s Wikipedia. For all its warts, Wikipedia is a testament to the power of decentralized collaboration. Almost uniquely among online spaces, … See all stories on this topic »
Fitch Expects Colorado Ballot Initiatives to Limit... →
Taken together, Fitch believes that Proposition 101, Amendment 60, and Amendment 61 will dramatically limit the flexibility of state and local governments … See all stories on this topic »
Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales on the big 'A'... →
Speaking during yesterday’s closing session at AdweekMedia’s Social Strategies Summit in New York, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales touted that his … See all stories on this topic »
What if We Ran Universities Like Wikipedia? →
The Wikipedia analogy struck one observer as silly. Universities are nothing like an encyclopedia, and Wikipedia is nothing like a university, … See all stories on this topic »
August 2010
4 posts
Studying Cooperation and Conflict between Authors...
The authors of this study use software which creates a visual representation of the amount of text changed on a Wikipedia article based on that article’s edit history by individual users over time. This software lets one easily see graphically the edit frequency, longevity and magnitude of an individual wiki site. Through this, they were able to see instances of vandalism being corrected, and...
What is popular on Wikipedia and Why?: An...
Spoerri sets out to answer a simple question: What’s popular in Wikipedia and Why. Through the site Wikichart, he examines the categorical content of the 100 most visited pages. In general, he finds that sites related to entertainment, politics + history, sexuality, and geography draw 80% of all traffic in the top 100. Further, he observes that the pages in this top 100 are rather stable with only...
Measuring Wikipedia Voss (2005): An Annotated...
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Measuring Wikipedia
Voss (2005) explores various ways to quantifiably compare content across the various language Wikipedias using large data dumps picked up through SQ L coding—the requirements for which are part of the Wikipedia software license. Specifically he compares article count, authors, edits, link structure, content, and quality. While most of his analysis is...
Wikipedia as participatory journalism: reliable...
Lih (2004) examined Wikipedia early in its history as it was cited as an example of participatory journalism (meaning a sort of many to many story telling). Lih looks at the way news publishers site Wikipedia and the effects such situations have on the value of the relevant articles. He postulates that rigor “the total number of edits” and diversity “the total number of unique editors” play a key...
June 2010
2 posts
Talking Points Memo on the Tea Party
To: Seminar on American Politics
From: Glen Czaplewski
Date: 6/13/2010
Re: Talking points on the future of the tea party and the 2010 election.
Much has been said in recent months about what the Tea Party (TP) means for the future of the Republican Party and what impact it will have on the 2010 election cycle. Despite its hype, one can only conclude that the TP will do little to help the GOP...
Erie county loaned a corporate VP to help run... →
This was a shocking bit of news I saw in this mornings news brief distributed by the International City/County Managers Association. This forces one to ask the question, how much should government be run like a business.
May 2010
4 posts
Granddad's Obit
For those who didn’t see it, here’s my granddad’s obit http://wyomingnews.com/articles/2010/05/12/obituaries/11obit_05-12-10.txt
The power of roads →
it really is amazing how roads keep everything tied together and how one can be so important to a community
April 2010
1 post
Greeley goes big on the census →
March 2010
13 posts
Baby Boomers May leave a big gap in the work force →
This is at once going to be great for people of my generation (easy access to jobs) and touch (we’ll all be doing the jobs of multiple people). I wonder what the economic down turn will really do to stop the flood of boomers leaving the offoce?
Is Human Behavior Predictable
There are those who would argue that, “it is not possible to predict human nature.” My view is, that depends wholly on whether “human” is a singular or plural term. The word “predict” has some rather absolute implications. When one talks of predictions, there connotes a high degree of certainty that the prediction will come true. Individual behavior is too difficult to predict a token human’s...
Is Gen Y Growing up →
Interesting Article about what Matters in employment for Gen Y
Professional ethics is really spreading →
Changes to this Blog
So I’m having to make some changes to how I do this blog. I recently discovered a policy at work about not using this sort of forum for just what I’m using it for. As a result, I’ll stop using this forum for information about my internship (that is until I can change the policy). Instead, I’ll start putting information here on academic matters exclusively.
The...
Beyond PC American Authors Paper
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” These words, which open the Declaration of Independence, are among the most famous words in the English language. This fame comes largely from the high bar which the founders set for the...
Beyond PC Conclusion
Conclusion and Analysis
These writers all embodied what it is to be politically incorrect. They all articulated views which were unpopular in their time but have since grown in popularity. Each also had to show great courage to express these beliefs. It is these revolutionary ideas which further humanity’s understanding of the world around it.
Advances such as the internet can help...
Beyond PC Freud
Sigmund Freud—The Future of an Illusion
Another great thinker who has significantly shaped how the social sciences view the world around them was Sigmund Freud. Freud, who was best known for exploring the subconscious through psychoanalysis, also applied the technique to other areas of the human condition. In what was among his more controversial works, The Future of an Illusion, he...
Beyond PC Marx
Karl Marx—The Communist Manifesto
The key politically incorrect insight which Mao was rebelling against was outlined by the forefathers of the communist movement, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles, in The Communist Manifesto. Marx observes that the advancement of society has largely been the gradual upward push of the Bourgeois. This skilled class gradually pushed off the yoke of the various...
Beyond PC Mao
Mao Tse-Tung—On the Rectification of Incorrect Ideas in the Party
Though the essence of political correctness had been lurking in discourse for much of human history, PC was formally articulated first by the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Chairman Mao Tes-Tung. Mao describes politically incorrect ideas in On the Rectification of Incorrect Ideas in the Party; Mao chastises elements...
Beyond PC Rousseau
Jean Jacques Rousseau—Discourse on the arts and Sciences
Among the many great thinkers Mill lists as examples of the benefits of open discourse was Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In the essay which made him famous, Discourse on the Arts and Sciences, Rousseau argues that the pursuit of arts and sciences will ultimately lead to the downfall of society and morality along with it. Citing examples of...
Beyond PC: JS Mill
John Stuart Mill—On Liberty
No one has better articulated the case for free expression than John Stuart Mill in his treatise On Liberty. Mill argues that the primary reason to stifle a belief is the opinion that the belief is false. The issue is, “we can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion,” (Mill, 1995, p. 27), Humanity is prone to make errors....
Political Correctness Pt 1
So the below is the first piece of my first paper for my current class: Beyond Political Correctness. I will be adding other sections as I finish them.
Introduction
Powers of an age have always been defined by the amassing of the resources which guarantee power. The Romans rose because they were able to amass the most soldiers by recruiting conquered peoples with the promise of citizenship. The...
February 2010
5 posts
Controversy on the grant →
Grant Results →
Well the grant funding results are in. It turns out that we were not successful this time around. We are all a little a little bummed out about the result, but are eager to go after bigger and better things.
Job Update 5
Another crazy week in Weld County. The week started out with the presentation I have been writing about. We left Greeley to make the hour drive to Denver at about 11am which was to give us ample time to make a 3pm presentation. As we were walking out the door, Monica (Weld’s Director of Administration and Finance) got an email asking that we be there as soon as possible, the presentations were...
On Mill
So I have been reading some John Stuart Mill recently. Mill believes that society’s censorship of ideas is just as objectionabl as censorship of the state. before I loose it, I wanted to jot down these thoughts. No Man is an Island. Humanity is a social species. Societies should be able to weed out bad ideas and repress them through informal means. After all, falsehoods are deceptively...
First Exposure to PC Analysis
After much waiting, this weekend was my first venture back into academia since leaving ICAT. This was a true relief to get back to the business of studying. My first class goes by the rather misleading title, “Beyond Political Correctness”. I say misleading because the title conjures up images of either some lame HR training or a reactionary rant against the social progress made over...
January 2010
13 posts
article on planning ahead at work →
Job Update: Part 4
What a whirlwind of a week. I have been finalizing the talking points and handouts together for this presentation we are doing next week. As a reminder, Weld County is one of 7 applicants seeking funding under Colorado SB09-232. This bill set aside $17m for projects of regional significance. We are proposing some major upgrades to the radio system our emergency responders use to communicate with...
Fwd: Something for the blog...
Something interesting on social media
Thoughts on the State of the Union
So in the spirit of personal disclosure, I’m making some notes about my initial thoughts as the speech is delivered.
First off, I am really excited about this whole thing on forgiving student loan debt for those going into public service in 10 years. As someone who is planning on going down that route, I am more than willing to take that break :). In all seriousness, there are now two lost...
Job Update: Part 3
Great week in the county. I finally finished my presentation—well sort of. The PPT is into the state. Now all that is left is, talking points, sound effects, and handouts. It’s a huge relief getting this first big project off my desk. I’ll be working some on the training needs assessment in my work plan next week and am rather excited about starting to hit the big chunks of this internship.
Who Hates Yellow Pages, Click her for a link to... →
Farewell Aunt Sue →
Over the weekend, my Great Aunt Sue passed away after a long bout with Alzheimer’s. We all know she is now in a much better place
Listen
Job Update Part 2
Week two has gone exceedingly well. I feel as though I’m really getting into the meat of the internship. I have spent much of the week working on a $6M grant proposal to improve Weld County’s Emergency response communications system. Weld is interesting in that all the communities within its borders share a common Emergency Dispatch System. We thought we had some time to work on this, but the...
Something I'm working on...
The 150th anniversary of Weld County will be celebrated in 2011.
The county commissioners are establishing a voluntary committee of citizens to advise the commissioners on how best to celebrate the event.
Applications from Weld County residents interested in working on this advisory board are being solicited.
Meeting times will be determined by the committee once it is organized.
For further...
What's In a Name →
Interesting article in The Economist about the folly of national taxonomy
Job Update Part 1
Just wanted to start off with an update on where I am with my new job. Things have started out a bit slow. I’ve been filling in a bit for the soon to depart receptionist. Surprisingly, I learned a fair amount. Sending letters to employees in different departments gives one a sense of the relative size of where the work forces, just as bisecting a personnel file can really give one the sense...