Holy crap.

Managed to miss this when it appeared. Via jmhm: Dear Dr. Rice: Lloyd Axworthy has something to say.

(no subject)

Cousin J and I offered on a house last night, but didn't get it. Turns out it went for $20k over what we offered. (Hey, the last one went for $40k over what we offered! We're getting closer!) Darn people with too much money spoiling things for the rest of us.

It was a much lower-stress operation this time -- we sat in the coffee shop while our agent went over to make the offer, and chatted about this and that and how we could modify the house to make it work for us. Not nearly as much of the nailbiting tension that we had the first time around! Partly, this is because we've now got our mortgage preapproved, so we don't have to make our offer conditional on getting financing. Partly, I think, it's because my dad and I looked the place over again on Sunday and he liked it and thought we could do things with it, which I found very reassuring (my parents have bought many houses in their time). And we've actually learned a few things:

1. Location is even more important to us than we thought.
2. We're prepared to do more work than we thought -- in fact we kind of prefer it if the house hasn't been all "done".
3. We've roughly identified our comfort price range.

J's parents said they know people who've made 19 (!!!) offers without success, so really, we're just starting. There will be something else!

So that's that...

To those of you that are sick: get well. To those of you embarking on new and exciting ventures: good luck.

And a Happy International Women's Day, everyone!

(no subject)

via this morning's Metro: I think this is quite a brilliant idea. (News story on p. 19 of this rather slow PDF.)

“In Western science, we aspire to be the objective and detached observer. But from the Aboriginal perspective, the observer is always included, and how he or she experiences and understands the world is very important,” Bartlett [Cheryl Bartlett, Canada Research Chair in Integrative Science at the University College of Cape Breton] says.

Bartlett has created the world’s first “big picture” university science program, where the knowledge found in science textbooks is combined with that of the elders of the Mi’kmaq tribe to create classes that challenge students to use their “whole mind” when thinking about science.

As part of this approach, Bartlett encourages students to create personal metaphors to help understand scientific concepts and ideas. For example, a student might compare the different parts of a cell with the people in her life, or the parts of a car. “This causes learners to draw upon themselves as creative thinkers, and to see connections,” she says. A practiced eye for patterns and links, she adds, is critical in fields such as health care and resource management.

The approach has been successful in engaging Aboriginal students. Before the program started in 1998 there were no First Nations students in UCCB’s science program, a situation typical in universities across Canada. Today, there are more than 35 First Nations students enrolled. Bartlett insists the value of integrative science extends beyond First Nations students to science education in general.

Alias

Oh dear. I feel for the TWOP recapper, I really do. She cares about the show and whether it makes sense. Me, I'm just along to laugh and point. Trust me, it's easier that way.