theatlantic: Why the ‘Citizen Militia’ Theory Is the Worst Pro-Gun Argument Ever The history of the postbellum South offers another cautionary story of unregulated and extra-legal political violence. The founders of the Ku Klux Klan purported to be defending the rights of the white community against the tyranny of illegitimate Reconstruction governments, black enfranchisement, and federal military occupation. And for several years, the Klan used this rationale to carry out a gruesome campaign of systematic violence, murder, and political intimidation. War, particularly civil war, is by its nature violent. Official state armies are not immune from the tendency to inflict unjustified violence on civilians. But in America today, this prospect is far more remote, and far less terrifying, than the notion of armed citizens striking out against a perceived enemy, answering to no authority other than their own individual prejudices and passions. Read more. [Image: Flickr]
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theatlantic:

Why the ‘Citizen Militia’ Theory Is the Worst Pro-Gun Argument Ever

The history of the postbellum South offers another cautionary story of unregulated and extra-legal political violence. The founders of the Ku Klux Klan purported to be defending the rights of the white community against the tyranny of illegitimate Reconstruction governments, black enfranchisement, and federal military occupation. And for several years, the Klan used this rationale to carry out a gruesome campaign of systematic violence, murder, and political intimidation.

War, particularly civil war, is by its nature violent. Official state armies are not immune from the tendency to inflict unjustified violence on civilians. But in America today, this prospect is far more remote, and far less terrifying, than the notion of armed citizens striking out against a perceived enemy, answering to no authority other than their own individual prejudices and passions.

Read more. [Image: Flickr]

futurejournalismproject: Visualizing Gun Laws State by State The Guardian has a great interactive showing the broad variation in state gun laws. For example, take “Shoot First” laws: Twenty-seven states have enacted “shoot first” laws that allow a person to defend themselves in public using deadly force with no duty to retreat. Some of those states have slightly restrictive laws that only apply when a shooter is in a vehicle and others have weak laws that are defined through a combination of case law, jury decisions and statutes, and only provide shoot-first protections during criminal trials, among other circumstances. Image: Screenshot, Gun Laws in the US — State by State showing an overview of Iowa, via The Guardian. Select to embiggen.
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futurejournalismproject:

Visualizing Gun Laws State by State

The Guardian has a great interactive showing the broad variation in state gun laws.

For example, take “Shoot First” laws:

Twenty-seven states have enacted “shoot first” laws that allow a person to defend themselves in public using deadly force with no duty to retreat. Some of those states have slightly restrictive laws that only apply when a shooter is in a vehicle and others have weak laws that are defined through a combination of case law, jury decisions and statutes, and only provide shoot-first protections during criminal trials, among other circumstances.

Image: Screenshot, Gun Laws in the US — State by State showing an overview of Iowa, via The Guardian. Select to embiggen.

nationalpost: Lost without a map: Despite a globalized society, university students can’t locate the Atlantic OceanJudith Adler started getting suspicious five or six years ago. She can’t pinpoint why, or what, exactly, it was, but the sociologist at Memorial University of Newfoundland had a gnawing sensation, while looking out at the students taking her course on families and the cultural traditions of families the world over, that the undergrads in her room had no idea where in the world some of the places she was talking about actually were.So the professor did what professors do and gave them a pop quiz consisting of a blank map and a series of questions.“I asked them to indicate where on the map South America is, where Africa is, and Antarctica, the Arctic, and to circle Europe, label Australia and show where Asia is and label the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and Mediterranean Sea — and I’ve become much simpler in what I have asked over the years,” Ms. Adler says.“A sizeable proportion of the class would reliably have no idea where the Mediterranean is. Some students would circle Africa and indicate that it’s Europe, and if asked to locate England and Ireland, they would put them in Africa. I have had students that aren’t able to correctly label the Atlantic Ocean, even though we are on it.”
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nationalpost:

Lost without a map: Despite a globalized society, university students can’t locate the Atlantic Ocean
Judith Adler started getting suspicious five or six years ago. She can’t pinpoint why, or what, exactly, it was, but the sociologist at Memorial University of Newfoundland had a gnawing sensation, while looking out at the students taking her course on families and the cultural traditions of families the world over, that the undergrads in her room had no idea where in the world some of the places she was talking about actually were.

So the professor did what professors do and gave them a pop quiz consisting of a blank map and a series of questions.

“I asked them to indicate where on the map South America is, where Africa is, and Antarctica, the Arctic, and to circle Europe, label Australia and show where Asia is and label the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and Mediterranean Sea — and I’ve become much simpler in what I have asked over the years,” Ms. Adler says.

“A sizeable proportion of the class would reliably have no idea where the Mediterranean is. Some students would circle Africa and indicate that it’s Europe, and if asked to locate England and Ireland, they would put them in Africa. I have had students that aren’t able to correctly label the Atlantic Ocean, even though we are on it.”

adventuresinlearning:

Schools That Change Communities Trailer (by BobGliner)

Oregon High School Featured in New Television Documentary

Kennedy Alternative High School in Cottage Grove Oregon will be among five schools featured in a new one hour documentary, Schools That Change Communities, which will air on OPB Plus, throughout most of Oregon, Sunday night, Jan 6, at 8 PM as part of beginning its nationwide broadcasts.   Produced by Bob Gliner (Lessons From The Real World), this unique, engaging documentary turns the current focus of education on its head.   While most US schools keep their students bottled up in classrooms as a way of increasing test scores, this very upbeat special focuses on a diverse rang of K-12 public schools in five states that instead break down the walls between the school and its neighborhood.   By viewing their communities as classrooms, students are not only invigorated, but also motivated to learn the basics and how to think critically and engage in solving problems they and the larger world they inhabit now face.

At Kennedy Alternative High School students spend much of their time outside classroom walls helping Cottage Grove develop a sustainable environment. 

Greg Smith, a professor of education at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, is also featured as a commentator on the documentary.

For more about the documentary and to watch a trailer visit Bob Gliner’s website: Docmakeronline.com. 


Join IDEA for an Live-tweet during the broadcast of this film. Sunday 8pm PST using the #ideachat hashtag!

Maybe we can find it on YouTube