fourhares sisu blog
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naplan 2010
A reminder that any parent or guardian may WITHDRAW their CHILD from having to participate in the NAPLAN 2010 tests (at the bottom of this post, I also add some notes regarding other NAPs occurring this year). 2010 NAPLAN tests are due to be conducted between the 11th-14th of May this year (unless a school…
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Aus. passports vs citizens
It’s some concern when both our foreign and prime ministers seem to place more value on the appropriation of an Australian passport than they do on protecting the life and freedom of Australian citizens. Where the foreign minister claimed that the usage of such Australian passports would not be an ‘act of a friend’, Kevin…
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Propagating murder is not an expression of free speech!
In an ironic twist, radical muslims in the US are using the above slogan against those who act against islamic aggression… but perhaps, even without considering, amongst numerous others, Salman Rushdie and the 75 y.o. Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard who have their lives at risk, some of these images speak for themselves: … or to…
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Avatar – the film
I took the opportunity a couple of days ago to see this film in 3-D at Melbourne’s IMAX (which currently boasts the world’s second-largest 3-D screen… and rates third for 2-D projections). Having been informed that a long queue forms for seating, I arrived early enough to be one of the first in the queue,…
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UN anti-Israel
Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict I’ve just (finally) read the 575 page UN document titled ‘HUMAN RIGHTS IN PALESTINE AND OTHER OCCUPIED ARAB TERRITORIES: Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict‘ (otherwise known as the ‘Goldstone’ report). There’s not really much to say.…
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Ringing Cedars of Russia
I first came across the series from full-page advertisements placed in the magazine Nexus mentioning (within the advert) that sales have reached over 10 million without advertising, and must admit that such advertising oxymoron did not predispose me to a favourable view of the publisher’s honesty: either they do not advertise and indeed sales spread…
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Play, stories, the brain’s plasticity, Obama’s Prison State and the ‘swine’ influenza ‘pandemic’
Quite a mouthful, that heading… and considering I also wanted to include something on synæsthesia, I’ve rather narrowed somewhat my ‘focus’! Swine flu pandemic Let’s begin with the last of these first: the flu ‘pandemic’ and the reaction to it by officialdom. I accept that when the first outbreak of this new influenza virus began…
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Steiner, NAPLAN and student withdrawals
I’m pleased to hear that ALL students in classes 3, 5, 7 and 9 in Victoria’s largest and oldest Steiner school have been withdrawn by their parents from having had to participate in NAPLAN tests. One would expect that all students in ALL Steiner schools and Steiner-inspired ‘streams’ in State schools would similarly be withdrawn,…
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NAPLAN – or the demise of pedagogical principles
As you may be aware, next week is when Australian schools are under obligation to provide standardised tests to students in classes (or years) 3, 5, 7 and 9 who have not been withdrawn from participation by their parents (or by their school in very special circumstances in which this is permitted). For those who…
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being a car kinda bloke…
Cars…. and more cars Actually, I’m not much of a car-kind-of-bloke, but I do enjoy seeing and driving beautifully designed cars… and since the 70s, I’ve driven some pretty nice models. One that comes to mind is the Citroën SM. Of my personal favourites in terms of design are not necessarily those that have been…
Got any book recommendations?