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Now AfriCAN Congo

Founded by Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda and Camille Ntoto "...Now AfriCAN is a non-profit organization whose mission is to professionally and socially empower African youth living in post-conflict zones through microfinance, education and the media..."read about their entrepreneur hero's here

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A Beginner's Guide to Tumblr

Tumblr is a blogging platform that is sort of a cross between Twitter, Facebook and full-scale blogging. While some might use Tumblr as a full blogging platform, from reading a free e-book I picked up on Kindle about the topic (the book isn't free any more btw.)

The growth of Tumblr is surprising.

"Facebook and Twitter have dominated social media in recent years, but a study released by Quantcast Media Analysis has revealed that Tumblr is growing at an outstanding rate, now bringing in more than 250 million views per day spread across almost 19 million blogs. Perhaps even more interesting is that 51% of those views come from males as opposed to females.
When I mentioned working with Tumblr, I got back several tweets like this one from Leslie Healey


Why  Tumblr? How is it different from blogging?
Those of you who read this blog know that I always have 3 things on my list as part of my intentional R & D. When I sit down to "surf" - I focus on learning more about those things. Tumblr has been the object of my learning for some time. I started the blog on August 16th of LAST YEAR. But I just didn't understand. Now, I think I'm getting there.

So, to understand something like this, it is helpful to look at the "experts" who are using it well.


Asking Questions Is Easy
Tumblr isn't really a different way to blog. It is a blogging-y way to have conversation.

Like, this morning, I logged into my Tumblr dashboard and saw I had a message from a teacher friend, Alida Hanson, from Twitter who jumped on my Tumblr tweets to teach me.

I've been posting screenshots of my favorite apps from the iPad on my tumblr (oh  I love BookCrawler!), so Alida asked this question and I replied.

While the box you use to reply is painfully small, the process of being asked and answering a question was incredibly easy to do and share to everyone. Go ahead, ask me a question.

Also, as you follow people and they post something cool, then you can turn around and easily reblog it on your own blog. (Like I did with Alida's comiclife for the Bookfair, plus I mentioned you can now get comiclife on the ipad) So, your Tumblr blog becomes sort of a curated group of posts.

Other Facts About Tumblr
  • People can also submit posts to your Tumblr as well.
  • It is interesting how you can follow tags, like I'm following the tag for privacy settings.  
  • I'm finding that the privacy settings of Tumblr show a lot more promise than Facebook and am looking for some friends to help me test them.  
  • You can also easily have a group of people write your blog.  
  • You can use Disqus commenting.
  • You can use a phone number to call in audio to your Tumblr blog.
  • They have a great app for the iphone/ itouch and other devices to add easily.
  • Finally, some don't realize that you can host Tumblr on your own server.

    While I wouldn't recommend it for long, full blogging like here, some do exactly that. I think Tumblr has a purpose.

My Purpose for Tumblr
For me, I plan to use Tumblr as a way to engage in conversation with you. To throw in the many things that just don't make it into a formal post here on the Cool Cat Teacher blog. I know who I am here on this blog and I want to write one or maybe two high quality posts a day in several areas.

I don't want to be a 10 post a day smorgasbord of "stuff" here. Maybe that "hurts" blog traffic but my Mom always says that the more you talk, the less you are heard. I'm a full time teacher and don't have the time nor desire to be a one woman wall street journal. I'd rather be a one woman inspiration for educators around the world. ;-)
    Getting Started with Tumblr
    I waited to write until I started getting it. I haven't promoted it yet (until now) because I wanted to share with you the "back end" work that I did to tweak it.

    Sign up for an account http://www.tumblr.com

    I kept my URL the same as my blog http://coolcatteacher.tumblr.com - I may change the domain later but for now, that is what I'm using.  (Yes, it has an RSS, you can go ahead and subscribe if you want to.)

    Meet "The Dashboard"
    The Tumblr Dashboard lets you select the type of post you want to make and will format it for you. The other people who you follow will also feed through this dashboard, but you can filter them out if you wish.
    Tumblr Dashboard for entering posts.

    Again, this type of blogging is really neat for the small "snippets" and sort of lifestreaming but also part of the power is in grabbing posts from others and making them part of your own tumblr page (without any issues with citation, etc.) It is great to tumble up other people's "stuff" on your tumblr blog as you will see.

    But Vicki, you're just getting started, you're a Tumblr noob!
    Yes, I most certainly am. And that is the beauty of it. I'm taking you along with me. From Ground zero to whatever ends up. I do have one other subscriber but I think that happened when I was tweeting out of Tumblr. ;-)  (Update, I now have 4 twenty four hours later. ;-) But I am following 26 people as well.)

    Customize Your Tumblr
    Click Customize on the right hand side.

    Tumblr Customization Screen

    Click Info.
    First you want to have a description. To have a description you want to know WHY you're on Tumblr in the first place. Is it to experiment? Is it to share? Is it going to be the more personal side of you? See mine on the right side of my Tumblr.



    OK, one more tweak to info and then on to the next thing. I've uploaded my profile picture, put in my description. Now, I need to do a tweak or two on my feed.

    Tip: If you want to see what you're doing to your site, you CANNOT see it from the dashboard or customize screen very well. Open up another screen with your full URL (mine is http://coolcatteacher.tumblr.com) and then click save and go back and refresh that screen to see your changes.

    Click Theme.
    You'll want to Pick a Theme.

    It looks like you have to pay for a custom theme. You don't. Scroll down to the bottom and pick one that is free until you know what you're doing. I picked one that let me add my facebook page on the right.

    Click Appearance.
    Do this AFTER you pick your theme. You can also set up disqus here for commenting. You'll have to log into disqus and set up the blog and copy the unique disqus id for the blog to paste in the appearance tab. You may also have a byline and other information depending on the theme you selected. This is where I pasted in the link for my facebook page for this template.

    Click Pages.
    How to add a redirect page. you MUST check show a link.
    I added pages that redirect to my other sites: my blog, my Twitter, my full website. No need to repeat things and have another place you forget to update. One place for updating. That is easier. The way to do it is shown in the screenshot.

    You can also set up full pages as well if you want to. Where these links show depends upon the theme you picked.


    Click Services.
    Optimize Your Feed and Other Services

    This tab is where you link to Twitter, Facebook, set up your feed, and import links from other sources.

    A word about your feed.
    It is amazing to me how many people move from one blog to another and lose all their subscribers! They ask everyone to resubscribe on the new blog. There is no reason for that.
    My Feedburner Dashboard.

    Use Feedburner to control all of your feeds. Just log into Feedburner (use your Google account) and set up a new feed for your Tumblr Blog.  Mine is http://feeds.feedburner.com/CoolCatTeacherTumblr
    (Yes, you can click on it and subscribe if you want to in your reader.)

    Also, I do want the blog posts I slave in over here to end up on tumblr at least as a link. So, I put in the feed from this website into RSS import and also my Youtube channel so that the teacher interviews I do will hit tumblr as well.

    I am Tweeting OUT of Tumblr but not  into Tumblr. I turned Twitter out of going into Facebook some time a go. There is a reason for each thing I do and it isn't to overload people who engage with me. Be careful or you'll end up with endless loops between social networks.

    Click Community.
    This is the coolest part of Tumblr to me. I've gone in and allowed people to ask me questions and also set it up so you can submit your own posts. You can see what I'm asking for. This may change over time.

    So, quick. Someone help me test it out and submit a review or screenshot or something about teaching! Let's learn about how this works together!

    Note: I did have to put things in bold using HTML coding. I also think it is fine to be up front with who you are. Be original. ;-)

    Advanced.
    Lots of goodies here including making your photos high resolution and whether you want to be indexed by search engines.

    Go back to your Dashboard.

    Find Your Friends and Look at the Goodies
    I went over to the Goodies button. There, I found my friends and found 22 people who are in my gmail that are on Tumblr and followed them.

    I set up the PIN number for calling in audio and programmed that into my telephone. I also put the email address into my email account so I can email in links and photos (from zite, etc. if I cannot send to instapaper.)

    I set up instapaper to post to my drafts in Tumblr as well. (As of this post, it isn't working yet.)

    So, let's learn about this tool together.  I plan to come back and update and let you know where I am with my beginner's journey into tumblr.

    4/24/2011 - 1 followers 0 following
    4/25/2011 - 4 followers, 26 following

    Checking in
    When you look at your dashboard look at who is following you and follow back if you wish. See if you want to post any of their items to your page with a reblog. Also look for "messages" which are often questions. Enjoy!


    Let's Learn Together
    And we begin. Let's tumble together. Please share your tumble blog here or over on Tumblr.

    Let's learn together. With the robust privacy settings of this platform, we may just have a winner for education that the kids are already loving and that we should look at as well.

    http://coolcatteacher.tumblr.com/

    While I don't recommend leaving your blog for tumblr, sit down and pencil out your purpose for each before you start. It will help you focus. It has always worked for me. Hope you enjoy the beginner's guide written by a beginner who is on her way to learning more.
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    Fellows Friday with Chikwe Ihekweazu

    TED Fellow Chikwe Ihekweazu interviewed on the TED Blog:
    There are many aspiring social entrepreneurs out there who are trying to take their passion and ideas to the next level. What is one piece of advice you would give to them based on your own experiences and successes? Learn more about how to become a great social entrepreneur from all of the TED Fellows on the Case Foundation blog.

    That’s an interesting question because I’m just at the point of trying to realize our dreams. The Nigeria Health Watch blog, FGCE Project Hope, TEDxEuston … we do it alongside what we do to earn a living. We’re just at the point of thinking now, “How can we actually earn a living by doing what we really want to do?” That’s a huge, huge challenge, especially if you’re in a field or profession that you like and pays relatively well, and you’re comfortable. I don’t think I’m in a position to give very good advice, because I’m in the process of finding that myself..
    However, to offer a small piece of advice I give myself all the time. I think you’ve got a small window in a life time , when you have the most energy, exposure, experience and competence. So there’s not really that much time. The earlier you do start with something you really like doing, the better.
    More here
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    A Former "Lost Boy" Turns Entrepreneur

    Fast Company profiles Nico Ajak Bior:

    "My idea is to start vegetable farming through the use of greenhouses in Juba and my hometown of Bior in Jonglei state," Bior tells Fast Company. "This was inspired by the lack of fresh vegetables in my country--currently Southern Sudan imports all the vegetables and fruit from neighbouring countries and this makes it expensive for the local population to get them. I'm determined to make vegetables available throughout most parts of Sudan in the next few years."
    On what equipped him:
    Last year he participated in a fellow Lost Boy's startup incubator program, New Scholars, and has since been nurturing his vision of kick-starting a local farming and vegetable industry in South Sudan, as decades of civil war destroyed what industry thrived prior to the war. And now that the referendum has finally taken place, his vision is set to become reality.
    More here
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    Make the Tough Call on Extending Unemployment

    Many people in our nation are unemployed as a result of the liberal policies of Obama and Bush, of Democrats and liberal Republicans, who didn't respect private property rights, who created barriers and limits to our freedom and liberty, and who failed to embrace and love human life in all of its glory. These liberal policies manifested itself in high taxes, cumbersome regulations disguised as 'safety' or 'environmental', new entitlements, increased federal control over disaster relief and education and energy production, increases in barriers to production and investment, and the giving away of taxpayer money that the government doesn't even have to those who haven't earned it.

    Unemployment is difficult, and it doesn't look like the situation is going to get a whole lot better, especially if Obama and the Democrats don't extend the Bush tax cuts. In order for jobs to be created though, you have to allow people to make free choices, and what is happening right now with unemployment benefits is not right. The government is using money taken from my children and from my grandchildren (ie, debt) to pay people to sit home and not work. It isn't paying these people enough to really pay the bills or buy any new products (so it isn't 'stimulus payments') and these unemployment benefits can only be earned when people aren't working, so they aren't producing anything for our society. At some point, unemployment benefits must be scaled back or cut off, or else unemployment will simply turn into yet another entitlement program, paid for by debt, acting as a drag on our economy and preventing jobs from being created.

    Tough choices have to be made at some point by unemployed- to either get retrained, to switch careers, to retire early at a reduced standard of living, to get a job at a retail chain or fast food joint, or to take a risk on themselves and go into business as an entrepreneur. Of course unemployment is a safety net that people do pay into, and thus should be there for those to cushion their fall and buy them time to recover and readjust, but unemployment should not be a long-term solution, or else it will be come a long-term problem.

    That being said, our elected leaders (mainly Democrats in Congress and the Presidency but also some Republicans) are unable to make the tough decisions that need to made regarding unemployment. There are increased calls to extend these benefits, indefinitely I imagine, by many in the media. Via RealClearPolitics, Robert Reich (whose book The Work of Nations: Preparing Ourselves for 21st Century Capitalism was required reading in two of my University classes) is one of these types of people who are unable to make the hard decisions to get American back to work, and writes in the San Francisco Chronicle "Extend benefits for jobless, not tax cuts for rich":

    Yet Republicans and some Blue Dog Democrats in Congress say we can't afford another extension of jobless benefits. The deficit is too big.But wait. These are the same members of Congress who say we should extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. Extending the Bush tax cuts for the people at the top would cost more than extending unemployment benefits for struggling families without a breadwinner. These families need the money. The rich don't.
    This Reich is the same person who advises Democrats on economic policy, and he thinks that in the zero-sum game of wealth creation, it is better to take money from jobs creators (ie, the wealthy, those people who worked hard for their money, who invest in businesses, who buy products, and who run businesses) and transfer that money (through government bureaucrats, who take a large cut for themselves) to those who are unemployed, so that they can continue to not produce anything and drain wealth from society. Reich is proud of the 'tough decision' that he is making and thinks that it is 'really brave' for politicians to take money by force and give it to someone else for doing nothing (being unemployed) and then take credit for it. Reich ends his editorial by saying:
    Quick action is needed. About 800,000 unemployed workers will run out of benefits this week. Two million more will stop receiving benefits by the end of December. Millions more after that. The choice couldn't be clearer.
    The choice is clear- make the tough decision Congress and do something different than creating another entitlement program. Perhaps it is some sort of reduced unemployment program, designed to transition people off government dependence to independence and freedom, or perhaps it is some sort of unemployment program that rewards people for getting back to work in any way rather than bribing them to stay in government-induced dependent poverty, but the choice is clear- do not just simply make the easy call and extend benefits, but instead make the tough call and move people closer to freedom while increasing protection of private property.

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    The NGO Economy Is Killing Entrepreneurship

    R. Todd Johnson writing in Friends of Ethiopia:

    Outside of direct relief aid and some of the amazing health and education research and development, much (perhaps most) of what is done in the developing world through non-profits and NGO's, could actually be accomplished through a business model, even if it would be harder to raise investment funding. Instead, someone begins selling tax subsidized and donor subsidized water pumps in Africa, because it is easier to raise the funding through tax deductible donations rather than through the rigors of proving out the business model for investment dollars, with the great result of increased deployment of inexpensive water moving technology in the developing world to aid rural farmers, but the negative results of (1) killing the market for future indigenous entrepreneurs attempting to sell water pumps at a profit and (2) locking a potentially valuable distribution channel in a non-profit, making it difficult for other for-profits to use.
    A friend of his an entrepreneur in answer to a question about how he was doing stated:
    "Africans don't see a reward system in place for being entrepreneurial. In fact, they view it as a matter of survival, not an opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty. Rather, what they learn at a very early age, is that in order to make good money, they should learn to speak English incredibly well and then maybe, just maybe, they can get a job driving for an NGO. In a few years, if they play their cards right, they might be able to land an NGO job as a project manager and even advance further."
    More here

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    Nollywood - Part of a Maker Ethos

    Emily Witt writing in The Nation:

    Nollywood is an industry whose defining characteristic is the absence of any centralized infrastructure. Just as many Africans have spurned the electricity grid, the land line and the corporation for the solar panel, the cellphone and the individual entrepreneur, Nollywood has eschewed the studio system and formal distribution networks for a DIY ethos....
    On its authentic nature;
    Fifty years after the first wave of independence, Nollywood might end up killing off a lingering overestimation of independence's potential to effect lasting social change. Without being nihilistic, Nollywood videos address the experience of globalized, urbanized Africa as it actually exists
    More here
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    Africa Town Guangzhou

    In the Globe and Mail Tristan Coloma reports on the African immigrant/trader community network in China:

    This place is not really China, nor is it Africa; it lies in the midst of major highways in Guangzhou, southern China (formerly known as Canton). Officially, 20,000 Africans – probably more like 100,000 – live in or pass through the 10 square kilometres of “Africa Town,” where Igbo, Wolof and Lingala mingle with Mandarin and Cantonese. Some Chinese call it “Chocolate Town.”...In this roaring city of 18 million inhabitants and tens of thousands of micro-factories, the commercial activity is very different from the oil deals and huge public-works contracts the Chinese have secured in Africa.“We’re not here for fun,” said Ibrahim Kader Traore, an entrepreneur from Ivory Coast. “We work hard and do well. In Abidjan, people still swear by France, where you might be able to save $13,000 over 25 years; in China, you can have $130,000 in just five years.”...[continue reading]
    On the question of who Chinese should be dealing with:
    A new transnational African business class may be emerging, which could flood sub-Saharan Africa with low-cost products from China. “China is trying to keep things at government level,” said Mr. Barry, “but the Chinese people will soon realize that it’s better for business to deal directly with ordinary Africans.” China would prefer Africans to do business with China without living here, yet 90 per cent of Guangzhou’s Africans act as intermediaries between the African continent and Chinese factories.

    Image courtesy of the Globe & Mail

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    Biased Test Questions on Standardized Tests that I Read

    Occasionally in my job I proctor standardized tests that are given to every student in the state. This job is usually pretty uneventful- as a proctor, you simply read the directions to the students and then keep an eye on them. Our students test in a big empty cold gym that is filled with row after row of students, busily filling in bubbles to prove that they have learned something after years of public education.

    I've written before about how I have personally observed bias on standardized tests- read my entries Liberal Teachers To Students- Play God, Bloomfield Hills Schools Sticking with Leftist Curriculum, Students Accept Majority Tyranny, The Liberal Bias of Government Mandated Tests, I have been Black-Listed, Thoughts after Grading AP Government Exams, Black Listed, and Working on the Standards.

    The real tragedy with biased standardized tests is that students who are conservative or right or even moderate will have trouble with the tests not because they lack knowledge or smarts but because they will reject the premise of the question or the agenda of the reading.

    During the last test I had a kid wave me over when I was wandering up and down the rows, and I knew him to be a smart kid, so I came over to him and asked him what he needed, figuring he needed a new pencil or something.

    "How do I answer this question," the smart young adult asked me, "when I don't buy into the premise behind it?" I read the question that he was pointing to, and saw the problem. The test was a reading test where the students would read from a document and then answer a series of questions. The reading that had this student troubled was a selection about the early industrial revolution, in which factory owners are portrayed as evil and government officials are portrayed as good, and the questions asked students to glorify the government officials and demonize the factory owners.

    It was a tad biased of a selection, so I just leaned over to the student and told him- "I see what you mean, it is a tad slanted, but just write down the answer that the grader is looking for- I'm sure the next one will be more moderate or maybe even slanted right for balance."

    "The next question is even worse," he said, and had me read the next selection. The second reading that students across the state had to read and then respond to was a story about the gold rush, in which prospectors are characterized as mad and irrational and wrong for seeking to make a lot of money in mining. The selection made it seem as if anyone who was an entrepreneur or anyone who had a dream was wrong, and not someone to be encouraged or supported, and the attached question that students were to respond to asked them to justify those assumptions.

    "Or read this one," the young student said. The third and last selection that students had to read and respond to was a history article about the War with Mexico, in which the US is portrayed as the enemy and the bad guy, including language about how the US had no justification at all for invading Mexico, and about how the Mexican army were the hero's for simply defending their homes from the big bad US, and several individual Mexican’s are specifically named as hero’s while all the US soldiers are just characterized as faceless bad guys. The response question was designed to have students write about how things can be viewed from another perspective- a worthy goal, but since most students lack any knowledge of the other side of this issue and are fed one angle in the prompt, the question is set up to have students simply justify the question's agenda that the US is bad and Mexico is good.

    Shaking my head, I repeated my earlier advice, "Just write what the grader wants you to say." The student was disgusted, and did so, but I can't imagine he gave it his best effort or put 110% into the writing of those essays.

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    “Progress-Resistant” Cultures?

    Kenyan Entrepreneur reacts to a David Brooks Haiti Op-Ed about "Progress-Resistant Cultures"

    ...culture has a lot to do with a country’s progress. I’ve said before that Africa’s poverty can be attributed to the fact that Africa does not have a culture of production. If something cannot be extracted from the ground (e.g. oil, gold, etc, etc) – we simply will not create or make it and this culture of non-production is the main cause of Africa’s poverty. That’s why foreign aid hasn’t worked. It’s because the do-gooder’s of the world have refused (out of fears of being labeled “racist” – have refused to confront this underlying question of culture).
    More here

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    Detroit's Coon Man

    In April I wrote about a story that I saw in the Detroit News about the Coon Man (Coon Hunting, A Bear Named Obama, Teleprompters, Queen Touching, and Bush Fighting Zombies), and today there was a follow up to it in the Detroit News. Here is what I wrote when the story first came out:

    Next, according to the Detroit News, a new industry is starting up in Detroit, and I suspect that it actually is the fast-growing industry in the city (other than working for the government). The new industry is urban hunting and skinning. Yes, like a scene out of I Am Legend, the wilderness is retaking the city of Detroit, and the animal population is moving into areas that were once inhabited by productive men. Years of Democrat control in action!

    The story in the Detroit News is the story of a young 69-year old entrepreneur, who has to supplement his Social Security checks by hunting raccoons in the city of Detroit. Apparently this guy kills coons with the help of his rifle and coon dog, butchers the meat, and sells it to local residents, and he also sells the skins- but doesn't pay taxes on these sales (must be a Democrat). The meat is not USDA approved (probably something to do with rabies), but the video about the story (go to the link for the article to watch it and howl with laughter) shows coon meat being served with liver and onions and Faygo red pop- just the way mom made it!
    Today the Detroit News has a follow-up story about Detroit's Coon Man, who is busy hunting away finding meals for people for the holidays. This is great reporting, by the way, and the type of stuff that makes you want to buy a newspaper- it isn't slanted, biased, or massaged to produce some sort of political action- it is simply a great story well reported on. But as I read it, I do come to some conclusions.

    After Obama and the Democrats in Congress are done with our entire nation, will it be more or less like Detroit? Will wild animals roam streets that were once filled with industrious and happy people? Will crime and corruption run rampant? Will people be forced to buy and sell goods on the black market to supplement official government welfare checks? Once Obama and the Democrats have forced cap-and-tax, nationalized healthcare, more 'stimulus' projects, and massive interest-bearing debt on our nation, will our country look more or less like Detroit?

    Detroit, for those of you who do not know, is a Democrat city. They hold all the political positions in the city, and elect not just Democrats, but the most liberal Democrats that there are. So if you want to see what happens when liberal Democrats win office, look to Detroit- it is an example of what happens after years of Democrat control. Detroit not a short 50 years ago was a gleaming city of hope, progress, industry, and innovation, and after 50 years of Democrat control, it is a city where people hunt through deserted streets looking for raccoons to kill to feed hungry families.

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    Coon Hunting, A Bear Named Obama, Teleprompters, Queen Touching, and Bush Fighting Zombies

    Since my my last post (My Personal Experience Fighting the Worship of Earth Hour) was so serious, I'm going to follow it up with a lighter post today, about stuff that I find funny.

    First, take a look at the picture of the bear- according to the US Fish & Wildlife Service office in Kalispell, Montana, that little fella has taken to sitting every day at the picnic table apparently waiting to be fed and to have his winter den dug by government employees. Although he once was self-sufficient, he now begs for a handout every day from our generous government. Because of this, residents have taken to calling him Bearack Obama!

    Next, according to the Detroit News, a new industry is starting up in Detroit, and I suspect that it actually is the fast-growing industry in the city (other than working for the government). The new industry is urban hunting and skinning. Yes, like a scene out of I Am Legend, the wilderness is retaking the city of Detroit, and the animal population is moving into areas that were once inhabited by productive men. Years of Democrat control in action!

    The story in the Detroit News is the story of a young 69-year old entrepreneur, who has to supplement his Social Security checks by hunting raccoons in the city of Detroit. Apparently this guy kills coons with the help of his rifle and coon dog, butchers the meat, and sells it to local residents, and he also sells the skins- but doesn't pay taxes on these sales (must be a Democrat). The meat is not USDA approved (probably something to do with rabies), but the video about the story (go to the link for the article to watch it and howl with laughter) shows coon meat being served with liver and onions and Faygo red pop- just the way mom made it!

    In other news, Obama recently was in England, and since he had to talk to people over there, he brought with him 5 speech-writers and 12 teleprompters for the weekend. I don't think that was enough- I heard some of his stammering and stuttering in a press conference- but still- 12 teleprompters? Can't you just bring one and move it from place to place? Or do they have to put a separate one up everywhere he goes and load it with his thoughts?

    Sadly the teleprompter didn't let his wife know that you aren't supposed to touch the Queen of England- it's apparently a big no-no. Doesn't anyone on his staff do any research on this stuff? I guess not- Michelle put her arm around the Queen and gave her a noogie on national television- probably not a good idea, but at least her arms were fantastic!

    Lastly, least we forget how low the bar was for Presidents (and yet Obama still gets under it), here is a hilarious clip from a George W. Bush press conference where he is talking about fighting the biggest threat to our lives- zombies. That's right- laugh if you want, but apparently zombies are a big threat, and I am glad our President did everything he could to wipe them out- click on the link if you don't believe me. Enjoy!

    NOTE to NEW READERS: New readers, please feel free to also check out some of my recent good posts like Obama is a Caudillo, The Inside Deal: Obama's Economic Program, Employment-Population Ratio Drops to 58.5%, Earth Day: Is it just one big Communist Plot?, Gifted Programs in Schools Training Future Liberals, or Obama On Inner and Outer Circles of Leadership. Also feel free to link to blog-curhatanku.blogspot.com on your blog, and bookmark conservativeteacher.blogspot.com so you can become a regular reader of the battles of a conservative teacher's attempt to advance the principles of liberty and freedom.

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    Let 1,000 Republican Flowers Bloom

    This week is the Oakland County (Michigan) Republican Convention, and to be honest, I'm still a little annoyed about the last one. At the last convention- which I wrote about here- each precinct choose leaders for the county executive board, which plays a large role in shaping the direction of the party at the county and state level.

    I stood up and volunteered my services, and spoke about my youth, enthusiasm, and new conservative take on politics- and lost to a group of old same-old moderates. Many people liked me, but were unwilling to support me for any sort of leadership, fearing change and lacking hope.

    If there is one thing that I took from Obama's rise to victory, it is that as Republicans, we need to embrace change and speak once more of the hope for the future- and both change and hope are indeed deeply conservative ideals.

    Let me quote a bit from William Kristol's article:

    Republicans, newly liberated, need to resist calls to shackle themselves to prematurely announced agendas and already anointed leaders. This is the time for a thousand Republicans to bloom. Congressmen used to looking to the White House for guidance or approval--or fearing disapprobation--should show some healthy ambition and unleash their inner policy entrepreneur. Backbenchers need to come forward with heterodox ideas. There should be vigorous debate. Disharmonious disarray is in the short term much less of a danger than a false and stultifying unity.

    If party leaders and ideological guides had succeeded in buttoning everything down, if there had been harmonious unity and a coordinated strategy and an agreed-upon message in early 1977, there would have been no Reagan Revolution. And if politicians--or for that matter pundits--had been deterred from changing their minds, worried over charges of inconsistency, there would have been less progress during those years. When you're out of power after having been in power for a long time and when there are new realities requiring fresh thinking, a foolish consistency really is the hobgoblin of little minds. Or at least politically unsuccessful ones. So a little chaos, lots of debate, tons of political entrepreneurship--that's what we need.

    I'm all about chaos, debate, and testing new methods of politics- what I am running up against as a conservative Republican are those people who lost us the last election, those people who want to play it safe, stifle debate, and do things the old way- those people who want to play not to lose rather than play to win- I'm running up against the Republican Party that wants to lose again.

    At this next convention, if I can find a way to, if I can find the means to, I will speak about liberty and freedom, I will speak about founding principles and the bright future of our country, and I will fire up our party and try to spark debate and new ideas- if I can figure out a way around the safe, staid, confining rules that bind the Republican Party convention itself.

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    Government Finds Puddle, Throws Job-Creating Entrepreneur in Jail

    Expect more of this once Obama is in charge. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality declared that a temporary puddle on a business owners property was 'wetland', and so that business owner had to set aside that property until the end of time and not develop it. This puddle exists as snow run off from a recently built parking lot, and is only in existence for several months, and was not in existence when the property owner bought the land, and has never been declared to be wetland at any time ever. But, just days before this property owner was ready to pour concrete to expand his parking lot over the puddle, the DEQ swooped in and made this decision. The property owner defied the DEQ, saying that this was an arbitrary exercise in bureaucratic power, and now the DEQ is now fining him and threatening him with jail time.

    Here is the full story. Notice also that many of the commentators support the DEQ, claiming that it was the property owners fault, and that he needs to justify developing the land, not that the DEQ needs to justify why he can't develop it. Most of the people leaving comments are going to vote in a police state that will rule your lives.

    This is the type of state we are entering. Unelected bureaucrats are going to be making decisions about what can be developed and what can't be developed, all on their own whims, under pressure from environmental groups and left wing nuts. They will chase jobs out of our country, drive down our prosperity, and make our world a worse place than it is now. We need to fight this. What can we do to help this guy? Write letters? Contact the DEQ? Don't let injustices like this one stand my friends- do something.

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    Barriers to Innovation

    Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka and Padmashree Gehl Sampath write:

    Our analysis of the innovation process for biopharmaceutical research within Nigeria reveals specific obstacles at different stages of work that the institutions were engaged in, for three reasons. First, lack of facilities and financing to move the research to the concluding stages.Second, we found situations where significant research results had been collected, with evidence of possible utility of the process and product, but no demand by the end-users10.Third, failure to commercialize sometime resulting from institutional rigidity much of which relates to the ways traditional PRIs and universities are set up. There are two issues that recurred in our interviews namely, who initiate the process (the PRI[public research institutes] or a
    firm/entrepreneur?); and what form of formal or informal contract guides the process? In advanced developing and highly industrialized countries, two broad types of formal contract are common, which are, academic entrepreneurship, and spin-off companies from public research or universities...[continue reading]

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    "I’m a Surfer",The Philosophy of Risk-Taking

    Steven Shapin writes about the unconventional career of Craig Venter and his attitude to the "dead hand of government or academic bureaucracies","If you want free, unconstrained and risk-taking science, then you more or less need to do it in, or with the support of, the commercial sector. Science and capital have a relationship as vital as it is sometimes uneasy"

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    Microfinance Misses Its Mark

    Aneel Karnani chimes in on the debate regarding the insufficiency of Microfinance:

    My analysis of the macroeconomic data suggests that although microcredit yields some noneconomic benefits, it does not significantly alleviate poverty. Indeed, in some instances microcredit makes life at the bottom of the pyramid worse. Contrary to the hype about microcredit, the best way to eradicate poverty is to create jobs and to increase worker productivity.
    To understand why creating jobs, not offering microcredit, is the better solution to alleviating poverty, consider these two alternative scenarios: (1) A microfinancier lends $200 to each of 500 women so that each can buy a sewing machine and set up her own sewing microenterprise, or (2) a traditional financier lends $100,000 to one savvy entrepreneur and helps her set up a garment manufacturing business that employs 500 people. In the first case, the women must make enough money to pay off their usually high-interest loans while competing with each other in exactly the same market niche. Meanwhile the garment manufacturing business can exploit economies of scale and use modern manufacturing processes and organizational techniques to enrich not only its owners, but also its workers. As these scenarios illustrate, a surer way to ending poverty is to create jobs and to increase worker productivity, rather than investing in microfinance...[continue reading]

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    Entrepreneur President-Paul Kagame

    AAAS Annual Meeting Boston 2008Image by skasuga via FlickrBenin Mwangi at African Path reports:

    Paul Kagame has cut a striking image throughout the world as a leader who has been willing to go against the grain on so many levels to bring about real and lasting change in Rwanda.
    Whether we are looking at the ICT industry, the tea and coffee industry, education, women's rights, or reconciliation he seems to always be at the forefront of his class-that class being the class of current African presidents and political leaders. And his leadership has not gone unnoticed in the since that since he came to leadership Rwanda has made a slow but very steady march towards stability and prosperity...[continue reading]

    Watch related video:


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    What makes an Entrepreneur?

    Simeon Djankov, Yingyi Qian, Gérard Roland and Ekaterina Zhuravskaya:

    ...find that family characteristics have the strongest influence on becoming an entrepreneur. In contrast, success as an entrepreneur is primarily determined by the individual’s smartness and higher education in the family. Entrepreneurs are not more self-confident than non-entrepreneurs; and overconfidence is bad for business success.-BID Network
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    Where are our University Startups?

    Mfonobong Nsehe asks? in an American Chronicle article:

    Are there any universities at all which are as supportive of student entrepreneurs as to organizing business plan competitions to fund businesses of students which have mega potential?...Where are you going to find venture capitalists in Kenya or elsewhere in Africa who will be willing to swallow their pride and listen to a student entrepreneur who is armed with nothing but a world-shaking idea?

    He believes that:
    We have such bright student entrepreneurs in Africa. But until African financiers and the self-proclaimed 'Venture capitalists' are easily accessible and listen to student entrepreneurs in our African Universities, Africa may never have its own answers to such mega, internationally famed corporations like Google, Yahoo, TicketAdvantage, CollegeHumor and Facebook which were all the brainchildren of student entrepreneurs. We need financiers who will believe in and support the dreams of African student entrepreneurs and get those big ideas out of the boxes and into the pages of history. African student entrepreneurs are equally as smart, gifted and visionary and if supported can come up with big, world-changing ideas that would change the world.

    And so, will the venture capitalists in Africa please stand up?

    via eikonne

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