September 28, 2006
QOD: “Every nation has the government it deserves.” “The sword of justice has no scabbard.” – J. Maistre 1888
Interesting quotes that compelled several students to offer insightful commentary. Essentially the consensus was that the first quote held some merit when applied to a democracy, where by definition all citizens have the potential power to participate in the political game to some degree. The idea being that if you do not participate then you get what you deserve. However, in a dictatorship or the like, where the majority of the citizens are oppressed and completely cut out of the political process, the quote is not accurate. Good stuff...
I used the quote to discuss aspects of culture in the sociology course. For the second day in a row, we had a very productive class 7th hour.

TPNS: Standing between President/ General Musharraf [Pakistan] & President Karzai [Afghanistan]President Bush emphasized “the need to cooperate” in the war on terror.
The re-emergence of the Taliban has refocused attention on northern border of Afghanistan where the Taliban enjoys some support. Most experts agree that Bin Laden is hiding out somewhere in this incredibly rugged and remote region.

American Government: In class today the students were each assigned a small segment of the US Constitution and the 27 amendments with the chore of paraphasing each of the segments to the level of about 4th grade. The idea then is to discuss in class...it was fun and seemed to be productive...