Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Word Reference Link

A few days ago, Nomi posted a link to Word Reference in a regular post; now the link has been added to our favorite sites.

;=)

Bugz

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Is HAIKU more ethical?

I learn to my surprise that there is an American Haiku Association or some such organization ( organisation, if you prefer) in my own home state of Rhode Island...

The question strikes me: Is this genre less troubled by ethical pollution, nepotism, et cetera?

If yes, perhaps we can spread some of the goodwill/practice around?

Please send your opinions to Bugzita or myself (who will forward them to Bugz).! We can preserve your anonymity. We value new opinions...fresh insights...


Tuesday, July 17, 2007

AAUP: "Where Have All the Members Gone?"

Indeed, where have all the members gone?

An article in the June 8, 2007, Chronicle of Higher Education poses this very question.

Well, it's pretty obvious to me that AAUP is a tired, bloated organization whose members look after their own self interests over the greater good of the profession. This organization had an opportunity to work on the adjunct situation, and, quite frankly, they blew it.

Cary Nelson, president of AAUP, should keep in mind that tenured professors react only when their cushy jobs and benefits are threatened directly; they do not seem to see that their tacit acceptance of exploited adjuncts at their colleges and universities is a major part of the problem.

Until full timers get up off their asses and start advocating for their adjunct workers, then they are no better than the colleges and universities who hire them.

My husband is a tenured, full time professor, and we often engage in lively and often heated discussions regarding this very issue.

\:=(

Oh, and the argument that adjuncts themselves must rise up and organize for themselves does not hold water. If an adjunct even looks like she might open her mouth in protest, she gets slapped down and even fired. (Adjuncts are typically women who are typically supervised by men.)

So much for self-advocacy.

AAUP talks about preserving academic freedom for everybody.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!

AAUP, you clueless dinosaur of an organization:

THERE IS NO ACADEMIC FREEDOM FOR ADJUNCTS.

Do you get that concept?

Back in April 2006, we engaged in an interesting discussion about the whimpering, dying AAUP on Foetry. Below, I have reposted part of what I said back then:

I do think that the full time faculty, both old and young, have a responsibility to clean up the adjunct situation that their administrations have put into motion.

But I'm going to let you in on a dirty little secret: the full-time faculty will NEVER stand up for adjunct rights, simply because it's not in their best financial interests to do so.

The ugly truth? Adjunct rights will boil up from the bottom, and, quite frankly, adjuncts simply aren't pissed off enough yet. But it will happen, and it will get ugly.

When that happens, I WILL be in my rocking chair, or pushing up illegal flora at Whispering Glades.

AAUP has been moaning and singing a sad song about the "adjunct problem" for years, but nothing gets accomplished because this organization is just window dressing, nothing more. To be censured by the AAUP is a JOKE; some thriving universities have spent decades on the censured list, but that doesn't stop students from enrolling there, professors from teaching in these places, or donors from giving fat endowments to these institutions.

You think the poetry world is corrupt?

Nothing compared to the bloated self-serving, corruption of the ivory tower. These people understand the concept of "foetry" all too well, long before the word itself hit the lexicon pile.

Now if some REAL firebrand can come along and give AAUP REAL BIG BALLS, then I'm willing to listen. Until then, they can rot in hell.

My opinions regarding AAUP and academe haven't changed significantly.

AAUP, get your head out of the sand and become a real and relevant organization, and your membership will swell.

Bugzita

Breaking News Unrelated to Post Foetry...

A financial milestone has been reached today: the Dow tipped to over 14,000 points. As of this writing, it is unknown if the market will close this high, but 14,000 is a mark I thought I'd never see in my lifetime.

Bugzita

UPDATE: The market closed under 14,000 but yet another record was set.

For Students & Lovers of Languages

Many years ago I wrote a column for my college newspaper, "Nomi's Non Sequiturs"...

I wish to share with any readers of this blog (all 4 of us!?), a remarkable resource for anyone who loves words and language and learning...


www.wordreference.com


It is a collection of online dictionaries: English, French, Italian, Spanish...

It includes "Language Forums" [I still prefer the plural "fora", there's a non sequitur]. One must become a member in order to open or comment on threads, but that is simple, free, noninvasive.

The fora allow one to learn about the above languages, but also:
Arabic, Belarusian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish,
Faroese,German, Greek, Hebrew, Icelandic, Japanese, Latin, Latvian, Macedonian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak Slovenian, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian & other languages...

There is one administrator and 40 (forty) volunteer moderators, and more than 40 rules. I did not intend this paragraph to be in italics, but I am stuck in it. I end this little post on that note. Check out this site!




Monday, July 2, 2007

A Message from an Old Friend




























With permission, I'm posting this message from an old friend who was traveling around in South Africa.
-
When I was 16, I traveled to Panama, and my most vivid memory was a similar looking shanty town, on a hill overlooking Panama City. I remember feeling very shocked that such poverty could exist in this world. Of course, I much older now, but these scenes still sadden me.
-
Best to all,
-
Jennifer

Domain Update

I was so ticked off at the so-called sale fiasco that I decided to put the iFindDomains.com to good use; that way, if there's a dispute, others will see that the domain isn't just sitting there. On some sites, it is still listed for sale; I have moved the legal statement to another page:

iFindDomains.com, Legal statement

I'm just leaving yet another electronic trail.

Best, Bugz