Marines know...

Again, not a political blog, but I found this to be a telling comparison.

Dancing - manly yet fun

I have committed to dancing at my daughters' recitals again this year. No, I am not a dancer - the instructor is patient, the dance fairly easy, and I pay attention, so I get by. Last year was a bit of James Brown (love the music, but I am as far from funky as you can get); the previous year was a Viennese Waltz to Chicago's Color My World.

At any rate, with that in mind, I came across a superb example of dance from a couple of fellows not normally known for dancing.



Nah, I'm not anywhere near that talented!

The Antikythera Mechanism

OK, another treat for those interested in mechanical devices - with an archaeological twist, as this mechanism is 2100 years old. It was designed to track cycles of the solar system, including eclipses, and as a bonus kept track of the four year Olympiad cycles. Read about its discovery and the amazing tools used to analyze the remaining fragments here.

Historic Perspective on Armor

A great read on the various types of European armor.

Learning Italian

We are starting a study of Italian. We know a bit of Mandarin Chinese, and some phrases in French and German, but in starting our foreign language course we decided on Italian.

I came across this site - not a comprehensive course by any means, but a neat little site with audio examples of pronunciation. Worth a look - and the links to music sung by Pavarotti and Bocelli are well worth the time to enjoy.

1911 Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica

OK, this is a real treat. It is not as good as the print version, which of course has many fine images and maps, but this web site has the entire 1911 Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica on line, searchable by subject or alphabetically.

The 11th Edition is considered by many to be the finest encyclopedia (to use the American spelling) ever published. Having it available in this format is a boon to students of all ages.

Dihydrogen Monoxide - an environmental disaster

The study of Dihydrogen Monoxide is vital for a solid understanding of the environmental disaster that awaits planet Earth. All home schooled kids should take some time to study this chemical, its effects on the environment, and the political ramifications of its continued use.

I first heard of this problem when three University of California students outlined the danger of this pernicious chemical, and it gained a wide national audience 'in 1997 when Nathan Zohner, a 14-year-old student, gathered petitions to ban "DHMO" as the basis of his science project, titled "How Gullible Are We?"'

Yes, the study of Dihydrogen Monoxide (H2O, or water in the vernacular) gives our students an excellent picture of how environmental sciences have been perverted for political gain, how the most benign substance can be portrayed as dangerous, in other words, how modern advocacy works.