Justin Podur

Sources on teaching

I’ve been gradually collecting sources on teaching without realizing it. Teaching instruction can come from some unlikely places (the likely places are Alfie Kohn, John Holt, Carol Dweck, Paolo Freire…). Here are some of mine:

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How Criminals Communicate – thoughts for above and under ground

Just finished reading Diego Gambetta’s “Codes of the Underworld: How Criminals Communicate” (Princeton University Press 2009). One of Gambetta’s contentions is that criminals face more extreme versions of the same problems people face in above-ground life. I read it thinking about the connections and differences between political activism (which is often criminalized) and crime.

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Goma falls to Rwanda

Rebels, called the M23, have taken Goma, the main city of North Kivu, one of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s eastern provinces. Their plan is to march to Bukavu, the main city of South Kivu, and from there, they say, across the massive country to Kinshasa, the Congo’s capital.

A geographical note is in order. The DRC’s principal cities are part of greater urban areas that cross international borders. Look at the capital, Kinshasa, on a map, and you will see Brazzaville, the capital of the other Congo, right next to it.

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Pillar of Defense Deaths until November 18

A map of deaths from Israel’s Pillar of Defense operation, inspired by the UK Guardian’s map of “incidents”. I added a timeline and removed anything that didn’t result in deaths, on the basis that war is mainly a collection of deaths, and not a collection of “incidents”. The geographical information could be more accurate, and I am happy to correct if anyone sends me corrections (I’ll also be updating as time goes on, using Maan News’s excellent feed). 2D version without timeline:

3D version with timeline (requires google earth plugin), or download the KML file to your computer and view it in google earth.

And the Google Fusion Table, another easy way to get this data, below.

Thanks to Jon Elmer for putting me on to the relevant data sources.

One less reader

Writing political books about, for example, Haiti, means knowing that every reader who gets the book is a victory. Consequently, having one less reader get the book is a serious matter.

I tried to send my book to Alex Hundert, a G20 defendant who is currently locked up in Penatanguishene. I was told that books have to go direct from the publisher, so I asked my Canadian publisher, BTL, to do it for me. They were quick and efficient and sent the book off.

The other day I got this back from my publisher:

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Haiti’s New Dictatorship: Video of Book Launch in Montreal

This talk was recorded on November 15, 2012 at Concordia University in Montreal.

An attack on Dr. Mukwege

Gunmen came to Dr.Mukwege’s house in Bukavu, killed his security guard, and almost killed him.

Here is a profile I wrote of Mukwege in 2009 for The Progressive Magazine.

Here is the press release from PMU.

The Latest Colombian Peace Process

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has reinitiated a dialogue with the FARC. Talks began in Oslo and will continue in Havana. The Colombian government suspended orders to capture the 29 members of FARC’s negotiating team as long as the negotiations take place, but have warned that they will be arrested if they try to leave Cuba.

The talks will deal with five issues: the end of armed conflict; land reform; guarantees for the exercise of political opposition and citizen participation; drug trafficking; and the rights of the victims of the conflict.

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