Scientists claim to have discovered, using mitochondrial DNA, a link between 95 percent of Native Americans and six women that lived around 20,000 years ago.  NPR Story

Remember the ballroom dancing documentary?  Bronx students learn Irish jigs (with video!): The Gothamist

There has been a mild uproar in the media over Fred Armisen (a white/Asian actor) playing Obama on SNL.  Is this an important discussion?  Newsweek Story

Mastadon skeleton for sale: $115,000.  Reuters Story

After four years of researching, a Pentagon group has discovered that while the Iraqi regime has assisted and collaborated with (and even trained) terrorist groups, there is certainly no connection between Al Quaida and Iraq.  NPR Story

Eyeteeth blog interview with Brian Ulrich, a photographer documenting America’s consumer culture.  Eyeteeth Story (w/ slideshow and links)

Second Life on college campuses. NYT Story

Review of My Kid Could Paint That, a documentary following the art of four-year-old Marla Olmstead.  Popmatters Story

I’m going to try to get into the habit of posting the articles in the main blog body instead of the news feed to the right (thanks KO, for the idea).  The pickings are sparse today, but since I should be doing a daily feed (and we only do articles twice per week), there should be more to look at in the future.

Obama’s rhetoric.  Author’s pulling at the reminiscent heartstrings hardcore here.  Does her argument work?  Popmatters Story

More rhetoric in the blogosphere: Treehugger Story

This is the piece of art? game? I was describing in class: game, game, game, and again game via Popmatters

Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle incited a mass overhaul of the American meat processing industry in  the early 20th century.  Is video a more effective means of persuasion? NYT: Dining & Wine Story

More to come later tonight; I’m headed to look at more houses!

will be fueled by our creations.

Today we discussed motivations, which led us to Freud’s pleasure principle. Here’s a clip from the board:

How’s the search coming? If you have a video that you’d like to share, post it in the comments section below. Here’s one from Gwyn that she posted under the previous header:

The video’s from Ted.com are always amazing, and this is no exception. The speaker contends (among many other things) that adults have learned to be frightened of being “wrong.” Has anyone seen Meet the Robinsons?

Our discussion tomorrow will be based on the articles and information we bring in. Remember, it is one thing to know something, but quite another to understand and use this understanding to create.

Here are a few more articles from you guys:

• The declining American high school graduation rate: Evidence, sources, and consequences
• Successful School Breaks the Rules

And one from another teacher:

• What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?

on this session’s final paper, check out RottenTomatoes.com for articles on An Inconvenient Truth.  George F. Will is an op-ed columnist for The Washington Post, and has written a scathing counterargument to Gore’s movie. 

For the good of the community, post any other online articles you find.