William Cosgrove

Recent Activity

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  William commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  Hell Freezes: Defending Meghan McCain v. Paul Begala

  Emily,

  
  

  It actually is very time consuming to put the effort into learning the events and facts of history when one has already established such a stamp on his or her own "present."  As children, we still have this level of dependency on others and cannot act very independently for a number of reasons.  Thus, we do not have a wide-reaching level of participation and, I believe, it is easier to learn of the history while not being distracted by the present.

  
  

  On top of this, given the style of teaching history as noted in the article and previous comments, it may be difficult to comprehend in a new manner different parts of history without having that linear style of presentation. 

  
  

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  A suggestion to improving the relevance of now to back then, connecting the dots, and so forth could be simply put through by a current events class..  A school would need an individual that would be modest in her participation, but active enough to engage questions that connect the school's teachings to events of today (What does Mr. Smith's discription of such-and-such a war have in common with yesterday's happening?..and so forth).

  
  

  To address the fear of being over political, biased, or leaning while addressing one's personal take on current events and history, I believe it best to remain mute.  1) There is enough in the world going around close to home and all over the world to serve as a foundation and initation into how to form one's own participatory being.  It would be nice to have a class that steps back and allows self-perspective (what makes us human and not animals).  2) There is a strong enough belief in society's moral ground, despite disagreements on certain issues, that the freedom to gain one's own opinion through peer discussion is greater than being taught one way is the best way at such an early age...or at least I hope.

  
  

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  Clay, I like very much so the level of interaction that you have with commentators.  Keep the debate alive!

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  William commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  Animals in the Blogs: The Great June Roundup, June 21-29

  I am sorry that you had closed your comment to the 'Kids Killing Animals' blog article.  Are you only permitted to have so many comments, or to keep open the area for so long?  I hope this is not the case; I would argue for you to be allowed to have open debate, not leaving one point as an ending or defining point to which no one could respond.  I hope you are not being limited in this matter.

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  William commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  A Bad Alternative to Panhandling

  I do give credit for the organizations that are attempting to those who would not normally give money at all.  Donations that go towards non-profits and charities addressing similar issues are in large quantities from the same contributors.  Usually people would not give any money at all, much less to someone random on the street.  The idea is to gain some cents from those who would normally buy a donut and cup of coffee and, instead, contribute to this cause.

  
  

  Contrary to the author's claims, this is not "another way of controlling an already vulnerable population."  Unless, she would like to make claims to all social services that look to control those in poverty.  Requirements are strict and often seemingly overbearing to those who must sacrifice a greater proportion than the rest of us for a smaller amount - especially in government aid, among others.  They can be argued as "controlling." 

  
  

  Is it that these are replacing funds or efforts to work towards "encouraging the chronically homeless to seek services?"  Absolutely.  However, are we not trying to control the actions taken by the homeless over their own welfare?  These are services you must seek to improve yourselves.  Posting information and informing about choices, after asking them if they wish to seek services, is a better way.  However, this is already being addressed by those individuals in caring, generous non-profits.

  
  

  The meters are to gain money from individuals that may not give any, and actually, may be more willing to fill these devices for a good cause than to fill up the city budget that supports who-knows-what.  That is, if we do know the path of the meter money.