Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Words for Rice

Study vocabulary and help end world hunger at the same time! Anyone interested in English, from a beginning level student to a professor in linguistics, can participate.

Check out the site called Free Rice. The way it works is, you are given a word with 4 possible synonyms. If you click on the correct definition, you donate 20 grains of rice - for free! The rice goes to the United Nations World Food Program.

From a database of thousands of words, the game automatically adjusts to your level of vocabulary. "If you get it right, you get a harder word. If wrong, you get an easier word." The highest level is 50. Mine was 43. What's yours?

Warning (posted on the site): This game may make you smarter! And you'll end up making a contribution to those in need.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Top 25 Censored Stories of 2008

Do you often wonder, as I do, what "news" we're not getting through the major mass media? What is they're not telling us and why? While people I've never heard of (and actually don't think I'm missing much by not knowing anything about them) are making headlines with DUIs and pregnancies out of wedlock, events that have an enormous effect on our lives are taking place and going on underreported or even unreported.

Fortunately, for people with free Internet access, there's a place to read the top 25 censored stories of the year. It's published by a media research group out of Sonoma State University that tracks that tracks the news published in independent journals and newsletters. Their long list of resources includes some that I once subscribed to, such as Mother Jones and the Village Voice, but now simply don't have the time to read.

However, I did read through the top censored stories of this year. If you have courage, read them for yourself at: Top 25 Censored Stories of 2008.