November Articles of Interest: Twain Turns 176; What Would Gandhi Do?; Death of Master Watchmaker; MVS Blog, 5,000 views & growing!

Wednesday, 30 November 2011

Greetings Upper School Community:

Here is the November edition of “Articles of Interest” to ease the arrival of December.  Speaking of which, I sent-out a reminder of the “inclement weather policy” for the Upper School: student safety, parental peace-of-mind, and close communication with the US Office play important supporting roles.

The New York Times Op-Ed page poses an interesting question relating to the Occupy Wall Street movement and other current political conundrums: “What Would Gandhi Do?” 

Columnist David Brooks solicited “life reports” from people over 70.  He summarizes the responses in his article, “The Life Reports II.”

The Economist provides a sentimental obituary to master watchmaker George Daniels, detailing the disappearing precision and craft in “keeping time.”  Sadly, there is not “an app for that.”

Today marks (pardon the pun) what would have been Samuel Langhorne Clemens’ 176th birthday. Google’s “doodle” for the day depicts a familiar fence-whitewashing scene, along with a brief video homage; just imagine the yarns that Papa Twain would be weaving today!

And speaking of good books, to provide you with suggestions for curling up in front of a warm fire, NYTimes has posted its annual list of 10 Best Books for the year.

From the “milestone-moments department,” my MVS Blog crossed the 5,000-visits threshold this week, since its launch back in September of 2009.  Digging into the statistics of traffic sources and audience, outside of home countries of MVS students or Immersion destinations, I discover that top international readers of the Blog reside in Russia, Germany, Netherlands, Latvia, Israel, and the United Kingdom; talk about a global community in a “flat-world!”  


As always, I welcome your comments, suggestions, and feedback at: http://wagnersmvsblog.blogspot.com/

Happy reading, stay warm and healthy, and bring on December!

Sam Wagner

Head of Upper School