Column of the Day: Hang up and drive!

As my eldest prepares for driver's training, his father loses sleep for all of the same reasons his father lost sleep thirty years ago. Maureen Dowd's op-ed in today's NY Times shares some frightening stats about driving under the influence of cell phones:

Ominously, research by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — suppressed for years and released on Tuesday after petitions were filed by advocacy groups — shows that there are “negligible differences” in accident risk whether you’re holding the phone or not. Hands-free devices may even enhance the danger by lulling you into complacency.

Fireball: The Craig Ferguson Apollo 11 Tribute

Nirvana gets Rick-Rolled

This is priceless.

40 years ago - no myth

Just watched Mythbusters crush the dreams of those loony "the moon landing was faked" conspiracy theorists. The boys were interviewed earlier today on CNN; this clip features a ticked off Buzz Aldrin confronting one of the non-believers. Brilliant.

The Onion 'Sold' to China

This week's issue of The Onion features news of its "sale" to the Chinese Government. You can see the new look here, or watch the Chinese Andy Rooney on the Onion News Network below.



China’s Andy Rooney Has Some Funny Opinions About How Great The Chinese Government Is

If Mythbusters explored schools of choice

The theory behind schools of choice is that, by giving families the opportunity to choose which school district to send their children, all schools will improve as a result of the competition. It works in the business world, so it should work in public education, right?

Not so much, according to a new study published in the August edition of the American Journal of Education.

Market-based educational policies, despite being implemented to alleviate social injustice in education, are actually helping to exacerbate inequality and erect further barriers for poorer students.

Myth busted. Back to the education reform drawing board.

AP results!

Somehow, your AP scores made it to my mailbox last weekend. I'm happy to announce that 76% passed the AP Lit exam, and 82% passed the AP Language! Great work!

Farewell, Frank McCourt

Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes, died yesterday in Manhattan. A gifted storyteller and teacher, McCourt spun the story of his tragicomic life into a trio of best-selling memoirs. You owe it to yourself to read Angela's Ashes. Just keep the Kleenex handy.

UPDATE: This touching remembrance of McCourt as a teacher appears in Tuesday's NY Times.

AP Exam Results

Have your AP scores arrived? How'd you do? Let me know!

Happy Birthday, SpongeBob!

Ten years of living in a pineapple under the sea. And a 50-episode marathon scheduled for this Friday. Good times.

Abbey Road, London Calling, and Rubik's Cube

Three great works that work great together. Enjoy.

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by extermitent

Back to the books! And the blogging

The honeymoon is over, let the blogging begin! I've aborted my attempt at reading Infinite Jest this summer; instead, I'll cruise through a bunch of books. So far, I've knocked off Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (challenging yet enjoyable), Columbine (emotionally challenging and extremely worthwhile), and Waiting for Godot (much better after seeing Nathan Lane and John Goodman's Broadway performance). Right now, I'm tackling Jeffrey Toobin's The Nine, an insider's look at the Supreme Court (fascinating).

Of course, I'm scouring the web for interesting bits that I think might interest those of you still checking up on this thing. Here's one from Newsweek: "Fifty Books for Our Times", a reading list for our world, right now.