Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on TwitterBe a Facebook FanTumble us!

08 Jan 2012 11:44

tags

Politics: “No Child Left Behind” turns 10, education experts want to leave it behind

  • It is time to acknowledge this failure and adopt a more effective course for the federal role in education. Policymakers must abandon their faith-based embrace of test-and-punish strategies and, instead, pursue proven alternatives to guide and support the nation’s neediest schools and students.
  • A policy assessment written by Lisa Guisbond, Monty Neill and Bob Schaeffer • Suggesting that No Child Left Behind, the Bush-era education law passed under bipartisan circumstances, should go the way of the dodo. The policy, now seen as an example of ineffective government overreach by many, celebrates its 10th birthday today, and politicians who once supported the law — including Rick Santorum, who voted for it and tried to push an intelligent design amendment into the bill — no longer do. Guisbond, Neill and Schaeffer’s report, which suggests revisiting the law based on the lessons learned from the past decade, is available to read over heresource

12 Dec 2010 22:43

tags

Politics: Ten years ago today, the chads stopped hanging in Florida

  • So guys, remember ten years ago, when our country was so divided that we had to debate how stupid Florida’s ballots were? You probably don’t, because ten years of drama has happened since then, but today marks the tenth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision that gave George W. Bush the electoral college win – and led to his two twisted terms. It’s a reminder that no matter how far we’ve come since then, the partisan bickering never really went away. source

21 Oct 2010 16:17

tags

Music: In remembrance: Elliott Smith. He died seven years ago today.

  • We can’t believe it’s already been seven years. On October 21, 2003, Elliott Smith’s life ended. It may have been suicide. It may have been murder. It’s never been clarified, but either way, he’ll be greatly missed. It was a very emotional moment in our own growing-up process, hearing the endless creativity that came from this guy, and we’re still learning stuff from songs like “Between the Bars” and “Twilight.” Want a good way to honor his music and memory? Donate a couple of bucks to the Elliott Smith Memorial Fund, which helps two charities, Outside In (which helps homeless youths in Portland, Oregon, Smith’s hometown) and Free Arts for Abused Children (which is self-explanatory, and has received tons of donations in Smith’s memory over the years). Smith’s death was sad; you can help something good come from his memory. source