Thank You for Smoking

Oh wait, oh wait! According to this article on DCIST today http://www.dcist.com/archives/2006/03/31/enjoy_those_din_1.php the smoking ban did NOT get knocked down by congress, and Monday starts off a (bars & clubs excluded) smoke free DC!

Don't tell anyone, Bush's education secretary('s writers) read "The World is Flat"

And that book's totally written by a NY Times op-ed columnist.

Found on education wonk's site http://educationwonk.blogspot.com/2006/03/spellings-report-congressional-fun-and.html

"While we're sleeping every night, accountants in India do our taxes. Radiologists in Australia read our CAT scans. And technicians in China build our computers."

I also don't belive in god.

Prayer Doesn't Aid Recovery, Study Finds

No, this is not from the Onion, it's from Washington Post.

"Praying for other people to recover from an illness is ineffective, according to the largest, best-designed study to examine the power of prayer to heal strangers at a distance.

The study of more than 1,800 heart-bypass patients found that those who had people praying for them had as many complications as those who did not. In fact, one group of patients who knew they were the subject of prayers fared worse."

In the beginning...

I think I might agree with this one Teaching the Bible in Georgia's Public Schools even though I'm a blue state liberal. No, I'm not going soft. I see nothing wrong with teaching the bible as literature. I read it in an English class in high school. It can be taught in religion class in college, so if it's an elective, why not use the bible as a textbook. I disagree with preaching the bible in a (non-parochial) classroom. But my recent visit to a Catholic school classroom affirmed that there's a mighty big difference between that and public school. Whooo, rambling.

Another Very Useful Thing, Courtesy of Dcist

http://www.dcist.com/map/

CYE

(The old Jim Larranaga burger was topped with whitefish, sable, capers, onions, and cream cheese, but Larranaga -- then known as "Larranaga David" -- reportedly objected when he realized that no one would order it.)
http://dcist.com/ (scroll down aways)


Hahaha.
And my favorite episode from last season was the passion of the christ/bra episode.

Domestic Spying part 2

Iraqi Documents Are Put on Web, and Search Is On

WASHINGTON, March 27 — American intelligence agencies and presidential commissions long ago concluded that Saddam Hussein had no unconventional weapons and no substantive ties to Al Qaeda before the 2003 invasion.

But now, an unusual experiment in public access is giving anyone with a computer a chance to play intelligence analyst and second-guess the government.

Under pressure from Congressional Republicans, the director of national intelligence has begun a yearlong process of posting on the Web 48,000 boxes of Arabic-language Iraqi documents captured by American troops.

They are here fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/products-docex.htm

You might need to know some Arabic (a few are translated in English, includes such gems as [Include a handwriting, which means: God has shown mercy on such a
human, whom he has led me to recognize my faults])

And the page is difficult to work with--if you open a document this page fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/products-docex.htm disappears and you have to recopy it into your browser.

Again, I am probably being domestic spied on right now.

I did some math

And about that article, I am not arguing for school choice, just showing a list of the facts.
They may or may not be true, but if they are... With proficiency per dollar spending DC is still at the
bottom for proficiency rates.
The Massholes slip (it's humbling) to second in reading/dollar behind Kentucky and
fifth (oops!) in math/dollar, with Minnesota taking the lead.

In case you were wondering.

I love being from the smartest state in the US

Guess the MCAS were good for something. Massachusetts has the highest proficiency rate on the NAEP tests.
DC has the lowest (and they spend over close to twice as much per student).
Check it out here: http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?print=yes&id=13458

PS Props to Minnesota for coming close.

Start domestic spying on me now.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/arts/television/26manl.html?th&emc=th Al Jazeera network goes English language. Mumtaz! My Arabic wasn't good enough to watch.
I think this is a good idea--but those who watch Fox nonstop might get their skivvies in a twist.

Texas just might be dumber than DC

"Educators and administrators warn that holding students back a grade increases the financial burden for the state, which has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars on housing, health care and other services for the half-million refugees who came to Texas after Katrina swamped the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29."
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2006/03/24/katrina_refugees_score_lower_on_tests/ (Katrina Refugees Score Lower on Tests, AP)

OK now, isn't social promotion exactly what is pushing these kids farther back on standardized tessting. Wouldn't not holding them back exacerbate the situation? No really, this doesn't make any sense to me, except that Texas is going to double stuff the New Orleans kids who already got fucked by their school system and Katrina.
Wow, Texas, you idiots, never cease to explain away the state of the country now do ya?

Implicit again

Your data suggest a strong automatic preference for Vegetables compared to Meat.

You should definitely play aorund with these. Entertaining-ness. :)

Coffee vs. Tea

Your data suggest a moderate automatic preference for Coffee compared to Tea.

https://implicit.harvard.edu

Maybe Teach for America isn't so effective after all?

Ok, so they don't say TFA isn't effective, but they do say that TFA's uncertified teachers are not making a big difference compared to other uncertified teachers. This one is definitely worth reading. Report: http://schoolredesign.net/srn/binaries/teachercert.pdf Info on report: http://schoolredesign.net/srn/news/certification.html
(Read the author's response to TFA.) Found in ASCD PD Smartbrief.

$12 million of KARMA coming back to bite you in the shoulder

Damon Has Tendinitis in Left Shoulder

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/15/AR2006031501398.html

The Associated Press
Wednesday, March 15, 2006; 2:30 PM

TAMPA, Fla. -- Johnny Damon has tendinitis in his throwing shoulder, and the New York Yankees star will not be available to play the outfield for the United States on Thursday night against Mexico in the World Baseball Classic.

The Yankees sent Damon to be examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum in California on Tuesday, and the speedy leadoff man was cleared to pinch-run for the U.S. squad if needed. Whether Damon can hit will be determined before Thursday's game, but he will not play in the field.

"I spoke to Johnny yesterday," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Wednesday. "He's not worried. He just needs to get it calmed down, so that's why he's not a defensive player for them right now."

Damon had an MRI exam. His sore left shoulder is the same one that hindered him late last year with Boston and weakened an already inferior throwing arm.

Cashman said the injury flared up while New York's biggest acquisition of the offseason was working out with the U.S. team.

"It happened there," Cashman said. "Right now, he's OK to stay out there and try and help the U.S. team obviously in a limited way now."

There is no timetable for when Damon will resume defensive drills. Cashman plans to speak with Yocum again before Thursday's WBC game.

"I don't have a final report yet. I'll have one before Thursday's game," Cashman said.

Cashman said right now he's not worried about Damon's status for opening day.

"This is something that should calm down and should be able to get out of the way in time for our season to start based on what I have been told by Dr. Yocum," Cashman said.

Damon, who signed a $52 million, four-year contract with the Yankees during the offseason, has played in four of the Americans' five games in the inaugural WBC, going 1-for-7. He sat out Monday night's 7-3 loss to South Korea and was a pinch-hitter in Sunday's 4-3 victory over Japan.

His ailment is exactly the kind of issue New York owner George Steinbrenner was referring to when he spoke out against the Classic.

"I'm not concerned about him based on the fact he pinch-hit the other day, plus the fact Cash talked to him," Torre said, referring to Damon. "Hopefully, it appears to be in the spring training-type feeling.

"To me, Johnny knows what's important. They want to win there, but he knows that he has to get himself right to help whichever club he's playing for. He knows that they're playing the Classic, but it's still a time when you get yourself in shape and you have to look out for yourself."

People in NW Don't Go to School

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/daily/graphics/schoolsmap_031206.pdf

Obviously they do, just not the kinds of schools other DC students are going to.
People should be outraged. But the white students are doing okay, so ehh whatever.

"Girls in emo songs today do not have names," she wrote, adding, "We leave bruises on boy-hearts but make no other mark." N Y Times makes fun (?) of Emo: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/16/arts/music/16sann.html?th&emc=th
And Andrew Mathas really does: http://thephoenix.com/article_ektid6038.aspx

Nice.