grouply finally

alternative ning

Not sure I can back you entirely on this one Mr. President...

Obama Backs Rewarding Districts That Police Failing Schools

To qualify for the federal money, known as School Turnaround Grants, he said, the school districts must agree to take at least one of the steps: firing the principal and at least half the staff of a troubled school; reopening it as a charter school; or closing the school altogether and transferring students to better schools in the district.

Try a letter to your younger self

Stephen Fry's letter to his 16-year-old self | Media | The Guardian
This quote stands out most:

Deadness of soul is the only unpardonable crime, and if there is one thing happiness can do it is mask deadness of soul.

The hockey stick divide!

Here's an interesting puzzle. I'm a lefty (hockey and baseball only), so's my brother and my kids and even my now Canadian citizen husband discovered he plays hockey and bats left. Here's what the NYtimes has to say about it.   

Hockey Stick Divide - Canada Leans Left, U.S. Right - NYTimes.com

But none may be so simple as how one holds a hockey stick. According to sales figures from stick manufacturers, a majority of Canadian hockey players shoot left-handed, and a majority of American players shoot right-handed. No reason is known for this disparity, which cuts across all age groups and has persisted for decades.

Most Canadians, like most Americans, are naturally right-handed, so the discrepancy has nothing to do with national brain-wiring. And how you hold a pencil, say, has little or no bearing on how you hold a stick. A left-handed shooter puts his right hand on top; a right-hander puts the left hand there...

We all also put the left foot forward first. Someone once said it is related to the length of the legs and which one we use as a pivot, I think they, whoever 'they' are, said it's the longer one that stays behind. Though this still doesn't explain why Canadians have the right leg longer than the left and Americans the reverse. And if this phenomenon does not have a parallel in tennis, do right foot forward righties do better than left-foot forward righties. Of course, just reverse all these musings to apply them to lefties.