Is age 5 too early to start school?  Some European countries don't start until age 7, and their educational acheivement is higher than countries that start at age 5.

One of these days, I'll get around to finishing my rant on US schools. Lots to think about on that front when it comes to our little one, but there's time to think still, so I'll put ( Read more... )

 article on a new sudoku variant, this one adds colors to help guide choices

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22803959/

also, if you're looking for more difficult sudoku, I strongly recommend http://www.tellini.org/any/3doku/ - 3-dimensional sudoku, with four difficulty levels and four starting configurations. I have yet to successfully complete any ( Read more... )

 Charter Cable accidentally permanently deletes email accounts

Charter Communications admits it accidentally erased thousands of its customers' e-mail accounts by mistake.

A Charter spokesperson said an accident during routine maintenance deleted 14,000 accounts.

[...]

The company said there is no way to recover the lost information.

"We're straight ( Read more... )

Transgender Club Owner Takes On City   - Wyandotte, MI

The owner of a transgender club has appealed to the city of Wyandotte's Zoning Board on Wednesday night, after she said officials have denied her permits to allow her to open a transgender and crossing-dressing club.
[...]
Law has been fighting the city since 2006 and the city of Wyandotte has ( Read more... )

This reminds me of Weekend at Bernie's

Two men wheeled a dead man through the streets in an office chair to a check-cashing store Tuesday and tried to cash his Social Security check before being arrested on fraud charges, police said.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iVC1KMTOgwiSoMQyT2LwZc9HyAgA

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/12/20/news/top/doc476a99630633e335271152.txt

Makes me want to call my grandmother and see what's actually going on.

ETA:

Ah. Further reading shows this is something that's really being done true to how the tribes have always worked: it's ( Read more... )

Corpse Stuffed Animals -  "...Twitch the Raccoon which comes with its own body bag, reports U.K newspaper Metro. Twitch also has an identity tag revealing it was "run over over by a milk [delivery truck] last Thursday." [...] A zipper on each side of the toy allows the owner to remove Twitch's internal organs and stuff them back in again. A truck- ( Read more... )

...and the Elvis is Alive Museum will be moving to Mississippi.

Michigan man shoots cow, claims he thought it was a coyote 

From the article,

The undersheriff in northern Michigan's Benzie County says he doesn't see how anyone could confuse a 1,400-pound, pregnant cow with a coyote, which typically weighs 20 to 45 pounds.

And anyway, shooting coyotes is illegal during deer-shooting season.

http://www.ecanadanow.com/news/health/adhd-drugs-have-no-long-term-benefits-20071112.html

Researchers found drugs such as Ritalin and Concerta do work well for short term, but do not offer improvement in a children's behavior ( Read more... )