Diana Ravitch: "New York Schools: The Roar of the Charters" (NY Review of Books)
… in reality, charter schools could learn a few things from the public schools, like how to teach children with disabilities and second-language English learners. Contrary to popular myth, the charter schools are more racially segregated than public schools and have performed no better than the public schools on the most recent state tests.
45 Simple Safety Rules For Living Life & Not Dying (Amalah.com)
#5: Never go near a snake where it will hipmotis you. #8: Never get sqasht by a giant. #15: Never go to Harry Potter World ware you'll get shot by Voldamort's wand. #21: Never get chomp't up by a dinosar. #30: Keep your dey's on my hot glord. #39: Look and see wats behind you if someone if going to kick you. #43: Never go in the purple potty.
Annalee Newitz: Noah Is the Best and Worst Bible Movie You'll Ever See (io9)
Noah is the first of the great Bible epics coming in 2014, and it's probably going to be the weirdest. Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky has created an intense, disturbing reinterpretation of the Old Testament flood story that owes a lot to obscure rabbinical debates and fantasy epics. Get ready to see the Bible through new eyes.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Practical Jokes (Athens News)
Comedian Ernie Kovacs, whose personal motto was "Nothing in Moderation," was an original. He once needed to have a fluoroscopic examination, so before the exam he wrote on his chest in aluminum paint these words: "Out to Lunch."
The Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) is a species of hummingbird.
As with all hummingbirds, this species belongs to the family Trochilidae and is currently included in the order Apodiformes. This small animal is the only species of hummingbird that regularly nests east of the Mississippi River in North America.
The plumage is molted once a year, beginning in late summer.
Source
Charlie was first, and correct, with:
Once a year.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, said:
Ruby-throated Hummingbird was thought to molt all of its feathers just once each year
Adam answered:
Once a year?
Once in a lifetime?
Deborah wrote:
The ruby throated hummingbird molts once a year.
Dale of Diamond Springs, Norcali, responded:
The Ruby-throated Hummingbird moults once a year. Sexually dimorphic. Oh Yeah!
Marian replied:
once a year
Sally said:
The Ruby-throated Hummingbird molts it's plumage once a year beginning in late summer - so says the Internets...
@DannyD, move to Colorado, and you can smoke and be lazy, and it won't bother your gout!! Since I have glaucoma, I am so wanting to take a long trip home...
DJ Useo said:
I feel like a fool. I watched a hummingbird do this just the other day, but I
forgot to count how many times. Silly me.
@Lois in Oregon- Big Lol for your godzilla dialogue and pic. Thanks.
All my prayers to you re: your cornputor (sic) problems
Alan J answered:
Once a year.
Lois Of Oregon is either taking the day off, or her browser problem has gotten worse, or her crappy dial-up has crapped out. Or a combination of any or all 3. Then, again, could be something else.
MAM wrote:
Three times ~ Wing and tail feathers are molted only once each year (on the wintering grounds) but the head and body feathers are replaced twice each year, once in the summer, and again in late winter.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
BttbBob, responded:
Never! Never, I exclaim! An' it's cuz theys ain't birds, dagnabbit! They're really little sentient alien flying lizards and those 'feathers' are little tiny scales! 'Science' has hid that fact fer years not wantin' to freak out the public, dontcha know. Imagine, little flying lizards, zoomin' 'round yer back yard! Freaky! An' ever notice that all 'hummingbird' feeder liquids are red? Ya know why? Cuz them dagnab 'alien lizards' in the wild are blood-suckers! Un-huh. Ya gets caught by a hungry swarm o' them out there an' they'll reduce ya to a human raisin, I'm tellin' ya. Imagine the horror of hundreds of needle-like beaks pokin' into ya! The gub'mint wants to appease the sumbitches with the red syrup yer feedin' 'em which is, in fact, dried blood sweetened. Yeah, wrap yer head around that one! The "X-Files" was gonna do an episode 'bout that 'til Chris Carter got a visit from some dudes wearin' sun glasses and black suits...
~~~~~
... an' I'm-a thinkin' it ain't all so pretty now.
~~~~~
'Photo Comment' Moment (a.k.a. 'Coverin' all the bases') - I've decided to copy, print and put on my ol' fridge the photo of Kumari, seein's it's said she's a protector from evil and a sign of good luck, an' all... Like, who wouldn't want that, eh? Yo! Like I always say, "Ya Never Know!"...
~~~~~
Yeah ... an' me with some presently irritating afflictions could be usin' some of that action, I'm here to tell ya... an' then there's Summer coming with those be-damn'd vampire flying lizards to contend with... Ya know? It never ends.
And, Joe S replied:
Wing and tail feathers are molted only once each year (on the wintering grounds) but the head and body feathers are replaced twice each year, once in the summer, and again in late winter.
BttbBob asks, "Anybody know the story behind this photo?"
This picture is from 'Airplane II: The Sequel', a 1982 film that spoofs airport disaster movies. When a computer malfunction takes space shuttle, "Mayflower One", toward the sun, the fate of the passengers depends on an ex-war pilot who is the only one able to land the shuttle safely.
Art Fleming, the original host of Jeopardy!, one of the many celebrities on board the space shuttle, hosts a Jeopardy! game on the shuttle with the passengers as contestants.
Take a spin around Conan's studio using the magic of CONAN360°.
CONAN360° is here. What's CONAN360°? Only the most AMAZING thing in the history of late night television. So get ready to watch CONAN in a whole new way.
after fighting for 3 days and failing to be able to upgrade w8 to w8.1
i discovered a small program that fixes most of the changes in w8 that people hate
As you all know the untimely passing of Terry was unexpected, even by
him. We all knew he had cancer but we all thought he had some years
left. So some of us who have worked closely with him over the years are
scrambling around trying to figure out what to do. My job, among other
things, is to establish communications with the Bartcop community and
provide email lists and groups for those who might put something
together. Those who want to play an active roll in something coming from
this, or if you are one of Bart's pillars, should send an email to
active@bartcop.com.
So - to let you know what's going on, the guestbook on bartcop.com is
still open for those who want to write something in memory of Bart.
Bart's final wish was to pay off the house mortgage for Mrs. Bart who is
overwhelmed and so very grateful for the support she has received.
Anyone wanting to make a donation can click on this the yellow donate
button on bartcop.com
But - I need you all to help keep this going. This note
isn't going to directly reach all of Bart's fans. So if you can repost
it on blogs and discussion boards so people can sign up then when we
figure out what's next we can let more people know. This list is just
over 600 but like to get it up to at least 10,000 pretty quick. So
here's the signup link for this email list.
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CBS begins the night with a FRESH'NCIS', followed by a FRESH'NCIS: The 2nd One', then a FRESH'Person Of Interest'.
Scheduled on a FRESHDave are Kristin Chenoweth, Amy Schumer, Johnnyswim, and Leo Nocentelli.
On a RERUNCraig (from 2/5/14) is Jim Parsons.
NBC starts the night with a FRESH'The Voice', followed by a FRESH'About A Boy', then a FRESH'Growing Up Fisher', followed by a RERUN'Chicago Fire'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Fallon are Samuel L. Jackson, Minnie Driver, aand Pitbull.
Scheduled on a FRESHSeth Meyers are Anna Kendrick, Nick Cannon, and Brett Eldredge.
Scheduled on a FRESHCarson 'The Scab' Daly are Tim Simons, Cosmonauts, and the Shanghai Restoration Project.
ABC opens the night with a FRESH'Marvel's Agents Of SHIELD', followed by a FRESH'The Goldbergs', then a FRESH'Trophy Wife', followed by a FRESH'Mind Games'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are David Duchovny, Danai Gurira, and Pete Davidson.
The CW offers a RERUN'The Originals', followed by a RERUN'The 100'.
Scheduled on a FRESHArsenio Hall are Isaiah Washington and August Alsina.
Faux has a FRESH'Glee', followed by a FRESH'The Mindy Project'.
MY recycles an old 'Bones', followed by another old 'Bones'.
A&E has 'Storage Wars', another 'Storage Wars', still another 'Storage Wars', yet another 'Storage Wars', followed by a FRESH'Storage Wars', then another FRESH'Storage Wars', followed by a FRESH'Barry'd Treasure', and 'Storage Wars'.
AMC offers the movie 'Shooter', followed by a FRESH'Game Of Arms'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] BBC WORLD NEWS
[7:00AM] BBC WORLD NEWS
[8:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 6 - Ep 2 - Day of the Moon
[9:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 6 - Ep 3 - The Curse of the Black Spot
[10:00AM] ORPHAN BLACK - Season 1 - Ep 2 - Instinct
[11:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 3 - Ep 23 - Sarek
[12:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 3 - Ep 24 - Menage a Troi
[1:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES REVISITED US - Season 2 - Ep 2 - Revisited: Handlebar, Casa Roma, The Black Pearl
[2:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 6 - Ep 12 - Yanni's
[3:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 3 - Ep 1 - Mojito's
[4:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 2 - Episode 3
[5:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 2 - Episode 4
[6:00PM] THE BLUE PLANET-Ep 1 - The Blue Planet
[7:00PM] WILD THINGS WITH DOMINIC MONAGHAN - Season 2 - Ep 1 - Giant Spitting Cobra
[8:00PM] THE BLUE PLANET-Ep 4 - Frozen Seas NEW
[9:00PM] LIFE-Ep 2 - Reptiles and Amphibians NEW
[10:00PM] WILD THINGS WITH DOMINIC MONAGHAN - Season 2 - Ep 2 - Ghost Bat NEW
[11:00PM] THE BLUE PLANET-Ep 4 - Frozen Seas
[12:00AM] LIFE-Ep 2 - Reptiles and Amphibians
[1:00AM] WILD THINGS WITH DOMINIC MONAGHAN - Season 2 - Ep 2 - Ghost Bat
[2:00AM] THE BLUE PLANET-Ep 4 - Frozen Seas
[3:00AM] LIFE-Ep 2 - Reptiles and Amphibians
[4:00AM] WILD THINGS WITH DOMINIC MONAGHAN - Season 2 - Ep 2 - Ghost Bat
[5:00AM] THE BLUE PLANET-Ep 1 - The Blue Planet (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of BH', 'Real Housewives Of NYC', followed by a FRESH'Real Housewives Of NYC', and 'Real Housewives Of Atlanta'.
Comedy Central has last night's 'Colbert Report', last night's 'Jon Stewart', 'Inside Amy Schumer', 'Tosh.0', another 'Tosh.0', still another 'Tosh.0', followed by a FRESH'Tosh.0', then a FRESH'Inside Amy Schumer'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJon Stewart is Michael Lewis.
Scheduled on a FRESHColbert Report is John Malkovich.
FX has '2½ Men', followed by the movie 'Captain America: The First Avenger', then a FRESH'Justified'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] Whitest Kids U'Know
[6:15AM] Company of Heroes
[8:30AM] Bad Ass
[10:30AM] Miracle at St. Anna
[2:00PM] Company of Heroes
[4:15PM] Bad Ass
[6:15PM] Lake Placid
[8:00PM] Halloween
[10:15PM] Halloween II
[12:15AM] Halloween III
[2:30AM] Halloween
[4:45AM] Whitest Kids U'Know
[5:00AM] Portlandia-Pull-Out King
[5:30AM] Portlandia-Spyke Drives (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00AM] Love Lust-Love Lust & the Little Black Dress
[6:15AM] Heathers
[8:30AM] The Writers' Room-Parks and Recreation
[9:00AM] Diner
[11:30AM] Pride
[1:45PM] Dedication
[3:45PM] Rising Sun
[6:30PM] All Good Things
[8:45PM] Carrie
[11:00PM] Law & Order-Virtue
[12:00AM] Law & Order-Scoundrels
[1:00AM] Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love
[3:30AM] Carrie
[5:45AM] Love Lust-Love Lust & the Little Black Dress (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has 'Face Off', another 'Face Off', followed by a FRESH'Face Off', then a FRESH'Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge'.
TBS:
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are Seth Rogen and Phillip Phillips.
Actor Johnny Depp, with a diamond ring on his left hand, attends a promotional event for his new movie "Transcendence" in Beijing, China, Monday, March 31, 2014. Johnny Depp showed off a diamond engagement ring that he called a "chick's ring" on Monday, indirectly confirming rumors of his engagement to actress Amber Heard.
Photo by Alexander F. Yuan
OkCupid.com, the popular online dating site, called for a boycott of Mozilla Firefox to protest the world's No. 2 Web browser naming a gay marriage opponent as chief executive.
OkCupid visitors who accessed the website through Firefox on Monday were told in a message to use other browsers such as Microsoft Corp's Internet Explorer or Google Inc's Chrome.
"Mozilla's new CEO, Brendan Eich, is an opponent of equal rights for gay couples," the message said. "We would therefore prefer that our users not use Mozilla software to access OkCupid."
"Especially in the kind of modern hero culture, the CEO is equivalent to the company," said Christian Rudder, an OkCupid co-founder. "We have users who are trying to find other people and we wanted to point out that this browser might be in conflict with their own values."
British actress Emma Watson pose for photographers as she arrives at the UK premiere of Noah in Leicester Square, London, Monday March 31, 2014.
Photo by Jon Furniss
French screen icon Catherine Deneuve slammed her former co-star Gerard Depardieu for "not being a citizen" by moving away from France to avoid taxes, calling him "not an example to follow."
Deneuve was in Hong Kong promoting her latest film, On My Way, an official selection of the 38th Hong Kong International Film Festival, which is currently underway. She appeared opposite Depardieu as recently as 2010, in French director Francois Ozon's Potiche.
Depardieu has citizenship in Belgium and Russia, the latter granted to him by Vladmir Putin in January 2013. He emigrated from France shortly after a very public spat over the country's high taxes on the rich.
"He doesn't want to live in France because he doesn't want to pay the taxes that we [have] now in France," Deneuve told The Hollywood Reporter. "I think Gerard is now more able to keep what he has, like some rich people who want to keep their money outside of France. I don't think it's an example to follow, but I don't think it'll last very long. I don't think you can be for very long a citizen of nowhere," she added.
Deneuve said she has had similar thoughts of leaving everything behind because of France's high taxes on the wealthy, but could never act on them. "The thought must have appeared once in a while, when you're fed up, just want to go away for a few days and leave everything. You cannot just disappear like that. It's impossible. Unless you live alone and you have no family, but otherwise it's very difficult to leave everything all of a sudden."
NBC has signed singer-songwriter Pharrell Williams as a coach for the upcoming seventh season of its musical competition series "The Voice."
Williams scored an Oscar nomination this year for his song "Happy" from the film "Despicable Me 2." He also had a Grammy-winning collaboration with Daft Punk on the dance hit "Get Lucky."
He was an adviser to team Usher on season four of "The Voice," and performed the song "Blurred Lines" with Robin Thicke on the show last May.
NBC said it would announce the remainder of the coaching line-up at a later date.
Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt attends an NBA basketball game between the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers, Sunday, March 30, 2014, in Los Angeles.
Photo by Gus Ruelas
Actress Shirley Jones is celebrating her 80th birthday on the ground, instead of skydiving as she had planned.
A spokesman for "The Partridge Family" actress said Monday that Jones agreed to postpone the jump after her sons and grandchildren asked her to reconsider.
Jones announced last week that she planned to celebrate her birthday by jumping from a plane for the first time, something she said she wanted to do all her life. She was inspired by President George H.W. Bush, who skydived on several of his birthdays, including his 85th in 2009.
Spokesman Edward Lozzi said Jones' family held an intervention Sunday to prevent the actress from going through with the jump planned for Monday. Jones insists she still plans to skydive, though no date has been set.
Josh Elliott is leaving Good Morning America for a job at NBC Sports that will pay him less than he would have received if he stayed at ABC News.
Multiple sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Elliott will make $4 million annually in a long-term contract that also includes a production deal. That's less than the $5 million ABC News was willing to shell out to keep him. Apparently the production deal that offers potential opportunities at NBCUniversal's vast suite of cable channels and the staggering audiences that tune in for sports programming on NBC proved sufficiently enticing to the anchor. Sources tell THR that Elliott was asking for $10 million in an escalating contract that topped out at $13 million. Those figures were far beyond what ABC News executives were willing to pay.
In an unusually candid company-wide email sent Sunday night, ABC News president Ben Sherwood noted that the news division "in good faith" had "worked hard to close a significant gap between our generous offer and [Elliott's] expectations.
A non-compete clause in Elliott's ABC contract precludes him from appearing on NBC's news programs for six months. And sources at NBC News and close to Elliott stress that the deal is confined to sports. But the pitched battle between GMA and Today - and the hundreds of millions of dollars at stake in morning TV - makes speculation about a possible role on Today inevitable.
U.S. singer Patti Smith and director Darren Aronofsky arrive at the UK premiere of Noah in Leicester Square, London, Monday March 31, 2014.
Photo by Jon Furniss
An 8-year-old South Carolina girl's dream of having the woolly mammoth become the official state fossil has been put on hold while lawmakers debate an amendment that gives God credit for creation of the prehistoric animal.
A bill that recently passed the state House to designate the Columbian Mammoth as the state fossil stalled in the Senate after Republican Senator Kevin Bryant added two verses from the book of Genesis.
That amendment was ruled out of order but senators this week will debate a new amendment that says the mammoth was "created on the sixth day along with the beasts of the field," Bryant said on Monday.
The original measure followed a letter to elected officials by Olivia McConnell, an-8-year-old from New Zion, South Carolina.
Curators were forced to remove a precious cup from display in a church in Spain when crowds swarmed there after historians claimed it was the Holy Grail, staff said.
Visitors flocked to the San Isidro basilica in the northwestern city of Leon after two historians published a book saying the ancient goblet was the mythical chalice from which Christ sipped at the Last Supper.
The director of the basilica's museum, Raquel Jaen, said the cup was taken off display on Friday while curators look for an exhibition space large enough to accommodate the crowds.
It has been known until now as the goblet of the Infanta Dona Urraca, daughter of Fernando I, King of Leon from 1037 to 1065.
In Europe alone there are 200 supposed Holy Grails, the Spanish researchers admitted. They attempted to debunk the authenticity of some of the better known candidates in their book.
Rachel Dratch and her son, Eli enjoy the new Popsicle® Rainbow Rio 2 pops while at the exclusive "Rio 2" Movie screening after-party, on Sunday, March 30, 2014 in New York. Popsicle® Rainbow Rio 2 pops are available nationwide in fun flavors like Sky Blue Raspberry, Sun Burst Lemonade, Wild Strawberry and Watermelon Wonder. "Rio 2" releases nationwide on Friday, April 11, 2014.
Photo by Amy Sussman
The decline in U.S. sales of carbonated soft drinks accelerated in 2013, according to a leading beverage industry newsletter.
Total sales volume fell 3 percent in 2013 to 8.9 billion cases, the ninth straight year of decline, according to Beverage Digest. That compares with declines of 1.2 percent in 2012 and 1 percent in 2011.
By company, Coca-Cola Co and Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc each gained market share, according to Beverage Digest, while PepsiCo Inc's lost market share.
Beyond a clear-cut in Quebec's far north -- marked by a sign that reads "the road of destruction ends here" -- aboriginal Canadians are fighting for an ancient forest and their traditional hunting rights.
Canada's boreal forest is the largest intact forest in the world, comprising one-third of the forest circling the North Pole above the 50th parallel.
In this remote part of Quebec province, just south of the frozen Broadback River, the coniferous forest is home to hundreds of wildlife species including the endangered woodland caribou.
For centuries, Cree tribesmen have also lived and hunted in these woods.
They say logging offers few benefits to indigenous people, while damaging the environment.
A model wears a creation from the Tufi Duek Summer collection at Sao Paulo Fashion Week in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, March 31, 2014.
Photo by Andre Penner
A Philadelphia woman's collection of over 40,000 VHS and Betamax tapes will live on forever thanks to a group of volunteers and digitization.
The Internet Archive is a San Francisco-based nonprofit that catalogues everything from websites to TV shows. Michael Metelits contacted the organization last fall after his mother, Marion Stokes, passed away. She left her family an incredible compilation of recorded television programs spanning almost four decades.
Stokes began her collection in 1976. Tapes are as recent as 2012; she died that December from lung disease at the age of 83. Over the 36 years, Stokes recorded anything she thought might one day be important. Her son told The Daily Dot that the two events that prompted this were the Iran Hostage Crisis and the start of CNN, the first 24-hour cable news network.
According to Fast Company, Stokes ran as many as eight recorders simultaneously and around the clock following the advent of cable news. The recording would start late at night with six-hour tapes that would be replaced when she woke up, and then switched throughout the day either by her or a family member.
The Top 20 Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows in North America. The previous week's ranking is in parentheses. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.
A red-eared turtle swims in the pond of the turtle enclosure during sunshine in the zoo in Duisburg, Germany, Monday, March 31, 20145.
Photo by Roland Weihrauch
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