Comment: Re:Library E-books (Score 1) 336
Comment: Re:Higher Power (Score 0, Troll) 457
And Obama just told us that he can build a new department, completely out of congressional oversight, and then bypass the congress when they don't confirm his choice to lead it.
By the way, Obama thought that convening the congress every third day (pro forma sessions) to eliminate the possibility of recess appointments was just fine when they did it to Bush in 2007-08.
Comment: Re:Not just Star Wars (Score 5, Informative) 99
He took the line in The Princess Bride that went something like 'they had the best swordfight ever', and turned it into the best sword fight on film I've ever seen.
Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin practiced constantly for that fight scene, during breaks in filming, and it shows. Nothing beats doing something for real. Saying "we'll fix it in post" using CGI has become a crutch, I think.
Comment: Re:WoW 2.0 (Score 1) 389
I know it's 'the thing' to trash the game du jour, but this is getting ridiculous.
Comment: Re:Who would ride that bomb? (Score 3, Insightful) 134
Comment: Re:"Real Cost" (Score 1) 165
Comment: Re:Groklaw has a pretty good article. (Score 2) 472
Comment: Re:Or better yet.. (Score 1) 406
I kid you not, the real reason that we're graduating people who can't read? Lower and middle schools are promoting children who are failing for two reasons:
1. to preserve their "self esteem"
2. holding back children reflects poorly on the school
Then, when the kids get to high school, they can't be sent back to the schools that didn't teach them, and it's now the high school's problem.
Comment: Re:Those that don't do well should be embarassed (Score 1) 406
Ah, the ubiquitous assumption that student's grades are a function of teacher quality, and teacher quality alone.
I hate to break it to you, but there is a substantial fraction of kids who just don't give a shit. You can be the best teacher in the world, but if there's no will from the student to learn, they won't do well.
An education is like a stool. To get a good, solid one, you need three legs: a committed student, a good teacher, and supportive parents.