Reading Writing and Superman
Comic books used to be unwelcome in schools. Now some educators are using comic books to encourage reading, drawing and writing. Not a bad Idea.

Making Dirty Dancing Less Dirty

The recent thong-checking scandal that cost a vice principal her job has put a brighter spotlight on school dances where many educators worry the sexuality has gotten out of hand. Included in the list of rules at this year's prom for an Oakland high school are: no grinding, no doggy dancing, and no front piggy-backing.

Haystack taken ... Needle still missing
"Seven months since the United States began fighting in Afghanistan, that kind of fleeting, long-distance encounter has become more common than the massive airstrikes or large-scale ground assaults of months past. With no known large concentrations of al Qaeda or Taliban fighters to attack, the U.S. campaign has evolved into a sometimes frustrating search for a scattered, hit-and-run enemy that travels more easily and furtively than its pursuer." ( Washington Post reports)

Cynthia McKinney Is Vindicated

"Several weeks ago, I called for a congressional investigation into what warnings the Bush Administration received before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. I was derided by the White House, right wing talk radio, and spokespersons for the military-industrial complex as a conspiracy theorist. Even my patriotism was questioned because I dared to suggest that Congress should conduct a full and complete investigation into the most disastrous intelligence failure in American history. Georgia Senator Zell Miller even went so far as to characterize my call for hearings as "dangerous, loony and irresponsible."

Hillary Watch
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) "is driving her powerful political fund-raising machine into New York -- and will soon use it to try to oust Gov. Pataki (R)," the New York Post reports. "Clinton has quietly created HILLPAC-NY, the New York arm of HILLPAC, her enormously successful national fund-raising operation... While observers always expected Clinton would support the eventual Democratic nominee for governor, it is uncommon for a senator to take such an aggressive stance against an incumbent governor."

Nice to see the democrats taking a more agressive stance.

Slavery Museums Taps Untold Stories In History

" Charleston SC is famous for preserving and celebrating its rich history. But it has long shied away from one sensitive aspect of the past — its role as the major port of entry for African slaves arriving in the USA. That's changing now, though. The city is setting up a small slavery museum in the downtown historic district on a site where slaves were bought and sold. And the popular longtime mayor, Joe Riley, plans another museum that would be one of the largest of its kind in the nation."

Spinning The Wheel
Here is a sure thing bet. Take your money and put it on the growth of gambling in the U.S. Anyone who has been to Palm Springs or various other spots knows that the slots are no longer limited to Vegas and Jersey. One research firm estimates that Americans gamble about $60 billion a year. That's up from $1 billion in 1980.

Ponds, Not Oceans, The Cradle Of Life
The cherished assumption that life emerged in the oceans has been thrown into doubt. New research shows that primitive cellular membranes assemble more easily in freshwater than in salt water. So although the oldest known fossil organisms were ocean dwellers, life may actually have developed in freshwater ponds.

Hil for Veep in 2004?
Idea of senator in No. 2 spot generating a quiet buzz

Teaching Bees To Smell Bombs

"Scientists working for the Pentagon have trained ordinary honeybees to ignore flowers and home in on minute traces of explosives, a preliminary step toward creating a buzzing, swarming detection system that could be used to find truck bombs, land mines and other hidden explosives."

"The research, under way for three years, initially focused on using bees to help clear minefields. But the effort has broadened, the scientists say. In two tests last summer, before the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, trained bees picked out a truck tainted with traces of explosives."(NY Times, registration required).

Pataki Announces Re-Election Bid
New York Gov. George Pataki (R) returned to Peekskill, N.Y., "where he began his career in elected office two decades ago, to make an announcement that surprised virtually no one: He's running for a third term," the Albany Times Union reports.