Friday morning quick hits

This will never fly...it makes too much sense It seems that in this country we will try every cockamamie idea that comes down the pike in an effort to make it look like we are doing something tangible to improve the deplorable education system in this country - so long as it doesn't pass muster where common sense is concerned, so this reasonable idea is doomed...Build smaller schools. Smaller schools, with a lower student:teacher ratio, intensely focused on academics and emotionally connected produce the best results. (It's anecdotal, but I went to a small highschool. In my graduating class of 18, we boast 15 college grads and at least a dozen advanced degrees. When we carted off to college, we were prepared. When I went back there and taught school for a year and a half, it was still the same. The people in that little town who fought like hell 30 years ago to avoid consolidation did themselves - and the future generations - a huge favor.)

The second NYC Crane collapse in two months happened this morning on the upper east side of Manhattan. The crane operator was killed and one other was pulled from the wreckage, but that persons condition was unknown.

This looks promising Preliminary results of a study conducted by researchers at McNeese State University have found that antibodies in the blood of alligators successfully eliminate all manner of dangerous bacteria that often prove fatal when humans become infected with them - including eColi and MRSA.


Texas Supreme Court orders children be reunited with parents, statine in the ruling that child welfare officials overstepped their authority when they removed over 400 children from a compound owned by a polygamist sect outside Eldorado. The high court affirmed a decision by an appellate court last week that found Child Protective Services failed to show an immediate danger to the children. “On the record before us, removal of the children was not warranted,” the justices said in their ruling.

We won't hear about too many more instances like this The National Indian Foundation of Brazil has released photos of what is believed to be one of the last uncontacted tribes in the world. The photos show thatched communal huts and men craning their necks upward and pointing arrows at the small plane that flew overhead taking the photos. Anthropologists believe that the number of uncontacted tribes worldwide numbers just over 100, and about half of them are in the Amazon rainforest. "All are in grave danger of being forced off their land, killed or decimated by new diseases," the organization said Thursday.

We are spending more, but buying less Consumer spending increased in April, but was offset by inflation, driven by food and fuel prices, so we have less to show for what we schlep home after spending our weak dollars.

**********
That's the quick hits for today. Our DC correspondent is catch as catch can today, having started the week with a full compliment on today's to-do list, before adding "Buy New PC!!!" at the top in all caps and bold. But never fear! I have a couple of things on tap, and the kitties will be along this afternoon, and of course we will be keeping an ear to the ground for the Friday News Dump™.

--BG