Word: smarts
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Take the Heigl character, Alison. In her mid-20s, she is smart, pretty and nice. She has a good job, that's getting better, at the E! Channel. And where does this independent achiever live? Why, in the home of her married sister Debbie (Leslie Mann), with Debbie's husband Pete (Paul Rudd) and their two kids. Apatow imagines that, in Los Angeles 2007, there's some time-warp housing-shortage like the one in World War II-era Washington, D.C. - the premise for the 1943 comedy The More the Merrier...
...Smart money was against India in 1947. Independence celebrations were quickly marred by communal violence, fierce territorial disputes with new neighbor Pakistan over the control of Kashmir, and the death of the country's founding father, Mahatma Gandhi, in January 1948. But, as Guha points out, the fledgling state was blessed with a generation of gifted leaders who had fought with Gandhi against the British, believed in his liberal values, and were determined to keep his nation in one piece. Some of these early leaders, like Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister, became world celebrities, but readers will discover other...
...great job identifying steps to improve the supply side of education, but what about the demand side? In how many schools is being smart seen as uncool? In how many schools are the real heroes those who excel in sports rather than academics? How many parents are not involved enough in their children's education? If we can inspire a greater love of learning--not for test results but just for a high regard for achievement--there would be no need for the NCLB legislation...
...Furthermore, I've found that some great reporting takes place in the blogosphere: Juan Cole's Iraq updates are invaluable, Joshua Micah Marshall's Talking Points Memo did serious muckraking about the U.S. attorneys scandal, and Ezra Klein (no relation) is excellent on health care. I love linking to smart work by others, something you just can't do in a print column...
...smart stuff is being drowned out by a fierce, bullying, often witless tone of intolerance that has overtaken the left-wing sector of the blogosphere. Anyone who doesn't move in lockstep with the most extreme voices is savaged and ridiculed-especially people like me who often agree with the liberal position but sometimes disagree and are therefore considered traitorously unreliable. Some of this is understandable: the left-liberals in the blogosphere are merely aping the odious, disdainful-and politically successful-tone that right-wing radio talk-show hosts like Rush Limbaugh pioneered. They are also justifiably furious...