Word: toole
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...nuclear family with no obviously malfunctioning units (at least no relatives from the Ozarks). But the show is hampered by its originating gimmick: Allen, the host of a TV fix-it show, is all thumbs as a repairman at home. There are some amusing gibes at power-tool macho ("What is your problem with the blender? It's the only blender on the block that can puree a brick"), but dubious prospects for long-term...
Imagine an amplifier powerful enough to convert the inaudible whir of butterfly wings into a mighty roar. That's what a new tool called PCR routinely does to the most infinitesimal snippets of DNA, the molecule that carries the genetic blueprint for all living things. Within the space of a few hours, an unprepossessing aluminum box stuffed with test tubes can create a billion copies of what started out as a single strip of DNA. A dividing cancer cell would take at least a month to perform the same stupendous feat. "This technique," marvels Dr. Harley Rotbart, a microbiologist...
...late Malcolm Forbes himself long owned a Boeing 727 (which he dubbed the Capitalist Tool). Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett is famous for not buying a plane until, in 1986, he finally gave in to expediency and bought an 18-year- old Falcon 20 (which he dubbed the Indefensible). My well-shaved houseguest, meanwhile, awaits delivery of a new $25 million Gulfstream IV. It's just nice to be able to pick up and go when you want...
Fishkin begins with a telling critique of political polling, the main tool that the candidates and their handlers use to divine the will of the voters. As he argues in his forthcoming book, Democracy and Deliberation (Yale University Press; $17.95), "On many issues, about four out of five citizens do not have stable . . . opinions; they have what the political psychologists call 'non-attitudes' or 'pseudo-opinions.' " Fishkin's point is that traditional sampling does not allow those polled to discuss the issues, nor do the polltakers provide more than cursory information. The result, all too often, is a statistically impeccable...
Given the risks involved, national testing makes sense only if it is a solid learning tool supported by a national consensus. The need for improved achievement by U.S. students is undeniable; so is the need to avoid yet another expensive educational boondoggle. The Administration's proposals, prudently applied, seem well worth pursuing -- so long as they, too, are tested at every stage...