birdwatcher

Feb. 19th, 2008

Baltimore Sun -- The Baltimore school system will pay high school students who improve their scores on the state graduation exams up to $110 each, a controversial plan that would be a first in Maryland.

Financial incentives for students are being used in New York City, where Alonso was deputy chancellor before becoming CEO of the Baltimore schools in July. In a program created by a Harvard economist that began last fall, students in New York can earn up to $500 for test scores and good attendance.

While the New York program uses private money for the student incentives, Baltimore is using public dollars.

Current Mood: giggly

Current Mood: giggly

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to the Bush administration's domestic spying program.

The justices' decision Tuesday includes no comment explaining why they turned down the appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union.

Мне кажется, я мог бы быть неплохим верховным судьёй!!!

Current Mood: ROTFL

Current Mood: ROTFL

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ISSUED A WIND CHILL
ADVISORY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 12 PM CST
WEDNESDAY.

A PUSH OF POLAR AIR WILL FOLLOW A WEAK WEATHER SYSTEM ACROSS THE
WESTERN GREAT LAKES AND MIDWEST TONIGHT. THE CORE OF THE COLD AIR
IS STILL OVER SOUTH CENTRAL CANADA. TEMPERATURES AT THE HEART OF
THIS AIR MASS WERE AS COLD AS 47 BELOW ZERO AT KEY LAKE
SASKATCHEWAN AND 39 BELOW AT LYNN LAKE AND FLIN FLON MANITOBA THIS
MORNING.

IF YOU MUST VENTURE OUTDOORS...MAKE SURE YOU WEAR A HAT AND
GLOVES.

Current Mood: вот сучья жизнь

Current Mood: вот сучья жизнь

Ryan Lizza: Norquist, a longtime conservative organizer, has a different view. In a forthcoming book, “Leave Us Alone,” he describes the Republican Party as little more than a collection of interest groups—such as anti-tax activists, gun-rights advocates, and homeschoolers—that, if they are carefully tended, will grow into a “supermajority.” The merits of his argument aside, Norquist’s description of the conservative coalition is notable for what it leaves out—voters whose overriding concern is national security. That exclusion seems to be a trend on the small-government right. Not long ago, I spoke with Mallory Factor, a Republican fund-raiser and the co-organizer of a monthly meeting for conservative thinkers and activists in New York. When I mentioned that McCain’s aides plan to use the Iraq war to unite the right, he said, “That’s not the glue that keeps conservatives together. There is an enormous amount of frustration over the war on a number of grounds, from the cost, to the way the war has been fought, to what the outcome is.