Heard on the hustings*

"You don't make a hog fatter by weighing it."

Everyone went to school and that makes everyone an expert on education. And of course, truth is, education must be everyone's business. Our future depends on it. And apparently the hot education topic on the hustings is the future of the No Child Left Behind Act. The quotation above is from John Edwards on the stump. As a metaphor it's a good comment on testing provisions of NCLB. Especially for Iowa.

* More precisely: Read on the front page of today's NY Times.

Wintry Mix

There's a good article in the local paper on the inexact science of school weather closing. Our recent spell of sleet, snow, patchy fog, freezing drizzle, rain, freezing rain, rain mixed with sleet, wind, sunny intervals and ice pellets has been a challenge that we can only anticipate will continue.

That phrase "wintry mix" brings to mind colorful mega jars with screw top lids lined up on the shelf at the sweetshop on the corner - red and white striped peppermint humbugs, clove and aniseed balls, dolly mixtures, pear drops, sherbet lemons, treacle toffee and liquorice allsorts.

Now that's a true wintry mix.