I am embaressed to admit it, but I like Shakira - and not in the way that most men usually think about Shakira.  No, it's not the rock hard abs and belly dancing that impresses me.  Instead, I actually like her music. (For the record, I also like chick flicks, but I am not metro)  My wife left the cd playing in the car and I skipped ...

I flip through the newspaper and notice an article about a meeting between the CEOs and founders of huge technology firms and governors of various states.  The goal was for these corporate leaders to instruct the politicians about how schools need to change.  At first, this seems like an arrogant move.  After all, I would not tell ...

I often rail against standardized education, holding a fist out at the McGraw Hill Company, speaking out against No Child Left Behind and publicly blasting the AIMS test.  For me, the best metaphor for standardized education is McDonalds.  Students shuffle through quickly driven by the value of effecienecy.  Teachers are ...

It is a show which lives up to its name, embodying nearly every form of America's idolatry.  Yet, we scoop it up by the handful - the thirst for fame, the worship of celebrity, the cult of stardom, the sex, the lights, the music, the commercialism and the Coca-Cola.  We listen to the sage advice of the three great high priest, one of ...

Growing up, the show was controversial.  Parents hated it.  Groups boycotted it.  Kids reveled in it, because it was real.  Unlike the plastic, pollyana Cosby show or the TGIF line-up, The Simpsons spoke to a generation of youth who loved the satire on childhood.  Nowadays, its shock value pales in comparison to ...

I rarely watch television, not so much out of moral obligation, but out of a lack of time. I find most shows to be trite and annoying. Yet, the other day, I saw a show called ''Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?'' It's an innovative idea, pitting adults against ten year olds. I can't help but laugh when an adult can't remember the Order of ...