Alligators + Ostriches + Shaq + Crisis in Parenting + Millennials

There Is No Place Like . . . Florida

"Hungry alligators invading FL streets, homes, pools . . . " [Drudge Report, 4/16]

Food for Thought

"Cuba's latest remedy to ease food shortages? Ostriches" [Omaha World Herald, 4/14]

Criminal Minds

"Woman trashes burger joint over lack of chocolate ice cream . . . " [Drudge, 4/17]

"House sitter mistakes vacuum for intruder. Deputies in Portland, OR, responded to a possible home invasion, but the intruder they found wasn't a person. It was a robotic vacuum cleaner. A house sitter called 911 MON, saying someone was inside the bathroom. Sheriff's deputies entered the home & order the burglar out, but nothing happened. Deputies then opened the bathroom door with guns drawn & discovered the automatic vacuum cleaner." [OWH, 4/13]

Dept. of Shameless Joke-Stealing *

* from late laughs, Norfolk Daily News, 4/12

"The Sheriff's Office in Broward County, FL, recently announced their newest deputy, former basketball star Shaquille O'Neal. I don't know exactly what Shaq is going to be doing; I think we can rule out working undercover. [The Late Late Show w/James Corden]

Technology & Parenting

"The unfettered use of technology & social media by young children is a direct threat to a student's ability to read & study in a sustained & thoughtful way. They are incredibly distracted by the ceaseless buzz of their phones. Even if they read well, technology has harmed many of them:  shortened attention spans, a compulsion to overshare every trivial detail of their lives, an expectation that they be entertained at all times, & an exaggerated focus on themselves. All these problems become evident in the classroom & become obstacles teachers must overcome.
       "The problem is best addressed & solved by responsible parents who are willing to take a hard line & limit or deny access to all aforementioned starting at birth--until, at the very least, children have become proficient readers & enjoy books & physical activity. However, responsible parents are in short supply. One hears a lot about a crisis in education. An even bigger problem, based on my experience, is the crisis in parenting." ["Homer Meets Generation Z, Howard Butcher, National Review Online, 4/13]

Millennials & Socialism

"If one needed evidence of the gross ignorance of millennials, & their teachers & college professors, it's their solid support for socialism . . . Perhaps the most disastrous failing of our educational system & the news media is that people are neither required nor encouraged to test ideas against facts. The promises of socialism sound wonderful & caring, but in reality, wherever it has been tried it has been a true disaster . . . People who live in countries closer to the free market end of the economic spectrum not only have far great income & wealth than people who live in countries toward the communist end; they also enjoy far great human rights protections." ["Millennials for Socialism," Walter Williams, Townhall, 4/10]