The British press loves to make fun of American prudishness–presumably because our papers decline to put topless gals on Page 3–and this story, spotted and Tweeted by Bloggerdad, is no exception. The Guardian is reporting that a California school district is banning Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, tenth edition, because its definition of “oral sex” actually tells …
Monthly Archives: January 2010
And If You Play Schoenberg, Maybe He’ll Become a Jackhammer Operator
Proven: Listening to Mozart has been proven to slightly improve spatial intelligence among college students. Proven: Babies are known to respond to music heard in the womb–that is, they can hear, and they swim around a bit. Not proven: Babies gain anything from listening to music. Also not proven: Classical music does more than any …
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What Is It That Can You Teach an Old Doggie?
At just over a year old, my daughter, Sasha, is on her way to becoming, one day, a human being—or at least understanding human language. In the last month or two, she will, if you tell her, clap her hands, point at your nose (and maybe her ear), lift her foot, and go find her …
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If You Hire This Person, You’re On Your Own
I’ve written before about trying to keep our household from being swamped with little plastic kid-related objects. (Yes, I am rapidly becoming Dadwagon’s chief domestic-order correspondent. So be it.) And then I run across a story like this in the Times. Joseph Epstein once wrote about a fellow critic–a man he found personally cruel and …
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