Extra Credit Reading: Sunday, October 22, 2006

When I first saw this story about the man who has amnesia, I thought that he must be faking. Then I learned that medical personnel had given him truth serum without effect and even the F.B.I. is stumped. Update: We have a name: Jeffrey Ingram has been recognized by family members who saw him on television.

The Wanker of the Day Award goes to former Pennsylvania middle school custodian Phillip D. Winkle, who was just sentenced to 10 years for placing a video camera in the women's restroom of his school. Apparently, Winkle got the idea from the film, "American Pie."

Jenny D. gives us the lowdown on the mess that is New Jersey's public schools.

The City of Seattle invested flushed away some 16 months and $200,000 on its new city motto: "Metronatural." (Does it mean Nudism or Grape Nuts? You make the call...) Not everyone is enthusisastic over this New Age moniker.

A Muslim teaching assistant in Britain has won the first round in her efforts to get compensation after being dismissed for refusing to remove her full-face veil in the classroom. (After looking at the photo, we've got to side with the decision to dismiss her, as the veil impeded communication with students.)

From the copy desk over at our Department of Perfect Timing, we have the story of a Wisconsin man who visits a state park in Arkansas on the exact right day, looks down at the exact right time, bends over at the exact right moment, and walks away with a flawless 5.50 carat diamond! Some guys have all the luck...

Here's something of interest to those of us who are Green and/or like Things That Are Green: The very first hybrid school buses are about to take to the road! (More here.)

In today's notes from the Iraqi Civil War, we have the remarkable case of the Sunni captive who was spared execution by the man he had saved in an earlier battle. (Shades of George Bernard Shaw's Androcles and the Lion?) In other news, it's being intimated by The Times that American armed forces may be in secret talks with representatives of several guerilla factions. Tragically, three more United States Marines have made the ultimate sacrifice. Kevin Tillman, former Army Ranger and brother of Pat Tillman, (backstory here) now opposes the Iraq War as, "somehow, nobody is accountable." --------------------------See our latest EduPosts and yesterday's Extra Credit Reading.