Today, 11/23/13, the United States observes the fiftieth anniversary of John f. Kennedy’s assassination. News networks have been airing the footage of that fateful day in Dallas all morning. Social media has been taken over by various individual recollections and reprints. The Atlantic published “As It Happened: The AP Wire Copy of the JFK Assassination” and BookRiot has shared “5 Novels about the JFK Assassination,” which includes one of my personal favorites, Stephen King’s 11/23/63 as well as Don DeLillo’s Libra. Finally, New York Magazine shared “19 Famous People Who Believe in a JFK Conspiracy.”
This morning, The Washington Post announced that “Reid, Democrats trigger nuclear option, eliminate filibusters fr most executive nominees” in response to a Congressional bottleneck of Obama appointees. NY Magazine tries to explain why. But lest we think that Congress is only in the business of obstruction, the Post also demonstrated earlier this week that at least some members of Congress are also trying to make things happen: if Rep Michael Grimm has his way, dogs and cats will soon be able to ride Amtrak trains thanks to the Pet on Trains Act.
Speaking of pets, according to this story, dogs and fish can be friends!
Twitter is back in the popular media: “That Goddamned Blue Bird and Me: How Twitter Hijacked My Mind.” Also on Twitter this week, Ashton Kutcher vs. Walmart in response to the news that an Ohio Walmart store was holding a food drive for its own employees, which went viral earlier this week.
In education news, The New York Times reported this week “Frequent Tests Can Enhance College Learning, Study Finds.” MOOCs were also back in the spotlight with the news that Sebastian Thrun has publicly recognized the failure of massive online learning in Udacity’s partnership with San Jose State. Slate has contributed a useful critique to Thrun’s rhetorical retreat: “Successful education needs personal interaction and accountability, period.”
Our video of the week is from NME: Johnny Marr (currently on tour to support his latest album, “The Messenger”).
[Creative Commons licensed image by Flickr user Moyan_Brenn].
