| Hillary Stuns--Four Theories
I'm as flummoxed as everyone else, having gone along with the near-universal consensus that Obama would win. Mystery Pollster has his work cut out for him. But I'm confident that soon enough there will be so many powerful explanations for what now seems an out-of-the-blue event that it will appear to be overdetermined. It's important to memorialize this moment of utter stupefaction. That said, here are four possible factors: .
Backlash as more claim religion to get place in top schools
New evidence that middle-class parents are playing the system to get their children into church schools emerged last night prompting calls for the Government to put a halt to new faith schools. A surge in late baptisms into the Roman Catholic Church is reported by researchers as part of a phenomenon known as the "Year-Five Epiphany." The findings have reignited the debate about the place of religion in the school system and led to renewed criticism that faith schools favour the selection of middle-class pupils whose parents know how to play the system. Graham Allen, Labour MP for Nottingham North, said: "We need a national debate about whether we really want to continue down the road of faith schools." .
Art that talks back
Since French poet and dramatist Edmond Rostand staged his Cyrano de Bergerac in 1897, it has become a triumph as Cyranos unrequited love for his cousin Roxane has moved audiences worldwide for 110 years.
Novel ideas
Adapted from the novel by Robert James Waller, well-known local drama group Springtime Productions will present their last show of the year - The Bridges of Madison County.
More than words
When it was announced that Ian McEwan's dazzling 2002 novel Atonement was going to be adapted for the screen, most of his fans had the same reaction: not this time, Hollywood. Back away from the cameras, and nobody gets hurt.
Hampers with a difference
The sights and sounds of Christmas are evident in Hong Kong's malls as enchanting scenery and Christmas carols provide the perfect background for the flurry of shopping needed for the festive season.
A Puerto Rican woman reps her Blackness. . . .
An interesting thing happened to me the other day. I was told I am not Black. The kicker for me was when my friend said that the island of Puerto Rico was not a part of the African Diaspora. I wanted to go back to the old skool playground days and yell: “You said what about my momma?!" But after speaking to several friends, I found out that many Black Americans and Latinos agree with him. The miseducation of the Negro is still in effect!
I am so tired of having to prove to others that I am Black, that my people are from the Motherland, that Puerto Rico, along with Cuba, Panama and the Dominican Republic are part of the African Diaspora. Do we forget that the slave ships dispersed our people all over the world, hence the word Diaspora?
The Atlantic slave trade brought Africans to Puerto Rico in the early 1500s.
Aussie mates end 62 days at sea
Leaping out of their kayak together after 62 days at sea, the former schoolmates and best friends staggered up Ngamotu Beach, New Plymouth, in each other's arms. It was 12.20pm and about 20 days later than Castrission, 25, and Jones, 24, had expected to arrive in New Zealand after setting out to cross the Tasman in their kayak, Lot 41, from Forster, NSW, on November 13. The Sydneysiders were welcomed with a haka and chants of "Go Aussie" and Waltzing Matilda. They shouted back: "Thank you so much, New Zealand, you guys rock, kia kaha." For Castrission's sister Liane, 22, the reunion with her older brother was phenomenal. "It is just impossible to put this joy, excitement and pride into words," she told The Age. "Watching James and Jus jumping off the boat in unison and grabbing each other like the best of old mates and walk up the beach was a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life." They are first two people to kayak across the Tasman, in what is believed to be the world's longest two-man kayak expedition.
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