Dowbrigade

The RIAA has begun training dozens of highly sensative "sound hounds"
capable of distinguishing illegally downloaded MP3s from legitimate,
higher-quality store-bought CDs. The specially bred Bassett Hounds receive
over 200 hours of training at a secret location in Baton Rouge before being
deployed in the field.

The dog with the largest ears in the world
as recognised by the new 2004
Guiness
Book
of
World Records,
Mr Jeffries
the
Bassett
Hound,
is seen
in
this handout photo made available Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2003. Jeffries,
whose ears measure 29.2 cm (11.5 in) lives with his owner, Phil Jeffries,
in West Sussex, England. Mr Jeffries’ full name is Knightsfollie Ladiesman
and he is the grandson of Biggles, the face of Hush Puppies shoes. His
ears are insured for $47,800.

from the Associated Press

Center for the Advancement of Health — By following nearly 1,000 subjects
during a 70-year span, Scottish researchers have found that people with
high IQs who reside in poor neighborhoods lived longer than people in
similar areas with low IQs, while the intelligence score was not important
for longevity for people living in wealthy neighborhoods.

This is really
good news for teachers. If you had to pick one profession to epitomize
the twin adjectives "smart" and "poor", it’s us. Unfortunately,
most of us are counting on Social Security to get us through our elongated
golden years, so maybe we aren’t so smart after all…

from RedNova News

Tomorrow
marks 100 Days of Dowbrigade.  Since my first
posting on June 19th, a lot has changed. Perhaps most importantly, my whole view
of myself as a teacher, person, writer and political being has udergone
a Blog-inspired transformation. It is a process just beginning, and
I have no idea what will emerge from the chrysalis.

I feel like I’ve just been born. I feel like
I’ve been doing this all my life. Thank God for Blogs.