More than half of the students entering urban high schools read at or below the sixth-grade level. It is almost impossible for these ninth graders to deal with high school content. It isn't that they can't read -- they can. But they cannot read and understand.

Okay, so you can read the words. But do you understand the implications?

Jane Can't Read? Let's Teach Her

Making a show of rushing missile shield components into place before they are required, to complete a system that may not work anyway, is a Potemkin defense. It invites more of the cost overruns and test failures that have bedeviled the program. The Pentagon had to tell Congress last week of another round of setbacks in developing one piece of the Star Wars puzzle: an infrared satellite system crucial to the project. This will mean more lost time and higher costs for an oft-revamped plan that even Pentagon analysts have called a "case study" for how not to build a complex space project. Voters paying for this buy-now, fly-later dream deserve realistic planning and candor, not another slice of political pie in the sky.

Missiles, or databases. What will it be?

Dream-Filled Missile Silos

Skinner: "No, no it isn't. Don't listen to her. She's out of her mind!"

"Is there any Rice in a Clarke bar?" asked George.

"No, that's the Nestle Crunch bar," replied Dick. "What we do know is that the Clarke bar contains traces of cocoa and molasses. Mostly, though, it's just nuts."

But George persisted. "I know, I know, but ... see if Rice is involved. Just look. I want to know any shred."

Lisa Gets An 'A'

"It's a write-off for them."
    "How is it a write-off?"
"They just write it off."
    "Write it off what?"
"Jerry, all these big companies, they write off everything."
    "You don't even know what a write-off is."
"Do you?"
    "No, I don't."
"But they do. And they're the ones writing it off."
    "I wish I had the last twenty seconds of my life back."

Book-ends for tax day.

On April 13, go to Borders for a second helping of Neal. On April 16, go to AMC for another course of Quentin.

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

After having killed the first two on her death list, O-Ren Ishii and Vernita Green, The Bride continues in her journey of vengeance to hunt down and kill the remaining victims, Elle Driver, Budd, and ultimately, Bill. However, matters become complicated when The Bride learns that her daughter, whom she presumed dead, is still alive.

Form 1040, line 42: Would you like to donate $10 to Miramax?

Kill Bill: Volume 2

All Music Guide offers an up-to-date database of artist, album, and genre reviews.

AMG also offers a detailed calendar of new and upcoming releases by genre. Next Tuesday's weekly newspaper insert from your local music retailer will seem rather sparse once you know that there are 368 different releases scheduled for April 6 (including reissues).

All Music Guide

The current attempt to prove some spectacular failure by Bush before the war makes political sense, but it is intellectually incoherent and misses the places where Bush made genuine errors.

Sorting Through the Accusations | Stratfor Weekly

From the New York car show, check out photos of the Pontiac Solstice, the Ford Shelby Cobra concept, and the new Ford Mustang.

What rival designers are saying about the Solstice:

"We all liked it when we saw it as a concept. Then we saw the real one and thought that's even better."

"It really stands out."

"It's a very high-quality little two-seat roadster."

"It's elegant. It has pizazz."

"It's very, very beautiful and quite elegant."

Seeing the Car Show Through Insiders' Eyes

The mathematician and puzzler dissent, of course, insisting that the best experience is in knowing. The goal is not illusion, but disillusion. The truth, they believe, is its own magic.

Be sure to check out the slide show.

Puzzles + Math = Magic

The bottom line is clear: The privacy battalions oppose not just particular technologies, but technological innovation itself.

Let loose the dogs of the global war against alternative newsweeklies.

The 'Privacy' Jihad