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This article originally appeared on 4.4.13
This is short, but it definitely packs a punch.
Be sure to pay close attention from 1:34 to 2:06; it’s like equal parts “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and “Econ 101.”
And nearly 10 years after it first premiered, the message remains as powerful as when we first shared it.
This article originally appeared on 05.22.15
This is true even if we take it one state at a time—no single state, no matter how wealthy or small, matches the top scoring countries. And yet, the U.S. spends more per student than many other countries in the world.
In the image at the top, each state is mapped to a country that had similar scores on the Program for International Student Assessment, an international test of mathematical reasoning given to 15-year-olds. The top 15 countries are in purple. No, there isn’t any purple on this map.
Reporter Amanda Ripley wanted to figure out why U.S. education outcomes are so mediocre.
She started asking random people what they thought and she followed up on their ideas. The same theories came up over and over: People blamed poverty and diversity for the difference between U.S. students and students everywhere else. But when Ripley dug into the numbers, she discovered that, while those are factors, they don’t fully explain the difference.
Kids spend more time in school than anyone. They’ve got strong opinions about school. They have opinions on what is working.
She talked to the only students who could have firsthand knowledge of the differences between schools in top-performing countries and those in the U.S.: American kids who were exchange students in those countries.
The students all said that in their host countries:
Since Vince McMahon’s shock return to the WWE last week to help lead the sale of the worldwide leader in sports entertainment, potential suitors rumored to be interested have ranged from Disney, to Amazon, to Saudi Arabia, to even The Rock. The latest potential buyer is a doozy, with Shad and Tony Khan — owners of WWE’s primary rival, All Elite Wrestling — said to be among those interested in the company according to Barron’s.
The news comes less than a week following a report from the Wall Street Journal that “unless (Vince McMahon) has direct involvement as executive chairman from the outset of a strategic review, he won’t support or approve any media-rights deal or sale.” The move essentially holds WWE from negotiating television deals for its flagship programs, Raw or Smackdown, as well as his apparent goal of selling the company unless he is directly involved.
That led to Vince’s official return to WWE’s board of directors and Stephanie McMahon’s nearly immediate resignation from the company. In the days that followed, rumors swirled that Saudi Arabia was finalizing a deal to acquire WWE, but those reports were premature. Barron’s reports that an offer from the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, which backs the golf league LIV, is “more likely” than a purchase by the Khans considering WWE’s presence in the country and its ongoing 10-year deal for premium live events.
Over the years, only a select few evil inanimate companions have really made a name for themselves. We’ve got Chucky, your classic, run-of-the-mill evil soul trapped in some polyester overalls. He’s got a knife, which is fun, and he ruled that specific niche horror subgenre for a good twenty-thirty years.
But then Annabelle entered the mix, with her elegant nightgown and cute braids that were much too large for her little possessed head. And for years, this is how society functioned: the two dolls living in harmony. Whenever one got too much of a big head, they would be humbled by another subpar spinoff. They would never really interact, only sometimes referencing each other from a distance. And that’s how it was supposed to be! Things were quiet, nice even….until M3gan came along this year.
If Chucky and Annabelle were the Snapchat starlets, M3gan is the Instagram social media influencer of your haunted doll dreams. She gossips, sings, murders in cold blood, and even has a dance routine that has been replicated all over the world (it’s been a slow week). And she knows it! To celebrate her continued success, M3gan decided to do a Reddit AMA. Not to be mean, but Chucky has not done one of those yet, which is probably for the best.
Most of the questions revolved around the haunted dolls that came before her, which M3gan is not a fan of. She, after all, is a robot, not a doll, so she has the power of computers on her side. She might even be a descendant of R2D2, we will never really know. But one thing is for sure: she does not want to be associated with those other guys.
When asked about her thoughts on Chucky, M3gan, seemingly with no media training whatsoever, called out the little guy:
like many middle aged white males whose souls are stuck in the body of an 80s toy, chucky has trouble accepting that technology has come a long way and i’ve been created to rid the waste of anyone who gets in the way or is a threat to my besties
When Gen Z robots don’t use capitalization, that’s how you know they are serious!
M3gan also doesn’t really think that Annabelle should get a pass either, even though she doesn’t really move or do stuff besides look scary. According to M3gan: “Annabelle never moves, so i wouldn’t have to really lift a finger against her and chucky is old, so i’d just go right for his pacemaker.”
As for who she does like, M3gan has a soft spot for chaotic women: “Lydia tár’s beautiful, talented and completely unhinged. what’s not to like?” It’s so nice seeing women celebrate each other instead of tearing each other down. THIS IS CINEMA!!
While the wait for Saweetie‘s debut album Pretty Bitch Music drags on, she keeps expanding the other parts of her portfolio. After wrapping up a recurring role on Freeform’s Grown-ish, she’s adding another acting credit to her resume, making a cameo appearance in the upcoming second season of Peacock’s dramatic Fresh Prince reboot, Bel Air, according to Variety. She’ll appear as herself on the show, although the report doesn’t state in what capacity she’ll be crossing paths with Jabari Banks ’ Will Smith, Olly Sholotan‘s Carlton Banks, or Coco Jones’ Hilary Banks (fingers crossed for a star-crossed romance with Jordan L. Jones ’ Jazz).
Although Saweetie has delayed the release of her album numerous times, there have been a few hints that it could be dropping this year. During a recent live stream with fans, the Bay Area rapper previewed a new song with single potential, “Icy Girl, Icy World,” which is based on Aqua’s 1997 hit “Barbie Girl.” And although her EP The Single Life supposedly underperformed — which is hard to tell without knowing what it was expected to sell in the first place — it definitely generated some buzz thanks to its coincidental release in close proximity to Quavo’s “Messy” verse seemingly referencing their relationship and her rumored connection to Lil Baby. While she denied that her single “Don’t Say Nothin’” was a response, the possibility that she might address those rumors on PBM keeps it firmly in the running for one of 2023’s most anticipated albums.
LeBron James will pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the top spot on the NBA’s all-time scoring list later this season, as he is 422 points shy at the moment. Given that James is averaging 29.1 points per game, he should break the record in the next 14-17 games (meaning right after the All-Star break).
Once LeBron passes Kareem, he figures to tack a bunch more onto that total given his stated goal is to play at least one season alongside his son, Bronny. That likely means he pushes close to or beyond 40,000 career points, setting what was once considered an unbreakable record even further out of reach. However, given the offensive explosion in the NBA and the prevalence of the three-point shot and 30-plus point scoring nights, it’s possible someone tracks down James if they can match his incredible longevity.
That is the part of the equation that’s going to be most difficult to manage, which is why Kareem’s record stood as long as it did. Playing into your late 30s or 40s at that level is unheard of for a variety of reasons. Some challengers to the scoring record, like, say, Kevin Durant — currently just under 12,000 points behind Abdul-Jabbar — have missed such substantial time with injuries that, even as he goes into his mid-30s as a 30-point per game scorer, he just has too much ground to make up.
Others simply don’t want to play that long. When looking at younger players that could challenge James’ record, Luka Doncic stands out because of how quickly he’s established himself as one of the NBA’s elite scorers, already piling up over 8,000 points in just over four seasons. However, don’t expect Luka to stick around nearly as long as James, as he has his eyes set on early retirement on a farm in Slovenia, as he told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
“If you’re saying me, there’s no way,” Doncic said before the question was even asked, “because I’m not playing that much.”
…
“I don’t know about 20 years,” Doncic said after a 32-point, nine-rebound, nine-assist performance in a home win over James’ Lakers that afternoon. “That’s a long time to play basketball. I’d rather go back to my farm in Slovenia.”
It’s a tremendous quote from Doncic, and a friendly reminder that not everyone wants to play the game forever. Doncic might change his tune as he starts to approach his mid-30s, but he also could just walk away from the game. He’ll have made a fortune playing basketball by the time he’s been in the league for 12 years, much less 15-plus, and if he wants he can happily shut it down and enjoy some solitude on the farm rather than continuing to get his body ready for the NBA schedule.
Mayans M.C. will soon ride off into the sunset, and hopefully, this means that Angel will cultivate his own nut farm like Clayton Cardenas wanted (“sunflower seeds!”). In all seriousness, however, the Sons of Anarchy spinoff will embark upon its final tour with Season 5, which should premiere sometime in 2023. The J.D. Pardo-starring series has grown much darker on the club-infighting front, and I actually wondered how — despite the show’s intense and vocal fandom — the series could recover after the death of Richie Cabal’s Coco (which was even more surprising than Ryan Hurst’s Opie being killed), and after EZ caused Emilio Rivera’s Alvarez to fly into such a disgusted rage in the Season 4 finale.
Don’t f*ck with Alvarez and his club, man! Remember, Emilio Rivera was the second actor to appear onscreen in SoA, which has always felt symbolic. Also, there were times when I’ve genuinely feared for Alvarez’s safety, but if you lose his faith in the club, all bets are off. With that in mind, Variety relayed the official word from FX Content and FX Productions chairman John Landgraf, who confirmed that Season 5, which was renewed in July 2022, will mark the end of the show. When will that happen? Fans await further word.
Variety also doubles back with a reminder from showrunner Elgin James (who took the solo wheel for Season 3 after original Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter left the building) on his planned “last shot,” and this almost sounds prophetic in retrospect:
“We know where it ends,” he told Variety at the red carpet premiere of Season 4. “I know the very last shot. So, it’s not in Season 4 so I’m just going to say, there at least has to be one more. But we know exactly where it ends and we have been headed there for a while now.”
It’s been a solid run, and the show has gone to some odd places lately, but it’s kept the original spirit alive, at least until Alvarez had enough of EZ’s sh*t. I hope that Emily manages to watch off that mess of a hair-dye job, and from there, I hope that Danny Pino embarks upon a long and successful career as a director, and hopefully, he never sports a handlebar mustache again.
(Via Variety)
In the lead-up to the explosive release of Stranger Things‘ highly anticipated fourth season, The Duffer Brothers revealed that Finn Wolfhard, by sheer luck, guessed the plot of the spinoff series that they’re kept tightly under wraps. While they obviously didn’t elaborate on Wolfhard’s lucky guess because, again, tight wraps, the Stranger Things star stopped by The Tonight Show this week where he confirmed to Jimmy Fallon that, yes, he freaked out the Duffers with his clearly psychic abilities. (What now, Eleven?)
“We were on set filming Stranger Things 4 and we were all talking about if there’s going to be—like joking, ‘oh they’re all going to have us back in 20 years and we’re all going to [be] fat and old,’ that kind of thing,” Wolfhard told Fallon before revealing he went in a different and remarkably accurate direction that ended with the young actor being sworn to secrecy.
Via Gizmodo:
“And then I was like, ‘But if you guys are actually going to do a spin-off, it should be this.’ And then I said it and the Duffers looked at each other and looked at me and they were like, ‘Could we talk to you for a second?’ And then they pulled me off and they were like, ‘That is the idea. Who told you?’ and I was like, ‘No one,’ and they were like ‘What do you mean? You just came up with it?’ and I was like, ‘Well, no, I just thought that that would be a cool way to expand.’ It was really funny and they were like ‘Okay, well… don’t tell anyone.’”
Clearly, someone needs to sit Finn Wolfhard and make him guess the plot of upcoming TV shows. Like, for example, will Baby Yoda get his own jetpack in Season 3 of The Mandalorian? You know, the important stuff.
(Via Gizmodo)
George Takei is not one to go down without a fight, as evidenced by his decades-long feud with a former co-star and all of those various space fights. The actor is known for speaking out against things that he doesn’t agree with, and it turns out, that’s the reason he decided to come out as gay in 2005.
In a new interview with The Stage, the Star Trek actor explained the “guilt” that he felt living as a closeted gay man for most of his life. “I was closeted for a long period of my career,” Takei told the mag. “I was silent during the AIDS crisis, which fills me with guilt, although I did write checks and checks to AIDS organizations,” he added.
But Takei didn’t want to be silent any longer when California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called to veto a bill that would’ve legalized gay marriage in 2005 in California. Takei came out that November. He explained, “Why did I come out when I did? Because Schwarzenegger presented himself as a movie star who had worked and was friends with gays and lesbians, many of whom voted for him, but then vetoed that bill. I was so angry that I spoke to the press for the first time as a gay man at the age of 68.” Eventually, Schwarzenegger voted to legalize gay marriage two years later.
Takei said that he felt like he needed to stay silent in order to keep working in Hollywood and didn’t want to jeopardize his chances. He added, “Why did it take me so long to come out? Because I’m an actor and I wanted to work. I learned at a young age that you couldn’t be an openly gay actor and hope to be employed. And I was already an Asian-American actor, so I was already limited a lot,” he said, adding that there is still discrimination in the industry today. “To this day, there are big Hollywood actors who are not out in order to protect their careers.”
Taylor Swift clearly knows how to make music, but she also really knows how to sell it. Now that the dust is settling on 2022, some year-end sales numbers that show this are starting to surface. For instance, the 2.928 million albums she sold last year were nearly triple that of the artist in second place: Harry Styles, with 1.06 million. It turns out she similarly crushed the vinyl market, too.
Billboard reports that Swift sold 1.695 million vinyl records across her entire catalog of releases, according to Luminate’s year-end report. For reference, that’s more than the next two biggest artists combined: Styles with 719,000 and The Beatles with 553,000. Here’s another way to contextualize Swift’s sales success: One of every 25 vinyl records sold in 2022 was by Swift (more specifically, she had 1.695 million of 43.46 million total vinyl albums sold by all artists, or 3.9 percent).
She also had six of the year’s top 40 vinyl albums: Midnights (at No. 1 with 945,000 sales); Folklore (No. 7, 174,000); Red (Taylor’s Version) (No. 11, 153,000); Evermore (No. 14, 134,000); Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (No. 30, 97,000); and Lover (No. 36, 91,000). In that metric, Styles and Kendrick Lamar are tied for second with three top-4 albums apiece.
Lamar, by the way, had the year’s best-selling hip-hop album on vinyl, but it wasn’t 2022’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers like might be expected.