A Tennessee kindergarten teacher punished a student for being messy by telling his classmates to encircle him, "call him a pig and make pig noises." Don't worry—she was suspended for a day!
Ayapaneco is a dying language, once spoken in what is now the Mexican state of Tabasco. There are only two speakers left, both of whom live in the same village. And they refuse to talk to each other.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you've undoubtedly seen Donald Trump spouting his "Obama wasn't born in this country" nonsense all over the place in recent weeks. Tonight, using the unlikeliest of allies—Michele Bachmann! Bill O'Reilly!—Jon Stewart put Trump's ridiculousness into perspective.
After he was slapped with a technical foul during a LA Lakers game last night, Kobe Bryant directed a homophobic slur at the referee who made the call, shouting "fucking faggot" at the ref from the bench.
Officer Aaron Hess, the Pleasantville, N.Y. police officer who shot and killed 20-year-old Pace University student Danroy Henry following an altercation at a local bar last year, has been named "Officer of the Year." Now, now—he's not getting the award because he killed Danroy Henry, though, gosh, we can see why it seems that way! No, he's receiving it "for his dignity and professionalism since the October shooting and throughout his career." In fairness, Hess was cleared of criminal wrongdoing by a grand jury, despite accusations that the shooting wasn't justified; on the other hand, the Pleasantville Police Benevolent Association might not want to, at this particular moment in time, run headfirst into the Henry family's accusations of insensitivity and arrogance. [Boston Globe]
The key question with dinosaurs, as with so many things, is "How can I have sex with them?" With the help of Slate's Explainer column, we've constructed a step-by-step guide.
It's that time again! Tonight—from 8:00 to 9:30 PM, live on FOX—this season's American Idol Top 8 will perform for the judges' critiques and our votes. Want in on the action? Your open thread is inside.
Two days ago, we reported on the Church of Scientology's junk science relief efforts in Japan, through its Volunteer Ministry program. Now we have materials the church uses to recruit members for the ministry, which is "an effective way of getting Scientology applied on a broad, grass-roots level through the society."
Federal investigators are about to start flying planes and helicopters over Long Island's Oak Beach to aid in the search for 24-year-old prostitute Shannan Gilbert, who went missing last May. The search turns more grisly by the day as the remains of victims of a presumed Long Island serial killer are found: A tenth body was discovered this week. Investigators hope high-resolution airborne photography will "help identify skelatal remains that my be out there."
Though he once said he'd "quit acting," that was all a hoax, and Joaquin Phoenix really hasn't quit acting at all. Also today: the return of the return of musicals, Jessica Lange makes a TV project even more exciting, and Bradley Cooper is seriously miscast.
Pouty fathead Donald Trump is a tailor-made character for the New York Observer, which purports to monitor Manhattan's smug oligarchy with a gimlet-eyed detachment. And his semi-coherent presidential grumblings, which count as news just about everywhere else, make ideal grist for the Observer's mill. Too bad he's the owner's father-in-law.
