Andrew Reiff

National

Summary- Mich. boy finds 1981 Smithsonian error

Is fifth-grader Kenton Stufflebeam smarter than the Smithsonian?
On a winter break trip with his family to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, the 11-year-old southwestern Michigan boy noticed that a notation, in bold lettering, mistakenly identified the Precambrian as an era. Since it opened in 1981, millions of people have paraded past the museum's Tower of Time, a display involving prehistoric time. Kenton was the first to point out the error. Kenton, who lives in Allegan but attends Alamo Elementary School near Kalamazoo, said his fifth-grade teacher, John Chapman, had nearly made the same mistake about the Precambrian in a classroom earth-science lesson before catching himself. So Kevin Stufflebeam took his son to the museum's information desk to report Kenton's concern on a comment form. Last week, the boy received a letter from the museum acknowledging that his observation was "spot on." While no previous visitors to the museum had brought up the error, it has long rankled the paleobiology department's staff, who noticed it even before the Tower of Time was erected 27 years ago, said Lorraine Ramsdell, educational technician for the museum. Excited as he was to receive the correspondence from museum officials, Kevin couldn't help but point out that it was addressed to Kenton Slufflebeam. In Allegany.

Opinion

Okay the government doesn't even know what they are doing in their own buildings! To think that the biologists that work there couldn't get it changed is ridiculous, but to think that they would change it from one comment by an eleven year old is even more so. Well at least this story proves one thing: They actually do read those little comment cards! I might actually start filling them out now, you know, little notes to amuse the guy reading them. That must be a boring job. Anyway this kid is pretty cool for spouting back what his teacher told him about the beggining of life, even though evolution is JUST a theory, not fact, it will never be fact because it cannot be proven unless there is an experiment which changes one species to another. There are my thoughts on evolution.

Summary- Clinton challenges Obama to presidential bowl-off

White House hopeful Hillary Clinton proposed Tuesday a novel way to resolve her unending nominating battle with Barack Obama -- a winner-takes-all 10-pin bowling match.
The former first lady sprung her April Fool's joke after her rival Democrat performed abysmally in a bowling hall during a tour of Pennsylvania ahead of the state's April 22 primary.
"We clearly need to do something so that our party and the people can make the right decision," Clinton, sounding somber, told reporters in Philadelphia. "So I have a proposal. Today, I am challenging Senator Obama to a bowl-off. A bowling night, right here in Pennsylvania. Winner take all. I'll even spot (concede) him two frames," she said to guffaws from the press.
"It's time for his campaign to get out of the gutter and allow all of the pins to be counted. And I'm prepared to play this game all the way to the 10th frame," Clinton added.
"So let's strike a deal, and go bowling for delegates. We don't have a moment to spare, because it's already April Fool's Day."

Opinion-

So this is what the Democrats do with their time! I was wondering for a long time, but it appears that they make jokes at each other instead of running the country! Seriously it was a pretty lame April Fool's Joke if you ask me. Everyone knew that it was a joke when she said it. Good jokes have to hit home at first until you actually tell them it was a joke: the key is that you HAVE to tell them, or they would think you were serious.

International

Summary- Canadian airline jokes of sleeper cabins in luggage lockers

Tired of cattle class and looking for somewhere to stretch out? Pay just 12 dollars more to sleep in the overhead luggage compartments of Canada's Westjet ... on April Fool's Day. "The overhead compartment has traditionally been a place where guests have placed their carry-on baggage," Westjet vice president Bob Cummings said in a joke statement.
"Given that the overhead bins on our fleet are among the most spacious of any airline, we made the decision to offer sleeper cabins in that space," he said of their fleet of 73 Boeing 737s.
"By offering our existing overhead bins as sleeper cabins, guests will now have the opportunity to lie down for a period of time and arrive at their destination refreshed, rested and ready to go."
The statement was accompanied with a picture of a traveler comfortably nestled in an overhead bin bed with a pillow and a blanket.

Opinion-

Now this is a good example of an April Fool's Day joke. This company is pretty funny, this idea is pretty funny. Now it might not have made them much money, but like they say, any publicity is good publicity. Actually it is a novel idea: if no baggage was in the overhead compartment, and it was made a bit longer, and the lids taken off, it would be a nice place to sleep with the addition of a matress, blanket, and pillow. Maybe I'll take my pitch to my friends at Southwest, and lets take this on the road. The fee for sleeping in the compartment was a little too low, I think, only 12 dollars? Heck I'd pay that for a 4 hour nap...