bright-ideas

L.A. Schools Give Up on Homework

Hamilton Nolan · 06/27/11 08:18AM

Homework is only the worst idea ever. Who was the first jerk who was like, "Hey, got a great idea here, after we made you sit in school all day let's send more school work home with you, so as to infest your every waking hour with dread and help you develop a lifelong loathing of formal education?" I mean come on. Kids hate doing homework. Teachers hate grading homework. Now, students in LA are more or less free to never do homework again.

How to Beat the Heat

Hamilton Nolan · 06/09/11 05:10PM

It was ninety-something degrees in NYC today. Anthony Weiner's penis has been dominating the news for 24 hours now. Hotness besieges us on all sides! Need to beat that heat? Let's beat it together—with this handy list!

Old People All Drinking 'Energy Shots' Now

Hamilton Nolan · 06/02/11 11:31AM

Have the elderly people around you been acting rather crackheaded lately? Don't worry, it's not Alzheimers (yet)! They're all drinking "5 Hour Energy" shots just as fast as they can, the old coots. They'll probably die soon(er).

Kids Finally Smarten Up and Stop Going to Law School

Hamilton Nolan · 03/17/11 12:34PM

Not to be immodest, but our research (reading the newspaper) indicated long ago that going to law school was a sucker move, for suckers. Why go to law school? All it is is racist beer pong and racist emails, and when you graduate your worthless degree won't get you a job, and you get all bitter and eventually find yourself in the comments of a Gawker post about law schools, telling me to fuck off for making fun of lawyers, because do I even appreciate what all the lawyers in history have done for the advancement of human freedom while I just sit around making jokes about something I don't even understand, asshole?

Towards a Better Journalism Career Path

Hamilton Nolan · 03/08/11 12:14PM

Journalism legend Charles Pierce makes a great god damn point in a new interview: the idea that a good writer will automatically make a good editor is a farce. The journalism job ladder is broken. What is to be done?

Vegas Casino Heists: Remarkably Unsuccessful

Hamilton Nolan · 02/25/11 05:28PM

Las Vegas police have arrested two men in connection with yesterday's heist of $32,000 in chips from the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. The driver's been arrested; the man who police say received more than half of the stolen chips has been arrested; and police are searching for Steven Gao, who they say pulled the stick-up heist himself. These arrests come just weeks after 29 year-old Anthony Carleo was arrested for his spectacularly not-well-thought-out heist of $1.5 million in chips from the Bellagio.

Wal-Mart Answers Your Pleas for More Tween Makeup

Hamilton Nolan · 02/03/11 04:38PM

Is your tween daughter looking homely? Want to get her started wearing makeup as early as possible—but also want to be sure she only wears all-natural makeup? You begged for it. The Wal-Mart corporation delivered!

China Overrun By Rabbits

Hamilton Nolan · 02/01/11 11:22AM

Across China, fun-loving cosmopolitans are celebrating the upcoming Year of the Rabbit by buying rabbits as pets, which are rapidly multiplying and causing ample hijinks for overwhelmed apartment-dwellers. Might China have equaled America in the sheer cluelessness of its citizenry?

Hot New Education Trend: Segregation

Hamilton Nolan · 01/28/11 10:03AM

At McCaskey East High School in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, junior class students break into groups each day to meet with mentors for an "enriching" experience. The twist: all the groups are totally segregated by race and gender! Apparently some people object?

Crazy Girl Thinks She Can Repel Men

Hamilton Nolan · 12/16/10 03:35PM

What is the point of "fashion?" The point of fashion is to repel men. Oh. Okay. Darn. This topic admittedly surpasses my understanding. Does it work, this fashion thing?

So Now It's the School's Fault That You're a Failure?

Hamilton Nolan · 08/10/10 11:01AM

Since time immemorial, the job of a high school has been to see to it that kids get their god damn diploma and never come back. Now, someone wants to keep track of how those kids do later? Why?