K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE: USA Today: Charter school experiment a success: Our view.

JEFF GOLDSTEIN explores the Narrative. More here.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: There were 284,000 college grads working minimum-wage jobs in 2012, including 37,000 with advanced degrees.

21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: A “Gray Divorce” Boom: The Beatles sang ‘Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64?’ When it comes to marriage, many baby boomers are saying ‘no.’ Of course, as with many “progressive” social changes, the haves come out a lot better than the have-nots do from this development: “For economically secure older adults in good health, a divorce may have minimal negative consequences and actually can be freeing and empowering, at least for the initiator of the divorce. But for less-advantaged older adults, a late-in-life divorce can be devastating.”

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RELIGIOUSLY CLUELESS: Incredible correction: Easter is hard for The New York Times; ‘What is this resurrection thingie?’

FEMINIST SCIENCE FICTION FANS get April Fool’s piece taken down. Pathetic.

WHO SAYS IT’S JUST THE BOTTOM HALF? The Haves and the Have-Nots: What Happens to the Folks in the Lower Half of the Bell Curve?

21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: STD dating websites are on the rise. “Christians have ChristianMingle. Senior citizens have SeniorMatch. Now, people with sexually transmitted diseases have a growing number of specialty dating websites to choose from.”

ANDY HINDS: What Being a Handyman Has Taught Me About Male Insecurity. “Some guys feel really bad about the fact that they don’t know how to hang crown molding.”

I had some related thoughts a while back.

LEGAL EDUCATION UPDATE: Law School Graduates Continue to Face Brutal Entry-Level Market.

SEQUESTER STRIKES HOME: White House Can’t Afford Its Shapeshifting Alien Reptile Guards.

THE FALLEN ANGELS SCENARIO IS LOOKING MORE AND MORE PLAUSIBLE: “When the snow started falling on Thursday afternoon nobody in the Glens of Antrim could have predicted the devastating impact it would have on the farming community. Sub-zero temperatures and heavy snow fall combined with strong easterly winds produced 30 foot snowdrifts.”

SO LONG AS THE CONTEST ISN’T DECIDED BY FOOTBALL OR BASKETBALL: Graveyard of Peaches: How Tennessee Will Win Its War Against Georgia. “The War Between the States ended almost 150 years ago, but the Georgia state senate is making threatening noises against its neighbor. It should think twice. Occupying Iraq and Afghanistan is a cakewalk compared to the hellscape that southeast Tennessee poses for an invading army. . . . As a soldier, I fought in both Iraq and Afghanistan; as a scholar, I performed most of the fieldwork for my doctoral dissertation in southern Lebanon. Nowhere in the world, though, have I ever encountered a more brutal, tribal and violent race of people than the Scots-Irish of East Tennessee.”

HIGHER EDUCATION UPDATE: Using Student Fees for Political Activism.

WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS: Depleted-Uranium Anti-Drone Shotgun Shells. “Years of research and development have gone into these highly effective 12 gauge shells that can turn even Joe Biden’s double barrel shotgun into an instant anti-aircraft platform. Specially formulated propellant is capable of launching 9 pellets of depleted uranium rounds up to 1 km straight up into the air. With accurate shot placement, this armor piercing buckshot will disable vital systems on modern military drones. At minimum, the force of impact will disable navigation systems, but in over 60% of our field tests, the drones were incapable of remaining airborne after contact with our Anti-Drone Loads.”

SEEMS LIKE A FEW CLASS-ACTION SUITS — OR BEHEADINGS — COULD ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM DIRECTLY: FCC needs to stop ‘cramming’ on cellphones.

Figuring it might have been from a friend, Chao clicked it open and — what do you know? — it, too, was from Ringtunecloud.com.

So she did exactly what wireless companies advise customers to do. She called her provider, Verizon Wireless, and asked that Ringtunecloud.com be blocked from sending any more texts to her phone.

The Verizon rep agreed to do this, but informed Chao that a $9.99 monthly service charge already had been applied to her account — just because she had clicked on the text.

“Opening a text can’t possibly be interpreted as consent to receive whatever service they’re trying to sell,” Chao, a lawyer with the California Department of Insurance, told me. “But that’s what they’re trying to get away with.

“I don’t see how this could even be legal.”

Me, neither — and lawyers I’ve spoken with say it probably isn’t. Nor do I understand how Verizon could be a willing accomplice in this racket by allowing Ringtunecloud.com easy access to a customer’s bill.

Tar. Feathers.

GREEN JOBS UPDATE: Fisker hires bankruptcy team after worker furlough. The Karma is such a pretty car — it’s too bad it appears to be just another green boondoggle.

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Also, on sale: RVBX: Ten Years of Red vs. Blue Box Set. On Blu-Ray or DVD.

LESSON NOT LEARNED: “Edwin Mellen Press is continuing to threaten its online critics.” Because this approach has done so much for its brand so far. . . .

Related: “I think registering someone’s name as a domain is a very creepy thing to do. You can’t mean well by it. There’s no good intent to it.”

PROGRESS: There Are Now Bacon Condoms To Go With Your Bacon Lube.

LIVING LONG VIA COFFEE: “People who live on the Greek island of Ikaria are known to have remarkably high life expectancies, and researchers have been studying them carefully to learn why. Now a new report suggests that one reason may be the coffee they drink.”

HELPFUL HINTS: Quick Tips To Revive Your Lawn For Spring.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: 8 Things You Shouldn’t Do Before Bed.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Game Of Drones.