I wish rent and food (and the possible lack thereof) didn't loom so large for me. If I could, I would certainly do something to support this proof that "special education" students are more than capable of complex learning processes and must not be written off by local and national policymakers. Please, help if you can and distribute it far and wide!

Thanks to a good friend for alerting me last week when President Aliev (of Azerbaijan) collapsed several times during a televised speech. Given where Azerbaijan is, politically and geographically (one of the more stable and pro western business, though authoritarian and corrupt, former Soviet republics just north of Iran and Iraq), a change in leadership (and/or power struggle) would have a huge impact on Russia, the Middle East, oil markets and much, much more.