Homework

At a time when parental pocketbooks are strained, does it make sense to point high schoolers toward community colleges instead of four-year schools? President Obama's plan to invigorate community colleges with a fresh dose of federal spending is winning accolades from pundits who have long maintained that the institutions are the unsung heroes of an affordable education.

Long before many of the Dodgers straggle into the visitors' clubhouse in Miami this afternoon, Russell Martin and Brad Ausmus will have already gone to work. In what has become a ritual before the start of a new series, the two catchers will find a table in a quiet corner of the clubhouse and begin poring over color-coded cards that detail the tendencies of the opposing team's hitters. "It's just like doing homework with a buddy," Martin said. "It's brutal when you do it by yourself.

Outfielder Manny Ramirez sang to himself and juggled a couple of baseballs as he walked out of the Dodgers' clubhouse, his spirits visibly lifted by what transpired on the field Sunday. With a 7-3 victory over the San Diego Padres, the Dodgers improved their record at Dodger Stadium to 10-0, setting a franchise mark for the most consecutive victories at home to start a season. This gets better: The Dodgers won with Ramirez on the bench.

If you're ready to hit the high seas with the family this summer, you'll find some bargains bobbing on the waves -- and a few rocks beneath. This is no time to throw away the compass. Sure, you can find fares under $100 a day, double occupancy, or even less for a third or fourth passenger sharing a cabin, as cruise lines try to tempt recession-shocked Americans aboard. Delve deeper into the math, and you hit a problem. "Do you want to stay in a 180-square-foot cabin with four people?"

Rachel Bennett, 12, loves playing soccer, spending time with her grandparents and making jewelry with beads. But since she entered a magnet middle school in the fall -- and began receiving two to four hours of homework a night -- those activities have fallen by the wayside. "She's only a kid for so long," said her father, Alex Bennett, of Silverado Canyon. "There's been tears and frustration and family arguments. Everyone gets burned out and tired."

Time was, kids would come home to show off their latest test, adorned with a star from the teacher. At the dinner table, they talked about what happened at school -- or, in response to questions, sullenly said, "Nothing," leaving their parents to worry about how badly things had gone. Now they just give you the password to the browser. Who needs maternal instinct? Today, the school's online data systems tell me everything I need to know about my children's classroom performance.

What in heaven's name does Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have against honeybees? That question haunted my days after I saw the Kentucky Republican on TV fulminating about a provision he found in the proposed government stimulus package. The provision, he said, would provide $150 million for "honeybee insurance." "This is nonsense," he said, as if he took it personally. You had to think he got stung as a kid or maybe caught a local swarm in the act of recruiting aphids for Al Qaeda.

In "PINEAPPLE EXPRESS," he plays a visibly unwashed hippie pot dealer on the run from mobsters: a THC-addled naif with a crinkly smile, a curtain of lank, dark hair and a heart of gold. But don't get the wrong impression about James Franco just because of his spot-on performance in the most anticipated stoner action-comedy of the year. He's no dope, even though he smokes plenty on-screen. To wit: Dude can almost carbon-date his experiences making certain movies by recalling what literature he was reading at the time.