The algebra conundrum: Why is it seen as so difficult?

Over at Pharyngula, PZ Myers has commented on one of the periodic issues that occurs in mathematics education and that is what mathematics should form part of the general education of everyone. This time the discussion is over whether algebra should be a requirement for a basic general education. Those who argue for its removal say that it is not a skill that most people need in everyday life and that in addition, students seem to find it very hard and fail in large numbers.
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Swearing in sign language

Swearing can be quite cathartic. I myself do not casually swear (though I do use the word ‘hell’ a lot) and never swear in anger at other people. But I cannot prevent the occasional “Oh, shit!” escaping from my lips when I do something stupid or careless or when some unfortunate event occurs. In the video below, we see how swearing is done in sign language for those who cannot verbalize it. It may also come in useful when the recipient can see you but cannot hear you. (Language advisory, obviously.)

Trump’s worst nightmare coming true

Forget his difficulties with getting funding for his beloved wall. Forget his failure to repeal Obamacare. Forget the fact that he has had to reverse himself and commit to an indefinite war in Afghanistan. What Donald Trump really, really cares about is that he be able to command large crowds of adoring fans at will to stoke his ego that people love him, they really, really love him. This is the main reason that he is having campaign rallies almost from the time he took office where he can regale his followers with an imaginary reality. He even bragged about the size of the crowd that came when he visited the areas stricken by Hurricane Harvey.
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How much taxes individuals and corporations pay

The US business and political class are fond of bemoaning what they say are the high rates of corporate taxes in the US and how it makes the US uncompetitive compared to their European counterparts. Of course, this is just a game played by transnational elites to try and get governments to compete with each other in lowering tax rates. If the US rates do dip below the European ones, then the business elites in Europe will complain how they are now disadvantaged and need to have their taxes lowered, and so on.
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Prayer at school board meetings

Back in 1983, the US Supreme Court ruled in the case Marsh v. Chambers that the practice of ceremonial opening prayers of the Nebraska state legislature was constitutional. In his strong and cogently argued dissent, justice William Brennan warned that allowing any ceremonial prayer at all, whatever the constraints imposed, would result in the Supreme Court getting involved in endless disputations about what kind of prayer and settings should be allowable and what should be disallowed.
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Jordan Klepper channels Alex Jones in new comedy show

In his highly successful old show The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert adopted the persona of a right wing TV blowhard modeled on Bill O’Reilly. His departure to host a more traditional late night TV talk show has created a vacuum in that niche and now another Daily Show alum Jordan Klepper has moved to fill it, modeling himself on an even more extreme character like Alex Jones. He is going to face the challenge of being constantly compared to Colbert but Klepper has good comedy chops and should be able to withstand that scrutiny.
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