All cultures are the same!?; American Scenes

• Various cogs in South Korea's national machinery paused briefly on Nov. 13 so as not to distract the nation's high-school-age kids, as 650,000 of them were sitting for the decisive university entrance exams (which are several levels more important than the SATs or ACTs for American students).

Large companies and government agencies told employees to commute later in the morning -- to keep traffic lighter for students traveling to the 1,257 test centers -- and "no-fly" zones reduced noise during the 40-minute period in which students tested aurally on the English language. [Daily Telegraph, 11-13-2014]

• (1) Mmmm, Omelets! A crash of three tractor-trailers on Interstate 24 near Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Nov. 9 left a pileup of one truck's load of eggs, another's pallets of cheese, and the other's boxes of meat. (2) "Drunken Trombone-Playing Clown Fires Gun From Garage, Police Say" (an Oct. 21 story on MLive.com from Grand Traverse County, Michigan, also reported that the man was wearing camo pants). [Times Free Press (Chattanooga), 11-9-2014] [MLive.com (Grand Rapids), 10-21-2014]

Comment by clicking here.