Today’s lesson: Airplanes do not have steering wheels. Despite what reporters and an editor may say. An airplane has a yoke. (And it’s not a yolk, as that editor tried to “fix.”) A helicopter has a cyclic. (For an admittedly juvenile chuckle, check out the definition of cyclic.) What brought that on? A 78-year-old grandmother [...]

Fox News makes you stupid: … the survey respondents who seemed to know the most about what’s going on — who were able to identify major public figures, for example — were likely to be viewers of fake news programs like Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report”; those who knew the least [...]

The 32 people killed Monday in the Virginia Tech massacre: Ross Alameddine, 20, of Saugus, Mass., was killed in French class, in Room 211 of Norris Hall. A friend described the sophomore English major as “imaginitive, intelligent, compassionate and most of all hysterically funny.” Friends said Alameddine often kept a quote set on his instant [...]

The victims of the “Massacre at Virginia Tech,” which seems to be what the media has dubbed it: • Ross Alameddine, 20, of Saugus, Mass., was killed in French class, in Room 211 of Norris Hall. The sophomore was an English major. • Christopher J. “Jamie” Bishop, 35, was teaching an introductory German class when [...]

There was a shooting at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., today. So far, 31 dead, 29 injured, 4 in critical condition. There will be updates throughout the week, I’m sure. Unrelated, but CNNMoney just named Blacksburg one of its top 10 places to retire early. ODDS & ENDS • A man “steals” two hot dogs [...]