"Has Andrew Adonis actually met a selection of children from across the entire ability range? Has he met them gathered in one room? I suspect not. And if he were to, would he close one eye and pretend that the child at one end of that spectrum (who may not be able to read GCSE questions let alone comprehend them or answer them correctly) is inherently as capable as the child at the other extreme?" I hate to defend Andrew Adonis, David, but the inability to read and comprehend GCSE questions is not necessarily related to inherent capability. The reason I hate to defend Adonis, of course, is because he is one in a long succession of British Secretaries of State for Education, of both governing parties, who have allowed the conditions to develop where children who are inherently capable of reading are comprehending are in fact unable to do so. (I know you know this, I'm just being a smart alec!)

Brilliant pictures of the States in the 30s and 40s, David. Here's a 100-year-old one of Detroit (a city I love, in what seems to be a minority of one!): http://www.photodump.com/2009/11/23/picture-of-detroit-taken-almost-100-years-ago/