President Obama cited the massive teacher firing at Rhode Island’s Central Falls High School in a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce yesterday.  The decision to fire all Central Falls teachers has attracted controversy since its announcement, and the Obama administration has pointed to it as an example of a tough but necessary approach to fixing the nation’s education system.

A bill to prevent minors from incurring child pornography charges for “sexting” could be voted on in the General Assembly this week.  Under current law, minors who send obscene texts or videos could be subject to child pornography charges that could land them a lifelong place on the sex offender registry.

Like birds singing and warmer weather, potholes are a sign that spring has come to Providence.  The city has already deployed 32 tons of pothole filler to fix some of the worst areas, but that hasn’t stopped people from complaining about the nasty craters.  Sage advice for drivers from one Providence resident: “make sure you don’t have dentures.”

“At a meeting of the corporation of Brown University to-day two new scholarships were announced. . . . Vacancies in the Board of Fellows were filled. . . . Plans for a new library building were adopted.”

Once upon a time, Corporation meetings got the attention of the New York Times. The events of this June 1875 meeting were small beans compared to what Corporation members decided Saturday, but it seems here was no mention of this weekend’s meeting in the Times. (Though a March 1 article helpfully informs us that President Simmons will be leaving the board of Goldman Sachs. Hm, we thought we’d read about that somewhere.)

After a seemingly endless Crazy Heart run and a brief Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus and Fish Tank run at the Avon, The Last Station began showing at Thayer’s famed movie theater this week. The Last Station tells the story of Russian author Leo Tolstoy’s last year alive. The film is an Oscar nominee twice over: Helen Mirren gained a Best Actress nod for her role as Sofya Tolstoy and Christopher Plummer received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor (his first Oscar nomination ever) for his role as Leo Tolstoy.

The Last Station is an actor’s movie. While it lacks the drama of The Hurt Locker, the wit of Up in the Air, or the visual awe of Avatar, the real value of this movie lies in the captivating and emotional performances. I would liken this one to a film along the lines of The Queen: its an awards contender and critically acclaimed but it will probably not be being discussed and watched for generations.

All things considered, give this movie a shot and check it out. If you don’t like it, at least you can tell your friends you saw it when you are watching the Oscars this Sunday. You’ll seem really cool and intellectual.

Rhode Island has its quirks, to be certain, and among its hidden secrets is that it birthed the dive diner.

And who doesn’t love a little validation?

Last week, the Liberty Elm Diner had its moment in the sun on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” Featured on the “Comfort Foods Classics” episode, the local spot taught Guy Fieri a couple tricks on how to make a roasted turkey sandwich.

The episode re-airs over the next couple of weeks. Make friends off campus — IPTV is not a Food Network subscriber.

And if you want a little dive lovin’ even closer to home, Loui’s made its appearance on the show in November.

Starting to get those first-round-of-midterms blues? Foucault and Saussure got you down?

BlogDailyHerald’s got the medicine to pick you right back up again. Enter “The Bedroom Bandit,” the latest literary exploit of Richard Jeanty (“Author of Sexual Exploits of A Nympho I & II,” according to the novel’s cover).

“But what,” you ask “separates this from all the other erotic literature I have read?”

Well, you may or may not be surprised to learn that the eponymous character, the feisty Bandit himself, attends Brown on scholarship by day. His first-year dorm: Bronson (so it’s true what they say: Keeney is for lovers).

While you may be halfway up and out of your seat already on the way to the bookstore, the cover disclaims, “WARNING: Highly Addictive Reading Material,” so handle with care.

How long can the Bandit keep up his philandering with the housewives of Bingham Lane? And what do chapters such as “There is a God,” hold in store? Keep your eyes peeled for the full review in Post-’s literary section in coming weeks to find out…

After reading an article he liked in the New Yorker, Warren Buffet’s partner, Charlie Munger, reportedly sent the author a check for $20,000, explaining that the article was “so useful socially.”

I would like to point out another socially useful resource: www.blogdailyherald.com

(And our mailing address is listed online, just to clear up any confusion.)

Now you, too, can get an idea of your favorite politicians’ “endowment” and still look like you’re doing homework!

Lunch: Ratty. Both dining halls are offering something “stuffed,” but the V-Dub’s “stuffed shells with sauce” is a bit too vague for us to completely trust.

Dinner: V-Dub. Sure, having “chicken broccoli pasta alfredo” alongside just “broccoli pasta alfredo” might look lazy, but think of it as a really, really obvious attempt to accommodate you vegetarians out there!