Dictionary of Cultural Literacy by E D Hirsch et al ***

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know is excellent bathroom reading with lots of general knowledge and a smattering cultural bias and propaganda. I kept the 1988 edition in my bathroom for months (the most recent is 2002), so the two decade retrospective made the point-of-views obvious, anachronisms revealing, and inaccuracies laughable ... especially recalling that E D Hirsch et al have set themselves up as the arbiters of the timeless knowledge "every American needs to know."

Radioactive waste: Present practice calls for encasing the waste ... and burying the containers deep underground in geologically stable locations.

Times Square: Known for its high levels of crime, including drug dealing, prostitution, and the sale of pornography.

The U S automobile industry, with only three major producers, has sometimes been cited as an example of an oligopoly.

IBM produced the first mechanical calculating machine in 1941 [ROFL].

Mainframe: A large, powerful computer system. A typical mainframe computer will fill a good-sized room.