Politics: Is the Anger in American Politics Good or Bad?
As I have written about several times (here and here and here), the blogosphere and, more generally, the “politicosphere” has gotten pretty darned ugly these days. Gone are the days of passionate though reasoned discourse and respectful disagreement. Where the focus was on the common good, practical solutions, and where differences could be worked out […]
Read MoreEducation: Of What Value a High School Diploma?
I ask this question rhetorically because there is a wealth of data demonstrating the value of a high school education in terms of higher income and greater career advancement compared to dropping out. But when I ask this question, I am also speaking specifically about the typical curriculum that high school offer and the jobs […]
Read MorePolitics: A Recipe for Civil Political Discourse
Is it possible to have a civil and substantive conversation about politics between people of differing (opposing!) ideologies these days? It sure doesn’t seem like it if you read the increasingly over-the-top blogosphere, listen to the hyperbolic talk radio, and watch the overblown 24/7 cable new channels. The result is a truly toxic “mocktail” that […]
Read MorePopular Culture: Bristol Palin: Speaker for Hire
It seems like every day when I go on line I read something that causes me to think: “Another indication of the end of civilization as we know.” Well, this morning I had another one of those painful epiphanies when I read that Bristol Palin, the daughter of the former Alaska governor and Vice Presidential […]
Read MoreEducation: Public Education Reform is Doubly Off the Mark
Even before any action is taken to reform our public education system, the current efforts being championed by President Obama and administered by Education Secretary Arne Duncan are missing the mark at two fundamental levels and, in doing so, ill serve the needs of all students. First, let’s start with what public education reform really […]
Read MorePolitics: “_______” Gone (Absurdly) Wrong: You Fill in the Blank
Back in February, I posted a blog post, Public Education Gone (Absurdly) Wrong, that described what I considered to be a too-bizarre-to-be-true-but-it-was scenario between a frustrated parent and her son’s school administration. In response, a commenter insightfully pointed out that you could replace ‘public education’ with just about anything happening in politics today and the […]
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