March/April 2012

With heroes like these… The Bain con Goldman Sachs is our compass Some things never change One SWAT too many There’s something about Marco Did the Kennedys buy West Virginia? Jodi and Michelle Ravitch vs. Rhee Quality, control Doesn’t sound wise Groundhog Day in D.C. Back in the saddle again A Bastille worth storming Jaded […]

It is now well known that Apple’s Chinese suppliers have employees who work twelve hours a day, seven days a week, and are housed in dorms with, according to the New York Times, as many as twenty people crowded into a three-room apartment. Banners on the factory walls warn: “Work hard on the job today […]

One of the most common tactics employed by defense and other contractors is called “lowballing.” They win government contracts by making the lowest bid and then, once the work has begun and it is too late for the government to change contractors, they suddenly discover additional “unforeseen” costs that result in their having to raise […]

Similar to my qualms about Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, I am puzzled that the Human Rights Campaign appears to believe that the cause of gay marriage gains moral authority from its endorsement by Lloyd Blankfein.

If you’re comforted by stories showing that, in some respects at least, the good old days are still with us, then you’ll appreciate the latest news out of West Virginia. A 2012 candidate for sheriff in Lincoln County has, according to the Charleston Gazette, only recently emerged from prison after pleading guilty to vote-buying charges […]

In another story from my hometown paper, the Gazette reports that a SWAT team from the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office has been found innocent of wrongdoing after its members managed to fire seven bullets into a hostage taker—even though he had released his hostages, they had only negotiated for two hours, and, by the way, […]

If you’re a Democrat, worry about Marco Rubio. He seems destined to be the Republican vice presidential candidate, and he has the potential to change the political equation in the Republicans’ favor, as Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama did for the Democrats in 1976 and 2008. In 1976, Carter actually carried the majority of southern […]

In defense of my home state, I should explain that not every election can be bought. Electoral hanky-panky flourishes when voters are indifferent, not when they care. And even the most well-heeled candidate does not always win. Consider that when Jay Rockefeller, who was not exactly underfunded, first ran for governor he was soundly defeated […]

When Michelle Obama recently seemed to perceive Jodi Kantor’s new book The Obamas as another portrayal of her as an “angry black woman,” media observers were practically unanimous in defending Kantor and saying that the book did not so characterize the first lady. Yet, I could not help but notice that after David Brooks had […]

The counterattack led by Diane Ravitch on the movement to improve teacher quality has gained considerable steam, yet it is based on a totally false premise that because the overall efficacy of education is dependent on many factors, including the students’ family life and environment, teacher quality alone isn’t worth all the fuss reformers have […]