school ratings
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/education/central-texas-superintendents-unite-against-new-a-f-accountability-system/article_1619710e-19d1-56c4-96c9-06d5884ff795.html
Trump will make it up as he goes along
“I mean, how do you know what you’re going to do until you do it? The answer is you don’t . . . I swear it’s a stupid question.” – Holden Caulfield, “Catcher in the Rye.” The thing about young Holden is that you have no idea what he is going to do or say,…
To mute or not to mute a loud leader
Of course it’s news. Not that my wife wants any part of it. Ever since the electoral victory of Donald Trump, whatever he has to say, she will hear nothing of it. The mere fact that I just used his name means she will decline to review this commentary. In…
Taking office without a clue, and defiantly so
Let’s say you are president. Make that president-elect. Let’s say you’ve had many grueling months of a brutal and bitter campaign, racking up time zones on your personal plane, putting your global business empire on the back burner — a must-do to make the country your empire. What to do in preparation? This president-elect thing is good…
From Obama’s EPA to Trump’s PPA (redux)
(Dear johnyoungcolumn readers: A change is required to the most recent submission, as the pick it mentioned for Trump's Interior secretary was premature. Rest assured — or rest uneasily, as it were — the actual choice "fits" the theme of the original column. Read on.) Kathleen Stama sounded like the cat that had just dined…
From Obama’s EPA to Trump’s PPA
Kathleen Stama sounded like the cat that had just dined on filet de canary. She told the Denver Post that Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is a great choice to run the EPA, as he understands that “centralized government is not the best way to protect the environment.” Stama is all about protecting the environment. Except…
Flotsam from the Trump thought stream
The early projection: Donald Trump is the end of satire. Not that as president he would ban it, although in his fantasies he shuts down “Saturday Night Live.” It's that based on his early proclivities, Trump is beyond lampooning. Whatever scene a humorist might conjure, he lives it. He is his own work of fiction. Presidential? Oh…
America is not an Orange Julius; is it?
It turns out our ambitions were quite similar, Donald Trump’s and mine. We were both interested in acquiring a franchise – a business opportunity. I always had an affection for Orange Julius and its one-trick-pony stands at malls. I told my betrothed that when we had the scratch, the itch I’d pursue was an OJ…
OK, the second-worst dish known to man
It’s time to tone down the hateful rhetoric, we’re told. This being Thanksgiving and all, I hear you. So I come with concessionary tidings. I’m going to stun many and concede that sweet potatoes aren’t the worst-tasting food on our planet. This will come as a surprise, yes, to readers who, if they’ve been with…
Treating white males with kindness, respect and inclusion
I consider myself progressive, compassionate, open-minded. Heaven knows I’m tolerant. Yet in recent days I have realized that routinely I am engaging in profiling. I see a figure up ahead of me on the sidewalk or in the store: I start making judgments. My mind takes giant leaps that cause teeth and hands to clench and pheromones…