“No new taxes.” Ah, the sound of spring preening when lawmakers recess. Despite these claims, it’s amazing how policymakers in “low-tax” states figure out ways to convince voters of their presumed fiscal sainthood. Often, they do so with revenue devices which don’t impact the many but really sock it to a…
DetailsThe first thing that occurs to an observer is that this is a mismatch in weight classes. The big-gutted officers fit in the sumo category. The college students? They fit in the stringy category. Stringy but strong-willed, they stand tall — even as they get riot-batoned in their torsos, cuffed and dragged away.…
DetailsIt’s always odd to see how some whose allegiance to Christ is most explicit seem allergic to much of what Christ said. About materialism. About militarism. About inclusiveness. About forgiveness. Then there’s Christ’s comment about public piety – about those who “pray that they be seen by men.” He called them hypocrites.…
DetailsCBS’s unsung “Trophy Wife” is one of few sitcoms true to its “com.” In part, this is because it allows the children in its cast to be childish. In one episode, gangly teen Warren, prodded to try out for a sport, announces he’s achieved “Jackie Robinson” status by joining the girls’ field hockey…
DetailsAcross the nation, in congressional district after congressional district, state after state, the race has begun — the race between viewers’ thumbs and the Koch brothers’ pitch. In most cases, the thumbs win — find “mute” — before David and Charles Koch can tell them what a disaster the Affordable Care Act is…
DetailsNext November, the Republican Party is banking on the cranky. Don’t laugh. This appears to be a very good wager. Good enough to hold onto the U.S. House. Good enough, even, to take the Senate. Democrats don’t want to acknowledge that possibility, but it is way beyond real, and for two…
DetailsEveryone has experienced the oddness of meeting up with a long-lost acquaintance after many years, only to find impressions downright strange. So it is with me and marijuana. At least the smell of marijuana, that is. Though long an advocate of its legalization, I’ve never inhaled it, except in the ambient sense.…
DetailsAs of mid-March, the nation’s rate of uninsured had declined to 15.9 percent from 17.1 percent in December. We can’t know exactly where the rate stands now, but it’s lower. And, well, the nation’s Republican leaders will not have that. They will do everything they can — and credit them for having done…
DetailsRegularly I drive past individuals praying out in front of Planned Parenthood. Supplication being a private thing, one can only imagine what appeals they direct skyward, out there in the cold and wind. I like to imagine that they are praying that all women, regardless of income, have access to safe…
DetailsWhat would you say if someone told you that your state’s emphasis on algebra was undermining math instruction? What would you say if that someone was a math instructor? What would you say if someone said algebra as emphasized — overemphasized — was undermining democracy? Well, I’m saying the latter. …
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