David Sirota from Creators Syndicate

Embracing ‘Enough' for 02/10/2012

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Of all the no-no's in contemporary America — and there are many — none has proven more taboo than the ancient doctrine of dayenu. Translated from the original Hebrew, the word roughly means "It would have been enough." The principle is that a certain amount of a finite resource should satisfy even the gluttons among us.

I know, I know — to even menti ...

Updated: Fri Feb 10, 2012

When It Comes to Education Technology, Trust, But Verify for 02/03/2012

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

The release of Apple's computer-based textbooks last month had the usual technology triumphalists buzzing. "Apple And The Coming Education Revolution," blared the headline at Fast Company magazine. "Apple puts iPad at head of the class," screamed MacWorld. And Time magazine declared the announcement the "debut (of) the holy grail of textbooks." It sounds exciting & ...

Updated: Fri Feb 03, 2012

The Economic Normalcy Bias for 01/27/2012

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

In 1977, two Boeing 747s collided on an airstrip in the Canary Islands. According to accident investigators, those who survived the initial blast in one plane had time to escape before a fire consumed the wreckage. But eyewitnesses reported that many remained in their seat looking perfectly content — as if nothing was wrong.

Not surprisingly, dozens of these dazed victims were burn ...

Updated: Fri Jan 27, 2012

Our Selective Definition of Bigotry for 01/20/2012

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

If they have any value at all anymore, presidential election campaigns at least remain larger-than-life mirrors reflecting back painful truths about our society. As evidence, ponder the two-sided debate over Republican candidate Ron Paul and bigotry.

One camp cites Paul's hate-filled newsletters and his libertarian opposition to civil rights regulations as evidence that he aligns with ra ...

Updated: Fri Jan 20, 2012

America's Real Occupiers for 01/13/2012

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Last week, my local twittersphere momentarily erupted with allegations that Denver's public school superintendent, Tom Boasberg, is sending his kids to a private school that eschews high-stakes testing. Boasberg, an icon of the national movement pushing high-stakes testing and undermining traditional public education, eventually defended himself by insisting that his kids attended that special ...

Updated: Fri Jan 13, 2012

Commemorating Our Soon-to-Be Lost Vernacular for 01/06/2012

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

By far, the laziest, most vapid articles annually published during this post-holiday season are lists of the past year's top 10 words and aphorisms. Admittedly, the sloth of such an endeavor tempts me. But as a new dad obsessed with my 1-year-old son's future, I think I've got a more worthy list to add to the pile — one of current words and phrases that my kid may never know because they ...

Updated: Fri Jan 06, 2012

'Tis The Season of Fake Outrage for 12/22/2011

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

One of the defining qualities of late December is the predictable and ritualized nature of America's holiday season. Other than discovering what's inside the wrapped gift boxes, there's no mystery or suspense to it anymore. The Christmas music starts right before Thanksgiving. Then come the flickering lights, the red-and-green decor, Hollywood's vacation movie blitz, and finally, with media cha ...

Updated: Thu Dec 22, 2011

Banana Republicans' Assault on Democracy for 12/16/2011

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

When the Senate minority leader of the United States calls something "a genuine threat to our country," everyone — regardless of party — should listen. Even in the post-9/11 era of overheated language and hyper-partisanship, that kind of declaration from such a powerful public official is not to be taken lightly.

So, what horrible menace to our way of life was Sen. ...

Updated: Fri Dec 16, 2011

What Real Education Reform Looks Like for 12/09/2011

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

As 2011 draws to a close, we can confidently declare that one of the biggest debates over education is — mercifully — resolved. We may not have addressed all of the huge challenges facing our schools, but we finally have empirical data ruling out apocryphal theories and exposing the fundamental problems.

We've learned, for instance, that our entire education system is not &qu ...

Updated: Fri Dec 09, 2011

Celebrating the End of Kids' Wall Street Dreams for 12/02/2011

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Amid fears of high youth unemployment creating a "lost generation," there is suddenly a bright spot: Apparently, fewer young people are going to work in the industry that destroyed our economy.

That's the word from The New York Times, which reports that since 2008, "the number of investment bank and brokerage firm employees between the ages 20 and 34 fell by 25 percent,&qu ...

Updated: Fri Dec 02, 2011

Anger Sowing Seeds of a New Consumer Movement for 11/18/2011

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

As we all know, America is angry. Really angry. To put it in pop culture terms, we've moved from the vaguely inspiring agita of Peter Finch in "Network" to the wild-eyed, primal-scream rage of Sam Kinison in "Back to School."

When we pay attention to politics, we get peeved at Congress and the presidential candidates. When we tune into sports, we're annoyed with squab ...

Updated: Fri Nov 18, 2011

Why Income Inequality Suddenly Matters for 11/11/2011

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

A few weeks ago, as the Occupy Wall Street protests were first spreading, something amazing happened: For 10 whole seconds, the local reporter on my TV screen actually talked about the realities of the recession. He even uttered the phrase "economic inequality."

My guess is that you've seen something similar on your local affiliate — and that's no minor event. When even t ...

Updated: Fri Nov 11, 2011

TV That Finally Lifts Journalism Back ‘Up' for 10/28/2011

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Waking up at 4 a.m. is rarely enjoyable, and arising at that unspeakable hour to appear on a cable news show is particularly painful. In such situations, you feel as if you're dragging yourself out of bed only to be treated like a canine in a dogfight, with the typical show pitting you in a contrived death match against another guest who is your equally angry, equally mangy opposite. That, or y ...

Updated: Fri Oct 28, 2011

The Choice Between Democracy and Autocracy for 10/21/2011

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Hear ye, hear ye! Let it be known that in this 10th month of the first year of His Majesty King John Hickenlooper's reign, the sovereign governor of the Kingdom of Colorado handed down an edict closing the grounds of the Capitol palace to the public and ordering his praetorian guard to arrest the peaceful Occupy Denver protestors assembled at the castle gates.

This royal order, which mad ...

Updated: Fri Oct 21, 2011

Government by Death Panel for 10/14/2011

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Remember the good ol' days when Republicans were running around the country screaming that Democrats' proposal to fund voluntary end-of-life counseling would somehow create a government-sanctioned death panel? Ooh boy, the heartland was ablaze back then. Wracked by anger at a Democrat occupying the White House, an enraged Middle America was genuinely scared about the prospect of a secret group ...

Updated: Fri Oct 14, 2011

Stopping the Insanity for 10/07/2011

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Like most people living through this jarring age of economic turbulence and political dysfunction, you can probably recall a moment in the last few months when you thought to yourself that our lawmakers and corporate leaders are all crazy. And not just run-of-the-mill crazy, a la George Costanza's parents, but the kind of crazy that makes films like "Silence of the Lambs" and "On ...

Updated: Fri Oct 07, 2011

How Baseball Explains Modern Racism for 09/30/2011

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Despite recent odes to "post-racial" sensibilities, persistent racial wage and unemployment gaps show that prejudice is alive and well in America. Nonetheless, that truism is often angrily denied or willfully ignored in our society, in part because prejudice is so much more difficult to recognize on a day-to-day basis. As opposed to the Jim Crow era of white hoods and lynch mobs, 21st ...

Updated: Fri Sep 30, 2011

Two Heads of One Political Monster for 09/23/2011

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

By now, probably everyone reading this is already sick of America's quadrennial political spectacle — the one in which politicians and media outlets ask us to believe that there remain vast differences between our two political parties. It's like cheaply staged pornography on a red and blue set, with words like "polarization," "socialist," and "extremist" com ...

Updated: Fri Sep 23, 2011

University of Hypocrisy for 09/16/2011

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

In the firmament of celebrated Americana, there is Mom, apple pie, football and beer — but there most certainly is not marijuana. As it relates to drugs, this bizarre culture has us implicitly accepting that people will inevitably use mind-altering substances. But through our statutes, we allow law-abiding citizens to use only one recreational substance — alcohol — that just h ...

Updated: Fri Sep 16, 2011

Ten Years Later, It's Time to 'Broaden the Context' for 09/09/2011

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Ten years ago this week, I, like many living in Washington at the time, was fleeing my office building. In those minutes of mayhem, I knew only what the police were screaming: Get out fast, because we're being attacked by terrorists.

In the years since 9/11, we've learned a lot about that awful day — and about ourselves.

We've learned, for instance, about the attack's mechan ...

Updated: Fri Sep 09, 2011