Politics
Why I prefer John Edwards
Put simply: it seems to me that John Edwards is a man who has a future, and John Kerry is a man who has a past. (Either, however, is better than George W. Bush, a man who has nothing.)
Steve Casburn
History
Supreme Court trivia
The membership of the current Supreme Court has not changed since August 1994. The 9½ years that the current members have served together is the longest such stretch without a change since the Court expanded to nine justices. (The Supreme Court went 12 years without a change from 1811 to
Politics
The Amazon primary, as of February 24
Before the results of the February 24 primaries and caucuses are announced, here are the current totals in the Amazon primary. Change since February 17: John Edwards $4,005 John Kerry 3,671 Dennis Kucinich 205 Al Sharpton 30 Total amount: John Kerry $35,610 John Edwards 18,337 Dennis
History
Draft Nader '72
Ralph Nader has declared that he is again a candidate for President. As this 1971 article from The New Republic shows, the "Nader for President" movement has a long history (though Nader did not finally run for office until 1996): A funny thing happened to Edmund Muskie in
Education
A familiar lament
From the lead article in the February issue of Atlantic Monthly: not The rising generation cannot spell, because it learned to read by the word-method; it is hampered in the use of dictionaries, because it never learned the alphabet; its English is slipshod and commonplace, because it does not
History
A Milwaukee hotel to avoid
For some reason, the Hilton Milwaukee City Center hotel doesn't mention this 1972 review of its earlier incarnation, the Sheraton Schroeder, on its history page: Eight days in the Sheraton-Schroeder is like three months in the Cook County jail. […] The room radiators are uncontrollable, the tubs won&
Politics
The Amazon primary, as of February 17
Before the results of the February 17 Wisconsin primary is announced, here are the current totals in the Amazon primary. Change since February 10: John Kerry $5,325 John Edwards 1,290 Howard Dean 440 Dennis Kucinich 251 Al Sharpton 245 Total amount: John Kerry $31,939 John Edwards 14,
Education
"Our children are learning"
On my way home from work today, I passed by the Gregory-Lincoln Education Center, my neighborhood's middle school (and the world's finest—and perhaps only—example of red-checkerboard Stalinist architecture). Its signboard had this message: "Our children are learning". I'm
Politics
Tennessee primary analysis
1. If you look at the state totals, you'd think that John Edwards would be happier with the Tennessee result (losing to Kerry by 15 points) than the Virginia result (losing to Kerry by 25), and perhaps he is. I'm not sure I would be. The
Politics
Virginia primary analysis
1. John Edwards' strategy in this primary was to get the "NASCAR dads" to vote for him, and he seems to have succeeded. Winning this segment of the vote is important, because it gives him a base (albeit a small one), and with a base, he has
Politics
The Amazon primary, as of February 10
Before the results of the February 10 primaries are announced, here are the current totals in the Amazon primary. Change since February 7: John Kerry $4,011 John Edwards 870 Howard Dean 760 Wesley Clark 690 Dennis Kucinich 485 Al Sharpton 5 Total amount: John Kerry $26,614 John Edwards
Politics
The Amazon primary, as of February 7
Before the results of the February 7 caucuses are announced, here are the current totals in the Amazon primary. Change since February 3: John Edwards $4,038 John Kerry 3,447 Howard Dean 1,737 Wesley Clark 1,647 Al Sharpton 235 Dennis Kucinich 190 Total amount: John Kerry $22,