FAST TIMES AT RECRUITMENT HIGH: How Obama’s education secretary opened public high schools up to the military
Another new piece of mine at Mother Jones on Education Secretary Arne Duncan and his past record in Chicago’s school for opening them up to the military. *** Fast Times at Recruitment High When Arne Duncan stepped down as the head of the Chicago Public Schools to become the secretary of education in January, the school district he left behind had little to brag about. For six of Duncan’s seven years as its chief executive officer, CPS received an average or below... Read More
The Government’s Foreclosure Rescue Mirage
Mother Jones published a new investigative story of mine today on the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program, its $75 billion, largely taxpayer funded foreclosure prevention program. The one that’s been one big bust. I’ve excerpted the piece below, and you can check the full thing out and comment on it here, at MotherJones.com. (Which you should do!) Or definitely shoot me an e-mail or comment on this site as well. *** Fausto Ordoñez tells his story... Read More
Will U.S. Back Bogus Afghan Elections?
The fact that tomorrow’s presidential election in Afghanistan will be mired in corruption, fraud, and backroom dealing is all but certain, writes The Nation‘s Ann Jones, author of Kabul In Winter and an incisive voice on all things Afghan. The more pressing question, she says, is this: Will the U.S., in the name of demonstrating Afghanistan’s "progress" toward democracy, validate the election and deem it "credible"? If it does (and it very... Read More
Why We Can All Move Past Co-ops and Public Options
Now that the public option in health care reform seems to be nearing its demise, non-profit co-ops are all the rage, with every damn media outlet in the Union scrambling to pick apart the latest player in the health-care debate. Just as the public option’s merits have been debated and fought over ad nauseum, so, too, will this latest twist in the health care battle, an idea largely connected to Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), a member of the (unfortunately) influential Gang of... Read More
Four Reasons to Foil the Fed
Like oil and water, the Federal Reserve and transparency do not mix. Or, as the incisive Bill Greider, author of Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country, wrote in a recent cover story for The Nation: “The Federal Reserve is the black hole of our democracy—the crucial contradiction that keeps the people and their representatives from having any voice in these most important public policies.” Who can forget former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan’s... Read More
Det News op-ed: ‘Mayoral control isn’t the answer for Detroit schools’
A recent op-ed of mine appeared in one of the big Michigan papers, the Detroit News, not too long ago. It’s about why mayoral control—a bad idea in the first place, I believe—is an even worse idea in a city like Detroit. Education Secretary Arne Duncan came to the Motor City in May to peddle his mayoral-control message to Detroit Public School leaders that, quite frankly, are so shellshocked at this point they might buy into anything for their crumbling city and schools. Hold... Read More
The ‘Greatest Swindle Ever Sold’ Swindles On and On and On…
I’ve been blogging quite a bit at MotherJones.com, where I’m now working, on the ever-growing swindle that is the government bailout. It’s at around $13 trillion dollars now, and as I show, it’s painfully clear that the bailout has nothing to do with taxpayers or small-business owners or normal citizens. Instead, this has been a bailout of the banks, by the banks, for the banks. Below is a compilation of some recent blogging. I’d love to know what... Read More
Radio interviews for “The Greatest Swindle Ever Sold”
Sorry for the absence on here! I’ve just settled into a new job at Mother Jones magazine in San Francisco, and needless to say, it’s been a bit hectic here on my end. After my most recent piece on the bailout, “The Greatest Swindle Ever Sold,” came out, I’ve made a slew of radio appearances talking about the bailout, my story and other related topics. I’ve included a number of those interviews below. Please do given them a listen, and... Read More
The Greatest Swindle Ever Sold
That’s the title of my latest TomDispatch piece. It’s about the U.S. government’s financial bailout, and how that bailout rips off taxpayers by the billions. Here’s a link to the piece. There’s an excerpt from the piece below. Check it out! And while you’re at it, subscribe to TomDispatch’s e-mail alerts too. How can you beat three long-form pieces a week from the likes of Mike Davis, Noam Chomsky, Rebecca Solnit, and much, much more? *** The... Read More
On Dave Eggers, Vendela Vida & Sam Mendes’ new movie, “Away We Go”
Courtesy of Focus Features Because Ann Arbor has 826michigan, one of the 826 writing centers begun in San Francisco by writer/publisher Dave Eggers, we were treated to an early screening of the film “Away We Go,” co-written by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, the writer and Eggers’ wife, directed by Sam Mendes and starring a slew of star actors, like Jon Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Catherine O’Hara, Jeff Daniels, etc., etc. For those who haven’t... Read More
