Craig's Corner

This summer marks my 20 th anniversary of becoming a Libertarian.   (Thanks Bill Clinton!)   Over the years I’ve had plenty of opportunities to be stupefied by much of the political class and major world events.   Usually I’m able to recognize the hypocrisy/irony of a situation and keep it in perspective.   The events of the past 10 days or so here in Boston have left me incredulous, surprised and bereft - and far from objective.   The willful and deliberate acts that created the carnage on Marathon Monday and later in the week is something that I just don’t get.   I don’t know that we’ll ever know the answer to “why.” I do know it’s outside of my scope of reasoning.   It wasn’t for the media, however. CNN speculated for hours and hours on virtually everything related to the case – giving far flung relatives open microphones (without any prior clearance) free reign to a world-wide audience.   Fox News had a number of talking h...

Monday’s Boston Marathon Bombing resulted in millions of people sending good thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families.   It is as it should be.   The United States does not have a religion, but is religious.   When Gallup surveyed people an average of 40% reported attending worship services 'in the past week.'   That differs from the trends reported by a Hartford Seminary study that shows significant decreases in attendance.   Some figures report 8% of Americans are atheists .   Bill Maher is as evangelical about his atheism as any proselyte!   For me, I was raised with regular Church attendance, was an altar boy and later a leader in the choir.   And then there was the 13 year gap.   I experienced an unfortunate 'fire and brimstone' sermon early in my college career that coincided with coming to terms with my identity socially, scholastically and sexually.   Thirteen years later I was on the boa...

Shots have been fired across the Potomac on gun control this week.   The President is barnstorming at political rallies drumming up support for legislation that some 90% of the country claims that it supports.   Certain Republicans threatened to filibuster so that the issue doesn’t come up for a vote.   One side has dead (white) children gunned down at Christmas.  Another side has freedom wielding Americans dedicated to saving the Republic for which it stands.   If it wasn't the 21st century you'd think it was a 19th Century Western showdown.   Cable television is beside itself in covering the conflict.     Cartoonist Michael Ramirez is often biting, frequently frustrating and usually draws a smile.   The cartoon below meets two of the three descriptors.   More people die by hands and fists or die by blunt objects than die by military assault rifles or rifles themselves.   V olume is the deciding factor on whether ther...

Atlanta and indeed the entire country have a lesson to be learned from the growing scandal .   180 educators have been implicated in a scheme to fix test scores.   The breadth of the impact of the cheating shows that it wasn’t one or two teachers, but included a systemic approach that included administrators and principals.   The kids weren’t even the drivers of the scheme.   Better test scores means better paychecks.   I’m all for accountability and responsibility.   In business there are many metrics that are easily measured.   In education testing should be part of the measurement, but can’t be the sole measurement.   George W. Bush and Edward (“Teddy”) Kennedy’s No Child Left Behind Act realigned the education system to a standards and goals derived system.   A dozen years after it was signed into law teachers, students and parents complain about being hamstrung by the test.   Employers are frustrated that graduates lack c...