Richard Rothstein on the challenges facing American education Richard Rothstein is a research associate of the Economic Policy Institute and a former national education columnist of The New York Times. Harvard Political Review: What is right with American education today? Richard Rothstein: Well, that’s a very difficult question to answer. There are an untold number … Read more
Affordable housing in uncertain times About 12 million Americans spend more than half of their annual income on rent or mortgage, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Affordable housing is of particular concern in urban centers, due to high population densities and costs of living. Even after the collapse of the … Read more
What 44 can learn from 35 Pundits are fond of drawing comparisons between John F. Kennedy and Barack H. Obama and, indeed, there are many parallels to be found. Like JFK, Obama captured national attention as a junior senator and ran for president without a great deal of governing experience. Like JFK, Obama campaigned as … Read more
The dangers of translating comics to the big screen Watchmen, a legend among comic books, has long been thought unfilmable, not only by its author, Alan Moore, but also by the comic’s rabid fans, who point to its intricate comics-within-comics, flashbacks, and rapid shifts in focus, all ill-suited to the big screen. After 20 years … Read more
Can six-party stakeholders return the next volley? On Feb. 13, 2007, six-party talks with North Korea reached a breakthrough. In exchange for economic and energy aid, the regime would begin dismantling its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon in a key step towards denuclearization. But a major setback occurred in December 2008, when the D.P.R.K. suddenly halted … Read more
This past Monday Justin Cosby, 21, was shot in the basement of Kirkland House, one of Harvard’s twelve residences for upperclassmen. The tragic events were a huge surprise to a campus neck deep in finals, papers, and graduation preparations. Basic facts such as why Cosby was in a Harvard residence, how he gained entrance, and … Read more
After the Senate voted 90 – 6 against financing President Obama’s plan to close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility by January 2010, the President spoke today to reaffirm his commitment to closing the facility. The speech made numerous good points, including an explicit refutation of the ridiculous notion, peddled by both Republicans and Democrats, that … Read more
The silly brouhahas that marked the weeks leading up to last year’s election have mostly been forgotten, but one might be on the verge of a comeback. Remember when the conservative punditry was screaming that Obama wants to redistribute wealth using the court system? Well, that old meme might be back, if Roger Kimball at … Read more
The Sri Lankan government is about to liquidate the last remaining holdout of the Tamil Tigers. Their stalemate of a year ago has been broken, and the Tigers are down to apparently a mere four square miles on the coast of Sri Lanka. With fifty thousand civilian hostages being used as human shields, it’s hardly … Read more
One of the constant refrains in articles about David Souter’s retirement is that replacing him with another “liberal” will not change the “basic makeup of the Court.” There are quite a few things wrong with this analysis. As the media often do, they grossly oversimplify and mischaracterize a Supreme Court justice’s philosophy. David Souter is … Read more