Billie e-mails wondering why the New York Times has to punish her by running yet another photo of John Cornyn to accompany Rachel L. Swarns' "A G.O.P. Split On Immigration Vexes a Senator." Billie, maybe it's not to punish you? There has to be a reason why your junior senator is a photo fave with the Times. For instance, maybe they, like Corny, love the Barbara Bush hairstyle and just want to help popularize it?
Swarns plays Bully Boy staring into Putin's heart today. She knows Corny, she's spent time talking to him. Maybe so but she needs to do something about her state of pertual suspended disbelief. ("He said it? I'm putting it in the article! He wouldn't say it unless it were true.") With Corny, all anyone needs to know is that as Hatch goes, so go his boy toys.
Sam Dillon's "Schools Cut Back Subjects To Push Reading and Math" tells us what most of us knew long ago, that the testing required by No Child Left Behind is resulting in teacher's teaching for the test and schools dropping science, art amd social studies. (Though Dillon doesn't tell you this, some teachers have utilized additional reading time by covering other courses.)
That's pretty much it for the paper of record. We will pose a question; however. Is it really fair for people, especially in editorial roles, to farm out pieces to their spouses? Yes, a spouse has a little bit of fame. Same spouse also writes really bad romance novels. That should have overridden any other issue. Instead, we get one of the most convulted paragragraphs that the paper has run in some time. (And one built upon and brewing with stereotypes. Well, if you're going to write for Harlequin Romance, you're probably used to repackaging.)
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the new york times
rachel l. swarns
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[Note: Post corrected to add "e" to "suspended" and two others letters I left out. Also, my comments re: using reading time to study other courses was not meant as a defense of No Child Left Behind as one person wondered. I oppose No Child Left Behind. It was to note that some teachers are using reading time to study subjects that, thanks to No Child Left Behind, would otherwise not get covered. A defense of teachers, absolutely, a defense of No Child Left Behind, never.]
