Disqus - Latest Comments for EWilson

Re: offnotesnotes - Rumor from Jeff Rosen: Sonia Sotomayor is so dumb...

Wilson — Wed, 27 May 2009 10:28:28 -0000

Ha. The "respectable intellectual center" is crying itself to sleep tonight.

Re: offnotesnotes - Mr. Justice Gore: Hendrik Hertzberg: Online Only: The New Yorker

Wilson — Thu, 07 May 2009 11:38:31 -0000

This is cool, I guess. But I thought Andrew Sullivan's bullying back in '08 for Hillary Clinton to be BHO's first pick was more interesting and a smidgen more realistic.

Re: Fluxtumblr - Ape School “My Intention” My review of the...

Wilson — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:42:05 -0000

I get the feeling that you are vexed by having to give numerical grades to albums....

Re: offnotesnotes - In the past few weeks, a major New Yorker has...

Wilson — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:24:51 -0000

Yes, but the great thing about Charlie Rose online is that you don't NEED DVR. Episodes usually go up a day or two after airing, and the archive is a gem, too. Rose is sometimes a bit of a goofy interviewer but where else can you stream a half-hour interview with David Foster Wallace from 1997?

Re: offnotesnotes - In the past few weeks, a major New Yorker has...

Wilson — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:10:50 -0000

Denby was great on Charlie Rose, who tried unsuccessfully to defend Dowd by pointing out that she's his friend and that she's smart.
http://www.charlierose.com/...

Re: offnotesnotes - Klein and Sharpton: Charter Schools Can Close the Education Gap - WSJ.com

Wilson — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:30:37 -0000

Yes. The Caroline Kennedys of the world pound their fists on school desks shouting “more accountability!” while the underlying problems, dramatic differences in wealth and a system that rewards status over accomplishment, remain. The cul-de-sac in which I usually find these conversations ending is $$. Pay teachers six figures, as Michelle Rhee is trying to do, and suddenly an eighteen-year-old graduate of public schools equals a return on a big-time investment. We require accountability from doctors not because we put our lives in their hands but because we pay them so damn much.

Re: offnotesnotes - Klein and Sharpton: Charter Schools Can Close the Education Gap - WSJ.com

Wilson — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:45:50 -0000

FYI, I don't remember how I found this blog, but I enjoy it. Great article which I wouldn't have noticed had you not pointed out, so thanks.
Feel compelled to point out though that smarts is not the same thing as achievement. By achievement, BHO means ability to work and study hard, pass tests, right? The defeatists in question are the ones who would put every excuse --- home life, diet, available health care --- in front of crappy schools. KIPPs seem to say that yes, those problems need fixing, but if you bust butt to focus on one problem, crappy schools, and eliminate it from the equation, you can take otherwise destitute people a long way. Perhaps this is obvious.
Peace