Marc Comtois

The Politics of Charter Schools: Addendum

By Marc Comtois | January 12, 2005 |

Confirming my thoughts from an earlier post, Jennifer Marshall and Kirk Johnson have put up a piece over at National Review Online that explains how to interpret the often conflicting Charter School data that has recently been released. In my original post, I compared the data and found that the research (PDF) of Caroline Hoxby,…

Good (under-reported) Economic News

By Marc Comtois | January 12, 2005 | Comments Off on Good (under-reported) Economic News

Noel Sheppard at Tech Central Station has provided a roundup of good economic news. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (the Establishment Survey) . . . the preliminary data . . . show a gain of 157,000 non-farm workers for the month, bringing the total increase for 2004 to 2.2 million. This is the…

RE: Where is the Moral Outrage

By Marc Comtois | January 12, 2005 | Comments Off on RE: Where is the Moral Outrage

To continue building on previous posts (here, here, here and my post yesterday), it seems that progress is being made on one front in the battle for academic freedom. As I have previously mentioned, some Columbia students were outraged when confronted by blatantly anti-Israel rhetoric in the classroom. Thanks to the David Project and the…

RE: A Law Degree of Separation

By Marc Comtois | January 7, 2005 | Comments Off on RE: A Law Degree of Separation

In addition to the fine points brought up by Justin, I would also add that Mr. Tarantino attacked Achorn for “inuendo” and seeking to “inflame, outrage and slander.” Tarantino wrote that, “Mr. Achorn rants against abuses in government, whether they be actual, perceived or imagined. I prefer to deal with real problems in a productive…

Chafee and McKay Oppose Electoral College

By Marc Comtois | January 6, 2005 | Comments Off on Chafee and McKay Oppose Electoral College

Senator Lincoln Chafee has decided to join California Sen. Diane Feinstein in calling for the abolishment of the Electoral College. “Under the current system, the only states that get any candidate visits are the battleground states,” said Chafee. “As a Rhode Islander . . . I’d like to see the presidential candidates make an investment…

Re x 3: And Never Shall They Meet

By Marc Comtois | January 5, 2005 |

Yikes, let’s clarify this misunderstanding, quick! Upon re-reading my hasty post, I see that I sacrificed clarity for brevity. I in no way intended to imply that Justin was “complaining.” I meant that by my posting on the subject, I didn’t want “the reader” to think we were going to dwell on this all day…

Essence Magazine Makes a Stand

By Marc Comtois | January 5, 2005 |

On Monday Stanley Crouch broke the story that the popular Essence magazine was taking on the omnipresent oversexualized and slutty portrayal of black women in hip-hop music and videos. Through dialogue and discussion, they hope to raise awareness and, hopefully, “Take Back the Music.” When asked how the magazine decided to take a stand, the…

RE:And Never Shall They Meet

By Marc Comtois | January 5, 2005 | Comments Off on RE:And Never Shall They Meet

Complaining about lack of recognition too much would be unseemly. IMHO, in addition to being Counter Cultural in the Rhode Island sense, the other reasons that Providence Monthly neglected to mention my own Ocean State Blogger (low, low, traffic) and this very site (too new!) seem evident. However, there can be no other explanation than…

Health Care and “Big Pharma”: Laying the Groundwork for Debate

By Marc Comtois | December 27, 2004 | Comments Off on Health Care and “Big Pharma”: Laying the Groundwork for Debate

Froma Harrop’s latest jeremiad against the Bush Administration and pharmaceutical companies combined with the news that Michael Moore’s next target for a “documentary” is the pharmaceutical industry has finally prompted me to shake myself of my “healthcare debate” ennui. (Justin has admitted to the same malady in the past). Harrop’s recitiation of an oft-repeated theme…

Christmas During War

By Marc Comtois | December 24, 2004 |

With the current confluence of Christmas and our nation at war, I think it appropriate to mention a few noteworthy writings that deal with the topic. First is a recent column written by Idaho Senator Mike Crapo that details the Continental Army’s Christmas in 1778. Despite the sense of desparation surrounding the cause of upstart…