Peevish on Polls

   I admit that my distrust of surveys, or polls, has little statistical evidence to back it up — not that I’ve researched the question.  It’s just that they seem to be everywhere — especially in an election year — and they are reported in the media as hard evidence of what the larger, unpolled […]

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HBO: Girls

     This show is getting attention because it adds a fresh perspective on sex and youth today.  The four girls are shown dressed down, without makeup, and even on the toilet, but they still convince as confident, eager fledglings who enjoy sex, and get their appetites sated.  Lena Dunham, the star and creator (Tiny Furniture), wants to […]

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“College-ready” II

   Suddenly we are deluged with opinions on the value of a college education.  The floodgates have opened, and it seems like every newspaper and journal has some expert or other weighing in on how important it is for the future of the country, how much more it means for lifetime earnings, blah, etc.  One Times Op-Ed trotted out […]

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Creative Energy

  I was walking on the grimy upper level of the 179St. subway station in Jamaica, Queens today when I saw something strange.  All of the payphones had been removed from the thick pillars lining the walkway  —  that’s not the strange thing, I’d noticed it before  —  but  something hanging from the ceiling lightly brushed against […]

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N.Y.F.D.: Race-Approved By Federal Oversight

   Very quietly, the federal judge in the NYC firefighter case, Nicholas Garaufis, has approved a curious tactic by the   plaintiffs to advance its racial diversity agenda.  As reported in the N.Y.Times (12/22/11), the Vulcan Society will obtain a list of blacks who never completed their applications for the exam.  It seems that Vulcan members […]

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