Browsing PBH By Articles

Fear And Loathing In America

Posted on June 9, 2012 in Articles

The Article: Fear And Loathing In America by Hunter S. Thompson.

The Text: It was just after dawn in Woody Creek, Colo., when the first plane hit the World Trade Center in New York City on Tuesday morning, and as usual I was writing about sports. But not for long. Football suddenly seemed irrelevant, compared to the scenes of destruction and utter devastation coming out of New York on TV.

Even ESPN was broadcasting war news. It was the worst disaster in the history of the United States, including Pearl Harbor, the San Francisco earthquake and probably the Battle of Antietam in 1862, when 23,000 were slaughtered in one day.

The Battle of the World Trade Center lasted about 99 minutes and cost 20,000 lives in two hours (according to unofficial estimates as of midnight Tuesday). The final numbers, including those from the supposedly impregnable Pentagon, across the Potomac River from Washington, likely will be higher. Anything that kills 300 trained firefighters in two hours is a world-class disaster.

Lebron James Only Deserves My Ire

Posted on June 8, 2012 in Articles

The Article: I Hate Lebron James by Adam Gallagher in The Speckled Axe.

The Text: “In this fall I’m going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.” With this awfully constructed sentence, LeBron James forever cemented his place in the long and tragic history of Cleveland sports. What’s more, in one fell swoop, he instantly became the most polarizing athlete on the planet, outpacing the nymphomaniac Tiger Woods.

Hailing from Cleveland, I know many people that would say something along the lines of: “It’s not that he decided to leave Cleveland. It’s the way he did it.” To be sure, “The Decision” was a supreme illustration of the profound self-absorption of the modern athlete. Why make us all listen to the serpentine, sycophantic Jim Gray vomit out canned questions for so long before announcing you’d be going to South Beach, LeBron? Ok, so “The Decision” was obnoxious, fatuous, and demonstrated LeBron’s profound lack of self-awareness.

Nonetheless, this whole the way he did it sentiment is plain bullshit. The reason that I despise LeBron is because he left Cleveland. He is a traitor. Not only do I simply hope that LeBron doesn’t win, I pine to watch spectacular failures on his part. For this, I can thank LeBron, because he has provided me with ample moments to revel in his pure, unadulterated cowardice.

What Teachers Really Want To Tell Parents

Posted on June 8, 2012 in Articles

The Article: What Teachers Really Want to Tell Parents by Ron Clark on CNN.com.

The Text: This summer, I met a principal who was recently named as the administrator of the year in her state. She was loved and adored by all, but she told me she was leaving the profession.

I screamed, “You can’t leave us,” and she quite bluntly replied, “Look, if I get an offer to lead a school system of orphans, I will be all over it, but I just can’t deal with parents anymore; they are killing us.”
Unfortunately, this sentiment seems to be becoming more and more prevalent. Today, new teachers remain in our profession an average of just 4.5 years, and many of them list “issues with parents” as one of their reasons for throwing in the towel. Word is spreading, and the more negativity teachers receive from parents, the harder it becomes to recruit the best and the brightest out of colleges.

So, what can we do to stem the tide? What do teachers really need parents to understand?

The Left Picks A Fight Only To Lose

Posted on June 7, 2012 in Articles

The Article: In Wisconsin, the Left Picked a Fight—and Lost by Molly Ball in The Atlantic.

The Text: It’s important to remember, as Democrats cope with their failure to topple Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in Tuesday’s recall, that this was a fight they chose.

Unlike the vast majority of elections, which occur on a regular schedule, the recall was a fight the left picked on purpose. They picked it because they thought they could win. And they were wrong.

It wasn’t even close. In the final tally, Walker led his Democratic opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, by 53 percent to 46 percent.

The idea behind the recall effort was to send a message: a warning to conservatives across the country that there was a line not to be crossed when it came to messing with the hard-earned gains of public worker unions. By losing, however, the consortium of unions, progressives and Democrats that worked so ardently to send Walker packing may have sent the opposite message. If Walker can survive, what’s to stop any other right-leaning governor from pushing the envelope?