Your departure is a TERRIBLE LOSS.
12
Fantastic recommendations- game changing recommendations!!
Puuhhleeaze get them in front of the people who can make them happen,
oh, yeah you just did!!
Puuhhleeaze get them in front of the people who can make them happen,
oh, yeah you just did!!
11
You made us think, for which we are grateful......
8
Nocera has been in many ways the best Times op-ed writer: clear, logical, well-researched, persuasive and provocative. Why move him? This is a MISTAKE.
13
we'll miss you Joe!!!
7
All things considered by Joe Nocera....is really refreshing....Le,ts have a
PBS debate on Changing the US Constitution regarding owning guns.
Let;s also have a PBS Debate on term limits for The US Supreme Court.
Let's move ahead...WITHOUT the SPIN of the commercial media provoking
all the stories that are revolting ...horrifying...and grow up about the news..!!
PBS debate on Changing the US Constitution regarding owning guns.
Let;s also have a PBS Debate on term limits for The US Supreme Court.
Let's move ahead...WITHOUT the SPIN of the commercial media provoking
all the stories that are revolting ...horrifying...and grow up about the news..!!
5
A new assignment? No more Nocera-fix in Times Opinion? Who will speak truth to the Wobblies of both left and right who adopt a “cause” for no other purpose than they have time on their hands?
Guns. Joe’s long-running gun-death column will be remembered. It didn’t succeed at shaming gun fanciers into less protective behavior but it made very evident the absence of a companion column that identified how history might have changed beneficially if certain individuals actually HAD been the victims of gun violence.
And education. I can think of lots of ways of improving it, but finally getting a bang for the philanthropist buck by taking creativity out of educational giving is useful – fund plant rather than district bureaucracies and teachers unions, a la Zuckerberg, and at least you wind up with valuable piles of brick for your money.
It’s interesting to me that our political culture NEEDED to “heal” just as U.S. Supreme Court decisions started favoring the role of the Court as referee and not legislator. But I could live with 18-year terms, so long as replacements are guaranteed to be as entertaining as Scalia and Ginsberg.
And of COURSE we don’t want you to vote. But that’s a desire that affects low-information voters of BOTH right and left and it’s at least more honest than the left’s desire to leverage the limited in the name of securing governance objectives they apparently can’t secure any other way.
America has enough sports page pundits. Say it ain’t so, Joe.
Guns. Joe’s long-running gun-death column will be remembered. It didn’t succeed at shaming gun fanciers into less protective behavior but it made very evident the absence of a companion column that identified how history might have changed beneficially if certain individuals actually HAD been the victims of gun violence.
And education. I can think of lots of ways of improving it, but finally getting a bang for the philanthropist buck by taking creativity out of educational giving is useful – fund plant rather than district bureaucracies and teachers unions, a la Zuckerberg, and at least you wind up with valuable piles of brick for your money.
It’s interesting to me that our political culture NEEDED to “heal” just as U.S. Supreme Court decisions started favoring the role of the Court as referee and not legislator. But I could live with 18-year terms, so long as replacements are guaranteed to be as entertaining as Scalia and Ginsberg.
And of COURSE we don’t want you to vote. But that’s a desire that affects low-information voters of BOTH right and left and it’s at least more honest than the left’s desire to leverage the limited in the name of securing governance objectives they apparently can’t secure any other way.
America has enough sports page pundits. Say it ain’t so, Joe.
8
I suspect sports will be even more stressful. You'll be verging on the religious as well as political...
1
Thanks, Joe and best of luck in the sports arena. Anything you can do to keep "deflategate" alive will make this Buffalo NY native now based in Boston very happy.
Wow! What a downer! Your columns were insightful, effective, and always worth a read. It's hard to see how and why you would give up an Op-Ed column in the NYT: the best "Bully Pulpit" in the Western Hemisphere.
Thanks and good luck to you!
Thanks and good luck to you!
3
Sorry to see you go ... to Sports? Well I guess I'll have to start reading the Sports Section. I'd like to toss out a suggestion for reforming the NRA - let's all join. NRA has about 5 million members and it only costs $25/yr. If 5+ million reform minded folks join, they would have the power to push the organization to advocate for sensible gun controls. If Bloomberg wanted to fund it, the cost is only $125 million, pocket change for Bloomie. Sure the crazies would bail out and start a new organization but we could all just join that new organization ad infinitum. Just a thought.
10
You have been my favorite NYT columnist. You show boyish enthusiasm for new ideas and don't care who you offend, right or left. Next time we are at our local coffee place and my wife is vaping, we will give a toast to you. Thanks for supporting personal freedom and opposing corruption. I will miss your work.
2
All the best with your new gig Joe. You are right about e-cigarettes. I wish we had an advocate for them like you in the Australian press. You are right that elections should not be held on a Tuesday. Move them to Saturday and the much fewer people for whom that is not a good day to cast a vote can do so in the week before hand perhaps?
Have you ever heard black opera singers of today sing Porgy and Bess? They might just as well as be white. It’s not the time to use the telephone voice.
How fabulous that you'll be writing on the sports pages. The spirit and substance of Grantland will live on after all--- in your new column.
2
Oh no! You're the best columnist here, by far. And .. the sports page?! Hopefully it was a case of you saying "I retire" and the paper saying "Um, uh .. we'll give you any assignment you want" and you thought it'd be fun to have prime seats at any game anywhere while working less.
5
Well done. The Times should re print Nocera's columns re Fannie Mae.
3
Joe:
You have been one of the reasons for my subscription. Please tell us you will at least chime in here once and a while, when the spirit (and a serious issue) moves you. Maybe both you and Frank Rich could (each) do a column once a month? Thanks for all the thought and shoe leather you've put on these pages.
You have been one of the reasons for my subscription. Please tell us you will at least chime in here once and a while, when the spirit (and a serious issue) moves you. Maybe both you and Frank Rich could (each) do a column once a month? Thanks for all the thought and shoe leather you've put on these pages.
7
Good luck with your new assignment; my brother-in-law is a sports reporter and man, does he have some good stories! Enjoy!
More seriously, I would like to thank and commend you for the reporting you did on gun deaths. Together with a very hard-working colleague, you chronicled gun-related fatalities in the USA for about one year. It was exhausting, absurd, tragic and shocking. I have never seen anything like it. I thought it was Pulitzer-worthy reporting.
Once again, thank you and good luck!
More seriously, I would like to thank and commend you for the reporting you did on gun deaths. Together with a very hard-working colleague, you chronicled gun-related fatalities in the USA for about one year. It was exhausting, absurd, tragic and shocking. I have never seen anything like it. I thought it was Pulitzer-worthy reporting.
Once again, thank you and good luck!
1
Instead of voting on the weekend, just send me my ballot in the mail and I'll vote when I want by Tuesday's election day. It works well in Oregon (we also are automatically registered to vote through the DMV).
Thanks Joe, you will be missed!
Thanks Joe, you will be missed!
I was hoping it was David Brooks who was being put out to pasture, but if what you want people to remember of your deep thoughts and concerns is why a particular opera isn't being performed, then it's definitely time to go.
Wadda ya mean "...from the sports page." I so enjoy your writing direct from here. I like the variety of subjects, your take on the issues, and your experience.
Well, if I have to wade through the news about sports to read your column I will. But I'd prefer you right here. Thank you for your writing. I really do enjoy and learn from your views.
Well, if I have to wade through the news about sports to read your column I will. But I'd prefer you right here. Thank you for your writing. I really do enjoy and learn from your views.
Well, I'll read you in another section.
Some suggested Sports topics for you to take up:
Why is the proprtion of recruited athletes so high in the Ivy League. How many of them receive grants-in-aid, potentially an evasion of the league rule "prohibiting" athletic scholarships.
More about teams (especially in the NoFunLeague) extorting public funding of private venues. Especially pungent is Walmart Heiress-in-law Stan Kroenke leveraging St. Louis to replace a 20 year old dome by threatening to buy up land and move (back) to LA.
Some suggested Sports topics for you to take up:
Why is the proprtion of recruited athletes so high in the Ivy League. How many of them receive grants-in-aid, potentially an evasion of the league rule "prohibiting" athletic scholarships.
More about teams (especially in the NoFunLeague) extorting public funding of private venues. Especially pungent is Walmart Heiress-in-law Stan Kroenke leveraging St. Louis to replace a 20 year old dome by threatening to buy up land and move (back) to LA.
1
Thank you Joe. I have enjoyed your columns over the years. Good luck in your new assignment. I am such a fan that I will follow you across to the Sports section. By the way, is there anything that you cant't do.
Really appreciated your thoughts and opinions, Joe... you will be great wherever you end up providing your thoughtful commentary.. Peace
Joe, I'll miss your columns (and look forward to reading you in Sports). It won't be the same. In the OpEds you had such a broad perspective and the Sports section will necessarily redefine the scope of your work. I'm sure, however, that you will continue to have opinions, and that I will read them. Further, I will agree with most and, periodically, think that you are crazy. (That's what opinions are about, right?)
Thank you!
Thank you!
So Mr. Nocera is leaving Op-Ed for sports. Well, I rarely read the sports pages, but maybe I will now from time to time. I found Joe's columns on the NCAA extremely enlightening. But I also recall early in his Op-Ed tenure he wrote a column mourning the loss of Robert Bork to the supreme court. It was atrocious in its lack of understanding of who that particular legal crazyman really was, legally speaking anyway. All in all, Joe's was a fun generally interesting voice on the pages and I wish him the best of luck in the new gig.
Excellent ideas. I truly hope Bloomberg follows your suggestion. Best of luck with your new assignment.
Oh dear you're leaving us for the sports page? Noooooooo. :-( Your approach to commentary here in the Opinion Pages is always spot on and your column has been among those that I seek out most regularly.
Sports page??? What a shame....
(Can you guys gives this a second thought please?)
Sports page??? What a shame....
(Can you guys gives this a second thought please?)
I hope this move from Op-ed to Sports is a request you've made, Mr. Nocera. For me, your best role is right where you are, commenting on national affairs, business and finance, and, yes, sports, in the form of your important work exposing the hypocrisy of big-time college football and men's basketball. In any event, well done to you. If anyone needs to be re-assigned out of Op-Ed, it is Mr Douthat, who should be parked in the On Religion section where he can wage his spiritual "civil war" in a more appropriate venue.
Going to the sports page ???
The NFL has not produced any realistic solutions to deal with the serious issue and scourge of concussions among football players, including active and retired players of all ages, whether they are professional, college or high school players.
Beware NFL, Joe Nocera is coming !!!
Joe: Give them hell !!!
The NFL has not produced any realistic solutions to deal with the serious issue and scourge of concussions among football players, including active and retired players of all ages, whether they are professional, college or high school players.
Beware NFL, Joe Nocera is coming !!!
Joe: Give them hell !!!
1
It's been a pleasure reading your Opinion pieces ... when I get my daily NYTs highlights page email I immediately go to he Op Ed section to see who is writing that day .. some I click to read and some , quite frankly , I never read because of their obvious bias and agendas .. you , I always clicked and read along with Friedman and a handful of others ... I hope you're a sports guy and making this move was your decision because you are damn good at this and if you're just being moved it's a travesty .. good luck going forward ! I'll checkout your new pieces ..
Thank you Joe Nocera for your thoughtful columns. I enjoyed your swan song-- great ideas! On voting-- love the way Coloradoans are voting now. We receive our ballots by mail, can fill them out and drop them in secure drop boxes in the community or mail them. Citizens can also vote on election day at a polling place in the community. Long lines at polling places are eliminated; more people vote. BTW Colorado followed Oregon's lead. It's disappointing that more states have not adopted these changes.
3
Thabk you so much for all of your interesting columns and best wishes in the world of sports.
2
your respected sensible opinion will be missed.
2
Thank you Joe!! I can't wait to see you in the sports section!
2
Gonna miss your editorials, Joe, but happy to follow you over to sports.
One thing about the school solution from your future daughter-in-law:
Here in Kansas City MO (home of the world-champion Royals!), over a billion dollars has been spent to fix the school district, which is mostly urban and black. A lot of money has been poured into state-of-the-art schools. Many years have passed, and it hasn't helped. The schools and the district are still failing miserably.
One thing about the school solution from your future daughter-in-law:
Here in Kansas City MO (home of the world-champion Royals!), over a billion dollars has been spent to fix the school district, which is mostly urban and black. A lot of money has been poured into state-of-the-art schools. Many years have passed, and it hasn't helped. The schools and the district are still failing miserably.
2
here is some timely research out from Yale on e-cigarettes
http://medicine.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=11459
http://medicine.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=11459
2
Election day could be a national holiday, and kept on Tuesday so it didn't create a super weekend, with its own calls to be absent.
3
The sports page?
An excellent mind is a really terrible thing to waste.
(No offense intended, sports writers. Some of you are no doubt really sharp, too.)
An excellent mind is a really terrible thing to waste.
(No offense intended, sports writers. Some of you are no doubt really sharp, too.)
2
Say it aint so, Joe!
Oh, well, I'll find you on the sports pages, hopefully analyzing and railing against some of the the sports world's hidden -- and not so hidden -- seamier aspects.
As to our schools: what we need is for China to land someone on Mars or, at least, the moon. The last time we materially and respectfully supported education in this country was after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik. I had fervently hoped that before it collapsed, it would send someone to Mars to get us moving again on education, to stop living off the fruits of past efforts, to stop eating our intellectual and civic seed corn.
As to gun control: the idea that Bloomberg buy a gun company is very interesting. I don't know if it would have a significant effect, but that is precisely what we need in so many areas: a new way to think of solutions to problems, solutions that are not simply and uselessly dependent on demonizing the "opposition."
Oh, well, I'll find you on the sports pages, hopefully analyzing and railing against some of the the sports world's hidden -- and not so hidden -- seamier aspects.
As to our schools: what we need is for China to land someone on Mars or, at least, the moon. The last time we materially and respectfully supported education in this country was after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik. I had fervently hoped that before it collapsed, it would send someone to Mars to get us moving again on education, to stop living off the fruits of past efforts, to stop eating our intellectual and civic seed corn.
As to gun control: the idea that Bloomberg buy a gun company is very interesting. I don't know if it would have a significant effect, but that is precisely what we need in so many areas: a new way to think of solutions to problems, solutions that are not simply and uselessly dependent on demonizing the "opposition."
10
Long before the Metropolitan Opera stages Porgy and Bess as an opera, there will be peace in the middle East, pigs will fly of their own accord and North Korea will petition the U.S. to become our 51st state. But hope springs eternal, I suppose.
In any event, best wishes with your new assignment on the sports pages. Your observations on general American society will be missed, but I look forward to reading what you have to say about our sports scene.
In any event, best wishes with your new assignment on the sports pages. Your observations on general American society will be missed, but I look forward to reading what you have to say about our sports scene.
2
Mr. Nocera, Some wonderful "out of the box" ideas. I particularly like the Bloomberg gun company purchase idea. There is no reason, however, that Bloomberg is the only avenue. I'm sure some enterprising venture capitalist can raise money to do it. I'm certain there are many americans, myself included, who would be willing to invest in such a project. The second great idea, I like is the SCOTUS term limits though the chances of that are nil given a constitutional change would be needed. Lastly, I like the public school idea. Charter schools are not a viable solution to what's wrong with public schools. Indeed, they exacerbate the problem by removing promising students and further isolating the poor and underprivileged.
Good luck on your new endeavor, whatever it is.
Good luck on your new endeavor, whatever it is.
3
Thanks, Joe! I've always enjoyed the column and you will be difficult to replace!
4
Sorry to lose you from the Opt page. I didn't always agree with your opinion but liked reading your POV. Hope you enjoy your next assignment.
4
To use a famous sports quote that has made its way into our lexicon, "Say it ain't so, Joe!" I thank you for your always thoughtful musings. I've enjoyed reading your opinions, though I've not always agreed with them, but then no one's perfect, neither you nor I. I will miss your insights and your thoughts, but I look forward to "seeing" you in the sports pages.
5
I will continue to read you, Joe Nocera, wherever you're published. Hat's off to you for a column well done.
7
Always a great read, always a new twist, always thoughtful. Joe, you'll be missed on these pages.
6
Thank you.
1
Sport? This has got to be a joke. Why waste a serious writer on such nonsense? I mean, sports writers, even on The New York Times, refer to the baseball championships as the World Series. What other countries competed? None as far as I know. Call them what they are: the U.S. Series. My condolences, Joe.
13
They wasted Michael Powell on sports a year ago, not to mention Homer before him.
Good column, and good luck in the sports section. But voting on Tuesdays is bad? I don't think so. I have a good job, which means I have weekends off. It's a hassle for me, but I still manage to get to the polling place and cast my vote on a Tuesday.
The people who have to work weekends are for the most part less well off than those of us who have weekends off. Why should we punish them by holding election day on the weekend? If you're stuck working weekends, you don't need any more hassles from the government.
The people who have to work weekends are for the most part less well off than those of us who have weekends off. Why should we punish them by holding election day on the weekend? If you're stuck working weekends, you don't need any more hassles from the government.
2
I've enjoyed your columns. Thanks.
8
As always, well conceived and thoughtful commentary. Will miss your column but am excited to hear that your insights will soon expand to the sporting world. I'm sure the NCAA can't wait!
32
I love the idea of someone like Bloomberg buying a gun manufacturer--could test a lot of interesting ideas with something like this. I'm not sure the similar idea works for education infrastructure--you may recall the nearly billion dollar boondoggle the LA school district wasted on building just 2 high schools. 5 years later, graduation rates are still abysmal (and not improving).
29
I appreciated Nocera’s columns on gun control, especially. But he is a Business Page columnist, self labeled financial wonk, and it was noticeable he got the fewest number of reader comments of any columnist, consistently.
He wasn’t too interested to tackle the takeover of our politics by the financial industry and corporate big money, especially since Citizens United and too big to fail banks. On how our elections are directed by billionaire donor, with their candidate choices making breaking news. More on the negative effects of monopolies and lobbyists would have been welcome.
We did get columns on sports issues and some interesting CEOs on various topics. Not too much on under funding of govt agencies, lack of business regulations and our extreme economic inequality compared to other advanced nations.
For 2016 especially, we need a regular columnist to comment and analyze for the interests of the vast majority, who live on salaries, not investments. Who have seen decades of stagnant pay as CEO compensation has soared, who are in danger of a low living standard retirement without pension, and the millions who still can’t afford basic health insurance. And whose preferences are ignored by lawmakers in favor of elite interests, as studies of our laws show.
This is the big issue of our time and there’s no regular columnist focused on it from the standpoint of how millions of daily lives are affected.
He wasn’t too interested to tackle the takeover of our politics by the financial industry and corporate big money, especially since Citizens United and too big to fail banks. On how our elections are directed by billionaire donor, with their candidate choices making breaking news. More on the negative effects of monopolies and lobbyists would have been welcome.
We did get columns on sports issues and some interesting CEOs on various topics. Not too much on under funding of govt agencies, lack of business regulations and our extreme economic inequality compared to other advanced nations.
For 2016 especially, we need a regular columnist to comment and analyze for the interests of the vast majority, who live on salaries, not investments. Who have seen decades of stagnant pay as CEO compensation has soared, who are in danger of a low living standard retirement without pension, and the millions who still can’t afford basic health insurance. And whose preferences are ignored by lawmakers in favor of elite interests, as studies of our laws show.
This is the big issue of our time and there’s no regular columnist focused on it from the standpoint of how millions of daily lives are affected.
Well Joe, most things in life can be likened to sports. The presidential campaign, pro-choice vs. pro-life, the dogfights in Congress, you get my point. Sports is a very broad area of human society. Transform our idea of "sports" into something broader and it'll seem like you never even left the Op-Ed section. The article below should give you some food for thought... baseball displayed on an electoral map...
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/23/upshot/24-upshot-baseball....
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/23/upshot/24-upshot-baseball....
Excellent! Mr. Bloomberg, step in an make some serious changes!
It'll be a few years, but when you're in the Sports section you can take the lead on covering the wonderfully effective marriage between the mighty NFL and the country's newly instituted Sunday voting effort.
These are all good common sense ideas we should do immediately. But, as Will Rogers famously noted, "common sense isn't all that common these days."
Really sorry to see you go from the Op Ed World. I might just mention that a young man by the same name as yourself form the City Of Youngstown Ohio, was a Hard Running Full Back at the University of Iowa years ago. I believe it was a Coach at Iowa at the time know as a True Gentleman, - Forrest Evashevski. (he also coached a very poor kid from Gary Indiana, - another Steel Town like Youngstown, - he was a small Individual who went on to play Professsional Foot ball as a Defensive linesman for the Detroit Lions for years, but was once suspended for 1 year for Gambling, - the same year when Paul Horning, the Golden Boy was suspended. As a Sportswriter I am sure you know I am referring to Alex Karras.
As a 2nd generation Italian/American I was happy to see that you named your Son Amato!
As a 2nd generation Italian/American I was happy to see that you named your Son Amato!
Sad to see you go, Joe. I enjoyed reading your columns. Will be interesting to see what the Editorial Page puts in your place. While we're at it, you might get them to consider getting rid of Ross, Maureen, and David Brooks. Would be nice to open up the page of the world's greatest paper to some voices who truly deserve the space.
Bloomberg and Sorros have been failures with their anti gun agenda because it is an astro turf movement. Supporters of gun rights number in the millions. For everyone of the NRA's 5 million members there are 3 or 4 other family members who also support gun rights. Without Bloomberg, Sorros, Hollywood airheads' billions and the support of the media on the coasts there would be no anti gun movement. The average person knows that gun laws only restrict the law abiding and that not one gun law has ever been proven to work. In the past Smith and Wesson and Colt tried cooperating with the gun haters and both nearly went bankrupt when people started boycotting them.
Jeff, I'll disagree with only one thing you said. The NRA is made up of approximately 2 % of the adult population. I'd suggest for every NRA member there are dozens of people who agree with most, not all, but most of their positions. I know dozens of people who own guns and few of them belong to the NRA. It's this "tacit" support that confronts people like Bloomberg, not just the NRA.
Yet another idea from left field. If Bloomberg bought S&W that would be meaningless. There are numerous large companies in the world, Sig Sauer, Glock, Colt, Ruger, to name but a few. And these companies manufacture the same kind of guns as S&W, and many would say of better quality. If S&W went out of business tomorrow it would have zero impact on guns. If they converted to "smart guns" few would buy them. Good luck Joe, I'll miss ideas such as this.
Joe: Over the years, I've enjoyed your thought provoking columns; making business issues comprehensible, your advocacy for the underdog, your level headed discussion of social issues and your columns on the NCAA. I look forward to reading your sports columns. Thanks,
1
Say it isn't so Joe! Who else could have come up with the brilliant idea of Bloomberg buying a gun company? Your financial insight and thoughtful commentary will be sadly missed. I may just have to force myself to read the sports page.
1
I'm sorry to see you move to the sports page. I've enjoyed your thought-provoking columns that with greater frequency than usual go against my gut thinking. I appreciate that, as intuition is not always so hot.
Alas, I am unlikely to follow you to the sports page. I just don't care enough about sports to go there. Reading about sports is like reading about the weather: Mostly daily trivia.
Alas, I am unlikely to follow you to the sports page. I just don't care enough about sports to go there. Reading about sports is like reading about the weather: Mostly daily trivia.
2
Thanks for one, last memorable column. We'll miss your writing in the Op-Ed pages, and I hope someone with a similar devotion to the truth, understanding, and justice takes your place.
4
I've very much enjoyed your columns. You're opinions were informative backed by methodical yet insightful reasoning. You are good at taking a lot of information and making sense of it. Alas I have sports blindness (my attention wanders during most sports most of the time). Your opinions on free ranging topics will be missed.
2
Hey Joe, please don't go. Sports seems like a waste for someone with your skills. Not that you wouldn't be great at that too. Thanks for your inspiring opinions.
4
Joe, thanks for your service of sharing your opinions (not sarcastic).
I like Ornstein's Supreme Court prescription, and I agree that the potential length of appointments to the Court make it too much of a high stakes enterprise. Another solution would simply be to limit justices' terms to ten years, giving a justice time to grow into the position and make his/her mark, but is not so long as to make the appointment absolutely pivotal.
On e-cigarettes: True - they won't kill you with tar, and therefore *could* be safer than normal cigs. However, I'll never let my son smoke them...they are composed of unknown chemicals made in China. Do I need to spell it out? Chinese manufactures put toxic melamine in baby formula, anti-freeze in toothpaste. Do you trust them with e-cigs? If you do, you ought to have your head examined.
I like Ornstein's Supreme Court prescription, and I agree that the potential length of appointments to the Court make it too much of a high stakes enterprise. Another solution would simply be to limit justices' terms to ten years, giving a justice time to grow into the position and make his/her mark, but is not so long as to make the appointment absolutely pivotal.
On e-cigarettes: True - they won't kill you with tar, and therefore *could* be safer than normal cigs. However, I'll never let my son smoke them...they are composed of unknown chemicals made in China. Do I need to spell it out? Chinese manufactures put toxic melamine in baby formula, anti-freeze in toothpaste. Do you trust them with e-cigs? If you do, you ought to have your head examined.
2
1) The problem with failing schools is not the building. As Diane Ravitch, the historian of education, argues, schools "fail" because their students live in poverty.
2) You named your son Amato?
2) You named your son Amato?
4
it means "loved" in Italian, not a bad choice!!
Dear Joe.... really going to miss you here-- another strong reasonable, considerate person. Regarding "Porgy and Bess," alas, the characters are stereotypical caricatures, and are less than ennobling for modern audiences--
2
The Supreme Court term limit suggestion is singularly brilliant!
6
You mention several outstanding ideas here. I particularly like the one about the Supreme Court - since that is an idea that I myself have had for a long time. I would carry it one step further, however - I would set the title of "Chief justice" automatically on the senior most justice. So every President gets to nominate 2 justices (then 2 more if re-elected), who go on to serve for up to, but no more than, 16 years after that President leaves office. And each Chief Justice serves for 2 years, and only after having 16 years of experience with how the Court operates. The result would be a Court that "smooths out" the edges of partisan politics, slowing down the pace of change (the Conservative ideal) while still allowing the citizenry to democratically move forward into the future (the Liberal ideal). Win-win, right?
Of course, getting this change would require passing a Constitutional amendment, which is probably impossible in the current environment of extreme partisan division. But one can dream.
Of course, getting this change would require passing a Constitutional amendment, which is probably impossible in the current environment of extreme partisan division. But one can dream.
I saw the Met's Porgy (and one other production at City Center). It's one of the most underappreciated opera in the repertoire, and the crowning glory, the ultimate confirmation, of Gershwin's brilliance as a composer.
Sadly, though, the Met is very Eurocentric because its audience and patrons are largely Eurocentric about opera, and its star singers are specialists in the grand European tradition. It takes a lot of people to fill that house, and every ticket counts. Also, Porgy has gone through its share of controversy--many in the black community denounced it for what are described as demeaning characters, created by Jewish Americans (and a patrician Southerner). However, since the demise of the City Opera, it's way past time for the Met to take on a wider role....and risk educating the public about great operas that aren't composed across the pond. The new production of Othello without blackface would be beautifully complemented by another Porgy. Offer more discounts to get minority audiences in, and celebrate their (and all Americans') artistic heritage.
Sadly, though, the Met is very Eurocentric because its audience and patrons are largely Eurocentric about opera, and its star singers are specialists in the grand European tradition. It takes a lot of people to fill that house, and every ticket counts. Also, Porgy has gone through its share of controversy--many in the black community denounced it for what are described as demeaning characters, created by Jewish Americans (and a patrician Southerner). However, since the demise of the City Opera, it's way past time for the Met to take on a wider role....and risk educating the public about great operas that aren't composed across the pond. The new production of Othello without blackface would be beautifully complemented by another Porgy. Offer more discounts to get minority audiences in, and celebrate their (and all Americans') artistic heritage.
1
Sadly, Nocera is one of the few regular Times op-ed columnist who doesn't offer us regurgitated pablum on a regular basis. I think most would benefit from a change of scenery-Krugman to food, Blow to Modern Love, and Maureen would be a great TV critic.
1
On gun violence, most of the discussions on the need to improve gun control are a debate on the margins. By that I mean that any new legislation for strengthening gun controls requiring, for example, to improve background checks, will affect only new purchases of guns. But any such new legislation will leave the remainder, all of the guns already owned, unaffected. It is as if existing gun owners have been grandfathered by old laws. This is not a solution.
The reality is that there are an estimated 310 million guns in a population of about 320 million. That amounts to almost one gun per person. But the issue is that there are an estimated 44 million gun owners in the US amounting to about seven guns per gun owner. With 14% of the total population owing guns, the high incidence of deaths by firearms in the US is a “Tyranny of the Minority” by gun owners on innocents. The key issue here is the proliferation of guns and the easy access to guns.
Tinkering on the margins has not and never will work to get rid of this social cancer. There is only one solution:
America: Demand Congress to repeal the Second Amendment.
While the supporters of the Second Amendment are stronger and more powerful than the supporters of the First Amendment who speak on their rights for the safety and security of persons, until this happens, there will continue to be broken and destroyed families.
The new law to repeal the Second Amendment should be called: “The Innocents’ Law.”
Thank you.
The reality is that there are an estimated 310 million guns in a population of about 320 million. That amounts to almost one gun per person. But the issue is that there are an estimated 44 million gun owners in the US amounting to about seven guns per gun owner. With 14% of the total population owing guns, the high incidence of deaths by firearms in the US is a “Tyranny of the Minority” by gun owners on innocents. The key issue here is the proliferation of guns and the easy access to guns.
Tinkering on the margins has not and never will work to get rid of this social cancer. There is only one solution:
America: Demand Congress to repeal the Second Amendment.
While the supporters of the Second Amendment are stronger and more powerful than the supporters of the First Amendment who speak on their rights for the safety and security of persons, until this happens, there will continue to be broken and destroyed families.
The new law to repeal the Second Amendment should be called: “The Innocents’ Law.”
Thank you.
6
On a Sunday in rural France, I watched many people going enthusiastically to vote in a national legislative election. I learned that virtually everyone in that district voted that day. There are certainly a good number of Americans who would not vote no matter what, but why penalize those who do vote by making it difficult for them to do so? I think that Chris Rock has a point.
9
I attended the old Stuyvesant High SChool, which was a building straight out of Dickens. That was in the mid 1960s.
I did not find science faculty as consistently brilliant as those at Stuyvesant until I began medical school, in the late 1970s.
In my experience, the building has far less to to with education than the people inside it- all the people inside it.
I did not find science faculty as consistently brilliant as those at Stuyvesant until I began medical school, in the late 1970s.
In my experience, the building has far less to to with education than the people inside it- all the people inside it.
3
I'm not sure I agree regarding school buildings. In my town we have many new or improved buildings, but they haven't made a bit of difference in the miserable performance of teachers or students.
4
Thank you for your many mind-opening columns, Mr. Nocera. Your knowledge will be missed on these opinion pages. I hope someone of equal good conscience and social understanding will take your place. Good luck in sports!
6
I haven't read all the comments, so I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but Louisiana votes on Saturdays (except for presidential elections), and I wouldn't say that Louisiana is the poster child for good governance. Arizona votes largely by mail, and ditto.
5
Brilliant, but we expect nothing less. Do it Mike. Buy the gun companies. What could be simpler? Supreme Court term limits...again, how simple. Voting should be a three or four day undertaking but at the very least, okay, on a weekend. You should be able to vote electronically, like going to an ATM machine, putting in your SSN and some pin and lickety split...vote. If the banks have figured out how to protect your bank accounts (I use the term protect very loosely), why can't we figure out how to vote at multiple locations such as ATMs, why do we all have to trot down to public schools. Porky and Bess. If it is so important to Joe, do it Peter. I have no comment re: e-cigs. Wonderful column. I too, will now have to read the sports section...ugh.
4
What the heck, Nocera on the Sports Page? One of the smartest and most skeptical guys around who writes so knowledgeably about on the topics of finance, Wall Street and too-big-to-fail won't be speaking any more from the Op-Ed pages of the New York Times?
What's next, Gretchen Morganson moved to Fashions of the Times?
What's next, Gretchen Morganson moved to Fashions of the Times?
13
Joe, so very grateful for your advocacy about reforming the NCAA. The sheer exploitation of so-called student athletes and big money college sports programs shocks the conscience. Everyone gets paid big bucks except the poor kids that create all the value. How very un-American.
56
Unamerican? Is this not pretty much the Amazon model? And, how could that be unamerican?
Nocera: "I’ve enjoyed writing this column and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it."
Thanks, Joe Nocera; I have enjoyed reading your columns and have agreed with most of your op-ed columns, including this one.
Always thought the best writing in the majority of newspapers I read can be found on the sports page. That was also the opinion of a very bright Catholic priest friend of mine, someone who was not a "jock" but enjoyed good writing.
Best of luck to you in your new venue. Again, thanks for the op-ed columns.
Thanks, Joe Nocera; I have enjoyed reading your columns and have agreed with most of your op-ed columns, including this one.
Always thought the best writing in the majority of newspapers I read can be found on the sports page. That was also the opinion of a very bright Catholic priest friend of mine, someone who was not a "jock" but enjoyed good writing.
Best of luck to you in your new venue. Again, thanks for the op-ed columns.
2
This marks the end of an era. Thank you for shedding light on all of the topics that you have. I have not agreed with you on all of them but your writing has been well thought out and worth reading even (especially) when I haven't agreed with you. Enjoy your new assignment.
3
Mr. Nocera,
You have been a voice of reason exploring issues of our day and I am so sorry to see you go! Your opinion columns, and business columns before, have been thought-provoking and unique in perspective - always great to read. Thank you!
You have been a voice of reason exploring issues of our day and I am so sorry to see you go! Your opinion columns, and business columns before, have been thought-provoking and unique in perspective - always great to read. Thank you!
3
will miss you Joe. all the best
3
“Why don’t they spend their money on infrastructure instead?”- With due respect to Ms McAvoy, this is a terrible idea. Funding should go to more and better trained staff, after school programs, and computers and other resources. A new "state of the art" building is just a feel-good waste of money.
Max, a school that makes the community proud doesn't have to be "state of the art." It has to be in good repair. Everything must work -- or fixed promptly. Floors should be regularly swept. Grounds should be neat and inviting. I don't know what exactly Paula McEvoy means by "infrastructure," but she does refer to the message sent by a "broken-down school." Hence I am concluding that she recognizes the fact that schools must be pleasant places to be.
3
Whoops. She does talk about state of the art schools -- and new ones. My apologies, Mark.
No one's irreplaceable, but you will be hard to replace. I hope the sports gig doesn't mean an unbalanced focus on the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Rangers, Giants, and Jets. After all, the NYT is a national paper. I have a feeling you will deal with all of that just fine. Good luck.
Since most politicians treat policy-making as sport, I suspect there will be some intersections there for you to write about.... Best of luck on the new assignment!
1
I will miss your column. I do not regularly read the sports column, but now may have to. Great that you will still be around to share some type of an opinion.
1
His new assignment sounds fantastic! Best of luck Joe!
12
I have always profited from your pieces and look foward to the new sports rubric. Please continue to go after the NCAA (and Big Time College Sports, Inc in general ) and the NFL, both of which I think should face credible charges of RICO violations.
2
I hope that Michael Bloomberg reads this column. The idea of actually buying a gun company, or a few of them, never occurred to me as a possibility for a well-heeled advocate for sensible gun control in a nation obsessed with shooting other human beings.
Perhaps it has never occurred to Mr. Bloomberg either. He wouldn't need to worry about NRA sanction for manufacturing and marketing smart guns, for example, because why should he care what the NRA thinks?
So, please, Mr. Bloomberg, if you decline to run for the presidency, consider buying up some gun manufacturers. Throw in a few ammo-makers and rogue dealers into the bargain.
Thank you, Mr. Nocera for your contribution to intelligent dialogue in these pages. I will miss you, just I missed your common sense mentee, Jennifer Mascia, several months ago.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
Perhaps it has never occurred to Mr. Bloomberg either. He wouldn't need to worry about NRA sanction for manufacturing and marketing smart guns, for example, because why should he care what the NRA thinks?
So, please, Mr. Bloomberg, if you decline to run for the presidency, consider buying up some gun manufacturers. Throw in a few ammo-makers and rogue dealers into the bargain.
Thank you, Mr. Nocera for your contribution to intelligent dialogue in these pages. I will miss you, just I missed your common sense mentee, Jennifer Mascia, several months ago.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
83
Here's a corollary idea: why not subsidize membership to the NRA! Imagine millions of gun control advocates showing up at the national convention?
Tuesday voting was meant to avoid the Sunday pulpit influence, not farming practice.
1
Dear Joe:
Whose idea was it to switch you to the sports page--yours or your bosses? If it was your idea, then I'm mad at you for depriving us of your incisive and relentless pursuit of the truth. If it was a corporate decision from the New York Times, then shame on the New York Times.
Either way, the Op-Ed page will never be as interesting without you.
Whose idea was it to switch you to the sports page--yours or your bosses? If it was your idea, then I'm mad at you for depriving us of your incisive and relentless pursuit of the truth. If it was a corporate decision from the New York Times, then shame on the New York Times.
Either way, the Op-Ed page will never be as interesting without you.
We can't afford to lose op ed columnists like you to the sports page. I'm not happy.
The sports page? More on Division One NCAA football and men's basketball, I hope. You're one of the few (Zirin, Branch) who has it figured out. And writes about it.
2
Thanks, Joe. I don't always agree with you, which is exactly as it should be. You never disappoint me by pandering to any particular audience or sugar-coating your opinions, just so that I'll keep reading. Good for you. A job well done. Good fortune to you in your new endeavor.
Since I don't give a darn about sports, never watch it, never read about it, I'll miss Mr. Nocera's thoughtful, well argued op-ed columns. I loved his book too -- All the Devils Are Here, with Beth McLean. THE clearest, best-explaining book I've read on causes of the 2008 financial crash.
Mr. Bloomberg- I think that is a fantastic idea, one where your money would get the proverbial and literal bang for the buck. Best idea i have heard in a decade. Thank You
Many thanks, Mr. Nocera, for your incisive, thoughtful, courageous, reasonable and intelligent columns. I will miss them greatly. Not much of a sports fan. But something tells me you will attract me to those pages. GOOD LUCK in your new beat. I know you will do superbly. Many thanks and, again, I'll miss you.
1
Sorry to see you go. I just hope that you aren't replace by some establishment, pro-One Percent stooge. The way the Times is going lately, I fear that will be the case.
You're leaving the Op-Ed page? Say it ain't so, Joe!
Can we start a "Bring Nocera Back" movement?
He's been a very strong thinker and his opinions are quite tied to facts, much more so than many other opinion writers.
He's been a very strong thinker and his opinions are quite tied to facts, much more so than many other opinion writers.
3
Thank you for a column that was consistently intelligent and provocative. Best luck in the new assignment.
Sorry to see you go, Joe! Since I have zero interest in sports, I guess I won't be reading you anymore! (I'll give it a try or two!)
Say it ain't so, Joe. I just retired, so I'll have more time to read Op-Ed pieces and now, this. Aime. With regard to your good ideas, I always believed four smart people could figure out all our problems in 20 minutes were it not for politics. To your good ideas, I would add those of Lawrence Lessig: campaign finance reform is the single best idea of them all. Congress is ruining America.
So long, Joe. Always enjoyed your opinion pieces. I'm not a sports fan, but who knows, maybe you'll make a convert as I will have to check your new gig out from time to time.
I will really miss your columns.
1
Sorry to see you go. Good luck.
1
I've loved your column and your advocacy for non-ideological, practical solutions to the intractable problems of our society. Sorry to see you go. But usually journalists move from Sports to General subjects. Now you are following Michael Powell going the other way. Sad.
Really disappointed in this assignment change. Nocera's op ed columns are the main reason I subscribe to the NYT. Since I am not interested in the sports pages I will likely cancel my already too expensive daily home delivery. Thanks Joe for all the great work.
1
I imagine he will be writing more about the business of sports, including the NCAA which likes to pretend it is not a business, rather than the outcomes of sporting events. I would understand that also might not interest you but for better or worse it is an important part of our national culture.
We'll miss Joe's smart and informative pieces, especially those on the business world. Good luck on your new assignment, Joe. Will be reading you soon on the sports page.
We read columns because we care, we listen, and we respect the opinions of the columnists. Although I'm not a frequent flyer on the Op-Ed section, I will miss you. For me the Op-Ed is my go-to NYT Front Page along with the morning coffee. I will lookout for your thoughts elsewhere.
I just read that the problem with facts is that there are just so many of them. The problem with opinions is the just opposite. Unlike facts, there is not a lot of good opinions out there. I like your thoughts. The issue is there are only very few in society that can walk the talk, who can actually carry out those thoughts into meaningful actions. On a leadership level, there are actually fewer with enough courage, luck, and survival skills to do so. Otherwise, it's just words. This must occurred first on an individual level before it can gather momentum and translate to the entire society, and politics is not enough as a tool to shape public opinion as we have seen during the past decade. Technology has been more conducive to sharing facts, but makes opinions anonymous and reduces it to a popularity contest between a 1-5 stars. Those around me who make opinions (and attitude) of others matter are those that tend to be empathetic and feel the pain of daily living, and refrain from being isolated by listening and relating to others. This would solve the problem with isolation in modernity that it normalizes insanity.
Thanks Joe!
I just read that the problem with facts is that there are just so many of them. The problem with opinions is the just opposite. Unlike facts, there is not a lot of good opinions out there. I like your thoughts. The issue is there are only very few in society that can walk the talk, who can actually carry out those thoughts into meaningful actions. On a leadership level, there are actually fewer with enough courage, luck, and survival skills to do so. Otherwise, it's just words. This must occurred first on an individual level before it can gather momentum and translate to the entire society, and politics is not enough as a tool to shape public opinion as we have seen during the past decade. Technology has been more conducive to sharing facts, but makes opinions anonymous and reduces it to a popularity contest between a 1-5 stars. Those around me who make opinions (and attitude) of others matter are those that tend to be empathetic and feel the pain of daily living, and refrain from being isolated by listening and relating to others. This would solve the problem with isolation in modernity that it normalizes insanity.
Thanks Joe!
1
Good luck to you, I have enjoyed your articles immensely. Thank you
Sports page?! Why?! :(
4
Being an out of towner, I rarely read the sports section of the Times. Guess I'll have to look at it a little bit more now.
As for charter school investor/promoters, I don't trust their motivations are strictly for student improvement. Living in Illinois, the battle here between public and charter schools is mostly about politics. On the Republican side the goal is to eliminate unions and the support they offer Democrats. For elected officials the point is to wash their hands of having to deal directly with providing education, making their jobs easier. There are no clean hands here.
As for charter school investor/promoters, I don't trust their motivations are strictly for student improvement. Living in Illinois, the battle here between public and charter schools is mostly about politics. On the Republican side the goal is to eliminate unions and the support they offer Democrats. For elected officials the point is to wash their hands of having to deal directly with providing education, making their jobs easier. There are no clean hands here.
Dear Mr. Nocera:
How can we consider anything rational when we're riding around in trucks, flying Confederate flags? (Giuck!)
And, if we're not doing that, we're firing Semi-Automatic weapons at a variety of living creatures, with 4 legs, 2 legs, or wings.
And, may I suggest that the 2-legged creatures advocating these positions learn to breathe through their noses, or, at least, stop dragging their knuckles?
Have a good time on the Sports Pages. Are you sure that is a move up?
How can we consider anything rational when we're riding around in trucks, flying Confederate flags? (Giuck!)
And, if we're not doing that, we're firing Semi-Automatic weapons at a variety of living creatures, with 4 legs, 2 legs, or wings.
And, may I suggest that the 2-legged creatures advocating these positions learn to breathe through their noses, or, at least, stop dragging their knuckles?
Have a good time on the Sports Pages. Are you sure that is a move up?
Don't go!!
What a great idea about Bloomberg!!
What a great idea about Bloomberg!!
Good luck in your future endeavors!
I've read many of your columns with interest, and have enjoyed reading them.
Changing election day from Tuesday to a weekend, when more people are not working, faces the same opposition from the G.O.P. that expanded voting hours, automatic voter registration, and early voting do. That's the Party that doesn't believe in participatory democracy!
I've read many of your columns with interest, and have enjoyed reading them.
Changing election day from Tuesday to a weekend, when more people are not working, faces the same opposition from the G.O.P. that expanded voting hours, automatic voter registration, and early voting do. That's the Party that doesn't believe in participatory democracy!
Supreme Court term limits
Better infrastructure for our schools
Less guns on the streets
You have my proxy, Mr. Nocera...
Better infrastructure for our schools
Less guns on the streets
You have my proxy, Mr. Nocera...
I agree completely with the idea that federal judges ((especially Justices) should be subject to term limits. This is so obviously something that should be done that the real question is why hasn't it been done.
Billie Holiday Porgy: https://youtu.be/jpxfZKeqw48
Thanks for calling out the NCAA for their complete, utter, and unabashed hypocrisy when it comes to the use and abuse of young men.
The NCAA is one of the faces of America today, and an accurate one. It condones abuse of athletes and does nothing to encourage the schools to ensure that all DI athletes graduate with real educations. It tolerates a remarkably unequal distribution of the money generated by sport. (Coach millions - Kids zero!) It throws kids on the scrap heap after four years while bringing onboard new red meat every year.
We see all these same virtues around us in American life today. An inability to legislate a living minimum wage. A smashing of unions everywhere. A continuing "outsourcing" of American jobs to slave wage countries.
The talk of American "freedoms," particularly as they pertain to gun "rights," is simply a smoke screen for a systemic oligarchic collection of the nation's wealth.
Plain and simple. Just like a larger version of the NCAA.
The NCAA is one of the faces of America today, and an accurate one. It condones abuse of athletes and does nothing to encourage the schools to ensure that all DI athletes graduate with real educations. It tolerates a remarkably unequal distribution of the money generated by sport. (Coach millions - Kids zero!) It throws kids on the scrap heap after four years while bringing onboard new red meat every year.
We see all these same virtues around us in American life today. An inability to legislate a living minimum wage. A smashing of unions everywhere. A continuing "outsourcing" of American jobs to slave wage countries.
The talk of American "freedoms," particularly as they pertain to gun "rights," is simply a smoke screen for a systemic oligarchic collection of the nation's wealth.
Plain and simple. Just like a larger version of the NCAA.
Joe, say it ain't so! Opinion Page's loss but Sports Section's gain, see you there.
There's a reason Bloomberg hasn't bought or started his own gun company in efforts to destroy the 2A. He's no fool. He knows no one would buy the lefts idiotic version of a gun or support his anti-freedom agenda. Anti-gunners don't buy guns and pro 2A folks aren't fooled by his nonsense. Who will be his clientele? #AnotherDumbIdea
Everything but the idea that Bloomberg buy a gun company. It's just too messy. It's like taking over a drug cartel in order to create safer heroin, or becoming a pimp to improve the plight of young prostitutes. Smart guns is a good idea but less guns is even better.
Brilliant. Michael Bloomberg should buy a gun company. And then another. And another until we end gun violence.
Like so many other people, I am sorry to see you leave the Op-Ed page. I have enjoyed your writing style and your insightful take on the important things in life. I wish you all the best in your new assignment. But most of all, I wish you didn't have to leave us, your loyal Opinion readers.
Your work on gun violence did not go unnoticed. And yes, term limits, for the love of the wee man we need some common sense.
At least one state does hold its elections on Saturday and that would be Louisiana.
In that you are heading over to the sports page, how about encouraging those capitalistic gladiators to stop taking the Lord's Day "for their pleasure". (See Isaiah 58:13-14).
Yes, I know, the academic theologians will say I'm wrong on this. I hear you. Love y'all!
www.ltgof.net
Yes, I know, the academic theologians will say I'm wrong on this. I hear you. Love y'all!
www.ltgof.net
Why not Dowd or Brooks? Does the Public Editor not read the Comments Sections to their columns? They run about 9 to 1 against everything they write.
Does the Times value the opinions of its most dedicated readers or not?
Does the Times value the opinions of its most dedicated readers or not?
1
re coments run 9 to 1 against Dowd and Brooks. Does the Times use them to attract readers, so they can express their negative reactions? I wonder. Especially Brooks--why is he given a Times an PBS/NPR voice to push his pious moral homilies? Most readers seem to think he's a bit ridiculous.
Bloomberg buying a gun company, that’s such a stupid idea I wish it could come true. Someone who never in their life would consider owning a gun could only believe the idea that his buying a gun company and producing “smart guns” would be a winning idea. People who do buy guns recognize this smart gun canard for what it really is which is a solution looking for a problem. On the upside as perceived by the anti-gun crowd this idea if implemented would for sure guaranteed almost immediate bankruptcy for that gun company and really isn’t that what these folks really want.
Thank you, Mr. Nocera, for putting some wonderful ideas into print. Nothing more important that any newspaper or editorial writer can do than make us stop and think about an issue from another perspective.
Guns, education, the Supreme Court, infrastructure....these really are the important issues facing this country while GOP candidates think "gotcha questions" are the most relevant concern on the planet.
Again, kudos for making us think about who we are and what we envision (or want to) for the future of our country.
Guns, education, the Supreme Court, infrastructure....these really are the important issues facing this country while GOP candidates think "gotcha questions" are the most relevant concern on the planet.
Again, kudos for making us think about who we are and what we envision (or want to) for the future of our country.
Thank you, Joe, for providing us with many intriguing and provocative columns over the years, including today's. Best wishes in your new assignment.
Good luck with sports, Joe - hopefully you will help your paper recognize all local teams (not just the guys in the Bronx) with equal fervor.
Outside of the idea for the opera - a great one, too - none of those suggestions has a chance to be realized. The Supreme Court idea makes great sense - who, exactly, can make that happen in a country that cannot agree on the need to sufficiently pay for education, let alone pass a Constitutional amendment.
Opinions are like bottoms - we each have one, and everyone else's stinks.
Good luck!
Outside of the idea for the opera - a great one, too - none of those suggestions has a chance to be realized. The Supreme Court idea makes great sense - who, exactly, can make that happen in a country that cannot agree on the need to sufficiently pay for education, let alone pass a Constitutional amendment.
Opinions are like bottoms - we each have one, and everyone else's stinks.
Good luck!
I second every point you made! Certainly those suggestions would make us a better, safer, country, so why not use your op-ed as a template for the future. Pay attention HRC!
1
I'm one of the lucky ones, because I'm a sports fan. I've enjoyed and have been informed by Mr. Nocera's columns for a long time now, and while I'm sorry he's leaving the op-ed page I'm delighted that I'll still get to read his thoughts in the sports section. He's had much to offer in that world, too. (Being a disappointed Mets fan, I would like to add: "Wait 'til next year!")
Mr. Nocera, thank you for your contributions to the Op-Ed pages. I don't always agree with you, but the reasoning behind your views have always been worthy of respect.
And I love the Bloomberg idea in this column. Are you listening, Michael?
And I love the Bloomberg idea in this column. Are you listening, Michael?
1
I have learned from your columns. I cannot say that about most other tiems political Op Ed Writers who seem to appeal to one or another faction for cheers and boos. Your suggestions in your farewell piece are indicative of solutions and ways to move forward. Thanks and good bye. I have never read an article about sports and at 68 I'm unlikely to follow you. Cheers!
2
Sad to see you go. I guess op-ed's loss is sports' gain. I'll miss you in these pages but look forward to reading you in the sports pages. Thank you for your rational opinions and thoughts that graced Times' op-ed pages the last few years.
1
If this means that your lens will be focused on the NCAA, then you have my permission. I have enjoyed the range of issues you've written about.
1
I am not interested in sports, so I rarely read your sports columns. However, I faithfully read your non-sports columns and found them to be very worthwhile and enjoyable. Like some of the other readers, I am "seriously sorry to see you go to the sports page." Your point of view will be missed.
2
Joe, You will be greatly missed on this page. I have really enjoyed your columns and the insights you bring to the problems and issues of our day. Good luck in your new role at the Times. I hope you bring the same sensibility to sports that you do to life in general.
Good Luck!
RJ
Good Luck!
RJ
1
Joe, thanks for your thoughtful and informed columns. You single-handedly brought the issue of college sports and the NCAA to the forefront. Your suggestions in this last OpEd column are all worthy of further investigation. Looking forward to continuing to read your incisive commentary, but now about sports in general.
1
I have learned from you over the years. Best wishes.
1
Transferring you to the sports section seems a terrible waste of your exquisite talent and wisdom on many issues critical to the future of our country. After suffering the loss of Bob Herbert, this is another blow to plain old common sense. I will miss truly you!
2
Sorry to see you go, Joe. Your column filled a unique niche that I imagine won't be filled anytime soon. You covered topics that weren't necessarily trending but almost always of interest. While I enjoy reading other columnists, you provided more water-cooler fodder than any other. Thanks.
2
Sorry to see you go. I'll have to pay more attention to the Sports section now!
2
What great ideas. We need you more now than ever!
3
Good ideas on guns and schools.
5
I'll miss you and your pieces, Joe! I love what you have to say and how you say it. It always felt like we were just chatting over a cup of coffee (or Joe!) at the corner diner.
1
Thanks for the memories.... To read and remember is high praise, perhaps the highest. And having coffee with you every morning for so many years...I guess I'll need to flip over to the sports section? But then, politics and governance are blood sports...so the transition should be easy. Enjoy and Thanks...
1
Ibid! (Limbaugh stole ditto from me.) Please continue to write about businesses other than sports. I think your Sunday Review piece on risk was phenomenal and your book with Bethany about the 2008 financial meltdown set a standard for fact based explanation. In your new slot, I hope you continue to expose the hypocracy of big-time collegiate athletics.
2
I'll miss this column
1
I will miss your columns covering a wide variety of topics. It's a shame if you are limited to sports. We need your ideas about business and other things. Maybe I'll find my way to the sports pages, but I hate to see you exiled there. Good luck in all your future work!
1
The Met did Porgy and Bess sometime in the mid 80's. I saw it. It was beyond spectacular.
1
The sports pages are not a relegation Sir. Maybe someone is giving you a wide berth to explain (over and over again) college football and basketball are semi-pro leagues in reality.
How North Carolina has danced out of being nailed for its pretend courses to being ranked number one in pre-season basketball polls is something to be investigated.
How North Carolina has danced out of being nailed for its pretend courses to being ranked number one in pre-season basketball polls is something to be investigated.
1
Don't go.
48
Sports is BIG business.
These corps are ripe for some light being shed on some of their inner workings. Look no farther than the Olympics. Our own baseball, football, basketball owners have not achieved sainthood. Billionaires have a tendency to cross the line.
That is my opinion.
Good Luck with your new endeavor.
These corps are ripe for some light being shed on some of their inner workings. Look no farther than the Olympics. Our own baseball, football, basketball owners have not achieved sainthood. Billionaires have a tendency to cross the line.
That is my opinion.
Good Luck with your new endeavor.
1
I never read the sports section, Joe! I'll miss your take on various subjects in Opinion. That said, is there a way to do your job in sports but make this country understand that our infatuation with contact sports (all organized sports really)is perversely overblown, and some even dangerous for our children, who will become adults with serious, lingering effects?
Sigh.
Sigh.
2
The sports page??
3
We will mis your Opinions. Best of luck in your new assignment
1
Re Public Schools. Not every school needs to be replaced, though many surely do. Instead, schools must become the center of their community. No lock-downs. The playgrounds need to be the best place to hang out on weekends, the soccer fields booked all weekend long. The multi-purpose rooms need to be open to and booked with non-school functions, as well as school activities. Fabulous art and music rooms-- for ALL. Combine that with a long school day-- full of enrichment, not just rote learning. Add on a VERY long school year, brimming with summer fun. Start with the worst schools in the worst cities and make them literal beehives. Stop the sell-out to corporate interests and invite the capitalists into our last (and potentially best) democratic institution-- public education-- as volunteers, reporting to the true experts: teachers.
Say it aint so, Joe!
Oh, well, I'll find you on the sports pages, hopefully analyzing and railing against some of the the sports world's hidden -- and not so hidden -- seamier aspects.
As to this column: the idea that Bloomberg buy a gun company is very interesting. I don't know if it would have a significant effect, but that is precisely what we need in so many areas: a new way to think of solutions to problems, solutions that are not simply and uselessly dependent on demonizing the "opposition."
As to our schools: what we need is for China to land someone on Mars or, at least, the moon. The last time we really supported education in this country with not only material support but respect was after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik. I had fervently hoped that before it collapsed, it would send someone to Mars to get us moving again on education, to stop living off the fruits of past efforts, to stop eating our seed corn.
Oh, well, I'll find you on the sports pages, hopefully analyzing and railing against some of the the sports world's hidden -- and not so hidden -- seamier aspects.
As to this column: the idea that Bloomberg buy a gun company is very interesting. I don't know if it would have a significant effect, but that is precisely what we need in so many areas: a new way to think of solutions to problems, solutions that are not simply and uselessly dependent on demonizing the "opposition."
As to our schools: what we need is for China to land someone on Mars or, at least, the moon. The last time we really supported education in this country with not only material support but respect was after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik. I had fervently hoped that before it collapsed, it would send someone to Mars to get us moving again on education, to stop living off the fruits of past efforts, to stop eating our seed corn.
2
The Opinion page is losing an important voice, one that always depended and revealed solid fact-based analyses of issues often obfuscated by prejudice and emotion. Mr. Nocera's ability to take on the cult-like belief in the power of markets so dominant in business (and thus in the politicians bought by businessmen) was due to his years steeped in that culture. He understood it and had the authority to take it on in its own terms, on its own grounds in a way no other Times columnist can today. Given the power of business in our society today, that is a serious void.
2
Nocera will be missed on the op-ed page, at least by this reader. My only solace is my belief and hope that he will continue on the sports beat his longstanding crusade to take the NCAA to task whenever that august body places its own and its institutional "owner's" interests above the interests and needs of college athletes.
3
The problem with the Op Ed page is that in an electronically delivered world opinion is conflated with "reporting" of the news. The result is opinion pieces+reporters with by lines that are opinion integrated into the news+factual news+third party news (AP) all mixed together into a dynamic publication that uses email, social media, etc as outlets + comment sections which are themselves edited. This results in clear and consistent media bias and a the full loss of any semblance of unbiased media. Finally, first amendment protections have allowed highly biased media sources the ability to foist untruths without any consequences.
In fact, Joe Nocera is no stranger to this exact phenomena
In fact, Joe Nocera is no stranger to this exact phenomena
1
That's not the paper's problem. That's the fault of the dumb-bell who does the conflating. And the fault of our education system, which has been taken over by people who don't believe that critical thinking skills should be taught in schools.
Very sad to see Joe Nocera leaving the op-ed page. He is one of the most original and iconoclastic writers around, and these all would have been great columns, so thanks for sharing!
In addition to what I assume will be a focus on money in college sports, I hope Joe looks at the need for rules changes to football to avoid life-threatening (or at the very least, career-ending) injuries, and what this might mean for the economics of the game. One suggestion: weight limits for players. Another: Do away with helmets and padding, and simply forbid any head contact. It would turn football into a form of rugby, and it would probably be more entertaining to watch.
In addition to what I assume will be a focus on money in college sports, I hope Joe looks at the need for rules changes to football to avoid life-threatening (or at the very least, career-ending) injuries, and what this might mean for the economics of the game. One suggestion: weight limits for players. Another: Do away with helmets and padding, and simply forbid any head contact. It would turn football into a form of rugby, and it would probably be more entertaining to watch.
4
Oh Well; I guess I'll have to get more interested in sports now.
Thank you and Good Luck.
Thank you and Good Luck.
39
Thanks, Joe; while I've both agreed and disagreed with you, you've usually amped-up my critical thinking neuronal circuits. Best idea is weekend voting --- I mean, REALLY, voting and voter turnout is so important? Then how about making it easier!
And my final note of agreement concerns Porgy and Bess. Those Gershwin songs are simply terrific, and the Met knows it, yet fails to act on it; ridiculous.
And my final note of agreement concerns Porgy and Bess. Those Gershwin songs are simply terrific, and the Met knows it, yet fails to act on it; ridiculous.
4
Yes, greater funding for public schools would be very beneficial. Currently too much of philanthropic capitalists' money is going to privatizing schools, which is ultimately not a democratic objective - the "reform" movement is largely a scam, aiming at re-segregating schools and breaking the power of unions. But is Bill Gates going to listen to Nocera? I doubt it. What if we take the matter out of the hands of the 0.1%, by increasing the taxes on them and devoting the money to public education? Why should Bill Gates be deciding how the country's young are educated?
8
Thanks Mr. Nocera. You have been a breath of fresh air and common sense.
4
Thanks for incisive, thoughtful reporting on issues we wouldn't otherwise have understood.
2
Love your work here and your thoughtful opinions.
Moving to the sports pages. Good grief what a terrible idea.
We really need more sports news and commentary don't we.
Moving to the sports pages. Good grief what a terrible idea.
We really need more sports news and commentary don't we.
4
Good luck
I cannot let you go without disputing your praise of vaping. If someone wants to take nicotine, I don't care. I wish they wouldn't but it's their choice. However, I shouldn't have to be subjected to the fumes and smoke or Vapor thrown off by their drug deliver device. Let them take a lozenge or a pill. Vaping is fine for the person vaping.....they want the drug they take the risk. I, on the other hand, don't want the drug and shouldn't have to take the risk. The vapor isnt just water and as vaping companies put more and more additives in the vaping products, it will become more and more dangerous.
Want nicotine, take a pill. Suck on a lollipop with nicotine in it. I don't care but no vaping please.
I cannot let you go without disputing your praise of vaping. If someone wants to take nicotine, I don't care. I wish they wouldn't but it's their choice. However, I shouldn't have to be subjected to the fumes and smoke or Vapor thrown off by their drug deliver device. Let them take a lozenge or a pill. Vaping is fine for the person vaping.....they want the drug they take the risk. I, on the other hand, don't want the drug and shouldn't have to take the risk. The vapor isnt just water and as vaping companies put more and more additives in the vaping products, it will become more and more dangerous.
Want nicotine, take a pill. Suck on a lollipop with nicotine in it. I don't care but no vaping please.
2
You miss his point. There is no "praise" for vaping. It is literally a "pick your poison" choice and he is advising the less harmful, in his opinion, option for those already using cigarettes.
The politics of Supreme Court nominations has been especially rancorous over the past few decades because we are living in an unusual historical period. Neither major party has dominated our politics for the past half-century, unlike earlier times. As a result Presidents have found themselves making nominations to Senates often controlled by the opposing party. Even in those circumstances most appointments are confirmed, but when the open seat can be the deciding vote or move the deciding vote substantially in one direction or the other, politics plays a greater role. Even when Presidents face opposing Senates, their nominees have been confirmed at a 3-1 rate if the partisan balance on the Court is fairly lop-sided. But when the Senate and President are divided, and the seat in question is crucial, Presidents have historically failed to secure confirmation of their nominees about sixty percent of the time.
http://web.mit.edu/cstewart/www/papers/l&s1.pdf
I, too, am sad to see you leaving the Editorial pages, Mr. Nocera. While I didn't always agree with your views, you were always articulate and thoughtful.
http://web.mit.edu/cstewart/www/papers/l&s1.pdf
I, too, am sad to see you leaving the Editorial pages, Mr. Nocera. While I didn't always agree with your views, you were always articulate and thoughtful.
2
Norman Ornstein is not the only one calling for limited terms for Supreme Court justices. I have written about this numerous times, but my motivation in doing so is different. A lifetime term is too much, it places too much power in a single individual and implies that the person is somehow god like, a fount of endless wisdom and guidance. Fooey. Just putting on the black robe and sitting three feet above the court bends a person's mind. Being there for as long as you wanna be warps it completely.
There's another reason. Lifetime appointments are an insult to democracy. We could take that insult if we concluded that we really were getting better, more sound judgements. We aren't. It is clear that the Justices rule based on their deep personal biases, just like the rest of we human beings. Changing the guard would swing issues seasonally (just like Congress), but it would give us a window to see that decisions are inherently, inescapably political, not drawn from a deep well of endless wisdom.
Here's the personal part. While I have attended only a very few Supreme Court oral arguments, I had occasion to do some work at a nearby institute oriented toward the high court. The atmosphere in that place was stuffy, one of potentates, of people walled off and isolated from reality because they got good grades in law school. We need to make it clear that however high and mighty a judge might be, in time he or she will have to come down and live among the rest of us, like it or not.
There's another reason. Lifetime appointments are an insult to democracy. We could take that insult if we concluded that we really were getting better, more sound judgements. We aren't. It is clear that the Justices rule based on their deep personal biases, just like the rest of we human beings. Changing the guard would swing issues seasonally (just like Congress), but it would give us a window to see that decisions are inherently, inescapably political, not drawn from a deep well of endless wisdom.
Here's the personal part. While I have attended only a very few Supreme Court oral arguments, I had occasion to do some work at a nearby institute oriented toward the high court. The atmosphere in that place was stuffy, one of potentates, of people walled off and isolated from reality because they got good grades in law school. We need to make it clear that however high and mighty a judge might be, in time he or she will have to come down and live among the rest of us, like it or not.
17
I have always found your opinions to be well researched, provocative, and well worth reading. Your valuable work will be missed.
26
I agree with Robin.
Good luck and we will miss you because you had a different take than some other Op-Ed columnists.. I think that your sports orientation was a factor in seeing the world in a different way. Most women do not understand how important sports are to men and fail to appreciate how they entwine sports metaphors into everything they say. It's just another way to view life.
4
A lot of men don't understand the total obsession with sports, either, myself included. However, one root of that lasting interest is that sports are the way men can appeal to women by showing what they can do in difficult situations. This motivation can be buried in many other considerations, but it persists. That big time sports now comes with piles of money completes the picture of the sex appeal of athletic competition.
As for my long ago colleague Joe Nocera, his columns have been filled with righteous indignation over the abuses of college sports. This is one of the most important things a columnist, even a reporter, can do: find something obviously wrong in the world and let people know about it.
As for my long ago colleague Joe Nocera, his columns have been filled with righteous indignation over the abuses of college sports. This is one of the most important things a columnist, even a reporter, can do: find something obviously wrong in the world and let people know about it.
6
Seriously sorry to see you go to the sports page. The only sports writer I ever read regularly was Bill Lyon of the Philadelphia Inquirer, and that's because he was as much poet as reporter. Maybe I will make an exception for Mr. Nocera, too. We will see.
As for the Bloomberg-owned gun company -- brilliant! What a great idea. Would love to see what happened if he did that.
Best of luck in your new position.
As for the Bloomberg-owned gun company -- brilliant! What a great idea. Would love to see what happened if he did that.
Best of luck in your new position.
20
I have enjoyed your wise and thoughtful columns for years, Mr. Nocera. God speed and good luck in your new challenges.
17
Your column was great, taking insightful, non-doctrinaire positions on everything from asbestos to guns to taxes. You will be missed. Thanks for all you did.
13
Joe,
Please look into the American sports addiction culture that harms educational outcomes for our students. American schools have sports imbedded in them while those countries crushing us in comparative testing don't. American students never witness academic competitions like National Science Bowl in Washington DC or the International ENVIROTHON this year in Ontario or any of the International Science Olympiads because the press is a no show every year - yet our students daily hear the morning announcements honoring the previous nights winning sports team exploits, read the papers that all have a daily sports section, go to most any chain restaurant and there is likely to be sports on the tube, etc. In all this - do you think our students perceive that America values athletic achievement over academic? Highlight the fact that here in CT a student athlete only needs to maintain 4 D's and an F to remain academically eligible to continue playing their sport. Does anyone think that the athletes are getting any kind of a successful education that could actually benefit them when sports ends at high school? How about the fact that my science class students are expected to wear safety goggles when they use meter sticks - yet the football players go out there and get concussed, wrecked knees and so much more? Is using a meter stick more dangerous than two high school players running into each other at top speed?
Please look into the American sports addiction culture that harms educational outcomes for our students. American schools have sports imbedded in them while those countries crushing us in comparative testing don't. American students never witness academic competitions like National Science Bowl in Washington DC or the International ENVIROTHON this year in Ontario or any of the International Science Olympiads because the press is a no show every year - yet our students daily hear the morning announcements honoring the previous nights winning sports team exploits, read the papers that all have a daily sports section, go to most any chain restaurant and there is likely to be sports on the tube, etc. In all this - do you think our students perceive that America values athletic achievement over academic? Highlight the fact that here in CT a student athlete only needs to maintain 4 D's and an F to remain academically eligible to continue playing their sport. Does anyone think that the athletes are getting any kind of a successful education that could actually benefit them when sports ends at high school? How about the fact that my science class students are expected to wear safety goggles when they use meter sticks - yet the football players go out there and get concussed, wrecked knees and so much more? Is using a meter stick more dangerous than two high school players running into each other at top speed?
17
You will be missed Joe Nocera. Your opinion pieces are the ones I often read happily. I think these ideas are very creative - Bloomberg owning a gun company - brilliant! And school infrastructure! What a wonderful idea. Especially in New York City. My son attended NY Public Schools as did I (long ago) and the lack of supplies was appalling. His middle school did not have an outdoor play area and shared the gym with two other schools in the same decrepit building. And this was one of the "better" schools in Manhattan. It was not just obvious to me but to the students themselves who found it demoralizing. I'm not a fan of Charters although I understand their appeal. But investing in more and better public schools would make a huge difference in this city. I would love love love to see Porgy and Bess at the Met so thanks for suggesting.
Best of luck in your new endeavor. I hope it's at least as much fun as Opinions.
Best of luck in your new endeavor. I hope it's at least as much fun as Opinions.
5
Congratulations on your achievements and contributions in the opinion pages. I particularly appreciated your stance on gun issues and violence.
4
Good riddance. Take your pro oil and gas industry opinions with you.
3
Sorry to see you go, but at least I'll have an excuse to read the sports pages now. Don't give up on the NCAA story. Everyone - especially kids - need a champion.
4
No no no on e cigarettes. They bother me just as much as non-e cigarettes. I just don't want to be around them.
1
Say it ain't so! Your column is my favorite to make sense of things going on in business. Your column on Chevron and attorney Donzinger inspired me to read two books about that fascinating case study of a lawyer who is obsessed, takes on corporate America and cheats, demeaning himself, injuring his clients and wrecking his case. I can get this sort of information nowhere else. Good luck on the sports page. You will be missed.
You're moving to the Sports Page?
Roger Goodell and the NCAA are having a fit, but Wall Street is throwing a champagne party!
Roger Goodell and the NCAA are having a fit, but Wall Street is throwing a champagne party!
6
Say it ain't so, Joe. Your talents are best used in the realm of big ideas.
2
Excellent piece. Perhaps the Times might set aside space for a regular compendium single paragraph descriptions of interesting ideas. They'd make excellent food for thought.
1
Thanks for all you've shared. Hope you will offer your usual provocations in an occasional guest column in the opinions section, as I'm sure will will in sports.
1
I believe that the two first issues--about Bloomberg buying a gun manufacturer and upgrading the schools that we have, rather than creating a new concept--and very interesting.
The school issue makes sense in that establishing some schools with unique themes caters to various individual groups of students. Most students, especially through, let's say, have no idea as to what turns their career might take. Or where the jobs will be.
The Bloomberg Guns issue could prove quite multifaceted: partially defunding the NRA; gunwales might sway toward educated people buying guns fro Bloomberg and they would ask for background checks and get training; smart guns; etc.
The school issue makes sense in that establishing some schools with unique themes caters to various individual groups of students. Most students, especially through, let's say, have no idea as to what turns their career might take. Or where the jobs will be.
The Bloomberg Guns issue could prove quite multifaceted: partially defunding the NRA; gunwales might sway toward educated people buying guns fro Bloomberg and they would ask for background checks and get training; smart guns; etc.
1
I never read you will be missed.
1
Appointing Supreme Court justices for a term of years is a great suggestion. We obviously need some new blood there. An even better suggestion would be term limits for members of Congress but that won't happen since politicians are not about to vote themselves out of a job. Stuff like this is the reason I am not a big fan of the Constitution.
3
The NYT has a sports page? This is news to me.
2
I can't believe this. You are going to do Sports? Your commentary provided me with a great deal of information and an intelligent view of complex problems--many which I hadn't considered. Miss you? You bet I'll miss you because I don't read Sports.
1
Although I have great respect for Mr. Ornstein (his book "The Broken Branch" is a must read for anyone interested in post-1950's politics), I don't agree with his idea to limit Supreme Court justices to a single 18 year term since it will not fix the highly partisan and protracted process we currently have for selecting and confirming justices. Instead, I'd like to suggest the following: whenever their is a Supreme Court vacancy, the two major parties can each nominate one candidate; the resume for each candidate (limited to 500 words) along with an at most 2000 word description of their judicial philosophy prepared by the American Bar Association would be published; no other information or elucidation (including endorsements or advertising) would be allowed; 45 days after this information is posted a national election would be held (one person one vote) and the candidate obtaining the most votes would be the next justice. Recall that the Constitution starts with the words "We the People."
Sports? You belong back on the Business pages! That was you at your best!
I will miss your smart take on business. But I guess we'll get to read your take on the business of sport soon. That's certainly under reported territory. I hope this doesn't mean the Times is abandoning a column that provides an ethical, holistic perspective on the business of business.
1
As a fellow Classical High School alum, I always read your columns and books with great interest and usually am in agreement. No more so than now in your last Op-Ed column. Your parting suggestions are right on point, especially about voting on a day or days other than Tuesday. I look forward to reading your insightful views on the world of sports.
Porgy and Bess? The music yes...the storyline..no way. Poor black people singing and dancing while the heroine is a walking stereotype.
Yes, that he should call this "the greatest American opera ever written" says everything about his sophistication or lack thereof. Joe, you never heard Four Saints in Three Acts, Einstein on the Beach, Atlas, or Nixon in China? Never heard The Ghosts of Versailles?
And the incessant ranting about how nicotine is harmless. Look at the medical literature! Why do other readers think he is such a great researcher?
I think the space he occupied can be put to much better use!
And the incessant ranting about how nicotine is harmless. Look at the medical literature! Why do other readers think he is such a great researcher?
I think the space he occupied can be put to much better use!
Will your replacement be able to spell b-u-s-i-n-e-s-s and discuss their issues?
Mr. Nocera: thanks for the wonderful ride. Looking forward to more of your "unvarnished" thoughts on the NCAA, "student-athletes", publicly-financed sports stadiums, and the rest. And perhaps you can explain why the New England Patriots have become more despised than the Oakland Raiders of old?
1
One of the Times best columnists is leaving op-ed to do... sports... Really? Migawd! Bread and circuses, bread and circuses. What a time we live in...
1
First we lost Keith Olbermann to sports and now you. So sorry to see this happen... again.
Comparing Joe Nocera to that posturing fool Keith Olbermann does him a great disservice. Agree with him or not, Joe always has something worthwhile to say. Olbermann...rarely, if ever!
I have missed you in the sports pages for these many years. You were the main reason I read that section, even when I was in my 30's. (Now 79)
I look forward to your excellent writing there. (Sports, for some reason, seems to have the best writers in any newspaper.)
I have enjoyed you opinion pieces, but I shall be very happy to see you again in the sports.
Best Regards,
Michael
I look forward to your excellent writing there. (Sports, for some reason, seems to have the best writers in any newspaper.)
I have enjoyed you opinion pieces, but I shall be very happy to see you again in the sports.
Best Regards,
Michael
I too will miss your comments on financial markets and gun control. But in your new post, Joe, "give the NCAA hell".
1
I've really enjoyed reading your columns. Here's a "con" about schools. I reflexively reach to cover my wallet when there's talk about "state-of-the-art" anything. What's wrong with "pretty good?"
Say it ain't so, Joe! A rational opinion from you every so often has kept me going!
Joe, I've been reading your excellent writing since your days at Fortune. I hope you enjoy your new stint at Sports, but your intelligent writing about business will be sorely missed.
The bad news is that business reporting will take a serious hit. The good news is that more people (than ever) will read the sports stuff) and you will find things there that are important to society (concussios, are college athletes employees, etc). Go for it...
When I lived a year as an ex-pat in Australia, I was surprised to learn that voting ~IS~ required there. If you didn't show up to the polls, you were hit with an approximately US$200 fine. People were planning months ahead how to arrange their lives to vote on the given day. Here, now that there are so many options for absentee and early voting (at least here in Ohio), I don't see a reason to change from Tuesdays or to make it a national holiday
If it's your personal decision to go to the sports page, fine. Good luck. I will miss you. I never read the sports page; the few times I get any sports information at all is when you write about sports in your column.
If you are going because of a management decision, I think it's a bad decision. Like John, I would rather you focus on business. Your business columns (and books) are outstanding.
If you are going because of a management decision, I think it's a bad decision. Like John, I would rather you focus on business. Your business columns (and books) are outstanding.
2
Why not organize a large group of gun control advocates to form and fund a partnership which would purchase a gun manufacturer? Stopping the absolute madness of the NRA can only be done from inside the industry because every attempt to impose restrictions on gun ownership is met with the lie that liberals want to take away guns.
1
As I've gotten older, I've become less and less interested in sports in general and sports writing in particular because of the endless repetition and hype. Perhaps Joe will get me reading the sports pages again.
2
Good ideas on the Supreme Court and school infrastructure. and I totally agree about 'Porgy and Bess'.
While I didn't always agree with your columns, I found them better reasoned and less openly hostile to opposing opinions than most of the others appearing on this page.
Finally, I just finished 'All The Devils are Here' that you co-wrote with Bethany McLean. Enjoyed getting a clearer picture of the causes of the housing crash. I did think the conclusions let the rating agencies off too easily though.
While I didn't always agree with your columns, I found them better reasoned and less openly hostile to opposing opinions than most of the others appearing on this page.
Finally, I just finished 'All The Devils are Here' that you co-wrote with Bethany McLean. Enjoyed getting a clearer picture of the causes of the housing crash. I did think the conclusions let the rating agencies off too easily though.
2
Say it ain;t so Joe! Loved your insights on these pages.
1
I'll miss your Opinion pieces, Mr. Nocera.
1
Who moved the man from intelligent discussion to "sports?" Local and metropolitan team sports are part of the virus that is destroying America--it has become more important to win than to find common ground.
2
Good work, Joe. Your column has been unpredictable and thought provoking.
1
I too will miss your voice on the editorial page but, if you must go, I'm glad it's to the sports page. We spend a fortune on sports and devote a lot of our time paying attention to our favorite teams and players. We need you keep an eye on the NCAA, FIFA, sports betting, rogue athletes, rogue sports programs and whatever new issues develop. Best of luck.
1
Unfortunately, I don't read the sports page. I will miss reading your work.
2
You have been great!
And great for all thinking people, no matter of what stripe.
Best of luck in your future endeavor!
You will be missed!
And great for all thinking people, no matter of what stripe.
Best of luck in your future endeavor!
You will be missed!
1
"Why don’t they spend their money on [school] infrastructure instead [of charter schools]?"
Because the founding idea of charter schools - competition to state monopoly schools - wouild be defeated. And if you think charter schools don't work you need to expand your sources of information.
Because the founding idea of charter schools - competition to state monopoly schools - wouild be defeated. And if you think charter schools don't work you need to expand your sources of information.
Vote by mail. Oregon does it. Why drive to the polls?
Cheap. Efficient. It works for them.
Cheap. Efficient. It works for them.
6
Your ideas are all great! I especially think the idea about Bloomberg buying a gun manufacturer and having the goal of state of the art schools for all public school students by 2025 are brilliant. I hope Bill Gates and George Soros are reading this.
We will miss your presence on the Opinion Pages. Thanks for your work over the years.
Chris Larsen
We will miss your presence on the Opinion Pages. Thanks for your work over the years.
Chris Larsen
1
Your writing is always excellent. I will miss you and I'm sure the NYT will too. I am only interested in politics, not sports.
2
Joe, say it ain't true!
I've enjoyed your columns from their inception. Your clarity of expression and solid writing should be a lesson for budding columnists at all levels.
Best wishes as you take the next path in your life. Enjoy the adventure.
I've enjoyed your columns from their inception. Your clarity of expression and solid writing should be a lesson for budding columnists at all levels.
Best wishes as you take the next path in your life. Enjoy the adventure.
2
I've disagreed with Nocera (vehemently) more times than I've agreed, but he's the one Times columnist who hasn't completely towed the Liberal line. His opinions on E-Cigs, the NCAA, the BP legal fallout spoke to the Libertarian in me. One of the few I'll miss...
Joe, you seldom wasted words nor promoted lofty but ridiculously unobtainable goals. We wil miss such straight talk common sense in the Opinion pages.
2
Sorry to see you go. You will be missed!
1
Bloomberg is not anti-gun, far from it. He is just opposed to anyone but him having guns. He has armed guards all around him to protect himself and his family. He got special permission for his guards to take submachine guns to the Bahamas. He is so privileged he as a military arsenal and a private army of thugs to shoot his guns for him.
1
We will follow you to the Sports section but will miss you especially on Saturday mornings in the Op-Ed area.Thank You for all the light you have shined on important matters.
1
Joe, you have opened my eyes on many a morning as I sip my coffee. I will miss you. Your positions are well thought out and reasonable; a rare commodity in today's media.
The good news is you will still be able to keep a watchful eye on the NCAA! ;-)
Best of Luck and we'll be looking for you on the other side.
The good news is you will still be able to keep a watchful eye on the NCAA! ;-)
Best of Luck and we'll be looking for you on the other side.
I don't want you to go!
1
Good luck, Joe, as a sports columnist. I'm sure you will do it well.
As for fixing our political culture, tinkering with Supreme Court terms won't do it. We need to fix the root problem, the system of legalized bribery in Washington. It starts by undoing Citizens United, but that's just the beginning. Campaigns must be publicly funded, which would prevent big-money interests from buying elections. Lobbyists would have to find another form of work, maybe an honest one this time.
As for fixing our political culture, tinkering with Supreme Court terms won't do it. We need to fix the root problem, the system of legalized bribery in Washington. It starts by undoing Citizens United, but that's just the beginning. Campaigns must be publicly funded, which would prevent big-money interests from buying elections. Lobbyists would have to find another form of work, maybe an honest one this time.
2
Say it ain't so, Joe. I have enjoyed reading your column and always found your opinions thoughtful and a pleasure to read. Whether I agree with a columnist or not, the only requirement I have is that the column makes me think, educates me, or tests my preconceived notions on issues. You have done all three. Thank you for your column and your opinion.
1
The Sports Page? Your column will be sorely missed.
1
We will miss your incisive and to- the- point critical words 're' human endeavors, our silliness in searching for values where none exists, our inability to get rid, however briefly, of our ego, and transcend beyond our own narrow interests. And yet, you won't be gone, as we know that Sports, supposed to build character while entertaining, is plagued by all the corruptible sources we find in other avenues, the temporary fame that money and power gives us. Best of luck with your 'exclusive' attention to 'sports politics' and thanks for your soul-searching reporting.
I strongly suspect that Joe Nocera will, in his own way, rival Red Smith as one of the very best writers on American sport.
1
Gee----I am going to miss you. Always thoughtful columns that actually made me re-think some of my opinions. That is the mark of a great columnist.
1
Particularly love the Bloomberg idea. Would love to hear what he thinks of this. And, being the owner of at least a dozen recordings of 'Porgy...', I just might drive down to NYC if this ever happens. What an event that would be!
3
Wonderful column, too bad you are leaving.
The Bloomberg gun company is something I never thought of and it is a stroke of genius. He might well do it!
As for term limits for Supreme Court justices, I fear you stole that idea from me (smile).
But I still worry about presidents having so much power over the make up of the Supreme Court. Given that many of our controversial decisions have been 5-4, the power to name two justices would mean the power to decide what the Supreme Court decides. We would have a new constitution every few years!
But, you might say, "Isn't that what we have already?" Good point.
The Bloomberg gun company is something I never thought of and it is a stroke of genius. He might well do it!
As for term limits for Supreme Court justices, I fear you stole that idea from me (smile).
But I still worry about presidents having so much power over the make up of the Supreme Court. Given that many of our controversial decisions have been 5-4, the power to name two justices would mean the power to decide what the Supreme Court decides. We would have a new constitution every few years!
But, you might say, "Isn't that what we have already?" Good point.
1
Push to repeal the 2005 law providing gun manufacturers with immunity. That will save countless lives because gun manufacturers will have to start implementing safety devices that work.
1
Joe, I'm going to miss your advocacy that's always based on cold, hard facts. Still, I urge that you continue to, from time to time, produce your gun deaths roster - even more prominently so - which presents an irrefutable log of the toll of lax guns laws on our nation and shows how un-pro-life we really are. There's momentum building in the right direction now, just as with gay rights, as people become weary of the mayhem and madness. Please continue to be a part of it.
1
Tell us it aint so Joe! The straight talk, the ideas and the balance. No trimming for a vested cause! Just Joe and our good fortune.
Say it ain't so, Joe.
1
Of the handful of columnists that I like to read, Joe Nocera is the one that I agree with least. Even in disagreement, I find his columns fresh, insightful and worthy of respect.
I'm sorry to see you move, Joe, because it's good for the limit of our ideas to be pushed, and you push ours. I wish you the best of luck.
I'm sorry to see you move, Joe, because it's good for the limit of our ideas to be pushed, and you push ours. I wish you the best of luck.
Thank you Mr. Nocera. Some good opinions in here for sure. Your idea of Michael Bloomberg buying a gun manufacturer could completely upend the arms-manufacturing industry by forcing them to compete for safer guns. It would likely take a while for it to catch on. Likely the NRA would lead a campaign against Bloomberg which would kill sales initially. However, once people have given smart-guns a chance, they could likely make the switch. As I recall, the NRA led such a campaign against safety switches on guns before it was eventually mandated, after it had begun to proliferate of course.
As for infrastructure, we all now how badly investment is needed. A majority of Americans -Republican, Democrat and Independents alike- believe we need to invest in infrastructure. However, lobbyists don't see it as a priority and so it never gets done. Now, after years of neglect, our Army Corps of Engineers has said we need a $3 Trillion dollar investment in infrastructure just to fix our current roads, bridges and schools. Still, we need many new roads, bridges and schools on top of that. Even as I write this, Republicans want to CUT the gas tax, even though gas is cheaper than it's been in a decade, and even as economists and engineers say we must raise the gas tax to pay for improvements in infrastructure. It's a carnival of ineffectiveness.
As for infrastructure, we all now how badly investment is needed. A majority of Americans -Republican, Democrat and Independents alike- believe we need to invest in infrastructure. However, lobbyists don't see it as a priority and so it never gets done. Now, after years of neglect, our Army Corps of Engineers has said we need a $3 Trillion dollar investment in infrastructure just to fix our current roads, bridges and schools. Still, we need many new roads, bridges and schools on top of that. Even as I write this, Republicans want to CUT the gas tax, even though gas is cheaper than it's been in a decade, and even as economists and engineers say we must raise the gas tax to pay for improvements in infrastructure. It's a carnival of ineffectiveness.
2
Joe, I'm sure I'll be reading you in the Sports section as well.
I agree with a few others here that your fracking take was dud. But you are the first person I read to challenge the NCAA, which opened my eyes to their fiefdom.
I believe your most valuable contribution to these pages, and I'm guessing what probably took the greatest toll on you, was the tallying up of the week's gun deaths. So many, and it just never ends. I hope your preaching on that went beyond the choir faithful, and thank you for trying to move the ball forward in some way.
Good luck in your virtual move.
I agree with a few others here that your fracking take was dud. But you are the first person I read to challenge the NCAA, which opened my eyes to their fiefdom.
I believe your most valuable contribution to these pages, and I'm guessing what probably took the greatest toll on you, was the tallying up of the week's gun deaths. So many, and it just never ends. I hope your preaching on that went beyond the choir faithful, and thank you for trying to move the ball forward in some way.
Good luck in your virtual move.
1
Joe,
I don't often agree with your positions but always find them well presented and relevant. In any case they make me think and you will be missed here for your passion and insight.
Good luck in your new endeavor, I'll see you in Sports!
Best regards,
Eric
I don't often agree with your positions but always find them well presented and relevant. In any case they make me think and you will be missed here for your passion and insight.
Good luck in your new endeavor, I'll see you in Sports!
Best regards,
Eric
Please continue needling the NCAA in your new position. Your move to the sports section may make me open it for the first time!
Some years ago the Met put on the Houston Grand Opera production of "Porgy and Bess." It was a success on all levels--far more than today's stripped-down Met productions.
Mr Nocera you write well and your opinions will be missed. Hopefully your new assignment will bring you challenge and fulfillment.
I am very sorry to see you leave this page. While I'd love to see you write about football, the only sport I care about, you're contributions here have been greatly appreciated, at least by me, and I am really going to miss you. Your last hurrah today is on issues I care a lot about. Good luck on the sports pages. I beg of you to not be as hard on the Jets and the Mets as you have been on tobacco and guns. Please? Again, I'll miss you here.
It's a shame, Joe, that you saved up all your best ideas for your last column. Don't wait until your farewell from the sports pages to take on the designated hitter.
4
It's been great reading you here. Love the idea of Bloomberg buying a gun company!
2
Sad to see you go, Mr. Nocera. Oh, and I agree with all your opinions!
1
All good points Joe and all the more reason you'll be wasted on the sports page.
Hopefully you'll be doing what you enjoy.
Good luck!
Hopefully you'll be doing what you enjoy.
Good luck!
3
Joe Nocera's columns have always been the best reasoned articles I've read in the Times or any other publication. His thoughtful opinions on the NCAA, Wall Street, gun violence, and education were packed with food for thought and backed up with facts. I will miss him greatly!
3
Bloomberg Guns wouldn't need to make the smart gun for it already exists. Gun retailers that would stock the gun is the key. Bloomberg would need to focus on the retail end and there's the rub.
Say it ain't so, Joe!
3
Oh Joe, say it ain't so!
If we needed more proof of your value as an op-ed communist, today's column provides it.
I truly hope Michael Bloomberg takes your suggestion, and I am tickled to see in your column an idea about public schools I've had for a few years. In fact, every one of the points you make has merit, which is hardly a surprise.
I've appreciated your point of view and will miss you on this page.
If we needed more proof of your value as an op-ed communist, today's column provides it.
I truly hope Michael Bloomberg takes your suggestion, and I am tickled to see in your column an idea about public schools I've had for a few years. In fact, every one of the points you make has merit, which is hardly a surprise.
I've appreciated your point of view and will miss you on this page.
1
Sorry to see that Joe Nocera is leaving the Opinions section, where he has been a remarkable voice of reason on a wide variety of subjects with an unusual talent for analysis, particularly on business matters. His columns about education and gun control demonstrated a social conscience not usually found in someone so conversant with the intricacies of Wall Street and international trade.
Nocera will be a good addition to the NYT sports pages, which I’ll begin reading online instead of in the print version.
Joe Nocera’s thought about term limits for Supreme Court justices is great. Weekend voting is a must, and ought to be a two-day event in even-numbered years. Objections by religious fundamentalists is easily solved by pre-voting ‘absentee’ ballots. I look forward to investing in a secondary offering of the not-yet-formed Bloomberg Gun Company.
Hopefully, The New York Times will permit an occasional Op-Ed piece on national politics in the Opinions section by sportswriter, Joe Nocera.
Nocera will be a good addition to the NYT sports pages, which I’ll begin reading online instead of in the print version.
Joe Nocera’s thought about term limits for Supreme Court justices is great. Weekend voting is a must, and ought to be a two-day event in even-numbered years. Objections by religious fundamentalists is easily solved by pre-voting ‘absentee’ ballots. I look forward to investing in a secondary offering of the not-yet-formed Bloomberg Gun Company.
Hopefully, The New York Times will permit an occasional Op-Ed piece on national politics in the Opinions section by sportswriter, Joe Nocera.
Thanks for a great run. See you on the sports page.
Bloomberg should buy a gun company and gun-control proponents should become NRA members to change the organization from within.
great last column. thanks.
Comment Part Two (Sorry, computer glitch sandbagged me!):
As for smoking, at age 22 I went from 3 packs a day to zero and haven't looked back since. Why people can't just look at the facts and make a determination that as satisfying as smoking is, it'll probably kill me is a mystery to me but "addiction" is something to which I am not prone.
Sorry for the two part comments (I'm surprised Part One made it in!) but now, I'm done and, apparently, will be looking for a new lap top in the near future.
Good luck to you, Mr. Nocera! You will be missed here in the old opinion pages but am glad you may be found somewhere in the NYT.
As for smoking, at age 22 I went from 3 packs a day to zero and haven't looked back since. Why people can't just look at the facts and make a determination that as satisfying as smoking is, it'll probably kill me is a mystery to me but "addiction" is something to which I am not prone.
Sorry for the two part comments (I'm surprised Part One made it in!) but now, I'm done and, apparently, will be looking for a new lap top in the near future.
Good luck to you, Mr. Nocera! You will be missed here in the old opinion pages but am glad you may be found somewhere in the NYT.
I will miss your thoughtful columns, as I still miss your daily gun report, depressing as it was. I hope that you will occasionally have columns.
Thank you for your opinions! The idea of Mayor Bloomburg buying a gun
company is intriguing and a good idea- maybe he could create change from within.
Building fancy new schools is not. Too often superintendents start demanding new schools probably more as a lasting memorial to their tenure in a job than for any other reason. In the fancy new schools, you can expect state-of-the-art sports facilities but the elimination of music programs, experienced teachers let go for cheaper new hires because of the need to save money somewhere.
Your advocacy of e-cigarettes is also baffling. An article in this very paper months ago reported on the flagrant lack of regulation of their manufacture in China - a young man we know almost lost his life (he spent weeks in a ward for serious burn victims) when one exploded in his small apartment, causing a fire.
But I've enjoyed your columns even if I disagree with some of them.
company is intriguing and a good idea- maybe he could create change from within.
Building fancy new schools is not. Too often superintendents start demanding new schools probably more as a lasting memorial to their tenure in a job than for any other reason. In the fancy new schools, you can expect state-of-the-art sports facilities but the elimination of music programs, experienced teachers let go for cheaper new hires because of the need to save money somewhere.
Your advocacy of e-cigarettes is also baffling. An article in this very paper months ago reported on the flagrant lack of regulation of their manufacture in China - a young man we know almost lost his life (he spent weeks in a ward for serious burn victims) when one exploded in his small apartment, causing a fire.
But I've enjoyed your columns even if I disagree with some of them.
I will miss you Joe! Yours has been a voice of sanity in opining on matters of business and culture. I've learned a tremendous amount of things about industries I never knew much about, and commonsense solutions to the countries biggest problems, such as the ones you've given us today.
In departing for the sports world (what a natural switch, given it's role in our society, a mirror into the human foibles on the field as opposed to industry), I wish you well and hope to read you there. I'm sure whatever you report on will feature your common sense, readable prose, and mastery of the contradictions between what people say they want, and what they end up doing.
Good luck!
In departing for the sports world (what a natural switch, given it's role in our society, a mirror into the human foibles on the field as opposed to industry), I wish you well and hope to read you there. I'm sure whatever you report on will feature your common sense, readable prose, and mastery of the contradictions between what people say they want, and what they end up doing.
Good luck!
1
Joe, I was really happy to read your last opinion column, not because it is your last, but because each opinion was short, concise and to the point. More opinion columns should be like this. I differ with your infrastructure opinion for schools. Yes, we need safe modern facilities. There is no doubt about that, but state of the art schools do not automatically translate into better education. We have the best facilities here in McCormick, SC, but year after year the results are disappointing. This is not to say that there are no solutions beyond charter schools and infrastructures. If I had a voice that would resonate with decision-makers, I would offer my plan that is centered around parents, welfare, and student accomplishments. It's too involved to include here. Anyway, enjoy your new assignment.
Since you are going to cover sports, here are some Yogi quotes that may be apropos to your situation.
On going to the sport's page:
" It's pretty far, but it doesn't seem like it."
On your columns:
" I never said half the things I said".
On deciding to go to the sports pages:
"When you come to the fork in the road, take it."
On going to the sport's page:
" It's pretty far, but it doesn't seem like it."
On your columns:
" I never said half the things I said".
On deciding to go to the sports pages:
"When you come to the fork in the road, take it."
2
@ Mark
It's tough to make predictions, particularly about the future!
It's tough to make predictions, particularly about the future!
4
All the best, Mr. Nocera!
Like other readers, I'm surprised to hear that you are heading for the Sports section. Your business analysis and writing is outstanding!
Feel free to color outside the lines every now and again...
Like other readers, I'm surprised to hear that you are heading for the Sports section. Your business analysis and writing is outstanding!
Feel free to color outside the lines every now and again...
15
I will miss reading columns that seem less theoretical and more rooted in reporting.
23
Sorry to hear you're leaving for the sports page (which I never read) when you're so valuable here. Won't you reconsider? No? Ah, well. Best of luck, and thanks for all the thoughts.
5
The NY Times Opinion page is seriously diminished by this reassignment.
112
The sports page? Who was the management genius who came up with that idea? Nocera's column on business issues is one of the best in this newspaper.
191
The management genius was probably Joe!
Why build only "new schools?" In the early '90s, Sen. Moseley Braun had a provision included in the re-authorization of education legislation that would have funded repairs and renovation of existing structures. It was never funded when the Gingrich-led GOP revolutionaries took over Congress. They let a bold initiative die.
There are many fine older structures that need to be improved, and even the "modern" schools built in the '50s and '60s are now suffering from "deferred maintenance."
Educational infrastructure is another area in which we have let our capital assets deteriorate. Addressing the problem with capital investments in repairs and renovation is more cost effective than new construction, and it still sends the message that Joe suggests.
There are many fine older structures that need to be improved, and even the "modern" schools built in the '50s and '60s are now suffering from "deferred maintenance."
Educational infrastructure is another area in which we have let our capital assets deteriorate. Addressing the problem with capital investments in repairs and renovation is more cost effective than new construction, and it still sends the message that Joe suggests.
37
Education was never a priority in this country until Wall Street came up with a way to profit from it.
There is nothing more depressing than working in a school where the walls are peeling or have gapping holes, The decades old paint color is depressing, Books are out of date and torn and not enough to go around. The library is non-existent and the science lab is ill equipped. No art or music room and barely enough teaching supplies. Classes are overcrowded and staff is cut to the bone.
Private charters receiving public dollars led way to co-locations. The charter part of the school is infused with investor dollars, so they get a complete makeover while the public school section is left to rot. The media only reported great things about charters. Politicians welcomed their campaign donations despite the fact that many have closed their doors in the middle of the night leaving students stranded. Or spent tax payer dollars on everything but the children that led to FBI raids. Treat children like cattle and throw out those who need the most academic help. And yet billionaires are pushing more schools to be charters and test-prep factories. When that happens, charters would have to deal with behavior problems, students with special needs, parents who won't take an interest, falling test scores, etc. Then the investors will pull out and we will be right back where we started. And soon those pretty charter schools will become dilapidated too.
There is nothing more depressing than working in a school where the walls are peeling or have gapping holes, The decades old paint color is depressing, Books are out of date and torn and not enough to go around. The library is non-existent and the science lab is ill equipped. No art or music room and barely enough teaching supplies. Classes are overcrowded and staff is cut to the bone.
Private charters receiving public dollars led way to co-locations. The charter part of the school is infused with investor dollars, so they get a complete makeover while the public school section is left to rot. The media only reported great things about charters. Politicians welcomed their campaign donations despite the fact that many have closed their doors in the middle of the night leaving students stranded. Or spent tax payer dollars on everything but the children that led to FBI raids. Treat children like cattle and throw out those who need the most academic help. And yet billionaires are pushing more schools to be charters and test-prep factories. When that happens, charters would have to deal with behavior problems, students with special needs, parents who won't take an interest, falling test scores, etc. Then the investors will pull out and we will be right back where we started. And soon those pretty charter schools will become dilapidated too.
63
RE: "Education was never a priority in this country until Wall Street came up with a way to profit from it." Uh, no, Education has been a prioirty for a couple hundred years. The Charter School movement, a relatively recent creation, takes private schools and combines it with the "voucher" movement to make a way to profit off of K-12 education. They are at best an experiment. While more than a few Charter schools are suspect there also have been sucesses - see New Orleans post Katrina. Mostly, the Charter movement was non-union. If you want to look a monoopoly that hurt kids in schools, consider that the teacher's unions first priority is to protect their membership, not the kids in the schools.
1
NOLA charters have not been a success. Read the reports on Diane Ravitch's blog. Something mainstream media won't report because it would be a black eye to the Reform Movement and Duncan in particular.
1
Good Luck! There are many crucial issues to our popular culture which can be addressed from the sports pages. I hope you will do it.
7
Joe
You will be missed on the op-ed page of this great newspaper. One of the best points you make is the importance of education and the buildings in which the students learn. I have seen the damage first-hand that a poor school environment can make and it is tragic.
Secondly, I believe that not only should elections be held on the weekend but voting should be mandatory. How's that for a socialist idea? 30 percent or so of eligible voters casting ballots is horrible. I don't know how this might be enforced but surely it would change the country for the better.
You will be missed on the op-ed page of this great newspaper. One of the best points you make is the importance of education and the buildings in which the students learn. I have seen the damage first-hand that a poor school environment can make and it is tragic.
Secondly, I believe that not only should elections be held on the weekend but voting should be mandatory. How's that for a socialist idea? 30 percent or so of eligible voters casting ballots is horrible. I don't know how this might be enforced but surely it would change the country for the better.
80
Congrats on the public school columns. It is not only the wealthy pushing charter schools, but Republicans across the country. Rather than fix the public school system, they want to have separate but equal charter schools.
50
Some brilliant but very simple recommendations - starting with Bloomberg's acquisition of Smith and Wesson. The staggered Supreme Court terms would probably be the most difficult goal to attain, but wouldn't that be interesting?
55
Willgal
Your recommendation that Bloomberg acquire Smith & Wesson was interesting. Did you know that about fifteen years ago Smith &Wesson made the mistake of signing on to the Clinton gun control initiative and the result was almost immediate bankruptcy? I doubt that the outcome would be different if Bloomberg got it now. The reason is simple a gun business needs to sell guns and “smart gun” technology is not now or will it be in the near/distant future a positive for gun buyers. The fascination of the “smart gun” exists only in the minds of those who would never own a gun --- hence not many will be bought.
Your recommendation that Bloomberg acquire Smith & Wesson was interesting. Did you know that about fifteen years ago Smith &Wesson made the mistake of signing on to the Clinton gun control initiative and the result was almost immediate bankruptcy? I doubt that the outcome would be different if Bloomberg got it now. The reason is simple a gun business needs to sell guns and “smart gun” technology is not now or will it be in the near/distant future a positive for gun buyers. The fascination of the “smart gun” exists only in the minds of those who would never own a gun --- hence not many will be bought.
I love the idea that affluent gun control advocates buy gun companies and have the companies develop the technologies and produce the smart guns that are safer. While they're at it, how about producing non-lethal, but still effective and efficient methods of self defense? This will allow people who are really interested in guns for self defense to separate themselves from the "fear of government take over" people. The beauty of such a company is that it might be quite profitable.
65
A point should be made by analogy to your "E-cigarettes may not be completely safe, but there is no doubt they could save lives if adult smokers could be encouraged to make the switch" that involves natural gas and coal/oil. As with tarred v non-tarred(E-) cigarettes, natural gas may not be a truly clean energy source, but there is no doubt it would reduce GHG pollution if power producers could be encouraged to make the switch.
2
In India the retirement age of Supreme Court judge is 65 years. In U S the clause suggested by author ,i.e., a term of 18 years or ,say, age of 75 years whichever is earlier for supreme court judges retirement be implemented. It will ensure infusion of fresh blood in judiciary at regular intervals. There is no point in keeping life term appointments particularly when life span is continuously increasing. If steps are not taken it will mean several generations will indirectly miss serving judiciary.
16
While I support the 18 year concept, I disagree with you on the age limitation for Justices.
It would eliminate Justices like Ginsberg - a potential major loss.
Also, many of our greatest Supreme Court Justices served well beyond their 75th birthday. I mention only Oliver Wendell Holmes, who while a vibrant Justice in his 90's, made a famous remark to another 90+ Justice (when women were finally allowed to work in the Court) "Ah, to be 70 again!"
It would eliminate Justices like Ginsberg - a potential major loss.
Also, many of our greatest Supreme Court Justices served well beyond their 75th birthday. I mention only Oliver Wendell Holmes, who while a vibrant Justice in his 90's, made a famous remark to another 90+ Justice (when women were finally allowed to work in the Court) "Ah, to be 70 again!"
Mr. Nocera, you will be sadly missed. If I could just add my opinion I love your idea on guns and would add we should simply also require insurance for all of them. That might make people think twice about being responsible. insurance companies and their attorneys are more frightening than any mafia.
As far as voting it should 100% be on the weekend. We should also bring back the draft with absolutely no deferments for anything, college, connections, being filthy rich. I hate these wars but it would make everyone, parents, grandparents, young adults start paying a lot more attention to what is going on not just abroad but here as well. When your butt or your kid's is possibly on the line, you wouldn't put up with any candidate dodging questions. Not only would we see high voter turnout, we'd have a more informed electorate and I'm pretty sure a demand to not only have weekend voting but also more polling stations.
As far as voting it should 100% be on the weekend. We should also bring back the draft with absolutely no deferments for anything, college, connections, being filthy rich. I hate these wars but it would make everyone, parents, grandparents, young adults start paying a lot more attention to what is going on not just abroad but here as well. When your butt or your kid's is possibly on the line, you wouldn't put up with any candidate dodging questions. Not only would we see high voter turnout, we'd have a more informed electorate and I'm pretty sure a demand to not only have weekend voting but also more polling stations.
224
Joe Nocera..what a great column! Why must you go? I know I've needled you a bit, but I was just getting to really know you. I too, used to think natural gas would be a good thing..boy did I learn otherwise!! I hope you love the sports..seems like it is where your heart is, having read much of your work. Were you veering too far off to the left? It seems talking about building new schools and wanting to have Porgy and Bess is a tantalizing and perhaps the leading edge of a shift in your views we have not seen as much of. Yes we need infrastructure. We need some investments in our public commons BADLY. Wish you'd stick around and write more about it.
96
Don't go. You (and Paul Krugman) are the smartest guys on the page, and you know how to write. Well, good luck. Sportswriting seems like a small arena for your talent, but if you do half as well as Red Smith in his heyday, you'll have great following. I'll be in that bunch.
120
What a loss! Who cares about sports! More reasons not to care everyday. Have fun covering the next knuckledragger who hauls his girlfriend around by the hair.
Joe
So many of us will miss your reasoned, well written opinions on a range of subjects that touch at the heart of our human and American experience. Safe travels!!
So many of us will miss your reasoned, well written opinions on a range of subjects that touch at the heart of our human and American experience. Safe travels!!
35
I wish you had written about your future son-in-law's ideas earlier and hammered them home to your readers. But here's a fiscal reality about new schools: they cost a lot of money! Mark Zuckerberg's celebrated gift of $100,000,000 would have built MAYBE two state of the art high schools in the metropolitan NYC area and MAYBE five such schools in rural areas where they are needed just as much. As one who attended public schools in the late 1950s and early 1960s and later spent nearly 30 years as a public school superintendent I can attest to the fact that new schools send a VERY positive message to children… and shabby schools send an equally depressing message. I can also attest to the fact that the test-driven "reforms" philanthropists are funding are sucking the life out of schools and driving the best and brightest to look elsewhere for work. It's a shame the philanthropists didn't talk to educators before they invested their billions.
151
It was Joe's future daughter in law, not son in law. Cheers.
1
I'm sure Gelb would do Porgy and Bess if the Gershwin family would drop it's insistence that it performed with an all black cast--that way Gelb could cast Placido Domingo and Anna Netrebko in the title roles.
3
You have been mostly fair and square, thank you!
4
Joe Nocera, your suggestion to stagger 18-year terms for Supreme Court justices makes a lot of sense. Now, let's see if such a change can be implemented.
128
Yo! It is Norman Ornstein's suggestion, not Nocera's.
1
Sorry to see you leave this page. But that's a great idea about Bloomberg buying and running a gun company---I hope you've already emailed him to set up a lunch to discuss. Change the gun culture from within, with smarter, better guns. It could make a real difference.
ps I'm 100% in agreement on e-cigs. In the UK the National Health Service puts smokers onto them, free, to try to cut smoking cigs. Difference between the two are enormous and Britain's tests are already in; we're still arguing over whether it looks bad.
Bye Joe! Hope sports keeps you intellectually challenged---otherwise please come back.
ps I'm 100% in agreement on e-cigs. In the UK the National Health Service puts smokers onto them, free, to try to cut smoking cigs. Difference between the two are enormous and Britain's tests are already in; we're still arguing over whether it looks bad.
Bye Joe! Hope sports keeps you intellectually challenged---otherwise please come back.
24
Dear Mr. Nocera,
Say it ain't so Joe! The "Sports Pages"? Really?
I'll miss you here in the opinion arena but good luck in your new venue!
You're idea of Mr. Bloomberg's buying a gun company sounds like an idea I had for transforming the NRA, from the inside. I suggest to any of my liberal friends that we all "join" the NRA then start rattling them up by participating in their voting and recruiting. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, then mess with 'em.
Education won't be fixed with "new schools" because we will still have the "old poverty" which nobody in either party really wants to tackle as a problem. New 'Long Range Strike Bombers' at zillions apiece are more important than having the people necessary to maintain them.
And how about "term limits" for everybody in DC?
As for making voting easier, good luck. One of the major parties, the GOP/TP/KOCH AFFILIATE, is acting to restrict voting to only wealthy white folks or guys wearing tri-corn hats. And in the last presidential election garnered 48% of the popular vote! for smoking, at age 22 I went from 3 packs a day to zero and haven't looked back. Why can't people just look at the facts
Say it ain't so Joe! The "Sports Pages"? Really?
I'll miss you here in the opinion arena but good luck in your new venue!
You're idea of Mr. Bloomberg's buying a gun company sounds like an idea I had for transforming the NRA, from the inside. I suggest to any of my liberal friends that we all "join" the NRA then start rattling them up by participating in their voting and recruiting. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, then mess with 'em.
Education won't be fixed with "new schools" because we will still have the "old poverty" which nobody in either party really wants to tackle as a problem. New 'Long Range Strike Bombers' at zillions apiece are more important than having the people necessary to maintain them.
And how about "term limits" for everybody in DC?
As for making voting easier, good luck. One of the major parties, the GOP/TP/KOCH AFFILIATE, is acting to restrict voting to only wealthy white folks or guys wearing tri-corn hats. And in the last presidential election garnered 48% of the popular vote! for smoking, at age 22 I went from 3 packs a day to zero and haven't looked back. Why can't people just look at the facts
11
I've greatly enjoyed your perspective, wry humor and dedication to a well-turned phrase. But, in leaving the Opinion pages, please know you've made at least one person look at many things in ways I never considered. I'd call that a success for any Opinion writer. Thank you.
128
I'll miss you, Joe. Good luck with wherever you're going next.
3
I have enjoyed reading your thoughtful columns in the Times. Best wishes to you as you undertake your new assignment. By the way, I love your proposal that Michael Bloomberg buy a gun company.
7
Saturday voting might not be a bad idea, but Sunday voting could be disastrous. Do you really want the last campaign speech voters hear before heading to the polls to be delivered from the pulpit?
7
Yes, it's crazy that Clarence Thomas has already been on the Court for decades and will be there for decades to come.
Hmm... wasn't there a Senator from Vermont who suggested making election day a national holiday?
Hmm... wasn't there a Senator from Vermont who suggested making election day a national holiday?
246
Sports page eh? It doesn't sound like anyone will be letting the NCAA off the hook anytime soon.
17
You will be missed. Consistently strong columns and not always from a predictable viewpoint. You've changed my mind on a few issues-most importantly e-cigarettes. As a former smoker I was biased against them, but I now believe they can save lives and I hope your writing will persuade more people, especially the medical community to embrace this lesser evil and give more time to thousands of people and their families. Thanks and good luck in the new role.
6
Thank you, Joe. One of your best columns. All great ideas. Leaving Op-Ed at the top of your game!
Good luck in the Sports section. Will happily follow you there.
Good luck in the Sports section. Will happily follow you there.
12
Saving your NCAA juice for the next gig? Can't wait. Thanks.
5
Thank you, Mr. Nocera, for your attempts to educate us. I particularly liked your attempt to tally the true cost of gun violence, although that sadly dropped from the radar.
Perhaps we SHOULD be discussing gun violence on the sports page after all. Hunting humans does seem to be our sport du jour.
Perhaps we SHOULD be discussing gun violence on the sports page after all. Hunting humans does seem to be our sport du jour.
88
Joe,
I've followed your writing for 38 years, since I was editing at the Morning Call in Allentown and you were in the Capitol Hill News Service in D.C., sending us locally pegged national news stories. It has been a treat, an informing treat, to read your words and mull your thoughts. Why, indeed, doesn't the Met stage Porgy? Etc. While it is as an opinion writer that most know you now, opinion needs to be rooted in fact. And you have always been an extremely good reporter, digging out the facts, building on those that matter and discarding those that don't. You helped readers in Allentown understand what was being done in Washington that affected them (steel mills, textile mills, highway and rail routes, etc.) and you have brought to readers everywhere ideas, such as those of your future daughter-in-law and of Norman Ornstein today, that we might not otherwise have encountered. I look forward to reading your work from the sports desk. Sports does not build character, it reveals character. What a rich field to plow. A modest suggestion: Your first sports column could be about those amazing Kansas City Royals, a team whose first game I attended in April 1969, while my wife was working upstairs in the team offices. Talk about character.
Continued success, Joe.
I've followed your writing for 38 years, since I was editing at the Morning Call in Allentown and you were in the Capitol Hill News Service in D.C., sending us locally pegged national news stories. It has been a treat, an informing treat, to read your words and mull your thoughts. Why, indeed, doesn't the Met stage Porgy? Etc. While it is as an opinion writer that most know you now, opinion needs to be rooted in fact. And you have always been an extremely good reporter, digging out the facts, building on those that matter and discarding those that don't. You helped readers in Allentown understand what was being done in Washington that affected them (steel mills, textile mills, highway and rail routes, etc.) and you have brought to readers everywhere ideas, such as those of your future daughter-in-law and of Norman Ornstein today, that we might not otherwise have encountered. I look forward to reading your work from the sports desk. Sports does not build character, it reveals character. What a rich field to plow. A modest suggestion: Your first sports column could be about those amazing Kansas City Royals, a team whose first game I attended in April 1969, while my wife was working upstairs in the team offices. Talk about character.
Continued success, Joe.
7
Mr. Nocera, let me extend a heartfelt thanks to you for your column that did indeed express your opinions, but backed up by cogent reasoning and useful facts and anecdotes to support your ideas.
Especially let me thank you for two of your 'causes' that you devoted many columns to: the utter hypocrisy of the NCAA in pretending to 'run' college athletics for the 'student athletes' while in reality operating a money cow for those at the top of the college sports extravaganza. And all at the expense of those young men(reality check: that's where the money is) who continue to be exploited.
And a more serious cause you wrote about here time and again and referred to in today's column, gun control. In the months after Newtown especially, on a regular basis you detailed the incredibly horrible toll that gun violence took, and of course still takes, in the United States of America. In presenting the evidence like a small town police blotter you demonstrated again and again how many human lives in our country are lost and ruined by the rampant excesses of gun violence seemingly everywhere. And of course the sad reality needs to be noted; nothing in this regard has really changed despite your valiant efforts. As President Obama noted, it seems the only 'change' is that we are getting 'used to it'. But thank you for leaving this reader at least with indelible memories of our society's demented love of guns.
Whatever your next assignment, keep your keen eye and moral values.
Especially let me thank you for two of your 'causes' that you devoted many columns to: the utter hypocrisy of the NCAA in pretending to 'run' college athletics for the 'student athletes' while in reality operating a money cow for those at the top of the college sports extravaganza. And all at the expense of those young men(reality check: that's where the money is) who continue to be exploited.
And a more serious cause you wrote about here time and again and referred to in today's column, gun control. In the months after Newtown especially, on a regular basis you detailed the incredibly horrible toll that gun violence took, and of course still takes, in the United States of America. In presenting the evidence like a small town police blotter you demonstrated again and again how many human lives in our country are lost and ruined by the rampant excesses of gun violence seemingly everywhere. And of course the sad reality needs to be noted; nothing in this regard has really changed despite your valiant efforts. As President Obama noted, it seems the only 'change' is that we are getting 'used to it'. But thank you for leaving this reader at least with indelible memories of our society's demented love of guns.
Whatever your next assignment, keep your keen eye and moral values.
19
Good luck with your new assignment, I always looked for your name as a guarantee of sensible and reasoned comment.
11
Agree with Larry Eisenberg. You've been a great columnist. I didn't like your take on the pipeline, did on the NCAA, but always found your columns provokative.
6
Maybe, just maybe, I'll become a more regular reader of the sports pages now. Enjoy the new outlet.
3
Sorry to see you go.
4
Great thoughtful columns on important issues, thanks and good luck at the new gig.
4
Not only should we vote on the weekend, Election Day should be at least two weeks earlier before the weather gets bad, especially up north. While we are at it let's move Thanksgiving forward two weeks. It is the most travelled holiday and the weather is often terrible by then.
13
Joe, I have differed sharply with you, especially about fracking, but now you undercut my position as a critic of more than one of your columns.
You present Room for Debate topics that should be debated here in mainline columns rather in RFD that for unknown reasons seems not to be read by Verifieds such as the other Larry, Eisenberg.
I will give you one more debate topic that not one NYT writer or RFD will touch.
For debate: The archaic USCB system for assigning people to "races" is a plague on America since it facilitates the endless division of an extraordinary diverse people into mostly two groups called "white" and "black" even though the skin colors of these people show continuous variation in many directions.
Well Joe, I hope you enjoy writing about sports. I won't be following you there.
One of the other Larrys.
Onlyi-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen-USA-SE
You present Room for Debate topics that should be debated here in mainline columns rather in RFD that for unknown reasons seems not to be read by Verifieds such as the other Larry, Eisenberg.
I will give you one more debate topic that not one NYT writer or RFD will touch.
For debate: The archaic USCB system for assigning people to "races" is a plague on America since it facilitates the endless division of an extraordinary diverse people into mostly two groups called "white" and "black" even though the skin colors of these people show continuous variation in many directions.
Well Joe, I hope you enjoy writing about sports. I won't be following you there.
One of the other Larrys.
Onlyi-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen-USA-SE
5
I LOVE how you threaded the needle on gun rights and Bloomberg ... and I'm a second amendment absolutist! The only thing I'd change is having him buy out both of the biggies mentioned.
(Sorry, I couldn't make it all rhyme like Eisenberg did (first comment)
(Sorry, I couldn't make it all rhyme like Eisenberg did (first comment)
3
Joe your insights and investigation of the financial malfiance on Wall Street will be sorely missed. I would hope you will take the time or be given the staff to continue to shine a light on the scurrying rats you have shown us!
12
oh! So sorry to see you go. I always looked forward to your column. You made me aware of things I didn't know about. You actually made me care about football helmets. Your gun violence tally broke my heart with the utter ordinariness of the victims.
Have fun on the sports page, but if you have an opinion you need to vent...then please do vent. Start a blog...I'm sure quite a few of us will 'follow' and 'like' you!
Thank you and good luck!
Have fun on the sports page, but if you have an opinion you need to vent...then please do vent. Start a blog...I'm sure quite a few of us will 'follow' and 'like' you!
Thank you and good luck!
9
Thanks, Joe. I have enjoyed your columns and look forward to your continuing and more comprehensive insights into the sports world. I should add, though, that a column like this reminds me how much of a gap your move will create. I hope the Times fills it wisely.
7
Every one of Mr. Nocera's suggestions is worth considering, at least from the standpoint of starting a lively discussion. I do have reservations about some of his proposals. Suggesting that Michael Bloomberg ought to consider purchasing a firearms company in order to exert leadership away from the devil-may-care attitude of the arms industry may backfire, if Mr. Bloomberg finds out that gun manufacturing is really, really profitable, and also an awful lot of fun. Most of the TV shows that I see on firearms and military hardware seemed to be populated by men whose emotional and social maturity seem to of peaked out just about the time they entered puberty. Maybe not such a good idea after all.
Putting term limits on Supreme Court judges, even the really good ones, might be worthwhile; but one could make the same argument in favor of term limits for congressman and senators as well. We're not about to see that happen anytime soon. As for the courts of appeal and district courts, one can make an arguable case in favor of term limits by showing that the 'wisdom of the crowd' derived from a large and constantly evolving population of skilled jurists is statistically more likely to arrive at better decisions over time. Even good minds go stale.
Changing election days is already being done. I get my ballot by mail several weeks before election day as do most of us here in California. Making early voting opportunities mandatory would seem to be an idea worth pursuing.
Putting term limits on Supreme Court judges, even the really good ones, might be worthwhile; but one could make the same argument in favor of term limits for congressman and senators as well. We're not about to see that happen anytime soon. As for the courts of appeal and district courts, one can make an arguable case in favor of term limits by showing that the 'wisdom of the crowd' derived from a large and constantly evolving population of skilled jurists is statistically more likely to arrive at better decisions over time. Even good minds go stale.
Changing election days is already being done. I get my ballot by mail several weeks before election day as do most of us here in California. Making early voting opportunities mandatory would seem to be an idea worth pursuing.
3
Term limits for Congress are not the same, since they're voted in and can be voted out. The problem isn't the lack of term limits, it's the lack of voters. Better to solve that problem. We need a mix of new people & ideas and at least a few long-termers in the House and Senate to keep institutional memory alive, and the thought of having nearly everyone in Congress on a steep learning curve at the same time . . . oy. That cure would be worse than the illness.
Let's limit terms not by fiat, but by getting voters to the polls.
Let's limit terms not by fiat, but by getting voters to the polls.
6
Excellent suggestions that should be pursued. I will miss your voice on these pages.
6
Good idea for Bloomberg, Joe - while he's at it, maybe he could also line up some lobbyists to make it legal to establish a voters' lottery in this country, so that a completed ballot was a voter's lottery ticket for 50 $20 million cash prizes to be won each presidential election year ?
Have fun over in sports !
Have fun over in sports !
13
Based on your numerous wrongheaded columns about fracking, I will feel a lot better knowing you're safe on the sports page.
3
You've been an important voice on many topics that otherwise would have remained uncovered.
I've seen you as carrying on the tradition of the great--and still missed--Bob Herbert.
Good luck with the new assignment. You will be sorely missed on the op ed pages.
I've seen you as carrying on the tradition of the great--and still missed--Bob Herbert.
Good luck with the new assignment. You will be sorely missed on the op ed pages.
143
Oh yes. I still miss Bob Herbert terribly. He was like a clear clean voice of reason in an insane world.
7
@Siobhan....I too miss Bob Herbert. But could you explain how exactly Nocera carries on the tradition of Herbert? I really don't see the connection.
I'll miss Joe Nocera on Op-Ed, where his eminently rational opinions, informed by common sense and flair and a great sense of humor, made me nod my head in agreement more than once. Sadly, most of his ideas fall on the deaf ears of the so-called "vested interests" who are much more concerned with those interests than what works for the common good. Glad to hear he's going to Sports.
21
Sorry that you're changing your seat,<br/>Your ideas,often, can't be beat,<br/>Your trenchant reports<br/>Will benefit Sports,<br/>And probably be a real treat!
156
It is unfortunate that such a keen observer of American culture, society , business, and politics will now move to covering sports. Most Americans neeed more emphasis on what's important to the welfare of the country, and its citizens, as opposed to what's happening in American sports.
48