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Click here to download chapters from Finish High School At Home by Charlie Clark

Who Shall Live And Who Shall Die?
Masterpiece Theatre and the Politics of Quality
PBS: Behind the Screen
After the NEA

Bernard Shaw is retiring from CNN, and Reese Schonfeld will miss him. Here's one reason why . . .

Middle school is not what it used to be. Instead of throwing spitballs, smoking in bathrooms, or fighting in the hall, students are committing "Random Acts of Kindess." Aren't they? Well . . .

Two foreign policy experts argue that dividing NATO -- into real soldiers and 'escorts' who walk children to school -- is the first way to divide the alliance itself. The problems of humanitarian interventions will not be solved by dividing the U.S. from Europe or constructing a parallel structure that may, or may not, work . . .

"The doors swung open to the Acute Area of St. Joseph’s ER, admitting the patient, the ambulance crew, and Mike. The ER staff, notified in advance of their arrival, was waiting expectantly. Janet, the triage nurse, met them at the door. 'Put the patient in Cardiac Bed 2,' she instructed Joe. Across the room two nurses stood on either side of the bed with wires and tubes dangling from their anxious hands, giving the appearance of a couple of attendants at a car wash waiting for the next vehicle to roll through."Chapter Two . . .

James Carroll needs to blame the Church for the Holocaust because much of what passes as contemporary enlightened thought has roots not in Catholicism, but in secular ideologies that are the true foundation for the Holocaust: Euthanasia and abortion policies, originating in a scientific eugenics movement that undergirded Hitler’s attack on the Jews. To scapegoat the Catholic Church as the cause of the Holocaust makes a secular examination of conscience unnecessary . . .

(Editor's Note: The rights to this book have been purchased by the Sunday Times of London. For that reason, Chapter One: Hondo is unfortunately no longer available to The Idler.)

Looking for books by his favorite author, Dennis Loy Johnson deepened his understanding of Captain Ahab's frustrating quest . . .

They became engaged at President Reagan's first Inaugural Ball, before God, the angels, and the Osmonds. But a series of devastating strokes gave new perspective to their faith . . .

"After stepping into the nightclub, it took a moment for Mike Todd’s eyes to adjust to the room’s dimness. But once they did, he felt as if he had walked onto the set of a fifties’ film noir."Chapter One . . .

George W. Bush has not yet appointed a Poet Laureate, but when he does choose, Dennis Loy Johnson says history indicates that he, or she, will be nicknamed "Bob" . . .

In the form of a Socratic dialogue, Fail Safe author Harvey Wheeler argues that it is time to reinvent philosophy -- again . . .

"It is now mid-February, 2001. If I were running CNN, we'd still be in the midst of the story of my dreams, not to mention the story of Ted's dreams. For me, it would have been the stunt beyond all stunts. For Ted, it would have been the chance to grab center stage in the battle between George W. Bush and Al Gore, maybe even to determine the next President of the United States. Ted would have loved it. He sure would have been one of 'the most powerful men in the world'" . . .

Certainly, the American public became more misguided about the fate of Elian Gonzalez, as a result of Frontline's Saving Elian. For people who have firsthand experience of Cuba under Castro, this documentary was nothing less than one more insult from PBS against the Cuban American community in the U.S. . . .

There is no mystery to Ariel Sharon's Israeli election victory. In seven years of concessions under the Oslo Peace accords, Israelis got in return bombed, stabbed, burned, kidnapped, shot, run over by cars and lynched. They had to shoot Palestinians. And they were fed up . . .

"As she sat on the toilet, Katie Turco used a tissue to apply pressure to the inner crease of her elbow. The vein she had just injected wouldn’t stop bleeding. 'That’s the last time I’m going to make you bleed,' she reassured her arm with a giggle. If her arm could have reasoned, it would have had cause to be skeptical; she had made the promise before." Prologue . . .

The Bell Curve's conclusion that African-Americans are intellectually inferior to European-Americans deserves closer scrutiny in light of President Bush's proposals for national testing -- especially given the low SAT scores and collegiate GPAs reported for both candidates in the last Presidential election . . .

When the 80-year-old head of the Shubert Organization died after heart surgery, the event sent dozens of prominent figures in business, the arts, and philanthropy on immediate searches for appropriate lamentations. The Organization was (and remains) the mightiest powerhouse in the American theatre; the Foundation, an off-shoot of the Organization, is among the wealthiest in America. It also owns the Organization . . .

BACK ISSUES

(At the request of readers, in order to speed up the home page connection, older stories from The Idler are moved into this section at the end of each month. Stories may also be found by using the search box in the left-hand column).

Table of Contents for January 2001, Volume III The Idler, v.III, January, 2001.

Table of Contents for 2000, Volume II The Idler, v.II, January - December 2000.

Table of Contents for 1999, Volume I The Idler, v.I, 1999.