Journalism

Here’s how California treats its public colleges and universities: first, cut public funds, and thus classes; then wait for over-enrollment, as students are unable to get the classes they need to graduate; finally, shift classes online, for profit.. . .
. . . continued at TheNation.com, HERE

I do not think Watergate should be the only display at the Nixon Library. The problem is that it’s missing from the new exhibit in Yorba Linda.  I didn’t criticize the library or the National Archives for what is in the new show; I criticized them for what has been left out. 
Is it really necessary to explain why Watergate belongs in the story of Nixon’s life? . . . continued at the LA Times, HERE

The Nixon Presidential Library and Museum opened a new exhibit in Yorba Linda and online Feb. 15, “Patriot, President, Peacemaker.” It covers Richard Nixon‘s entire life, like the permanent installation there, and claims to present “a fuller picture” than ever before.  But there’s a gap, reminiscent of the 18 1/2-minute gap in the famous White House tapes. . . . What’s missing is Watergate.
. . . continued at LA Times, HERE.

February 18 is Yoko Ono’s 80th birthday—it’s a day to celebrate her art, music and activism. She’s done more in the last year than most of us do in a decade: campaigned against fracking and honored Julian Assange; mounted a major retrospective of her art in London last summer at the prestigious Serpentine Gallery, and another, bigger one in Frankfurt last week. . .
. . . continued at TheNation.com HERE (or HERE )

Thanks to Steven Spielberg and his film Lincoln, we’ve been hit by a new wave of management wisdom supposedly gleaned from the film’s central character.  Business Week ran a piece titled “Career Lessons from Spielberg’s Lincoln”; the New York Times called theirs “Lincoln’s School of Management.”. . .
. . . continued at TheNation.com, HERE

The fight against the Catholic Church cover-up of sexual abuse of children by priests is a story that has heroes as well as victims.  Alex Gibney’s new documentary, “Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God,” is playing on HBO throughout February.
. . . Q&A with Alex Gibney at TheNation.com, HERE.

As we head toward the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination later this year, a new book has revealed the striking differences between JFK and his father, Joe Kennedy on the bedrock fact of American politics during that era: the Cold War.  JFK’s declaration in his famous inaugural address is well known: the US should “pay any price, bear any burden” to fight communism everywhere in the world.  Virtually unknown, until now, is the fact that a decade earlier his father had declared the entire Cold War “politically and morally” bankrupt.
. . . continued at TheNation.com, HERE

The best thing about The Americans, the new spy show on FX, is that the Soviet spies are not Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.  They are a different married couple—Russians, sent by the KGB from Moscow to Washington, DC. The show begins shortly after Reagan takes office. . . .
. . . continued at TheNation.com HERE

A Rembrandt portrait that had been protected by Columbia student protesters in 1968 and later sold by Columbia for $1 million is back on the market this year, with a price tag of $47 million. The story of the 1658 painting, Man with Arms Akimbo, has many lessons, starting with the folly of universities selling art to make money. . . .
. . . continued at TheNation.com HERE.

It couldn’t be a sadder thing to admit, given what happened in those years, but — given what’s happened in these years — who can doubt that the America of the 1950s and 1960s was, in some ways, simply a better place than the one we live in now?  Fifty years ago, college was cheap, unions were strong, and we had no terrorism-industrial complex. . .
. . . continued at TomDispatch.com, HERE — also at TheNation.com HERE — or Mother Jones HERE – or Salon.com HERE — or Huffington Post HERE — or Daily Kos HERE — or Alternet HERE — or Truthdig HERE — or History News Network HERE — or Redit HERE – with 480 comments!