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St. Louis confidential: Follow the money, not the car Print E-mail
By M.W. Guzy, Special to the Beacon   
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 12 August 2008 )
 

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Some city police scandals center around abuse, financial corruption and drugs. St. Louis' centers on a Dodge Neon. For a financial scandal, look at the actions of the Police Board trying to control costs by cutting retirees health insurance.

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Want to end debate? Play the race card Print E-mail
By Kira Hudson Banks, Special to the Beacon   
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 05 August 2008 )
 

Race can be a difficult issue to discuss. So when Sen. John McCain subtly suggests that his opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, is playing the race card, without explaining why, he stops any real discussion before it's started, columnist Kira Hudson Banks says.
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War's second casualty Print E-mail
By M.W. Guzy, Special to the Beacon   
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 30 July 2008 )
 

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Tortured syntax is common in war -- think of all of the fighting in Vietnam that took place in the "De-Militarized Zone." But columnist M.W. Guzy is intrigued by President Bush embracing a "time horizon" as an "aspirational goal." (illustration from a cartoon by Mike Thompson)

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Getting paid to learn: Even if it works, is it enough? Print E-mail
By Kira Hudson Banks, Special to the Beacon   
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 29 July 2008 )
 

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Paying underprivileged students who do well on achievement tests might help some, but, as columnist Kira Hudson Banks says, this one act cannot solve the problems of inequities among schools and the stresses that burden many children.

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The slippery truth about oil prices Print E-mail
By M.W. Guzy, Special to the Beacon   
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 23 July 2008 )
 

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The rise in oil prices over the past year cannot just be explained by supply and demand, especially when Saudi oil minister Prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz explains that current supply is more than adequate to meet demand. Columnist M.W. Guzy detects something rotten in the Enron loophole. (Detail from a cartoon by Marshall Ramsey.)

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Hyper inflation is coming; are you ready? Print E-mail
By Bevis Schock, Special to the Beacon   
Last Updated ( Monday, 21 July 2008 )
 

inflation.jpgThe government's solution to every problem is to print more money. This irresponsible practice wil crash down on Americans one of these days. How would you manage if money were worthless?
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The race nobody wins is the human one Print E-mail
By M.W. Guzy, Special to the Beacon   
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 16 July 2008 )
 

1957anquetil.gifWith the Tour de France under way, it's a good time to ponder the "role-model" status given athletes. Consider the story of Jacques Anquetil, who won five tours, but whose personal life and training regiments were not what most moms would wish for their sons.
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Memo to the New Yorker: Intent does not equal impact Print E-mail
By Kira Hudson Banks, Special to the Beacon   
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 15 July 2008 )
 

newykrtoon100.jpgThe New Yorker says it intended its cover as satire. But does it bear any responsibility for the impact it could have on those who don't get the joke?

(Illustration from a cartoon by Chris Britt) 

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Jackson's remarks highlight interconnection rather than division Print E-mail
By Kira Hudson Banks, Special to the Beacon   
Last Updated ( Friday, 11 July 2008 )
 

jesse100jacksoncoconinoco.jpgJesse Jackson's comments about Barack Obama demonstrate the difference of looking at issues through an institutional or individual lens. What is as troubling as the remarks is that idea that Jackson thought they weren't as bad because they were private. Photo from coconinoco, flickr
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Annie get your camcorder Print E-mail
By M.W. Guzy, Special to the Beacon   
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 09 July 2008 )
 

 Tcamcorder100sxc.hu.jpghe ACLU arms citizens wih camcorders to record abusive police. The Supreme Court safeguards individuals' right to have guns. But former police detective M.W. Guzy says neither more camcorders or guns will lead to fewer deaths.

Photo by Wazari | sxc.hu 

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Results 31 - 40 of 61

Editors' Picks

  • National
    • Bill Ayers apologizes? Well, not really. And what he should be saying right now is thank you to Barack Obama for putting him back in the limelight. | Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune

    • Has Obama really quit smoking? Maybe not: So he's not a superman. Neither are we. In a democracy, that is a good thing for ruler and ruled to know they have in common. | Michael Kinsley, Washington Post

    • Can the Republican Party expand as long as it remains bound to religion? As Kathleen Parker says, the "Republican Party -- and conservatism with it -- eventually will die out unless religion is returned to the privacy of one's heart where it belongs." | Washington Post

    • The totals are in in Florida. And the one with the most write in votes was Hillary Clinton with 234. Jesus got 23 votes, and Willie Nelson 1. Check out the entire list at Ben Smith's Blog. | Politico

    • Obama sends mixed signals on transparency: Does he really want to apply sunlight to the often shadowy depths of the executive branch, or is it merely a very good marketing campaign? | Chris Soghoian/CNET

  • World
    • Heading toward recovery? G-20 summit may not have solved the economic crisis, but it produced a good weekend of world that sets a basis. | The Economist

    • Russian President Dmitry Medvedev gave a state of the nation address the day after the U.S. election, which he said nothing about. He did refer to the United States as being to blame for two problems Russia would not back down from: war in Georgia and the world economic crisis. | The Economist

    • The U.S.-Iraq strike into Syria is yet another dangerous step by the Bush administration. One must hope that the damage will be limited until George W. Bush goes back to his ranch in Texas. | The Daily Star, Lebanon

    • Bombings throughout India should call the government to act agressively against terrorism. | The Times of India

    • The tragedy of Rwanda erupts again in Congo. What needs to be done? | The Economist

 
  • Region
    • Tobacco settlement money up in smoke - well, not quite. In fact, Missouri's getting better. It's not 49 instead of 50 in the rankings of the amount of money states spend on tobacco-use prevention, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The state needs to do a lot better. | The Joplin Globe

    • Three cheers for Wayne Goode. SE Missourian publishers says it's a critical time for Missouri's budget and Wayne Goode is the right person for the job. | Gary Rust

    • Where's the support for real clean-coal technology? The Illinois Senate should pass a bill that would further research and development of an possible clean-coal plant at Taylorville. | State Journal Register, Springfield, IL

    • Will Illinois listen to its comptroller?  Dan Hynes says the state's backlog of unpaid bills has reached $4 billion. But what are state senators worrying about? A leadership battle. | Springfield State Journal-Register

    • What will the administration of Gov. Jay Nixon mean for Missouri? The Kansas City Star also looks at initiatives that won and lost in that area.

  • U.S. Elections
    • How did newspapers display the election result? Take a look at a selection. | Robb Montgomery

    • What did the GOP do wrong? The Washington Post gathers thoughts from Ed Rogers, Carter Eskew, Alex Castellanos, Douglas Schoen, Linda Chavez, Geoff Garin, Greg Mueller and Dick Morris.

    • Aftr an election - and before the political battled begin anew - Americans should have one response to the result: Hail to the Chief. | Michael Gerson, townhall.com

    • Oh, oh, it looks as though Missouri's reputation as a bellwether state is about to go away. | Chris Suellentrop in The New York Times

    • The United States just gave America an example of what democracy means and how to conduct an election. | Haaretz , Jerusalem

Jazz with Jerome Harris

Video by Christian Cudnik

Jazz musician and educator Jerome Harris talks about the importance of teaching. See a larger version of this video and read a profile of Harris

Voices

  • In the News

    suburban138chevy.jpgThe Big Three automakers may well be facing drastic, forced reorganization, but they do not have the same compelling case for a government bailout as the financial sector had. Business professor Anjan Thakor explains the difference.

  • In the News

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    In his much-maligned "malaise" speech, President Jimmy Carter spoke of a "crisis of the American spirit" and a Congress paralyzed by special interests. He warned that shared sacrifice had been "abandoned like an orphan without support and without friends." Those warnings hold true. The United States needs to come to terms with its lowered economic position and restore its moral leadership.

  • In the News

    soa100puppet.jpgPosted 5 p.m. Mon. Nov. 17 - This weekend, nearly a hundred St. Louisans, many of them high school students, will travel to Fort Benning, GA to protest the School of the Americas. Among its graduates are some of Latin America's most notorious dictators, guilty of some of the continent's most savage human rights violations. Rachel Heidenry, who participated in the protest while a student at Nerinx Hall and Bard College, describes the experience and took the photographs that accompany the story and are in a slideshow at the end of the article.

  • Beacon Columnists

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    M.W. Guzy notes that a case can be made that the financial problem started when Congress required credit-card companies to charge a minimum payment that actually included principal as well as interest. So, shouldn't Washington get to the root of the problem?

The Lens

Giving Back

The Beacon wants to help you share the news about good deeds St. Louisans are doing. See our spotlight on those who are giving back.

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The Beacon features links to the latest work by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.This Washington-based non-profit organization promotes in-depth international coverage of topics that have been under-reported, mis-reported - or not reported at all.

To see a list on our World news page, click here . The Pulitzer Center's founder is Jon Sawyer, former Washington Bureau chief of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

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Join the folks who have already found the Beacon on Facebook, the social networking site. See the most popular stories of the day, photos, videos and upcoming events. Visit the St. Louis Beacon page on Facebook and become a fan.

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Twitter is a "microblogging" service where users can provide short updates about what they are doing. stlbeacon is our official Twitter feed – check it out to find our featured stories and the news that matters.

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Mortgage foreclosures are at the heart of the current economic crisis. The Beacon and KETC/Channel 9 have been covering how mortgage problems affect St. Louis area residents.

Visit our special section to read coverage of these issues, watch Channel 9's stories and access resources to find help.

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RSS gives you another option for reading the Beacon, in a way that may be more convenient for you. As explained below, you can use our RSS feed to get alerts about new Beacon content. The Beacon's main RSS feed is here.

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