Sunday, November 30, 2008

Time Magazine - Dec 8 Issue

Quite a few interesting articles from the most recent issue of Time Magazine...



The cover story is about Michelle Rhee, the controversial chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools system. It's a look at Rhee and her efforts to turn around the extremely troubled public schools in Washington D.C. and makes one think about Rhee's overriding philosophy that students will do better when they have better teachers... and the way you get better teachers is through better pay for the best ones. Interesting read...

Also in this issue was a look at President-elect Barack Obama's actions around the economic crisis titled "Why He Just Can't Wait". It chronicles the steps that have already been taken to prop up the economy prior to the Jan 20, 2009 inauguration and shows someone who appears to be really stepping up to a huge challenge.

Two different smaller pieces of note from this issue are below:

1. "Don't Panic, Retirees" from money writer Dan Kadlec which among other points makes the argument that the market should be going up and people should invest now to realize those gains.

2. The last-page essay from Nancy Gibbs about the current rush to collect items related to the Barack Obama election victory. Gibbs is a very poignant writer and I really enjoyed this piece that takes a broader look at collections as a whole and how as she puts it "collectibles are the memory of the moments that make us who we are."