This morning's New York Times reports in a front-page, above-the fold article on a 19-year-old who is working as a corrections officer at a state prison in Kansas. The headline says, "Desperate for Prison Guards, Some States Even Rob Cradles." The prominent placement and the breathless headline ("Even") make it seem like the Times thinks this is somehow exceptional or a big deal. The article reports that "Some corrections officers and experts question whether teenagers have the maturity to be guards."
You have to read pretty far into the article before a prison warden notes that 18-year olds can serve in the military. They can also vote. Keep an eye out for an upcoming front-page New York Times article under a headline like "U.S. Army Even Robs Cradles."
Capital Gains: A news article in this morning's New York Times reports that Republicans in Congress are considering an attempt to cut the capital-gains tax. Rather than interviewing someone opposed to such a cut, the Times just tells its readers in its own voice why such a cut would be a bad idea: "The great bulk of stocks and bonds are held by wealthy investors. A capital-gains tax cut would mostly benefit the well-to-do and would offer relatively little directly to typical taxpayers. Democrats generally oppose reducing the capital-gains rate."
This is so wrongheaded it's hard to know where to begin, but, for one thing, there are plenty of "typical," not "wealthy" Americans who in 2001 own stocks and bonds through mutual funds, individual retirement accounts and 401K plans. Criticizing a capital-gains-tax cut on these grounds is about as silly as saying, "The great bulk of stocks and bonds are held by wealthy investors. The stock tables printed each day in the New York Times mostly benefit the well-to-do and offer relatively little benefit to typical readers." The Times claims that Democrats "generally oppose reducing the capital-gains rate," but it fails to note that Senator Torricelli has favored a capital-gains-tax reduction, and it fails to note that the last capital-gains-tax cut, which had a positive effect on government revenues, was signed into law by President Clinton.
Correction: Yesterday's Smartertimes.com item praising the New York Times dispatch from Yuntang, China ran under the headline, "A Good Scoop." A better headline would have been "Late Again." The Baltimore Sun reported the news from Yuntang in a dispatch by Frank Langfitt on April 18, two days before the Times did.
Note: Smartertimes.com is in California and operating off the national edition of the New York Times.