What is it they say? Two steps forward and one step backward? That’s sometimes cited as a formula for the pace of social and governmental advance in this country. And in this state, for that matter. Those who followed the moves of the Tennessee state government in the wake of last year’s election can certainly […]
Posted inEditorial, Opinion
Electrolux Deal: Time to Rethink the Industrial-Development Process
The catastrophic news late last week of the imminent closing of the Electrolux plant at Pidgeon Industrial Park underscored the importance of long-overdue efforts currently underway to examine the incentives policies employed locally to recruit industry and, more generally, to reform the industrial development process. It was not even a decade ago that the announcement […]
Posted inFood & Wine, Food & Drink
Love Bites
Bhan Thai 1324 Peabody (272-1538) bhanthairestaurant.com Come celebrate Valentine’s week with us, Thursday, February 14th through Sunday, February 17th. Chef Sorrasit “Alex” Sittranont will serve up specials throughout the weekend sure to please your better half’s palate. Be sure to visit our covered patio out back for a delicious cocktail and fellowship. Ferraro’s Pizzeria & […]
Posted inEditorial, Opinion
Grading Government on the Curve
It is probably too early to give out report cards on our various branches of government, but before we move deeper into what could turn out to be a crucial year, a little preliminary judgmentalism might serve a constructive purpose. Justin Fox Burks Lee Harris To start with the national government: Now, that is an […]
Posted inNews, News Feature
Best Doctors
The Flyer has commissioned the Best Doctors to provide this list of best physicians in the Memphis/Shelby County area. Doctors cannot pay to be on the list. Of course, no list is definitive, and if your physician is not included, it does not reflect negatively on his or her abilities. Any survey, no matter how […]
Posted inEditorial, Opinion
A Seasonal Summing-Up for Memphis and Shelby County
As Memphis and Shelby County headed into the heart of the holiday season, the two entities and their resident populations had much to rejoice about and many serious concerns as well. For purposes of contrast, merely consider the rather different facts reflected in the respective circumstances of the two major local legislative bodies — the […]
Posted inEditorial, Opinion
Vote No on All Three November Election Referenda
We have said all this before, but if there is one maxim regarding the process of communication worth trusting, it is that nothing benefits a message like repetition. This is as valid about falsehoods as it is about truths. Witness only the role of rote in the command psychology of ruling entities, whether fictional, as […]
Posted inEditorial, Opinion
Attack Ads Insult Voters’ Intelligence
One of the object lessons of the late political-primary season was the realization that you can dumb down political messages to the point that even the dimmest of voters is too smart to be hoodwinked. The perfect example was the GOP gubernatorial primary, when two multi-millionaires, Diane Black and Randy Boyd, decided to blow their […]
Posted inEditorial, Opinion
Memphis EDGE is in Flux
Last week saw the first meeting of a blue-ribbon local board charged with reviewing the current status of the Memphis area’s economic development in general and the efforts toward that end of EDGE (Economic Deveopment and Growth Engine) in particular. EDGE was created some years ago as a joint city/county enterprise that could coordinate local efforts […]
Posted inEditorial, Opinion
MPD Surveillance of Law-abiding Activists is a Bridge Too Far
As we go to press, the ACLU’s lawsuit has begun against the city of Memphis for allegedly breaking a 1978 consent decree forbidding it to engage in “political intelligence” against local activists. Scratch “allegedly.” The presiding jurist, U.S. District Judge Jon McCalla, has already declared the city to be in violation of the decree, but has […]
Posted inEditorial, Opinion
Tribunes of the People
Let’s get one thing straight: There is such a thing as “fake news,” but 1) it isn’t what Donald Trump says it is; and 2) his claim that he invented the term is itself a bit of fake news. The term came into being during the presidential campaign of 2016 as a description of misinformation […]
Posted inEditorial, Opinion
The Lessons of Watergate
It was some 44 years ago, in the dog days of a humid summer, when the members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee met to consider articles of impeachment against the president of the United States, Richard M. Nixon. This was at a late point in the ever worsening saga that had begun with a […]