It’s OK to sleep next to your infant child
In most of the rest of the world, parent-child co-sleeping is well-established, as we have found in our studies in Africa (Nigeria, Kenya and Zambia), Asia (Nepal, India) and Latin America (Mexico, Colombia) and as other anthropologists have reported from other sites in those areas. Indeed, many parents think it’s downright cruel to put a baby in a separate room or even a separate bed. Who would do such a heartless thing?
... The proven benefits of mother-infant co-sleeping far outweigh the largely imaginary risks. Putting a baby in a separate room at night encumbers parents and leads to their exhaustion without guaranteeing the safety or future character development of their children.
... if Americans looked to parents in other cultures, they would perhaps realize that the “best” way to raise a child is not necessarily the most difficult, and ease up a bit.
Robert & Sarah LeVine
Los Angeles Times
How to reform policing from within
You have to understand the police and their worldview. ...
You have to show them you care about them, their safety, job satisfaction and careers. And you have to prove it by making fundamental changes in management, equipment, working conditions, training, discipline and operations.
Then you have to motivate other leaders in the organization to share your vision and sense of urgency. You have to reach out to the idealist who lives in the heart of many a cynical cop, the officer who joined the police to help people and make a better world. This is a profession in which you can have a life of significance, a life that matters.
William J. Bratton
The New York Times
Your vote matters
Now, maybe you don’t care. Maybe you consider center-left policies just as bad as hard-right policies. And maybe you have somehow managed to reconcile that disdain with tolerance for libertarian free-market mania. If so, by all means vote for Mr. Johnson.
But don’t vote for a minor-party candidate to make a statement. Nobody cares.
... Can you really imagine a triumphant Mr. Trump showing restraint out of respect for all those libertarian votes?
Your vote matters, and you should act accordingly — which means thinking seriously about what you want to see happen to America.
Paul Krugman
The New York Times
Politicians are going to have to work very hard to earn back the trust of the people. …
Democracy has to deliver — not just to the rich but the most vulnerable. This is a fundamental lesson of recent times.
When democracy creates wealth on a broad scale there is no tension between it and capitalism. But when that is not the case, the value of democracy becomes less clear to some. There are tremendous tensions between democratic national sovereignty, open global markets and mass migration.
The answer is not to build walls. Western societies need to build education and innovation and opportunity. A time of great uncertainty is upon the world.
Roger Cohen
The New York Times
College rankings are a joke
The rankings nourish the myth that the richest, most selective colleges have some corner on superior education; don’t adequately recognize public institutions that prioritize access and affordability; and do insufficient justice to the particular virtues of individual campuses.
... But those rankings are front and center, fostering the idea that schools are brands in competition with one another. The rankings elevate clout above learning, which isn’t as easily measured.
Intentionally or not, they fuel a frenzy to get into the most selective schools. They can’t adjust for how well certain colleges serve certain ambitions.
Frank Bruni
The New York Times
Why Edward Snowden should be pardoned
Cases like Edward Snowden’s are precisely the reason the president’s constitutional pardon power exists.
Obama has prosecuted more whistleblowers than any other president in U.S. history. Pardoning Snowden won’t undo that legacy, but it will help affirm the critical role whistleblowers have always played in helping our country correct for government overreach. It will also signal that citizens must have a seat at the table in deciding how we run our democracy.
Anthony Romero
Los Angeles Times