Benton Bullies Kaylin

You always have to wonder how low he'll stoop, but Falls Church News-Press "Owner-Editor" Nicholas Benton unleashed a crude ad hominem attack on City Council Member Ira Kaylin in last week's editorial.  As usual, Benton includes a dozen or so unintended ironies.  The best is his intense scorn for all bankers everywhere.  Apparently Kaylin used to be a banker, we are told.

Of course, Benton elsewhere has proudly noted that bankers served a useful purpose some 20 years ago when he needed seed money for his startup newspaper.  Back then, he gathered a dozen or so postcards from members of the local Chamber of Commerce and used them for collateral for a bank loan.  So, by his logic, I guess that makes Benton a pliable tool both of the business community and of Wall Street. Wouldn't that make him worse than what he accuses Kaylin of?

Sad Decline of Falls Church's George Mason High School

The Washington Post (15 April edition) documents the continuing decline of the quality of George Mason High School.  Now ranked #9 in the region, the plummet is particularly appalling after GMHS was solidly #1 from 1998-2003.

George Mason's standing nationally is in freefall, from being #1 for years to a bottom-dwelling #103.