NEOCONSERVATISM: “These Guys”
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Category Archives: Neoliberalism
EDUCATION: PZ Myers / “Woe is U.S. Academics”
Have you been following Doonesbury for the past few weeks? It’s been all about the progressive destruction of the American university, as the old model is replaced by the for-profit university, a hideous scheme in which state and federal support for higher education gets siphoned off to support lousy schools that grind through massive numbers of students, offering low tuition, flexible hours, and a fast-track to a degree…and with abysmal retention rates, low success, marginally qualified ‘faculty’, and an education that is worth less than you paid for it. These are the colleges you see advertised on cheesy commercials on television, in which some guy proudly testifies about getting his fancy diploma working only a few hours a week at night over two years, and never having to step away from his computer to do it.
IN MEMORIAM: Mr Fish / “Rest in Peace, Dear Gore”
Cartoon credit: Mr Fish
PLUTOCRACY: “What Happens When ‘Schoolhouse Rock’ Goes Horribly Wrong”
h/t: MoveOn.org
IN MEMORIAM: Gore Vidal / “Gore Vidal, American Writer And Cultural Critic, Dies” / (AUDIO)
Gore Vidal came from a generation of novelists whose fiction gave them a political platform. Norman Mailer ran for mayor of New York City; Kurt Vonnegut became an anti-war spokesman. And Vidal was an all-around critic. His novels sometimes infuriated readers with unflattering portraits of American history.
He also wrote essays and screenplays, and his play The Best Man currently has a revival on Broadway.
Vidal died Tuesday at his home in the Hollywood Hills, from complications of pneumonia. He was 86 years old.
Related articles
- US author Gore Vidal dies aged 86 (bbc.co.uk)
- Gore Vidal: a life in pictures (guardian.co.uk)
- Gore Vidal quotes: 26 of the best (guardian.co.uk)
- Hail and Farewell, Gore Vidal (truthdig.com)
- Gore Vidal: Born-again atheist (examiner.com)
- Gore Vidal Remembered: 2003 Interview With Late Iconoclastic Writer & Longtime Critic of U.S. Empire (democracynow.org)
- Democracy Now! Shows Featuring Gore Vidal (democracynow.org)
- Gore Vidal and His Reading List for America (billmoyers.com)
- Gore Vidal in ‘The Nation’ (thenation.com)
LOGIC: Cult of Dusty / “If I Was President”
REASON: Thom Hartmann / “Why Would Anyone Proudly Call Themselves a Conservative?”
PROGRESSIVISM: Robert Reich / “What’s at Stake in the 2012 Election”
CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGE: “Louisiana Revelation: School Voucher Funding – It’s Not Just For Christians Any More”
A member of the Louisiana House of Representatives who eagerly supported Gov. Bobby Jindal’s plan to fund private schools has had an epiphany: Muslim schools might start getting taxpayer money!
Rep. Valarie Hodges, a Republican who represents East Baton Rouge and Livingston, now says she wishes she hadn’t voted for the Jindal voucher bill.
“I actually support funding for teaching the fundamentals of America’s Founding Fathers’ religion, which is Christianity, in public schools or private schools,” Hodges told theLivingston Parish News.
[…]
Where to begin? Hodges’ bigotry is perhaps only rivaled by her ignorance of constitutional and legal principles. Of course Muslim schools will qualify for funding under a voucher plan. When programs like this are set up that dole out benefits to religious schools, the government can’t play favorites. That’s basic.
Related articles
- Louisiana Republican: When I Voted for State Funds to go to Religious Schools, I Didn’t Mean Muslim Ones (patheos.com)
- Louisiana Revelation: School voucher funding isn’t just for Christians? (secularnewsdaily.com)
- ‘Religion’ is not a synonym for ‘Christianity’ – The Wild Hunt (patheos.com)
- ‘Muddying up the narrative’ on vouchers (maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com)
PHILOSOPHY: George Carlin / “The End of America and Social Stratification” / “Religion and Consumerism”
Part 1: “The End of America and Social Stratification”
Part 2: “Religion and Consumerism”
Always Question Authority 