Conservatives deal with facts and reach conclusions; liberals have conclusions and sell them as facts.
I could — as others already have — devote my blog to portraying the insanity that passes for higher education at so many American Universities and Colleges. I've opted not to, since there are other things I want to maunder on about here. Nevertheless, occasionally something going on at one
Continue readingYesterday, I blogged about a bill in the California Legislature aimed, essentially, at creating a Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender History month, akin to Black History Month and Women's day, and whatever other day or month identity politics has co-opted. I've been thinking a lot about that since yesterday, and wondering why it bothers
Continue readingI'm a little behind the curve on this one — I only heard it through one of Jay Leno's endless gay jokes — but now, having heard it, I'm still gasping for air. Here's the language the California Senate is considering enacting as new law in California (Senate Bill 1437;
Continue readingOhio State University has grandiose plans: " The Ohio State University aspires to become one of the world's great public research and teaching universities." As part of this vision, it advances core values it believes are inextricably intertwined with academic greatness: Pursue knowledge for its own sake. Ignite in our
Continue readingAbout twenty-five years ago, when I started college, I struck up a casual friendship with a Latina woman in one of my history classes. She told me that she was the first person in her family to have graduated from high school and, of course, the first to attend college.
Continue readingCalifornia educators are all a-tizzy because their students now have to actually know something to graduate from high school. Democrats, particularly, are up in arms that graduation should be conditioned on demonstrating a minimal level of achievement. While the controversy is becoming acute now, as graduation day approaches, this story nicely
Continue readingHave you ever read Daddy Long Legs? Written in 1912, it's a charming story about a young orphan, Judy, who is sent to college by an anonymous trustee, her only obligation being to write him letters about her college experience. It's one of my favorite examples of an epistolatory book.
Continue readingIn a rather stumbling way, I asked why immigrants don't love America, and said that I wished our schools would be required to teach students what's great about America. Ironically, one day later, the Wall Street Journal published Peggy Noonan's elegant, lyrical reflection on the same point. She begins by
Continue readingHave you heard of Joanne Jacobs? She's a former San Jose Mercury News editorial writer and Knight Ridder columnist whose beat (at least in recent years) has been education. I've consistently enjoyed her articles whenever I've read them, and you can track what she's writing here, at her website. A
Continue reading‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone,’ it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.’ ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’ ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to
Continue readingIt’s up to the schools to keep our kids safe, right? It’s also their responsibility to stop bad drug habits before they start, right? That’s why it’s absolutely incumbent for a well run school district to place a 6 year old in detention and take it very, very seriously, when
Continue readingMike Adams wrote a great column today declaring his independence to act precisely as his students do: rude, careless, and irresponsible, just because it feels good. The reductio ad absurdum of this selfishness, of course, is what’s going on in France, where the students are perfectly happy to see the
Continue reading