Late Night Reading

My noctural ways persist. I've spent the better part of the evening as I usually do, cruising my favorite blogs. I did take an hour off to watch The Simpsons and South Park, though! One needs some relief from all the sturm und drang that's been the biggest part of my reading of late. South Park is great for this purpose.

So, anyway. The inimitable Dr. Sanity provided the links to the following three articles. Actually, she provided two, I got the third from following links in the Sigmund, Carl and Alfred post the good doctor directed me to. There are worse things you can do with your time other than reading what's linked below!

The Coming of the Bomb, at The Belmont Club. Since this is a relatively old post (this past Tuesday), the comments section is long and extensive. It is also, for the most part, enlightened and informative. Wretchard runs a tight ship, in more ways than one. Some heavy hitters weigh in in the comments section; don't miss it. You can always scroll through and cherry-pick. Very provocative, and, in my eyes, required reading.

And here’s two interesting nuggets, if only for a change of pace!

Sigmund, Carl and Alfred encounter “reality” on a college campus.

Also by way of SC&A is commentary (What I Told Pennsylvania's Academic Freedom Hearings) by David Horowitz on another of my hot-button issues, academic indoctrination. Horowitz’s article is a relatively long read, but it is damning testimony about the level of left-wing indoctrination that passes for “education” in academia today. Horowitz is the leading proponent of a movement to guarantee students’ rights against academic indoctrination. He describes the movement thusly: “The Academic Bill of Rights is furthermore an attempt to express and codify as student rights what are already recognized as faculty responsibilities in regard to academic freedom.” Horowitz isn't about silencing the left side of the house, he's all about equal time.

Here’s a sample from the article:

Here is a comment taken from an interview we conducted with a Temple student: “The Chairman of the History Department, who is my adviser, told me during advising that ‘If Bush gets re-elected we will have a fascist country.’ He [told me] he will be scared for his survival and will consider possibly moving to Canada. That’s scary coming from a history professor.”

It is also entirely unprofessional. This student was in his adviser’s office for a “graduation review” – that is, for advice on the courses he needed to complete his major and graduate. This particular student also observed in the interview: “All the professors had Kerry [election] signs on their [office] doors…. Every single door to the offices, all the professors had a Kerry sign….We also have ‘God Is Not A Republican’ signs all over campus.”

I wonder what will be the outcome of the Pennsylvania hearings? There is positive movement in this area: Colorado, Ohio and Tennessee have all changed their academic policies as a result of academic freedom efforts spearheaded by Mr. Horowitz. And that is good news, indeed.