Fri Musings

Boy, the last three or four days have been just gorgeous!  I suppose some might want it a bit warmer, but once the wind died down....

Is it true that Williams College, the dread Purple Cows, invited a porn star to campus for a guest lecture?  You must be kidding me!  C'mon--is that true?  Here's the kicker, one student purportedly remarked, "Every feature on the cultural landscape, including porn, it entitled to critical analysis."  "Accept and Respect" is alive and well in the US--much to our detriment.  Thanks to an AC classmate for this tidbit.

Speaking of "every feature...critical analysis," I wonder what this student or even Williams College and all other colleges think of opening a legitimate discourse on race and racism.  Race and racism, unless approached in the proper way (that is, in the politically correct way), are taboo for discussion.  Note the barbs on campus, in the media, among politicians in this regard.  See how Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, even Clarence Thomas are ignored or vilified.  Are we so frightened of being labeled "racist" that we refuse to confront some realities?

One of those realities occurred in Detroit the other day.  A prominent black minister, a member of a nationally-known gospel-singing family, was mugged, beaten, and carjacked--in Detroit, at a self-serve gas station, on a busy street, in broad daylight.  And, according to witnesses and local residents, this isn't a rare incident--it happens all of the time!  Ironically, the same front page that carried this story had another detailing the flight of middle-class black families to nearby Macomb County.  One emigre said, "It [Macomb] is much better.  When we call the police, they come."  I have few doubts that the police in Detroit themselves are handcuffed, prevented from doing their jobs.  Sheer volumes of crime, staffing cutbacks, political correctness, silence from the community (those who know the criminals/perpetrators) all weigh in on this.  Is this the kind of place to live?  This is the great Detroit I knew growing up, where I could take my bike to any part of the city at any time of day or night, in my early teens, and not feel at all threatened.  Gee, we have lots of National Guardsmen on duty (at least those back from Iraq and Afghanistan--why are they there again?) who might be put to use in Detroit.  Does anyone have any other ideas on how to get rid of crime?  No, the old "poor education," unemployment, etc. stuff won't work.  There's no excuse, none, for beating a 54-year old minister or any other innocent citizen for that matter.

Is it true that the University of North Carolina, in a self-investigation, uncovered 54 cases of academic fraud in a single department?  I don't know if other departments are being investigated, too, or if this is the only one with such a discovery.  But the department is African and African-American Studies.  I might suggest many universities' schools of education also be investigated, if not for academic fraud, but at least for not engaging in educational rigor and quality.

No time to review it here and now, but have you noted the new book out, The Amateur, by Ed Klein?  It's findings are devastating, if anyone is paying attention.  They obviously aren't since I've heard the finals of DWTS and Am Idol are coming soon.  But if anyone has any doubts about the rotten Presidency of Barak Obama, this book will be convincing--that is, the one fits the adage, "There is none so blind as he who will not see."  What is it people say about "drinking the Kool-Aid?"  Why isn't the media all over this one?

Out to enjoy a bike ride outside with the Codester.