Thursday, August 22, 2013

Worthy Reading -- August 22

Twitter continues to be a rich source of reading links but Facebook and broadcast media are fertile ground for more reflective pieces.

This first link, via a Facebook friend, describes a creeping trend in post-secondary education which has been going on most of my life, that one comment described the morphing of college into "one big vocational school."
On the Death of Democratic Higher Education
Rick Perlstein 

August 21
Snip:
...Now all we seem to care about is reproducing the managerial class. 
It changed slowly at first, but then with headlong rapidity. Ronald Reagan was a leading indicator: he instituted tuition at the University of California system, famously asking why California taxpayers should be forced “to subsidize intellectual curiosity.” (But subsidizing intellectual curiosity was what made California one of the most prosperous economies in the world.) 


Egypt’s Military: Doing What Germany’s Should Have Done in 1933
By Robert Reilly
August 16, 2013
The title says it all. The argument is persuasive. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No link here but this message rings true to me for some reason. The military has shown itself to be a more serious presence to Egyptians on the street than the former (civilian) strong man.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Speaking of Germany, there is also this.
Merkel's European Failure: Germany Dozes on a Volcano
By Jürgen Habermas
Angela Merkel's government is forcing Southern Europe to undertake profound reforms while at the same time denying its own responsibility for the consequences of its crisis policies. Germany is risking a historic failure with its shortsighted wrangling.

It's easy to ignore the rest of the world when events in Egypt and the rest of the Middle East seem so important. But the strategic implications of what's at stake, whether it be economic balance (global currency and banking), military balance of power or everyday non-governmental commerce (Suez Canal, oil prices) make struggles of South Europe worth watching. That's the side of Europe geographically closest to the fire.
He's right, you know. The number of Syrian refugees who have fled to safety in Jordan is now passing the one million mark. And how many have gone to Europe (which is not much further)?
Ever hear the word "sanctimonious"?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
via another Facebook friend
New Poll Shows A Third of Louisiana Republicans Blame President Obama for Katrina Response
August 21, 2013 
Read it and weep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No comments:

Post a Comment