AR, PC, and all that

(They're always out there).

From Dr. Gale Goodman: PETA killed 95% of the animals they received last year. And they dare compare chicken farms to Auswitzch?

David Zincavage reports on Thought Crime in Central Connecticut (which may be in a race with California and Maryland to be the most PC state):

"On October 3, 2008, Wahlberg and two other classmates prepared to give an oral presentation for a Communication 140 class that was required to discuss a “relevant issue in the media”. Wahlberg and his group chose to discuss school violence due to recent events such as the Virginia Tech shootings that occurred in 2007.

"Shortly after his professor, Paula Anderson, filed a complaint with the CCSU Police against her student. During the presentation Wahlberg made the point that if students were permitted to conceal carry guns on campus, the violence could have been stopped earlier in many of these cases. He also touched on the controversial idea of free gun zones on college campuses.

"That night at work, Wahlberg received a message stating that the campus police “requested his presence”. Upon entering the police station, the officers began to list off firearms that were registered under his name, and questioned him about where he kept them.

"They told Wahlberg that they had received a complaint from his professor that his presentation was making students feel “scared and uncomfortable”. ..."

Words fail..

Here is a long, thoughtful, and not at all ranty discussion of how "theory" dessicates literature and does a disservice especially to the student, who is bereft of such things as sympathy for characters and their struggles.

A few paragraphs, a couple going to the heart of the matter to show that even old- fashioned revolutionaries valued high culture, the other to point at a pet peeve of mine.

"Some of its defenders genuinely seem to believe that there is something radical or progressive about the present system. But it is worth stressing how wrong this is. The radical tradition in British politics, as on the continent, was overwhelmingly committed to education as a powerful means of personal empowerment and social improvement, and this attitude persisted well into the sixties. The motivation for replacing grammar schools with comprehensives was not to water down what was taught at the grammars, but on the contrary to ensure, in Hugh Gaitskell's phrase, ‘a grammar school education for all.'

"Even among revolutionaries, similar views prevailed and, despite a positively post-modern penchant for indoctrination, the Soviet Communist Party accepted the centrality of high culture within the school curriculum. While some Bolsheviks sought to replace ‘bourgeois culture' with a new ‘Prolecult', Lenin himself defended the importance of pupils studying ‘the material that was bequeathed to us by the old society.' (!!)

And: "Some schools go to extraordinary lengths to suppress the instinct for knowledge. Frankie -- a pupil in a large inner-city comprehensive -- told me the following story. His school has the sort of discipline and truancy problems familiar enough to many British schools, but in one respect the place is remarkably well organized: every book in the library is colour-coded according to the age of the children who are permitted to read it, and nobody is allowed to take out any book of the ‘wrong' colour. So it happened that the school authorities, grappling with the daunting problems of managing a big inner-city comprehensive, took the time and trouble to track down and punish Frankie for taking out of the library a book on how the mind works, which they considered him too young to read. "

I may scan some photos soon to show exactly what I (and my parents) thought of that attitude...

The most important thing any animal person or freedom lover who reads this blog should do: write, email,and call your Representative and tell him or her to vote against HB 875, the so- called "Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009". This insidious piece of legislation would likely put an end to all small- scale gardening, urban farming, and local markets. It has been nicknamed "The Monsanto Bill". The woman in this video can seem a little drifty, but her points on CHOICE and heirloom seeds are well taken.

The easiest way to do this is go to www.house.gov/writerep : all you have to do is put in your zip and it will give you your congresscritter and how to get in touch with them. When you call their office someone will answer the phone, just tell them (politely) that you are calling to express your views on HR 875. Tell them your views, they'll take your name and address and pass your comments along to the congressperson.

And soon we will have to deal with NAIS as well.