[blogfocus] the way forward in life

These bloggers are also concerned about the family:

David Farrer looks at the burden of an aging society, taxation and transparency: "An aging population implies extraordinarily high levels of taxation in the future. We should be treated like adults and be told the true size of the liabilities that are being incurred. The private sector must disclose almost everything. Why won't the government?"

James Cleverly approves of David Cameron pushing for age laws to be homogenised and for young people to earn the title adult rather than just hitting an arbitrary age point. He goes on to say that he’s pleased DC has looked to the charitable sector to run with this, supported by but not run by the Conservative party; this is very much in keeping with the ideas that he put forward here.

Tim Montgomerie agrees. "School leavers who prove they are good citizens could be allowed to drink in pubs and place bets earlier than their less responsible contemporaries, under plans advanced yesterday by David Cameron." Behave yourself earlier, then you can binge drink and gamble earlier as well.

Some bloggers feel other political solutions are the first priority:

Guido Fawkes says that for a start we can stop wasting money: "Couldn't the government have got a local adviser, someone who doesn't have to fly across the Atlantic to tell us, err, not to fly across the Atlantic? Just a thought."

Paul Linford rues political errors of the past: "When I went to bed at 2am on 8th November 2000 after watching the early results come in, Gore was US president-elect. When I got up at 7am and turned the telly back on, Bush was. There are very few people among my own circle of friends who do not think the world would now be a much better place had that reversal of fortune not occurred."

Minette Marrin refers to core conservative beliefs: "But there are two convictions that do almost amount to Conservative dogma: a belief in freedom, as far as possible, and a related belief in a small state, as far as possible. In my life there has been a truly astonishing growth of the state and its power to direct our lives and a concomitant loss of freedom."

Wat Tyler says: "As we've blogged many times before, Britain doesn't need politicos dreaming up yet more pie in the sky "policy" ideas and then walking away from the impossibility of implementation."

And Stephen Pollard questions the figures: "Gordon Brown says that carbon trading could lead to 100,000 new jobs. Don't you just hate those entirely spurious figures that get bandied about? Why not 98,000? Why not 102,000?"

Moving across the channel to Europe:

Dymphna writes of the French: "In Paris, Marseille, Lyon - it’s as though you are watching a large pot boil and all the frogs in the soup are claiming everything is très bien, merci."

Iain Dale considers what France [and presumably the rest of the sentient world] needs is in the Economist photo in his post.

And Prodicus despairs of Europe: "And yet... and yet... I am bloody desperate to get the UK out of the EU - and I would love to kick all Westminster's EU fellow-travellers up the backside."

On the wider issue of coming to terms with extremism and state terrorism:

Tom Paine says: "If we open our minds to what is going on around us, we can see that - for all our justified fears about Islamic extremism - many of our current problems are not a question of what is wrong with them, but what is wrong with us."

With which Melanie Phillips takes issue: "In both cases, the ending of occupation [Gaza, Palestine]merely facilitated even greater aggression. Instead of ‘land for peace’, the real deal is land for war."

And Oliver Kamm concludes, on the far-east: "Clarity is essential to deterrence. During the Cold War, on at least two occasions the world came close to nuclear disaster. [Cuba missile crisis in 1962, and the Soviet fear of a Nato nuclear first strikein 1983.] We can be still less confident that deterrence is robust when we are dealing with an irrational political agent such as Kim Jong-il."

Some bloggers are optimistic about the future and some are less so:

Clive Davis was cautiously optimistic: "I agree that Europe faces major challenges over assimilation, and that we've been lax about Islamist extremists. No question about it. What I don't care for is the way that certain American conservatives are so eager to forecast an imminent apocalypse."

Phil, at Existing Actually, waxes lyrical about the perfect world: "This isn’t a world where gains are wiped out by their cost, where dilemmas are unresolvable or where darkness means more than the absence of light. It’s a bright and mostly beautiful world, where external threats needs to be resisted because people matter - and people matter because of their capacity to love." Though he was referring to a film, it could equally have applied to life and our way forward … maybe.

Bryan Appleyard is a little less optimistic about our future: "Will we ever do anything? Can our reason overcome our tribal natures? This far from the Enlightenment and after the unprecedented savagery of the twentieth century, the answer would appear to be no."

Deogolwulf gives this a twist, in Fewtrill #137: "Perhaps the depth of our downfall should be measured by the number of sociological schemes for our salvation."

Which then brings us to climate change:

And Cllr Gavin Ayling is in no doubt: "Let's be quite clear. If we want to stop human-caused climate change we must make international agreements. Failure to do that makes any unilateral action pointless."

The Englishman comments: "My own quick reading is that Stern is a very clever man who has built a fantastic castle of recommendations and policy suggestions but that he has not felt it part of his remit to check the foundations he is building on."

The final word on this is from Tim Worstall, who struggles to wade through the Stern Report: "Indeed, it's repeated several times that whatever we do on our own will have no effect whatsoever, being entirely swamped by rises elsewhere."

Some feel we should just get back to traditional values:

The Canadian, Neocon, asks: "What the hell has happened to independent thought in this country? Let's get our priorities straight before we all drown in the muck of political correctness." This could apply across the globe.

On this side of the pond, Monty Lionheart demands: "But unless people stand up and demand that our representatives stop abusing the positions of leadership we entrust to them, this creeping surveillance society will be too big to roll back."

And Cleanthes [no doubt to a large chorus out there] feels that too many have forgotten what the Remembrance Day poppy really represents: "In fact, the poppy represents everything that we would seek to protect about the “British way of life” and everything that the ID card, by its very nature, is not."

Dave Hill takes a historical approach in asking us to learn the lessons of Sherwood Forest: "There is, of course, another way of looking at it: Know Thine Enemy is a sound military principle; saving the lives of children is a fine Christian tradition; and Robin's commitment to both helps explain why he was prepared to risk his life to see England ruled justly and well. Just thought I'd mention it."


Chris Dillow is far more Draconian: "So what would stop gun murders? This new paper (pdf) by Naci Mocan has a depressing finding - the death penalty. People respond to incentives. Of course, there's much to be said against the death penalty. But perhaps our opposition to it carries a cost, of murders that would not otherwise happen."

Next to last, a pot-pourri of suggestions for a happier life:

Duncan has the solution for the lads but is strangely silent about the lasses: "Whenever I’m busy or tired — like I have been for the past few weeks — there is a certain five minute long routine which is always the first to be knocked off the schedule. I’ve mentioned before on this blog that I really can’t be bothered shaving."

Jeffrey Archer gives a timely warning for those of us contemplating travel: "Flew to Amsterdam for the launch of the Dutch edition of False Impression. But what could go wrong? Returned the following day, to find that Australia were beating us up (cricket)." Always a danger if you go gallivanting around the world, Jeffrey.

Mr. Eugenides thinks a good Chinese meal is the way forward but that this can be fraught with danger: "I then discover, in the course of my googling, that [his favourite café] was not being renovated at all, but was closed down by the Council earlier this month because its kitchen was badly infested with beetles and mice, and food was at severe risk of contamination as a result." Strangely, this seemed to put him off.

For Johnathan Pearce, the answer lies, not in politics nor in the 80s mullet haircuts but in music: "In my 'umble opinion, you can keep your droning Coldplays, Travises and thuggish Oasises; for me, nothing comes close to the brio of Madness, the wonderful, cleverness of the Stranglers or for that matter, these dudes from Norway."

Reading! That’s the thing, according to L’Ombre de l’Olivier this week: "I spent most of the first week of October on the plane, in airports and / or suffering from jetlag. This gave me much time to read. And the fact that I passed through London on the way to Baahston meant good selections of English language books to read."

Vox Day agrees reading is the way to go but not the life of a scribe: "Writing fiction is one of the least efficient means of producing income known to man, so you might as well embrace it as an interesting hobby instead of an income-producing career."

Ellee Seymour has a novel solution: "Maybe The Times could start by offering walking holidays to readers instead of free flights, encouraging people to reconnect with their countryside and the environment they are protecting."

Serf suggests following the example of the great and famous offers benefits: "In the USA, Christians often ask the question, 'What would Jesus have done?' Those of us of a more secular bent are, however, not much different. We frequently read commentators claiming that some political philosopher or other would take some view or other." He’s sceptical about this.

The Tin Drummer considers the way forward is all in the mind: "England 'retain World Cup Belief'. In other news: 'Pigs 'retain flight belief''; 'Dawkins 'retains supernatural being belief'' and 'Bears 'retain egesting food in a lavatorial situation belief''."

Sam Brett asks, in her womanly way: "Would you flirt to get ahead?"

Sleep! That’s the thing, according to Norman Geras [or rather a catnap]: "Here's an article in defence of taking a short nap during the day. As if the practice needed defending. Just 10 to 15 minutes, without even moving from your seat, and you're the better for it. And don't let me hear you at the back there muttering about age. I've been doing it all my adult life."

Technology is the way forward, according to two bloggers:

Tim deLisle knows that cricket is happiness and preparation wins cricket matches and so: "Every England player has a Sony Vaio laptop. Does Pietersen just use his for watching DVDs of action movies, or does he study the footage that is routinely supplied to him of all opposing players?"

Close to my heart after all the Blogger woes, a trouble free computer would be a start. DK says: "Finding a fellow Mac enthusiast is a bit like overhearing someone using a Molesworth phrase (such as the one commonly used in letters to Private Eye: "as any fule kno"): you have an immediate connection."

A final thought:

Sometimes, it’s the little things which make us happy. Reactionary Snob is happier here than I can ever recall: "All too often I use my blog to berate, scald and insult - but someone, somewhere, has made me a wee bit happier on 'Clocks Go Back Day'. Incidentally, CGBD is one of the favourite days of the year anyway."

Currently inactive:

http://www.dailypropaganda.co.uk/
http://vented-spleen.blogspot.com/
http://indecent-left.blogspot.com/

More blogfocus on Saturday evening, at 21:00 [London time].

After I post, I always scour for rejected bloggers and sure enough, Blogger.com, as usual, has chosen one victim to reject, this time round: Black Quill. He feels that society's ills would be less if the bobbies went back to their traditions. "Yes, bobbies, dialogue, and a heavy clip round the ear should do it." [Unfortunately, Blogger.com refuses to accept any url for Quinlan but you'll find his site in my sidebar.]

[literature] sunday evening quiz

Sunday literature quiz continued:

3. A leading politician of the French Revolution spends the entirety of this play sitting in a bath, cooling his skin disease, while amongst other incidents, a group of lunatics taunt and persecute him.

4. A hapless cuckolded gentleman becomes an explorer in Brazil, gets hopelessly lost and ill, and is forced to spend the rest of his life reading the complete works of Dickens to the mad old man who rescues him.

5. A wealthy American reaches self-fulfilment blowing up a water tank infested with frogs and is introduced to a pet lion in the den of an African tribal king.

6. A legal clerk working on Wall Street, answers every request from his employer with the gentle rebuttal, 'I should prefer not to'. Eventually this preference not to take part, leads him to give up food and he dies of starvation.

7. The lady of the castle, and mother of the principal character, is forever accompanied by a mass of cats, who swarm around her feet like a sea of white fur.

Quiz Lite – use the clues below to identify the novels and authors:

a. Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow
b. Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville
c. Marat Sade by Peter Weiss
d. The Third Policemen by Flann O'Brien
e. The Great Pursuit by Tom Sharpe
f. Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
g. A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh


Answers – no peeking!

1d, 2e, 3c, 4g, 5a, 6b, 7f

[blogfocus] the concise and the succinct

On the theme of unpleasant people:

The Ranting Guttersnipe offers: Brown appears to be Blair without the smile.

James Cleverly, [referring to the paedophile asked how he’d like to be punished], writes: Apparently he was given the choice of three years in prison or three years in Canada; he chose Canada.

Iain Dale will have to be visited to discover the object of his ire: Unlike most bloggers, I don't generally believe in conspiracy theories, but in this case I smell a rat - and it's rapidly decomposing.

Vox Day’s eagle eye spots this: Later that evening, Ms Rodham-Clinton refused to comment upon a patch of green scales that has recently appeared on the left side of her neck.

Wat Tyler nails it: The most expensive [polly] is Gorgeous George Galloway, who's clearly far too busy on Big Brother etc to attend the Commons. Still at least that way he can't do so much damage.

Colin Campbell [on Donald Rumsfeld’s excuses]: This is what you hear from people with mental illnesses. "God told me to do it."

The Tin Drummer [referring to the Hindley-Longford show]: This shows what they can do when it isn't written or produced by people who think adults are just teenagers with a slightly lower sex drive and shorter attention spans.

DK is in fine fettle: I still believe that we should ask ourselves whether we are so evil and irresponsible that we deserve Patsy Hewitt, a woman who epitomises sanctimonious stupidity.

Mr. Eugenides adds, in support: But seriously, when we are faced with the spectacle of government ministers announcing tax rises in interviews to toddlers, how can mere insults summarise the nadir we have reached?

Neocon writes of street crime: The next time someone tells you that there is less street crime nowadays, ask them if they leave their doors unlocked overnight.

And Minette Marrin writes of the mind: These days you hardly ever hear the phrase mental illness, at least not in public sector and right-on circles.

While Quinlan reflects on his countrymen: Why Napoleon called us a nation of shop keepers I’ll never know; we’re more like a nation of befuddled aunts when it comes to the Great Game.

Moving to the wider world:

Monty Lionheart, [referring to that religious persuasion which must not be named], says enough is enough: Until several years ago no one was impacting on my way of life. But today some people are, and doing so quite deliberately.

The Baron goes ahead and names it: Germany took a page from the book of their French EU partners and pre-emptively surrendered to Islam. The Muslims had not yet become offended.

Melanie Phillips, also on this theme: But when it comes to the reporting of the Middle East, the western media can be relied upon never to allow the facts to get in the way of a steaming prejudice.

But Oliver Kamm offers a cautionary word before people take up their cudgels: But in Iraq we have created a situation in which no one has a monopoly of the means of violence.

And Deogolwulf, [take your pick whom this refers to], concludes: It takes a great effort to tell the difference between a clever man doing us wrong and an idiot doing his best.

Looking to move from ‘unpleasant people’ to ‘life and living’, I found this:

From Reactionary Snob: Can anyone tell me: What is the point of Annabel Goldie? Answers in the comment section please. First prize is a glass of the good stuff paid for by me at Whigham's Wine Bar.

And so to daily life, wine, women and nectar:

The Englishman analyses Bovril: Chicken Bovril - my favourite - sweet, salty roast chicken in a jar - but I couldn't find it for sale anywhere yesterday, they haven't withdrawn it have they?

Euro-Serf bemoans the sheer wastage of good Euro-plonk: I could have got rid of a reasonable amount of it, but they rejected my offer and are to open a tender.

Bryan Appleyard enjoyed his dinner but not the news: I just had dinner with a very well-connected man who convinced me that America will attack Iran next year.

L’Ombre, unusually, saw an olive tree: Yesterday we visited Antwerp and growing in a pot in the main square - the "Grote Markt" - was this Olive tree! The photos followed below.

Phil Edwards feels that in this helter-skelter modern life, driving isolates. I feel similarly about wearing headphones in public - which these days I almost never do, train journeys excepted. He used to wear headphones in public?

This is the softer, more reflective Iain Dale: I love Friday mornings at home. It's when a whole stack of magazines arrive on my doormat.

Johnathan Pearce, equally shy, begs to differ: Personally, I prefer the yacht and the beach. And readers of this blog know my own opinion of sailing.

Ellee Seymour reflects on life as Lady Ellee of Ely: Lady Ellee has rather a nice ring about it . Please adjust your blogrolls henceforth.

Sam Brett, as usual, gets down to the nitty-gritty: The common belief is that life's greatest pleasures consist of three key ingredients: food, wine and sex. Others say it's chocolate. Actually, I’m in the latter camp.

Dave Hill, in a similar vein, adds: Apparently, it was quite the thing for Roman hallways to be graced by a sculpture or etching of a god or just some regular guy off the street pleasuring a four-legged beast.

Cleanthes, in a timely warning: It is important to keep electricity and water apart.

Steve has a shot at flu-jabbers: My elderly but very active mother has always been sceptical of the benefit of flu vaccination, and every winter takes pleasure in pointing out which of her family and acquaintances have succumbed to the "flu", despite having had the shot that year.

A lady after my own heart – I never have jabs of any variety. Under the heading ‘simply entertaining’ were these gems:

Norm explaining his normblog polls: If you're a student of normblog polls, as I am, you'll know that the polling process goes through four stages. There's the early stage, the early-middle stage, the late-middle stage, and the last lap.

Chris Dillow produced a classic line, for him: I'll grant that good leadership does exist sometimes ... Chris is now on record.

Paul Linford took exception to comments made by Guido Fawkes Esq. over the PA and parliamentary lobby correspondents infighting and wrote: "I won't dignify that with a response," to which Guido retorted: "Err, you just have."

Prodicus asked, ‘Can we leave now?’ [referring to the EU], then went away for a holiday or something similar [work?], then came back and in his opening blog, asked, ‘Anyway, in the meantime, can we leave now, and at least attempt to steer our own course into the future?’

Now to the awards section for the most Succinct Post. You decide:

Tom Paine, on Muslim attitudes: Read it and weep.

David Farrer, on names: 99.75% of Americans named "David" are male. How odd.

Doctor Vee, excited by the scroll wheel on his mouse: I have control over where my links open.

Tim Montgomerie: Cameron opens door to Trimble - UTV. The preposition would appear to be important here.

… and finally, Gavin Ayling, [on Denmark standing proud]: Good.

Sadly inactive this week:

http://www.dailypropaganda.co.uk/
http://indecent-left.blogspot.com/

More Blogfocus on Tuesday evening from 21:00, London time.

[blogfocus wednesday] grouped by theme

Other posts under National politics

James Cleverly speaks devolution: I'm on interwebtelly with Iain Dale this evening … discussing an English parliament, English votes for English issues, English flags, England expects etc. etc. This is already a big issue and will only grow if Gordon Brown becomes PM.

Iain Dale’s comment on this is: As regular readers know, I favour an English Parliament to solve the democratic deficit now being experienced by the people of England. I don't want anything like the white elephant of the Scottish Parliament, but it's clear that the status quo is not enough.

Black Quill addresses what I see as far more serious – the erosion of the Lords: But senior Tory MP Sir Patrick Cormack said: “I sincerely hope these leaks are incorrect. If they are correct it indicates that Jack Straw has totally taken leave of his constitutional senses.”

Paul Linford raises the question of retiring PMs: The practice of former Prime Ministers standing down at the election immediately following their departure from No 10 is a relatively recent constitutional development. Margaret Thatcher started it, leaving the Commons in 1992, two years after her defenestration as Premier.

Guido Fawkes is on another tack, the journo/lobbyist war: The solution to the alcoholic regional hack problem is, according to PA, Lobby Extra, their service which supplies regular stories tailor-made for individual publications.

Islam & al Beeb

Monty gets straight down to it with a stark warning: The news that the Somali government troops and Islamist fighters are converging on the Somali town of Burhakaba for another showdown, is the worst to come from that country for some time.

Dymphna shows the veil issue to be cross-pond: The Washington Times reports today that women in Europe who show up for job interviews decked out in Muslim head veils are being asked to remove them or leave. Interesting post.

Cleanthes, in a long, detailed, referenced post, tears into the Imran Khan show: This is precisely what happened in the case of the motoons: these cartoons were only commissioned BECAUSE of the fear that some Danish Muslims were quite prepared to use violence.

Melanie Phillips doesn’t let the Beeb slip out the back door unnoticed: Even though people like me have been banging on for aeons about the deeply rooted world-view of the left at the BBC which so distorts its journalism and has caused so much harm to our society, it was still shocking to see the evidence laid out so graphically in this report of the Beeb’s ‘impartiality seminar’ last month.

Oliver Kamm simply states fundamentals yet again: The most immediate threat to free expression in Western societies does not come from Christian fundamentalists protesting at the teaching of Darwinism or 'blasphemous' works of art, or from the unjust incarceration of the antisemitic pseudo-historian David Irving. It comes from the increasing self-censorship in the communications media and the performing arts for fear of offending Muslim sensibilities.

Cabalwatch, global nwo, whatever you’d like to name it

Ranting Guttersnipe alerts us to the issue: Tony Blair called yesterday for the national DNA database to be expanded to include every citizen. He said there should be no limit on the development of the database because it was vital for catching serious criminals.

Mr Eugenides states, for those still unsure: But if you can already keep the DNA of someone who has been arrested but never charged - or acquitted of committing a crime - then it's hardly a big jump to taking it from all of us - perhaps when we are born, to minimise the disruption.

And Vox Day gets stuck into the Club: Bush and the national Republican leadership are far worse than even the most cynical Republican loyalist imagines; they are traitors who are actively working to subvert the very concept of the United States as a nation in favor of a pan-American supernational government.

Reactionary Snob also has his say on the US: Any CIA official who acts in good faith will probably conclude that waterboarding, hypothermia, stress positions, and related techniques violate one or more of these features of American law. But … and the but is what needs to be read.

Neocon is already into the apolcalyptic scenario: Within a week of the invasion, people will have trouble buying food and medical supplies. The cemeteries will overfill and local meatpackers will store the dead in refrigerated trucks.

The arts, culture, entertainment, nightlife, whimsy

Dave Hill cranks down the pace a little: You know the way a song you love but had forgotten all about can re-appear, unannounced, inside your head? He shows us the one he had in mind.

I had the temerity to disagree with Stephen Pollard about subsidized concerts and he replied: I agree with thesquid. As I have written here before, I have a fundamental problem with the idea of subsidised culture. My point is, though, that even if one accepts the argument for it, there is no sensible case for subsidising musicals which have existed perfectly easily in the commercial theatre.

Johnathan Pearce, meanwhile, is nightclubbing: See if you tell the difference.

On a loosely similar theme, Clive Davis has an eye-opening pic: It wasn't the name that caught my eye, just the glimpse of another age. Yes, Clive, it wasn’t the name.

Libertarianism

Back in the thick of things, David Farrer has a three-way debate on libertarianism: What most libertarians believe in is similar to what used to be known simply as liberalism before that word got stolen by its opponents. Towards the end of the nineteenth century the members of the liberal Austrian School were advocating a very purist form of laissez faire economics.

The debate’s too complex to cover here but DK comments: … if businesses are hiring someone from overseas to work for them in this country (and I'm pretty certain that they do this in the US too), then that business has to "sponsor" that employee in order for that migrant to be able to work… referring to freedom to come and go, I presume.

Doctor Vee concludes from all this: This ‘libertarian’ world is not a world where you can be free to walk the streets without being asked your identity. But that shouldn’t be a surprise since it isn’t even a world where you are free to walk the streets.

Social conscience, spirituality

Ellee Seymour draws our attention to a miscarriage: Lowering university entry requirements by up to two A-level grades would be a travesty of justice to those who have proved their academic abilities, but are rejected to make way for a student with inferior grades simply because he or she is from a deprived background.

Chis Dillow, meanwhile, looks at the other end of the age range: We need a quite profound cultural change in the way we think about older people. And a revolution in social responsibility in how we behave towards older people. But how exactly can government change culture? What policy levers does it have? A point I too made today.

Now the one I became personally involved in – the C.S.Lewis take on the Holy Spirit: Phil Edwards claims: Lewis 'allowed' Edmund but not Susan to repent. The same contrast could just as well have been worked in reverse, with the committed opponent of Aslan turned away from salvation and the worldly backslider seeing the error of her ways. This, again, was too complex to cover here. Do have a look at it.

General rants by somewhat angry bloggers

Serf is a consistent thorn in the EU side: Its not really news, but it is important: European Union auditors are expected to highlight irregularities in EU spending for the 12th year running as they make their annual report. Thieving bastards, since 1957.

Deogulwulf hits a raw nerve with one of my pet hates: If she [Greer] really finds herself intellectually stimulated by a light going on and off, one might suggest she take up a vocation more suited to her level of intellect, though, considering that she now frequently writes opinion-pieces for The Guardian, one might suggest she has already found it. Two birds with one stone.

Norman – yes, Norman Geras, true - has a rant this time: The blogosphere is a segment of the world, and that means there are people in it with the time, the motive and the petty-minded stupidity (to be found, this, even in otherwise intelligent people, but people possibly pressed for what to blog about) to go in for games ... You handle it practically by remembering that you have a life, and you step around stuff of this kind. [A]s a general principle, I don't blog to anyone else's agenda. So there!

The NHS

Pays to know what you’re talking about anywhere around Tim Worstall: Excuse me, but what is actually wrong with [Sikora’s] vision? Why should people be barred from topping up with their own money their health care? Why shouldn't people 'clutching at the last straw' be able to pay £30,000 for an extra year of life? Purely because this would lead to inequality in health care treatment? Really?

Wat Tyler focussed on an interesting anomaly here: A man from Mars might well wonder how a government department that had made such an absolute horlicks of spending a doubled budget could possibly know the potential savings from reducing "unnecessary" surgical procedures are £73m, rather than £74m, or £75m, or £5.137bn, or - as is much more likely in the real world - nil?

Blogproblems

Cursed, cursed blogproblems – may you never see any of them ever again. Two bloggers who suffered this week:

For reasons currently beyond me my WordPress blog self-destructed along with all the posts on it. And what a week for that to happen in! I have managed to miss discussions on veils, Cameron's tax policy and so much more that my brain is melting. Yes, of course it was Gavin Ayling, back form the proverbial.

Seems I wasn’t the only one having problems getting through to Bryan Appleyard: I am aware that there have been problems with my site for the past few days. Cyber-wonks are working on this as we speak and all should be well soon.

Inactive and inaccessible blogs

http://www.anenglishmanscastle.com/

http://www.di2.nu/blog.htm
http://prodicus.blogspot.com/

http://indecent-left.blogspot.com/


Final word

Could someone tell me who wrote this classic this week? "Paul Linford reminds me of The Aberfan Disaster, which took place 40 years ago today."

Next blogfocus Saturday evening at 22:00, London time.

[windows] ie 7 is coming whether you want it or not

Continued … Although Microsoft has not yet announced the date, sometime in early November IE7 will be pushed out to Windows XP users with Service Pack 2 installed via Windows Update. It may come in the regular batch of fixes on the second Tuesday of the month – known affectionately among the geek­erati as Patch Tuesday – or as early as Nov. 1.

That means one day you will sit down at your computer and be presented with a choice: should you install IE7 or not?

I strongly recommend you do. In fact, I’d say most users should download it before it’s presented through Windows Update. I reviewed an IE7 preview release earlier this year and have been using subsequent versions ever since, and I love it. Its redesigned interface – including a superior use of tabs over that of the rival Firefox browser – and beefed-up security features make it a must-have if you use Internet Explorer 6 as your primary browser.

The only reasons I can see for not installing IE7 is if you use Web-based software that doesn’t work in it, or if you regularly visit a site whose features are broken by it. Both of those scenarios should be rare.

However, if you want to hold off, you’ll be able to do so. When IE7 arrives, you’ll be notified that Windows Update has a high-priority item it wants to install. When you approve, a screen will indicate you’re about to install an update to Internet Explorer. “This is not simply a patch” – don’t say yes unless you’re ready to use a radically redesigned version of Internet Explorer.

If you say yes, the process will begin. If you say no, you won’t get another automatic notification. However, you always can manually download it if you change your mind.

For more details on how IE7 will be delivered through Windows Update, visit www.microsoft.com/technet/updatemanagement /windowsupdate/ie7announcement.mspx. That site also contains information about how businesses can block IE7’s automated deployment across corporate networks.

Those Windows XP users who want IE7 should prepare for it. Being ready will help make the transition go smoother.

 If you have not yet done so, install Service Pack 2 for Windows XP. You can’t use IE7 without it, and Microsoft’s support for Service Pack 1 ended Oct. 10. That means the company is no longer issuing security-related fixes for those users who don’t have SP2 installed. For that reason alone, even if you don’t want IE7 right away, you should install SP2.

 Make sure your computer is virus- and spyware-free and running as smoothly as possible. Many operating system upgrades fail because of problems that were already present, so get your PC in shape before making this major change.

 Back up your critical data, including your IE Favorites. While IE7 itself shouldn’t do anything that could cause data loss, see the item immediately above this one. If a virus or spyware causes a bigger problem, you will be glad to backed things up.

 In most cases, IE7 will coexist just fine with any toolbars or add-ins you have. However, just to be safe, it’s a good idea to uninstall such additions, download the latest versions after IE7 is in place and then reinstall them.

 Immediately before installing IE7, turn off your antivirus and antispyware software – in fact, you’ll be prompted to do so as part of the installation process. That’s because those kinds of software look for and may try to prevent the kind of changes that IE7 will make to your system – only this time, they’re desirable. Remember to re-enable the programs after the installation is complete.

If you already have installed one of the test versions of IE7, you don’t need to uninstall it first. The installer program for the finished version will remove any older code for you.

Those who install IE7 and decide they don’t want to stick with it can roll back to IE6. Go to the Windows XP Control Panel and launch the Add/Remove Programs module. At the top of that window, make sure the “Show updates” box is checked. You can then find IE7’s listing among the removable programs.

Here’s betting you won’t do that, and that, if you give it time, you’ll love it as much as I do.

[sunday blogfocus] the power of positive thinking

Colin Campbell, this week, was concerned with weightier matters, though still north of the border: Elizabeth bought some Scottish treats [probably at outrageous tourist shop prices], including Berwick Cockles, Edinburgh Castle Rock, Treacle Toffee, Tablet, and Highland Toffee, along with Irn Bru to accompany them.

Monty went Scottish with: Due to a family wedding this weekend, the Lionhearts are heading north of the border, to the land where people benefit from drug treatments that are denied to English folk. So blogging on the Isle is suspended until Sunday evening. Have a good weekend everyone! [See Tom Paine's comment at the end of the Blogfocus for a continuation of this theme.]

Still north of the border, seemingly in an endless loop, now came the difficult task. DK hardly needs soft words – his deeds and practical advice behind the scenes are well known to many a tired and lonely blogger but actually finding published soft gurgliness from the humble Devil was going to be an uphill task. I searched for mushiness and searched and searched, scratched the pate and searched some more. Teeth gritted by this stage, I finally found it: It's gratifying to see that The Kitchen is sitting at number 47, although not all of the listed blogs [Scottish] are political in nature. To echo Timmy, I am ready and available for any advertising chaps who want to pay me large amounts of cash! Now if that’s not a positive, I don’t know what is.

South of the border, Melanie Phillips was waxing lyrical: Oxford is clearly one of the most enlightened cities in the world, with its 30+ very old and very distinguished colleges, and boasting of some of the finest minds in nearly every field as part of its citizenry. Add to this the spectacular domes and tall minarets of the two big mosques in Oxford and the picture of a virtuous city is complete.

Black Quill felt the historic touch was required as he reflected on past glories: The Golden Era for England was during the reign of Elizabeth the 1st. Are we to assume that monarchies, although capable of wonders then, are incapable of such things now? The Ottoman Empire under Suleiman the Magnificent of the same period is also known as a Golden Age. And so on.

There must have been something in the air, half-term approaching or both, for the normally ‘rooted in the present’ Samantha Brett herself went in search of historical libidinous precedent: Take Shakespeare, who suggested doing it with one of his 150 soulful love sonnets. Or Don Juan, the infamous 17th Century seducer, who used descriptive sweet talk to the lure the women in. And what about Casanova? With so many women to woo in his lifetime, [he is rumored to have slept with 122], he quickly learnt how to do it on the cheap. ‘Do what?’ asks the unconvincingly naive blogger.

AJD was waxing lyrical: It is shows such as these that make the whole effort worth while. The BBC and their ilk could learn a lot from shows such as these - this is TV at its best. He is, of course, referring to 18 Doughty Street and it seems to me that he likes the new Tim and Iain venture, though not all bloggers waxed lyrical about the former.

Iain Dale himself was in an expansive mood: Angela is a really nice woman and is one of the few Blair babes to have retained her sense of humour. Andrew Mackinlay is what I would describe as a proper parliamentarian - relentless in holding the government to account even if it is uncomfortable for his own Party. Obviously they are both political opponents, but that doesn't blind me to their qualities. Let's see who prevails. Evenhanded to a fault, Iain Dale.

This spirit of bonhomie clearly carried over to Oliver Kamm, who, quite unsolicited, came out with a eulogy: Norman [Geras] is an eminent political philosopher whose work in that field I have learned much from. Outside his academic and popular writings, I invariably also benefit when seeking his opinions directly on matters of politics and ethics. [I have periodically taken part, for example, in BBC radio discussion programmes. If the respective producers are reading this, I should concede that I have turned up to the studio only after consulting Norman about the subject under review.] Norman is a good and humane man, whom I am proud to count a comrade and friend.

Clive Davis came over all gooey, gurgly and family oriented this time: It's just as well our youngest was born when I was 36, because we never did rustle up enough cash in the end. I wouldn't want to put anyone off becoming a father, but it took me about ten years to learn how to enjoy it. Partly because I'm the type who likes to sit quietly and cogitate [not much chance of that when you're permanently sleepy and there are prams in the hallway], partly because I fell for the modern notion that we men have to be hands-on nurturers. I'm sure it works in some cases; it definitely didn't for me. So that's my highly reactionary pearl of wisdom for dads-to-be: if you feel it's right, don't be afraid to keep your distance, even if your Significant Other does give you dirty looks. But of course.

The ‘family motif’ continued with the Greek Boy, better known for his relentless fisking, who briefly reflected this week on brotherly love: Er, loved each other as brothers? Mr Eugenides may be Greek, but even where he comes from, you don't give your brother naked rub-downs. Which raised the immediate question, ‘Then what do you give your brother?’

RS continued the brotherly love: The poor, young Greek has a pop at party funding. He has a different view on the matter from me … but it is nice to see that even when we disagree we can both give the poisonous Blears and her cronies a damned good kicking. Now that’s a definite positive and thus falls well within the Blogbrief.

What is it this week? Even the normally taciturn Guido muttered, at one point: Guido is wary of mocking Kennedy, in fact if you are reading this Charles - lets do lunch - Friday is always good for me. Push the boat out, polish off some of the good stuff. Sod 'em. Which is quite sweet really .

Tim Worstall also began quite magmanimously towards the pollies: I realise that there are indeed a few reasonable people in Parliament: there are even a very few who could actually be described as proper liberals. Sadly, parliamentary representation appears to have robbed more than a reasonable number of villages of their idiots. Er ... not within the Blogbrief, I’m afraid. And it was such a good start.

Serf found something to be positive about with them: New ICM poll of 1,000 businesses: 52% think the EU is “failing”; 54% think EU over-regulation “outweighs” the benefit of the Single Market; 60% think the UK should renegotiate to reduce its involvement in the EU to free trade only. This is excellent news, as a continuation of this trend would leave the EU very friendless indeed. Which in Serfspeak, of course, must be a good thing.

And Ellee also found governmental positives, with a capital G: So let’s give the Government a hand with this; do you have any innovative ideas to boost recycling? For example, I have heard that disposable nappies are recycled in The Netherlands, the EU’s good boys, they are collected from the kerbside and dismantled and given a new lease of life. Recycled nappies could surely be extended to recycled underwear for adults as well, Ellee.

AJD [again] blogtravelled to Switzerland, drawing our attention to a point many a motorist must have considered: A Swiss man caught speeding on a Canadian highway has blamed his actions on the absence of goats on the roads. The man was caught driving at 161 km/h [100mph] in a 100 km/h [60mph] zone. The driver said he was taking advantage "of the ability to go faster without risking hitting a goat". No, seriously, this is a valid point. How often I remember wheezing and spluttering to the top of a Scottish hill in my ramshackle vehicle, scanning the winding road below for clusters of errant sheep, observing there were none visible and letting the motor have it’s head, in the manner of a downhill skier?

Following his cautionary tale of torture, Bryan Appleyard was down in the dumps and so he, himself, decided to go offshore: That last post was so depressing that I feel obliged once again to draw your attention to the happiest, most consoling picture in the world.

Chris Dillow crossed the pond and focused, not on Leicester but on Alaska Day, when Alaskans mark the anniversary of the completion of the US's purchase of Alaska from the Russians. Which raises a question. Why don't countries buy territories from each other any more? … Successful companies often buy badly managed ones, so why shouldn't successful states buy badly governed states? What's so great about national sovereignty that means it can't be traded? Are the obstacles here practical or ethical? Valid point wouldn’t you think?

Moving south-west, never one to mince words, Neocon found this to be quite positive news this week: There are reports out of Afghanistan today, of a spectacularly unsuccessful suicide attack on Canadian soldiers, which nonetheless managed to expedite the involuntary journey of another three Afghani citizens to the Garden of Paradise. A suicide car bomber rammed into a Canadian resupply convoy Monday leaving at least three Afghan civilians dead and one Canadian soldier slightly injured. That’ll learn ’em.

Moving even further south, The Baron’s contribution was in the form of a bit of amateur sleuthing for all the Right Bloggers who’ve been subject to the DoI scourge, which seems to have crossed the channel and taken out Gavin Ayling as well: This sounded like a job for the 910 Group. I started a topic there asking for help investigating the internet-filtering software used by the Department of the Interior. By the next morning, the intrepid 910 sleuths had tips and information about the software used, the way it was likely to have been implemented, and details about the internal organization and contact information in DOI. The Baron’s new epithet is Blogblockerbuster Extraordinaire.

Somewhere else in that vast land, Vox Day was uncharacteristically shy on the topic of his new book: It's no highfalutin' romance between an intelligent, beautiful, independent woman and the ruggedly dangerous were-seal who respects her or anything, but it may be of some small interest to a few of you.

And to the arts, with Norman Geras: Here's the trailer you would have seen for a famous musical in 1961. And here are the details of the normblog musicals poll. I'm still waiting on a lot of you, waiting for your entries. It's just five, your top five, ranked or not, as you please. Don't let me down.

I know just how you feel here. Don’t let me down indeed. Plaintively awaiting the blogreadership to respond to one’s polls is a forlorn game but hopefully people will get behind the new Behind-the-Quote competition. Best of luck to you, Norm, with your particular venture!

Johnathan Pearce knows art and knows antiquities - no doubting that. His contribution this week: An almost-hidden jewel in London's collection of museums is the Gilbert collection of jewels, furniture and historic art in Somerset House, on the banks of the Thames near the Temple tube station. At the moment, there is a retrospective exhibition of the work of the great Tiffany jewellery business, going back to that firm's origins in the middle of the 19th Century. Check in at Samizdata before you go because my links in this piece are not working.

Not exactly the arts, nevertheless, radio is close enough to bring in Dave Hill, whose attention was taken for much of the week by the man in Lincoln Green. He paused long enough to put this poser to his family-oriented readership: I'll be on BBC Radio Oxford from roughly 1.15 until 1.45, talking about the best age for having children. Could anyone please tell me which it is? You have 27 minutes.

L’Ombre, whose olives are currently under duress, would consider his hobby as falling into the category of art and he illustrated that not all is doom and gloom: In other news, the new gardener we got to help us with the basic jungle taming is a local with extensive olive tree knowledge who promises to come back and prune the trees properly in March. He has a great local provençal accent - the swear word "Putain!" turns into "Puteng!" and I think that sounds so much better :) Should one want to employ the term, it might be added, L’Ombre. Still, the outdoor life is surely a healthy life.

Stephen Pollard agrees wholeheartedly, suggesting we all abandon our unhealthy, housebound pursuits and get out for a bit of fresh air: In any case, the flat season is now drawing to a close and we can get on with some proper sport: National Hunt racing. Roll on the Paddy Power meeting at Cheltenham, the real start of the NH season. And have the readies at the ready.

Approaching the end of this Blogfocus, approaching All Saints and All Souls Days after that nasty pagan festival the night before, Prodicus is forgiving in this piece and the spirit of goodwill is indeed abroad: Those whose do know, that is, those who run 'mainstream' Christian schools or teach in them or whose children are currently taught by them may not - may not - defend themselves with the facts at their disposal because they know both that they are not the problem and what the real problem is. The fact is that Christian schools of all denominations promote peace and inculcate a duty of civic responsibility in the spirit of our mainstream cultural tradition - as do Jewish schools.

I wouldn’t want Tim Montgomerie, Minette Marrin or Stuart A to feel slighted but all were clearly busy elsewhere this week, spreading the spirit of goodwill and so their contributions must wait until Wednesday.

Also positive was the discovery, by this blog, of Vented Spleen [fine concept], the Englishman, James Cleverly, Wat Tyler [awful lot of historicity in these blognames], Phil and Deogolwulf, who will hopefully be covered on Wednesday.

Finally, I’ve always wanted to include Paul Linford but something else got in the way. Hope to begin soon.

Google Blogger, the worst programme ever devised, always takes a dislike to some blogger or other and refuses to publish him each time. This week it was Tom Paine's turn and the only way to circumvent Blogger was to put Tom at the end and list the url unembedded: I love to visit Scotland. It's a beautiful place. I never met a Scot I didn't like, but because of the Act of Union [something I never asked for] I also never met a Scot who did not hate - or at least resent - me. As that now falls outside the Blogfocus brief for the week, that's it for now.

http://lastditch.typepad.com/lastditch/2006/10/freedom_and_whi.html

See you Wednesday I hope.

left to right

Verlander, Rogers, Robertson, Bonderman

[education 2] explanations for the dumbing down

This situation is also rife on the other side of the pond. One in four schools in England, according to the chief inspector [Ofsted], offers nothing better than mediocrity [42].

The fashion [44] in education over the last two decades has been Humanistic Education, which advocates point out is not secular humanism. They say it is not a religion, it enhances the teaching of the basics, it’s supported by years of research and experience, supports many goals of parents, encourages parent involvement in the schools; Humanistic education is not psychotherapy, is not responsible for the increase in drug and alcohol abuse, vandalism, teenage pregnancies, violent crime and other problems besetting our nation's youth, is not a panacea, is not necessarily synonymous with good teaching, is essential for preparing young people to be citizens in a democracy and humanistic educators believe that schools have a role to play in the "values education" of students.

Downunder [65], this sort of thing drives on the process of dumbing down: Emeritus Professor Hedley Beare, who helped draft the National Education Assembly Declaration in Australia, published a text, ‘Creating the Future’. In it he wrote that ‘it is funny, we still perpetuate the notion that there is a teacher in front of a class who is wise, and there is a group of students who are ignorant, and it is a transfer of knowledge from the wise to the ignorant. But that doesn't prevail any more.’

Dr. Ken Rowe, from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) [66] tried to correct this notion: “59% of the variation in student’s learning outcomes was due to the quality of teaching. Teachers make the difference. (ACER 2001)” but his was an almost lone voice.


Critics say [47 through 52] that: the orthodox belief promulgated in our schools today is that grammatical ability is not something that has to be taught and ask, ‘Where did the educational theorists get this idea that a child’s grammar develops naturally, with little or no outside intervention?’

The answer to this is that with the publication of Syntactic Structures in 1957 and continuing to the present day, Noam Chomsky of MIT led what can only be described as a revolution in linguistics, one consequence of which was the widespread belief that language acquisition is largely an autonomic process dependent upon unconscious interactions between an innate, internal language acquisition device and the raw material of the child’s linguistic environment. It was this idea that led educators in the National Council of Teachers of English and editors in the major textbook houses to move decisively against traditional grammar instruction.

So, education professors began teaching their students that grammar textbooks contained nothing but irrelevant skill and drill, that the internal language-learning mechanism was autonomic, that “teaching grammar” made as much sense as teaching breathing, that what one should do was expose kids to language and let their grammar develop naturally.

Education theorists ousted traditional grammar based upon a misunderstanding of contemporary linguistic science, and then they compounded their error by not putting anything in its place to address the problem that traditional grammar instruction was attempting (however badly) to address — the problem of how to reduce the number of errors in student speech and writing from the age of nine through young adulthood.

This has been an unmitigated disaster. Firstly, teachers have to recognize that they have a window of opportunity in which to expose students to syntactically rich language. Secondly, because the unconscious, internal language-learning mechanism breaks down in many respects by the age of nine or ten, teachers must recognize that older students will not learn, simply by reading and writing a lot, to remediate the grammatical errors that they have incorporated into their personal grammars in their early years.

Critics conclude that while traditional grammar is, indeed, little more than a pre-scientific, folk model of the language, it nonetheless, like other bits of folk wisdom, has its place, and that place is in later elementary and secondary school classrooms.

From teachers themselves comes bitterness over what is happening [68]. ‘There are really not enough words to describe the absurdity of so-called "liberal" educational theories that this blogger came across during his teacher training: false dichotomies between different forms of learning that I would expect one of my brighter senior pupils to spot within about four minutes; the ludicrous notion that telling a pupil they're wrong represents an "authoritarian theory of knowledge" - are just a couple of the symptoms of the other-worldly disconnection with reality that so disfigures our educational system.’

Inclusion [67], the idea that all children, including those with disabilities, should and can learn in a regular classroom -- has taken firm root in many school systems, although it is not specifically required by law. This is one of the major factors in the dumbing down. Another has been the admirable idea of not leaving even one child uneducated in either or America or Britain but when it was institutionally enforced through the 1989/1990 National Curriculum in Britain, supported by Ofsted, the lower end was slowly raised to the centre of the ability spectrum all right and the centre was where teachers taught to, as this was as far as those lower end achievers could aspire. However, the percentage of required time to teach the programme versus the available time to teach was around 110% and this created time pressure on teachers.

They were also under pressure from the plethora of Attainment Tests and the result was that the big losers were the higher achievers, who had to mark time for the simple reason that there was little time to devote to them. Nor were teachers being taught at teacher training level in how to specifically cater for these. So step in private schools who specifically aimed at the upper end and league tables and the simple mathematical formula was established: high achiever = money required.

Thus there was constant pressure on the ‘pass grade’ downwards and that is reflected in this comment [45]: Stephen Timms, the School Standards Minister, [speaking of GCSE and A levels] said that students should feel a “real sense of achievement” over this year’s results, although critics again saw “grade inflation” in the improvement. Grade inflation is a scandal but it is hotly denied, naturally, by schools.

Turning to universities, admissions policy has to share a large part of the blame for the dumbing down[60]. Many state-funded universities have open admissions policies, which basically means that if you have a high school diploma you can be admitted to the university. While this attitude follows the American ideal of equality of opportunity and strikes many people as a more just and humane system, it produces high school and college graduates with minimal reading and writing skills. This system also produces a large number of college drop-outs.


What is actually taught has a way of perpetuating itself. Educators base their practices, of course, on research [53 through 56] but this area is, in itself, flawed. Which research and which innovations often depends less on the quality of the findings than on the channel through which the research comes to the school's attention. Currently, a poorly recognized but longstanding educational doctrine called "developmentalism" permeates the public schooling community. The dominance of this learner-centered pedagogy is in no small part an accident of history. Accepted teaching practices of [former days] were often harsh and punitive; thus progressive methods were a welcome alternative.

Over the past 75 years it has emerged and reemerged under a variety of names. In the 1920s it was called "progressive" and "child centered." Today it is termed "reflective" and "learner centered". Uncertainty about learning outcomes was not considered a pedagogic weakness by progressive education's founders. Neither John Dewey nor progressive education's great popularizer, William Heard Kilpatrick, considered conventionally prescribed educational objectives to be the proper aim of schooling. Instead, both argued that schooling should seek the emergence of an individually defined and broadly conceived intellectual development.

How did it stand up? [57] Follow Through was a huge federally funded research project of the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was launched in 1967 by the Ninetieth Congress in response to President Johnson's request to "follow through" on project Head Start.

Nine educational models were compared in 51 school districts over a six-year period. Of the nine, all but two were learner centered; and contrary to the prevailing educational wisdom, the two exceptions significantly outperformed the field. Of greater significance, five of the seven learner-centered models produced worse results than the traditional school programs (i.e., the nontreated control groups) to which each Follow Through approach was compared.

And yet researchers remain learner centred, flying in the face of conventional wisdom. Why? [58] Both researchers and most school personnel are indoctrinated in learner-centered thinking, and powerful incentives encourage them to remain loyal to that point of view. For researchers, funding is a prime incentive and funding is tied to institutional support. Grants also pay what are called "indirect costs" for the use of the institution's facilities and other forms of overhead.

Then there is research publication. In order to advance their academic reputations, researchers must publish. Research that is not published is assumed to be of lesser quality, and rightly so. Research that is published in the most respected journals is stringently peer reviewed but those peers are influenced by the current fads.

Then there are the schools. The learner-centered view is more attractive to researchers because it is more easily marketed to the schools, requires vastly more materials and is therefore lucrative. Learner-centered instruction also appeals to students, seeking to accommodate them, rather than shaping them. Thus the whole incestuous business perpetuates itself.

So, even if we accept that the system is an unmitigated disaster, the question has still not been resolved: was this due to incompetence and certain system dynamics or was there something more conspiracy oriented? Consider these:

[69] UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute, which annually surveys the attitudes of high-school graduates entering college, found that record numbers of them were "increasingly disengaged from the academic experience". These students had spent less time studying or doing homework than ever before, and were more bored with school than any cohort that ever entered post-secondary education. Charlotte Iserbyt's book suggests, that there is nothing accidental in the process and that it was the result of a networked policy and agenda.

This is backed up by the scrutiny of Ronald Reagan’s ambivalent approach to education [70], where he called for many educational reforms:
a. calling for an end to free tuition for state college and university students,
b. annually demanding 20% across-the-board cuts in higher education funding,[2]
c. repeatedly slashing construction funds for state campuses
d. engineering the firing of Clark Kerr, the popular President of the University of California, and
e. declaring that the state "should not subsidize intellectual curiosity,

while at the same time: In campaigning for the Presidency, Mr. Reagan called for the total elimination the US Department of Education, severe curtailment of bilingual education, and massive cutbacks in the Federal role in education. Upon his election he tried to do that and more.
In my first post, I referred to a concerted policy of attack on intellectualism and as yet, I concede it has not been finally proven; thus that will constitute another topic in itself in the next few days, although I would urge you to go back to the Amazon book link [69] and review the readers’ comments on it.
The issue of distance vs liberal-arts education is too much for this article to cover. It also will be treated in the near future.