SocraticGadfly: 9/2/12 - 9/9/12

September 06, 2012

McCarthy among Texas college conservatives

Ahh, the Young Conservatives of Texas must be afraid that some impressionable college freshman will learn about contraception in pre-marital sex, or that Rick Perry’s Texas Miracle isn’t, or that a Cesar Chavez Street in Austin is named after a real person and why.

They’ve restarted their professors watch list.


 

September 03, 2012

Harvard cheating should surprise nobody

The recent announcement of cheating on tests in a Harvard government class (don’t call it a “scandal,” because Harvard isn’t) should surprise nobody.

First, there’s the nature of the actual cheating.

Take-home exams, based on the honor system at an Ivy League school that’s the core of the exclusivocracy (TM) that somewhat drives the 1 percenters, and even more the 1/10 percenters — gotta "love" it.

Related to that, it’s “open book” and “open internet” but you’re not supposed to talk with fellow students. What if, instead of talking in person, I text them or instant message them? Or create a online bulletin board? Some Harvard kid, or a helicopter mom, more likely, is hiring a lawyer to look for loopholes.

Second, related to that, is students blaming their professor. Learned, no doubt, from helicopter moms that did the same for them in K-12.

Third, this is Harvard. Famous alumni in politics and business who have “shaded the truth” include:
Lloyd Blankfein
Paul Bremer
George W. Bush
Jamie Dimon
Doug Feith
Alger Hiss
John F. Kennedy
Rober McNamara
Hank Paulson
Franklin Raines
Mitt Romney
Jeff Skilling
Larry Summers

A good mix of conservatives, neocons and neolibs. Not a single true liberal among the “shaders.” (And, don't tell me JFK was a true liberal, either domestically or abroad. And don't tempt me to add Obama.)

Most of the alleged cheaters were probably looking at Harvard Law or the Kennedy School of Government next. 

Update, Sept. 4: And now, the blame game starts

As the world economy turns

It's been discussed as a possibility for months, Greece leaving the eurozone, but now big banksters are acting like it's soon to be real.

If it does happen, the world will not come to an end, though the banksters will stoke fears, because their world will take a ding indeed.

Meanwhile, China, fearing creating property or other "bubbles," is disinclined to stimulate its own economy, at least for now.

Meaning for the US? More slowness of growth ahead, not enough to induce a recession, but enough to continue the lost decade a bit longer.