Dead Horse College

A World of Diplomas - Ezra Klein

"This demonstrates how rigid the credentialing mentality has become in higher education, trumping three decades of undisputed good work. It wasn't always that way. When Ludwig Wittgenstein returned to Cambridge in 1929, they simply accepted his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus as a doctoral thesis. The knew that forcing him to go through a formal course of study to earn a credential would be absurd. They were acting in their role as certifiers of learning, which is (see the post below) not necessarily the same thing as being a provider of learning."

Not to beat a dead horse, but I thought this quote of Kevin Carey via Ezra Klein deserves some notice, not least because of its mention of my favorite philosopher Wittgenstein. The point is that since Wittgenstein had already proven himself he didn't need classroom education. The purpose of college education is to further an already fruitful mind, not simply certify this person for a particular set of jobs. But the way college degrees are treated it has become the high school degree of thirty years ago. Now graduate school has become the arena for pushing the mind further while undergraduate work has become an extension of high school.

Elitism of Education

Creditialism - Matt Yglesias

Now I have two parents who don't hold college degrees and they have done fairly well for themselves. My grandfather made to the ninth grade and then went to work. College degrees are not the be-all, end-all of creditials. I have two bachelors and one master's degrees but that doesn't mean squat when it comes to jewelry work. And I have many friends who never went to college but are doing well for themselves. They don't see a need for it.
But the way most education systems are set up now, college is the ultimate goal. I think this is wrong. There are some kids who simply don't belong in college. Whether it's due to college not being their thing, college not being the place they can learn or, and sit down before you read this, they simply don't have the aptitude for it. And this, I think, is the key for why college has taken this glorified place in American minds. We are afraid of telling someone that they are not smart enough for college. The problem is, there are people not smart enough for college. Not to say they aren't smart but that their intelligence doesn't work on the college level. They can do a lot of other things very well but taking college exams, writing papers or conducting lab experiements is not one of them.
Now I'm hesistant to say that we should introduce a tracking system ala Japan and England. But we might at least consider it instead of continuing the lie that all minds are equal. The key here is ensuring that everyone has equal access to quality education, but education that will actually help them once out of school.

Blame Blame

How to Stop Future Massacres - Adam Kushner

A little late to the game on this sure, but considering the growing chorus of people insane enough to think that arming students and teachers will somehow prevent another massacre on a college campus, I thought I might say a few words. First, somehow the thought of arming a group of people who we have trouble letting drive doesn't seem like a winning idea. Sure, technically a college student is of legal age but considering how many car accidents happen to eighteen-year-olds I don't think throwing guns at them is a smashing idea. Second, arming teachers doesn't seem like a hot idea either since most teachers generally abhor violence and more than a few are far too absent-minded to be allow around firearms. Imagine your college philosophy professor or calculus teacher packing heat and then ask yourself if you feel any safer? Third, as my mother keenly pointed out, events like the Virgina Tech massacre are akin to tornadoes or hurricanes. They're acts of God and not something you really can prepare for. And even if you could, all you would succeed in doing is preventing a minuscule number of deaths when binge drinking and suicide are still the most likely ways a college student will die.
None of this is to mitigate the tragedy of the past week because it was a tragedy. But, as Andrew Sullivan pointed out, if this happened every other day then you would be living in Baghdad. They're both tragedies but life in America makes events like Virgina Tech rare and not something we should be overly concerned about. All it does tell us is that we should look out for each other a little more, but we didn't need the deaths of thirty people to tell us that.

To the West and Avalon

The World According to Richard Perle - The Danger Room

"The great tragedy of Perle is that like the Hollywood leftists who defended communism -- ignoring brutalities and crimes committed against the innocent -- Perle, too, glosses over the destruction wrought from a misguided theory that now equates "Islamo-fascism" with Soviet communism. Yes, Perle's nemeses, the Hollywood elite of the 1950s, were wrong about the Soviet Union, but that doesn't make Perle right about the Middle East."

This is what happens when you have someone still attached to the grand narrative of the West. Perle still believes in a sort of teleological history of the West that will see ever increasing progress and prosperity. The West becomes something of an end to itself in this narrative, from the Greeks to today's post-Cold War world. Everything was meant to happen in Perle's mind because we were meant to show the world how things were done. It's a little like the 'shining city on the hill' metaphor in that while it can inspire people to do great things it can also create the false assumption that we need not improve ourselves and any improvement that does happen is an act of God, not man. You can see it in the neo-conservative reaction to the failures in Iraq, the blaming of the Iraqis for being 'uncivilized' and 'incapable' of enjoying democracy. Of course, the West shares no blame for such failures because the West is ever-perfect, ever-perfecting.

Cup o' Greg

Damascus: Detente Talk of the Town; Washington: Same Ol' Crapola - Greg Djerejian

I love how deftly Djerejian is able to take down someone like Liz Cheney. While wrapping it in a call for more realpolitik, Djerejian notes the 'sentimentality' of Cheney's piece in the Washington Post. This is exactly the reason why such people should not have a hand in foreign policy. Sometime you have to make deals with the devil in foreign affairs and sometimes those deals will come back to bite you in the ass. The funding of Bin Laden during the 80s is a notable example but should not detract from the larger point. Dealing with Damascus will not yield the pony some in the administration are still looking for. But it might bring Israel and Syria to the table while slowly nullifying Hezbollah's power in Lebanon. Moreover, it might pull Syria further away from Iran, thus isolating Iran even more. Syria doesn't have quite the same track record that Iran does and the weak leadership in Damascus seems ripe for diplomatic picking. But we'll never know that unless we make some attempt at talking to Syria.

That Sliding Scale

Presidential Approval Rating - Pollster.com

Perhaps because there's nothing really interesting about a flatlined polling number but no one seems to want to talk about the president's tepid approval rating. Hovering around 34% for the last two months is not a sign of a president who is responding to the American public. After the last two months of the 'surge' in Iraq and the looming showdown over military spending one would expect to see at least a little bump in the polls. But, to be crass for a moment, I would think that the shootings at Virgina tech would give the president some poll relief.

The Non-story Story

New "Chemical Weapon" in Iraq? Nope - The Danger Room

This really is my new favorite blog for the moment. While generally centerist they do take pride in knocking down the hyperventilating of the more right-wing blogs like RedState. This article is another fine example of these guys looking at a news story that touts some big revelation and simply saying, "Yeah, so?" With the science and expertise behind them, they seem to know what's worth a story and what's not.

We Put the 'Jew' in 'Jewelry'

When I get in Trouble with Language, the Fate of the World is What's at Stake - Spencer Ackerman
Tommy Thompson - Matt Yglesias

Now I'm inclined to believe Yglesias's assessment that Gen. Thompson belongs in the moron category versus the I-hate-Jews category. No one can makes comments like that openly and honestly to a group of Jews and Israelis if they actually hate them. Haters are a little more guarded than that. Still, this was a man who achieved a high rank in our military and now is running for president. Something tells me that his candidacy won't last too much longer. This incident reminds me of, well, just about all of Blazing Saddles. While I imagine it will make a great YouTube segment I doubt it will help Republican self-image any.

The Buzz about Buzz

Mobile Phones Kill Bees - L'inq

I remember reading an article in the Washington Post about two months ago that was on the seeming collapse of bee colonies in the southwest. No one could really explain it except to say that bees were losing their way and not making it back to the hive. Apparently, and I didn't know this until I read the article, bees play an important role in pollinating various crops and there are companies that cart hives around to farmers as a service. So a large portion of our crops depend on bees to keep up the pollination.

The Green Machine

The Green Imperative - Andrew Sullivan

The idea of a carbon tax and a gas tax I think are the best ways of going about weening the American public off of petroleum. Matt Yglesias made a salient point that a carbon tax would, in a way, act as a subsidy for green energies as it would make green energy more enticing as a consumer energy source. A gas tax would go a long way to pushing the auto industry to produce higher mileage cars, trucks and SUVs. Something similar was done back in the 70s and the monies earned off the tax was used to help lower-income families purchase higher mileage cars as well as off-set the higher gas price through a income-tax credit. With the auto industry already moving in this direction, a gas tax would only spur more innovation from the market without imposing a government-laden solution. The linchpin of any such effort though is the oil industry itself. I've found myself saying more often lately that any oil giant worth its salt would do well to look into alternative fuels and I still think that is true. The problem is how do you turn an industry that generally looks at alternative fuels with disdain into a friend of green energy?
While I tend to look at green energy in primarily an environmental way I do think that the national security aspect is important and an excellent tactic to garner support from people who would normally attack such proposals. By denying Middle Eastern nations oil money the U.S. could leverage its position more effectively. The whole goal of such an effort is to push those nations like Iran who are generally antagonistic to U.S. interests into a position where the U.S. is a potential ally in maintaining their prestige and influence in the region. The idea is to move nations about without resorting to military solutions.

Dirty Pool

Why I Declined to Serve - John J. Sheehan, WaPo

This is a perfect example of the difficulty the Bush administration has had in getting traction on any issue it takes aim at. The problem isn't that the administration is oblivious to reality but that there are too many competing interests and agendas to coherently approach reality. It really is more of a personnel issue than anything else. Coherency in strategic approach is essential, particularly in the realm of foreign policy. But from what I have read and heard there are two groups going head to head consisting of people like Secretaries Rice, Paulson and Gates going against Vice President Cheney, Karl Rove and the president himself. While I have not been the biggest supporter of Sec. Rice (and if you read Greg Djerejian's blog you will see why) I do think that she is on the side of the angels in this with her attempts at shuttle diplomacy. Secs. Gates and Paulson seem to get it as well in their efforts to curtail Iran's financial dealings and reasserting the U.S.'s moral superiority. But for all of their efforts they still have the problem of the influence that the 'more rubble, less trouble' crowd has in the White House. To attempt to assign a new position to oversee both wars in Afghanistan and Iraq when you have such incoherency is troubling at best and a sign of folly at worst.

Imus the Amazing Whitey

The Racial "Double Standard" - Andrew Sullivan

I'm not particularly fond of Don Imus and the past week of 'all Imus, all the time' has gone beyond the grating point. After arguing about it for nearly an hour with my dad I'm quite ready to break large and expensive items. But Sullivan here captures some of what I'm angry about with the defenders of Imus. The biggest issue with the whole Imus affair is tied to the language-game and how the meaning of words is constructed. Words themselves have no inherent meaning. That meaning is provided by us. So, that is to say, words do have meaning but they mean different things to different people because we provide that meaning. The idea of some sort of racial double standard goes against the nature of language as certain words have a certain meaning to certain people, or in this case, races. For me, it's not simply an issue of race but of culture. Not all black Americans agree that firing Imus was the right thing to do whereas not all white Americans believe that what Imus said was simply a stupid joke. But what gets some people into a tiff is the idea that the rappers and r&b singers of black America somehow get a pass on making seemingly racist and sexist comments while Imus has his head handed to him.
One argument that I've heard is that since Imus is a shock-jock it's simply par for the course that he would make such comments. It's part of his shtick after all. But the same people who make that argument forget to carry the same understanding over to the rappers. Rap is filled with negative comments towards women and it's simply par for the course for a rapper to say those things. But that still gets into the issue of a double standard and I don't see it as a double standard but different standards for different cultures.
The problem is that white culture is the dominant culture so it is expected for the things we see on tv, hear on the radio and read in magazines to display an image of whiteness. It's a question of beauty. What white find beautiful in women is straight hair, clean skin and the weakness of femininity. This even applies to the black women we see in the media with their light brown skin, fair hair and respectable attitude. The black women of the Rutgers team do not fit with the image of white beauty with their tattoos, 'nappy' hair and tough attitude. When someone like Imus makes the comments he did it is not simply to rip on them but to remind a primarily white audience why the Rutgers women are different. They are dirty, loose women who do not deserve the honors they have received.
Within black culture the use of words like 'ho' and 'nappy' are not necessarily meant to show how some people are different. While the sexism of the term 'ho' tends to remain the same between cultures the term 'nappy' does not and is even a term of pride for some. The problem with the term 'ho' and its usage in rap music is that black culture is not the primary purchaser of rap albums. Instead it is white middle class males who propel rap artists to present this image of the 'gangsta' lifestyle. That some blacks perpetuate this image is simply another example of white cultural dominance.
What is most disappointing about the whole Imus affair is that while we have an opportunity to actually discuss race relations in America there are those who seek to use this incident to further their political and cultural agendas. Between Al Sharpton and the right-wing media all we will hear is this noise about how the blacks don't understand and the whites don't understand but nothing about how whites and blacks might find a way to talk about this. The Reverend Sharpton gets to play 'protector of black culture' by pointing to people like Rush Limbaugh and saying "See, Whitey doesn't understand, but I do and I will defend you." So all we get is another moment where white could have seen the light but because of the noise-makers of the so-called black leaders and the right-wing whiteys we lose. Fuck I want a drink.

Surge Merge

Surge Arithmetic - Kevin Drum, Washington Monthly

Via Andrew Sullivan comes a bit about the finagling of troop numbers to maintain the surge. I don't like it personally, but that's because I have two cousins in the Marines, one who just got home from Anbar province, and his wife who just had her fourth kid. Really, why do they have to send them? Can't they find some more 18-year-olds?

Uranium Workers of the World Unite!

Iran "Industrial" Nukes: Yawn - The Danger Room

So apparently the idea that Iran has the capabilities for industrial-scale production of reactor and bomb quality uranium is less than it seems. Call me unsurprised. What I'm more interested in is the few reports I have heard concerning Iran's monetary situation. If Iran is steadily being squeezed by the West financially then we might see the pro-western population, sated with their western products, start to squeeze the government in return. Either way, I think the financial sanctions will have more of an impact than any sort of rhetoric concerning Iran's 'proper' place in the world. Things like Iran's announcement of 'industrial' production of uranium doesn't come as much of a surprise when you consider Iran's need to look tough in the face of such sanctions. The capture of those fifteen British sailors can be considered in the same light. What all this means, I think, is that Iran is feeling increasingly isolated and wants a serious confrontation with the leaders of the U.S., who seem to want such a confrontation despite our inability to actually do anything about it militarily.

Dream Whip Pie

They ate the last of the dream whip pie. I have to wait until Easter of next year before I get that pie again. Screw family, screw Zombie Jesus, Easter is all about that pie. I guess this means I have to kill another son of God to get another Easter on the calendar.

An Oversight

Congress Nudges an FCC on Hold - WaPo

See, this is why a little oversight is a good thing. Now, I might not necessarily approve of all the actions of the Democratic leadership in Congress but if they can get the federal agencies to act in the way they are supposed to act then I say more please.

The Article

Hostage Letter Written by Tehran - The Danger Room

What interests me here is the appearance of a tit-for-tat kind of action on the part of the Iranians for U.S. actions against Iranian agents in Iraq. I don't have a problem with the U.S. acting against Iranian agents in Iraq since their presence there indicates something marginally underhanded at the very least. But this kind of call-and-response is troubling. I sincerely doubt that the U.S. would act militarily against Iran in the next two years but one never knows sometimes. Still, the hostage crisis is worrisome.

DDG-1000

Stormy Seas for Stealth Destroyer - The Danger Room

While the ship looks damn cool it sounds like a terrible design, particularly if the Navy is going to fill part of its fleet with this kind of ship. It seems that the design is prone to flooding and capsizing. A ship of this design might work well in coastal operations but even there I imagine there is some serious concern. I just wish the Navy would spend a little less money on these 'advanced' designs and concentrate on building ships that will have a role in the 21st century.

300mph

"Knight Rider" Ride Up for Sale - CBS News

It's a little disappointing that KITT isn't street legal. Then again, most of these TV cars aren't the most comfortable rides.

The Foreign Policy Trap

A Lazy Post - Matt Yglesias


I think Yglesias sort of gets it through his reprinting of Tony Smith's article on current foreign policy doctrine and the presidential race. They both note how difficult it is to produce a workable foreign policy doctrine. The myriad of competing interests in the U.S. alone make it a headache. But, and here's where I think Yglesias only sort of gets it, the problem is not with how difficult it is to produce a foreign policy doctrine but how difficult it is to get such a doctrine to work for more than a couple of years. Domestic politics tends to move slowly and so a domestic policy can last for a decade without need for serious revision. But foreign politics tends to move far more quickly. Simply put, a foreign policy doctrine cannot adapt quickly enough to remain relevant.
The solution I think, if there is a solution, is not to have a foreign policy doctrine but a foreign policy attitude. What a doctrine does is inform, if not dictate, the shape of the policy when, more often than not, good policy is shaped by events on the ground, so to speak. An attitude simply puts forth a direction for that policy to move in. Democracy-promotion is a reasonable example of this idea as one can promote democracy through their foreign policy without subjecting that policy to a series of required actions. The one instance where military action is required would not mean that military action is required in every instance. This is not to say that we should all bow before the alter of Realpolitik. Instead, it simply means that we must not rely solely on theory to determine our responses in foreign affairs.