Oh, THAT First Commandment!

Dhimmitude in education from the Telegraph:

Two schoolboys were allegedly disciplined after refusing to kneel down and "pray to Allah" during a religious education lesson.

It was claimed that the boys, from a year seven class of 11 and 12-year-olds, were given detention after refusing to take part in a practical demonstration of how Allah is worshipped.

It's as if commonsense just picked up her skirts and ran screaming from the room.

Finally!

When I started teaching university nearly thirty years ago, the biggest headache I had was securing adequate copies of the text books I needed–many of which were out of print and only available in dwindling secondhand supplies. As personal computers became available, I always felt that the most logical use for them was to get rid of cumbersome, expensive and ephemeral texts in favour of electronic versions.

And now they've finally done it after only a breathtaking brief third of a century.

At this rate, they'll have gas lighting in no time.

Honesty in Academia

Over at the New Criterion, Alan Charles Kors shares his dream of what he'd like to see slapped on page one of every university catalogue if academia were required to conform to the Trades Descriptions Act:

This University believes that your sons and daughters are the racist, sexist, homophobic, Eurocentric progeny or victims of an oppressive society from which most of them receive unjust privilege. In return for tuition and massive taxpayer subsidy, we shall assign rights on a compensatory basis and undertake by coercion their moral and political enlightenment.

Having done my share of years teaching university, I predict that this will happen on the day the bacon flies onto my breakfast plate unaided.

The Helvetica Scenario

Protect yourself. Learn the facts.

The Point That Isn't a Point

From the BBC:

University heads in the UK have rejected warnings that the European Commission is trying to wrest control of higher education from member states.

Universities UK said there was "no sign of a conspiracy" to take over the process of making degrees more comparable across Europe.

Quite right. There's no conspiracy; they're being blatantly obvious about it.

Look Around You

Remember how god-awful educational films could be?

You will now.

Kipper Ties at Half Mast

Open University broadcasts are to end after thirty years of keeping people riveted with enthralling lectures on parl;kjuif'ap;otsrjfk'ag[;llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll