If you’ve been wondering why “Catching my eye” has been so intermittent lately, I’ll tell you the honest truth: not much has caught my eye and I’ve posted at greater length about anything that has. The blogosphere has seem strangely phlegmatic lately. Here’s what’s cuagh my eye this morning:
- Billmon reports on a confab with Juan Cole of Informed Comment. More here from Tim Burke of Easily Distracted.
While I think that Professor Cole is potentially a great source of information, I don’t consider him an oracle. He’s a specialist and, like all specialists, his knowledge is skewed. My concerns with the Cole Plan are that he doesn’t have specific knowledge of the actual constitution of the Iraqi insurgency (he merely presumes it’s mostly Ba’athists) and that it has a high downside risk. But both of the linked posts are quite good and I recommend them.
- Bioethics Discussion Blog has been running a series. Sort of a “Hospital Ethics Committee: You Make the Call”. The three chapers are Withdrawal of medical nutrition and hydration, Ventilating the dead, and Apparent conflict of interest. Go on over and you make the call.
- Dr. Helen complains about the hegemony of particular political views among the ranks of psychologists and notes that if you don’t agree with the prevailing political orthodoxy, you’d best hold your tongue as a student. I wonder if this isn’t directly related to something she’s mentioned before: the lower number of men entering higher education. Is is possible that men are less willing (or able) to keep their views secret?
- Two of my nieces attended last weekend’s Michigan-Northwestern game at what is now called Ryan Field but we used to call Dyche Stadium.
- Planet Moron goes after one of my favorite complaints: former President Jimmy Carter. Here’s a sample:
In the book, Carter criticizes the Bush administration’s doctrine of pre-emptive war. This is understandable as it stands in stark contrast to Carter’s doctrine of pre-emptive appeasement. (Surrender first, ask questions later.) While both approaches have their problems, the former gets better ratings on CNN.
Via Scrappleface: “France to Let Rioters Govern Themselves”. Well, that’s been the problem.
That’s the lot.
I just wanted to comment on your thoughts regarding men and higher education–I do think that politically correct women can get away with saying what they think but not one such as myself who was politically incorrect. As a woman, I felt pressure not to say things-I certainly was not willing to keep silent–I spoke up at times but ended up getting failed on my written doctural exams by two professors who did not seem to care much for me. Luckily, another grader was from an outside department and gave me a perfect score so I passed overall. I think my problem was that the tides were turning when I was in grad school and I had invested way too much time to drop out, nor did I think that was the best thing. I figured with my degree, I could speak out against this type of political correctness which is what I try to do. If I had to do it over again, no, I would not go into any PHD program in any social science, as a male or female. The stakes are too high, the pay is lousy and the politics are frustrating.