http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/08/rise-of-the-robots/



Gee, you think?

Or, Paul Krugman rediscovers fire and Marxism.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/08/rise-of-the-robots/

In light of our current crop of "guests" out and about in greater DU, I thought I would google some of these same repetitive memes that anti-feminists write. It looks like a great deal of them have a main source, Christina Hoff Sommers--she's a self-proclaimed Libertarian, a Resident Scholar of AEI (American Enterprise Institute, a very right-wing think tank), and her themes may look familiar to people who have travelled in recent threads.

This will be a working research thread and I hope people will add more to highlight the sources of her anti-feminist and anti-progressive web, and also add debunking material.

"Sommers explicitly identifies herself as a "libertarian."[10] The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy categorizes Sommers' equity feminist views as classical liberal or libertarian and socially conservative.[11] Sommers has criticized how "conservative scholars have effectively been marginalized, silenced, and rendered invisible on most campuses."[12] In an article for the text book, Moral Soundings, Sommers makes the case for moral conservation and traditional values.[13]"

http://www.aei.org/scholar/christina-hoff-sommers/

"Christina Hoff Sommers, a former philosophy professor who taught ethics, is probably best known for her critique of late-twentieth-century feminism. She is also known for her extensive writings, among them Who Stole Feminism? (Touchstone Books, 1995) and The War Against Boys (Touchstone Books, 2001). Her textbook, Vice and Virtue in Everyday Life, a bestseller in college ethics, is currently in its eighth edition. She recently edited The Science on Women and Science (AEI Press, 2009) and is preparing a second edition of The War Against Boys."

AEI has ties to ALEC: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Enterprise_Institute


Sommers thesis: Feminism is anti-male student and education is biased toward girl students.

"
http://www.amazon.com/The-War-Against-Boys-Misguided/dp/0684849569

The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men
Christina Hoff Sommers (Author)

Sommers thesis: The wage-gap is a myth

Wage Gap Myth Exposed -- By Feminists
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christina-hoff-sommers/wage-gap_b_2073804.html

Sommers thesis: Sexual violence against women is overstated

How the CDC is overstating sexual violence in the U.S.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/cdc-study-on-sexual-violence-in-the-us-overstates-the-problem/2012/01/25/gIQAHRKPWQ_story.html

Sommers' views touted by racist and anti-feminist mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik:

http://gynocraticgrrl.tumblr.com/post/35150492243/this-is-what-a-privilege-denying-patriarch-sounds

We often have conversations on what it is--but I'm interested more in what we imagine when we think of life in a socialist society.

For me, I picture life in the US with an expanded and more robust version of the WPA, with public programs to bring up living standards, full unionization with workers running the bulk of decision-making processes.

I see the arts and education fully funded, with opportunities that are not dependent on corporations wanting to make a buck on you and your skills. Children from all backgrounds would be able to go on as far with their education as they hope to.

The removal of privatized monopolies from our public resources, our living needs should not be dependent on whims of profit. Our news and airwaves would be expanded into more public programming.

I have a long list, but my last one for this entry would be the return of public space exploration. I'd rather not see capitalism move out into outer space.

Anyone else with a wish list?

I'm not much of a writer, but I just wanted to say how much I cherish the bonds and friendships I've made in this group over the last four years, between DU2 and DU3.

Talking to everyone about what is going on in education across the US in our respective areas has kept me sane(ish) and politically aware.

We've had some bruising battles in the last few years, and the triumphs seem few and far between sometimes--but it's great to know that there are so many great teachers out there, fighting for kids, public schooling, and keeping encroaching corporate influence out of our democratic school system.

I don't know what the outcome of our various political battle fronts will be tomorrow, but I just wanted to let you all know that it is this community especially that helps make the dark days a little clearer.

A friend of mine designed these for FB, Twitter, email, or what have you. Very nice looking and easy to understand! Please share!

Source: Chicago Sun-Times



Read more: http://www.suntimes.com/15699019-761/chicago-public-schools-ceo-jean-claude-brizard-out-by-mutual-agreement.html

http://www.peoplesworld.org/part-time-faculty-pay-reaching-poverty-level/



Just to let you know in the interest of disclosure, I'm the author of this article.

This isn't strictly education news, but I wanted to share with my peeps in here.

It was incredibly moving! You'd think teenagers would be cynical about the space shuttle in this era of CGI, but they were excited too. I was out on the back patio on my prep when at around 10:30 we started to hear a WHOOOOOOSSHHHH high speed noise and I whipped out my phone to take a picture.

Kids came pouring out of the classrooms yelping in excitement too and took pictures (with the phones they are supposed to not have in class, lol). I'd love to see a collage of all of our photos. Everyone watched for a minute as the shuttle sped out of sight into the sun.







It was great and a little bittersweet sharing that moment at school together. Being a Gen-Xer, the Shuttle program was kind of "our" space program--seeing it end in my lifetime is rather sad. I hope the kids we are teaching now will go on to even greater ventures in outer space.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/is-poverty-destiny-ideology-vs-evidence-in-school-reform/2012/09/18/cf121d2e-0201-11e2-b257-e1c2b3548a4a_blog.html



The whole article is long and fascinating but the bolded section (I bolded it) really caught my eye. Why, against all evidence, do Americans believe in magic merit dust? I've never felt like opportunity was just around the corner for me, but maybe I just grew up gloomy. And realistic...