Nothing is closer to the hearts of erstwhile liberals than public schools. Nothing comes closer to apostasy in the liberal mind that opposition to public schools, or “education.” Nothing constitutes a stronger political commitment than ours to compulsory public schooling. So I’m about to become the skunk at the party, and say that (1) compulsory [...]

Okay, here is a short video with a broad outline of the Dunbar thesis… a fuzzy concept, but not necessarily invalid on that account. The reason it’s fuzzy is because Dunbar’s number – 150 as the fuzzy constant – is the number of significant relationships a person can manage without interlocutors, that is, emotional cut-outs [...]

Been a long time fan of the Media Education Foundation. It turns out we can watch their films free if we don’t mind preview-grade low-res. Full length versions are thus available at the MEF website here. Click onto the site, then go to the little icon below the giant preview pane, and click Spin the [...]

Been a long time fan of the Media Education Foundation. It turns out we can watch their films free if we don’t mind preview-grade low-res. Full length versions are thus available at the MEF website here. Here is a full-length preview of The Price of Pleasure. What are your reactions to the film? Do you [...]

Been a long time fan of the Media Education Foundation. It turns out we can watch their films free if we don’t mind preview-grade low-res. Full length versions are thus available at the MEF website here. Here is a full-length preview of Codes of Gender. What are your reactions to the film? Do you take [...]

Been a long time fan of the Media Education Foundation. It turns out we can watch their films free if we don’t mind preview-grade low-res. Full length versions are thus available at the MEF website here. Click onto the site, then go to the little icon below the giant preview pane, and click Consuming Kids, [...]

Been a long time fan of the Media Education Foundation. It turns out we can watch their films free if we don’t mind preview-grade low-res. Full length versions are thus available at the MEF website here. Click onto the site, then go to the little icon below the giant preview pane, and click Beauty Mark, [...]

Been a long time fan of the Media Education Foundation. It turns out we can watch their films free if we don’t mind preview-grade low-res. Full length versions are thus available at the MEF website here. Here is a full length preview of Asking For It. What are your reactions to the film? Do you [...]

Been a long time fan of the Media Education Foundation. It turns out we can watch their films free if we don’t mind preview-grade low-res. Full length versions are thus available at the MEF website here. Click onto the site, then go to the little icon below the giant preview pane, and click The Mean [...]

You can look up the wiki entry for this phrase, but I’ll just tell you it’s the title of a science fiction story by William Gibson. Gibson features hackers, so much of his language is tough for a hillbilly; but the title corresponds to an idea that runs through the whole tale, summarized from the [...]