David Horowitz, a former Marxist turned neo-con political activist, has made a personal mission of revealing the “leftist” political leanings of college professors and their nefarious attempts to indoctrinate their students. I posted a link to this article, “The Two Universities of Texas,” that Mr. Horowitz had written for The Daily Texan. This is how Captain Dipshit begins his article:

“There are two universities operating under the name the University of Texas.

One is a world-class academic institution. Its faculty is professional and dedicated to disinterested scholarly inquiry. Its courses observe the principles of scientific method, and its students are taught to respect evidence and to demand more than one perspective on matters that are controversial.

But there is a second university, which is quite different in its methods and goals. This university’s faculty regard themselves as activists, not scholars, and their method is that of authority, not science. Their curriculum is designed not to teach students how to conduct a disinterested inquiry, but to convert them to a sectarian ideology and recruit them to its causes.“

Okay, fine. Mr. Horowitz believes that a certain faction of UT Austin has consciously decided to undermine the methodology of science-based curricula and to institute a “sectarian ideology,” which seeks to indoctrinate the students. Then he goes on to say this:

“Among the departments and programs at UT that are parties to this scam are the Communications Studies Department, the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies and the Division of Rhetoric and Writing. Space only permits a glimpse of the problem.“

Hmmm. Am I the only one that sees a problem with that statement? Last time I checked, neither Women’s Studies nor Rhetoric and Writing were considered science based disciplines. I could possibly see how Mr. Horowitz could categorize Communications as a science class, that is until he states that the class in question at UT is “Communications and Social Change.” Okay, that’s not a science class either. All of those classes are what rational people like to call “humanities” courses. And humanities courses examines the human condition using methods such as speculation and critical analysis, neither of which are scientific in nature.

To further cement his role as a delusional lunatic, Mr. Horowitz states, “What is the justification for deceiving students that they are getting an education, when in reality what they are getting is a political indoctrination?”

Look, if the students are too stupid to know the difference between a humanities course and a science course, then they need someone to indoctrinate them because they are retarded. Additionally, if a student enrolls in a Women’s Studies course and then receives a shock when the professor professes a feminist leaning, well, that student should then immediately drop out and get a job working the drive-in at Taco Cabana.

David Horowitz isn’t the only person out there that’s worried about the lefty pinkos in the hallowed halls of academia warping the pwecious widdle minds of our college students. Republican Senator Thayer Verschoor of Arizona, proposed the bill SB 1612, which would put a stop to professors revealing any political bias in their courses. If this bill gets passed, which it won’t, any professor caught advocating a political agenda would be subject to disciplinary action and a fine of up to $500 dollars. Here’s a text of the bill . It’s actually much worse than my little paraphrase.

Here’s a tip. If you believe that all collegiate professors are lefty commies that are attempting to subvert the American dream, then you need to recalibrate your commie-detector, because it’s severely out of whack. I’ve spent quite a few years in collegiate settings, and I’ve only come across one instructor whom I felt was way too radical, but even then, open debate was welcome in the class. If you only associate with people with whom you agree, then you’ve never tested your particular ideological standpoints.

And are we so scared of dissenting opinions that we need to ban them? How far do we take that? And who gets to declare what ideology we accept and which ones we suppress? The majority? It wasn’t too long ago that the majority thought it was okay that black people were treated as inferior to white people. I also remember when the majority thought that AIDS was a “gay disease,” and therefore not a problem for “straight America.”

I can understand how in the science department an astronomy professor requiring his students to view “Fahrenheit 9/11″ is inappropriate. However, the humanities are all about examining the human experience, and I’m sorry, but most of the canonical works about the human experience were written by folks that were on the edges of society or who were marginalized in some way. Those types of texts naturally attract scholars that are sympathetic to liberal rhetoric. That’s just the way it is.

And there’s a difference between Political Marxism and Cultural Marxism. Some of these neo-conservatives are confusing critical theory for political activism. They may be related, but they ain’t the same thing.

In the end, Horowritz and his ilk are operating under the delusion that there is some kind of neutral and non-biased way to communicate. There isn’t. We all reveal our biases every time we open our mouths. Ironically, we not only reveal our biases by what we say, but by what we don’t say. You can tell a lot about a person’s system of belief by the information they choose to leave out of a conversation.

In my argument classes we’re currently using commercials, and the dubious practices they employ, as the impetus from which to write persuasive papers. At the beginning of the semester I placed each student into a group, and throughout the semester each group chooses a particular topic from the syllabus that interests them, and then they give a presentation over that topic.

One of the members from the group that presented on commercials created a parody commercial, which draws attention to the way in which television commercials oftentimes have nothing to do with the product they’re selling. Here’s his video:

Damn. I suddenly feel like buying a lamp. Howsabout you?

P.S. I didn’t get finished with my post on the article I mentioned earlier. Expect that tomorrow night.

• The Onion News Network
  It went live today. Huh. After watching a few videos, I’m not sure how this is satire. I mean, if the reports on here on only slightly less retarded than those on “real” news networks, where does the satire occur?

We’ll be discussing this article tonight. Study up.

I’m an internet nerd. I’ll admit that straight off. I use GTalk for internet chatting. I’m active on all kinds of message boards. I play MMORGs. I have a Flickr account.I have a YouTube account. I have a Twitter account. I subscribe to RSS feeds. I use Gmail more than I use the telephone.

All in all, I probably spend more time during the week on the internet than I do…well, doing much else.

But I’m not an introvert. This is a stereotype that is slowly disappearing, but some people still think that internet nerds are all sequestered, anti-social shut-ins that can’t deal with reality–but like I said, I’m not an introvert. I love people, and I truly love all my friends. The thing is, the internet actually allows me to stay connected and maintain relationships. I love knowing that several times throughout the day I can look at my Gtalk client and see several friends that I can talk to. I love the fact that I have friends that I’ve never even seen in person. The internet allows me to stay connected with people I would have otherwise lost touch with, and to connect with people that I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of meeting without it.

It’s a cliche thing to say, but the internet, if used correctly, truly is a community.

When I was a kid, I used to imagine that when I grew up I’d use all my zillions of dollars (hey, I was a kid) to build a big old castle where I could live with all my friends. I imagined a big library and a really cool in-door pool, and all the VHS tapes we could watch.

My fantasy hasn’t changed all that much, but instead of VHS tapes now I’d install a totally sweet PVR system with HDMI outputs and the biggest damn flatscreen TVs I could find. I’d also install a workout area with a complete dojo, and a common garden area with beautiful plants and plenty of benches, where we could all read and visit, and all the dogs could romp and play. But the important part is that I’d have all my friends in one place, and we could visit and share each other’s company without having to worry about money or the stress of jobs.

But unless I find One-Eyed Willie’s rich stuff in the next few years, that ain’t happening. Fortunately, I can use the internet to stay connected with friends and family. It’s not a castle, but it’s the best we’ve got.

• SWORD NEWS
  Heh. Grievous bodily harm. Where was Things Not Working Properly Even After You’ve Given Them A Good Thumping but secretly No Alcohol Lager”? Dammit, I know I’m not the only Pratchett fan here.

Get ready for another “I hate the media” post.

First, let’s start off by taking a little looky-loo at this video:

Powerful stuff, huh?

If you haven’t seen that before, then I’ll explain. That commercial aired in 1984, during the Superbowl, and it introduced the world to the brand new Macintosh computer. Yep, that was the first time the general public had ever heard of Apple’s “Macintosh” personal computer. It aired only once, but the dystopian, Orwellian images in the commercial have become part of our cultural zeitgeist. In the original ad, Gestapo-like militants chase a beautiful, athletic woman through a crowd of apathetic and subjugated citizens that are lulled into submission by a Big Brother like overlord. When the woman gets close to the screen, she hurls a large hammer at the screen breaking it, and in turn breaking the spell over the subjugating viewers.

Now watch this one:

Several weeks ago, an anonymous user uploaded that video, which is obviously a manipulated version of the Macintosh ad, onto YouTube, and then proceeded to post links to it all over the blogsphere. As you just saw, the hammer-thrower now sports Barack Obama’s logo on her shirt, and on the Big-Brother titantron, Hillary Clinton lulls the apathetic crowd into submission with her totally boring, “It takes a village” rhetoric.

The chuckle-heads on the cable media stations have gone ape-shit over this thing. First, the conservatives are saying that it illustrates how the democrats will institute an Orwellian-like society if they gain power, as if the republicans haven’t already started that job. The retards in the media have been clamoring for quotes from Hillary and Barack, hoping that one of them had the inside scoop on the video, but neither of them knew anything about who posted it online.

Everyone in the media seems to think it took ILM wizardry to create that thing. It didn’t. I could do that, and I’m a horrible editor. And it wasn’t created by conservative to denigrate the democrats. It was created by Phil de Vellis, and surprise, surprise, he’s a democrat. Here’s what Phil had to say on The Huffington Post in regards to his political affiliation:

“Let me be clear: I am a proud Democrat, and I always have been. I support Senator Obama. I hope he wins the primary. (I recognize that this ad is not his style of politics.) I also believe that Senator Clinton is a great public servant, and if she should win the nomination, I would support her and wish her all the best.”

Huh. He sounds like a reasonable guy. What a disappointment.

There are literally thousands of political videos on YouTube just like this one. I just don’t understand the obsession with de Vellis’.

The other thing that really irritates me, is that despite what people are saying on the news stations, using that commercial in a manipulated video isn’t a new idea. The guys over at YTMND have been superimposing images onto that Mac ad since early 2005. The original page on YTMND posited Conan O’Brien as Big Brother, and since then meme has grown in creativity and absurdity.

HEY! de Vellis’ video isn’t original! Stop broadcasting these non-stories! Do some real journalistic investigation you hackney pin-heads! We have a lot of problems in our country, and you’re focusing on some dickhead’s YouTube video!? STOP THAT!

P.S.- Hillary has a mouth like an outboard boat motor.

• 81-year old crashes bike into shoplifter
  That’s a good way to put the kibosh on the fleeing criminal. Now if we could get old people like that in the states. I’m tired of all the blue-hairs and their “But I’m so OLD!” shtick. If one other person got that Doug Stanhope reference, I’m amazed.