PETER MCLAREN ON THE "DIRTY THIRTY" LIST: MORE "CAN TEACHERS SAY WHAT THEY WANT?"

The main article is here. Once again, this goes back to the problem (discussed in an earlier blog) of whether or not teachers can say what they want in class. The issue has attracted the attention of The Guardian, too.

Maybe the question would be more focused if I asked the question this way: what aren't teachers allowed to say in class?

Well, they aren't allowed to say dirty words, or to make illegal threats, but those are covered by the laws against obscenity and violent behavior. That's not at issue here. Perhaps individual cases might shed some light on what we're talking about here? Are professors allowed to be marxists in the classroom? Are they allowed to say marxist things? The anti-free-speech people can't seem to bring themselves to say precisely why not, instead generalizing about the evils of marxism. This is a dodge.

John J. Ray, for instance, is "saddened, and then disgusted, at the extent to which McLaren is wasting his students' time." Well, presumably, since McLaren has a public reputation (which Ray well acknowledges), the students enrolling in his classes know well in advance what they're getting. Wasting his students' time? By the very laws of capitalist commodity exchange, they're getting what they paid for!

"EXPERTS SAY" BUSH LEAK IS LEGAL

The link is here, but I don't get the reasoning. If the information that "Valerie Plame is a CIA agent" is deemed by the President to not be "classified information," how is that not a violation of the law that decrees the identity of CIA agents to be classified information? The "experts" appear to be giving Bush legislative powers.

MASSACHUSETTS DOCTORS AGREE WITH ME ON COVERAGE LAW

And Common Dreams has given them some coverage -- though they need to say outright that this is a tax on the poor and middle class to support the medical rich.

One of the dangers of supporting ecosocialism is that, if perchance the Powers That Be discovered that ecosocialism became popular, they would create some kind of phony ecosocialism that screwed people over, and enact it into law. This appears to be what's happening with "universal health coverage" in Massachusetts.