Tag Archives: school
‘Like you know’ — Christmas 2017
Posted by on December 27, 2017
Vagueness is on the march and it isn’t just formal education that has brought this about, firstly television, then the Internet, and now mobile phone texting, all impact on both the written and the spoken word. Read more of this post
Whom the Gods would destroy
Posted by on October 4, 2014
My posts on matter considered obscene, reminded me of the 1930 case when Sir Ethelred Rutt K.C., had the misfortune of appearing before a full Bench of magistrates on behalf of the headmaster (a clergyman) of Eton College. Certain publications had been found at Eton College by a Police Constable Boot in his zealous discharge of a special warrant, whereupon the headmaster was charged under Lord Campbell’s Act, England’s first obscenity statute. The headmaster admitted that the publications kept on the premises were to be ‘sold, distributed, lent, or otherwise published’ – within the meaning of the Act – to the students under his charge, who were from thirteen to nineteen years of age. Read more of this post
A Literary Trip
Posted by on July 5, 2014
A recent post on the mytelegraph web site introduced me to the book Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. I had heard of the book but hadn’t read it or any other works by this authoress. Intrigued by ‘Aunt Ada Doom’s glimpse of “something nasty in the woodshed” that left her traumatized and confined to her room for decades, utterly dependent upon the Starkadders’, I went in search of the book and came across a review by ‘Anna’ on things mean a lot – a reading journal Read more of this post
Banned Book Week
Posted by on September 28, 2013
Banned Book Week is the United States’ national book community’s annual celebration of the freedom to read, this week libraries and book stores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship (see more information on Banned Books Week). Read more of this post
Sherlock Holmes (the never-ending story)
Posted by on January 16, 2012
During the war when I used to go to Saturday morning pictures – three pence to get in and no refund if it was bombed while you were inside. Incidentally threepence in say 1944 becomes around £4.50 today – so it was considerably more expensive to go to the Saturday cinema in 1944. Read more of this post
Knowledge is not a shovel
Posted by on March 6, 2011
Some time ago I posted a piece with the title It’s Hell For Democracy. Based on the writings of C.S. Lewis, part of its intent was to show that contemporary thinking and criticisms on society are rarely the outcome of original thought. In the post Lewis’s thoughts on education are truly contemporary and yet he published them some 40 years ago. Being aware of Lewis’s views an article with the title Knowledge is not a shovel – Universities and democratic society, with this quote attached, caught my attention.
The primary aim of education, however one understands it, must be to nurture the ability to reflect, to develop new ideas, and to implement these collectively, writes Gesine Schwan. Cognitive multilingualism is the only way to prevent the specialization of knowledge narrowing our horizons to an extent that results in structural irresponsibility.
Like – ‘er’, you know, they’re only words.
Posted by on February 13, 2011
Education, Education, Education, was the mantra of New Labour in 1997, which certainly appealed to me, having the experience of two boys being educated in a state comprehensive school. An appeal reinforced by my experience in a military training establishment for adolescent and mature students. However, 13 years post New Labour’s mantra and some 20 years post the Tories Citizens Charter, it seems that instead of a nation educated and proficient in the use of ‘simple English’, we are now a nation of ‘English simpletons’.
Those Bonded Buy Bonds
Posted by on January 24, 2011
An article by Frank Chodorov with the title Don’t buy Government Bonds is republished by the Ludwig Von Mises Institute. The following is an abridged version of that article, the original having appeared in Out of Step: The Autobiography of an Individualist (1962), which was a collection of essays and the last of Frank Chodorov’s books published during his lifetime. You may, or may not, be relaxed about the Government issuing bonds, as may be your attitude to the issue of Eurobonds. In the latter case it is your government that is buying Eurobonds on your behalf and if you are a taxpayer you are bonded to buy these bonds. Read more of this post
