Favorite TV Shows of the Past: Batman

Naomi Schaefer Riley, Black Studies Programs, and the Sorry State of Higher Education

Naomi Schaefer Riley

I have added to my list of "counselors" author Naomi Schaefer Riley.  I heard Ms. Riley on the radio a couple of mornings ago being interviewed by former education secretary, Bill Bennett. She is the author of a recently published book on higher education: The Faculty Lounges: And Other Reasons Why You Won't Get the College Education You Pay For.  It's a book I'm looking forward to reading because, over the years, I've had the distinct privilege of working with a lot of people who obviously did NOT get the college education they (or somebody) paid for.  Her interview with Bill Bennett drew my attention because it was mentioned during the course of the discussion that she had been fired for something she had written.  I should mention that it never fails to grab my attention whenever I hear of someone has written something that has gotten them in hot water with the powers that be.  So, obviously, I'm looking forward to reading her book.

The Book

The subject of the piece that led to Ms. Riley's dismissal as a contributor to The Chronicle of Higher Education's "Brainstorm" blog was the concept of black studies programs in major colleges and universities or, more specifically, why they should be eliminated.  After a storm of mostly juvenile criticism, Ms. Riley published a response on the same blog.  At some point in this war of words, she was fired, and the editors of blog had this to say by way of justification.  In response to her firing, Ms. Riley took to the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal, where she is a frequent contributor, to declaim about the "mob mentality" that prevails in many circles of higher education these days.

So, it's not just because the catchy title of her book interests me, it's because, after listening to her discuss the subject with Bill Bennett, and after reading the aforementioned articles, I am persuaded that Naomi Schaefer Riley not only knows what she's talking and writing about, she's such an authority that she deserves a place on my exclusive roster of counselors.

twh

The Staffing Process

TRADOC Regulation 25-36, The TRADOC Doctrinal Publication Program provides the theory, laying it all out in professional detail.  It's called the staffing process, a crucial phase of Army doctrine development.  The way it actually works in practice, at least according to my experience in Signal Towers, is something like this Dilbert cartoon.

Another One Bites the Dust

"A senior al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leader who is wanted for his involvement in the USS Cole attack in 2000 and a failed airplane bombing over Detroit in 2009, and who currently leads a terrorist cell in Yemen, was killed in a US drone strike in Yemen today."

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/05/uss_cole_bomber_kill.php#ixzz1u8ZsXkav

Legends

From left, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus
and Gary Player

They're old now, but watching these guys play never gets old or dull.  How many times growing up, watching golf on TV, were these guys in the hunt.  How many major championships between them.  When I moved to Augusta and got to go to the Masters, I was privileged to see three of them, Palmer, Nicklaus, and Player, play their last tournament rounds at Augusta National.  What an afternoon watching them at the Insperity Championship!  They truly are the Greats of Golf.

It's the Troops' Fault

The SECDEF

In a sign that the Obama Administration may have moved on past its propensity to blame the preceding administration for its own ineptitude, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, seeking to blunt media criticism of the administration's aimlessness in Afghanistan--and to divert discussion away from this administration's headlong rush to gut the military via the budget process--blames the troops.

Enough Money Yet?

Messrs. Buffet and Obama. Said the
president (presumably): "I do think that at a
certain point you've made enough money."

According to a Reuters story, "Warren Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway more than doubled its profit in the first quarter."

Good.  Maybe now Mr. Buffet can now afford to pay his over-due tax bill without cramping his lifestyle too much.