Here are two items that you may have missed but that are clearly further indicators of the devaluation of workers. First, some owners of McDonald’s franchises have started issuing pre-paid debit cards, instead of paychecks, to their employees. Clearly this practice is in some way saving the owners of the franchises some money, though I…
Cultural Representations of Higher Ed, No. 4 I am working backwards through this list. Here are films 201 to 250, which are still generally ridiculous, but perhaps somewhat less ridiculous than those numbered 251-400. The rankings are my own and in most cases somewhat arbitrary. The descriptions of the films are paraphrases of summaries found…
—and in the Process Puts the Lie to the GOP Truisms about Cutting Spending and Conducting the People’s Business in the Open Predictably, Progressives across the nation are expressing outrage at the Farm Bill just passed by only eight votes in the House of Representatives (every Democrat and 12 Republicans voted against the bill’s passage).…
The post to which this is a postscript is available at: https://academeblog.org/2013/07/10/coal-miners-get-the-shaft-again/ Lest anyone think that what Peabody Energy and Arch Coal are doing through Patriot Coal is an anomaly in the Appalachian coal fields, let me draw your attention to the career of Don Blankenship. From 1992 to 2010, Blankenship headed Massey Energy in…
Cultural Representations of Higher Ed, No. 3 I am working backwards through this list. Here are films 251 to 300, which are generally ridiculous, but perhaps somewhat less ridiculous than those numbered 301-400. The first post in this series, covering films ranked 351 to 400 is available at: https://academeblog.org/2013/07/09/400-films-about-higher-education-or-at-least-set-on-campuses-351-400/ The second post in this series,…
Cultural Representations of Higher Ed, No. 2 I am working backwards through this list. Here are films 301 to 350, which are, again, generally ridiculous. The first post in this series, covering films ranked 351 to 400 is available at: https://academeblog.org/2013/07/09/400-films-about-higher-education-or-at-least-set-on-campuses-351-400/ The rankings are my own and in most cases somewhat arbitrary: that is, these are…
The union movement in the United States may not have begun in the coal fields, but it arguably became a major force in the American economy, in American politics, and in the national life of the United States because of the stands taken by pro-union miners in coal fields from the Appalachian Mountains to the…
Cultural Representations of Higher Ed, No. 1 I am working backwards through this list. Here are films 351 to 400, which are generally ridiculous. The rankings are my own and in most cases somewhat arbitrary. The descriptions of many of the films are paraphrases of summaries found in a half-dozen print and online film guides.…
Many commentators on what is undermining higher education have focused on administrative bloat, on the increasing allocation of revenues to non-instructional or administrative positions. Some have pointed to the increasing exploitation of adjunct faculty at most institutions, citing the very minimal compensation, the non-existent benefits, the general lack of staff support, and the complete lack…
According to World Net Daily, the Far-Right news source for those who find FOX News and American Spectator too moderate, Ted Nugent is considering a run for the Republican nomination in 2016. In a news item titled “Ted, White, and Blue: Nugent Eyes the White House,” World Net Daily cites an item that appeared originally…