Tuesday, October 6, 2015

David Brooks, "The Big University": Send Your Kids to Hogwarts!



The news just keeps getting worse. As we were informed yesterday by The Wall Street Journal in an article entitled "Turkey Says Russian Fighter Jet Violated Its Airspace With Syria" by Julian E. Barnes, Emre Peker and Gordon Lubold:

"At least one Russian warplane violated Turkish airspace and another jet locked its targeting radar on Turkish jet fighters over the weekend, incidents that some U.S. and NATO officials called a deliberate signal from Moscow as it conducts its own bombing campaign in Syria."

And then there is the report from DEBKAfile:

"Friday, Oct. 2, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the surprise deployment of Navy cruiser, the Moskva, armed with 64 advanced anti-aircraft missiles S-300 ship-to-air missiles opposite the Syrian coastal town of Latakia.

DEBKAfile’s military sources point out that Russia, without saying so publicly, has thus created an effective no-fly zone over most of Syria, most of northern Israel, including the Golan, as well as southern Turkey, for US aircraft based there for air strikes in Syria; Cyprus, the site of British air force bases; and Jordan."

More? On Sunday, Iran's Fars News Agency told us:

"Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said all US military bases in the Middle East are within the range of the IRGC's missiles, but the country still sees no restriction for boosting its missile capabilities."

But don't worry, be happy. In his latest New York Times op-ed entitled "The Big University," David Brooks writes:

"To lead a full future life, meanwhile, students have to find new things to love: a field of interest, an activity, a spouse, community, philosophy or faith. College is about exposing students to many things and creating an aphrodisiac atmosphere so that they might fall in lifelong love with a few."

Ah yes, an "aphrodisiac atmosphere" guaranteed to last a lifetime! But why spend a hundred thousand dollars over the course of four years "to find new things to love," and then spend 50 years wondering how to pay back your student loans, when The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is currently offering Horace Slughorn potions scholarships?

Cynical? Me?

1 comment:

  1. http://thefederalist.com/2015/10/07/the-putin-school-of-international-affairs/

    Angelo Codevilla is the only one who nails it.

    ReplyDelete