Bubbles Bursting Week at College Insurrection

Posted by William A. Jacobson Saturday, October 20, 2012 at 08:30am 5 Comments

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radiofreeca | October 20, 2012 at 10:10 am

“Nefarious Republican” – isn’t that kind of redundant? And proud of it, I might add!

Professor, thanks for all your hard work, and congratulations on the recognition you’re beginning to get – it’s well deserved. The detailed attention to measurable facts (video clips, transcripts, etc.) has been of tremendous help.

gs | October 20, 2012 at 10:33 am

Those bubbles won’t burst without a fight by the entrenched interests which created them. The Blogs I Read section in the right-hand column links to:

Minnesota Bans Free Online Courses

Almost as heartbreaking as burning books, a move by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education will rank among those incomprehensible moments in human history when we seem to be handicapping ourselves for no reason.

Lifelong learners, students wanting supplemental courses, professionals, and Americans across the country interested in enrolling in physics, history, music, and a variety of other courses can do so for free from the open-source provider Coursera. But Minnesota has just informed its residents that they are now prohibited by law from furthering their own education for free through courses offered on Coursera by the likes of Stanford, Duke, Princeton, and more than a dozen other universities.

An “incomprehensible moments in human history when we seem to be handicapping ourselves for no reason?” Not at all. Minnesota’s unconstitutional edict is quite in the tradition of laws that forbade teaching slaves to read: laws created for the slaves’ good, of course, by their enlightened masters.

1. Like Instapundit says, You can’t make this stuff up.

2. Like Glenn says, Tar. Feathers.

3. As Toynbee said, Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.

4. One more time, for emphasis: Tar. Feathers.

gs in reply to gs. | October 20, 2012 at 1:11 pm

Minnesota backed down:

…one day after the Internet (myself included) lost its collective mind with rage, Minnesota has backed off its announced ban on free online courses…

(HT: Powerline.) It’s a relief that I’m not the only one who went bonkers upon reading the initial proscription. Nevertheless, note how the regulators’ minds work.

MN’s head educational bureaucrat said:

“When the legislature convenes in January, my intent is to work with the Governor and Legislature to appropriately update the statute to meet modern-day circumstances. Until that time, I see no reason for our office to require registration of free, not-for-credit offerings.”

This may not be over. Eternal vigilance.

Instapundit » Blog Archive » BUBBLES ARE BURSTING everywhere…. | October 21, 2012 at 10:39 am

[…] BUBBLES ARE BURSTING everywhere. […]

Right. So When Will the “Prophet” Bubble Burst? « Si Vis Pacem | October 21, 2012 at 11:09 am

[…] The “authority of Parliament” bubble had rather a rough time here in the Colonies. We’re not yet done: It seems that bubbles are a’ poppin’ all over the place. […]

Bubbles Bursting Week at College Insurrection