Jonsoniana,

I agree with your assessment when it comes to how a teacher expresses themselves. After delivering the facts for the students to work with, and the sources they can find additional information, there is no reason that they can't state their personal view, as long as it's tempered with good judgement. That doesn't always happen, and when the rule you established isn't followed, the educator is not playing by the rules, and should be removed. They are allowing their personal agenda to get in the way of the reason they are present in the classroom in the first place.

I totally agree with your statement; "the problem is that ideology has gotten so much into academia that we have come to see academics making defences of different ideologies rather than intellectually honest and scientific work."

As for the issue of radical feminist women in academia, I believe that our society has practiced discrimination against women for so long in business and industry, that rational people may very well have reached a point where they understand why some women lash out at the status quo, whether it's in academia, or the private sector. Also, I think that those of us outside the field of academics believe that policing it's own problems should be the job of academics. Also, as you indicated, the problem about being politically correct.

Right or wrong, I believe that's the view from outside academia.

Even though we may be poles apart on some issues, we may not be as far apart on others as you may think.

Also, thank you for pointing out what was said on Spanish TV. Let me guess..... the comment they offered wasn't recorded.... "A reliable source." That does seem to be the way it works. Had they listened to the briefing they would have known that we've always known that the hotel was inhabited by journalists. How could we not know it, when over half the pictures broadcast back to the U.S. have been from that location.

But then again, Baghdad Bob kept saying the coalition wasn't anywhere near Baghdad until he had to get his sorry ass out of town, because he was looking down the barrel of a cannon on an Abrams tank - He didn't even bother to say; "Oops! My mistake!"

Wolf