January 13, 2005

Flame On! Lights Up the Night!

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader certainly does enjoy two things. First, the chance to put an obsure Dan Ackroyd line from SNL into the title of a post. Second, others taking up the torch against the Smallholder. (So to speak.)

Your Maximum Leader first commends to you Ally's post concerning Community Colleges.

Your Maximum Leader has some thoughts on this subject, but he will keep them to himself for a little while longer. He is enjoying the everything that is coming the Smallholder's way.

Of course, if you have thoughts about the Smallholder's Community College post you may e-mail them to your Maximum Leader (maxldr-blog -at- yahoo -dot-com) or the Smallholder himself at: smallholder - at- nakedvillainy -dot- com.

BTW, your Maximum Leader got a nice e-mail from the divine Minion Molly (or M - Squared as he will sometimes refer to her). M-Squared confesses that she went to a "junior college" to take an English class to get ahead. Your Maximum Leader isn't sure what happened to the noble institution that was the "junior college." Most have transmogrified themselves into 4 year schools, or just disappeared. There probably is a post in that subject somewhere - but your Maximum Leader is unlikely to write it.

Minion Molly also is told by "people" that northern schools are more "elite" than schools in Texas. As one who has some experience in college admissions, your Maximum Leader wouldn't go so far as to make a blanket statement like that one. There may well be more schools with the "reputation" for being "elite" in Northern states. But this is a factor of a few different historical trends. The easiest of which to identify is that the Northeastern states (and New England states specifically) have a longer history and tradition of higher education; due in part to the need to train clergymen. All in all there are just as many "non-elite" schools in the North as there are in the South. Indeed, there are more "non-elite" schools in the nation - by definition - than "elite" schools.

Your Maximum Leader should also note that Minion Molly would like to challenge our President (that is President George W. Bush) to a game of Jeopardy to test her University of Texas education against his "gentleman C's" from Yale and Havard.

As entertaining as that would be, your Maximum Leader fears that President Bush will not be taking up any game-show challenges.

Excursus: President Bush: Fox or Hedgehog? Can you really make a determination? Hummm... President Clinton: same question. Answer for Clinton, definately Fox. And while your Maximum Leader is playing this little intellectual game with himself... George H.W. Bush: Fox; Ronald Reagan: Hedgehog; Jimmy Carter: Fox; Gerald Ford: n/a; Richard Nixon: Fox; Lyndon Johnson: Fox; John Kennedy: Fox; Dwight Eisenhower: Fox; Harry Truman: Hedgehog; FDR: Fox. Your Maximum Leader isn't sure about Eisenhower. Ike may be a Hedgehog. That is a toughie.

And in case anyone cares, in your Maximum Leader's opinion the finest educational institution in the United States of America is.... (drumroll please)... Stanford University. Followed rather closely by the University of Chicago. Your Maximum Leader has not attended either of the schools (but would gladly do so if he had the inclination or talent); nor is he a paid spokesman for these institutions. And if he had to throw in one other college of which he thinks highly, it would be St. John's College.

Carry on.

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