Nice quote in the NY Post by Mike Pompeo: ‘Who’s the most dangerous person in the world? Is it Chairman Kim, is it Xi Jinping?'” Pompeo said.
“The most dangerous person in the world is Randi Weingarten. It’s not a close call.
“If you ask, ‘Who’s the most likely to take this republic down?’ It would be the teachers unions, and the filth that they’re teaching our kids, and the fact that they don’t know math and reading or writing.”
****************
I served on a local school board for several years in the very district where I had attended grade school, middle school, and high school. The defining moment was when my own niece - a grade-school teacher - and I were discussing her use of "git" and "fer" and "sich," "he done this," and "he done that." I said "Holly, you can't talk like that; the students look to you for the correct way to speak."
Her response? "Oh, Uncle Jim, it's no problem. The school board told us not to correct the kids' speech because THAT'S HOW THEIR PARENTS TALK." She really said that.
Congress' refusal to protect American automakers from Japanese competition in the 'seventies completely turned around the American auto industry, which at that time was making cars that were fortunate to last 100,000 miles - in fact had odometers of only five digits. My truck is eighteen years old, just turned 180,000 miles, and I expect at least another 180K. There is no fixing the education system unless we bring in real competition, and that cannot happen with forced taxing to fund failing public schools. Parents must be able to choose, and of course the teachers' unions and their acolytes in Congress howl at the prospect like broke-d*ck dogs. We need to ask ourselves whether we want to solve the problem or not and what are the likely results if we don't. The answer will be self-evident.
Thanks. As a tad in the Appalachians I learnt a lot more than how to make slingshots, build haystacks, and spit between my front teeth. Swearing is considered an art form and one I practice with great skill. Trying to tone it down a bit in my dotage, tho'.
Strong comment, Jim. Competition is exactly what we need. Private schools can force public schools to change. For years until the last decade or so I never understood the whole charter school imbroglio. I never saw the need - obviously because I never wanted to see the decay of the public school system. My bad.
It doesn't matter what political persuasion anyone in the US is, we can all support the fact that public education through to the end of high school must get back to strong basics, and fast. Young adults are arriving in universities not knowing how to write, and only God knows how poor their reading skills are. And in this age of microaggression, cancel culture and progressive grievance, I don't believe they know how to think either..
I absolutely agree with you. This system will remain broken so long as there is no competition in it. Most parents do not have the resources to throw away the taxes they pay which keep this broken system alive.
And your car manufacturer example is well-put. After going through several terrible experiences in the eighties with American cars we started buying Japanese cars and have never looked back. We currently have a Honda Element which is about to turn 300,000 miles and it's still running strong. Only had to do minor repairs to it. Sold a strong running Subaru once at 275,000. All of our friends and relatives who continue to "buy American", even the ones who brag about how much better they've gotten (and I believe they have improved) are routinely also talking about all the repairs they have to do on them while still relatively low mileage.
My truck is actually a 2005 Dodge Ram Diesel. 400 HP (measured) at the rear wheels.
I searched all over for a 2005 because that was the year before the EPA started requiring piss-water be injected in diesel engines. (Yes, that's exactly what it is: urea and water. Pee-water.)
It's a monster. I use it for towing and just had an overdrive installed for Interstate travel. Gotta get a radar detector now or I'm going to jail. God will it fly! Will probably be my last machine. Glad I was able to buy (mostly) American.
Ahh yes, but the Japanese car manufacturers that entered the US markets weren’t unionized. It is widely considered that unions stifled innovation in US automakers for decades.
I’m not anti-union, but when collective bargaining stops being about worker well-being and becomes more about union leadership and power dynamics, it ends up hurting the industries the workers rely on. It no longer serves the people it is supposed to represent. And public sector unions have a completely different, and more fundamental set of problems.
Could easily be the case, Lee, although we bought it in Renton which is a couple miles from the big shipping terminal in south Seattle where they offload vehicles from Asia, so probably it's from overseas. But to your point - I have no reason to think we couldn't make cars every bit as good as the Japanese in principle. I think the unions work against it because they are structured so they protect poor performing employees who have been around awhile. I think management is very short-sighted in terms of what it costs them to not fix niggling problems while in pursuit of their next stock bonuses, etc. And then there is this sense I have of a flagging work ethic and pride of accomplishment which seems to have taken over in this country, and probably has to do with how often people change jobs now. That is the one thing that the Japanese seem to excel at more than any other culture. I remember being involved in some electronic component purchases as an engineer in the nineties and early 2000's and paying a very large premium to insure we got Japanese manufactured components. The reason? All the alternatives had lifespan issues which were highly unpredictable. And we were developing hardware which was located in unreachable locations (outer space). You still see products in advertising "Japanese capacitors used throughout" in some of the trade journals. And you see fakes - Chinese companies that take Chinese parts and silkscreen Japanese manufacturing part numbers on them.
I think Americans do make some good cars, especially at the higher price points, and as robotics continue to take over, unions have less and less leverage. Tesla is leading the way electrically, Ford is right behind them. If we can keep battery technology here in this country, with chip building to follow, we can compete. I do agree on the quality of Japanese technology. You're right there.
One out of eight delegates at the Dem national convention is a teachers' union rep. The unions donate millions to the Dems.
The Scandanavian Nations that the socialist love to falsely point out as socialism that works, give parents education vouchers so the parents can decide which school is best for their students. The Dems and the teachers' unions fight vouchers tooth and nail. Competition brings the best to the top. If vouchers are ever approved, guess where public education schools will be?
(Scandanavian countries are capitalist countries who tax the living daylights out of their citizens to support massive social programs.)
My next door neighbor moved from Detroit to Atlanta four years ago when her daughter had her first baby. She is very proud and vocal about both of her kids’ educational achievements. Who knew how prestigious it was for an instate kid to get admitted to Michigan, as both were. She gets really wound about talking about Betsy DeVos and vouchers, schooling me on the bad outcomes when private schools can be selective and the public schools have to take the kids with behavior problems and special needs. I don’t say a word.
Maybe one of you can help me with a measured response.
To force the non-disruptive kids to be educated together with the disruptive ones is to "screw the ceiling to the floor", to quote Antony Flew. You're screwing the best and brightest down to the level of the lowest. So the best and the brightest can't go as fast or as far. I blame Bush (2) for this flawed ideology. "No child left behind". It's really the "No child gets ahead" system.
I would offer a different take on ‘No Child Left Behind,’ which I heard from a really smart colleague from book publishing. She was serving on the school committee for her Massachusetts town, and welcomed the program. She believed it would help identify the schools that were failing their students.
Since then, of course, that seems to be the case with a lot more schools!
Tell her no system is perfect but you will always take vouchers over the public schools any day. You are always going to have disruptive kids and it is a plus that private schools can weed them out and give the vast majority of students a better school environment. Tell her that just makes sense. Unless of course she is a Democrat where logic and common sense means nothing to them. It is all about feeling good.
Bruce, Merriam-Webster dictionary defines EBONICS as “plural in form but singular in construction” A variety of African American English (AAE) like all other dialects of English, with their own histories of how they came to be; is a systematic and complete language that operates under a set of rules …
First meaning defined + known & łacknowledged use 1973.
In order to ensure Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, teachers (everyone) must accept this.
Example: “Do da dogs bite? I seen ‘em come out yo crib real fast”
NONE of my Black friends or acquaintances use this language, but sadly it has become the language of many kids, regardless of race.
Thanks. When she gets her forearm muscle harvested to make a tallywhacker, I'll reconsider - although her preference for those of others so far seems to be pretty robust.
Nice quote in the NY Post by Mike Pompeo: ‘Who’s the most dangerous person in the world? Is it Chairman Kim, is it Xi Jinping?'” Pompeo said.
“The most dangerous person in the world is Randi Weingarten. It’s not a close call.
“If you ask, ‘Who’s the most likely to take this republic down?’ It would be the teachers unions, and the filth that they’re teaching our kids, and the fact that they don’t know math and reading or writing.”
****************
I served on a local school board for several years in the very district where I had attended grade school, middle school, and high school. The defining moment was when my own niece - a grade-school teacher - and I were discussing her use of "git" and "fer" and "sich," "he done this," and "he done that." I said "Holly, you can't talk like that; the students look to you for the correct way to speak."
Her response? "Oh, Uncle Jim, it's no problem. The school board told us not to correct the kids' speech because THAT'S HOW THEIR PARENTS TALK." She really said that.
Congress' refusal to protect American automakers from Japanese competition in the 'seventies completely turned around the American auto industry, which at that time was making cars that were fortunate to last 100,000 miles - in fact had odometers of only five digits. My truck is eighteen years old, just turned 180,000 miles, and I expect at least another 180K. There is no fixing the education system unless we bring in real competition, and that cannot happen with forced taxing to fund failing public schools. Parents must be able to choose, and of course the teachers' unions and their acolytes in Congress howl at the prospect like broke-d*ck dogs. We need to ask ourselves whether we want to solve the problem or not and what are the likely results if we don't. The answer will be self-evident.
Ya had me at “…….howled like a broke-d*ck dog.”
Thanks. As a tad in the Appalachians I learnt a lot more than how to make slingshots, build haystacks, and spit between my front teeth. Swearing is considered an art form and one I practice with great skill. Trying to tone it down a bit in my dotage, tho'.
Strong comment, Jim. Competition is exactly what we need. Private schools can force public schools to change. For years until the last decade or so I never understood the whole charter school imbroglio. I never saw the need - obviously because I never wanted to see the decay of the public school system. My bad.
It doesn't matter what political persuasion anyone in the US is, we can all support the fact that public education through to the end of high school must get back to strong basics, and fast. Young adults are arriving in universities not knowing how to write, and only God knows how poor their reading skills are. And in this age of microaggression, cancel culture and progressive grievance, I don't believe they know how to think either..
I absolutely agree with you. This system will remain broken so long as there is no competition in it. Most parents do not have the resources to throw away the taxes they pay which keep this broken system alive.
And your car manufacturer example is well-put. After going through several terrible experiences in the eighties with American cars we started buying Japanese cars and have never looked back. We currently have a Honda Element which is about to turn 300,000 miles and it's still running strong. Only had to do minor repairs to it. Sold a strong running Subaru once at 275,000. All of our friends and relatives who continue to "buy American", even the ones who brag about how much better they've gotten (and I believe they have improved) are routinely also talking about all the repairs they have to do on them while still relatively low mileage.
My truck is actually a 2005 Dodge Ram Diesel. 400 HP (measured) at the rear wheels.
I searched all over for a 2005 because that was the year before the EPA started requiring piss-water be injected in diesel engines. (Yes, that's exactly what it is: urea and water. Pee-water.)
It's a monster. I use it for towing and just had an overdrive installed for Interstate travel. Gotta get a radar detector now or I'm going to jail. God will it fly! Will probably be my last machine. Glad I was able to buy (mostly) American.
Just to say, Jeff - that Honda of yours could very well have been built in the USA. They've had plants here since around 1980..
Ahh yes, but the Japanese car manufacturers that entered the US markets weren’t unionized. It is widely considered that unions stifled innovation in US automakers for decades.
I’m not anti-union, but when collective bargaining stops being about worker well-being and becomes more about union leadership and power dynamics, it ends up hurting the industries the workers rely on. It no longer serves the people it is supposed to represent. And public sector unions have a completely different, and more fundamental set of problems.
Could easily be the case, Lee, although we bought it in Renton which is a couple miles from the big shipping terminal in south Seattle where they offload vehicles from Asia, so probably it's from overseas. But to your point - I have no reason to think we couldn't make cars every bit as good as the Japanese in principle. I think the unions work against it because they are structured so they protect poor performing employees who have been around awhile. I think management is very short-sighted in terms of what it costs them to not fix niggling problems while in pursuit of their next stock bonuses, etc. And then there is this sense I have of a flagging work ethic and pride of accomplishment which seems to have taken over in this country, and probably has to do with how often people change jobs now. That is the one thing that the Japanese seem to excel at more than any other culture. I remember being involved in some electronic component purchases as an engineer in the nineties and early 2000's and paying a very large premium to insure we got Japanese manufactured components. The reason? All the alternatives had lifespan issues which were highly unpredictable. And we were developing hardware which was located in unreachable locations (outer space). You still see products in advertising "Japanese capacitors used throughout" in some of the trade journals. And you see fakes - Chinese companies that take Chinese parts and silkscreen Japanese manufacturing part numbers on them.
I think Americans do make some good cars, especially at the higher price points, and as robotics continue to take over, unions have less and less leverage. Tesla is leading the way electrically, Ford is right behind them. If we can keep battery technology here in this country, with chip building to follow, we can compete. I do agree on the quality of Japanese technology. You're right there.
One out of eight delegates at the Dem national convention is a teachers' union rep. The unions donate millions to the Dems.
The Scandanavian Nations that the socialist love to falsely point out as socialism that works, give parents education vouchers so the parents can decide which school is best for their students. The Dems and the teachers' unions fight vouchers tooth and nail. Competition brings the best to the top. If vouchers are ever approved, guess where public education schools will be?
(Scandanavian countries are capitalist countries who tax the living daylights out of their citizens to support massive social programs.)
My next door neighbor moved from Detroit to Atlanta four years ago when her daughter had her first baby. She is very proud and vocal about both of her kids’ educational achievements. Who knew how prestigious it was for an instate kid to get admitted to Michigan, as both were. She gets really wound about talking about Betsy DeVos and vouchers, schooling me on the bad outcomes when private schools can be selective and the public schools have to take the kids with behavior problems and special needs. I don’t say a word.
Maybe one of you can help me with a measured response.
To force the non-disruptive kids to be educated together with the disruptive ones is to "screw the ceiling to the floor", to quote Antony Flew. You're screwing the best and brightest down to the level of the lowest. So the best and the brightest can't go as fast or as far. I blame Bush (2) for this flawed ideology. "No child left behind". It's really the "No child gets ahead" system.
I would offer a different take on ‘No Child Left Behind,’ which I heard from a really smart colleague from book publishing. She was serving on the school committee for her Massachusetts town, and welcomed the program. She believed it would help identify the schools that were failing their students.
Since then, of course, that seems to be the case with a lot more schools!
Tell her no system is perfect but you will always take vouchers over the public schools any day. You are always going to have disruptive kids and it is a plus that private schools can weed them out and give the vast majority of students a better school environment. Tell her that just makes sense. Unless of course she is a Democrat where logic and common sense means nothing to them. It is all about feeling good.
Randi is the president of "da yoonited fedarashun uv teachiz."
Imagine - the representative of America's teachers is an overpaid harridan who can barely speak the English language.
Randi Weingarten is a union goon.
'Harridan' - I just learned a new word. Thanks Bruce. Now I wonder how Randi would pronounce it..
Bruce, Merriam-Webster dictionary defines EBONICS as “plural in form but singular in construction” A variety of African American English (AAE) like all other dialects of English, with their own histories of how they came to be; is a systematic and complete language that operates under a set of rules …
First meaning defined + known & łacknowledged use 1973.
In order to ensure Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, teachers (everyone) must accept this.
Example: “Do da dogs bite? I seen ‘em come out yo crib real fast”
NONE of my Black friends or acquaintances use this language, but sadly it has become the language of many kids, regardless of race.
What did the late Sen Moynihan say about defining deviancy down?
Exactly!
Jim
I upvoted your comment because it is informative and helpful and I was delighted to see that you did not use “they” when you referred to Holly.
Thanks. When she gets her forearm muscle harvested to make a tallywhacker, I'll reconsider - although her preference for those of others so far seems to be pretty robust.