We're not sure we'd go so far as to say that we miss Eric Cantor. But we sure are impressed with the intellectual firepower of Dave Brat, the Tea Party twit that replaced him. In a meeting of the House Education and Workforce Committee Wednesday, Brat explained why we shouldn't get too het up about education policy and federal funding for public schools, and that is because
He ran on the clear and triumphal "Don't Vote for the Devil You Know; Vote for the Devil Who is Demonstrably Worse" platform, and won because his opponent sucked at cheating.
I would like to see more hard data regarding how well- or ill-prepared for adult life graduating high school seniors are these days, and how knowledgeable they really are about running or managing a business. But if I were to refer just to my own experience way back when I was that age I actually find very little to criticize in the second, longer blockquote. Coming out of high school way back in the Pleistocene (i.e., the early 70s) I was pretty clueless about how businesses really operated; in fact I even knew next to nothing about such basic matters as how to get and hold onto a job, or what skills I had or could acquire that would be useful to a business. Many years later my father, who was in management by then, made presentations and helped to conduct seminars at high schools and colleges on the basics of business, so I sort of understand what Brat is saying about consulting with area CEOs during high school curriculum and course development. I am, however, convinced that education professionals will still need to be in overall charge of it and be the teachers of it.
I don't know what other positions Brat has staked out in this area, but what was quoted here did not strike me as being very contrary or contentious. It is possible that I am misreading this due to not being at all informed about Rep Brant's other pronouncements on education policy, but I didn't get the impression that he was talking about the grade school-level basics of commerce that Dok mentioned. Rather I think he was referring to helping high school students develop the more comprehensive understanding of business that would be very useful to them as adults. I certainly could have benefited from some of that back when I was still in high school. I saw Brat's point here as being not really ideological but rather practical in nature. Again, these remarks may be part of a broader context that I am not aware of though.
<i>Aristotle could have avoided the mistake of thinking that women have fewer teeth than men, by the simple device of asking Mrs. Aristotle to keep her mouth open while he counted.
I haven't visited such places lately, but you're telling me contemporary high schools don't offer business classes? You actually have to go to college to learn shit like that? Gasp!
At least Cantor was just a salivating careerist who would have adopted the Fundamental Statute of the Kingdom of Albania if it got him a few votes for Speaker. This clown really believes his crap.
If they do it's news to me. There wasn't anything like that back when I was in HS. Secondary education focuses on the liberal arts, as does higher education for the most part. (On a related note, is classical Greek still mandatory in high school?) Study of business subjects generally requires that one gain admission to and then enroll in B school.
He was between a rock and a hard place, yer sayin?
THIS ... just leaps off the page ... &quot;We all talk about skills and all this kinds of things.&quot;
As long as the rock is big enough, I&#039;m right there with you.
He ran on the clear and triumphal &quot;Don&#039;t Vote for the Devil You Know; Vote for the Devil Who is Demonstrably Worse&quot; platform, and won because his opponent sucked at cheating.
Brat will get our kids ready to compete with Chinese and Indian kids for jobs at Foxconn.
&quot;This millions-a-year gig is pretty sweet&quot;.
I would like to see more hard data regarding how well- or ill-prepared for adult life graduating high school seniors are these days, and how knowledgeable they really are about running or managing a business. But if I were to refer just to my own experience way back when I was that age I actually find very little to criticize in the second, longer blockquote. Coming out of high school way back in the Pleistocene (i.e., the early 70s) I was pretty clueless about how businesses really operated; in fact I even knew next to nothing about such basic matters as how to get and hold onto a job, or what skills I had or could acquire that would be useful to a business. Many years later my father, who was in management by then, made presentations and helped to conduct seminars at high schools and colleges on the basics of business, so I sort of understand what Brat is saying about consulting with area CEOs during high school curriculum and course development. I am, however, convinced that education professionals will still need to be in overall charge of it and be the teachers of it.
I don&#039;t know what other positions Brat has staked out in this area, but what was quoted here did not strike me as being very contrary or contentious. It is possible that I am misreading this due to not being at all informed about Rep Brant&#039;s other pronouncements on education policy, but I didn&#039;t get the impression that he was talking about the grade school-level basics of commerce that Dok mentioned. Rather I think he was referring to helping high school students develop the more comprehensive understanding of business that would be very useful to them as adults. I certainly could have benefited from some of that back when I was still in high school. I saw Brat&#039;s point here as being not really ideological but rather practical in nature. Again, these remarks may be part of a broader context that I am not aware of though.
Greatest minds?
<i>Aristotle could have avoided the mistake of thinking that women have fewer teeth than men, by the simple device of asking Mrs. Aristotle to keep her mouth open while he counted.
Bertrand Russell</i>
extra credit for use of the word 'funicular' in a sentence.
I haven't visited such places lately, but you're telling me contemporary high schools don't offer business classes? You actually have to go to college to learn shit like that? Gasp!
At least Cantor was just a salivating careerist who would have adopted the Fundamental Statute of the Kingdom of Albania if it got him a few votes for Speaker. This clown really believes his crap.
The only song I can think of that is about a funicular is the Neapolitan song "Funiculì, Funiculà" (music by Luigi Denza, lyrics by Peppino Turco.)
What did I win?
Drink Hemlockola, Refreshingly Fatal!
a ride on a cog-tooth railway
a brat-worthy syllogism: "all men die. socrates is a man. i am not socrates, therefore i shall not die."
If they do it's news to me. There wasn't anything like that back when I was in HS. Secondary education focuses on the liberal arts, as does higher education for the most part. (On a related note, is classical Greek still mandatory in high school?) Study of business subjects generally requires that one gain admission to and then enroll in B school.