February 2007

Steve Jobs Attacks Unions, Teachers

February 17, 2007

Everyone is an expert on education. It's one of the great sources of frustration and joy about my job.The latest critic of American education is billionaire Steve Jobs. Jobs offered this insight : "I believe that what is wrong with our schools in this nation is that they have become unionized in the worst possible [...]

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All New Intelligent Discontent

February 15, 2007

This site is officially retired. After a few fitful moments in the transition, we’ve decided to close up shop on our old WordPress site and move forward with a new Joooma! powered version of Intelligent Discontent. From this point on, all content will still be at http://www.intelligentdiscontent.com still, just with a new look. Bookmark on [...]

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Some folks just don’t get it….

February 14, 2007

It has been well-established that Fox and other conservative media groups have wanted to counter the Daily Show/Colbert Report duo with a conservative counterpart.  Their answer has been the "1/2 Hour News Hour," starring Joel Surnow, who gained his fame writing for Miami Vice. A clip of the upcoming show has been released (leaked?) and [...]

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English Only Licenses: Ah, Irony

February 13, 2007

Dennis Himmelberger (no doubt descended from a long line of Native Americans) thinks that only people who are proficient in English should be allowed to obtain a license to drive in Montana. He is offering House Bill 549 , which would add this requirement to obtain a license: must include an English proficiency test, to [...]

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Where is Dennis?–Update

February 12, 2007

{mosimage}A quick update on the Where is Dennis? project: I have personally made six calls in the past five days. I have been told that I will receive a callback or an e-mail five times. No calls have been returned, no e-mails have been received. Each time, however, the person at the office has demanded [...]

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An Amusing Story About Education

February 12, 2007

There was a story in the Billings Gazette last Friday that was not most interesting for its content, but for the response of the Gazette's readers. The story discussed a now-scrapped plan to increase base pay of the teachers in the district. Just as vermin will invariably enter a dirty home, the typical critics of [...]

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Shameful Cuts in Indian Education

February 7, 2007

Republicans in the joint Appropriatons Education Subcommittee ought to be deeply ashamed of themselves for their recent vote to cut $2.9 million from the Office of Public Instruction's Indian Education Office. Just one session after finally implementing  the constitutional mandate of preserving American Indian culture in our educational system, the GOP has turned its back [...]

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Memo to Black People: Just Follow the Rules!

February 7, 2007

Stuart Taylor, in what he no doubt conceived as an original observation, suggests that the success of Barack Obama offers a lesson for African-Americans : …in today's America, the opportunities available to black people are unlimited if they work hard, play by the rules, and get a good education. Let's ignore the Bidenesque paternalistic racism [...]

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