The very many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XXIV

[Quackers]

How strong is the modern day mafia in the states?

 

[Joecoolyo]

I can see the logic behind those explanations, but in both cases it seems a bit of a cack-handed way of going about it. Trying to produce well-rounded educational experiences is certainly a worthwhile goal, but having people take a range of unrelated classes seems like it would produce an education that's more spotty than well-rounded. Likewise, making sure people don't put all their eggs in one basket seems sensible, but forcing people to take a significant number of classes that they may have no interest in taking just seems pedantic. Is it just one of these things that makes more sense from the inside than it does from the outside?

To be honest, it isn't really a significant amount. More like one to two classes per category. I got all my gen-ed classes done in my freshman year save for one. That's one year of general stuff vs. three narrow. Doesn't seem too bad from my perspective.

 

[metatron]

I've heard it referred to as the [copulate]-me face.

How many people would "get that" in your estimation?
And is this only used to refer to the open mouth thing or can it be applied to any "sexual" look?

Thx anyway.

 

[bhsup]

Quick snap poll. When you hear the term "National Socialism", does "socialism" or "nazism" pop into your mind?

 

[Dachs]

Nazism.

 

[_random_]

^this

 

[Ajidica]

^this

 

[Arakhor]

Pretty clearly Nazism. Is this a trick question?

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

Ya know that mayan apocalypse thing last year? I have a question about that. While most people correctly thought it to be hocus pocus, isn't it remotely possible it might have occured anyway?

I mean, pretty much the only world-ending scenario that is the closest to having absolutely no warning for that seems to be well-accepted by mainstream science is a gamma ray burst, right? And since they travel *at* the speed of light, there's almost no warning, right?

So, might it have been just possible that a random, pseudo-nearby GRB would have given us a very bad day last December?

AFAIK, someone mentioned the closest star with GRB potential pointed right at us is probably Eta Carinae, although I dunno how much or how little of a threat Eta Carinae really is.

 

[bhsup]

No, not a trick. There was some minor confusion in a conversation I was having. Given that things DO change as to what is taught, I thought I'd ask. I didn't think folks would answer other than the way they did, but you never know. New math and all that...

 

[Lord Baal]

Ya know that mayan apocalypse thing last year? I have a question about that. While most people correctly thought it to be hocus pocus, isn't it remotely possible it might have occured anyway?

I mean, pretty much the only world-ending scenario that is the closest to having absolutely no warning for that seems to be well-accepted by mainstream science is a gamma ray burst, right? And since they travel *at* the speed of light, there's almost no warning, right?

So, might it have been just possible that a random, pseudo-nearby GRB would have given us a very bad day last December?

AFAIK, someone mentioned the closest star with GRB potential pointed right at us is probably Eta Carinae, although I dunno how much or how little of a threat Eta Carinae really is.

We could all die tomorrow. But to quote the philosopher Nick Fury; "Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on." The Mayans weren't predicting the end of the world, and should anyone ever accurately predict it there's a better chance of it being a fluke than a genuine prediction.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Is strangulation some weird Oregon thing ??????

Quote:
Read the police reports from The Daily Courier .Each day they list an incredible amount of the most idiotic imbecile behavior for a city that small ....assaults with base ball bats, 2 or 3 strangulations a day huge number of DUII robbery after robbery ,Gangs of thugs sitting on cars harrassing people by screaming and yelling Tons of domestic violence calls...a guy walking downtown with a 12guage over his shoulder .another guy walks into a bank showing his pistol for all to see.....assault after assault ...GO DOWN AND TAKE A GOOD LOOK It's an "openair" 24/7 Walmart of IDIOTS

I know because I was born there .

 

[bhsup]

Pot is legal there, right??

 

[_random_]

You're thinking of Washington.

 

[FriendlyFire]

You're thinking of Washington.

No your thinking of Sodomy..... wait that might be Hollywood and California

Oregon == Strangulation
Washington == Sodomy
New York == Greed
Texas == Gluttony
Mississippi == Ignorance

 

[Lord Baal]

No your thinking of Sodomy..... wait that might be Hollywood and California

Oregon == Strangulation
Washington == Sodomy
New York == Greed
Texas == Gluttony
Mississippi == Ignorance

Sydney == All of the above.

 

[Farm Boy]

This isn't the sort of strangulation with orange slices and porn, is it?

 

[Arakhor]

Interestingly, Oregon is nearly an anagram of 'orange'.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I can see the logic behind those explanations, but in both cases it seems a bit of a cack-handed way of going about it. Trying to produce well-rounded educational experiences is certainly a worthwhile goal, but having people take a range of unrelated classes seems like it would produce an education that's more spotty than well-rounded. Likewise, making sure people don't put all their eggs in one basket seems sensible, but forcing people to take a significant number of classes that they may have no interest in taking just seems pedantic. Is it just one of these things that makes more sense from the inside than it does from the outside?

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense on the inside any more. I agree with everything you've said about it and add one more wrinkle to this issue:

As the general depth of knowledge in most fields grows, it's really hard to train up-to-date students who have to take more and more classes just in their field to stay on top of new advancements and all the retain gen ed ('well rounded') classes. For example, what they teach now in my field to freshmen was literally graduate level stuff 20 years ago, which means the US education system has to continually push more stuff down to lower grades (college courses in high school are now common and sometimes mandatory if you want to graduate college in 4 years) and the requirements for degrees keep growing. Every once in a while, they will lop off a few classes when they realize the list has grown too large. Still, expecting students to take 18 credits every semester in order to graduate in 4 years in entirely unrealistic but that's the situation many degree fields face -> hence 5 years is now seen as the old 4 year degree, aka normal.

I think it is slightly better than the UK system. At 18 you're a moron and you have to take an enormous decison of what to specialise in and effectively what career you end up in. At least in the states you get an extra year plus some more education to make a more informed decision.

Yeah, there's truth in that many freshmen don't know what they want. However, in the US you usually have 2 full years of gen ed requirements to go through, not just 1 year. And even when you know what you want to do, it doesn't matter, you have to take the gen eds (and mostly finish them in many programs) before you can move on to classes in your degree field.

 

[Farm Boy]

For every time I was tempted to agree that gen eds were too darn long I was later forced to sit through an engineer attempting to lead a meeting, or write an email, or speak with a co-worker that wasn't an engineer, or not get into a fight with a coworker who was.