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

[Disgustipated]

khanacademy.org homie. Good luck. I'll be following your footsteps soon brushing up one some stuff.

Looks like what I want. thanks.

And here I thought it would be about Khan Noonien Singh.

 

[Dachs]

Latifundia?

By "medieval" he means the Byzantine Empire. I think, anyway. If he's talking about what I think he's talking about, I can explain it. Here's the short version; I can get more specific if you like.

Since smallholding part-time soldiers were at one point a key element of the Byzantine military, their ostensible disappearance near the end of the first millennium has occasioned a considerable amount of scholarly attention. Many older writers argued that the fact - er, "fact" - that smallholders were bought out meant that the Empire no longer had any solid foundation for its military and therefore became perilously weak, and then lololol selçuk turks.

Importantly, this disappearance of smallholding farmers did not lead to widespread food supply problems or anything of the sort. It was purely a military problem, and also possibly a political one depending on which historian is making the argument.

I, personally, do not agree with this assessment due to a variety of reasons, and I think that this bizarre focus on yeoman smallholders is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how militaries and societies work and worked. But it is certainly still a Thing, so it is referenced.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

Is a bitter taste addictive?

 

[Farm Boy]

I would say tastes can be addictive, consumption can be habit forming. Taste of consumption is not necessarily linked to the bitterness of said activity.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

By "medieval" he means the Byzantine Empire. I think, anyway. If he's talking about what I think he's talking about, I can explain it. Here's the short version; I can get more specific if you like.

Since smallholding part-time soldiers were at one point a key element of the Byzantine military, their ostensible disappearance near the end of the first millennium has occasioned a considerable amount of scholarly attention. Many older writers argued that the fact - er, "fact" - that smallholders were bought out meant that the Empire no longer had any solid foundation for its military and therefore became perilously weak, and then lololol selçuk turks.

Importantly, this disappearance of smallholding farmers did not lead to widespread food supply problems or anything of the sort. It was purely a military problem, and also possibly a political one depending on which historian is making the argument.

I, personally, do not agree with this assessment due to a variety of reasons, and I think that this bizarre focus on yeoman smallholders is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how militaries and societies work and worked. But it is certainly still a Thing, so it is referenced.

Is it possible he is referring to the institution of the Pronoiai system?

 

[Mouthwash]

I am hearing rumors that Snowden will be the Olympic torch lighter. Does anyone know anything?

 

[bhsup]

Considering it was lit the other day by a lady, I doubt it.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

Edit: <nvm>

 

[Dachs]

No, there are no actual numbers on the women that PlutonianEmpire thinks are attractive, divided by political ideology. You will have to create those yourself.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

Edit: <nvm>

 

[Zelig]

I believe it. The war horses they bred in Europe were incredible animals. Fast, strong, quiet, and almost fearless.

Cows are pretty fearless, but I suspect that's mostly due to their stupidity.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Im not in the mood for passive-agressive personal insults. Bugger off.

What insult? He's just saying the question is nearly impossible to answer given the ambiguity in its criteria. What (and who) defines "attractive"? How do we define "left" and "right wing"?

 

[Phrossack]

How do you know if you're allergic to insect stings? Besides by getting stung.

 

[Cutlass]

There may be tests that could be run. But I imagine that isn't something commonly done. Though it may be if they think you are at high risk of an extreme reaction, and need to prepare in advance for it.

 

[Phrossack]

There may be tests that could be run. But I imagine that isn't something commonly done. Though it may be if they think you are at high risk of an extreme reaction, and need to prepare in advance for it.

It just struck me that bee stings are pretty common, and can kill you if you're allergic. It would suck if the only way to know would kill you.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

Edit: <nvm>

 

[timtofly]

How do you know if you're allergic to insect stings? Besides by getting stung.

You go to a respected alergist/immunologist who can properly run test to show what you are allergic to.

 

[Cutlass]

The problem with that being that there are actually a great many types of insects with stings that might affect you. And even though those creatures are similar, they are not the same. So I have been stung, and had a moderately severe allergic reaction, and I have been stung, and did not have any reaction at all. What's the difference? I assume a different breed of insect. So how feasible is it to test for each type of insect you may encounter? It's probably only feasible for someone who has a medical history where the doctor has a reason to assume the worst.

Hell, one time I knew I was going to be stung, so I dosed up on over the counter antihistamines ahead of time.

 

[timtofly]

That may not be entirely so. I do not know how many they can do, but I am sure there would be some pattern that could be made from what they can do test with. I don't think that just one insect would be the one that kills you, especially if you are not affected by a wide range of the one's you have been tested with.

 

[Kennigit]

@PE: your question is simply poorly defined, since there is a lot of local, state, whatever level of "politican", and your sole example focused on women in the presidential cabinet or in Congress. Given the demographics of the situation (by far most congressional members being >40 years old, the congress only being 18.7% female, the congress being mostly caucasian, etc), you can't readily define any percentage of who is attractive as some people may not be attracted to those demographics at all (0%) or could find some particular members attractive. It's no objective scale.

Expanding to non-US politicians, any local or state level, any definition of left/right/whatever, you're really on your own as to who you define as attractive.