some of our relatives are Italian-American Catholics, and it seems all the males in that family are named Joseph and/or Patrick, and all the females Mary and/or Teresa.
Yes, being hypersensitive about race to the point of not being able to have legitimate scientific discussions about things like this is a problem. Pissed-off people like this AC aren't helping the situation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaijin (negative Japanese word for foreigner/outsider) Also, Japan is amongst the first world nations that have a below-replacement-level birthrate. In the US and Europe, immigrants are offsetting much of this. However, lots of immigration can create its own social, cultural and political issues.
Seems fair if such a policy affects both white rednecks with excessive Southern drawl and blacks with excessive Ebonics. (and other categories, but this is what seems specifically referred to by the title of your post)
In US law, 'discrimination' relating to a certain characteristic is allowed if the characteristic really is essential to the job. I can see how "not having a really thick accent" might fall under that for teaching jobs.
Like I said in a previous comment: The accent of those from other US regions or other English-speaking countries (Scotland in this case) often seems more understandable than the accent of a non-native.
I recall my dad mentioning how his family had been a bit overzealous about not speaking Italian at home.
I think being able to speak the language of the new country is a fair request to make of immigrants, even if they retain their native language amongst themselves. This is especially so for young people who learn new languages better than older people. It seems mainly like an issue of efficient/effective communication.
All of the bilingual this, bilingual that (namely, English and Spanish) is aggravating and reeks of being overly accomodating.
Immigrants and/or minorities not cooperating does seem to contribute to such tensions.
I've taken a harsher stance against illegal immigration lately, but I've long since thought like this on the language issue.
Northeastern US here. In my experience, the accent of those from other US regions or other English-speaking countries is more understandable than the accent of a non-native.
You seem to be suggesting debit-card cashback as an ATM substitute.
Target offers that, but they limit it to $40. Other places I used had similar limits: $35, $50. So that's a problem if you want a couple hundred, and going to multiple such stores cuts down on the "fewer trips" advantage. One has to buy at least a little something at each store (which is still better than ATM fees, especially if it's an item you'd buy anyway)
I became very familiar with the debit card cashback feature when taking a summer internship in an area that does not happen to have branches of either of the banks where I already had accounts.(Normally I go in a branch and fill out a withdrawal slip, let alone simply visit the ATM - I'm interested in amounts besides $20 increments, and items besides $20 bills.) Even large bank chains like the two I'm referring to often seem to be regionalized like that. Also, many banks will still make change for non-account-holders.
Churchill _was_ staunchly anti-communist (but was still willing to work with the USSR to deal with the Nazis), but here's another famous Churchill-ism: "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."
I end up using the top-row number keys, probably because they're close to the letters.
Also, some of the stuff on my contacts list I've dialed often enough that I remember the number anyway, and prefer punching it in to looking through the contacts list
"As a fed contractor, I never put in more than 40 hours a week. That is what we had in the budget, and to do more than that would have resulted in issues."
There was also a strict 40-hour limit for me as a direct federal employee (summer internship; I was classified as GS). Moreover, they were also strict about it being 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. This meant that I couldn't work longer when I was having a good day & work less when I was having a bad day, which would have gotten more out of the same 40 hours.
That reminds me of a joke I made in 2008 about preferring Michael Palin to Sarah Palin. 2012 version: Katy Perry instead of Rick Perry? (Yes yes, Michael Palin is British and Katy Perry is several years younger than 35...) I can't think of something for Michele Bachmann though...
caffeine is a lesser drug of course, but the toxic level of caffeine is also too high to reach during normal consumption, yet possible with pills: at least a few grams. it takes about 18 12-ounce cans of Mountain Dew (55mg each) to reach even 1 gram. Even on my most wired days, I've consumed only a few hundred milligrams.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Boss Evidently, the eponymous founder of Hugo Boss was indeed heavily involved with the Nazis, including as a uniform manufacturer. However, the stuff-made-of-human-skin myth seems ironic considering the actual horrors of Nazi Germany.
Slashdot Mirror
http://xkcd.com/612/
some of our relatives are Italian-American Catholics, and it seems all the males in that family are named Joseph and/or Patrick, and all the females Mary and/or Teresa.
Well, there are a few exceptions. :)
Yes, being hypersensitive about race to the point of not being able to have legitimate scientific discussions about things like this is a problem.
Pissed-off people like this AC aren't helping the situation.
Also the female pronoun in sentence 2.
Maria(stella) should be a fairly obvious female name in the Western world anyway.
http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/09/25/227228/accent-monitoring-innovation-or-rights-violation
racist troll would have been somewhat more on-topic in this thread
Interesting point, but the assorted differences between British English and American English come to mind here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaijin (negative Japanese word for foreigner/outsider)
Also, Japan is amongst the first world nations that have a below-replacement-level birthrate.
In the US and Europe, immigrants are offsetting much of this. However, lots of immigration can create its own social, cultural and political issues.
Seems fair if such a policy affects both white rednecks with excessive Southern drawl and blacks with excessive Ebonics. (and other categories, but this is what seems specifically referred to by the title of your post)
In US law, 'discrimination' relating to a certain characteristic is allowed if the characteristic really is essential to the job.
I can see how "not having a really thick accent" might fall under that for teaching jobs.
Like I said in a previous comment:
The accent of those from other US regions or other English-speaking countries (Scotland in this case) often seems more understandable than the accent of a non-native.
I recall my dad mentioning how his family had been a bit overzealous about not speaking Italian at home.
I think being able to speak the language of the new country is a fair request to make of immigrants, even if they retain their native language amongst themselves. This is especially so for young people who learn new languages better than older people. It seems mainly like an issue of efficient/effective communication.
All of the bilingual this, bilingual that (namely, English and Spanish) is aggravating and reeks of being overly accomodating.
Immigrants and/or minorities not cooperating does seem to contribute to such tensions.
I've taken a harsher stance against illegal immigration lately, but I've long since thought like this on the language issue.
Northeastern US here.
In my experience, the accent of those from other US regions or other English-speaking countries is more understandable than the accent of a non-native.
You seem to be suggesting debit-card cashback as an ATM substitute.
Target offers that, but they limit it to $40. Other places I used had similar limits: $35, $50. So that's a problem if you want a couple hundred, and going to multiple such stores cuts down on the "fewer trips" advantage. One has to buy at least a little something at each store (which is still better than ATM fees, especially if it's an item you'd buy anyway)
I became very familiar with the debit card cashback feature when taking a summer internship in an area that does not happen to have branches of either of the banks where I already had accounts.(Normally I go in a branch and fill out a withdrawal slip, let alone simply visit the ATM - I'm interested in amounts besides $20 increments, and items besides $20 bills.) Even large bank chains like the two I'm referring to often seem to be regionalized like that. Also, many banks will still make change for non-account-holders.
Churchill _was_ staunchly anti-communist (but was still willing to work with the USSR to deal with the Nazis), but here's another famous Churchill-ism:
"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."
Certain things do work better at smaller scales, I suppose. Guess that's one thing federalism has going for it.
So that's what happened to the person who did not Like my social and political commentary...
I thought so, would like clear indicators
http://xkcd.com/276/
I end up using the top-row number keys, probably because they're close to the letters.
Also, some of the stuff on my contacts list I've dialed often enough that I remember the number anyway, and prefer punching it in to looking through the contacts list
"As a fed contractor, I never put in more than 40 hours a week. That is what we had in the budget, and to do more than that would have resulted in issues."
There was also a strict 40-hour limit for me as a direct federal employee (summer internship; I was classified as GS).
Moreover, they were also strict about it being 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. This meant that I couldn't work longer when I was having a good day & work less when I was having a bad day, which would have gotten more out of the same 40 hours.
Yeah, I'll have to go with single-N 'Bachman' here. :)
That reminds me of a joke I made in 2008 about preferring Michael Palin to Sarah Palin. 2012 version: Katy Perry instead of Rick Perry?
(Yes yes, Michael Palin is British and Katy Perry is several years younger than 35...)
I can't think of something for Michele Bachmann though...
Sounds very much like the lethal injection method of capital punishment; I suppose the same method would work if the person _wanted_ to be killed.
caffeine is a lesser drug of course, but the toxic level of caffeine is also too high to reach during normal consumption, yet possible with pills: at least a few grams.
it takes about 18 12-ounce cans of Mountain Dew (55mg each) to reach even 1 gram. Even on my most wired days, I've consumed only a few hundred milligrams.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Boss
Evidently, the eponymous founder of Hugo Boss was indeed heavily involved with the Nazis, including as a uniform manufacturer.
However, the stuff-made-of-human-skin myth seems ironic considering the actual horrors of Nazi Germany.