First off, there's enough money being taken in to adequately fund the schools. If the schools stopped wasting money on fancy district building and award winning school designs. The problem we're having in Texas is property taxes has been ruled out for funding as that means districts with higher property rates get better funded schools and the judge has declared this unfair. So what to do? Take all the school property tax money and residtribute that? You know if that happens less cash will make it to the kids.
Now I'm going to say something wildly incendiary here... but why should we be paying for schools anyway? The idea is that it provideds a community benefit, even to those people without kids. But considering the state of modern education (or the lack of it) and all the growing problems with our youth, are we getting our money's worth? IS there a community benefit anymore?
I live in Texas where there is no income tax. But we had a judge declare our current school funding system illegal. SO naturally some democrats have suggested that we institute an income tax to pay for our schools, since "that's what the other states do". WTF? Other states use property taxes, maybe suplemented by sales/income taxes. But as long as there's a way to get more money from me someone's going to want to do it.
From number 7, Semen washer: "The hardest part is explaining it to friends," Schillinger says. "But we do have stories." Like what? "Like the donor who was in the room for the longest time. We had a big discussion about who was going to check on him. Turns out he thought he had to fill up the entire specimen cup."
This reminds me of Connie Willis's book Remake . In it acting is a dead profession. People merely edit films to create new releases. The main character has a job removing all references to smoking from Casablanca (I think it was Casablanca, maybe it was a different movie). Due to having cut out other unwanted material (such as violence, racism, drinking, etc) the movie was down to under 30 minutes in length.
Unfortunately with political correctness becoming the norm, I don't see things like this not happening. Anti smoking advocates already scream if a movie shows a "good guy" smoking. How hard would it be to start protesting old movies that contain positive images of smoking?
Personally I don't find this petty at all, but an insightfull comentary into the culture we're creating online. I know when my prefered nickname was already taken on slashdot, I almost didn't register. People I know know who I am by my name. It's the only identifying characteristic online. To lose your name is to lose yourself.
There's a reason the government has a formal proceedure for changing names. They can still keep track of you - what else is a social security number for? But they understand that changing a name has signifigant consequences.
Damn, I wish I could mod that up as insightful. But you're right, while there is a cutural component, there's also a biological component. I know I started off in a more science oriented major that CS, but one week of organic chemistry convinced me to change majors.
Personally, I enjoy the computer geek culture. I used to say that I was a programmer, which transcended all ideas of gender. Lately however I've found myself becoming more girly, so I wonder how much of my embrace of geek culture had to do with the rebelion of youth.
Actually, I think it was one of those silly woman's magazines... I saw the little teaser on the cover and had to check it out. Of course, it's true to a certain extent - ask anyone who's gone to Boston University as an undergrad. A high percentage of the grls who go there go because it's across the street from MIT.
While the whole dot com thing was going on geeks became sexy because they had oodle of money and not enough sense to know how to spend it properly. Which is why all of us are still working. Sigh.
Apparently womean outnumber men in the life sciences, whereas men outnumber women in physics and computers. It seems that women prefer working with life things, rather than unresponsive machinery. Maybe men like the machines because they never ask if something makes them look fat.
You insensitive clod! He was offering to cross dress publicly, so you would feel less lonely. He was coming out of the closet for you!
Oops! That'll teach me to be oblivious... That company even had a transgender bathroom policy.... You got to use whichever bathroom you were dressed as. Let me tell you I had a couple of worries when husky girls came in to use the facilities!
And with the exception of one job, I've always been the only woman on the programming team. I even had an employer ask me if I was okay with being the only woman. My response: "And this differs from the past 10 years how?"
At college most of the women went into chemical engineering, or varients (geological, biological, and there was one other which I can't remember). I don't know why more women don't care to program, but low stats for women doesn't surprise me a bit.
The company I just left (8 weeks ago) had such a bad retension problem that uppser management redifined attrition. Now they only count "regretted" attrition. Anyone who moves out of town or changes to a different job field (programmer going back to school or a tester becoming a programmer) doesn't count. So suddenly, instead of losing 5% of your workforce every month (between 3 and 5 % every month) you're losing maybe 0.5%.
Add to this that many of the people working there are at the highest allowed salaries for their positions and you can imagine the happiness. No one is allowed to be promoted before January either, so what incentive is there to stay? THe people who stick it out are the one who only have a 10 minute commute and don't want to drive farther.
They avoid reading mainstream literature, which is too concerned with reality for comfort.
If you mean that mainstream litterature is too: boring or depressing and filled with utter emotional drivel, then you're right. I'd rather read Anna Karenina again (please God no!) than read anything in Oprah's book club. Why? Because I don't want to hear about some woman's struggle to better herself after her sexual abuse/divorce/poor upbringing. I want action! I want characters that do something rather than worry about their feelings (gee, if you replace feelings with the question if there's a God, we're back at Anna Karenina again). I read sci fi because it's entertaining. And I want a happy ending when I watch a movie, damn it!
Bah, Krispy Kreme is overrated. I prefer thing with lots of gooey chocolates, and nuts.... ummmm, nuts....
And since I'm female, I'll admit to the double entendre!
You can break habits, but it's damned har dand it's very easy to restart them. You may quit smoking for a decade but some impetus will get you started again, almost out of your control. I'm afraid abits are a constant strugle which is why I'm best friends with my local pastry vendor.
Unfortunately, corporations have as much rights to freedom of speach as do individuals. So we can't block their donations as it violates their rights.
What we need is open donations. ALL donations (and not just those over a certain dolar amount) should have to be post publicly, within a short period of time (I'd like it to be within 24 hours of receiving the donation, but I'm willing to compromise to a week).
I find your comment sad. Having experienced love I can tell you it is far deeper than lust and more involved than not wanting to be lonely. Now mind you, I have nothing against lust and I don't like being lonely either. But love is far more complex and defies description. That's why poets have been writing about it for centuries - no one has figured out how to caputer the senation in words.
I'm sorry you're so bitter - I could try to psychoanalyze you, but what would that gain us? All I can say is it's worth the hurt and I hope you decide to risk it someday.
Marriage is work, and never forget that. To be honest, love isn't enough, nor that "magic" spark. You have to compromise and deal with the little endearing quirks that after 10 years annoy you so much you want to bash something in. You have to want things to work out, and be willing to work on them for any long term relationship to last. Happily ever after is work.
That being said, I'm very surrious to see how this new service works. I've tried most of the other ones for laughs and the guys they match me with tend to be incredibly dull. Maybe they're trying to tell me something?
The far left (and what you're talking about is the far, far, far left) has practically no political power in the US.
The left has prevented any nuclear plants from being built in over 20 years. The left has prevented any oil refineries in 30 years. The left has prevented any new highway construction in California of 30 years. Sounds like some sort of power, though I suppose you could argue it's not political.
The left does try to prevent certain scientific endevors - animal testing for drugs, or other medical investigations comes immediately to mind. How about defense research Oh, but since it's defense related it's okay to prevent it.
Researchers who are investigating theories that go against the whole global warming mantra are shutdown or dismissed as quacks. Doctors who fail to find links between cancer and power lines/cell phones/current evil invention are routinely ignored. The left has it's babies you dare not call ugly too.
How about faking evidence to support a theory? The left did that to show that "endangered" wildlife wasn't as prolific as it was. Indeed, a signifigant number of scientists admit to changing study results. Somehow I don't think it's because of all the crazy far-right folks out there. Or the far left people either.
Now the far right (and it's far far right too) has it's kooks and wackos, but they're not unique in their positions. And most people, left OR right try to distance themselves from the extremes. But there are reasons why science is in decline. Such as falsifying data. Or the fact that most scientific papers are wrong. Why go into science to lie or screw up when you can get paid much much more to do the same a a marketing weenie?
Certain playgrounds in New York have banned adults without children....
The Rivington Playground on Manhattan's East Side has a small sign at the entrance that says adults are prohibited unless they are accompanied by a child. Forty-seven-year-old Sandra Catena says she didn't see the sign when she sat down to wait for an arts festival to start. Two New York City police officers asked her if she was with a child. When she said no, they gave her a ticket that could bring a one thousand dollar fine and 90 days in jail.
The city parks department says the rule is designed to keep pedophiles out of city parks, but a parks spokesman told the Daily News that the department hoped police would use some common sense when enforcing the rule.
The spokesman told the paper that ticketing a woman in the park in the middle of the day is not the way you want to enforce the rule.
Slashdot Mirror
Don't forget that Discworld light is slow - that's why it takes so long for valleys to get bright - the light has to flow down into them.
Same here. About 1 out of every 4 pages is rendering wierd. Maybe a bug from testing new site designs?
Now I'm going to say something wildly incendiary here... but why should we be paying for schools anyway? The idea is that it provideds a community benefit, even to those people without kids. But considering the state of modern education (or the lack of it) and all the growing problems with our youth, are we getting our money's worth? IS there a community benefit anymore?
I live in Texas where there is no income tax. But we had a judge declare our current school funding system illegal. SO naturally some democrats have suggested that we institute an income tax to pay for our schools, since "that's what the other states do". WTF? Other states use property taxes, maybe suplemented by sales/income taxes. But as long as there's a way to get more money from me someone's going to want to do it.
Part of the deal when Lenovo bought IBM was they got to use the name. Until some time (2008? can't remember) It's why they paid as much as they did.
"The hardest part is explaining it to friends," Schillinger says. "But we do have stories." Like what? "Like the donor who was in the room for the longest time. We had a big discussion about who was going to check on him. Turns out he thought he had to fill up the entire specimen cup."
Oh I want him to father my kids!!!!!!
I always thought Bellwether was her best book. The insight into what it takes to make a breakthrough in science impresses me to this day.
It's insensitive to Wiccans. And unactractive old women who are assumed to be evil witches.
Unfortunately with political correctness becoming the norm, I don't see things like this not happening. Anti smoking advocates already scream if a movie shows a "good guy" smoking. How hard would it be to start protesting old movies that contain positive images of smoking?
There's a reason the government has a formal proceedure for changing names. They can still keep track of you - what else is a social security number for? But they understand that changing a name has signifigant consequences.
Personally, I enjoy the computer geek culture. I used to say that I was a programmer, which transcended all ideas of gender. Lately however I've found myself becoming more girly, so I wonder how much of my embrace of geek culture had to do with the rebelion of youth.
While the whole dot com thing was going on geeks became sexy because they had oodle of money and not enough sense to know how to spend it properly. Which is why all of us are still working. Sigh.
Apparently womean outnumber men in the life sciences, whereas men outnumber women in physics and computers. It seems that women prefer working with life things, rather than unresponsive machinery. Maybe men like the machines because they never ask if something makes them look fat.
Oops! That'll teach me to be oblivious... That company even had a transgender bathroom policy.... You got to use whichever bathroom you were dressed as. Let me tell you I had a couple of worries when husky girls came in to use the facilities!
That's why my husband quit his lucrative computer job and is getting his PhD in Psychology!
At college most of the women went into chemical engineering, or varients (geological, biological, and there was one other which I can't remember). I don't know why more women don't care to program, but low stats for women doesn't surprise me a bit.
Add to this that many of the people working there are at the highest allowed salaries for their positions and you can imagine the happiness. No one is allowed to be promoted before January either, so what incentive is there to stay? THe people who stick it out are the one who only have a 10 minute commute and don't want to drive farther.
If you mean that mainstream litterature is too: boring or depressing and filled with utter emotional drivel, then you're right. I'd rather read Anna Karenina again (please God no!) than read anything in Oprah's book club. Why? Because I don't want to hear about some woman's struggle to better herself after her sexual abuse/divorce/poor upbringing. I want action! I want characters that do something rather than worry about their feelings (gee, if you replace feelings with the question if there's a God, we're back at Anna Karenina again). I read sci fi because it's entertaining. And I want a happy ending when I watch a movie, damn it!
Bah, Krispy Kreme is overrated. I prefer thing with lots of gooey chocolates, and nuts.... ummmm, nuts.... And since I'm female, I'll admit to the double entendre!
You can break habits, but it's damned har dand it's very easy to restart them. You may quit smoking for a decade but some impetus will get you started again, almost out of your control. I'm afraid abits are a constant strugle which is why I'm best friends with my local pastry vendor.
What we need is open donations. ALL donations (and not just those over a certain dolar amount) should have to be post publicly, within a short period of time (I'd like it to be within 24 hours of receiving the donation, but I'm willing to compromise to a week).
I'm sorry you're so bitter - I could try to psychoanalyze you, but what would that gain us? All I can say is it's worth the hurt and I hope you decide to risk it someday.
That being said, I'm very surrious to see how this new service works. I've tried most of the other ones for laughs and the guys they match me with tend to be incredibly dull. Maybe they're trying to tell me something?
The left has prevented any nuclear plants from being built in over 20 years. The left has prevented any oil refineries in 30 years. The left has prevented any new highway construction in California of 30 years. Sounds like some sort of power, though I suppose you could argue it's not political.
The left does try to prevent certain scientific endevors - animal testing for drugs, or other medical investigations comes immediately to mind. How about defense research Oh, but since it's defense related it's okay to prevent it.
Researchers who are investigating theories that go against the whole global warming mantra are shutdown or dismissed as quacks. Doctors who fail to find links between cancer and power lines/cell phones/current evil invention are routinely ignored. The left has it's babies you dare not call ugly too.
How about faking evidence to support a theory? The left did that to show that "endangered" wildlife wasn't as prolific as it was. Indeed, a signifigant number of scientists admit to changing study results. Somehow I don't think it's because of all the crazy far-right folks out there. Or the far left people either.
Now the far right (and it's far far right too) has it's kooks and wackos, but they're not unique in their positions. And most people, left OR right try to distance themselves from the extremes. But there are reasons why science is in decline. Such as falsifying data. Or the fact that most scientific papers are wrong. Why go into science to lie or screw up when you can get paid much much more to do the same a a marketing weenie?
The Rivington Playground on Manhattan's East Side has a small sign at the entrance that says adults are prohibited unless they are accompanied by a child. Forty-seven-year-old Sandra Catena says she didn't see the sign when she sat down to wait for an arts festival to start. Two New York City police officers asked her if she was with a child. When she said no, they gave her a ticket that could bring a one thousand dollar fine and 90 days in jail.
The city parks department says the rule is designed to keep pedophiles out of city parks, but a parks spokesman told the Daily News that the department hoped police would use some common sense when enforcing the rule.
The spokesman told the paper that ticketing a woman in the park in the middle of the day is not the way you want to enforce the rule.