'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
Or a yawing hole in a battered head
And the scuppers clogged with rotting red
And there they lay I damn me eyes
All lookouts clapped on Paradise
All souls bound just contrarywise, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
wow. this thread delivers...! almost 2400 posts!
What did I missed?
Anothers questions for you, about the TSA.
Are you for or against it? A necessary evil or an privacy violating measures?
Assuming you're going to travel, which line do you pick? The body scan or the pat down?
I love cyanide!
I find the whole thing brutally stupid. I'm especially struck by the contrast when I go to other countries and they don't have the insane security levels, which don't accomplish must of anything.
I think it's also blatantly unconstitutional. Our 4th Amendment of our Constitutions states, "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated". I sure as shit do not believe that flying actually makes it "reasonable" to search my person. There's nothing suspicious about going home to visit the parents at Christmas time.
As far as I know, there's no choice between lines at most airports here, unless I missed something.
Yeah, I suppose I was aware of that. I don't really think about it much, since I'm just trying to expedite my way through security as quickly as possible. I can't say I feel "violated" by a body scan the way some people do, I just feel like it's utterly pointless, and a waste of my time.
I think the TSA still misses the necessary portion of the term 'necessary evil'. You still hear reports of people knowingly or unknowingly getting contraband past the checkpoints. I think as a concept it's not flawed, but to keep hearing stories like the 80 some year old woman who gets the 3rd degree about a medical device or the reports of agents stealing jewelry and such from the luggage they inspect makes it hard to get behind what they do.
Question to ze Americans: How do you feel about the current education system, and do you think it needs a reform or not?
TSA needs to remain, but be reformed entirely.
Body scanners need to go.
The bans need to be lightened up. I had a bottle of WATER confiscated once. And I was in Air Force dress blues coming home from Tech School FFS. Banning items won't do jack-shit to stop terrorism until we are all naked and handcuffed to the chairs. There is a degree of risk therefore that we HAVE to accept. And we can mitigate that risk by instead focusing on ensuring every flight has an armed air marshal or two, that the flight attendants know self defense and that the cockpit is hardened.
The searches need to stop unless there's probable cause. The fact that they've searched 7 year old children and 70 year old, wheelchair bound grandmothers is disgusting.
The terminal security we have now would not have stopped 9-11. Mohammed Otta and his crew would have simply found another means to take over the airplane. Instead of box cutters, perhaps they would have gone on board with a CD, broken it into shards and used the sharp shards to threaten the pilot.
What would have stopped 9-11 would be air marshals, flight attendants who know self defense, and a hardened cockpit.
---------- Post added 2012-03-04 at 10:39 AM ----------
Its been a shitty winter. We had six inches of snow two days ago. Rain yesterday and now its above freezing again. And I'm in New England where we should have two to three feet by now and it should be ~20F on average, not 40.
Putin khuliyo
Winter is over here now, we've had + 15-20C in the sun for the last 2 weeks or so, I love it.
Only had snow for about 1,5 month, january + a couple of weeks in feb.
How common is it that you guys have exchange students? Be it in high school or university. I think we got about 10-15% exchange students or international students at the university I attend, so around 6000-9000 out of 60000, brings some different perspectives/flavor, which I think is cool.
Also, how about schools with only boys/girls? Does it exist, if so how common is it and do you think it's a good idea?
The nerve is called the "nerve of awareness". You cant dissect it. Its a current that runs up the center of your spine. I dont know if any of you have sat down, crossed your legs, smoked DMT, and watch what happens... but what happens to me is this big thing goes RRRRRRRRRAAAAAWWW! up my spine and flashes in my brain... well apparently thats whats going to happen if I do this stuff...
Our universities are fine. Obviously they vary in quality and price, but if you can score well on certain tests and write a couple good essays, you can pick up quite a few scholarships and grants pretty easily. We also have an extensive federal student loan system with very generous interest rates and repayment options.
Lower levels of education (k-12) are a bit of a mess. There is a fight in most states about teachers. One side thinks we need to throw more money to teachers to improve the quality of education. I understand that argument, but don't think it's as simple as that. The other side wants to cull "bad" teachers. I also understand that, but the only way they've figured out how to do it is by making mandatory standardized tests. The problem with that is the teachers essentially become coaches, showing the kids how to pass the test, not really educating them.
Also, I don't think the kids take education seriously enough. That's probably more to do with the parents, though.
And, of course, I think there should be far more emphasis on math and science than we currently have. Oh, and a foreign language starting in elementary school rather than later.
In lower levels, we had a couple exchange students every year. At university, at least larger ones, there are many foreign students. If you go to the math or physics department at any major research university, I would guess the majority of the graduate students are asian or eastern european.How common is it that you guys have exchange students? Be it in high school or university. I think we got about 10-15% exchange students or international students at the university I attend, so around 6000-9000 out of 60000, brings some different perspectives/flavor, which I think is cool.
I'm unconvinced that system reforms are as relevant as our cultural problems when it comes to primary education.
I think our secondary education, research universities, and professional training remain the best in the world and should actually serve as a model for other nations rather than the other way around. We do a lot of things wrong, but our universities are damned sure something to be proud of. Not that there aren't any flaws (science Ph.D.'s take too long, for example, and financing is an issue), but it's pretty outstanding.
---------- Post added 2012-03-04 at 04:42 PM ----------
I don't really recall high school anymore as far as ratios, but we had a few exchange students. My universities were highly diverse, and it was great interacting with people from different cultures and backgrounds. Dating a few girls from other countries really helped me get a better understanding of their cultures, and I got lucky with the food too!
You know I was just talking to one of my friends about this the other day. It really seemed like when I started elementary school back in the early 90's it was all a bed of roses, kids seemed to get the attention and diverse education that allowed them to thrive, and my classes at least always did fine on the standardized tests we had to take. But sometime around high school, things really seemed to nose dive and I still haven't figured out what got that going. I think an increased reliance on standardized tests as the only way to measure success is definitely a huge problem; teachers spend so much time teaching the tests that true innovation and education gets left behind. But its not the only problem, someone involved in the education field would probably be able to tell you a lot more about it.
This country definitely needs an education reform and one of the first things I think needs to happen is an increase in the options available to students in this country. For example the option to pursue some sort of vocational training early on instead of traditional school i something I think would really help.
Last edited by Scootac; 2012-03-05 at 01:49 AM.
We have a system kind of like this, I'm not sure I'm a fan though, as it might limit the options a student have in the future.
A lot of our for-profit schools(private schools) offer a lot of specialized programs(so does our public schools, but not to the same degree), we do have what we call Komvux though, available for adults who want to take high school classes later on to compliment their high school grades for certain university programs.
I mean options are great, but if the options mean the student got less options in the future it's not that awesome and as a 15-16 year old might have a some kind of goal at that age but then change their minds/interests 10 times before they are 25-30 you need to have some kind of schooling that is available for people who have changed their minds imo.
Komvux is something I value a lot, as not only can you compliment your high school grades for higher studies but you can also re-take classes that you did poorly in during high school, for example one of my best mates was really tired of school as a teenager and ended up bunking most of his classes, now he's 1 year from graduating law school as he's been taking high school classes at Komvux as an adult.
Anyways do you got something similiar to Komvux in the US?
The nerve is called the "nerve of awareness". You cant dissect it. Its a current that runs up the center of your spine. I dont know if any of you have sat down, crossed your legs, smoked DMT, and watch what happens... but what happens to me is this big thing goes RRRRRRRRRAAAAAWWW! up my spine and flashes in my brain... well apparently thats whats going to happen if I do this stuff...