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What the Fark???

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  • Re: What the Fark???

    Car crash results from driver's armpit hair catching on fire.

    http://www.boston.com/news/nation/20...l_sub_headline

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    • Re: What the Fark???

      Originally posted by FreshFish View Post
      So today is the big vote in Scotland about independence from Great Britain.

      Two W - T - F elements:

      1) How did they come up with a 50% threshhold for the vote? for a matter this important, the typical standard is more like a 2/3 majority. if 50.01% vote 'yes' and 49.99% vote 'no' that is not a very strong gauge of sentiment one way or the other.


      2) I saw a news report about the Shetland Islands, which is currently part of Scotland. The story said that if the Scotland vote succeeds, the Shetland Islands would then petition to have a vote to make them independent of Scotland.
      I guess in this case that's not quite as silly as it sounds, because Scotland does actually exist as a country, just not an independent one. It would be like a state trying to secede from the US (well, if we forget about that 1861 tiff for a moment). A county within the state couldn't legally choose to "stay behind" because the state does actually have a formal existence, but "inoperative" on such matters as its own borders*. If the state did legally separate, it would become the operating sovereign, then the county could petition for separation.

      (* I'm guessing here that states can't just willy-nilly trade counties -- when the state is admitted to the union its borders are fixed and can only be adjusted by federal act. If this isn't true -- though I can't see any workable way in which it wouldn't be -- then my argument kinda falls apart...)
      Cornell University
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      • Re: What the Fark???

        Whoa.
        Cornell University
        National Champion 1967, 1970
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        • Re: What the Fark???

          Originally posted by St. Clown View Post
          In purely democratic systems, I'm not so certain that super-majorities are really all that common a requirement for anything.


          Exactly my point. Super-majorities typically are only required for really important decisions.
          "Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things."

          "Beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin

          "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- W. B. Yeats

          "People generally are most impatient with those flaws in others about which they are most ashamed of in themselves." - folk wisdom

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          • Re: What the Fark???

            Originally posted by FreshFish View Post
            Exactly my point. Super-majorities typically are only required for really important decisions.
            Does Scotland have any super-majority requirements for any of its votes? If not, then it's not even a consideration. They do have an absolute-majority rule at their disposal, which states that a majority of all available votes to cast must be in favor of a resolution rather than a simple majority of actual votes cast. In that case, any abstentions would count as No votes. I don't know if that option was enacted for this vote; I would think it would be awfully difficult to evaluate in a populace election.
            "The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." George Orwell, 1984

            "One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep, and the Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust, the very air you breathe is a poisonous fume." Boromir

            "Good news! We have a delivery." Professor Farnsworth

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            • Re: What the Fark???

              What were the Palins even doing in Buffalo?
              Cornell University
              National Champion 1967, 1970
              ECAC Champion 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1980, 1986, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2010
              Ivy League Champion 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020

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              • Re: What the Fark???

                Originally posted by St. Clown View Post
                Does Scotland have any super-majority requirements for any of its votes?
                I was speaking conceptually about what kinds of decisions in general "ought to" have supermajority status, not technically about what Scotland's laws in specific might be on the subject.
                "Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things."

                "Beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin

                "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- W. B. Yeats

                "People generally are most impatient with those flaws in others about which they are most ashamed of in themselves." - folk wisdom

                Comment


                • Re: What the Fark???

                  Need a job? You can be a rapper's blunt roller for $50,000 a year!
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                  • Re: What the Fark???

                    Today in derp.
                    Cornell University
                    National Champion 1967, 1970
                    ECAC Champion 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1980, 1986, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2010
                    Ivy League Champion 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020

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                    • Re: What the Fark???

                      Originally posted by Kepler View Post
                      I took that exam in high school - it got me out of one of my gen eds at MTU. I agree that there should be more writing (in my experience, a majority of my peers were ill-prepared for college-level writing assignments), but I don't agree with decreasing the number of multiple choice questions. You should know the facts as they are taught, and be able to craft good, well-informed written arguments to a set of subjective questions, but you shouldn't be entitled to use emotional arguments that are unsupported by historical facts.

                      And yes, we can sit here and go back and forth all day about history being written "by the victors".

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                      • Re: What the Fark???

                        The problem isn't multiple choice vs essay, it's having Joseph Ignatius Breen censor the facts of history. The general rule of education is you teach the dumbed-down black and white version of things until 11th grade, then you start teaching the grey facts to the people who want to move on and do something. All this does is give the Rick Perry types some cheap applause lines and make the typical Texas high school student fractionally more ignorant.

                        This is the equivalent of Kansas Creationism. It plays to the knucks on the school board but good luck getting into a tier 1 university. Although I suppose the smartest kids will see through it. The one good thing about authoritarianism is it gives bright teenagers something legitimate to rebel against for a change.
                        Last edited by Kepler; 09-18-2014, 02:48 PM.
                        Cornell University
                        National Champion 1967, 1970
                        ECAC Champion 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1980, 1986, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2010
                        Ivy League Champion 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020

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                        • Re: What the Fark???

                          This a-hole again.
                          Cornell University
                          National Champion 1967, 1970
                          ECAC Champion 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1980, 1986, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2010
                          Ivy League Champion 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020

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                          • Re: What the Fark???

                            Originally posted by Kepler View Post
                            What an arrogant dooshnozzle. He's like an old, white, Kanye West.
                            Jordan Kawaguchi for Hobey!!
                            Originally posted by Quizmire
                            mns, this is why i love you.

                            Originally posted by Markt
                            MNS - forking genius.

                            Originally posted by asterisk hat
                            MNS - sometimes you gotta answer your true calling. I think yours is being a pimp.

                            Originally posted by hockeybando
                            I am a fan of MNS.

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                            • Re: What the Fark???

                              It looks like the Scotland "no" vote won pretty comfortably after all, I'm seeing something like 55% no according to the crawl at the bottom of the local news.
                              "Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things."

                              "Beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin

                              "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- W. B. Yeats

                              "People generally are most impatient with those flaws in others about which they are most ashamed of in themselves." - folk wisdom

                              Comment


                              • Re: What the Fark???

                                Originally posted by MinnesotaNorthStar View Post
                                What an arrogant dooshnozzle. He's like an old, white, Kanye West.
                                I wouldn't go that far. That's just cold.

                                This is an old, white Kanye West.
                                Cornell University
                                National Champion 1967, 1970
                                ECAC Champion 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1980, 1986, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2010
                                Ivy League Champion 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020

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