MetaFilter

1. There (obviously) is/was a massive credit bubble. This artificially and absurdly inflates the price of a degree.
2. There is a DRASTIC accreditation bubble. You can't get hired to file papers in a cabinet without a four year degree. This furthermore inflates the price of a degree.
3. Education is humorously inefficient. It consists of sitting in a room with 100 other people while a grad student from Foreignpeopleland walks through a list of concepts that are presumably... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by norabarnacl3 at 1:10 PM on February 8, 2009

IvoShandor: People create things, and then often sell those things to those who are willing to pay for them. If a person creates something physical, like a nice chair or something, and someone else wants it, it sells for however much the market may bear. If a person creates something more ethereal, like a song, and other people want it, it also sells for however much the makret will bear (or more truthfully sells for about the same rate as every other song, and however many people want it... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Navelgazer at 12:52 AM on February 3, 2009

I'm sorry but it is pretty funny that they have guns to protect them from imaginary hordes of darkies and they always wind up killing their loved ones instead.

Yes. They were obviously young racists and therefore deserved to die. It's HILARIOUS! My god she wore White to her wedding! Hello? Klan sheets!

If you weren't so against guns we could just go drive our hybrids out there and shoot those fucking racist crackers again, huh!

YEEEEEHA!
posted to MetaFilter by tkchrist at 8:18 PM on February 2, 2009

Dude, they're in their early twenties, they're married, they only have associate's degrees, they're throwing GAWDs and JEEBUSes back and forth, and they're gun nuts. This doesn't scream Stupid Redneck Fundie Hick to you?

Don't go there. Someone's died an unnecessary death, but I suppose it's alright because she wasn't on her way to a post-doc, amirite?
posted to MetaFilter by thisjax at 8:18 PM on February 2, 2009

Her: "Babe can you get my phone?"

Him: "Sure, where is it?"

Her: "In my bag obviously."

*FORTEEN MINUTES OF EXASPERATED SEARCHING LATER*

Her: "Where's my fucking phone?"

Him: "I CAN'T FIND YOUR FUCKING PHONE! WHY DO YOU HAVE SO MUCH SHIT IN YOUR BAG?"

Her: "I need it!... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by turgid dahlia at 7:15 PM on January 29, 2009

I determined that, much like pot, Ayn Rand is for kids.

I would maintain that pot is too good for Ayn Rand.

I had a very influenetantal English teacher. She was an Ex-Nun and married out of the Order for Love. She was a complete hardass when it came to things she knew about but still opened her class on English Literature by showing Fawlty Towers. She had us read Ayn Rand and then London Labour and the London Poor by Henry... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The Whelk at 8:32 PM on January 21, 2009

Specifically I had a friend in highschool who loved her and it drove me nuts even then!

Arguing with Randies is essentially no different than arguing with presuppositional apologists and Sean Hannity fans - you will make no ground with them. They have constructed defenses against introspection. They make up for lack of critical thinking with rafts of dogma-reinforcing buzzwordage. Unless the person is from work or family, the proper response is... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by fleetmouse at 7:11 PM on January 21, 2009

I really don't want to trash any chance of moving forward by engaging in a destructive, backward-looking witch-hunt.

I wouldn't call it a witch hunt. That implies these people are guilty of some sort of fictitious crime. They aren't. Torture, wrongful convictions, kidnapping, etc, etc. In many cases the victims are completely innocent people. That shouldn't be something you 'move forward' from. And really, it should be the victims who decide... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by chunking express at 9:13 AM on January 21, 2009

If this woman is licensed to put her hands on patients, then her license needs to be revoked, pronto.

Someone should gently tug and accidentally revoke her license.


This woman, who is supposed to be a medical professional, seriously thinks that an IUD is equal to an abortion, so she removes them without telling patients, an action that could very likely lead to ... actual, real abortions. By this line of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by louche mustachio at 8:23 PM on January 20, 2009

If it is physically impossible for a person to be able to speak and move around when someone has removed the top part of their brain with a melon baller then what are all these fucking climate change deniers doing all over the place?
posted to MetaFilter by Divine_Wino at 9:19 AM on January 16, 2009

There are ways to both have Christian belief and agree with science. It does take learning and some serious thought. This is why it is not very popular.

Your causation is broken.

Faith is by nature irrational, which is fine. That's why they call it faith jackass. People with faith get it. You don't.

It's not that we don't understand that faith is inherently irrational. It's that... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Pope Guilty at 11:24 AM on January 14, 2009

But, how can you not then apply this argument to everything in your religious text of choice? Is it really okay to sell your daughter into slavery? So much of our present morality casts off the bad dictation of the past. So, how does a religious person incorporate new knowledge? How do you discard old ideas, and link your new ideas together? Of what use today is this old religious framework?

The parts that you discard are the parts you disagree with... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Pope Guilty at 7:50 AM on January 14, 2009

Similarly, the Bible was never meant to be about science, it was meant to be about religion.

Non-overlapping magisteria is bullshit. The Bible makes objective claim after objective claim after objective claim, and nearly without exception, these claims are wrong. It's amazing how many people can blithely acknowledge the page after page of factual errors, but as soon as the principles and morals and rules for living show up, suddenly... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Pope Guilty at 5:34 AM on January 14, 2009

Debunking creationism really isn't about debunking religion. Not strictly.

Creationism has obvious religious underpinnings, but what it really is, really, is an attempt by fundamentalists to do an end-run around the constitution (e.g. creating a fake science called creationism or intelligent design so they can escape the establishment clause) in order to have religious world view enshrined in public school against the explicit wishes of children, parents, and teachers,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by device55 at 7:43 PM on January 13, 2009

the middle-class portion's annual tax burden pretty much matches the value-add they get from gov't (while the 'lucky-ducky' poor are getting what amounts to varying degrees of free rides)

You're missing the trillions of dollars stolen from the government and put into the pockets of the rich in your calculation there, young man.

Just looking at the military industrial complex alone, you're forced to include that at least 20% and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lupus_yonderboy at 12:36 PM on January 11, 2009

The Times has been on a steady march toward temporarily profitable lifestyle fluff. Escapes! Styles! T magazine(s)! For a time, this fluff helped underwrite the foreign bureaus, enterprise reporting, and endless five-part Pulitzer Prize aspirants. But it has gradually hollowed out journalism’s brand, by making the newspaper feel disposable.So. The value of journalism has been watered down due to the NYT (and others) filling their pages with crap like "Thursday... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by xbonesgt at 9:38 PM on January 6, 2009

This is an excellent article that breaks it down very efficiently.

Yes. Very efficient propaganda horseshit.

I know. I know. I'm feeding the troll. But bare with me.

This idea that the Palestinians being bombed in Gaza are "friends" or are "colluding" with Hamas is mostly garbage. It's just not that simple.

Look. Let me put it to you this way.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by tkchrist at 6:42 PM on January 2, 2009

Ah, so our military should first assess the competence, numbers and armament of the enemy, and only respond with like numbers and armament, so the enemy has a better chance of achieving their own victory? Nonsense. The goal of any military action is to accomplish the objectives with the smallest amount of casualties from your own side. If that means ruthlessly pummeling enemy combatants (and that's usually the case), then that's the way it is. And I'm talking military action here, not... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by tkchrist at 2:35 PM on January 2, 2009

"In this world, Jews have one state, living in a region of ethnic states, majority of them Arab. Jews are entitled to have one of their own."

Actually, no, they aren't. Certainly not if it means taking away someone else's rightful property, or kicking someone off of their land. Certainly not if it means imposing a Jewish state and a Jewish-only political establishment upon the people who live there.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by markkraft at 10:19 PM on January 1, 2009

400+ civilians in six days doesn't sound like a precision job to me, Inspector.

Sure it is. They could have used nukes.

Yes. I am being a smart ass.

I really love this claim of "self defense." An appologia to whole sale slaughter. Is it "war" or are these terrorists and this intrusion into Gaza a police action? Or does it occupy the Post-Bush Doctrine netherworld of both? Where... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by tkchrist at 6:19 PM on January 1, 2009

Feel free to ask the Palestinians that question too. Especially seeing how it's their attacks which prompt Israel to defend itself.

Think on the word "proportion" for a while, eh? I know some of you have worked yourselves up into a righteous fury over this, and the conclusion-leaping must be making you tired. But seriously. Parroting the tired, played-out "defending itself" meme is wearing thin to most of the world. You might ask... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:11 PM on January 1, 2009

It amazes me that people with normally logical thought processes somehow think the Palestinians are the good guys here. All of Israel's military attacks would end if the Palestinians would cease suicide bombing and rocket attacks against Israel.

You're leaping to conclusions here. One, that I normally have logical thought processes. But more importantly, you're ignoring my point - you keep parroting this line that if only "the Palestinians"... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 4:46 PM on January 1, 2009

Have you actually read any of the news regarding this latest conflict?

News, shmews. Who needs facts when you have carte blanche to annihilate innocent men, women and children by the hundreds and thousands because a few idiots lob rockets at you? They brought it on themselves, right? Israel has no obligation to dial it down below Severe Overkill levels.

It amazes me how easily some dismiss what Israel does as "oh well,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 4:27 PM on January 1, 2009

"if Hamas (et al) know that lobbing a few missiles can unleash the fury of modern armaments against them, maybe they'll reconsider launching those missiles and rockets in the first place..."

That's a pretty silly oversimplification of the issue, in part because there are active participants on both side of the conflict who want the fighting to continue, even when the Israeli government and Hamas might not.

Most of the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by markkraft at 3:35 PM on January 1, 2009

Wait, someone isn't living how I choose to live? They must be miserable!
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 1:19 AM on January 2, 2009

It's funny, I was just talking about these atheist bus things the other night as the figgy pudding was produced. Everyone at the party (religious and non-) came to a similar conclusion about why they bothered us, which is I laid out as follows in a less Scotch-infused but kind of prolix and perhaps totally naive way:

These buses, as well as some of Dawkins' radio and television interviews, treat religion as a big scary logic flaw. They point out that the core element of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by goldfinches at 9:44 AM on December 28, 2008

Stalin and all those bad guys weren't non-believers, they were "Communists" or "Socialists" or the like, committing crimes in the name of a deep belief in their cause

Part of that belief was that religion needed to be abolished. And so he, along with Mao, and Pol Pot, and plenty of others, did blow up temples, did send people into labor camps and exile, did execute people for believing. So don't double-standard this. If you can... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 9:32 AM on December 28, 2008

Why is it that people complain about atheists evangelizing, but don't complain about the much more ubiquitous evangelism from the religious?

Because atheists are a threat to religion in a way that religion isn't to atheism.

It's like they have open-sourced morality and are undermining the business model of religion.
posted to MetaFilter by srboisvert at 4:34 AM on December 28, 2008

As for calling me a bigot and comparing me to a Jim Crow supporter, I find that utterly disgusting. When liberals deem any difference in opinion to be bigoted hate speech, I can't even imagine what sort of descriptions they leave themselves for real bigotry. I don't hate anyone, and I am open to other opinions. I am by definition not bigoted. In fact, your outright dismissal of what I said is far closer to bigotry than my original post.

I... what?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mayor West at 7:38 AM on November 7, 2008

Heterosexuals and homosexuals should be granted civil unions: a purely legal binding agreement that covers stuff like visits in the hospitals, benefits, and so on.

And yet your ilk continue to vote against even civil unions when the issue is brought up.

but in cases where they do have those rights and they are nevertheless campaigning to be legally married they have gone beyond asking for rights and are carrying out an... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by dirigibleman at 10:29 PM on November 6, 2008

Languagehat,

I find it hard to understand how some people find it so hard to grasp the irony and stupidity of using and defending the phrase "white culture" to show off (presumably) your proud anti-racist credentials.

First, I never claimed to be anti-racist. I fully believe and accept that I have racist tendencies that I work toward combating. This begins by my accepting the pervasive and destructive presence of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Hypnotic Chick at 11:28 AM on December 19, 2008

You know what bothers me about the torture? That I can count on one hand the number of times Christians spoke out against it as Christians.

All the folks who swooned over The Passion of The Christ, who gaped and gasped and cried when they saw James Caviezel as Jesus beaten and whipped and scourged by Roman soldiers, how many of them spoke up to say "the least among us is Jesus" and object to government torture?

How... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by orthogonality at 7:08 PM on December 18, 2008

Bill Kristol's column in the NY Times pretty much sums up what's wrong with liberalism in America. It's not the notion that everyone's entitled to an opinion, but the weak-kneed equalizing notion that everyone's opinion is worth something, or ought to be respected.

Republicans seem much more willing to call a spade a spade, while Democrats/liberals seem to kind of waver, wondering if they are being too disrespectful or closed-minded in dismissing obvious bullshit too... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by explosion at 4:53 AM on December 11, 2008

Oh BOO HOO. Cry me a fucking river, build me a bridge, and get the fuck over it.

When I return to the dating pool in 5 years or so - assuming I live that long - and the only thing I'm interested is girls a decade younger than me, the reason won't be because they are hot, young, without that added bodyweight and wrinkles and sags that my peers will then have (that's just an added bonus). The reason will be that THEY AREN'T MY PEERS. You know what's wrong with the women... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by allkindsoftime at 6:19 AM on December 10, 2008

I'm pretty much with vacapinta here; the indications generally seem to show that Charles is a decent guy. The hate largely seems to boil down to his having been born into a life of privilege that, frankly, I have an enormously difficult time imagining anyone here renouncing to sell shoes or something were they themselves born into it.
posted to MetaFilter by kittens for breakfast at 7:35 AM on November 28, 2008

Would you prefer your rich, entitled poncy bastards to just be mindless rich, entitled poncy bastards continuing their own overconsumptive ways, oblivious to the big picture. Or would you prefer them to at least question the premises of their situation, and use it to advocate for change?

By the same token, should slave-owning aristocrats just keep owning slaves, or should they keep owning slaves but also author influential political documents that eventually lead to the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jetsetsc at 5:43 AM on November 28, 2008

"Not to be confused with the stay-at-home mother who selflessly devotes herself to the upbringing of her children, with all the housework and domestic chores that entails, the Toxic Wife.."

The line is drawn long before a hatred of all women.
posted to MetaFilter by debbie_ann at 3:20 PM on November 28, 2008

You see, internet, you see what happens when your innocent little memes get out of control.
posted to MetaFilter by strangeleftydoublethink at 12:45 PM on November 21, 2008

Fuck. Which one makes me hipper, sneering at the people who buy Kincade paintings or sneering at the snobs sputtering about how it isn't art, or certainly isn't good art, and how they can prove that the other group of people are wrong for liking it? I can't remember, and I really don't want to compromise my mefi coolness quotient by snarking in the wrong direction.
posted to MetaFilter by Wolfdog at 8:13 AM on November 18, 2008

Bullshit. If you can transfer risk to others, you will take more risks, and the whole system is rotten with the stuff. Why the hell do you think they're having to inject hundreds of billions of dollars of new "capital" into the banking system? The system has so much risk in it that it's failing outright.

Credit default swaps are the process of transferring risk from those who CAN bear it (those who make the loans) to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Malor at 10:03 AM on November 17, 2008

1) Is there a problem that needs to be addressed?

2) If so, what is a viable solution?

The problem is both systemic and psychological, related to the two party system and the thought reform it demands.

Any elitist party necessarily requires a majority to service its elite interests, which must be aggressively pursued while bluffing at it. As a result, working conservatives are convinced to vote for... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Brian B. at 11:02 AM on November 16, 2008

The big talk radio show names have no credibility. I think people realize this and listen just for the entertainment value.

I haven known many Limbaugh listeners, including many members of my family. In my experience, it is decidedly untrue that listeners don't believe it and listen only for entertainment value. I have never, ever met a listener of conservative talk radio that didn't take it very seriously and adopt the talking points as their... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The Loch Ness Monster at 10:35 AM on November 16, 2008

I mean, honestly, is this the best conservatives can do now that they're on the downtick? Liberals are too full of themselves, and don't reach out?

Do you people have any memory at all for the past eight years? Any memory whatsoever for millions of words on political Web sites identifying liberals as crazy "moonbats" who are just too wishy washy to avoid "drinking the Kool Aid" and know a fact if it bit them on the nose? And memory of eight years of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Astro Zombie at 9:07 AM on November 16, 2008

Sorry, guys, but there are too many comments here along the lines of, "The problem here is that liberals are simply too intelligent and fair to succeed in talk radio, whereas the Neanderthal conservatives love to listen to the hooting of tribal leaders for the blood of the Other."

Really, have you not listened to talk radio? They don't let little things like reality stand in the way of the message. It is a constant stream of willful... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by troybob at 7:51 AM on November 16, 2008

Righties think Lefties are big, bad threats, and Lefties think Righties are big, bad threats.

I see this sort of thing all the time. "Gee, we're all the same." But it's just not so. Where are these "Leftie" talk shows, for example?

We've had eight years of the "Righties" running everything. They appear to have destroyed the US economy and the US's status in the world. The "Lefties"... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lupus_yonderboy at 11:49 PM on November 15, 2008

the victim of an economic 9/11

9/11 changed everything, giving us an endless supply of cliches that can be used inappropriately on unrelated topics.
posted to MetaFilter by grouse at 12:48 PM on November 15, 2008

Wow, those mortgages are punitive.

I don't understand how the "man in the street" ever supports deregulation. The only people it ever benefits is a handful of the wealthiest people, while it socializes their risk. These are not, generally, people who think of anything but making themselves obscenely rich, moreso if they can suffer no consequences if the risk turns out to be too great.

Most government regulation, despite the masturbatory... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by maxwelton at 11:31 AM on November 15, 2008

When I was 14 I lost my mother after a long fight with cancer. I remember during her last few months she would always be so cold and dress in full out winter clothes, stocking hat, coat, gloves while inside. At the same time my Dad was really into Rush Limbaugh's short lived TV show and after the show ended each night he would pontificate for a few minutes about how whatever crazy bullshit left Rush's mouth that night was pure unadulterated truth.

It so happened that... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jlowen at 1:56 PM on November 13, 2008

I believe that the "haters" are the true minority, and are a small proportion compared to the thoughtless, the unsympathetic, the ignorant, and the scared.

Just the same, I think it is very valuable to point out to the "thoughtless, unsympathetic, ignorant and scared" just who it is that they've joined forces with, and I think it's important to do so in the most forceful, though not shrill or pejorative, terms possible. What we... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Dreama at 2:07 PM on November 6, 2008

Belatedly, you seem to be getting hung up on my use of the word "hateful." That's fine. I see it as a hateful act, but if your point is that if we cannot know that the person hates, we cannot know that the act is truly hateful. Fair enough.

I'll throw out some other words, and let me know which ones you are comfortable with so we can move this conversation forward:

Passing a constitutional amendment disadvantaging a despised... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Law Talkin' Guy at 6:58 AM on November 6, 2008