Annoying Questions I'd Like Answered...

tussock · Post by **tussock** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 1:40 am

To be fair, there's protests all over the place all the time, the media just don't cover them, or do cover them with extreme conservative bias.

In good part because people go a bit crazy when the media covers protests. People don't understand numbers like 400 million at all, and if you show them a couple thousand angry people yelling at terribly outnumbered police they'll think it's the apocalypse.

Like the Pea Party, Fox decides to cover some protests for a while (because Rupert likes these ones and the KK have a campaign ready, but also there's a bunch of disorganised protests going on otherwise), it's going to look like a movement for all the other protests coming up to try and tie themselves to, and they totally did.

But Occupy Wall Street got far bigger after getting a tiny bit of coverage almost by accident, and mostly those people got bored and went home because the media orchestrated the notion that they had no demands and no organisation (there was both, but you'll never see that without digging). There's still Occupy-like protests going on now all over the show, a lot of them have been very successful with their demands, but you won't hear about them, because otherwise they'd get huge again with everyone suddenly expecting a socialist revolution.

Also, the actual revolutions. Widely covered protests can get completely out of hand and start replacing governments with whoever happens to put their hand up at the time, and that can be a very bad thing for more people than the usual vested interests.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 3:24 am

Maj wrote:My impression of it - and I might be wrong, so please correct me - is that there were a few events that hit the mainstream really fast and inspired a bunch of independent groups all over the country. Those independent groups weren't really coherently led by much of anything until a bunch of right-wing backers (mostly KochBros) started uniting the groups behind the scenes.

The way I remember reading up on it, some guy on CNN went on an off-script rant about President Obama, declared a need for a Chicago Tea Party, and then eight hours later there was a website up with the time and location for this symbolic dunking of tea.

And it spread out from there, helped along by cute acronyms like Taxed Enough Already. Don't get me wrong, it's got a lot of conservatives who came across it naturally, but it just happened too pat for me to think it was anything but planned and organized in advance to whip the conservatives up.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 3:54 am

Yeah, it's a bit blurry as to whether the Tea Party was an actual grass roots thing which was almost immediately co-opted by the Koch Bros./Big Tobacco or whether they planned it all along. The end result is pretty much the same: the Tea Party is largely funded by and gets its talking points from Citizens for a Sound Economy, Americans for Prosperity, and other Koch-funded wonks.

Of course, we're talking about the Tea Party as if it were One Thing, when that's really just a soundbite. What you have are a bunch of separate for-profit and non-profit Tea Party organizations, and for a couple of years you had an actual Tea Party Caucus registered in Congress that died of neglect like your hamster where nobody noticed until the smell hit.

Meikle641 · Post by **Meikle641** » Fri Nov 08, 2013 1:48 am

Does anyone know any architects they'd recommend? In particular someone with some knowledge about "green" topics?

I'm looking to eventually build a foursquare home using primarily concrete. Basically, a slightly modernized version of this, or something similar in concept. Main thing is I want to add a solar chimney to it, which is a little uncommon, but I think it'd be good to have. Overall goal is to have a close to net-zero home eventually.

erik · Post by **erik** » Fri Nov 08, 2013 2:42 am

Just a note. I have heard on occasion that FLW homes typically are pretty works of art but not pleasant to live in, and, and not necessarily built to last. I don't know how true this is, but find it rather telling that this particular design did not catch on.

Also $5000 in 1907 is ~$120K+ today. And I suspect a concrete home built to code is gonna cost more than that.

Now, concrete homes are a thing, Google says so. I'm just badmouthing FLW.

http://www.concretenetwork.com/concrete-homes/

I know nothing about these people, but there they are.

Incidentally, my dreamhome is a concrete mostly earth-covered home. Yes, like a fucking hobbit's. My halfing worship craze knows no bounds; other than kinky ones.

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Fri Nov 08, 2013 2:50 am

erik wrote:Incidentally, my dreamhome is a concrete mostly earth-covered home. Yes, like a fucking hobbit's. My halfing worship craze knows no bounds; other than kinky ones.

My husband's mom built an earthwood house into the side of a hill. It's actually pretty cool.

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Fri Nov 08, 2013 2:57 am

FWIW, most of the complaints I've heard about FLW places seem to come down mostly to size--the square footage many people expect has ballooned enormously since his heyday.

Meikle641 · Post by **Meikle641** » Fri Nov 08, 2013 4:09 am

Well yeah, I know about inflation. So far my rough calculations involve about 30k in concrete (30cm thick outer walls), which is like 30k in materials alone. I figure the four-square home style is decent enough, but I'm not married to the design.

A monolithic dome would be amazing, but I figure a normal home made of thick reinforced concrete will do just fine. I doubt I'd want a house with more than 1200 square feet anyway (not counting basement).

TiaC · Post by **TiaC** » Fri Nov 08, 2013 8:21 am

Meikle641 wrote:Does anyone know any architects they'd recommend? In particular someone with some knowledge about "green" topics?

I'm looking to eventually build a foursquare home using primarily concrete. Basically, a slightly modernized version of this, or something similar in concept. Main thing is I want to add a solar chimney to it, which is a little uncommon, but I think it'd be good to have. Overall goal is to have a close to net-zero home eventually.

A relative runs http://www.siegelstrain.com/. Nowadays, I think Straw-bale construction would be used to make something similar. At your latitude, you'll want quite a bit of solar. I believe there are also concerns with heavy snowfall damaging some types of panels.

Edit: also, one thing to be aware of when it comes to designing environmentally sound buildings is the massive amount of energy that goes into creating the materials which can offset savings.

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Sat Nov 09, 2013 5:55 pm

For this question, let's talk about America since none of you other places matter. Are there any legal requirements to be a doctor?

erik · Post by **erik** » Sat Nov 09, 2013 6:15 pm

Assuming you are talking about a medical doctor, to be considered as such requires a valid medical license, which comes with its own requirements.

If you are talking about a doctor of divinity or somesuch, then not really.

Grek · Post by **Grek** » Sat Nov 09, 2013 9:35 pm

erik wrote:If you are talking about a doctor of divinity or somesuch, then not really.

Yeah, my elementary school music teacher got an honorary doctorate in divinity for leading her church choir for a long long time. It's not hard to do.

koz · Post by **koz** » Sat Nov 09, 2013 9:58 pm

Grek wrote:...honorary doctorate in divinity...

That has to be the most meaningless degree in existence.

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Sat Nov 09, 2013 10:04 pm

I dunno, it sounds like it qualifies you to demand people propriate you with offerings of wine and beef on major holidays.

Wiseman · Post by **Wiseman** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 7:42 pm

Why are Tsundere characters so popular in anime, despite the fact that in a real person, those same traits would be highly aggravating?

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 10:04 pm

The comedy, probably. People like watching people interact with House, but would hate his guts if they had to do it themselves.

And of course, some folks fantasize about being the Speshul Someone to reach who someone Really Is.

Of course, it's fine to laugh at it and enjoy it. It's when folks start wanting it in real life...

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 10:10 pm

Wiseman wrote:Why are Tsundere characters so popular in anime, despite the fact that in a real person, those same traits would be highly aggravating?

Imagine if you will a woman who you want to put your dick in but is a total bitch who is in no way into you. Now, can you imagine having a fantasy where she has a major change of heart and begs you to poke her in the butt? That's basically the package the Tsundere character is selling.

Basically everyone has known that person who is totally fuckable except for the fact that they are an asshole who hates you. And pretty much everyone has had a fantasy where they fuck that person anyway.

The Yandere type is for those fantasies where you just think about fucking them with them still being total hateful jerks who are fucked in the head. And the Tsundere is for those fantasies where you dream about changing them into your ideal relationship partner.

-Username17

JonSetanta · Post by **JonSetanta** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 11:18 pm

Tsundere is conflict. Conflict drives plot.

DSMatticus · Post by **DSMatticus** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 11:32 pm

The romance genre is huge, and the tsundere-containing subset is small. There are definitely other ways to drag out "Bob wants to bang Alice; Alice wants to bang Bob; they bang." For example, Japan's other cliche fallback: Bob is stupid and oblivious.

That said, I have trouble buying Frank's explanation. If I thought a woman was a bitch/asshole/whatever, I would have a hard time being sexually or romantically interested in them. But I also think the tsundere thing is stupid, so... I suppose that means I'm not a good counter-example.

Wiseman · Post by **Wiseman** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 2:45 am

FrankTrollman wrote:
Wiseman wrote:Why are Tsundere characters so popular in anime, despite the fact that in a real person, those same traits would be highly aggravating?
Imagine if you will a woman who you want to put your dick in but is a total bitch who is in no way into you. Now, can you imagine having a fantasy where she has a major change of heart and begs you to poke her in the butt? That's basically the package the Tsundere character is selling.

Basically everyone has known that person who is totally fuckable except for the fact that they are an asshole who hates you. And pretty much everyone has had a fantasy where they fuck that person anyway.

The Yandere type is for those fantasies where you just think about fucking them with them still being total hateful jerks who are fucked in the head. And the Tsundere is for those fantasies where you dream about changing them into your ideal relationship partner.

-Username17

Except that there are plenty of women who have been assholes to me, and I've never fantasized about fucking them ever. My fantasies about them tend to be ass kicking revenge fantasies.

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 3:45 am

Legally does it matter where the medical license comes from?

Does Rand Paul's license from the National Board of Ophthalmology count in the eyes of the law or does it have to be from the actually recognized American Board of Ophtalmology?

At the moment the NBO actually does not exist so Paul isn't actually certified by any Board whatsoever.

Longes · Post by **Longes** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 3:48 am

Mister_Sinister wrote:
Grek wrote:...honorary doctorate in divinity...
That has to be the most meaningless degree in existence.

Ha! Russian universities are now legaly allowed to produce Doctors of Theology.

Voss · Post by **Voss** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 4:54 am

Longes- Weird. In the sense that most countries have allowed that sort of shit for centuries, mostly because theology and philosophy were among the foundation disciplines for the concept of universities. I'd speculate it was something the Soviet regime took away that finally got reinstated, rather than something that never happened before.

sigma999 wrote:Tsundere is conflict. Conflict drives plot.

Overgeneralizing. Most relationships in anime are often completely tangental to the actual plot. In this particular case, conflict is often filler. And hella creepy as the tsundere is broken into a normative relationship, either through coercion or because her 'suppressed womanhood' is sprouting and over-riding her 'twisted' hatred of men. Japanese entertainment can be very entertaining, but sometimes it drops into complete bugfuck for no apparent reason, and is often supremely unaware of it. And the unexamined bugfuck tends to be even worse than the intentional stuff, because people don't take time to examine the unconscious stuff, and just accept it.

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 5:56 am

DSMatticus wrote:
That said, I have trouble buying Frank's explanation. If I thought a woman was a bitch/asshole/whatever, I would have a hard time being sexually or romantically interested in them. But I also think the tsundere thing is stupid, so... I suppose that means I'm not a good counter-example.

Dudes get shut down all the time, and flip-flopping from "OMG, be my waifu!!!" to "She must have been an evil shrieking harpy all along" is a pretty common coping mechanism. So if you're really going to pander to that particular audience, you present them with a protagonist/audience stand-in who can warm a lady's heart with the healing light of his cock AND is practically a hero for even putting up with her in the first place.

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 2:06 pm

Cynic wrote:Legally does it matter where the medical license comes from?

Does Rand Paul's license from the National Board of Ophthalmology count in the eyes of the law or does it have to be from the actually recognized American Board of Ophtalmology?

At the moment the NBO actually does not exist so Paul isn't actually certified by any Board whatsoever.

The medical license and the medical certification are different things. Rand Paul passed the licensing exam at some point, and completed his residency in 1993. That's where things get a little bit screwy.

Doctors are supposed to get periodic board certification to demonstrate that they are staying current with their field. Rand Paul hasn't done that. What he did instead is create his own organization with an official sounding title that issued him a "board certification" that he doesn't have to renew. It's not "practicing without a license" (which is illegal), it's "practicing with a grossly outdated certification in your specialty" (which is extremely unethical).

Rand Paul can't work in a hospital, because his credentials are 20 years old and he doesn't have a valid or current certification in his field. But the medical degree lasts forever and the medical license lasts until he loses it in a malpractice ruling. As long as he sticks to private practice and none of his patients report him for malpractice or fraud, he isn't quite breaking any laws.

it is not exactly fraud to make up bullshit organizations that have official sounding names and have them issue you certifications that you then put on your wall. It's extremely close to fraud, but as long as he keeps his bullshit organization having a different title from the real one, he isn't break any laws. Now, it's really obviously intended to deceive people, so it would go hard for him if he was brought up on malpractice or fraud claims for other reasons. But right now it's just sitting there as objective proof that he's a scoundrel.

DSM wrote:That said, I have trouble buying Frank's explanation. If I thought a woman was a bitch/asshole/whatever, I would have a hard time being sexually or romantically interested in them. But I also think the tsundere thing is stupid, so... I suppose that means I'm not a good counter-example.

I find it literally impossible to believe that you've never fantasized about an actor or actress (pornographic or otherwise), despite having actually no idea what their real life personality is like. Are you telling me that your sour grapes effect is so hard that if you found out that an actress you masturbated to went around clicking the like button on Orson Scott Card blog posts that you'd go back in time to retroactively include a less paranoid and homophobic woman in your wank dreams?

-Username17