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  #46  
Old June 29th 18, 03:07 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
NY
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Posts: 586
Default OT: Microsoft Rewards? (now OT: grammar!)

"Wolf K" wrote in message
...
donors, who like to see their names on buildings and letterheads.


That reminds me of something I noticed when I was over in the USA (Boston
area, visiting my sister and her family who were living there at the time).
On buildings which are named after benefactors, and on people's name badges
on their office doors and on letterheads etc) there's much more use of
people's middle initials than in the UK. Here, a middle name is something
that is rarely used apart from official forms which require all your names.
But in the USA, it almost seems like a badge of honour to flaunt your middle
initial: no-one is just "John Smith" or "Dave Jones" - they are all "John H
Smith" or "Dave A Jones" - even for uncommon names where the middle name
isn't need to avoid ambiguity. And there's this habit, which the UK
perceives as being very American, of a father, son and grandson all having
the same first name and having to be distinguished by suffixes "John Smith
II", "John Smith III" etc.

Could be worse, though: in some European countries (France, Spain), you get
men whose middle name is a woman's (possibly their mother's or
grandmother's). JosĂ© MarĂ*a Olazábal, Jean-Marie le Pen etc. That's a bit too
close to "A Boy Named Sue" for British tastes :-)

We all have our national peculiarities. I'm sure we Brits do.

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  #47  
Old June 29th 18, 06:36 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
Mark Lloyd[_2_]
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Default OT: Microsoft Rewards? (now OT: grammar!)

On 06/28/2018 04:19 PM, Apd wrote:

[snip]

"We must develop knowledge optimization initiatives to leverage our
key learnings".


Once I heard "That sentence should be taken outside and shot.".

http://dilbert.com/strip/1998-11-26

You can add to that my bugbear: "going forward". Well, where else is
your business going - backwards, sideways?


what I thought of when I heard that was "The red queen's race". You
figure it out.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"The hands that help are better far than the lips that pray." -- Robert
G. Ingersoll
  #48  
Old June 29th 18, 06:49 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
Mark Lloyd[_2_]
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Default OT: Microsoft Rewards? (now OT: grammar!)

On 06/28/2018 05:40 PM, Char Jackson wrote:

[snip]

"Can I get a cup of coffee" - you're asking the server to make a medical
diagnosis as to whether you'd be physically able to do it. The literal
answer is probably yes, seeing as how you were able to push the door
open, walk in, make your way to a table and sit down. The server will
automatically translate the question into one that makes more sense.


One thing I object to is when people mix up "one is not" with "not one
is" (or similar).

I have 2 US coins worth a total of 30 cents. One is not a nickel. What
are they?

A quarter and a nickel.

That answer fits the stated rule ("one is not a nickel" doesn't say
anything about the other). It doesn't fit the "translation" (not one is
a nickel).

"all cars are not blue" is wrong (you prove it any time you see a blue
car). it should have been "not all cars are blue" or "some cars are not
blue" or "only some cars are blue".

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"The hands that help are better far than the lips that pray." -- Robert
G. Ingersoll
  #49  
Old June 29th 18, 06:55 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
Mark Lloyd[_2_]
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Default OT: Microsoft Rewards? (now OT: grammar!)

On 06/29/2018 12:53 AM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

[snip]

What I think is called a public school, or the public school system, in
the USA, is called a state school, or other terms, in the UK.


I once heard of a "state school" in the US. I think it was a special
school for the mentally retarded.

[snip]

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"The hands that help are better far than the lips that pray." -- Robert
G. Ingersoll
  #50  
Old June 30th 18, 01:48 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_4_]
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Default OT: Microsoft Rewards? (now OT: grammar!)

In message , Wolf K
writes:
On 2018-06-29 01:53, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message , Char Jackson
writes:
[]
I'm not a language/grammar geek, so it's entirely possible that my usage
is wrong, as well. I went to Public School.

Even there, you can't escape the "two nations divided by a common
language" matter!
What I think is called a public school, or the public school system,
in the USA, is called a state school, or other terms, in the UK.


"Public school" in the USA and Canada usually means primary and usually
also middle school (years K to 8). It's often is used in contrast to
faith-based schools. The upper grades are "high school".


I guess we'd say secondary school for the 11 (sometimes 13) to 16/18
part, but on the whole we rarely use the qualifiers, just saying school.

Grammar is taught in public school. High school English/Language
curricula generally assume knowledge of that grammar. It's very badly
taught, mixing grammar and usage indiscriminately, and using
conflicting and sometimes incorrect linguistic concepts. The result is

[]
You remind me of another matter, "grammar schools" - a matter which
raises much political heat here in the UK. They're mainly state-funded
schools, generally perceived (by both sides of the debate, though their
opponents hate to admit it) as providing a better standard; I'm not
_sure_ what differentiates them from other state-funded schools, though
I _think_ it's selection (i. e. there is an entrance examination, and
those who fail to reach some level go to other schools, which used to be
called "comprehensive" or "secondary modern", though there has been
fragmentation of late, with some being called things like "academy"
[though grammar schools can be academies too, I think]). The main
confusion in the name is that the teaching of (English) grammar, as
such, is _not_ nominally any different between grammar schools and
not-grammar schools (though I imagine it once might have been for the
name to have come about).

In the UK, "public school" usually means the ones (mostly) attended
by the privileged - i. e. fee-paying. (The well-known ones like Eton
and Harrow, but really any fee-paying one.) I've never been sure why
we call them "public schools" - I think the argument might be that
they are _open_ to any member of the public who can afford the fees,
though if that _is_ the argument it's a weak one, since many have
entrance exam.s.


IIRC, they were called "public" in contrast to the schools run by the
church. But I didn't search for confirmation.


You may well be right. Though here, now, a lot of state-funded schools
_are_ nominally at least connected with some religion - usually branches
of the Christian faith, such as Anglican (C. of E.) or (Roman) Catholic,
thought some Muslim, and I presume some others. (I don't know of any
specifically atheist ones!) There's periodic friction about whether
association with the nominal religion has to be a qualification for
admission, and whether state funding should continue if it either is or
isn't. And you hear of families changing allegiance - or pretending to -
to get their kids into what is perceived to be a good school. (And
moving house, but you say that happens in the us too.)

Further: US usage, I understand, uses "school" to include both child
and adult education; in UK, with certain (mostly subject-specific)
exceptions, where you go to get your degree is "university", "school"
being for age 5 to about 16 or 18 only. (So "where did you go to
school" has a different meaning in the two countries: isn't often
asked in UK.)


"School" for post-secondary education is usually informal, but there
are exceptions: Eg, at Ryerson University in Toronto there is a "Rotman
School of Business". It's what is usually called a faculty over here.


However, with the exception of where they're talking about a _specific_
(i. e. named) one, I don't think I've often heard an American speak of
"going to university"; equally, I don't think I've ever heard a Brit
refer to "going to college", unless perhaps when conversing with
Americans. (FWIW, here colleges are _mostly_ subdivisions of
universities - usually cross-subject, though in a few cases
subject-specific.)

This use of "school" for "faculty" is spreading, probably because of
the increasing influence of donors, who like to see their names on
buildings and letterheads.

(-:
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

.... some language may be offensive to younger viewers. Like "please" and
"thank you". (Intro to /Off Their Rockers/, quoted in RT 25-31 May 2013 by
Sarah Millican.)
  #51  
Old June 30th 18, 02:17 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_4_]
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Default OT: Microsoft Rewards? (now OT: grammar!)

In message , Mayayana
writes:
[]
and gifted. And probably increasingly common are evangelical
schools, with textbooks showing Moses riding a dinosaur.


I like it (-:
[]
What I find more striking today is the poor quality
of college education. People are getting bachelors
degrees who are all but illiterate and can't think


On the whole, I'm against literacy being considered that important in,
say, scientific subjects - *provided the candidate can actually
communicate effectively*, their knowledge _of the subject_ is what
should be being tested. I particularly find unpleasant the prejudice
against multi-choice tests versus those in essay form, which seemed (at
least when I was being educated, 30-40 years ago, in UK) an attempt to
preserve privilege. (And I _could_ and can still write well, so it
wasn't just an I'm-being-discriminated-against POV.)

But I strongly agree with the next bit:

analytically. At one time college was meant to teach
future leaders to think and to provide them with
well-rounded knowledge. Today it's a required step


Yes, the ability to think analytically is paramount.

to get a no-skills office job. The graduating student


Yes; this has come as a side-effect (UK, anyway - us may be different
due to the funding model) of the view that "everyone should have the
opportunity to go to university". I actually agree with the basic
thought behind that, but it has been translated into "everyone should go
to university", which is a different thing entirely!

may have gone to college mostly to avoid adulthood.


(-:

At best it provides them with a cultural language
and connections to reach a white collar lifestyle.


|-:
[]
That may partially account for the general American
trend toward valuing ignorance and even conflating
it with decency. A smart kid is a showoff. Giftedness


"Facts are bad." One despairs sometimes (-:

undermines democracy. Thus, we should all be trained
to equality in all things.


Which in some cases means downwards - which is a loss to society. We're
all good for _something_ - even those who can't think very well!
(Though, I admit, it's often quite hard work to figure out _what_ some
people are good for! But it doesn't mean they're _less_ useful.)

It points to the central American confusion. We
idealize equality while trying to escape it. We reject
class while pursuing it. In Britain, class is an accepted
part of the social order. In the US, we like to pretend
it doesn't exist. We'll talk about sexism, racism,
etc but it's very hard for people to recognize the
fundamental inequality of wealth.


I think the American perception of the British attitude to class tends
to be a little exaggerated - as does the British perception of the
importance of wealth in America.

More recently, though, I think the awareness of
language as a social and business tool has become
much more sophisticated than it used to be. People
often speak in a technical manner, often favoring Greek
and Latin roots over Germanic, because it seems
authoritative. (Handiwork becomes manual labor.
Boyfriend/girlfriend becomes significant other.)

(Though that last one is at least partially due to the desire to remove
gender-specific terminology [and allow same-gender, too].)

I had a work estimate recently for a woman

(What's a work estimate?)
who's a Shakespearean professor of English. She

Not a professor of Shakespearean English?) [Discuss (-:!]
[]
Another interesting language change:

I know very few people today who have a regional
accent. That's another thing that college now does.


It was once said that broadcasting would do similar. But - despite about
a century of broadcasting, and several decades of widespread tertiary
education, regional accents seem to be surviving and thriving here,
despite it being such a relatively small country! On the whole they've
moderated to the extent that people from the different regions can now
_understand_ each other, which wasn't always the case (I've met elderly
Geordies and people from other reasons whom I struggle to understand),
but there are definite regional accents - and regional identity feeling
is strong.

Eliminate cultural flavor that might be assoicated with
ignorance, so that everyone sounds like they're from
Ohio, with the exception of whiny young celebrities
who employ a nearly constant vocal fry to sound
upper class. It's almost Orwellian. All quirks must be
erased in the successful person, so that they act
almost as an automaton.


Here, the _stronger_ variants (in both accent and vocabulary) are
knocked off by contact with others, but the underlying accents remain.

So there are a lot of factors there in both the
breakdown of literacy and the rise of official-speak.


"Management-speak" is a universal blight for both of us (-:

I just saw a video of Stephen Colbert interviewing
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who just won an upset
election in NYC. She's well spoken, seems both
intelligent and decent, yet her speech is peppered
with, "so I was like", "so he was like", "so I go",
"so he goes". She talks like a teenager.

So I'm like, way to not intimidate the electorate,
dude.


When they _try_ to be something they're not, they usually fail. The
exception is when the difference is _very_ great and deception is not
intended: when Jimmy Carter visited the north-east of England and said
"Howway the lads" (supporting cry for the local football team), the
locals loved him for trying, even though he said it with an atrocious
American accent; similarly "eech been ein Berliner". [Which I've been
assured did _not_ mean "I am a jam do(ugh)nut."]
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"Usenet is a way of being annoyed by people you otherwise never would have
met."
- John J. Kinyon
  #52  
Old June 30th 18, 02:29 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
NY
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 586
Default OT: Microsoft Rewards? (now OT: grammar!)

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in message
...
However, with the exception of where they're talking about a _specific_
(i. e. named) one, I don't think I've often heard an American speak of
"going to university"; equally, I don't think I've ever heard a Brit refer
to "going to college", unless perhaps when conversing with Americans.
(FWIW, here colleges are _mostly_ subdivisions of universities - usually
cross-subject, though in a few cases subject-specific.)


Also, colleges as separate institutions (as opposed to part of universities
such as Oxford, Cambridge and Durham) tend to offer (or used to do when I
was at university) courses that result in lower-standard qualifications such
as HNDs (Higher National Diploma) and BTECs (Business and Technology
Education Council) as opposed to degree-level BA/BSc. They tend to be
perceived to be more vocational than theoretical. And that's great: despite
recent governments trying to encourage as many school-leavers as possible to
go to university to do degree courses, the world needs plumbers,
bricklayers, joiners, etc - better that we train our own people to do these
jobs that have to bring in people from outside the UK.

Some colleges specialise in 6th form training: taking children who have left
school with lower-level GSCE (General Certificate in Secondary Education)
and teaching them a few (usually around three) subjects for A (advanced)
levels which are the entry requirement for university. This role is normally
fulfilled by secondary schools, but some children work better in an
environment when there are no younger children.

I think another distinction is that colleges tend not to offer any
accommodation and are used by people living at home with parents and who are
therefore all local to the college, whereas universities are residential:
the students leave home and live in university halls of residence or flats
(apartments) or in privately-rented flats.


Another difference of terminology: a single subject (lectures, coursework,
exams) that is studied as part of a degree tends to be referred to in the UK
as a "subject" or a "course" rather than a "program"; the latter word is
restricted to something you watch on television (when it is spelled
programme) or a set of instructions that is run on a computer (when the US
spelling is almost invariably used).

  #53  
Old June 30th 18, 02:32 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_4_]
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Default OT: Microsoft Rewards? (now OT: grammar!)

In message , Mayayana
writes:
"NY" wrote

| I'm fairly relaxed about UK versus US spelling. The U in colour, humour
etc,
| has no purpose and could be removed; likewise it is perverse that we


The pronunciation varies too: in England, "culluh", in US "coll'r"
(which to UK ears sounds like collar, i. e. neckpiece). Though to be
inconsistent, the first 0 isn't always uh - we pronounce hono[u]r as
onner (US arn'r).

reverse
| the R and E in theatre. But since that's what British spelling rules say,


The -re/-er endings derive from the higher proportions of French/German
in the heritages, I think. Though I've never understood the origin of
the US voiced embedded T (water is pronounced warder, writer as rider,
Italy ad Iddly, title as tidal, and so on); it's not an inability to
pronounce an unvoiced T - that comes out fine if at the beginning of a
word (title gets two different Ts in US).

| then I will fight to the death to spell the words that way :-)
|

(-:

And don't forget aluminium. It's much more
fun than our aluminum. Aluminium feels like
a long, hilly sleigh ride, what?

Yes, it's odd. We in UK do have non-i words - laudanum, lanthanum; but
both sides have helium, or even a metal, chromium.


--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"Usenet is a way of being annoyed by people you otherwise never would have met."
- John J. Kinyon
  #54  
Old June 30th 18, 03:58 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
Mayayana
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Posts: 6,438
Default OT: Microsoft Rewards? (now OT: grammar!)

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote

| The pronunciation varies too: in England, "culluh", in US "coll'r"

I pronounce it culluh. The further west you go, the
more the R appears, until at the West Coast they
seem to be almost obsessed with it: cullurrh. Coll'r might
be used in parts of the South, but I'm not familiar with it.

| Though I've never understood the origin of
| the US voiced embedded T (water is pronounced warder, writer as rider,
| Italy ad Iddly, title as tidal, and so on); it's not an inability to
| pronounce an unvoiced T - that comes out fine if at the beginning of a
| word (title gets two different Ts in US).
|
Maybe it has to do with being less forceful? Dramatic
pronunciation is cultivated in Britain. Consonants are
often relished for their explosive potential. Pronouncing
Ts your way requires that explosive quality. The word
can't flow.
A kitten named Mittens from Britain. A Brit needs
to step through each syllable. If I say it the K and
Ns are the only consonants. My tongue never goes
to the roof of the mouth on the Ts. The accent
serves to suggest the T: KI-n name[d] MI-ns

My very elderly father pronounces Saturday as
sad-dee. I pronounce it as sad-[uh]-day, with the
uh barely being a throat sound. I can't guess where
he came up with such crazy speech.

Recently I've noticed it's common for people
to say student as stu-dent, with the D and 2 Ts
all stressed. That sounds strange to me. I say
stu-[d]nt. The tongue is just slightly further
forward than it would be for "stoont". Again, the
accent on the first syllable serves to suggest the D.

In general, pronunciation becomes sharper as
it goes west, but even the West Coasters tend
to linger on consonants. It's not done forcefully.
I'd say it's done it dorkily, but I might have a bias.


  #55  
Old June 30th 18, 05:04 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
Mayayana
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Posts: 6,438
Default OT: Microsoft Rewards? (now OT: grammar!)

"pyotr filipivich" wrote
|
| A good chunk of that College "tuition" is going to "overhead":
| Administrative Staff, Climbing Walls in the state of the art
| recreation center, dormitories which are nicer than their first
| apartment will be, assistants to the deputy director for the
| intersectional grievance committee. Etc, etc, etc.

How do we know that? Now that you mention
it, I don't think I've ever seen an analysis. Though
I fdo know that Harvard's endowment is now well
over $50 billion. There seems to be no limit to how
big they think they should get.

| The first two things to remember about plumbing:
| 1) Water Flows Down Hill.
| 2) It ain't all Water.
| And the second two things are like unto tit:
| 3) Don't bite your nails.
| 4) Payday is Thursday.
|

You clever fellow. I can see you don't need
the dubious benefit of a college education.


  #56  
Old June 30th 18, 05:39 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
NY
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 586
Default OT: Microsoft Rewards? (now OT: grammar!)

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in message
...
And don't forget aluminium. It's much more
fun than our aluminum. Aluminium feels like
a long, hilly sleigh ride, what?

Yes, it's odd. We in UK do have non-i words - laudanum, lanthanum; but
both sides have helium, or even a metal, chromium.


Wikipedia talks about the derivation of the name for the element:

"British chemist Humphry Davy, who performed a number of experiments aimed
to synthesize the metal, is credited as the person who named aluminium. In
1808, he suggested the metal be named alumium. This suggestion was
criticized by contemporary chemists from France, Germany, and Sweden, who
insisted the metal should be named for the oxide, alumina, from which it
would be isolated. In 1812, Davy chose aluminum, thus producing the modern
name. However, it is spelled and pronounced differently outside of North
America: aluminum is in use in the U.S. and Canada while aluminium is in use
elsewhere."

So after Davy had made his first proposal, with no N in it, and his
colleagues had made the very sensible suggestion that the element should
have a name that was more similar to the ore alumina, it seems that the
original name was aluminum (the American spelling) and then the spelling
vacillated between -um and -ium: I hadn't realised that even in the US
the -ium spelling was once used, until Noah Webster became involved.

But I see that the official IUPAC spelling is -ium, with -um regarded as an
acceptable variant. OK, we won that argument, but we lost the sulphur/sulfur
one :-)

  #57  
Old June 30th 18, 06:40 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
Tim Slattery[_2_]
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Posts: 223
Default OT: Microsoft Rewards? (now OT: grammar!)

Wolf K wrote:


In the UK, "public school" usually means the ones (mostly) attended by
the privileged - i. e. fee-paying. (The well-known ones like Eton and
Harrow, but really any fee-paying one.) I've never been sure why we call
them "public schools" - I think the argument might be that they are
_open_ to any member of the public who can afford the fees, though if
that _is_ the argument it's a weak one, since many have entrance exam.s.


IIRC, they were called "public" in contrast to the schools run by the
church. But I didn't search for confirmation.


I don't think so. My understanding is that back in medieval times, the
quality hired tutors to teach their offspring, there were no such
things as schools to send them to. The "Public Schools", then, were
institutions that anybody could send their kids to, as opposed to
private, in-home education. But it wasn't free (government supported).
That's what a public school is in the US: a government supported
school that does not charge tuition.

--
Tim Slattery
tim at risingdove dot com
  #58  
Old June 30th 18, 10:55 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
NY
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 586
Default OT: Microsoft Rewards? (now OT: grammar!)

"Tim Slattery" wrote in message
...
Wolf K wrote:


In the UK, "public school" usually means the ones (mostly) attended by
the privileged - i. e. fee-paying. (The well-known ones like Eton and
Harrow, but really any fee-paying one.) I've never been sure why we call
them "public schools" - I think the argument might be that they are
_open_ to any member of the public who can afford the fees, though if
that _is_ the argument it's a weak one, since many have entrance exam.s.


IIRC, they were called "public" in contrast to the schools run by the
church. But I didn't search for confirmation.


I don't think so. My understanding is that back in medieval times, the
quality hired tutors to teach their offspring, there were no such
things as schools to send them to. The "Public Schools", then, were
institutions that anybody could send their kids to, as opposed to
private, in-home education. But it wasn't free (government supported).
That's what a public school is in the US: a government supported
school that does not charge tuition.


This terminology makes a lot more sense than in the UK where we have both
"public" and "private" schools which are very similar: fee-paying (*)
schools which are not paid for by "the State" (ie the government, from
taxes).

The school that I went to was founded in the early 1800s "for the board and
education of the sons of Nonconformist clergy" though widened its intake to
include any boys whose parents could pay the fees, no matter what their
religious beliefs (if any). When I was there in the 1970s it still had a
"visiting chaplain" from the United Reformed Church which was referred to as
Zion, but apart from that, and the statutory Religious Education lesson that
all schools are required to teach every week, the religious influence was
fairly non-existent.

Some public schools, like Ampleforth College, have much greater religious
input, to the extent that some of the teaching is done by monks and a
"Benedictine ethos permeates pupils' experience".

(*) Apart from those exception children who are granted a bursary or
scholarship, often paid for by a benefactor who long ago invested money
whose interest would pay the fees of an exceptional pupil.

  #59  
Old July 1st 18, 05:24 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
pyotr filipivich
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Posts: 752
Default OT: Microsoft Rewards? (now OT: grammar!)

"Mayayana" on Sat, 30 Jun 2018 12:04:52
-0400 typed in alt.windows7.general the following:
"pyotr filipivich" wrote
|
| A good chunk of that College "tuition" is going to "overhead":
| Administrative Staff, Climbing Walls in the state of the art
| recreation center, dormitories which are nicer than their first
| apartment will be, assistants to the deputy director for the
| intersectional grievance committee. Etc, etc, etc.

How do we know that?


The colleges will announce with a straight face that they have
hired x number of "facilitators", or the competition of such a
facility, etc.
The other thing to remember, "diversity" in UniSpeak means
diversity of shape, color, gender, but conformity of thought. (Which
isn't quite true, many universities are ready to accept any school of
thought from Left all the way through to the Ultra-left..)


Now that you mention
it, I don't think I've ever seen an analysis. Though
I fdo know that Harvard's endowment is now well
over $50 billion. There seems to be no limit to how
big they think they should get.

| The first two things to remember about plumbing:
| 1) Water Flows Down Hill.
| 2) It ain't all Water.
| And the second two things are like unto tit:
| 3) Don't bite your nails.
| 4) Payday is Thursday.
|

You clever fellow. I can see you don't need
the dubious benefit of a college education.


With Age, comes Wisdom.
Although far too often, Age Travels alone.

--
pyotr filipivich
Next month's Panel: Graft - Boon or blessing?
  #60  
Old July 1st 18, 06:15 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
Mayayana
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6,438
Default OT: Microsoft Rewards? (now OT: grammar!)

"pyotr filipivich" wrote

| The other thing to remember, "diversity" in UniSpeak means
| diversity of shape, color, gender, but conformity of thought.

Well put.

| (Which
| isn't quite true, many universities are ready to accept any school of
| thought from Left all the way through to the Ultra-left..)
|

I'm not so sure about that. I see a building
"neo-fascism" of the extreme left, for lack of
a better term. A moralistic dogma that seems to
be anti-intellect and demands obedience. Even
the moderate left is seen to betray them.

To believe that gender exists is perceived as
an act of aggression and suppression of freedom.
Believing that race exists may only be done as an
act of cultural self-expression by minorities. To
assert any category at all constitutes a limitation
to the cult of Self in its dizzy attempts to
optimize personal fulfillment and perform its highest
religious ritual: "self expression". To assert the
possibility of any existential limitation is to be either
an oppressor or a quitter, depending on what the
limitation is.
(Which gets a bit sticky. What defines this Self,
after all, other than it's rejection of definition?
Where is the core that's *not* merely reaction
against other? And what existential freedom can
any Self have, other than the freedom to relate
to reality? Freedom of speech is one thing. Freedom
from all limitations is a naive misunderstanding.)

I've recently been reading about "4th wave
feminism". One of its main creators, a young,
lesbian, English professor in Britain, says the basis
of this 4th wave is "incredulity that [views she
disagrees with] can still exist".

It makes fundamentalist Christians seem
tolerant, thoughtful and inclusive.

It's a statement at once naive, arrogant,
comical and chilling. My best guess is that this
intolerance is coming out of a culture of young
people who represent a unique blend of being
inexperienced, spirited and spoiled.

But maybe I'm just getting old. I come out of
the hippie generation, when teenagers took over
college faculty buildings. The older people then
must have wondered whether the end of the
world was coming. (The majority of Americans
in '68 thought the students massacred at Kent
State got what they deserved. Their protests
were regarded as a sort of cultural treason.)

I suppose that by comparison, Twitter-activism,
posting outrage that one has to tolerate the
existence of different ideas, next to one's post
about liking Cocoa Puffs and between 2 ads for
candy bars, could be seen as being kind of cute.



 




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