Oh, the places you'll go...

[silveradept]

Or something like that - a motley crew of links has been gathered for today.

Bork, bork, bork, engage! Sweeden's thinking about space as a project for the future. Why not? Zero-G chocolate moose or something?

Something for the college-bound or the out-of-college to consider: Five Weird Ways to Succeed at College - apparently, a high Catholic percentage, not smoking, not reading or being artistic, and not being an engineer helps your successes. Who knew that taking all the fun out of university was what made you succeed at it? (No wonder I feel like I don't have a social life.)

I feel for the child in this dispute, for his parents are going to court to decide whether he should be circumcised. He's eight years old, and this is definitely not a routine sort of discussion. I hope there are decisions made soon, though.

On a significantly stranger note, a child just one year junior manages to crawl inside a crane game machine and get himself stuck. That's impressive flexibility - considering I saw a much younger child climb up onto a shelf today at work, I believe it's possible. The library could use the Ferrari knitted out of wool as a play toy, though.

The spokesman for the Kansas Board of Education is stepping down, citing that he wants to be with his family. But also noting quite rightly that the politics have been vicious. In the same article, Kansas has also decided to provide "abstinence until marriage" programs alongside more standard programs. I wonder which one will be emphasised?

2500 dead and against a war that may never really end. The count is only going to get higher, I'm sure.

After that morbid bit, here's some toilet humor: The pee-ometer, which tells you whether you're drinking enough water. I'm not sure I want to get such a test. And even more so, how one would use it, especially in some public place...

Why having super powers sucks - for all the benefits they may accrue, you notice most superpowered people end up as loners or with other superpower people.

Although, ending on a high note (Gonzo plays high G right here), the President is designating a significant part of Hawai'i to be a marine preserve. So, delibereately, or by accident, there are some good things being done.

Comments

[greyweirdo.livejournal.com]

I see a problem with the college thing. Reading those hints it seems like another list to help you game the system. I might be cranky at the moment, but that whole list looks like a way to get out without actually doing much beyond learning for the test, which is what has destroyed primary education up to now. I have no doubt this will get people a degree, a completely useless one that will leave them on the bread line because despite what we were told as kids a college degree doesn't instantly mean you get a job. Following these tips might mean you succeed at school, but you'd fail at life.

See? I said I was feeling cranky.

[annaonthemoon.livejournal.com]

I agree. If all you do is study out of books, you're not getting a very well-rounded education.

[2dlife.livejournal.com]

You do realize that that article was basically poking fun at the referenced paper which was a *statistical analysis*. There is a statistical correlation between going to a Catholic school and graduating on time, as there is an inverse one between being an engineer and graduating on time (makes sense, most engineering degrees have twice or more the required number of units). This has nothing to do with more complex behavioral patterns like "studying for the test" or stuff like that. People who are creative probably don't work as well under the strict guidelines of "needing to graduate". People who procrastinate a lot probably correlate with people who read a lot for pleasure. I bet, however, that there is no causation. That is, if you don't read for pleasure a lot but procrastinate just as much in other ways, you're probably not going to graduate on time.

[greyweirdo.livejournal.com]

I gathered that, but I was tired and cranky.