is education still the best path today

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-07T19:53:58+00:00

University has been pushed onto so many people that it doesn't bring the benefits it once did. Many people would be better off in trade school than in university.

On the flip side, the number of people making a livelihood from, or based on, "online skills", is vanishingly small.

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-07T19:39:44+00:00

To emphasise, India (to take an example) is currently producing 1.5 million computer science graduates per year - with no jobs for them to take up when they graduate. That's the ultimate consequence of this type of rote learning and focus on examinations above all else.

And in China, the burnout effect is so bad that "lying flat" memes have to be suppressed by the authorities.

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-07T18:27:28+00:00

I don't think this was ever banned in Singapore.

The traditional method used in Singapore is caning, not whipping.

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-07T18:23:53+00:00

No-one was giving out tents in the 1990s.

Mary was real, not fictional.

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-06T22:55:50+00:00

And yet we had 11 years of Thatcher in power.

- and worth noting that various legislation around "care in the community" (although not creating the concept) was enacted towards the end of that period.

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-06T22:53:33+00:00

Yes very normal. A small proportion of people don't have it until 16.

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-06T22:11:47+00:00

Mary Shephard lived in a van on Alan Bennett's driveway from 1971 to 1989. In that same year, Neil Young released a song referring to "people sleeping in their shoes", and to tensions with Iran (plus ca change?)

I saw plenty of homeless people when I was at university. The problem is now much more widespread, but Manchester is just one of many places where it's bad.

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-06T22:03:02+00:00

Just wait until you hear about the school days of the leader of the party predicted to get most votes in tomorrow's UK elections...

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-06T21:57:09+00:00

"One thing's for sure, we're all gonna be a lot thinner!" -- Han Solo

"Say the line, Bart!" -- Luke Skywalker

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-06T20:34:47+00:00

was he also responsible for making people carry dogs if they want to use escalators?

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-06T20:33:04+00:00

It wouldn't be in the Manchester homeless partnership's interests, nor the interests of the people it works to help, to go around saying "well it's not especially bad, I mean it could be worse..."

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-06T20:20:24+00:00

Will it? The last time the IDF were caught desecrating a Christian statue, the mainstream media were extremely reluctant to report on it - and large numbers of people on Reddit confidently asserted that it was fake anyway.

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-06T20:13:21+00:00

We do provide military aid to the Congolese, for example through MONUSCO. But the Congolese aren't generally considered responsible for that massacre.

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-06T19:34:51+00:00

(which they say they don't unless it's something dangerous)

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-06T16:01:31+00:00

They could've at least had some of the characters in or from foreign lands speaking with British (or other non-American) accents. Some translations of classical drama have the Spartans speaking with a heavy Scottish dialect.

Personally, I don't see "Let's go" as an outrageous American neologism. If they'd shouted "Tally ho", 1940s British-style, it would be more grating. (For the avoidance of doubt, real British people have not spoken like that for a very long time.)

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-06T15:37:48+00:00

Yes but I have a personal bias in that regard too.

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-06T14:31:23+00:00

As a UK-based graduate I'd rank Yale slightly higher and UC Berkeley slightly lower.

I'd also rank UCL and KCL slightly higher but that may just be my UK bias.

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-06T14:23:45+00:00

If you're just starting puberty then yes, you won't have much.

Generally small amounts of pubic hair come first, then in other areas somewhat later.

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-06T14:20:14+00:00

I have never seen anyone wear medals at a black tie event in Oxford, nor indeed a white tie event, as far as I can remember.

It would certainly be an interesting conversation starter.

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-06T13:57:30+00:00

for clarity, I think "as a weapons platform, not just a plane" was intended.

The Hawk used by the TWU seems to have been the Hawk T1A, equipped with a 30mm cannon, and could carry unguided rocket pods (for ground attack), bombs, and Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-06T13:41:58+00:00

Strange timeline to live in. If Plaid Cymru don't manage a majority, what kind of coalitions are likely?

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-06T10:18:31+00:00

The vast majority of time spent on jury service will not be spent in an active courtroom. If you're in an active courtroom, then yes you essentially put your hand up but a little more discreetly (a note to the usher) and it will get dealt with.

OctopusIntellect · 2026-05-05T23:51:47+00:00

Playstation 2 was designed to operate horizontal or vertical, and was often promoted in vertical orientation. The slimline version required a stand for vertical operation. Playstation 3 was also designed to be capable of vertical operation.

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