What made you go WTF today?

[Flixy]

That too but even if it wasn't it pales to the amount of money she spends anyway, so why be upset about this?

[Loki]

As I mentioned in the TV thread: this is the new outrage brigade. They get their "hits" by trying to out-outrage each other. In the 2000s, the way to get more influence was to say outrageous things; now it's to be offended by ever less outrageous things.

[Flixy]

http://english.cri.cn/12394/2015/06/03/4101s881551.htm

[Aimless]

Regardless of whether you're for or against these bathroom/shower laws, this is just blech:

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/02/po...aitlyn-jenner/

[littlelolligagged]

It is. Huckabee is the worst.

[Loki]

Some of the GOP presidential candidates are trying to out-asshole each other. Huckabee, for now you have the largest! Congrats.

[Aimless]

Sweden has to import rubbish from other countries (eg. Norway and Germany)

Apparently this has something to do with how extraordinarily good Swedes are at sorting their household waste to recycleables etc. I dunno, it smells fishy to me.

[Khendraja'aro]

The trash industry is a huge WTF on its own. For instance, we still have a separation of "Grüner Punkt" trash (which is supposed to be better recycleable) and "ordinary" trash, which are thus collected separately.

However, due to the rules being somewhat complicated and some Grüner Punkt trash being confusing (there are plastic cups with a paper hull - strictly speaking you have to separate the plastic from the paper before putting it into the recycling bag), they still have to sort the Grüner Punkt trash anyway.

Plus, there are machines who manage to do this sorting very fast and more reliably than any human can (for example, you need to sort by type of plastic). As a result, it doesn't really make sense to make a distinction.

And, as a further insult to the whole idea, most of the trash (that includes the grüner Punkt) will be burned anyway.

[Aimless]

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/christian-...10-ghl3o6.html

[Wraith]

http://www.12news.com/story/news/nat...ions/71101474/

[Flixy]

“I have never, ever in my 33 years in Congress ever supported, ever supported a trade agreement. And I'm not going to start now,” Reid said.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/7112704

Now I don't know enough about this deal to know whether it's good or bad. Proudly saying 'I never voted for a bad trade deal', I can understand that. But proudly saying you're against any trade deal ever?

[Loki]

And this guy was the main Democrat in the Senate for 8 years...The Democrats are doing their best to lose my vote in an election where most GOP candidates are insane.

[wiggin]

Although Flixy's article is old, it's true that Reid is quite partisan - sometimes just for the sake of being partisan. In this case, however, I think he just genuinely believe trade is bad for America. Fortunately, it looks like at least the Senate and the President disagree with him.

[Loki]

He was one of the most vocal opponents of NAFTA. He's clearly been paid for by the AFL/CIO.

The "Senate" doesn't disagree with him; the Republicans in the Senate do.

[Flixy]

Although Flixy's article is old, it's true that Reid is quite partisan - sometimes just for the sake of being partisan. In this case, however, I think he just genuinely believe trade is bad for America. Fortunately, it looks like at least the Senate and the President disagree with him.

Old? It's from April.

Anyway, being partisan for the sake of it is stupid. Not that he's the only offender in that department.

[Loki]

This isn't partisanship; it's stupidity. He opposed trade when Clinton was president.

[GGT]

WTF should we call today's prominent culture? The ME generation falls short (because even the X generation and Millennials fit that bill).

Maybe this is the era of the Image Culture? And since Image can be inspired by propaganda......WTF does our future hold?

[Aimless]

This has replaced Tony Abbott and Shinzo Abe as my candidate for today's WTF:

http://fox59.com/2015/05/15/woman-cl...-text-message/

[Khendraja'aro]

Particularly considering that the FAA guidelines the crew spoke of have been altered.

https://www.faa.gov/news/press_relea...9&newsId=15254

Smells like an upcoming lawsuit. Morons.

[Aimless]

http://www.theguardian.com/education...ck-grandfather

Well, that's one way to tackle austerity I guess

[Loki]

I find the British approach towards school absences to be baffling. I understand that you don't want children missing weeks of school. But is their education really harmed by a handful of absences? This seems like a way to punish poor people, who really can't afford to pay these fines.

[Khendraja'aro]

It's a bit easier at my school: If you miss classes too often you'll most likely earn bad grades. And if your attendance falls below the 70% threshold you won't get a grade at all (which usually counts as a failing grade).

[Aimless]

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/1...en-and-parents

[Loki]

It's a bit easier at my school: If you miss classes too often you'll most likely earn bad grades. And if your attendance falls below the 70% threshold you won't get a grade at all (which usually counts as a failing grade).

That's more or less the system I was under in New York. If you're absent, it's going to affect your grade. And if you're absent too much (something like 10 days), the school has the right to fail you (not that it would).

[Flixy]

Over here I think you can get a fine, but not necessarily. I think it's only really used for parents who take their children out of school to get a cheaper vacation or avoid traffic. I never had problems when my grandparents were in hospital, and I know people who have work where they cannot get a vacation during school vacations (i.e. in tourism) also got flexibility.

[Loki]

What's wrong with taking kids out of school for a few days to get a cheaper vacation? Like I said, this rule only hurts poor people who can't afford the more expensive vacations. Does anyone really believe that missing a few days of school is going to make a difference to someone's education?

Frankly, if one of my (college) students told me that they were going to miss a class because the alternative was paying much more for a vacation (and assuming they're otherwise present all the time), I'd mark them absent for that day but otherwise wouldn't hold it against them. Of all the reasons to be absent, this is one of the better ones.

[Ominous Gamer]

Locally, the teachers will send home make up work if they are given enough warning, but Brandy's friends in georgia tell horror stories of being dragged into court for to many sick or absent days.

[Khendraja'aro]

What's wrong with taking kids out of school for a few days to get a cheaper vacation? Like I said, this rule only hurts poor people who can't afford the more expensive vacations. Does anyone really believe that missing a few days of school is going to make a difference to someone's education?

Frankly, if one of my (college) students told me that they were going to miss a class because the alternative was paying much more for a vacation (and assuming they're otherwise present all the time), I'd mark them absent for that day but otherwise wouldn't hold it against them. Of all the reasons to be absent, this is one of the better ones.

I could agree to that if it were the end of the school year. At the beginning or the middle? Definitely not. It would wreak havoc on any attempt to organize a proper curriculum because there would always be someone missing. We're not talking about college level here, after all.

[Loki]

I could agree to that if it were the end of the school year. At the beginning or the middle? Definitely not. It would wreak havoc on any attempt to organize a proper curriculum because there would always be someone missing. We're not talking about college level here, after all.

Missing class in the first few weeks is bad. But any other time? There should be some redundancy built in anyway, especially for really important material.

[Khendraja'aro]

Missing class in the first few weeks is bad. But any other time? There should be some redundancy built in anyway, especially for really important material.

Look, Loki, it's not about the material, it's about tests and exams. Those are already a bitch to organize and this idea of yours wouldn't make it easier. You do realize that in school, exams and tests are all-year round and not merely at the end of semester?

And frankly, I don't really enjoy creating three or four versions of one exam just because someone wants to go traipsing all over the world during the school year.

Yes, they're paying less money. But they increase my workload, thus costing me money. So, with your notion I'm subsidizing those guys.

Plus, suddenly everyone gets this bright idea and then you're sitting there with half a class. Yes, they would be supposed to rehash that stuff. But let's get real: Doesn't work that way. Again, this is not college level we're talking about here.