25 Things About to Become Extinct

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

It's a poor workman who blames his tools. And that's all government is, a tool. So if there are problems with it the blame falls on us, the people that chose the government.

And the main reason civility is going out the door is because a large segment of the population no longer believes in civility. And, oddly enough, most often they are the ones who complain most frequently and loudly about the lack of civility in society.

Naah. A tool is an ATM or a vending machine; tools never boss you around.

 

[carsonshepherd]

Just a point.

Not everyone has a computer. Not everyone wants a computer.

Many old people, including my folks, don't have a computer, and at 89 and 90 wouldn't know what to do with one, they can barely understand how to use a DVD player.

The assumption now rife, that everyone has a computer, and if you want to 'contact us', then just go to our website. Want to apply for a job? Do it on line, we don't send out paper application forms any more? Have a question about your tax, your pension, your insurance.....send us an e-mail.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I want to be able to talk to a person.

Arrogant and exclusive. It pisses me off big time.

And if you are a current college student, as I am, you cannot function without a computer at home. Mine was broken the first couple weeks of school and it was crippling. Yeah they have ones you can use at school, but everything is online: all your scheduling, financial aid, class calendars, and notes. If you can't access those things at home, you can't even get a class schedule for the first day of class. Most notes are now done on PowerPoint and you must have them printed out before class. If your printer doesn't work, you can print your notes on campus for 10 cents per page.

You do your own registration online now instead of with an advisor. You do all student aid/student loan paperwork online. All instructors want you to email them instead of call or visit their office.

Soon, I feel that you will not be able to go to college if you don't have a laptop. (I don't, but I wish I did.) And if your student aid package barely covers your tuition, fees and living expenses, you're going to be left behind.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

And if you are a current college student, as I am, you cannot function without a computer at home. Mine was broken the first couple weeks of school and it was crippling. Yeah they have ones you can use at school, but everything is online: all your scheduling, financial aid, class calendars, and notes. If you can't access those things at home, you can't even get a class schedule for the first day of class. Most notes are now done on PowerPoint and you must have them printed out before class. If your printer doesn't work, you can print your notes on campus for 10 cents per page.

You do your own registration online now instead of with an advisor. You do all student aid/student loan paperwork online. All instructors want you to email them instead of call or visit their office.

Soon, I feel that you will not be able to go to college if you don't have a laptop. (I don't, but I wish I did.) And if your student aid package barely covers your tuition, fees and living expenses, you're going to be left behind.

What you report is why I predict the demise of brick & mortar schools. If everything is online anyway, why go to class? The economy will push government to cut costs, and perfessers are expensive, classrooms are expensive, parking is scarce.

 

[Weird Harold]

I agree. Although, upon recollection, wild horses are considered an exotic species in North America, and not native, thereby elimintaing themselves by default. I doubt the rest of the world's population is in the same danger, and thus not on the brink of extinction.

Actually, the 'original' wild horse all domesticated and feral horses are descended from is also in danger of extinction in Asia. That means it would be government neglect by about four different governments that was killing off the wild horses.

I haven't bothered to look up whether that particular documentary was a Nature episode or from one of the other doucumantary channels I favor, or look up the status of wild (feral) horses in South America (where they're also a 'foreign species') or other places where wild/feral horse can be found, but I'm pretty sure the decline in wild horse numbers isn't limited to just the western US.

 

[trysail]

25 Things About to Become Extinct

...
19. Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs
Maryland's icon, the blue crab, has been fading away in Chesapeake Bay. Last year Maryland saw the lowest harvest (22 million pounds) since 1945. Just four decades ago the bay produced 96 million pounds. The population is down 70% since 1990, when they first did a formal count. There are only about 120 million crabs in the bay and they think they need 200 million for a sustainable population. Over-fishing, pollution, invasive species and global warming get the blame....

This is entirely due to the rise of big government.

A hundred years ago, there weren't that many people living around the Bay. Even as late as 1960, Jack Kennedy ( the philandering saint ) was able to accurately describe Cancer on the Potomac ( a/k/a The District of Confusion ) as "A city of Northern charm and Southern efficiency." Since then, the population of that hellhole has exploded as millions immigrated in order to feed at the public trough. With them has come vast overbuilding, horrific urban sprawl, and the destruction of what was once a largely agrarian area.

Global warming?
WTF? That's almost the dumbest goddamn thing I ever heard. What idiot wrote that?


It's gotten this absurd:

Bad thing......Cause or Explanation (according to the media)
Hurricane......................Global Warming
Tornado........................Global Warming
Bad Day at Work.............Global Warming
Headache......................Global Warming
Dog dies........................Global Warming
Child fails 3rd Grade.........Global Warming
Auto Accident.................Global Warming
War...............................Global Warming
Snow.............................Global Warming
Rain...............................Global Warming
Flood.............................Global Warming
Tax Increase...................Global Warming

 

[JamesSD]

And if you are a current college student, as I am, you cannot function without a computer at home. Mine was broken the first couple weeks of school and it was crippling. Yeah they have ones you can use at school, but everything is online: all your scheduling, financial aid, class calendars, and notes. If you can't access those things at home, you can't even get a class schedule for the first day of class. Most notes are now done on PowerPoint and you must have them printed out before class. If your printer doesn't work, you can print your notes on campus for 10 cents per page.

You do your own registration online now instead of with an advisor. You do all student aid/student loan paperwork online. All instructors want you to email them instead of call or visit their office.

Soon, I feel that you will not be able to go to college if you don't have a laptop. (I don't, but I wish I did.) And if your student aid package barely covers your tuition, fees and living expenses, you're going to be left behind.

Although hardly free, the rise of small, cheap laptops has certainly increased computer access. You can get underpowered new laptops for <$400. If you're willing to go used, $100-200 isn't out of the question, although you may run into compatibility issues with some newer technology. As a science major I spent close to $400 on books per semester, so the price of a laptop these days seems kinda cheap.

The vast majority of 4-year colleges have computer labs available for students to use for free. They may get busy during midterms and finals, but college students need to be able to access e-mail if nothing else. I'm not sure what the situation is at technical schools and community colleges. There presumably are a lot less resources available.

Good riddance to pen and paper registration. When I was an undergrad registration sucked. I don't know how many times I filled out the card to register for a class, found that section was full, tried to reshuffle my schedule, etc and just had serious headaches. Online processing of registrations is a godsend compared to what I went through.