Last December joke...

Who's a penguins favorite relative?

                         Aunt Arctica.

Remember, Remember this day in March and January

Hello, friends,

Just a small reminder to those who Care about things. 

Go to: GoVoteColorado.com to check your registration and, if necessary, to register as a Democrat to help Bernie win the nomination. It'd be great if someone honest actually got somewhere in politics again.

It's really quick and simple. Utterly painless, I promise. I changed from Green for the occasion and I haven't gotten any junk mail for it.

I'll see some of you at the Caucus on March 1!

Edward M. Richardson

primary email: Edward.Morrison@WesternAlum.Org

phone: 720-480-6197

You must Be the change for change to happen

Humble Suggestion for Canonical

I'm not a technologist, really, and I'm not a programmer. But I have noticed since I use Ubuntu that there's a little disharmony among the community. The thing I like about Linux is the general community atmosphere. I fail to understand why there are battles between Unity and Gnome and KDE, Debian distributions and RPM, even Vi and Emacs. We have our preferences, sure, but lets all get along, yah?

It seems from my vantage point that Ubuntu has been having difficulty playing along with others. I think there's a certain arrogance by being the more widely-used distribution, which will probably be leading to a drop in usage... I see that Canonical wants their own display stack, but as a technologist, I don't understand why Wayland can't work for their purposes. It is more community supported, so my tendency is to believe there is a good reason.

To be fair, our market-worshipers should enjoy linux and this competition. Linux is a healthy and varied ecosystem of choices and options. There is more market among this tiny sliver of the computer users. Perhaps we'll see down the road that there was a good reason for this fight...

But I think cooperation is the more effective part of any ecosystem.

On Argument

I don't believe in facts. Throughout my schooling, English teachers, even science professors, frequently got annoyed with my insistence to write "I think", or "I believe", or "Apparently" in my arguments. According to them, this is implied. Unless otherwise stated, the text is always reflecting what I think: it's my text. It makes the writing weaker. The argument less persuasive.

Somehow, I have never been able to shake the feeling that there is a big difference between writing, "People are Stupid" and "I believe people are stupid". It the eyes or the reader, at least the latter comes with the admission that I might be wrong. I might be. People aren't stupid, they are very smart... this just lends itself to surprisingly dumb decisions and actions. I can say, "people are smart", without feeling like I need the I think in the beginning. Perhaps because I don't think people are smart, I know people are smart. I know with 99.9% confidence that compared to the other species on this planet, in our known universe, and by our own style of measurement, we are technically very intelligent. That's indisputable. Essentially. This doesn't change the fact that I, personally, also believe people to be magnificently stupid.

But that's just my theory. As such, I like to clarify that and qualify it. You, dear reader, are free to disagree with me and believe whatever you'd like. You might be more or less wrong than I am. I can't be sure. By implying the potential fallacy in an argument and being humble I feel more honest, which is more important to me than being persuasive. I wish this was true for most people. The world would be a little bit better place with more honesty.

It helps keep an argument or conversation alive. If I waltz into a disagreement by asserting my own theories as factual, it tends to encourage others to walk away from the dance. This doesn't mean I've 'won' any arguments; it only means I've lost my dance partner and I can no longer learn anything. It leaves the conversation open for a listening phase, which is a rather highly-rated thought under-utilized part of every discussion.

Often, the smartest people fall victim to this problem too often. Perhaps it is their own confidence in their own reasoning which couples easily with a low confidence in everyone else's reasoning. It's hard to remember all the time that we all believe in something that isn't true.

Christmas Joke:

How does Good King Wenceslas like his pizzas?

                        Deep pan. Crisp. And even.

Natatorium (n)

Lost English lexicon. This is a swimming pool. The Nata- words have to do with swimming, which we would all still know if we still studied Latin. Natant, Supernatant, Natation, Natatorial... of these supposedly English words, the only one I recognized was "Supernatant": floating.

More interesting, this word has very old ties to "nurture" and its relatives, "nutrient", "nutrition", etc.

http://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news/newsid=42090.php

Edward M. Richardson

Colorado Youth Corps Association / Bureau of Land Management

primary email: Edward.Morrison@WesternAlum.Org

phone: 720-480-6197

Fax: 303-239-3933

BLM Colorado State Office
2850 Youngfield Street
Lakewood, Colorado 80215

LinkedIN: EdwardRMorrison

Google: +EdwardRichardsonMorrison

You must Be the change for change to happen

A December Joke

Which of Santa's reindeer do the dinosaurs really not like?

                     Comet.

Uncanny Valley (n)

Dolls and robots who look almost human are also a little scary. The whole reason that 'Chucky' is a horror movie. It is a rather interesting phenomenon.

...Almost like we are pre-programmed to fear the robot generation we're busily creating.

Overgorge (v)

Oxford's most appropriate possible word of the day.

If you don't know what this word means, you have never properly celebrated the American holiday  known as Thanksgiving.

....Probably to your better health...

a Ski Joke for the start of winter

A skier comes into a bar at lunch. He asks for a beer. The bartender says, "that'll be a nickel." The skier is astounded. "A nickel? That's so cheap!" The bartender replies, "it's always a nickel here." The skier is elated and declares, "sick! Bring me a pitcher!" As he drinks, he notices some men at the bar drinking nothing. He asks the bartender, "why are those men not enjoying the cheap beer?" The bartender replied, "they are ski patrollers. They are waiting for happy hour."

Forgotten Joke of November

Do you know how to buy four suits for only a dollar?

                    Just buy a deck of cards.

Sinecure (n)

"Sine-a-cure". A "job" that isn't work, but still pays. Popular with nepotism.

...I wonder. How much sinecure is really out there?

Might be a lot; might be very little. It certainly isn't close to me.

Belated November Joke

How does the Man in the Moon cut his hair?

                Eclipse it!

Pease (v)

To make peace.

To reconcile.

As in, "It must be a collaborative effort to pease the Middle East. It was a lot of work to pease Europe after their last wars, too."

Slapstick (n)

A thing made of wood: two flat clackers hinged on one side. Like a party favor. In an old comedy, or one with a shallow sense of humor, they can be used to mimic the sound of people being hit with stuff.

Which gave rise to a whole genre of lazy comedy. 

Joke for the rest of October

What is a broken pencil?

                      Pointless.

Nocebo (n)

Like the placebo effect, but the negative side. Just as someone can believe that drugs will help them and thus get well on that belief alone -- even if the drug was a sugar pill -- others can believe they will get side effects from a drug and thus get unwell on that belief alone.

It comes with an interesting quandary: The more educated a patient is about possible side effects of a drug, the more side effects they will get from that drug.

But it would be wrong not to tell them about the risks before taking the drug...

I haven't really thought about it, but its obvious that the nocebo effect would happen. If the placebo effect exists, so does its corollary.

This word is derived from "Nocent", meaning "harmful", from the Latin verb to harm.

New Joke for October: One of my personal favorites:

How did the Scarecrow win a Nobel Prize?

                 He was outstanding in his field.

Mirkning (n)

The opposite of morning. This is the time just after twilight when it really becomes dim. 

It's a very illustrative, descriptive word that is not used nearly as often as it ought to be. 

The word is in its mirkning years.

"Precariat" (n)

A social class with such a precarious mode of living that they are forced (basically) to sell their own security for today's bread. The precarious don't know when they'll get work next, how long they will work, and thus how much money they make. Which, in turn, makes it more difficult to fill out an application for a better, more stable job.

The precariat suffer from the psychological warfare of those more fortunate, and have a hard time maintaining such basic things as self-esteem or the ability to make wise decisions.

A social class that shouldn't exist.

A social class that is the result of greed giving in to.

Hapax Legomenon (n)

A word that only appears once. If you are talking about a language in general (Horgal means salty jam. No one will ever use that word again), an entire genre or an author's entire body of work, a single book, or whatever.

For example, the word 'duck' is one of many hapax legomenon within this definition.

'An', 'entire', and 'word' are not hapax legomenon within this definition.

And now, neither are the words 'hapax', 'legomenon', 'within', 'this', and 'definition'.

Joke for the first weekend of October

What does a blanket say when it falls off the bed?

                 Oh sheet.

(because it's probably that sheet's fault.)

For your notebook

NANCY:

I need more editing for CYCA. - menues, banners, tags

Privacy policy - cookies

Edward M. Richardson

Colorado Youth Corps Association / Bureau of Land Management

primary email: Edward.Morrison@WesternAlum.Org

phone: 720-480-6197

Fax: 303-239-3933

BLM Colorado State Office
2850 Youngfield Street
Lakewood, Colorado 80215

LinkedIN: EdwardRMorrison

Google: +EdwardRichardsonMorrison

You must Be the change for change to happen

Joke for the 28th

Do you know what Mozart and Beethoven are doing today?

                     Decomposing.

Joke! September 24, 2015

Why would Snoop Dogg carry an umbrella?

                          Fo' Drizzle!

Diktat (n)

A way to end one war that usually leads to more war.

So it's not really an end at all.

Live Right, Vote Right, Buy Right

It is increasingly obvious to almost everyone that our world is running a fever. China and India are worried (which is a really good thing, seeing how large, disrupting, and culpable they are), South America is worried, Africa is worried... Democrats are worried. In short, those who are suffering the effects the most are worried. Which makes sense. It's the same reason the middle east is worried about ISIS and Iran. (PEW Research)

Sadly, though, much of the "developed world" -- Japan, US, Europe -- the primary drivers of the problem, are not so worried. They don't see what their children see: the devastating effects of our anthropocentric (anthropocentric?) extremism.

The knowledge is out there, though. It might not be as clear as a nuclear bomb, but it's not opaque, either. Scientists and rational thinkers everywhere (as well as a host of irrational thinkers, but don't let them distract you) warn us of the cataclysmic possibilities. While they are undoubtedly wrong in their predictions, because no one can see the future, it is anyone's guess how they will be wrong. Because you can't predict the future either.

There is a problem, though. We might have been able to wait and hope for the best as the older generations slowly die out, leaving us with a world that cares more about our dwindling environment. Except those older generations actually do more. Millennials like me are almost worthless as human beings.

I'm sorry. That sounds mean. But it is hard to escape the fact that millennials, the people we must rely on to solve this problem, are probably the worst people around to solve this problem. Millennials want things done for them. They want governmental solutions. They want corporations to exhibit stellar behavior, because they don't want to have to do anything. We want our cake to hang on the wall, but we can't avoid eating it, either. How many of my peers actually modify their shopping for green/organic choices? How many of us recycle consistently? How many of us conserve water and energy? Buy used?

Not too many.

How many get a new super-phone every year or so?

A whole lot.

"Let's solve this so that we don't have to change our behavior." this is the attitude Lee Ann Head sees in Millennials, and I see the same thing. But being green, trying to preserve the ecosystem, saving the world from humans, will require a little behavior change. It's being spoiled brats that got us into this mess, it is not being a more spoiled brat that will get us out.

We must Be the change we want in the world. Like this guy: Mike Beitiks (By the way, vote for this guy).

Really, sometimes complicated problems have a philosophically simple solution:

Live right, vote right, buy right.

Ahimsa (n)

The protocol for Dr. King, Gandhi, Jesus, vegans, Jain, monks, and other wise people the world over. Ahimsa means "Not to Injure", "Compassion", "Cause no injury". Ahimsa is the doctrine of non-violence out of respect for life.

It's root is in Saskrit: Hiṃs means "to strike"; hiṃsā is "injury or harm". A-hiṃsā, then, is the opposite of this. It is a cardinal virtue in Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism (says Wikipedia).

Everyone builds their outlook upon certain core understandings we just believe to be true, and can then build our rationality upon them. But at the base is an emotional belief of that precept. Personally, ahimsa is also one of my core understandings. Especially considering it as "inspired by the premise that all living beings have the spark of the divine spiritual energy", it may very well be the first (unprovable) assumption in my mind (with great agnostic flexibility as to what 'divine spiritual energy' really means).

Ahimsa is like the pro-life movement. However, it is It is impossible to follow ahimsa with every one of your actions, words, and thoughts, and remain living yourself; yet that is a great noble goal. If it is used as a basic outlook on life, well then, you might become a saint.

An Open Suggestion for a New Calling Paradigm

The Paradigm

Phone numbers are a very old system, and should be applauded for lasting as long as they have. They are wonderful things, because they are not tied down and strangled by one corporate personality. Whoever supplies your phone, they all use the same system. Like email. Email is also very open and cool. But there is a little problem: with the modern existence of video calls, text messaging, and other fancy things old phones didn't have to deal with. But we can't replace old phone numbers with a bunch of new emails because we can't call an email from a phone.

We are no in danger, really, of running out of phone numbers. Every once in a while, we add a digit to how long they can be, but perhaps we could just completely re-think the box.

I suggest a new paradigm. One that can (theoretically) coexist with the current paradigm. To facilitate this, new phone numbers can still be numbers. Something a traditional phone could call, even if it is only supplying one type of information (voice) from the myriad of possibilities (video, text, data, et cetera).

To begin, we need some kind of tag, that isn't taken. The current phone system does this by having protocols as to what numbers are allowed where in the code. But they rarely use the * or # keys....

So to begin, just dial:

*0#

Straight across the bottom. Left to right. Exquisitely easy to remember.

Now we can re-create the numbering system from the ground up.

Location is not as important as it once was, but it could still be incorporated. If for no other reason than that it will make migration easier. New numbers can use as many or as few divisions as you would like as long as every number ends with the same last digit.

We could use #.

There's endless possibilities. I'll only explore one:

So, let's say you live in America, and you want that reflected in the new paradigm; your city is Raleigh North Carolina, you're service provide is Republic Wireless; and you have a family plan (Republic Wireless does not have family plans. This is just an example). You could have your new-paradigm number reflect that and the number could be whatever you want.

*0# (to begin)
1* (America's country code)
919* (An Area Code in Raleigh, where Republic Wireless is based.)
737* ("REP" on an old phone, made up code for this provider)
363* (Group or Family Plan number 363 -- spelling "Doe" in this case)
5646 (5646 spells "John" on your phone)
# (Call!)

So, the whole number would be:
*0#1*919*737*363*5646#

Translated to English, that would be: New-Paradigm # America * Raleigh * Republic Wireless * Doe Family * John. Call! The # tells the system the number is ready to be called.

But, if you are calling within your family plan, you can simply dial:
*0#5646# (or: Call John)

It would know the rest, because that is where you were calling from.

Or, within Republic Wireless:
*0#363*5646#0 (Call John Doe - or with the logic of the system: Phone! Doe, John! Call Him!)

Or, outside the Republic Wireless supplier:
*0#737*363*5646# (Call John Doe, with Republic Wireless)

Users would not need to list their whole complicated number, ever. Even a number associated with places and companies like *0#1*919*737*363*5646# could be represented simply: REP*363*5646. Which, in this case, is no longer than an ordinary normal number.

But it could actually be easier: REP*32*64. Even long numbers could look simple, such as 1233*4566*789 988 765 count up, count down. Or 3636 * 36 36 36 * 3636

Immediate Advantage

Because there is a designated (and easily understood) separator and call command, no matter the phone you are using, the number could be anything. You could have a really simple number like:
*0#1*2*3*4*5#

Or something really specific:
*0#1*303*737*66774766*339273# (Call America*Denver*REP*Morrison*Edward)

With modern fancy phones, remembering and calling either number is actually rather simple, because you could just type in the words.

Video-Calling Services

The current Video-Call provider peoples could have their own things as well:

Face Time could create their own thing:
*0#1*408*32238463**#

Which, translated, is: New-Paradigm # America * The Area Code in Cupertino CA, where Apple lives * "FaceTime" * (blank) * (blank)

Since that's long, they could also just do:
*0#1*408*38**# (New-Paradigm # America * Cupertino * "FT" * (blank) * (blank))

Or, it could be even simpler. There's no reason we need so many categories. We don't need the country code anymore, really, right? We know it's America, so Skype could be:
*0#650*75973**# (New-Paradigm # Palo Alto, CA * "Skype" * (blank) * (blank))

Or, even simpler, switch the service provider and the city location:
*0#84237***# (New-Paradigm # "Viber" * (blank) * (blank) * (blank)

It would be easy to discard some of these designations. Email gets along with only two: your corporate allegiance before the dot, and if that is actually a company or an organization or the government (or whatever - nowadays, you can have almost anything after the dot).

So, discarding the fluff, if our friend John had a number with the Google Monopoly, he could be reached at:
*0#42646887*363*5646*# (New-Paradigm # "Hangouts" * Doe Family * John * (blank) # Call!)

Or, if you are calling from within the Google, simply:
*0#363*5646*# (New-Paradigm # Doe Family * John) 

Or, within the Doe family:
*0#5646*# (or: Call John)

Because there is a designated call button, the remainders can always be assumed. The computer will know what to fill in the other sections: your own data.

Migrating to the New Paradigm

Realistically, there is no need to put your location. That's not an important part of phone numbers any more. We are now measured more by our patriotism to corporations. These corporations, sadly, don't like immigration or even travel between their boarders. Our new phones can do amazing things, but they are locked within borders as arbitrary as those between Colorado and Kansas. The old paradigm is not so closed. Back when, people living in Connecticut could call people in New York. Area-code be damned, you can just add it on there.

Today, however, Face Time cannot call Skype. Skype cannot call Hangouts. Hangouts cannot call any one of the other minor players. One of the reasons video calling has a hard time taking off, I believe, is that you can't just call anyone. You must to be part of the same clique.

The primary reason I suggest this idea is the change that. If there was an open system, then different groups can buy in. You could even call old phones, they just wouldn't get the video feed. You could call anyone. My current number would be what it is now: 7204806197, no tags, no separators. But, this could eventually be migrated to be one of many possibilities:

• *0#1*720*480*6197# (which is missing a middle section: the supplier. So it would either be some random combobulation like: New-Paradigm # (blank, and assumed to be part of the old paradigm because the next number is 1) * Ol' America * The guys who picked up the 720 property * my arbitrary group from antiquity * me)
• *0#1*1*720*480*6197# (New-Paradigm # America * America, again * The guys who picked up the 720 property * my arbitrary group from antiquity * me)
• *0#1*720*x*480*6197# (New-Paradigm # America * Arvada * Whatever company I signed up with * my arbitrary group from antiquity * me)

Being outside the old paradigm, but compatible, means that it could grow as quickly as groups bought into it.

If we adopted this, then as the old paradigm was replaced, the start tag would become obsolete. The 5 categories can grow organically because they can be any length - separated by *

Thus, we'd never, ever, run out of numbers. Even if we colonized Mars and Alpha Centauri.

Remote Advantage

Say you wanted to call a directory, just dial the spaces:

Looking for a number in the country?
*0#1****#

Or, within Raleigh?
*0#919***#

Or within Republic Wireless?
*0#737**#

Or within the Doe family?
*0#363*#

I don't know how anyone would run all of these directories, and most people would never do this. But companies might (and certain technophiles and advanced users). They have directories already and workers with extensions. This would be a built-in feature of the new numbering system. So, if you know the extension of your party, you would not have to wait for the system to answer first and then tell you "if you know the number of your party's extension, you may dial it at any time". You could just save their number directly. But the companies number might be the only thing that is published, and would deliver you to the automated system.

So if they Doe family had a little business, they could just publish their number as such:
919*737*363*#

Fluid Arrangement

If you've read this idea, you may have noticed that I've fudged things around a bit.

In someways, it doesn't make sense to have the country code first, then an area code, then a company code. There is no reason they must exist in any particular order. Five categories makes for a rather scale-able and fluid system, but none of the codes must be static.

Our friend John might be with Republic Wireless for general cell services, and Hangouts for their little proprietary video-call service, and have a land-line with AT&T, It might be possible to re-arrange the categories to make that more simple:

*0# (to begin, eventually to be replaced and obsolete)
1* (America's country code)
737* ("REP" on an old phone)
363* ("Doe" Family Plan)
5646* ("John")
1 (John's primary phone)
# (Call!)

There is no necessary reason for Hangouts to need their own calling card in there, perhaps he picks up the number:

*0# (to begin)
1* (America)
737* ("REP")
363* ("Doe")
5646* ("John")
2 (John's Hangout phone)
# (Call!)

So you could potentially have multiple numbers, that are all analogous: REP*363*5646*1  and  REP*363*5646*2  and  REP*363*5646*3

A company could make their own code at the top spot:

*0# (to begin)
737* (Republic Wireless)
1* (American customers)
363* (Doe Family)
5646* (John)
* (blank, don't need it)
# (Call!)

Perhaps international calls would be easier.

There is a lot of flexibility within the idea, that perhaps would provide better service by being nailed down a bit more. This is just a suggestion. perhaps it would make more sense to only have 4 or even 3 sections rather than 5.

Besides, we can always add more sections if 3 isn't enough.

Is Adoption Possible?

Most people will probably say no, forgetting that once upon a time, there was no phone system at all and it grew up to become ubiquitous. Of course it is possible, but it would need some kind of leader and a bunch of advocates.

At first, I would assume, it would actually be easier for the little apps to figure this out and be able to dial each other. Play nice together and realize the value of cooperation and collaboration. Every small provider like Viber, Imo, Glide, etc, whoever could adopt it and all of a sudden be a more useful program than even the dominant Skype. Maybe Google'd get on board.... Maybe they'd get on board early to be able to compete with Skype because they can't right now. then Skype would have to adopt to keep up. Then some city in Washington or California, or other technological city, then a few dozen 3rd world countries which don't have so much to move and change, so on and so forth... Apple would probably hold out until Armageddon, or at least until NANP (the North America Numbering Plan) adopted, but they aren't that necessary. Leave them in the dust. Once some major countries started buying in, then we would have video-calling capability everywhere and actually simpler phone numbers than now. For some people. Most people, even in poor countries, somehow have the devices that can do it. In places of business, tele-meetings are suddenly easy.

Then there would be absolutely no reason to go out and talk to your neighbor in real life!

....Hm... Maybe we shouldn't create a new paradigm...

Let's all stay locked in the corporate clique boxes, ok?

Quercine (adj)

For foresters, ecologists, and carpenters: oak.

Joke for the 15th (Sept)

Why'd the officer smell bad?

                     He was on duty.

A suggestion on additional pronouns

1st Person singular - 1st Person plural

I - We

Me - Us

My - Our

Mine - Ours

Myself - Ourselves

2nd Person singular - 2nd Person plural

You, Thou, Ye - Y'all, Youse

You, Thy, Ye(?) - Y'all, Youse

Your, Thine (?) - Your'n (?)

Yours - Your'n (?)

Yourself, Thyself - Yourselves

3rd Person feminine singular - 3rd Person feminine plural (Woman - Women)

She - They

Her - Them

Her - Their

Hers - Theirs

Herself - Themselves

3rd Person masculine singular - 3rd Person masculine plural (Man - Men (or, perhaps, "Vaman" - "Vamen"))

He - They

Him - Them

His - Their

His - Theirs

Himself / Hisself - Themselves

3rd Person neutral singular - 3rd Person neutral plural ("Neman" - "Nemen")

Ne, Nit - They

Hin, Nit - Them

Hir, Nits - Their

Hirs, Nits - Theirs

Hinself, Nitself - Themselves

3rd Person objective singular - 3rd Person objective plural (for things)

Thing - Things

It, That - They

It, That - Them

Its, Thats - Their

Its, Thats - Theirs

Itself - Themselves

Usage Examples:

Where is she/he/ne

What to do with her/him/hin

Where is her/his/hir toy

Is this hers/his/hirs

Perissology (n)

The bane and curse against writers of all kinds. The habit of 'purple prose'. Perissology really has little place among good writers, except in examples of satire. Don't use perissology in business writing, official correspondence, correspondence of any kind, the writing of grants, the writing of emails; never use it on Twitter (they won't allow it); don't use if if you're writing fiction, or non fiction. If you write an essay with Perissology, people will stop reading before you get to the point. If you use it in a story, you'll put your readers to sleep. If you use it in scientific writing, no one will be able to understand what your saying.

But one time it is, sort of (but not quite) alright; though I would not encourage it, it can be done; acceptable to use a little preissology, is in a definition of perissology.

Though I think I've gone a little bit over-board.

Perissology is using too many words to say what you could have said in just a few.

A synonym for redundancy.

Joke for the 9th of the 9th

Why can't you hear a  pterodactyl in the bathroom?

                           It's pee is silent.

Haver (v)

foolish, pointless, inconsequential talk. The verb for small talk. Best known as in:

And if I haver, hey, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's havering to you

But I would walk five hundred miles
And I would walk five hundred more
Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles
To fall down at your door

--The Proclaimers

Contradictions

"I've been told you are paying too much attention to recycling."

Ah. So that is what this meeting is about. Again. I deflate a little, into a familiar idling depression.

"I know it's hard to see students throw away so much food. And make so much trash." she talks sweet as treacle. "It's hard for me too. But you know what?"

Well, yes I do. But go on, and tell me anyway.

"I just have to look the other way."

There it is again. I've been told this at least ten times since I started working for Jefferson County Public Schools. This is what I am supposed to do with important issues. This is what I am supposed to do when I see something wrong. Not help. Not do the right thing. Not set an example of good behavior. Look the other way. If this were India, they would be asking me to look the other way when women were raped and set aflame.

This is the attitude we have running though our world. Willful ignorance. Keep your head in the sand and just keep walking.

"I know," she continues in her honey voice, "that it is a passion of yours. So what can we do to make this better? I know once we had a teacher who took fruit scraps to an animal."

"That would be great!" I said. "I also heard recently that we can save unopened food containers and re-distribute them."

"Oh No. We can't do that."

"...are you sure? It seems so... easy."

"I know we Can't do that."

Silly me, I assumed it was some misguided fear for the sanitation of the world. That sharing sealed food might get children poisoned. So it would be hard to budge anyone on the issue. Sanitation is never, it seems, good enough.

Sadly, it isn't. Schools aren't allowed to teach children to share because the district never learned that lesson: They are afraid of being robbed. That's why they can't share unopened food: someone might be getting something they didn't pay for.

The really sad thing is every school is plastered with the opposite message: "Do what's right, even when you're the only one" type posters.

Feeding one message, and showing another.

That's more than a little confusing.

First joke for September

Where does a sheep get its hair cut?

                                 At a baaaa-baaa shop.

Last Joke for August

What does a nosey pepper do? 

                 They get jalapeno business!

Georgium Sidus (n)

Truly gibberish.

This is Uranus.

No one in the world calls Uranus "Georgium Sidus".

Great Joke for August 28th

I actually like this joke:

What did the Zen Buddist say to the hotdog vendor? 

                    Make me one with everything.

Joke for the 27th

What does a fish say when it swims into a wall?

             Dam.

sycophant (n)

A specific type of psycho.

Most of us are a little psychophantic. It's a kind of parasitic disease.

fatidic (adj)

Of or relating to prophecy. The essential element in generic fantasy. That which makes life boring.

Realpolitik (n)

The reasoning people use for their horrible votes. Because none of us have any hope, we continually think there is nothing that can be done. So we don't do anything, because we feel that it is practical.

But nothing could be further from the truth.

Realpolitik should be based on your actual morals and ideals, not a cop-out for what is "practical". Because it isn't actually practical to vote for someone you don't agree with or believe in.

Quote for August 24th

If you look death in the eyes and you don't laugh, you're kind of missing the point of life. If you do nothing, you're also missing the point of life.

-Mikelis Beitiks

Demagogue (n)

This is the kind of leader our political system selects. it does not tend toward capability, it tends toward those who are good orators. Those who can gain power and popularity by arousing emotions, passions, and prejudices. It's kind of a side-effect of how we run our elections. 

So we have a demagogic, patrician democracy.

But it is a democracy none-the-less. For the moment. With the latent power, somewhere in there, to change this.

I for one, think it ought to be changed.

Looky-loo (n)

Me, when I'm in a store.

August 21 Joke

Knock Knock....

 Who's there?

Smell Mop.

  Smell Mop Who?

(Witty Rejoiner of your choice, none of them look funny written in text that I know of.)

Purlieu (n)

The land around a forest. The fringe. It once was included as part of a forest and subject to forest rules and regulations (at the time, mostly concerning hunting). This is wise: for we can show that the boarders of an environment are important for the health of that environment. Due to what we now call "edge effects", habitat fragmentation, et cetera. Certain plants and animals proliferate along the thin, unique ecosystems that is the boundary between two distinct ecosystems. Those who cannot thrive committed to one or the other.

In this day of dwindling habitats, "Purlieu" is a word that could have great use. More study could be done on the purlieus of the world.

For August 17:

I never make mistakes…     I thought I did once, but I was wrong.

Adiaphoron (n, adj)

There are so many things that are adiaphoron, and it is a wonderful word for thinking about religion. Many times, some sect or church or pastor will make a really big deal about something that is adiaphoron. Like wearing clothes of mixed fibres, or letting women wear pants, or vilifying homosexuality. All of these things are adiaphoron.

This might be one of my new favoritest words.

There are so many things one could consider Adiaphoron, or non-essential parts of a religion, or "of morally neutral nature."

What do you think is Adiaphoron? (Bonus if it's something people shouldn't obsess over as if its not adiaphoron.)

Joke for the 14th of August

How do you make a tissue dance?

                            Just put a lil' boogie in it.

Joke for the 13th of August

When a horse walks into a bar (let's say Bojack), the tender just can't help but say, "Hey.... why the long face?"

It's no wonder he turned out the way he did.

Joke for August 12

When a mushroom walks into a bar, the bartender shouts, "Hey, get out of here! We don't serve mushrooms here!"

The mushroom replies, "Why not? I'm a fun guy..."

Joke for the 11th of August

How many psychologists does it take to screw in a light bulb?

                   Only one; but it has to want to change.

Prolix (adj)

Lots of interesting words today: prolix is english gibber for a long, protracted time.

Graduation ceremonies are prolix. Go to one and be querulous about how prolix everything is and no one will understand what you are saying.

Querulous (adj, n)

It sucks to be querulous. No one likes a querulous person. Being querulous has a great potential to annoy even those being querulous.

So don't be querulous. Think of something soft and fluffy.

Multifarious (adj)

Sometimes, it is tough if your interests are too multifarious. 

Take it from a polymath.

Last of the Cow Jokes!

What do you name an unmarried heffer and what do you call her unplanned calf?

                    Miss Steak and misteak....

Two Brand New Jokes for August 5th

What is Dragon Milk?

                   A cow with short legs.

What happened to the cow who tried to jump a barb-wire fence?

                Oh... It was an udder catastrophe.

Hermitage (n)

Edandyll's house.

Cogently (adj)

Something it is hard to be if you are leafing through your omniana.

Instead, it is easy to be cryptic and strange.

Omniana (n)

The landscape of my brain: little scraps of ideas, thoughts, information, facts, theories, jokes, nonsense, opinions, et cetera on just about every topic I can think of. 

It makes it hard to organize my knowledge for another's use.

Infrangible (adj)

A little more obscure version of unbreakable. It is non-fragment-able. Infrangible.

Or, as another take, something that cannot be infringed upon. Uninfringeable? Infrangible.

Joke for August 4th, the second for the month

The Cow Jokes Are Almost Through!

What is a cow with no legs?

                    Ground beef

Bill Lewinski's Science of Force is Asking the Wrong Question

William J. Lewinski is a professor of psychology, so he is qualified to testify as an expert in legal cases. He has an unwavering defense for officers that shoot citizens under questionable circumstances. Recently, the New York Times did a story on his stance: that officers act as they must, even when shooting unarmed people.

Police are under a lot of scrutiny today. It is not my intent to vilify them in any way, or disrespect what they do. Rather, I would like to discuss the radical idea that we should respect our police, as keepers of the peace, more than nearly anyone else in our society.

Yet we don't.

Instead, people are afraid of police. Whether or not that is statistically justifiable. We are becoming more and more afraid as the media continues to lacerate our officers with stories of brutality. Dr. Lewinski then comes to their defense.

In order for us to look up to our officers as they deserve, we need to find a beautiful middle ground. One where we don't blame them for firing on civilians. To do that, we must not have leniency in using violence. Rather, police should be held to a higher standard. It isn't fair, no; but no one is forces a person (I hope) to become a police officer. It is undeniably a choice.

Getting pulled over by a cop, or stopped and questioned is not a choice. Never should a civilian feel they are in danger because they are talking to an officer. Even if they have behavior which is worrisome. It is the officer's job to brave that danger, like a hero in a storybook. If it is not clear that these are the requirements, it must be made clear. Being a police officer is dangerous, and very often thankless work. It is hard. It is treacherous. It is necessary. And the primary mission is not to serve and protect yourself, but to serve and protect the public.

Dr. Lewinski's says his science is designed to keep officers safe. yes, what he says is often true: if an officers sees the gun, it could be too late. They might be shot before they can adequately respond. Yet still, that is part of the rick assumed by swearing in as an officer. The name of the game isn't: keep our officers safe. It is keep our society safe and lay down your life first. If officers are encouraged against force, more may die, which is sad and unfortunate, and should be minimized -- but not at the expense of shooting any innocent or unarmed civilians. That is unacceptable. It is not to be tolerated. No one is above the law, especially not the kings, or their enforcers. A pre-emptive strike cannot be levied against our own citizenry (it should not be levied against anyone; for then you become the villain).

What it comes down to is choice. Hikers who climb Mt. Everest, choose to go. Their death on a hike that claims the life of about 1 out of every 50 people who try, isn't that surprising. Their death is to be mourned, but not lamented. It was at least partially expected. Chris McCandless knew that too. 

I would also suggest that Dr. Lewinski should be viewed as an inadequate witness. Doctor or not, why the hell are we tolerating such obviously biased and unlistening nonsense? According to the Times, he doesn't budge in his assertions. He is unwavering. Which is the definition of unreasonable. Thus, should not be admissible in a court trying to measure justice wisely. Anyone with a mindset so rigid that it cannot be accept another's process and wisdom is too arrogant to be humored.

Discussion and listening are keys to a great society.

Joke for The first of August

The Cow Jokes must continue....

What should you name a cow with only one leg?

                                Steak

Joke for the last day of July

What do you call a cow with only two legs?

                 Lean Beef

Mampus (n)

Another English Gibber: Mampus.

An unused word for 'crowd'

Part of me thinks they are making these words up.

July 30 Joke

Can your cowculator tell you why a milking stool only has three legs?

                         The Cow has the udder.

The Problem with the Google of Today

I remember about 8 or 9 years ago, when Google was really growing, I was having a lot of trouble with Yahoo's email system. Buttons weren't working. They were pioneering a new look I didn't happen to like. It was slow, and plastered in moving ads. And their radio system, still my favorite I've used, disappeared. It was getting a little glitchy, so I decided to try out the Empire's offering: Gmail.

What hooked me to Gmail wasn't the interface or the design, which I can get side-tracked with. What really endeared me to the system was the service. When Yahoo refused to allow me to download, forward, or otherwise save my old messages unless I paid them, Gmail went in and got them for me. All kinds of features other servers wanted payment for, Gmail would do for free. Google could provide almost any digital service I could want, somehow for free. The economics of this still escapes me, but it's valuable to a penny-pincher or the poor. It was very egalitarian. Sure, they were a monolithic economic empire, which was bad, but they provided. Which was nice.

They are still a monolithic empire, but the Google of today is moving ever faster away from that service-first mentality. Examples abound over the last few years. When Plus came out, with it's horrible name and unproven support, they began cancelling other services which already had their built-up user-base, like Buzz and Reader. Almost as if they were trying to force people into something else. Not by adapting them together, not by slowly merging and supporting the features of each, but by taking away the other platform. Today, G-Calendar has quit sending SMS notifications. Because most people have smartphones. And those who don't just better get one! There will be a "fresher and faster version of Drive soon. Get it now or make sure you are ready for it later." That sounds like a threat. So far, this new fresh and fast Drive loses, or makes more difficult, functionality I have come to rely on.

Perhaps it's easy to forget in that monolithic techie tower of theirs, further and further away from their humble beginnings, is that only most people have smartphones. Only some people are fed up with Facebook. There still are the poor, there still are the Luddites. There's still a bunch of people who do not want, and cannot get, calendar notifications through their apps. People will not respond to coercion when there are options. Instead, we'll just go somewhere else because we cannot rely on Google anymore; hoping that there is someone else out there we can rely on.

That's what it really comes down to. reliability. The Google of Yesterday was reliable. The Google of Today is trying so hard to be on the bleeding edge, so hard to be as fancy and easy-to-use (and useless) as Apple, their reliability is suffering. With Google, one of the only things you can rely on is that, someday, they'll get tired of a project and cancel it, leaving you without mobile notifications, or encouraging you to use someone else's online calendar program. Either way, they will be hacking off another collection of their user-base like an unwanted toe.

Why would you become part of that user-base?

The thing that frustrates me most about this is the wasting potential. I am less and less of a fan of Google stuff, but I still see Google as having the best position to make great tools. Apple is so invested in form, they are useless to me. Plus they are the 1% -- They really don't need more money. Worst of all, Apple is committed to taking away user freedom in favor of corporate control, just a little bit each day so we don't notice what we've lost. They are primary drivers in trends that take control away from their users like we're naughty children. They neurotically close up their systems, and have been forcing people toward Apple-only homes since their inception. Even their customer support is autocratic. Microsoft has two-decades experience making the most frustrating systems I've used. Google at least has some intact open-source principles and community driven development. Anyone can design apps for Drive, Gmail, Android, Chrome, et cetera. Once, they had lab features, to make your system a little customized. Once, they listened.

Perhaps I am naive, but I still believe that, as a majority, Google still believes in humanitarian ideals. Their Company Philosophy is written with it; their old, often ridiculed motto "Don't Be Evil" is still around. Perhaps its only my imagination. They don't make software like they used to, 'tis true, but I find it still better than most. For a little re-invigoration, that philosophy should be looked over again every other month or so and their software could improve again.

My ember-like optimism, but I also believe that Google has gotten to where it is because of that "Don't Be Evil" motto. If the company is able to reclaim an image as good-natured, it will inspire loyalty. And the best way to be perceived as good, is to be good. Just not-being-evil isn't quite good enough, we need goodness--especially in the corrupted wealthy world. Evil still prevails when the good do nothing; we need corporations which say: "enough! we will do good." To be as revolutionary as the American constitution was in its day.

Remember: "Evil prevails when the good do nothing."

Be good.

You're Better Off Volunteering

A group called "Independent Sector" calculates something they consider the 'value of volunteer time'. If you happen to use volunteers for anything (directing visitors, sitting under a tent), you can account for their donation of time with a monetary value. Because that's the only thing anyone ever seems to care about. Even though it means nothing.

Such as in this case. Independent Sector has created a very depressing situation: volunteers are valued more than employees.

In Colorado, the attributed value for a volunteer-hour is $25.68. Or 312% the value of a minimum wage employee.

Why should anyone go to work? This means my hour standing around in the Butterfly Pavilion talking to children about invertebrates was among the most valuable work anyone there was doing. In a way, this is true: this is what the Pavilion is there for. Education and child control is their mission. So it is the most valuable work. But I wasn't extensively trained. I never learned my way around. I wasn't qualified to be a primary source for invertebrate information. Not like the people who worked there; who were definitely not making that much money. Whether ladling soup or walking around collecting signatures, calling donors, you might be more valued as a volunteer.

Maybe just because they don't have to pay you. Which is infuriating.

An organization could quickly make themselves appear big and important. But it's obvious they don't really value volunteer time like this. Ever tried to volunteer? Sometimes it's hard to be accepted. It's often more difficult to process your paperwork than it might be worth. No one ever turns down a $25.68 donation. Even if it did take 3 hours to earn it, before taxes.

It's a ridiculous number. As much of a lie as saying Warren Buffet earned all his money. It shouldn't be tolerated, let alone propagated. Minimum wage in Colorado is $8.23. Which, while obviously depressed from its actual value (the living wage is supposedly around $10.79 for a single individual), should never be less than the value of a volunteer. What Independent Sector is really calculating is the average value we assign to any labor. All the hourly earnings of every production employee. Even those with 20 years experience, those in skilled labor, factory workers at Ball. Everyone working for in private, non-farm, non-supervisory positions.

Refulgent (adj)

A good ol' Latin like word to know if you're studying for a test or going through a traditional school system which cares more about old, dead, unchangeable words that no one uses than the language people speak today.

Know your history: Refulgent. From fulgere - to shine. It is a good descriptor for any writer, especially those in archaic genre's like fantasy.

Synonyms to narrow down your use: resplendent, gleaming, radiant, lustrous, reflecting a brilliant light, shining. Like a diamond in the rough, she was refulgent.

The Senses We Have

Far more than 5, or even the 7 I had once thought of. The original 5 can be an obvious class of their own: We have many, many senses. If you're a splitter, you might come up with 29 or more (though the expert splitters still only have 21). Here's a quick, organized, look at them:

External Senses, or sensing incoming information from the environment. These are what we traditionally think of when we think of senses. Aristotle still missed one.

Sight Suite

Color

Brightness

Taste Suite

Sweet

Salty

Sour

Bitter

Umami (sensing the amino acid glutamate)

Touch Suite

Pressure

Itch

Thermoception (hot / cold)

Nociception (pain)

Cutaneous (skin)

Hearing (I have not seen this broken into loudness and pitch, et cetera)

Smell (combines with taste to produce array of flavors)

Magnetoception (sense of direction using the earth's magnetic field)

Boundary Senses. I couldn't decide if these were external or internal. In a way, they are both: keeping track of the body in relation to the environment or itself. they are more than just internal monitors.

Proprioception (sense of where your body is)

Equilibrioception (balance, acceleration, directional changes, gravity; also known as the "Vestibular labyrinthine system")

Chronoception (sense of time. This one is under debate - there is no understood mechanism, but we have a demonstrated accurate sense of it)

Muscle tension

Internal Senses, or senses of the body. These are your status managers, making sure that everything is running fine.

Hunger

Thirst

"Stretch"

Full lungs (breathe out)

Full bladder (go pee!)

Full stomach (stop eating)

Full colon (go poo)

Blood vessels (this sense is implicated in headaches)

Chemoreception (detects blood-born hormones and drugs, oxygen levles... and triggers vomiting)

Thermoception (Internal body temperature)

Nociception (pain)

Somatic (bones / joints)

Visceral (organs)

Joke for July 28th

How does a cow do math?

                With a cowculator

Abulia (n)

The native state for most of my family.

Joke for July 24th

Do you know what a Cow's favorite subject is in school?

           Cowculus, of course.

Omniferous (adj)

Not omnivorous, it is a little more akin to omnipotent, or omnipresent. You might think it means "all iron", but it is rather more like being all things, having all parts, or doing all things.

It's poorly understood, unused word.

(sometimes spelled "Omnifarious" in America where the word is never used....)

Octothorpe (n)

Gibber English for "Ampersand" or "pound sign"

#

Majuscule (n)

Gibber English for a capital letter.

jusqu'auboutiste (n, adj)

Gibber English for a tool, a douchbag, an asshole, a moron, a sadist...

Crichton (n)

"A person who excels in all kinds of studies and pursuits."

Like Michael Crichton. 

or "a person of an inferior social status or lower place in a hierarchy who is far more talented and capable and has more natural authority than his or her superiors."

Like just about everyone...

Is that too judgmental?

Nurdle (v)

I couldn't understand this for a while:

"To work the ball away gently, especially to the leg side; to accumulate runs slowly by this method."

Then I saw that these are cricket terms.

I still don't understand. But I'm not British. And I don't play cricket.

Temerity (n)

Refusing to reschedule a trip even when your destination is on fire.

First Joke in July

Beginning the great series of Cow Jokes!

What does a Greek cow say?

               Mu.

Abature (n)

Here's a spiffy and well underused word. I'm surprised one doesn't come across it more often in fantasy or old-world set literature where people hunt a lot.

Maybe I just don't read enough hunting stories.

I can also imagine using "abature" metaphorically for following someone's paper trail in a detective novel or spy film. In this context, I think I leave a pretty wide abature.... I best not be committing any crimes.

The NSA and tech companies have become experts at following paper abature these days, too: one doesn't have to leave a very wide or obvious one to be followed around creepily.

Dragoman (n)

Gibber English for an interpreter.

Joke for the last day of June

How do you make a witch itch?

            All you gotta do is steal her 'w'.

Whodunit (n)

Finally, another genre word. Not "sudser" or "slasher", these are mysteries.

Joke for June 29th

What did the Janitor yell when he jumped out of the closet?

        Supplies!

Joke on June 26

Why does Peter Pan fly so much?

         ....Only because he'll never land....

Ersatz (n)

An inferior substitute.

What a strange looking word...

Sciophyte (n)

For all you would-be gardeners: sciophytes are not desert plants. Sciophytes are those plants that are used to growing under trees or in the lee of a mountain and wither in too much sunlight.

Ubiety (n)

If you want to get really technical or literal, Ubiety doesn't exist.

Especially if you already know velocity.

Havelock (n)

Popular hat add-on for gardeners, landscapers, roofers, and anyone else spending lots of time with their backs bent toward the sun.

I love havelocks. Especially when you get them wet, they'll keep you cool for about 10 minutes.

Educational Standards theory

To complete "primary education", students should complete a minimum of 10 necessary 'qualifications' in core disciplines in no particular order of importance:

1. Physical Science (chemistry, geology, physics, neurology, biology, etc)
2. Social Science (sociology, anthropology, archaeology, psychology, ecology, animal behavior, ethnology, etc)
3. Primary Language (reading, writing, critique, culture, etc)
   
4. Secondary Language (reading, writing, critique, culture, etc)
5. Fabrication (painting, sculpture, machining, shop, etc)
6. Mathematics (arithmetic, algebra, calculus, etc)
7. Civics (Politics, Civic systems, current events, geography, economics, environmentalism, entrepreneurship, etc)
8. Philosophy and Knowledge (logic, history, critical thinking, religion, etc)
9. Physical Education (athletics, sports, movement etc)
10. Life Skills (home maintenance, domestic skills, cooking, banking, sustainability, etc)
    
11. Technology (computers, programming, tools, invention, innovation, etc)
12. Additional Languages (reading, writing, critique, culture, etc)
13. Outdoor Education (ecology, outdoor survival, hiking, nature, etc as long as it is taught outdoors)
14. Culture (music, drama, literature, art, history, etc)
15. Interest (music, dance, drama... anything; including a second qualification in any interest)

A 'qualification' in this context would consist of 3 serial classes in a subject, showing increasing skill or mastery in that subject.

Students can earn a double qualification (6 classes), but that would not entirely excuse them from studying other disciplines. Based on the old theory that in order to be well-rounded, it is important that citizens have a diverse area of knowledge; not simply a specialization. Thus, students would be incentivized to study broadly, at least to a point. If students would rather specialize in, say 6 subjects a little more (over half of the baseline of 10 subjects), then they would need so show some mastery of those 6 subjects.

For the fun of it, I figured out a draft concept of this:

First Qualification (3 classes total) = +1 full token of "diversity understanding" or some such thing

Second Qualification (6 classes or credits) = +1/3 token of diversity understanding (student would now have 1 1/3 tokens of 10)

Third Qualification (taken a total of 9 classes in a single subject) = +2/3 token (now has 2 tokens)

Specialization (like an associate's degree; 3 more classes = 12 total) = +1 (= 3 tokens)

Additional focus after specialization (15 classes total) = +1/3 (= 3 1/3 tokens)

Sustained focus after specialization (18 classes) = +2/3 (= 4 tokens)

Double Specialization (approximately a Bachelors; 21 classes) = +1 (= 5 tokens)

Additional focus after Double Specialization (24 classes total) = +1/3 (= 5 1/3 tokens)

Sustained focus after specialization (27 classes) = +2/3 (= 6 tokens)

Triple Specialization (approximately a Masters degree; 30 classes) = +1 (= 7 tokens)

Additional focus after Double Specialization (33 classes total) = +1/3 (= 7 1/3 tokens)

Sustained focus after specialization (36 classes) = +2/3 (= 8 tokens)

Quadruple Specialization (approximately a Doctorate; 39 classes) = +1 (=9 total tokens)

And so on.. pattern repeating. Or, in another way to say it:

Single Qualification

Double Qualification

Triple Qualification

Specialization (~Associate)

Additional focus

Sustained focus

Double Specialization (~Bachelors)

Additional focus

Sustained focus

Triple Spcialization (~Masters)

Additional focus

Sustained focus

Quadruple Spcialization (~Doctorate)

3 classes

6 classes

9 classes

12 classes

15 classes

18 classes

21 classes

24 classes

27 classes

30 classes

33 classes

36 classes

39 classes

+1

+1/3

+2/3

+1

+1/3

+2/3

+1

+1/3

+2/3

+1

+1/3

+2/3

+1

1 token

1.3

2 tokens

3

3.3

4 tokens

5 tokens

5.3

6 tokens

7 tokens

7.3

8 tokens

9 tokens

But even with a Quadruple Specialization, the student would have to achieve a single qualification in 5 more subjects. True that they would earn 14 tokens total. Which is well over 10... but just learning a tiny smattering of one other subject really wouldn't be a diversity of understanding, and thus would not qualify as a "complete primary education". Even a Quadruple Specialization in two subjects (ostensibly earning 18 tokens) would not count as a "complete primary education". It's not diverse. The student would still have to earn a single qualification in 4 more subjects (in total, earning 22 tokens, but who's counting at this point?).

Or, to put it another way:

Single Qualification	Double Qualification	Triple Qualification
3 classes	6 classes	9 classes
+1	+1/3	+2/3
1	1.333333333	2
2	2.666666667	4
3	4	6
4	5.333333333	8
5	6.666666667	10
6	8	12
7	9.333333333	14
8	10.66666667	16
9	12	18
10	13.33333333	20

(White spaces showing a successful "primary education")

So a student would still need to know something about 8 subjects if they earned a double qualification in each, only 6 subjects with a triple qualification, or higher in each. Or a Specialization in one subject (3 total tokens) plus 7 single qualifications in other subjects (7 more tokens), and -- taking one of those qualifications as an 'interest' as defined above --  the student still only has to know something 6 different subjects.

Which areas the student chooses to study shouldn't really be the concern. We need people to know a lot about all of these. Their choice in the matter will ensure that their qualifications and specializations are in something they actually care (at least a little) for. Thus, they will be the better candidate for that subject than someone who's just doing it for a general education requirement. Don't push English, or even physical science, in the requirement venue. Share how in-demand these skill are, how much hiring manager value this or that subject area. But requiring certain subjects just tends to hegemony. And who wants that?

That's certainly not the focus of this theory.

So there's my theory. I like it pretty well.

Any improvements are more than welcome. Can anyone else think of another category of courses?