Stupid (but sincere) Questions about the USA

[desertslave]

The laws are rather weird. We have a local brewery that is just fantastic. They offer tours of the brewery so they can also operate a bar. The staff that work the bar are all volunteers (some of the brewery employees will work the day and then run the bar at night). The brewery uses the volunteer bar positions as a stepping ladder to help weed out anyone not serious about beer looking to work in the brewery.

I love going there, they offer special beers that aren't sold in stores. They make this wonderful beer with lavendar and rose hips, it's like drinking flowers. It was a really limited stock. They offer growlers, so I wonder if they sell below the amount (referring to the FL law in the link) or if that's something included in the tourism loophole.

I think I need directions for a possible road trip.

 

[MeekMe]

I think I need directions for a possible road trip.

Proof that it really works to promote tourism.

 

[LWulf]

LWulf, you know Yuengling!!!! ...

... Politics and booze...peculiar bedfellows.

It's hard to live in PA and not know Yuengling, one way or the other.

Actually, I remember hearing from source that in ye olde Germany, they had some law on the books that all politicians had to be properly snockered whenever they were in council. The rationale for this was that drunk politicians were incapable of lying or if they did, then being drunk would make them poor liars.

Maybe this is a practice we should adopt today in the states???

 

[seela]

Thanks for the explanations, much appreciated.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[seela]

Homeschooling.

How exactly does that work? Can anybody start homeschooling their/someone's kids or does the person have to give some sort of proof that they're not an idiot and that they know enough about the subjects they're about to teach? How about the curriculum, are the requirements exactly the same as in regular school?

Here homeschooling is very, very rare. Usually the homeschoolers are religious, but even among the religious folk, as far as I know, the only group where homeschooling is the norm is a weird, secluded religious cult, where the leader keeps track of people's weight etc.

 

[Hypoxia]

Alcohol is much simpler in Mexico than in USA. If you want fresh local stuff, stop at one of the roadside vendors of pulque -- it can't stand storage, so quaff it on the spot. The basic drinking+driving guideline is don't wave your bottle of tequila at the federales as you speed past because they'll only want some. Aguardiente rum costs less by the liter than beer by the 375ml bottle so Cuba libré (rum and cola) is a very popular drink. I loved living on the Arizona-Sonora border and walking across for cheap good booze. And pharmaceuticals. And dentistry.

Stuff in USA is often overpriced. There's a saying: Americans are only rich because they charge each other so much. (And the Swiss are only rich because they charge everyone else so much.) I like places where I can haggle on prices. Can't do that in USA franchise stores -- no negotiation here. USA is a pretty primitive land.

 

[SpunThings]

Homeschooling.

How exactly does that work? Can anybody start homeschooling their/someone's kids or does the person have to give some sort of proof that they're not an idiot and that they know enough about the subjects they're about to teach? How about the curriculum, are the requirements exactly the same as in regular school?

Here homeschooling is very, very rare. Usually the homeschoolers are religious, but even among the religious folk, as far as I know, the only group where homeschooling is the norm is a weird, secluded religious cult, where the leader keeps track of people's weight etc.

It depends on the state. In my state, once the child reaches the age of mandatory schooling, you have to contact the principle of your local school. I don't know what you have to do from there, aside from having your child take the same statewide tests every few years. Some states have more rigorous rules, and others are more permissive. If I recall correctly, the stats for markers for the success of homeschooled kids is pretty good.

It's not super common here, and a lot of homeschoolers are religious. However, not in a culty way most of the time.

 

[Blue]

Why do you think people are voting for the democratic and republican frontrunners when each of them has a national disapproval rating of >70%?

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Homeschooling.

How exactly does that work? Can anybody start homeschooling their/someone's kids or does the person have to give some sort of proof that they're not an idiot and that they know enough about the subjects they're about to teach? How about the curriculum, are the requirements exactly the same as in regular school?

Here homeschooling is very, very rare. Usually the homeschoolers are religious, but even among the religious folk, as far as I know, the only group where homeschooling is the norm is a weird, secluded religious cult, where the leader keeps track of people's weight etc.

Homeschooling used to be fairly rare and religious here, but with more and more cases of autism it has become more and more popular. I have a family member in that group. He originally went to public school but was struggling with "acceptable behaviour", as seen by the school. That varies school by school, depending on how much experience they have with autistic children and how well they are staffed to deal with the kids. Anyway, his school was not prepared, and when a teacher ended up knocking him to the ground and causing an injury, given the existing difficulties getting along with other kids his mom just pulled him from public school. So not all religious, no. The religious cases here tend to homeschool because they don't want other children influencing the way their kids think and behave. Quite frankly, knowing what happens sometimes in school I can't quite blame them! Other than that, I have heard of a few cases due to very poor, uncontrollable behaviour by the child, kicked out of school after school with eventually no other educational choice. Those are the "why's" I am familiar with.

As to the how's, and the quality of education received, I think that is going to vary. Years ago I knew a girl who was homeschooled by her mom, and they didn't follow any curriculum. She still remains a very sad case, in my opinion. This was a huge disservice done to her by her mother, and I have no idea what their reasons were. That was in Texas. However, in TN my family member did extremely well being homeschooled. Information packets came to the house on a regular basis, he was seated at a table for 4 to 6 hours per day learning at least as many subjects as kids are taught in public schools if not more, and there were daily, virtual classroom sessions online that he attended. Tests and quizzes were administered, grades recorded and turned in, etc. He was homeschooled 3 years before returning to public school, at which time he was far above the rest of the kids his age. His mother needed no qualifications or training.

As to what would have happened had his mom slacked off and not made him sit and learn, I don't know if there is any applicable law/punishment? Obviously he wouldn't have learned anything, but there are children who attend public school and don't learn anything and nothing by law happens to the parents or teachers there, so I am guessing that homeschool all really comes down to how badly the parent wants the kids to learn and how well they actually enforce it.

 

[cascadiabound]

Why do you think people are voting for the democratic and republican frontrunners when each of them has a national disapproval rating of >70%?

It is important to keep in mind that Trump has to date been voted for by only 3% of the population of the US.
Clinton has received quite a few more actual votes than Trump. But the participation of the electorate in the primaries is quite low.

 

[seela]

Thanks for the answers!

I think I'd be ok homeschooling a kid through the first grades, but more complex math, physics, several languages on more advanced levels... I wouldn't really feel comfortable with them.

Last year someone who was homeschooled even through highschool took the highschool graduation exam and got the best result pretty much ever and he took the exam two years younger than people normally do. I don't remember the exact details, but I do remember thinking the parent who taught him must have been some kind of superhuman. And I remember it was written that there are several more siblings to come after him from the same family and apparently they're all kind of geniuses.

I wonder if he's from one of the weirdo cult families. I know the parents of the cult families are very highly educated, because the cult started at one of the best universities here, and they are also very driven to excel, so good results from the kids would probably be a given.

It was also an interesting point about autism. There was a good article about autism in The Economist last week or the week before that. The number of diagnoses has risen greatly in the past decades.

 

[SpunThings]

Why do you think people are voting for the democratic and republican frontrunners when each of them has a national disapproval rating of >70%?

Only people belonging to a particular party vote in their primary ( although in at least one state you can be independent and register to vote in a primary the day of). Then voter turnout in our country is so small, and voter turnout to primaries is less. Also, if you look at how many people started out in the Republican primary, Trump may be winning but only because he got more votes than the others. He isn't supported by the majority. It's just the people opposing him didn't all get behind one candidate. I don't think anyone expected him to be this successful.

Also, the disapproval ratings aren't split along party lines. So part of those disapproval stats include people from their opposing party, as well as people who are just voting for someone else in the same party.

 

[IrisAlthea]

Thanks for the answers!

I think I'd be ok homeschooling a kid through the first grades, but more complex math, physics, several languages on more advanced levels... I wouldn't really feel comfortable with them.

Last year someone who was homeschooled even through highschool took the highschool graduation exam and got the best result pretty much ever and he took the exam two years younger than people normally do. I don't remember the exact details, but I do remember thinking the parent who taught him must have been some kind of superhuman. And I remember it was written that there are several more siblings to come after him from the same family and apparently they're all kind of geniuses.

I wonder if he's from one of the weirdo cult families. I know the parents of the cult families are very highly educated, because the cult started at one of the best universities here, and they are also very driven to excel, so good results from the kids would probably be a given.

It was also an interesting point about autism. There was a good article about autism in The Economist last week or the week before that. The number of diagnoses has risen greatly in the past decades.

I think they made it practically impossible to homeschool here recently. I think I read about people moving to Åland to be able to keep doing it. It's always been rare though.

I think it would be possible knowledge wise for us to homeschool through mandatory school (up to 16).
If you can enlist help from others too, I think you could put together an excellent education.
I think it's important to meet other people with other ideas etc and lean to interact with peers though.

 

[seela]

I think they made it practically impossible to homeschool here recently. I think I read about people moving to Åland to be able to keep doing it. It's always been rare though.

I think it would be possible knowledge wise for us to homeschool through mandatory school (up to 16).
If you can enlist help from others too, I think you could put together an excellent education.
I think it's important to meet other people with other ideas etc and lean to interact with peers though.

Interesting. Mostly I've heard of people from Åland moving to Sweden, not the other way around.

Like I said, homeschooling is very rare here, too. As far as I know, there's lots of material online and they get the same books the schools use for free. The weirdo cultists use their own books though. I know, because a friend of mine tried to get a hold of them because he wanted to write his BA or MA thesis about the cult's homeschooling. The end result was that he was approached by their lawyer and he and his now-wife got several nasty emails and phone calls. He dropped the idea.

I think J and I combined would make a good homeschooling team too, but I'd never, ever do it. I imagine J would be even less enthusiastic about it. I liked school a lot, I wouldn't make my kid miss the opportunity should I have one.

 

[Cumference]

I can see the idea when it comes to children who do not fit into the "normal" school system.



Regarding the religious dimension to homeschooling, there is a very interesting article here:

http://prospect.org/article/homeschool-apostates

It is scary to say the least.


And a bit about how homeschooling ended where it is now: https://homeschoolersanonymous.org/...-homeschooling-became-a-christians-only-club/

 

[Sweetemmygirl]

I homeschool my daughter who is in the sixth grade. I have been doing it since she was in first grade. The first question I always get is, "Do you do it for religious reasons?" No, I don't. I chose to homeschool because the schools here basically leave a lot to be desired. The bullying is off the charts. The schools won't do anything about it. They are teaching sex ed in the first grade and handing out condoms in the fourth. The teachers tell the students that they do not have to go home and tell their parents anything that is discussed in class. That's my kid. I want to know what she's learning about and talking about. We use a charter school program that is completely free through our state. I love it. We receive everything needed including the computer and printer. She has an online teacher in a virtual classroom for Math and English but I teach everything else. It works for us and we love it.

 

[seela]

I've been meaning to dig up this thread for a long time, but I've kept forgetting.

I overheard a conversation between (I assume based on accent) two American exchange students (again, I assume) and they raved about the cheap prices for phone plans and mobile data here. The conversation took place in a tram and I didn't hear all of it, but I think one of them mentioned she pays over $100 a month for her plan.

Can that be right? Is that some sort of crazy deluxe phone plan that includes all you can drink frappuccinos at Starbucks?

 

[PapaRomantic]

I've been meaning to dig up this thread for a long time, but I've kept forgetting.

I overheard a conversation between (I assume based on accent) two American exchange students (again, I assume) and they raved about the cheap prices for phone plans and mobile data here. The conversation took place in a tram and I didn't hear all of it, but I think one of them mentioned she pays over $100 a month for her plan.

Can that be right? Is that some sort of crazy deluxe phone plan that includes all you can drink frappuccinos at Starbucks?

I suppose it's possible when fees are included, but the competition between the major providers is pretty intense right now and prices for all-inclusive plans are coming down. It may also be that part of her plan was actually making payments for her phone - that's another popular option lately.

I have three phones with Verizon - sharing data which we never max out. We are making payments on one of those phones. My bill this month is $266.

 

[Blue]

I've been meaning to dig up this thread for a long time, but I've kept forgetting.

I overheard a conversation between (I assume based on accent) two American exchange students (again, I assume) and they raved about the cheap prices for phone plans and mobile data here. The conversation took place in a tram and I didn't hear all of it, but I think one of them mentioned she pays over $100 a month for her plan.

Can that be right? Is that some sort of crazy deluxe phone plan that includes all you can drink frappuccinos at Starbucks?

I doubt it was a deluxe-premium-par-excellence plan, I get the impression that Americans are generally screwed over by corporations much more than we are. In the context of higher costs and lower quality, especially with anything digital.

E.g. Healthcare is a big one, highest costs by far, worst outcomes. I'm told by American friends that they pay absurdely high costs for what we Europeans would consider very poor broadband. It wouldn't surprise me if her phone plan was the equivalent of a cheap option.

~ ~ ~

The broadband thing was worse than I thought...

-2013

 

[seela]

I suppose it's possible when fees are included, but the competition between the major providers is pretty intense right now and prices for all-inclusive plans are coming down. It may also be that part of her plan was actually making payments for her phone - that's another popular option lately.

I have three phones with Verizon - sharing data which we never max out. We are making payments on one of those phones. My bill this month is $266.

Yeah, making payments for the phone seems like a good guess. Although I guess then it's silly to compare it to the prices that don't include payments for the phone.

I pay 25 euros a month for unlimited 100Mbps data and probably enough texts and minutes to last me a year instead of just a month. That also includes unlimited data in Scandinavian and Baltic countries and I think a few G's of data a month in any country within EU, but I'm not sure.

So compared to that $100+ it really is cheap here, even though it might be an unfair comparison, if the $100 includes phone payments.

 

[Blue]

I suppose it's possible when fees are included, but the competition between the major providers is pretty intense right now and prices for all-inclusive plans are coming down. It may also be that part of her plan was actually making payments for her phone - that's another popular option lately.

I have three phones with Verizon - sharing data which we never max out. We are making payments on one of those phones. My bill this month is $266.

Are you serious?!
I have had one phone for about 2.5 years and still haven't run out of data in a package of a few thousand messages/hundreds of minutes which I bought for £10.

~ ~ Edit ~ ~

My long term memory isn't incredible so if it wasn't £10 then it was either £15 or £20. Certainly not anything remotely in the vicinity of £100.

 

[MeekMe]

Phone plans can be tricky here. When my phone broke we considered moving to another company/plan because we were paying almost $200.00 a month for my me and my husband on a shared plan. So I looked around and found that rates have dropped, but you can no longer contract a deal on your phone. So the phone has to be purchased outright or paid for with a fee added to your plan. I did the math and discovered that for me, buying the phone outright was the best option. If you make payments the company owns your phone and they can take it back if you miss payments or if you upgrade while making payments you have to turn that one in to get another and start payments all over again. In some cases you could end paying more for the phone through payments than the phone retails for. With the change of plan we're now paying around $85.00 a month.

A major complaint is that our service is mediocre for the prices we pay. In some areas that is changing, but not very fast.

(ノ_＜) Don't get me started on our insurance rates and deductibles.

 

[HumasWanderingWeiner]

Phone plans can be tricky here. When my phone broke we considered moving to another company/plan because we were paying almost $200.00 a month for my me and my husband on a shared plan. So I looked around and found that rates have dropped, but you can no longer contract a deal on your phone. So the phone has to be purchased outright or paid for with a fee added to your plan. I did the math and discovered that for me, buying the phone outright was the best option. If you make payments the company owns your phone and they can take it back if you miss payments or if you upgrade while making payments you have to turn that one in to get another and start payments all over again. In some cases you could end paying more for the phone through payments than the phone retails for. With the change of plan we're now paying around $85.00 a month.

A major complaint is that our service is mediocre for the prices we pay. In some areas that is changing, but not very fast.

(ノ_＜) Don't get me started on our insurance rates and deductibles.

I always buy my phones. I go to the deal site aggregators and do a search for iPhones and see what the current live deals are. Usually a current gen iPhone is about 15% less and previous gens have prices that drop like rocks. I just found an 6s for $339 while checking just now.

 

[seela]

(ノ_＜) Don't get me started on our insurance rates and deductibles.

Yeah, I remember we talked about this a little when I was looking for a new insurance (which I still deem unnecessary for me, but J feels I have to have one just in case). The little conversation really made me appreciate universal health care that much more!