# In My Humble Opinion **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/in-my-humble-opinion/14.md?page=1243 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 1244 --- ## [U.S. citizens: how pessimistic are you about the future of your country?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-citizens-how-pessimistic-are-you-about-the-future-of-your-country/666769)
**Author:** [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Replies:** 111\ **Last updated:** [August 25, 2013, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-citizens-how-pessimistic-are-you-about-the-future-of-your-country/666769 "2013-08-25T14:10:01Z")
Reading this Slashdot story’s comments inspired me, but feel free to take any non-NSA related angle on this that you like (political, economic, what have you). If you could pack up and emigrate tomorrow, would you? Or … --- ## [How organized is your Tupperware cupboard?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-organized-is-your-tupperware-cupboard/666497)
**Author:** [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [August 25, 2013, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-organized-is-your-tupperware-cupboard/666497 "2013-08-25T06:01:05Z")
By “Tupperware cupboard” I mean what ever you call your cupboard where you keep various, plastic containers and lids. Are you the kind who has everything neatly organized into piles of containers with their matching lid… --- ## [Mundane Items on Your Bucket List](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-items-on-your-bucket-list/667014)
**Author:** [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [August 25, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-items-on-your-bucket-list/667014 "2013-08-25T04:09:35Z")
I have a friend who has a three-item bucket list. I can’t remember two of them but the one I find odd is that she wants to milk a cow. I always counter with, “So do it for god’s sake. How hard could it be to check that… --- ## [Thinking about switching to Android.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-about-switching-to-android/666875)
**Author:** [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [August 25, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-about-switching-to-android/666875 "2013-08-25T02:28:36Z")
The truth is, I mostly use my phone for two things. 1) Making and receiving phone calls and 2) podcasts. Actually, now that I think about it, three things. 3) Having the internet in my pocket. Oh, and 4) playing cribba… --- ## [How often do you talk to strangers? Do you like it when they talk to you?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-to-strangers-do-you-like-it-when-they-talk-to-you/666431)
**Author:** [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Replies:** 86\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-to-strangers-do-you-like-it-when-they-talk-to-you/666431 "2013-08-24T23:57:23Z")
You’re sitting on an airplane or standing in line at the supermarket or riding a stationary bike at the gym, etc. How likely are you to strike up a conversation with the person next to you? How do you feel when the per… --- ## [Replacing some lawn with garden--more work or less?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replacing-some-lawn-with-garden-more-work-or-less/666584)
**Author:** [@Happy\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Cynic)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replacing-some-lawn-with-garden-more-work-or-less/666584 "2013-08-24T23:32:19Z")
Have any of you ever replaced all or part of your lawn with a garden space? And if so, what are your thoughts on it? Was it worth the effort? Is there more maintenance now, or less? Is your water bill lower or higher? I’… --- ## [Fainting as a Result of Learning Shocking News](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911)
**Author:** [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911 "2013-08-24T21:44:15Z")
Don’t know why I got to thinking about this. In the movie \*\*Castaway \*\*(hope I don’t have to spoiler box this) when Helen Hunt’s character receives a phone call and learns that the Tom Hanks character is still alive and… --- ## [When someone drags their feet on fulfilling a favor](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-drags-their-feet-on-fulfilling-a-favor/666674)
**Author:** [@whc.03grady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whc.03grady)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-drags-their-feet-on-fulfilling-a-favor/666674 "2013-08-24T21:07:40Z")
My wife found an awesome deal on a bike and kid’s seat on craigslist. The catch was it was in Omaha and we live in Montana. But, we know people in Omaha and asked one of them if she’d go get it and take it to a bicycle … --- ## [Counterfactual: All overseas US forces everything, instantly vanish: next 72 hours?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfactual-all-overseas-us-forces-everything-instantly-vanish-next-72-hours/667001)
**Author:** [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfactual-all-overseas-us-forces-everything-instantly-vanish-next-72-hours/667001 "2013-08-24T20:50:12Z")
Since “what if a nuke carrier at Midway/Pearl Harbor”-type questions are hardy GQ perennials, I’ll go big on this one: All US troops and equipment under their control in non-US territory either a) vanish Or b) their … --- ## [Dismissal action- must appear](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismissal-action-must-appear/667076)
**Author:** [@marine1369](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marine1369)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismissal-action-must-appear/667076 "2013-08-24T19:34:06Z")
I currently in a 60 month chapter 13 plan. I was scheduled to pay $1696 for the first 35 months and then $2740 for the next 25 months. I am current on my payments (I have paid 42 payments/months so far). The payments wen… --- ## [How large a lake would be needed to hold all the worlds warships?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-large-a-lake-would-be-needed-to-hold-all-the-worlds-warships/667008)
**Author:** [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-large-a-lake-would-be-needed-to-hold-all-the-worlds-warships/667008 "2013-08-24T19:32:11Z")
On a thread some ago it was asked what people would do if godlike abililities were bestowed on them, I said I’d take a pretty much hands off approach but to show off my neat local omnipotence and snazzy new powers I’d in… --- ## [graphic designers: opinion about illustrator class](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphic-designers-opinion-about-illustrator-class/666884)
**Author:** [@retrac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/retrac)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphic-designers-opinion-about-illustrator-class/666884 "2013-08-24T19:30:28Z")
hi, i am looking to possibly start a t-shirt business on the side. i feel that my best strategy on the creative side is to learn the basics of illustrator to be able to execute my ideas into somewhat modern caliber lev… --- ## [Question about iPad capabilities - finger-writing and video-taking](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-ipad-capabilities-finger-writing-and-video-taking/667065)
**Author:** [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-ipad-capabilities-finger-writing-and-video-taking/667065 "2013-08-24T18:48:43Z")
My fiancee and I are brainstorming on whether we might be able to use an iPad (which we do not own, and have only minimal experience with) to function as a sort of video guestbook at our wedding. What we’d most like to … --- ## [Divorced = Single, right?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divorced-single-right/666871)
**Author:** [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Replies:** 61\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divorced-single-right/666871 "2013-08-24T16:59:16Z")
Happily divorced guy here. The other day in conversation with a group of people I mentioned that I was single. A friend corrected me and said I was actually divorced, as if I had made some drastic faux pas. Did I? --- ## [Ladies, check in if you've never been groped (unwillingly)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-check-in-if-youve-never-been-groped-unwillingly/666185)
**Author:** [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Replies:** 209\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-check-in-if-youve-never-been-groped-unwillingly/666185 "2013-08-24T16:47:23Z")
So there’s a serial groper in my city, and the radio guys were polling their audience to search out women who’d been groped. And were amazed (they said) at the number of women who came forward. I can only imagine the # o… --- ## [Tell Me About Natick (MA)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-natick-ma/642910)
**Author:** [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-natick-ma/642910 "2013-08-24T16:15:20Z")
I may have a line on a good job but it may require me to move to (or at least spend a great deal of time in) Natick MA. Anyone been there? Live there? Is it obscenely expensive compared to the Chicago suburbs? Anything … --- ## [Do you think 'Interesting Times' lie ahead? And what will be the outcome?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-interesting-times-lie-ahead-and-what-will-be-the-outcome/643473)
**Author:** [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-interesting-times-lie-ahead-and-what-will-be-the-outcome/643473 "2013-08-24T15:21:57Z")
I have recently finished reading ‘The Artilect War’, a treatise by Professor Hugo de Garis the basic premise is that within this century there will be massive global conflict due to the rise of truly intelligent AI’s. Wh… --- ## [Americans - how common is this outlook?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-how-common-is-this-outlook/666599)
**Author:** [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Replies:** 82\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-how-common-is-this-outlook/666599 "2013-08-24T14:23:00Z")
I’ve been watching the series Doomsday Preppers; which shows Americans preparing to ‘bug out’, or abandon civilisation after some imagined catastrophe brings down society as we know it. People on it must have spent milli… --- ## [Cognitive Bias or effect](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cognitive-bias-or-effect/667027)
**Author:** [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cognitive-bias-or-effect/667027 "2013-08-24T13:47:19Z")
There is something (that I can’t think of the name of) that states that if you suffer a moment of embarrassment or overreaction or really any negative experience, then the impact of that is magnified in your own mind. If… --- ## [What if the president elect were ineligable for a security clearance?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-president-elect-were-ineligable-for-a-security-clearance/666686)
**Author:** [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-president-elect-were-ineligable-for-a-security-clearance/666686 "2013-08-24T13:26:21Z")
The title sums up the thread premise. Supposing Marion Barry and his drug conviction hit the jackpot and gets elected to the oval office in 2016. Or someone with public ties to Al-Qaeda and the Elbonian Marxist Militia… --- ## [How common is it to call a YouTube video "a YouTube"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-call-a-youtube-video-a-youtube/666667)
**Author:** [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-call-a-youtube-video-a-youtube/666667 "2013-08-24T11:08:19Z")
Somewhat inspired by this thread(not to pick on people or anything), but it’s also something I’ve been wondering for a while: My mother used to call each video on YouTube “a youtube.” She’d refer to YouTube videos as “y… --- ## [My tip didn't go through, and I feel awful! What should I do?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tip-didnt-go-through-and-i-feel-awful-what-should-i-do/666969)
**Author:** [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tip-didnt-go-through-and-i-feel-awful-what-should-i-do/666969 "2013-08-24T05:02:00Z")
I was at dinner with a large number of family members (9 in total, including 2 kids), and I offered to pay. Because we were a large group, I gave a 25-30% tip, rounding to a nice even number. The waiter was wonderful. P… --- ## [Why do reluctant women in arranged marraiges end up perpetuating it?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-reluctant-women-in-arranged-marraiges-end-up-perpetuating-it/666454)
**Author:** [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Replies:** 103\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-reluctant-women-in-arranged-marraiges-end-up-perpetuating-it/666454 "2013-08-24T04:59:00Z")
This article today in Slate.com brought to something I’ve always wondered about societies that practice this type of thing. I know that in India, this sort of thing is still common enough to shock us wild and crazy Amer… --- ## [Weird problem trying to connect to English Wikipedia](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-problem-trying-to-connect-to-english-wikipedia/667021)
**Author:** [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-problem-trying-to-connect-to-english-wikipedia/667021 "2013-08-24T04:05:16Z")
I had a short internet hiccup and after I got it back, trying to connect to English wikipedia sends me back to my router’s error page and gives me this: Everything else works fine, including other parts of Wikipedia, l… --- ## [Arts & Crafts Fairs](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arts-crafts-fairs/666904)
**Author:** [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arts-crafts-fairs/666904 "2013-08-24T04:00:52Z")
Mods: I’m not really sure where this thread belongs so I will start it here knowing that it will likely be moved somewhere else. First let me say that I support local arts and crafts fairs and have always enjoyed going … --- ## [Unimportant questions you really, really want to know](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unimportant-questions-you-really-really-want-to-know/666473)
**Author:** [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Replies:** 68\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unimportant-questions-you-really-really-want-to-know/666473 "2013-08-24T03:53:04Z")
Have you ever had a minor unanswered question, though not even remotely important, you really wish you knew the answer to? For example, I’ve always wondered why western radio/TV stations start with “K” while eastern one… --- ## [Goin' to Istanbul & the Black Sea](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goin-to-istanbul-the-black-sea/666967)
**Author:** [@Atomic\_Mama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Mama)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goin-to-istanbul-the-black-sea/666967 "2013-08-24T02:39:57Z")
Leaving this Wed. for a cruise around the Black Sea via Istanbul. Most of our time is allotted for by prearranged land “excursions” and sailing between ports (all of which sound fascinating), but we will have free time i… --- ## [Does anybody use Clear? (4G wifi service.)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-clear-4g-wifi-service/666957)
**Author:** [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-clear-4g-wifi-service/666957 "2013-08-24T00:54:39Z")
Are you happy with it? Does it handle streaming video well? --- ## [Manning's sentence](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mannings-sentence/666878)
**Author:** [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Replies:** 81\ **Last updated:** [August 23, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mannings-sentence/666878 "2013-08-23T21:36:30Z")
You may be aware that former US soldier Bradley (or Chelsea) Manning has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for violations of the Espionage Act; namely the biggest leak of classified documents in US intelligence. Like … --- ## [Soldier worship](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-worship/666216)
**Author:** [@Longshanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Longshanks)\ **Replies:** 104\ **Last updated:** [August 23, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-worship/666216 "2013-08-23T21:01:21Z")
Why do some people feel the need to literally venerate members of the armed forces. Correct me if I am wrong but people who join the army, navy and air force get paid for doing what they do, but some people still go on a… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/in-my-humble-opinion/14.md?page=1242) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/in-my-humble-opinion/14.md?page=1244)