# What subject would you be qualified to write a SD staff report? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 19, 2015, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318 "2015-01-19T22:13:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/1 "2015-01-19T22:13:03Z")
Bricker wrote another good staff report and I am insanely jealous (Bricker, if you brag about it in my presence I will murder you with a box of oyster crackers). If I ever got a report published on the SD I’d die and go to heaven. The problem is that, while I think I know a lot of stuff about a lot of subjects, I probably don’t know anything well enough to publish a report without a good amount of research (unless Cecil gets a question about back-end Java servers running on Linux). The closest I could come would probably be Revolutionary-era US (I live in Boston, after all) or tea (I’m a tea geek). What about you? On what subject are you enough of an expert to write a staff report with minimal research?\* (\* - clearly I am no expert on grammar. I might, however, be an ace on how to over-use parenthetical statements.) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/2 "2015-01-19T23:39:25Z")
Puerto Rican history, government and politics. Climate and geography of the northeastern Antilles. US State Legislatures. And hey, even when you know a subject like the back of you hand from experience, it is always useful to be able to look up supporting cites just to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/3 "2015-01-20T00:51:47Z")
Beer Homebrewing of the above Ginger beer Booze in general _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ and apparently the [Roma](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3050/who-are-the-gypsies). 😛 ---
**Author:** ![MareIt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@MareIt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MareIt)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/4 "2015-01-20T00:58:59Z")
Many (but no where near all) horse related topics. How Amazon Web Services bills out under Consolidated Billing. How the Federal government can procure and pay for Professional Services. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/5 "2015-01-20T01:04:28Z")
Well, by definition I think I’d want to do research before I published anything as distributed as a staff report :eek: I wrote my Master’s Thesis on the Act of Union between England and Scotland. (don’t hurt me **pjen** ) I’m learning more than I ever thought I would need to know about childhood autism. ☹ I worked as a volunteer zookeeper many moons ago, when the world was flat, hope sprang eternal, I lived on ramen, and slept on my parents couch. I could probably still put something together, if a relevant question arose. I work now for a Consumer security software company. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/6 "2015-01-20T01:11:40Z")
History of the French and Indian War and the Russian Fur Trade, quite a few different types of antique arms and firearms, and Harley-Davidson the AMF years. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/7 "2015-01-20T03:52:54Z")
The value of 0.999… ---
**Author:** ![DoggyDunnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@DoggyDunnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoggyDunnit)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/8 "2015-01-20T03:57:32Z")
Been a weather buff since the Downtown Fort Worth Tornado of 2000, and now have a decade of storm-spotting under my belt, so I’m confident that I’d be able to do one on nearly any topic related to thunderstorms, especially relating to supercells or the behavior of “pulse storms” (the type of “pop-up” storms that are the reason Floridians are pretty much trained to carry umbrellas every day in the summer). ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/9 "2015-01-20T05:01:29Z")
Trap Neuter Release for cats. Hell, I could probably bore a feral cat into the trap just with my lecture. The importance of having house pets fixed. The difference between librarians and archivists and why us archivists have the best method. Now…I do fancy needle work and consider myself to do expert work. I’d never consider doing a report on that because every time I go to a seminar, I always learn something. Thinking about it, none of the above. I’m good at what I do, but no matter what it is, someone else is better and can teach me something. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/10 "2015-01-20T14:58:53Z")
If you need a question answered in detail about Cleveland history, I’m your man. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/11 "2015-01-20T15:40:34Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > If you need a question answered in detail about Cleveland history, I’m your man. So how many accurate Cleve-land references were there in Howard the Duck? ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/12 "2015-01-20T15:49:34Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > So how many accurate Cleve-land references were there in Howard the Duck? Since no scenes of the despicable movie were actually filmed in Cleveland, It doesn’t qualify as Cleveland history 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/13 "2015-01-20T17:39:26Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > Bricker wrote another good staff report and I am insanely jealous (Bricker, if you brag about it in my presence I will murder you with a box of oyster crackers). If I ever got a report published on the SD I’d die and go to heaven. The problem is that, while I think I know a lot of stuff about a lot of subjects, I probably don’t know anything well enough to publish a report without a good amount of research (unless Cecil gets a question about back-end Java servers running on Linux). Thanks for the kind words! ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/14 "2015-01-20T18:01:51Z")
Idiots. I’m surrounded by them so I’ll have plenty of first hand accounts. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/15 "2015-01-20T18:30:10Z")
Money laundering, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/16 "2015-01-20T18:34:49Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Money laundering, etc. OK, you got me. What goes in the ‘etc.’ part of that? ---
**Author:** ![hyperspaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@hyperspaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hyperspaz)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/17 "2015-01-20T18:43:04Z")
Running a CNC lathe Prescriptive vs. descriptive philosophies of grammar How the Amish _really_ live ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/18 "2015-01-20T18:47:35Z")
[How oil rig fires are out](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2100/how-are-oil-rig-fires-extinguished), apparently. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/19 "2015-01-20T19:10:38Z")
Well, I’ve posted in the occasional SDMB Newsletter, _teemings_, on guitar, rock and roll and lesser-known contributors to its growth - does that count? In general, I am one of the more frequent contributors to guitar and music threads… ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318/20 "2015-01-20T19:18:56Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > OK, you got me. What goes in the ‘etc.’ part of that? Wire fraud. EDD, PEPs. Financial crimes. Forensic accounting. Tax fraud. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-subject-would-you-be-qualified-to-write-a-sd-staff-report/710318.md?page=2)