Passport cards and TSA: 2014 update?
#61
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Yeah, the response from the kid was silly, and the quality of education is on the decline in the USA. I agree with all that, but you've got to admit that the name of this agency is somewhat misleading ;-) Most agencies abroad that are performing the same functions as the Department of State are called Ministry/Department of Foreign Affairs or Foreign Office (in the UK). You should really know what the DoS does because there is no way you can deduct this from its name.
And for "foreign affairs" or "external affairs", you can bet that some would answer that it in charge of extramarital affairs outside the country or something ridiculous like that.
Should we go into the ministries/departments that have "Home" or "Interior" in their name and the confusion/ignorance about them too?
Last edited by GUWonder; Aug 17, 2014 at 12:25 am
#62
Join Date: Mar 2010
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I still stand by my statement that for an average person, it is much easier to deduct what a "Ministry/Department of Foreign/External Affairs" does than what a "Department of State" does. I, for one, have a decent sense of history of European states, and I would not guess what the Department of State did if I had not lived in the USA and dealt with this agency first-hand. Maybe, because I did my post-graduate study in Electrical Engineering and not History?
#63
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Maybe some college kids also think that the Department of Defense is responsible for those chain link barriers around construction sites. Yes, I know it was once called the Department of War before getting it's kinder gentler name.
#64
Moderator: Manufactured Spending
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 6,580
I still stand by my statement that for an average person, it is much easier to deduct what a "Ministry/Department of Foreign/External Affairs" does than what a "Department of State" does. I, for one, have a decent sense of history of European states, and I would not guess what the Department of State did if I had not lived in the USA and dealt with this agency first-hand. Maybe, because I did my post-graduate study in Electrical Engineering and not History?
#65
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#66
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 223
There is a way to understand, from the name, what it does -- if having a decent sense of history of even just European states. In the US it used to be called Foreign Affairs when first funded by the US Congress.
And for "foreign affairs" or "external affairs", you can bet that some would answer that it in charge of extramarital affairs outside the country or something ridiculous like that.
Should we go into the ministries/departments that have "Home" or "Interior" in their name and the confusion/ignorance about them too?
And for "foreign affairs" or "external affairs", you can bet that some would answer that it in charge of extramarital affairs outside the country or something ridiculous like that.
Should we go into the ministries/departments that have "Home" or "Interior" in their name and the confusion/ignorance about them too?
#67
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 89