Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The witless on the pitiless

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  • DexterX, in reply to chris,

    Did anyone ask God?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1224 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite, in reply to DexterX,

    God, Stephen Hawking, contra Einstein, has assured us, does not play Tetris, but something involving dice and throwing them where they cannot be seen.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Stowell,

    My mind, I think, resembles Gormenghast.

    Don't go in the kitchen :)

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite, in reply to Rob Stowell,

    My real kitchen's more Withnail and I.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    My kitchen is in my mind but my mind is in the kitchen sink.
    I have, however, been described as out standing in my field whilst I would rather be loitering within tent.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • DexterX,

    Age has been mentioned a bit, it is interesting to me OBL was aged 54 years when he died and today Sid Vicious had he lived would be aged 54 years.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1224 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Stowell,

    I think this clip gets to the kitchen in question? The one with the dog-sized rat in the oven!

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report Reply

  • recordari,

    Did someone say party? No? Never mind, I’ll have one in my kitchen.

    ETA: I did not know that Kirsty MacColl (in above video) died in 2000 aged 41. That’s pretty sad actually, and the circumstances extremely tragic, even if I am 11 years late.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite, in reply to Rob Stowell,

    ...and the "matter" in the sink.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • recordari,

    I have to say that this over on Fundy Post made me LOL.

    I may have this wrong, but it seems that the answer to a political question is to put a macron on it.

    Gold.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to recordari,

    All the single letters!
    (All the single letters...)
    If you like it then you shoulda put a line on it!

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • recordari, in reply to nzlemming,

    If you like it then you shoulda put a line on it!

    Ā - Ō - Ō - Ō - Ō - Ō - Ō

    (Found the character set box on mac - easy peasy. I got my Mācron on!)

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • AAMC,

    To view Usama Bin Laden in the context in which he was created, to suggest that the chanting of USA USA USA and "Justice "has been done and to revel in somebodies death is counter productive and to suggest that an attempt to take him alive and put him on trail in order to try to salvage the moral high ground of the Liberal Western Democracies is not to pay tribute to Usama Bin Laden or attempt to agree with his obviously heinous crimes and philosophies.

    I think perhaps it's Hitchen's rather than Chompsky that is informing this discussion.

    I though Adam Curtis had a nice succinct take on it..
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/03/osama-bin-laden-soviet-union-baddie

    And his documentaries on Islamofascism provide a valuable context..

    Also Johann Hari walks a line that justifies the action against Usama but at least extends his analysis to include the failings of our reaction to him and what can be learned from this.

    http://www.johannhari.com/2011/05/06/can-we-learn-the-real-lesson-of-bin-ladens-death

    Blindly rejoicing and proposing those who don't accept this at face value are endorsing Usama's actions, is this the best we can expect?

    Auckland • Since Aug 2010 • 4 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle, in reply to AAMC,

    Blindly rejoicing

    Are you talking about... this thread? If you are, this has got to be the most solemnly analytical expression of 'blind rejoicing' I've ever encountered.

    However:

    If you like it then you shoulda put a line on it!

    Ā - Ō - Ō - Ō - Ō - Ō - Ō

    I would like to congratulate you both for this exchange, which I found delightful.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Stowell,

    +1 for Adam Curtis.

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report Reply

  • Chris Waugh, in reply to recordari,

    I don’t know about god (no really, I don’t), but I think this proves beyond all reasonable doubt that hell exists.

    Oh, Hell exists, alright (note the name of the railway station). Nice enough little town, I was there for a couple of hours all up - a brief stop on the way into Trondheim, another brief stop on the way back up north - nearly 11 years ago now. My two biggest memories - the iced tea was stacked next to the fridge, and the railway station had a sign I'm sure many find amusing:

    "Hell: Gods Expedition"

    I was told the 'Gods' is a deliberate spelling mistake, there should be a 't' in the Norwegian word for 'Goods', apparently, something like 'Godts'.

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 2401 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Chris Waugh,

    I wonder how cold it gets...

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • tussock,

    I can’t find any means to describe ObL as anything but evil, but that doesn’t mean then that any action against him was purely one or the other – if it was a good act, then he was evil and therefore killing him was a purely good act, or if killing him was a bad act, then he must have been good, or at least not so bad and America is therefore definitely bad… those sort of arguments baffle me and seem self-deluding.

    That's the team-jersey view of alignment, very Gygaxian (derived from his religious upbringing). 3e's much more sensible: harming the innocent is Evil, stopping that is Good, if killing is necessary to stop Evil then it is not in itself Evil. Killing Evil people at random is Evil, because you can be Evil and still innocent, and lots of people are Evil.

    John Key for instance, quite happy to cut from the poor to give to the rich, because he honestly thinks people choose to be poor (as he chose to be rich and is, begging the question being a common human failing). So he thinks hurting the poor just gives them more incentive to choose wealth. Evil, and innocent.

    Furthermore, Good can kill Good, because Good isn't always innocent. You can totally harm the innocent while trying to stop great Evil, ruining your own innocence, making you a valid target for Good people.

    UbL's failing is typical of fundies there, he thinks because the US does great Evil, that it's citizens are not innocent, but that's just an excuse for collective punishment, which is grossly Evil.

    ... 8]

    The presumption of innocence was nice while it lasted, but we in the modern empires can't put up with those old revolutionary ideals of the primacy of law and equality of man. Don't you know. Pip pip. etc.

    Since Nov 2006 • 611 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Parks, in reply to HORansome,

    Well, the tāngata whenua of this place are the Māori. No idea what these “Maori” people keep writing about, though. It’s a common word and I’ve come to think that it means the writer doesn’t know how to spell key words in one of the country’s official languages.

    That would include the person you were originally agreeing with, Ewan Morris.

    Wellington • Since May 2007 • 1165 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Parks, in reply to Che Tibby,

    ...but you’re ignoring the old maxim ’the enemy of my enemy etc”.

    if you’re a pissed off and impoverished *anyone* with a grunge against colonialist like the NZL Crown or the US of A, seeing someone like OBL sticking it to The Man will raise a cheer.

    I thought that was the point that was being made by some against Hone - that he was making just this kind of infantile comparison.

    Wellington • Since May 2007 • 1165 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Parks, in reply to chris,

    An argument in which the protagonist is imposing his perception of a third party’s thought processes against others’ perceptions is always going to be – somewhat moot. When this third party has managed to evade detection for ten years, I’d emphasize – strikingly.

    It's hard to tell what you're on about here, but Russell wasn't "imposing" his perception of Osama's thought processes. If you've got evidence to suggest OBL held quite different views to those attributed, feel free to share.

    Wellington • Since May 2007 • 1165 posts Report Reply

  • DexterX, in reply to tussock,

    Did Key actually make the statment that , "people choose to be poor"? Can you link to it?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1224 posts Report Reply

  • DexterX, in reply to tussock,

    Ok - actually found it:
    http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/key-stands-some-poor-make-poor-choices-foodbank-comment-nn-86501

    After his poor showing on Hard Talk - Key seems to see life as a game of Monopoly, he wins you lose.

    Two weeks ago in response to, was it, the Master Builders concerns about skill shortages in the trades and building industry - his response was we will get "it" from offshore. IMHO - likely China.

    National and Labour make Muldoon look like a socialist.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1224 posts Report Reply

  • AAMC, in reply to Danielle,

    I was responding to Russel's original post and suggesting that because Usama was clearly deluded does not mean we should be dancing on his death bed. Clearly we should be glad not to have him as the figurehead of Al-Qaeda, perhaps now provides the opportunity for us not to make more of him.

    The context in which Usama was created, that people like Bomber like to reinforce, is the knowledge that can help us, the citizenry, push against Government policy which props up Arab Dictators and supports the Imperial project ( read the link about just how many military bases the Americans now have around the globe - http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175338/ ) and so fertilizes the soil of radicalism.

    Our response to Usama has caused enormous civilian death, he was evil, so was our reaction, particularly if seen in the light of Adam Curtis.

    So who will the next baddie be?

    Auckland • Since Aug 2010 • 4 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to tussock,

    That's the team-jersey view of alignment, very Gygaxian (derived from his religious upbringing).

    Was he Lawful or Chaotic is the next question.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

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