Hard News: This Is Not A Complicated Issue
277 Responses
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linger, in reply to
(Yep – I figured it might be helpful to make it explicit why the equivalence was false… But, nek minnit, Lockwood actually did start getting described as being from an alien culture!)
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Islander, in reply to
There are so many ways to -eerrrrm- make that puzzle a non-puzzle - or a stupidity
-what planet is this test being conducted on?
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Islander, in reply to
Okay, I *can* understand the funny bit - sort of-
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Kracklite, in reply to
Well, what exactly is the gravitational force on the planet in question? Can the goldfish swim among the branches of the tree on an ocean planet when all of the air breathers would drown?
Rather than being facetious, I’m raising the question about the so-called “level playing field”. I submit that every planet has its own “level playing field” that are perfectly “natural” and therefore “right”. Some of them have gravitational fields forcing the accelerations of free-falling objects to be 8.87 metres per second squared, endure or welcome rains of sulphuric acid, have atmospheric pressures of ninety-three bars and mean temperatures of four hundred and sixty degrees celsius like Venus. Other “level fields” are cold, have a gravitational field zero point one four of what we normally experience and have a drizzle of methane rain, feeding rivers that flow into methane seas – just like Titan.
What is a “level field”? What is the importance of what we experience on one little mote in the cosmos? Now some cretin named "James" liked to say on the Dimpost that "The Universe", a personal friend of his, dictated rules to him,but he could never explain what it had to say about the connection between physical laws and social needs. Therefore, the question remained open about how, in society, that most arbitrary and contingent of constructions, what is any “level playing field” anything but an elaborate and yet ramshackle contrivance?
Whatever it is, what we have here and now in this place somehow seems to benefit those most bizarre and pointless of beings, outdated Thunderbirds puppets such as Lackwit Smirk.
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In case that seems a little fantastical, when people talk in metaphors such as "level playing fields" - which no-one has here, but which they have abundantly elsewhere - I really want to know what they mean when they try to translate their metaphors into the real world.
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Kumara Republic, in reply to
I posted a Facebook status (which is in itself a little momentous):
What’s interesting is that some people who talk about a “level playing field” really mean that “no-one should be allowed to get anything that I don’t get!”
In practice, they really mean being entitled to shift the goal posts.
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Besides, if you make a playing field precisely level, you will have ponding problems. A correctly installed playing field will have a slight gradient, either linear from one side to another, or from a high point in the centre. If you sat at ground level in AMI stadium, you can see that the pitch block is about a foot higher than the boundary (and you cannae see the feet of a player on the far boundary). I use the past tense, as I believe that stadium surface now undulates randomly.
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
What’s interesting is that some people who talk about a “level playing field” really mean that “no-one should be allowed to get anything that I don’t get!”
I'm all for level playing fields - but it's somewhat off-putting when you show up with your stick for a jolly game of field hockey and the ref only knows the rules of rugby. Makes life needlessly aggravating.
<q>Now, let’s put this back in context for a moment – you were interpreting Lockwood’s body language. That, I think, is defensible</i>
@Linger: I find your analysis there still somewhat problematic, but since our host has (politely) suggested I move along, and I'm his (more or less) obedient servant (eventually). :) Just hope nobody who meets me in a crowded room on a bad day makes too many firm determinations about my character.
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Christopher Dempsey, in reply to
She was taught oralism in the UK - ie to lip read and speak. Most NZers were also taught that way until only about 20 years ago (to the extent of being punished for signing).
I was taught 'oralism' i.e. being taught how to speak. Fortunately my hearing ability is such that with Hearing Aids I can pretty much 'hear' most speech so I can match up the sounds heard with the sounds I needed to produce.
This movement was, I think, deliberately aimed at integrating the 'deaf' with the hearing society on hearing society's terms, i.e. being made to speak. Consequently, my first language is oral, not sign. Cause if I had a choice I would have learnt sign as well.
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Bart Janssen, in reply to
It’s like we’re trying to find things to disagree on
snort - you have actually met most of us so you should know we are a bunch of cantankerous farts who live for a good argument.
But you are right of course
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nzlemming, in reply to
Just hope nobody who meets me in a crowded room on a bad day makes too many firm determinations about my character.
I think we've already got your number, Craig :-D
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
snort – you have actually met most of us so you should know we are a bunch of cantankerous farts who live for a good argument.
I was tempted to ask what Fringe-verse version of PAS he’d been hanging around recently. Thought better of it. :)
I think we’ve already got your number, Craig :-D
Like a pigeon having a nap on the lip of a jet engine because that sound is sooo soothing, I walked into that.
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Sacha, in reply to
Like a pigeon having a nap on the lip of a jet engine because that sound is sooo soothing
..and birdstrike produces flames
#handymetaphor -
Hilary Stace, in reply to
Sacha, this paper of Martin's is one of the best I've read on disability and language use (but not online)
Sullivan, M (2000) 'Does it say what we mean, do we mean what it says, do we know what we are saying? Problematising the way disability is conceptualised, written and spoken about.' New Zealand Journal of Disability Studies, 8:36-46.
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I found this poster shocking the first time I saw it. But it is where we might be heading if the economics of disability are allowed to dominate the narrative - eg 'worthless eaters'.
This German poster shows a disabled person and a clinician and reads
‘This person suffering from hereditary defects costs the community 60,000 Reichsmark during his life time. Fellow Germans, that is your money too.’
(From R.L. Wagoner ‘Speaking for the unfit’ http://weradaexperts.com/kruppel.pdf)
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Oops poster did not post. Trying again
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Sacha, in reply to
Thanks. Read and discussed at the time, but there's still a gap between the academic discourse and policy implementation that seriously needs to be addressed. No one is, and it will continue to undermine other changes. Lacking both govt and community leadership, but there is little I can do to help fix that until it's taken seriously - a real Catch 22.
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Hilary Stace, in reply to
Agreed.
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Sacha, in reply to
Winning Lotto shouldn't be the most viable answer..
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Deborah, in reply to
That poster made me shudder, Hilary. "Thanks for sharing" doesn't quite seem to be the right response, but even so, thank you for sharing it.
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Knew I'd seen that poster somewhere. You can see the plaque marking the spot today via Google Streetview.
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Hilary Stace, in reply to
It all happened with the support of ordinary citizens. That is why we need to speak out.
Has an interesting angle re autism too. In the early 1940s Asperger was working with a group of children in Vienna and desribed a strength based condition emphasising abilities, probably because he was aware of the dangers to disabled children at the time. Meanwhile Austrian expat Kanner was working in Baltimore with a similar group of children but seeing something much more negative. Kanner's autism and Aspergers have come down to us as opposite ends of the spectrum.
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Sacha, in reply to
Totally. And that's an interesting insight, yes.
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I mean that is why we need to speak out at little bits of injustice, such as Mojo M's access to parliamentary debates, before they become big and systemic and into the territory of 'lives unworthy of life', 'useless eaters' and the ordinary citizens get carried along by the torrent.
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Sacha, in reply to
That UK story worried me when it first popped up.
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