Posts by linger

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  • Radiation: Desperate Heroes,

    Today's young people don't really care about much more than going out, getting trashed, getting laid

    ... which, of course, pretty much sums up young people of any generation, in a society sufficiently free that such behaviour is possible without serious repercussions. Sure, they'll take this freedom for granted if it's already available. But I don't think I'd want to live in a less free society just so that some of "today's youth" are forced to get serious about social issues earlier, eh.

    Tokyo • Since Apr 2007 • 1944 posts Report

  • Speaker: Family First, Blowjob Later,

    Money isn't freedom of speech. What they're protesting about is the ability to distribute their 'freedom of speech' and making it available to a wider audience.

    Amen, Kyle. "Freedom of expensive distribution of speech" is such an obvious oxymoron.

    Tokyo • Since Apr 2007 • 1944 posts Report

  • Radiation: Desperate Heroes,

    Ah. So it's kinda "Burgers; better fresher. Just like women, really"? Or finding offensive but not particularly inventive ways of using the words "whoppers" or "buns"? Pity. I was hoping it was something a little more subversive (e.g. in the mode of the "watching Sky" ad).

    Tokyo • Since Apr 2007 • 1944 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Back! (And on the Crusading Herald),

    A note for other Tokyo-resident NZers:
    this weekend (Nov 17-18) there will be a NZ trade fair at the Roppongi Hills Arena. Free entry, free music. Refreshments NOT free, however. Further details at the NZ embassy webpage under the "New Zealand Paradise Week" heading.

    I guess I'm going, out of curiosity and homesickness as much as anything else. But I'm still ambivalent about it. Roppongi is, for me, an unknown territory. It's 2 hours away from where I live, so this event would really have to be pretty fantastic to be worth the trip. And I hate crowds (a major part of why I live so far out from central Tokyo).

    Tokyo • Since Apr 2007 • 1944 posts Report

  • Radiation: Desperate Heroes,

    Stuck over here as I am, I have yet to see one of the Burger King ads that everyone keeps referencing. Are there any on YouTube? (I couldn't immediately locate anything specifically from NZ, though several US TV segments, presumably for different campaigns, came up)

    Tokyo • Since Apr 2007 • 1944 posts Report

  • "The Terrorism Files",

    Sara -- since the Maori Party did rather better by winning electorates last time than they could have done on party votes, the best use of your vote (if you're on the Maori roll) has to be: Maori for electorate + some other party of your choice for party. (Essentially: what BJD said; but why settle for making the party vote merely symbolic?)

    I'm not sure why voting Green should make anyone feel like a collaborator. They're not actually in the governing coalition. At present, they're the party most consistently able to offer criticism of government policy on the basis of rational assessment of issues without descending into partisan hooting or getting sidetracked by personality conflicts. I have to hope that that works in their favour next election.

    Tokyo • Since Apr 2007 • 1944 posts Report

  • Speaker: Family First, Blowjob Later,

    Shep:

    They are both heavily involved in pre-marriage education. They have 4 children.

    Joining the dots: proselytising antiabortionists? Not necessarily what I'd term progressive.

    Tokyo • Since Apr 2007 • 1944 posts Report

  • Cracker: Do real Afghans have walnuts on…,

    Samuel: Sure. I didn't mean to imply that the W.H. never sorts their CDs at all.

    However, they are (as Robyn stated) never sorted beyond the first letter of the alphabet. So customers don't need to pick through everything; but they always need to check through all the Fs to be sure of getting their Farnham. And may well leave with Foreigner to boot.

    And sure, that's partly a function of how much the W.H. is willing to pay for labour. (You're saying I got the causation round the wrong way: it should be "less labour cost => less time re-sorting".)

    (... though admittedly, the unsorted "piles of crap" is exactly where you'd be most likely to find Farnham :-)

    Tokyo • Since Apr 2007 • 1944 posts Report

  • Cracker: Do real Afghans have walnuts on…,

    Replying to Robyn waaaay back on page 1:
    messy filing of CDs at the Warehouse is almost certainly deliberate.
    (1) less time spent resorting => less labour cost
    (2) they make more money if you are forced to browse a bit (and possibly pick out several other titles) instead of immediately going to the one title you had on your shopping list and leaving having bought only that.

    (This is the reason that 'bargain' sections in almost any music store are completely un-sorted.)

    Tokyo • Since Apr 2007 • 1944 posts Report

  • "The Terrorism Files",

    **Kyle, describing Network Waitangi:** "Maori need to take care of their own, it is Pakeha's responsibility to educate Pakeha about the treaty and its history"

    y'know, I really can't see how "Maori explain their view of the Treaty to Maori, and Pakeha explain their view to Pakeha" is going to help solve anything.

    Extending Creon's analogy a little: Suppose also that, over generations, you notice your children also becoming more mentally immature (like your 5-year-old "masters"). Would that freak you out more, or less, than the original situation? (And back in the real world, what does that imply for the prospects of a shared meeting of minds?)

    I realise the analogy was deliberately set up for emotional impact. But I think that may actually be a problem here, as it obscures that both sides are displaying arrogance (albeit in different, and possibly nonequivalent ways: the one by restricting freedom of action [with the situation, rather than the "5-y.o. masters" also restricting freedom of expression?], and the other by labelling the first group mentally subnormal).

    Tokyo • Since Apr 2007 • 1944 posts Report

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