Posts by Bart Janssen
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For me it isn't being numb, it's a feeling of being unable to change anything. I was one of the many that voted out the National government of the 90's and their horrific drive to deregulate everything, based on a simplistic ideology of private is better.
But instead of reversing those changes the Labour government we voted in continued the drive to management instead of leadership. Let treasury make the decisions and forget social responsibility. The same result with different coloured ties.
So for me it's not that I care less about working class miners it's more that it feels like there is nothing we can do to make the governments respond to anything other than the dollar.
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It's worth remembering that the USA has financial problems of its own. A shooting war with Russia would be horrendously expensive and financially the only likely winner would be China.
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Why does Bob want people to die?
The answer to that almost certainly lies in his definition of "people". I suspect that what he really cares about is people-like-him and if those people suffer less harm from the "others" while a few more of the "others" die then that's a price he is willing to accept.
While I can't be certain of his motivations that analysis would be consistent with his previous statements and behaviour. The difficulty is one of empathy - the ability to consider what it feels like to have your own child affected and adjust your opinions accordingly. All too often the extreme views such as McCoskrie's lack any evidence of empathy at all - maybe we need to teach it in schools.
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from the editorial
it is the media that have propelled her into the living room of American and beyond
Bull F***ing Shit.
This is an outright lie used to justify an unjustifiable position. The person who wrote this should be seriously taken to task for this drivel.
One of the major reasons Lorde is as important as she is musically, is because she did the exact opposite of this, she quietly release her music, with no fanfare, with no media. She completely subverted the self important media that believes they have some "right" to own her. That very act made her connect with audience in a way the the editor of this crap will never understand.
But at least he (an assumption) could take the time to get that fact right even if he never understands its importance.
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Hard News: Autism and celebrity, in reply to George Darroch,
This is why we have science: if there is a plausible mechanism, then it can be investigated.
This.
But also recognizing that when placed in a situation of stress such as discovering your child has any kind of ailment it is entirely understandable that waiting for science to figure it out is very very hard.
Science is our best tool for understanding things like autism - but goddamn it's slow and filled with false leads and hope.
I loathe the shysters and snake oil salesmen with a passion but I get why it's so tempting to believe.
As an aside we are really learning a shitload about how complex the gut is and all the bacteria that are passengers in all of us. It's pretty clear that having a healthy relationship with your gut is important. What isn't clear is how to do that - sadly the best advice appears to be - eat real food, lots of plants - not very specific or magical. What is also apparent is that fad diets (and supplements) are likely to do most people more harm than good.
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Speaker: Sponsored post: Speed and Safety, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
why high performance cars
So we drive a slightly bigger car, which can go faster quicker. Sometimes it's fun to put your foot down and feel the acceleration (from 0 to 40 kph only!). But fun was NOT the reason we purchased it. The reason was that at that time we had to buy a bigger car in order to get the safety features, side impact airbags, electronic steering control etc ... and ... I'm slightly ashamed to say, the extra weight which means that when an accident occurs I'm less likely to be on the wrong side of the mass equation.
Oh and it was a purty colour and has an awesome stereo!
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Hard News: The sphere of influence, in reply to "chris",
Apologies this has become off-topic.
reading your post
You really need to be careful with attribution, only you and Craig have mentioned white privilege - personally I think in both cases it was meant as an insult - which is disappointing.
Your questions
1 As I clearly said it was his choice. I am more than happy to try and get his given name right but it is his choice to be called whatever he wants to be called for whatever reason he chooses (unless there is an intent to deceive). I would not presume to impose my will on him over that choice.2 Nope he uses Luke at work for everyone. He might use another name in other social groupings but that is his choice, not yours nor mine.
3 You should reread my comment, as I said other people use their given names and we (everyone from the multiple ethnic groupings in our workplace) try our best to get them right. Again that is their choice and I respect that choice.
Overall your attitude suggests you have a right to choose what name another person chooses to use. I personally disagree.
So Chris, or whatever name you happen to be using at this time, having answered your questions I would hope you'd refrain from further accusations of white privilege.
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Speaker: Sponsored post: Speed and Safety, in reply to Brent Jackson,
but two identical cars hitting each other head on at identical speeds will only release twice as much as one hitting a wall at the same speed.
And that energy is spread over twice the material (ie 2 cars as opposed to 1), so from a car’s occupant’s perspective, a head-on collision (with a similar-sized, and speed vehicle) is the same as hitting an immovable object at the same speed.
There is one key assumption in that ... that is both cars are identical ... however most accidents occur between non-identical cars ... in those cases you are significantly better off in the heavier car and with a better crumple zone. In accidents where one car significantly outweighs the other then for the heavy car it is much better to hit another car than to hit a wall.
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Hard News: A law gone awry, in reply to mike gemmell,
Oh imagine if policy was based on evidence.
It does feel like politicians (of all colours) strongly dislike evidence when making decisions - far better to use poll results.
Depressed by this - may have to go and do a science.
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Hard News: A law gone awry, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Yay...
Never has the sarcasm tag been needed more