Posts by Michael Stevens
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It does seem a bizarre over-reaction on Minto's part to the word. I can think of entrepreneurs in the NGO sector who do incredible work, off their own bat and independently. In fact, I think Minto could be called an entrepreneur in some ways.
But education curricula always upset people. This has pissed off the left and the right - is that a good sign? ;-)
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I have huge respect for Inia Taylor, who bought the Grant Hotel in Helensville and -- much to his financial cost -- called the pokie company and told them to take their infernal machines away. They wouldn't believe he was serious, so eventually he just carted them out to the footpath and told the company where they were. Then they picked them up quickly enough.
The idea that pokies operate as harmless fun doesn't really wash. In places like North Carolina in the US, where they're barely regulated, they're a very serious social bligh
The East Sydney Pub (in East Sydney silly) is a great local pub with no pokies and a fantastic warm atmosphere, if you're ever stuck looking over there. Just down the hill from Hyde Park
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Len was wrong, looked disoriented and I think fairly obviously baffled in the tv clip after where he denying he'd hit anyone. No excuses though - he was wrong and should be charged.
The protestors - obviously none of them have ever spent any time in a real police state. This is Gitmo, my arse.
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Phillip Sherry in RC Drag? OMG.....
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People can eventually get so deeply involved in and seduced by their own arguments and end up believeing that they must act in a radical fashion or else.
I wonder if that has gone on here. -
Interesting posts about all this up on Bomber's Tumeke site.
It's always so hard to judge this sort of thing from the outside - are the Police being way too heavy-handed, or are they being prudent?
I just don't have the information to make an informed judgement yet.But reports of napalm bombs fill me with a certain degree of unease, no matter what the context.
So I'm going to wait and see.
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Oh such scary stuff - can the Bush regime be this stupid yet again?
Well, yes, they can.
They have demonstrated they have utterly no understanding of this part of the world, how it operates, or what drives its politics.
I was in Syria for the 03 invasion of Iraq, now I'm planning to be up that way again - on a purely personal note I wish they'd stop starting wars when I'm travelling in that area.
Tens of thousands of civilian lives will be lost so Bush & Co can bring 'democracy' to Iran, or so Halliburton can make x billion more dollars.
Sickening.
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You know, I got a bad feeling when I saw this story going up.
14 year olds are still kids, and they do say and do a lot of really dumb things, and while their parents might like to think they set the tone for them, their peers have a lot more influence.
Yes his comments were nasty, spiteful and stupid, but he's a child.
Trying to use the logic that his comments somehow represent his father's view is just stretching the logic way too far.
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I/S - just wanted to say thanks - you make it comprehensible, and I'm sure it takes you a fair bit of work to master all the setail and the digest out for lazy ones like me ;-)
Much appreciated.
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Slavery was simply part of the economic structure of the time - it wasn't seen as a huge moral issue. And it has been a very widespread social practice over thousands of years. From China to the Aztecs, to Maori to the Black African kingdoms. In fact Mauritania is one of the most slave-ridden societies left.
Now of course we can feel virtuous about it, but we still replicate the conditions of servitude, with even fewer obligations to slaves.
And no, I'm not advocating a return to it ;-)