Posts by Lucy Stewart
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Taking the bobble thingies off the epees in the fencing would be a start.
We stopped using those about ten years ago, if that makes you feel better. And they're not wearing kevlar out there for fun and overheating, y'know.
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Actually, the Artistic Olympics would only include foil and sabre; the referee's role in epee is to stop the fencers beating on each other with the guards of their blades (slightly more common than you would think), count the pretty lights, and stay the hell out of their way. The outcome is generally not affected by what they do. Foil and sabre are another story. They have, like, permitted targets and sissy stuff like that.
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This Confucian enlightenment was so marvellously humanitarian that China generally only expected tribute payments rather than military surrender from its neighbours, except of course when obeisance wasn't forthcoming (cue numerous invasions of Vietnam and Korea over the centuries).
Including, famously, demanding that the barbarian upstart Victoria send them some tribute right quick when the first major English embassy showed up. The most astonishing thing about China through the centuries has been their failure to conquer or colonise most of the world, primarily because the rulers just assumed that everyone was already subordinate to them.
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It was actually when the Ottoman's went to town and invaded europe. Something that McCain should known, since they were the reason Columbus went west liking for a route to China.
I'd say the Ottoman invasions helped prolong the "Christendom" attitude to some extent; it was when they became allies for some parts of Europe that it was put back under. But "they're Christian, so they're allies" really died all the way back at the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. It was an explicit lesson for the Byzantines in The Enemy Of My Enemy Is Totally Not My Friend, Even If He Is Christian.
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Someone should tell McCain that the concept of Christendom as a defensive unit died out around, oh, the High Middle Ages, with the end of the major crusading period.
Oh, wait. He probably thinks this is a crusade.
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No, but I thought it an odd policy given that Nats all know that when given the choice of doing 15 hours a week work/training once your child turns six, or having another baby, a teenage DPB mum will always choose to get herself knocked up again. And then claim not to know who the father is, which is probably true, because they ... y'know ... are quite free with their favours.
Please tell me there's a missing sarcasm tag attached to this.
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But I don't think it actually helps if, as Tom seems to do, you come in assuming that employers -- or employees for that matter -- are automatically trying to fuck people over, in any sense.
I don't think that it's necessary to assume that employers are trying to fuck people over to consider that a situation where people can be fired at will and are required to keep their jobs in order to keep their benefit is extremely likely (if not inevitably) going to lead to those people being preyed upon. No-one is saying that employers as a group are sexual predators. But there's absolutely no reason to increase the chances for predation to happen. I don't assume that all drivers on a given stretch of road are potential rapists, but I still wouldn't hitchhike by myself. It's about vulnerability and opportunity.
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I once watched two engineering students fail to open the easy-peel wrapper on a block of cheese.
You literary types will appreciate this: my electrical engineer flatmate once turned to me while that Trojan Horse cold medicine ad was playing and said "I don't get it. What's the joke?"
I explained that it was referring to the myth of the Trojan Horse.
"Myth? I thought that was just a name for a kind of computer virus."
This is also the flatmate whose solution to repeatedly burning his toast because he'd forgotten to check the setting was to permanently hot-glue the knob to the lowest setting. He's working on his PhD. Frankly, I'm kind of afraid.
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Note: never get into a duel with Lucy.
Better advice: remember that for male fencers, a cricket box is not an optional piece of equipment.
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And speaking of getting hot wearing your sporting uniform, did anyone see the fencers' new boiler-suit/welding mask combo? What happended to elegant old white padded suit and mesh mask?
No, because when I logged on at nine o'clock last night in hopes of watching the scheduled men's finals from 8.30-10.30 on tvnz 3, I was greeted with "see programme guide below for when live coverage resumes".
I was not a happy bunny.
With the crazy lights, and all kinds of cords coming from them? Bizarre, and very un-zorro like.
Electric gear of the type you describe has been de rigeur for about the last twenty years at top levels and the last ten, well, everywhere. It was decided that asking refs to judge whether two people had hit simultaneously, where "simultaneously" = "within 1/25th of a second" was easier with flashing lights and stuff. And to be honest, you don't even notice the wire when you're fencing.