Posts by dc_red

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  • OnPoint: Bar brawls aren't my thing,

    I am literally astonished by her response in the NZH. There is no argument, no message, and barely two sentences that bare any relationship to each other. Honestly, at least Garth George usually puts his brain into 1st gear before bashing out one of these columns (and once in a while he makes it to 3rd or 4th).

    It's so hard to know where to start: the whole "I'm-wholesome-and-in-touch-with-agriculture" thing (despite primary production employing relatively few people and accounting for a relatively small percentage of GDP) - or the utter shit about how people used to like Asian immigrants (I fear, for many locals, Asians could never attain "kiwi" status - perhaps not even after a couple of generations).

    Regarding the reception of immigrants in NZ: Don Christie made a great point near the start of this chain pointing out that the arguments deployed against new asian immigrants today are pretty much the same as those employed against Irish immigrants here in the C19th: they'll never assimilate; we can't understand them when they talk; they commit crimes, etc. etc. Claims that look absurd in retrospect.

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report Reply

  • What Happens: The Sequel!,

    Still, not many states where the incumbent is not holding out.

    Yep, Robert C. Byrd is even holding on to West Virginia ... by 30% or so.

    For us lefties, it's hard to look at the maps and think "blue is good". I imagine the right finds it equally hard to accept red as a favourable colour. Sorry, "color".

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report Reply

  • What Happens: The Sequel!,

    Meanwhile, in Connecticut ...

    Lieberman 44,157 46%
    Lamont 42,455 44%

    Close enough to keep it interesting with only 11% reporting. You've got to wonder about the 9% who voted for the Republican (shades of some Labour supporters not voting for Richard Worth in Epsom?).

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report Reply

  • Depravity, anyone?,

    Hadyn - as much as I enjoy House, I would add to your comment that from a writing perspective it is exactly the same every episode, full stop. The formula goes something along the lines of:

    1/ One difficult case that presents early in the episode, generates at least 3 mis-diagnoses, requires multiple tests and re-tests, leads to at least one near-death crisis, and then is resolved through a masterful intervention (usually by the title character) with 8 minutes of the episode to spare.

    2/ One or two simple cases that provide the opportunity for humour on House's part.

    3/ One or two revelations re: the private lives of House and/or his assistants.

    4/ One or two opportunities for House to be an a**hole (but he's our a**hole, so it's okay).

    But like I said, I still watch it and enjoy it. I knows what I likes, and I likes what I knows.

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report Reply

  • What do you want them to play at your funeral?,

    "Hero" by Foo Fighters? Let everyone know how cool you really were.
    :-)

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report Reply

  • If the Straitjacket Fits ...,

    There seems to be a sort of hideous political consensus in this country around banning things "for the sake of the children"/"for the sake of public health"/"for the sake of good order."

    City and district councils of every stripe lined up to ban alcohol consumption in public spaces (especially the fun ones like downtown areas and beaches), and now prostitution in their target.

    Shipley never found a ban she didn't like ("marijuana paraphernalia" is a particularly vivid one), and now the social conservatives from left and right are lining up to prohibit alcohol sales to some adults. A certain self-styled Drugs Tsar from Sydnenham springs to mind.

    "Old enough to vote, old enough to drink" should be enough to disarm the prohibitionists, but alas it doesn't work. Their minds recoil in horror at the prospect of others having uncontrolled fun, which might even lead to an injury or two along the way.

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report Reply

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