Posts by recordari
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ETA: You know what, it's a funny thing this adopting the indignation of others. As far as I know no children were harmed in the making of this opening ceremony. Bet those who went to town will have lifelong memories. The accident on Fanshawe street was very unfortunate, and I do think lower Queen Street should have been closed for traffic, but the incidents everyone is hand wringing over are small in number, if not in media coverage.
And did you see those Welsh? Bloody robbed I tell you.
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Hard News: Just don't call it "Party Central", in reply to Simon Grigg,
To be fair, Singapore may be a lot of things, some pretty restrictive and depressing, but it’s not really a totalitarian state or close.
Of course you're right, and I was being a bit glib for no particularly reason. The locals in particular, but then the majority of expats also, just feel no reason to cause trouble. At the risk of generalising, there is a heightened sense of not wanting to bring shame on oneself or those around you, or to interfere with the personal autonomy, or enjoyment, of others. By in large we have that too of course, but not always.
Still, we manage every year to have the Concert in the park without any major hiccups. Better preparedness seems an important factor.
Sofie, I also grew up free from constraint. I think that was fine in a small town of 1000, but when you have 200,000 people together, many consuming lots of alcohol, while walking in traffic, some corralling doesn't seem entirely a bad idea. Don't think anyone is accusing the police of doing anything but their job, are they? Although some are saying they didn't do enough.
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Hard News: Just don't call it "Party Central", in reply to Steve Barnes,
not a totalitarian police state hell bent on subjugation of the masses.
Which we really don’t have here, but you knew that. Recently I experienced what this looks like, sort of, in Singapore with 200,000 attending a waterfront event, also with fireworks. It was only the dress rehearsal for their National Day, but they let off the fireworks anyway, just to be sure they worked.
Best description I can think of is ‘military exercise’. Which is why they got the military to run it for them. No one seemed upset about the fact though, and the whole thing was family friendly, which Friday night most definitely wasn’t.
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Last night was more angst inducing than I would have expected. Really really wanted Argentina to win. Those black jerseys were pathetic, and in the end bothered me greatly.
England didn't deserve to win. Which is how they usually win. Their torpedo tackling technique is hardly what I'd call sporting either. Spare ribs anyone?
What did they bring Wilkinson for again? 'The goal posts that way!' Unfortunately Argentina couldn't find them either.
And just don't mention the Warriors.
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Field Theory: Four Years Ago, in reply to Russell Brown,
Woah. I don’t think Jack was saying that.
Yeah, I didn’t think I was either.
Great morning for end of season Football. 700+ junior plays at Three Kings after another perfect season. We do this sport thing well here, overall.
I tend to look on the positive side as a rule, and there was lots of that. It would also seem that anger and finger pointing isn’t going to make things better, so a calm retrospective analysis would likely be a good thing. The weather tomorrow might be more conducive to quiet reflection. Or the Romania Scotland game this afternoon.
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Field Theory: Four Years Ago, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
I’ve heard that one assertion you’ve made is flat out untrue
The guy talking on Campbell live sounded pretty convincing, but he might have been in a house for all I know.
As for disabling the emergency button, I entirely agree.
There were reports of people being let off trains after the emergency button was pushed and walking along the tracks. Was that untrue also?
Anyway, you have more horses in this race, so I'll leave it to the experts.
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Field Theory: Four Years Ago, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
It would be nice if some facts got in the room when they decide to shit on public transport.)
Try here. A broken down train for over an hour with no response or information to the passengers who then arrived late to the game, having paid x-hundred+$$ for a ticket? Yeah, them facts sort of speak for themselves, but YMMV.
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Hard News: Towards the Truth, in reply to Bart Janssen,
The dilemma faced by officers and soldiers in those positions is not something to envy, especially for someone who is fighting to protect the freedom to tell the truth.
Exactly. And the balance between maintaining an adequate degree of transparency in a Western Democratic sense while ensuring the information doesn't curtail the military directive or compromise the safety of the soldiers would not be a trivial consideration. Wouldn't do it for quids.
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Hard News: Towards the Truth, in reply to Russell Brown,
On the other hand, because he's retired, he does have some room to unburden himself that perhaps certain others do not.
You know, he came off pretty convincingly, at least in the first part. Can't get etra part to work yet. Might be our firewall. Will try at home later. Well, tomorrow I guess, as few things on later.
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Field Theory: Four Years Ago, in reply to Danielle,
I think when your first sporting love is the New Zealand cricket team, you can't ever be confident in life. :)
Harsh, but soooooo true. Keeping the faith becomes an almost religious experience.
But most people expect the ABs to win all the time. I think it will come down to who handles the mental pressure best this time. Including the coaches. Who would you back in that respect?