Posts by Stephen Judd

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  • Field Theory: The Sevens: Part 0,

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • Field Theory: The Sevens: Part 0,

    Never mind beer, I just got assaulted by some blue-smeared dude who'd been huffing nitrous all afternoon.

    If you know Dickhead Smurf, who is a burly chap who likes to steal your hat and then then try and step you out for it, tell him from me he's a cock. And so are his mates, who were weaving in and out of parading musicians trying to steal their kit.

    If you know the short stocky dude with a hieroglyph shaved into the back of his head who assisted in hat retrieval, he is a top bloke.

    Gotta say that the vibe out there has some pretty ugly undertones. Why do we have so many people who can't have fun until they're shitfaced?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • Hard News: Start with your conclusion,

    No, I haven't read it, although it's on my list now!

    I had earlier read of Icke's collision with various groups like the Anti-Defamation League, causing consternation by insisting (I believe sincerely) that when he says lizards, he means lizards.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • Hard News: Hell's Bells,

    There are some near-identical fragments. They sound different because MAW set those fragments over a (harmonically) very different accompaniment. I would say that's a rather nice musical effect, to play a familiar phrase over an unfamiliar harmony.

    This is an excellent demonstration of the crippling effects of aggressive copyright enforcement on composition.

    In the old days, composers regularly quoted and referenced their contemporaries and near predecessors (as in that memorable aphorism, "minor composers borrow, great composers steal"). This is basically impossible now unless your work is too minor to attract attention or you are rich enough to negotiate rights.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • Cracker: Go Figure,

    Last night I got home to find a mail-in survey from Chris Finlayson. I am deriving some sad pleasure from filling it out.

    Q: "How do you feel about the performance of the National goverment?"

    A: "Each passing day of ignoring people who know what they're talking about in favour of witless ideology fills me with more despair. For example, does anyone in caucus know who J M Keynes was?"

    There was no question about the flag, but there was a multichoice question that mentioned "nanny state" in one of the options. I intend to write over "nanny" with "abusive stepfather."

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • Hard News: Start with your conclusion,

    Elders of Zion to Retire

    The Elders of Zion, the venerable and shadowy Jewish organization that controls the international banking industry, news media and Hollywood, has announced that it is disbanding so that members can retire to Florida and live out their golden years on the golf course.

    “We had a good run,” said one senior Elder, reminiscing over old photographs of world leaders in his musty, wood-paneled office at an undisclosed location. “Maybe we ran the world for just a little too long. Anyway, now it’s Obama’s problem.”

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • Hard News: Start with your conclusion,

    Paul I think has a point.

    Paradoxically, I think this is connected with with left-wing success in making open racism unacceptable.

    Lee Atwater:

    You start out in 1954 by saying, "Nigger, nigger, nigger." By 1968 you can't say "nigger"—that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now [that] you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites.

    And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me—because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "Nigger, nigger".

    So for example, the open antisemitism of early Social Credit went underground as opposition to "international bankers" and became so coded that by now, many current followers of the movement are probably genuinely unaware of the original significance of those phrases.

    Is it a dogwhistle, or just a funny sound?

    Having said that, I do feel that Jew-hating adds such an air of distinction to a conspiracy theory, don't you? All the oldest and best ones have it.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • Hard News: Start with your conclusion,

    I don't know why Wishart doesn't just make shit up from whole cloth and attribute it to scientists who didn't say it. After all, it's good enough for the Sunday Times.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • Hard News: Do Want?,

    You know the main effect of this thread has been to give me an overwhelming urge to go out and get a cheap netbook with a solid state drive and a mobile broadband adapter...

    ... actually if I set up Asterisk at home, I wonder if the latency across 3g broadband would make it possible to use the netbook as a VOIP phone over 3G? Given how little data a voice call uses, it might be cheaper than a mobile call :D

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • Hard News: Do Want?,

    Perhaps not the best parable, given that Apple is running CUPS as an open-source project ...

    To me it makes it all the more apposite, but whatever...

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

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