Posts by Rob S
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Hard News: Media3: The Maori Media Man, in reply to mark taslov,
I'm not sure that Islamic theology was the only or main reason that it made the West "profoundly uneasy'. It reached deeply into the west itself through conquest before being stopped in southern France and Vienna having taken over Byzantia, Spain and quite a few other parts of Europe. The breakup and subsequent war in Yugoslavia is in no small part an echo of this period. The crusades [ still a touchstone in the Middle East ] were an attempt to regain formerly Christian territory taken by Islamic forces.
To say that Christendom misunderstood Islam is not an argument I would make.
I do like your term odium theologium however. There seems to be enough of it about and it inspires far too much ill will. -
Hard News: Media3: Where harm might fall, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
does Todd Akin's "legitimate rape" fuck-wittery deserve such protection simply because it's "political speech"?
As an insight into the man I think it's done it's task extremely well. As distasteful as it is. Something about sunlight being the best disinfectant.
I understand that a line has to be drawn re hate speech etc, I also think that we have to tread very warily in regard of what people can and can't say with dare I say it the line being towards freedom to make an absolute cock of one's self. -
Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to DexterX,
I tend to prefer the traditional religions to the new age and I cannot abide Destiny Church or televangelists.
Worst religion ever? Jonestown [whatever it was]--- just to get the ball rolling.
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Field Theory: JK is back, in reply to Yamis,
NZ should just have an ITM Cup and then break into a Heinekin Cup style comp afterwards
Doubtful, just follow the Sky money trail.
Good idea for the game however. Super rugby stills seems like a manufactured product even after all the time it's been going. Probably the lack of a real regional identity to the team. Piri and Nonu in a greater Auckland side? -
Hard News: If wishing made it so ..., in reply to Rich of Observationz,
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Hard News: Moving from frustration to disgust, in reply to Matthew Poole,
Mea culpa, I'm ex Dilworth and then Massey High School from 14 years old and on. Whenever it comes up in conversation I always start by apologising for my humble origins for some reason.
I note that Dilworth was started to take on those children whose lot in life had been to be from a poor background but some other criteria is that they were to be intelligent and reasonably well brought up. They were and are selected to a standard; cherry picking if you will. This was dropped for a period in the seventies and then reinstated I understand as they didn't want to end up as a social service for difficult cases.
I didn't see any difference in the quality of education I received in either school. Dilworth was transformative for me in that it took me from a very difficult situation at home into a far more settled [and disciplined] setting which I suspect is the case for a lot of it's pupils.
I've done well, very well [financially & etc] and so have a lot of the old boys also most of my friends from Massey are in a good position.
I have never to my knowledge been selected through my schooling and most of the social stratification I've encountered in NZ has been via wealth. I was acutely conscious of class whilst working in the UK both from the bottom as a dustman and then mixing with relatives from a "higher social standing" in a system I barely understood or new how to navigate in but I thankfully was essentially without caste as being from the colonies gives few cues for people to work from.
In NZ I have encountered someone in a high position in one of the big accounting firms who was employing new interns or whatever the hell they call them and had been told to only take on people from the "right schools" -this was ChristChurch.
When I questioned him he said that 'you can't polish a turd'. He was English and didn't seem too troubled by what he was doing.- Back in England now.
I would say that NZ does have a vague class divide but isn't that good at it ........yet.
Race is another can of worms. -
Hard News: Drunk Town, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
Where's my all-suffusing golden glow, will John Key come around and deliver it personally or does one have to pick it up from an authorised body?
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I gave up drinking mid week and only drink on the weekend nowadays.I looked at how much I was drinking ie 2-4 glasses of wine per night and then on the piss on a friday or saturday with the subsequent hangover.
What really got to me was the availability especially after the super markets got in on the act,I understand that it's their most profitable line and they had no problem making shelf space available..I can't think of anywhere that's less than half a kilometre from a booze shop around the city.The stuff is everywhere and is very normalised.
A lot of alcohol is being heavily pushed on to the public with what seems like very few controls. It is very toxic, socially, mentally and physically and the people making the money from and presenting the product to our community are not paying the price for what they are doing.
Yet any other feel good drug is treated as if western society will come to a crashing halt if it's allowed. We need to have a sensible conversation in this country over these problems but I doubt that with Peter Dunne style thinking with it's knee jerk attitude to these matters that much progress will be made.
Perhaps a referendum with various broad options as to what sort of controls around these substances might be of some use in getting the publics attention in this regard. -
John Key is ambitious for New Zealand.
John Key is an ideological joke with no real ideas or ability other than smile and wave as things turn to crap. He's comfortable with that.
Bill English - ex treasury policy analyst, 'nuff said.
A party of grey people with no understanding or ability.
Yes I am angry. -
Hard News: The Vision Thing, in reply to giovanni tiso,
Darwin or Wallace? One rich one not, same result.
Who has altered the course of humanity more, lawyers or scientists?
Question of the day.
Off topic in a PA sort of way.