OnPoint by Keith Ng

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OnPoint: What gorilla?

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  • George Darroch,

    My lesson is now to keep things on a dedicated backup USB stick.

    Evernote is pretty cool.

    I still prefer Zotero, although being wedded to memory hungry Firefox is starting to become a downside. Ironically, I lost a year of biblio when upgrading Zotero to their 2.0 web-snyc version, which was promoted as a way to back up your data and use it across machines.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report Reply

  • Jake Pollock,

    I do worry about that Steven. I have a Time Machine like Russell, but there's been a spate of burglaries around here recently, and I can't imagine the burglars would be kind enough to leave it behind when they nick the laptop.

    Raumati South • Since Nov 2006 • 489 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    I'm a paper person...ur, you all know what I mean.
    So, when I make a draft, I copy it, in paper, 3-fold (once for me, once for the van - my survival machine- and once for one of my family of the other, safer, side of the island. Annd, I have TimeMachine, and I have backups like USB drives...

    of course, when the meteor hits, all of this will be completely redundant, as in, ash.

    But, hey ho, it calms my natural pessimistic expectations of 'the best work ever' lost to the dog. Or whatever.

    I paticularly loved the comments "the homework ate the dog" and the postgrad ate the homework- yessss!

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Brian Murphy,

    By the way, back at the beginning this discussion was about imprisonment and the way we imprison so many people here in New Zealand.

    The people at The “Rethinking Crime and Punishment” project are people who apply themselves to this issue and more, restorative justice etc, and they are looking for money to continue with their project.

    They provide a credible, thought out alternative to the Sensible Sentencing Trust on the issues related to crime and punishment in New Zealand.

    Do check out their web site Rethinking Crime and Punishment and support them if you like what you read.

    You'll always be hearing from the McVicar side only if these guys quit.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 48 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    A swift look to that site Brian, brought up 2 christian organisations running the site.
    Lost this atheist right then.

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Brian Murphy,

    I suspect they are also white and middle class, but it does not seem to affect the rigor they apply to looking at crime and punishment.

    To me going in to bat against Garth McVicar and David Garrett counts more.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 48 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Agree with that stance Brian - will not ally myself with christians (or ANY religious group whatsoever)however-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Just thinking,

    Can I suggest we look for the commonalities we have and accept our differences but leave them at the door. This way we can create a strong position on a selected issue we're all in agreement on?

    Putaringamotu • Since Apr 2009 • 1158 posts Report Reply

  • Lyndon Hood,

    If you must, here's also the Prison Fellowship, but Rethinking is rather more vocal and probably wider-focused.

    I think one does have to face the fact that a lot of the organisations out the doing good are Christian; in some cases this is incidental.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    Wot, no love for the Howard League? I have no idea if they're powered by Jesus as well but they seem to be saying sensible things.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • tussock,

    How to empty prisons.

    1: Pardons. Yes, really, and lots of them. Go nuts.

    2: Repeal prohibition. Let adults be, well, adults. Give the poor, struggling chemists something useful to sell again. There were no more drug addicts in the world when it was perfectly legal than there are now, after a good seventy years of this nonsense.

    3: Stop putting people in prison for not paying their fines. Like, they owe you a couple grand, so you spend sixty grand making a point about it? Treat them like student loans, no one puts that lot in prison if they're too poor to pay. Oh, and make fines proportional to income, duh.

    4: Lower minimum parole back to 1/3 of the sentance, and cap the mandatory non-parole periods for life back to 14 years, and others proportionately. I mean, spend ten times as much monitoring parolees and it's still well under half the price of prison.

    5: Then, if you want to be fussy, create a new top tax rate at 45% over 250k, double the minimum wage, and cut the working year to 200 6-hour days, and ban absentee landlords: creating full employment, reducing the wealth gap, and giving everyone a stake in society.

    Since Nov 2006 • 611 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Oh, and make fines proportional to income, duh.

    A couple of years ago I was astounded by the news that some very rich bugger wouldn't be getting the $3,000 fine that the judge would have normally given for cocaine possession, because he was so rich that it wouldn't have had any effect on him. I believe I started talking loudly to the radio.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    I ended up in a police holding cell after a drinking binge. The best analogy of the environment there, is an old style public toilet. If prison is anything like that, I'll rest my case.

    Ok, I suspect a public toilet could be good or bad, depending on where you have come from, but also prison (again depending on which one ends up in) can be relatively comfortable for a cell. I have not been to jail but I have visited a few and Pare does give an appropriate welcome should you find yourself visiting there. It does give one a sense of the secureness of the place and one I happily have not had to go back to. Sadly, I cant remember who it was that I visited, but one wont forget the place so easily. The Rangipos (all 3) and Hautu are fairly similar. I would liken them to Camp Adair (at least the one I went to in standard 4) Rows of units in a basic u formation all facing inward with a courtyard and buildings attached for kitchen, library and other such extras as the screws and of course the ever needed visiting room. The Mount is, well the Mount and it can only be the beast it is. Visiting there is almost rancid, but the wardens are friendly. Actually so are the wardens at the Rangipos.:)
    Whilst I am warming to the idea of containers ( albeit dampening my other ideas for them) I do think down the line in winter on the dessert road will be a good test for whether they are humane or not because insulation is going to be interesting, and because, that is where we have lots of prison land.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    Instant fool, just add Beer

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole,

    Agree with that stance Brian - will not ally myself with christians (or ANY religious group whatsoever)however-

    In which case you're going to be leaving a lot of social problems well alone. Many causes are advanced by religious groups, and when it comes to penal reform the link with churches is as old as the concept itself.

    That's actually a disturbingly blinkered view to have. Regardless of what you think of their beliefs, are you completely incapable of finding the points on which you share common ground and working together? I thought that kind of intolerance was one of the things that atheists claimed to find objectionable about organised religion.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    "In which case you're going to be leaving a lot of social problems well alone."

    Why do you think so? I didnt say I wouldnt do anything about matters I find injust - just that I wont ally myself with religious people. As for it being 'a blinkered view' - you're entitled to think that, but I find religious people hold concepts (e.g.deities, souls, life-after-death) that are so far removed from my views of reality as to make working with them pretty well impossible. That is not so much being intolerant as it is recognising that the way religious people organise and run things is incompatible with the way I work.

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    No steven crawford, Maori is an ethnicity.
    And - possibly pre-empting your strand of thought -yes, I am not the only Maori atheist. The big' religious' concept among pre-Pakeha settlement Maori (and it continues to this minute) was a complex mix between noa/tapu & whakapapa/potencies (atua/hau/wairua/mauri) and it included words/places/fire/water. Te reo terms for a lot of this are often inadequately or erroneously translated-

    In my tribe, christian hymns & karakia are often used. I discreetly leave or simply stay unmoving when these occur.

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Bloody missionaries.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Brought us the pox and the booze and turned our eyes toward their heaven, said my much-loved late Uncle Bill. And stole the land while we were looking-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Because I *am* a Maori, it's not impossible at all - when we are talking/working with matters Maori. I dont go along with religious matters when they come up in a tribal setting - I thought I had made that clear? Both, if they are European-originated matters, or poorly-understood /expressedmatters o te ao motuheka/temotuheka o te ao-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    I remember we had that good conversation here a few months ago about the debasement of karakia by christianity, and Mikaere linked to a traditional example. Was just before he helped Russell craft his marae welcome at Foocamp.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Words - sung or spoken*- can be karakia. Karakia affect people (it is a moot point whether they can deeply affect other animals - cetaceans for example (chk. the Gilbert Islands)- or whether it is 'just' the sound patterns.)
    In my experience, karakia in a marae setting can be deeply Maori traditional (and almost untranslatable except by the most expert of people) or impromptu (made for the occaision) in Maori, or in Maori but christian/bahai/etc..

    *They can also be potencies, all by themselves-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Words - sung or spoken*- can be karakia. Karakia affect people (it is a moot point whether they can deeply affect other animals - cetaceans for example (chk. the Gilbert Islands)- or whether it is 'just' the sound patterns.)
    In my experience, karakia in a marae setting can be deeply Maori traditional (and almost untranslatable except by the most expert of people) or impromptu (made for the occaision) in Maori, or in Maori but christian/bahai/etc..

    *They can also be potencies, all by themselves-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    I'm not sure what you mean by 'tau' steven c: if it's 'tapu' - yes, there are areas that are tapu (one of my olds said, You dont have to *believe* in tapu - it's like electricity, it works anyway. I dont *believe* in tapu as ascribed to parts of the human body in the sense of 'holy' or 'sacred' (and that wasnt what the word meant originally.) Likewise tapu's intrinsic necessary counterpoint, noa-

    -please note: these are not *religious* terms per se: they are terms invented by people seeked to understand the world, and order their society.

    Ditto 'mana.'Mana exists: it is both a quality youy are born with; that you can increase, and you can kill. It has nothing to do with religion: it has everything to do with human status & action or understanding.

    O, and I am certainly a comporary Maori! I'm still alive, and am an enrolled Kai Tahu.

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    o damty - 'people seeking to understand"

    Edit button, edit button, wherefore art thou edit button?

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

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