Posts by Rich Lock
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I wonder how many people have seen David Simon's Generation Kill? I thought it delved into these issues quite well - what does a soldier who is trained to sport enemies see when he scans a civilian population? how can the rules of engagement be bent? how are these crimes recorded and policed?
I also recommend the book. The TV series and the book complement each other very well.
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It is interesting to glimpse that unguarded TV moment when such apparent numbskulls sometimes reveal why they bother.
Hopefully he’ll get sucked into an “I think my argument is so powerful that it's not necessary to talk about it” type moment.
I'm hoping for more of an 'Emperor Palpatine' moment.
Release your anger! Only your hate can destroy me!
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Is it really so shameful to let the public know from whence the money came?
Shameful, maybe not.
Potentially embarrassing? I'd put money on it.
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Sorry Keith, but there have been so very, very many 'friendly fire' incidents in the last few years, including firing on their own and allied troops, that I'm more or less inclined to dismiss this out of hand.
It's not so much that the RoE needs tightening up (although they do), as the fact that they don't seem to be trained to be anything other than a bunch of itchy-trigger-fingered yahoos.
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Did the Herald's sideswipe have anything to say about those households that didn't want it?
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Thanks, but no. I learned my lesson on Wallywood.
Forget it, 3410. It's Chinatown.
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Fair enough. I've not worked in Germany, so not really a fair call on my part.
But for what it's worth, I find NZ work/office culture to be very small-c-conservative.
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Rich: Cosi is actually a pretty good example of what I mean.
'Soave sia il vento' is achingly beautiful, but the whole opera turns on a ugly bet that two men can, in disguise, seduce the other's fiancée because... well, all women are whores, right? And no matter how prickish men are they'll be forgiven by the final curtain...
not to mention that the audience is expected to swallow that fact that the two women are too stupid to recognise their partners when they return in disguise...
I deliberately picked 'Cosi' because it is notorious for sexism. I remeber seeing it on the beeb once as a live broadcast from the Royal opera House or similar. In the intermission, they had a short doco on various interpretations of 'cosi' through the years, which included a french programme that included a sketch showing one of the main female characters on her back with spread legs, and an army marching up between them.
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I have had a number of German acquaintances, and I like almost all of them. I’ve been to Germany twice and enjoyed it both times (the second in particular was one of my favourite times in my life). I like Germany, and German people, culture, and language. I was a tad disquieted by what seemed to be anti-German (as opposed to anti-Nazi) sentiments in another PAS thread not that long ago.
Well, as i've said on here before, I don't think there was anything in the German national psyche that inveitably led to Nazism, or made them worse than any other European people or culture of the time. A unique set of circumstances, yes, but if the deck had been shuffled a little differently...
Our best friends over here are German, and I've found a lot to admire in their culture generally. They have an efficiency and pragmatic approach to problems that I find admirable. Referring back to another discussion we had recently, did you know that if a car hits a cyclist in Germany, it's always the drivers fault? and the penalties are really stiff. Needless to say, drivers are a wee bit more careful over there.
And their buttoned-down, efficient, humorless work culture just seems to mean that when it's party time, they really go to town. And for those that want to go leftfield and do something different, the crazy just quirts out with that much more force.
Course, it doesn't hurt that he's a master brewer. Which in Germany is a qualification held in as high regard as, say, a degree in medicine or engineering. Like I say, much to admire in their culture :)
Ve are very much alike, him und I. Anyvay, ve are oll friends now, nein?
But still, can't resist posting this:
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does Art History Man have a cool costume?
I bet it includes jackboots!
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I'll get me coat.