Posts by Matthew Poole
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You'll be able to get around anyway. I doubt that after the 6 years I studied German, 3 odd months of immersion, etc, that I'd be willing to deliver a speech to a potentially hostile crowd urging them emphatically to go to a hopeless war. It's not the time to call yourself a donut, best leave it to someone more able.
Totally, and I get that. It's precisely the fact that he did use a translator that, to my mind, nixes the suggestion that Avatar trivialises native languages. If he'd stood up and delivered a flawless, untranslated peroration worthy of MLK or Winston Churchill, that would be a trivialisation.
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I should point out that I meant a fluent eight-year-old, not an eight-year-old who'd been given the same degree of immersion language exposure. That would be a bit much to ask.
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Again, that sense of entitlement justifies my comparison with the Common Agricultural Policy. And not a single mention of paying any tax either.
At least our landlords are only fucking up our economy, whereas the CAP fucks with a lot of the rest of the world - us included. Other than that, though, the entitlement mindset comparison certainly holds. As does the utter gutlessness of the politicians when it comes to proffering an extended middle finger to the howls of self-righteous outrage.
I also noticed the tax thing. I wonder if the reporter even asked. I bet that, if she pays any, she resents every last cent of it. -
So, yeah, it'll probably make rents go up
In the short-medium term I think an increase is pretty much certain, and probably one that's above the rise actually indicated by economic factors. In the medium term, and definitely in the long term, it'll all settle out and we'll see a return to equilibrium. The equilibrium may be higher than it is now, but that'll be a result of money rebalancing into other parts of the economy (hopefully. Not as much as needs to, but at least some money will go elsewhere).
I predict that in five years' time it'll all look like a big "WTF was the fuss all about? *yawn*" -
Another thing about the whole "rents will have to go up in order for landlords to make money" concern is that it means the country's been living on an artificially-reduced rent value. Which part of the economy has been subsidising the rent? It's not like the money comes from nowhere, it has to be taken from one area in order to prop up another.
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This article infuriated me. Illustrates perfectly the entitlement mindset of some landlords, and also fucked me off because that's some serious coin that could've been put into something productive (as in produces goods or services for resale, Keir, before we get into that argument again) instead of locked away for the benefit of a sole person's retirement. I bet she doesn't have a plumber, sparky or chippie retained just working on her houses, either, so I don't buy the flow-on economic benefit that supposedly attaches to keeping the houses maintained, either.
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One thing that gets me is the supposed trivialisation of native language that is portrayed by Avatar. Having watched it, I see someone who, after three months of immersion with bilingual teachers, can have a conversation but relies on a translator for a speech that, when you look at the language, could've been delivered by an eight-year-old. If that's trivialising the language, then it's trivialising any western language because it's fairly generally accepted that you'll achieve conversational fluency in something like Spanish or German within two months if you're immersed. Even Japanese can be learned to moderate conversational fluency if you've got three months of solid instruction from people who're determined to teach you.
Perfectly willing to concede that the storyline itself is offensive to first peoples, given its pretty condescending depiction of their awareness of the intentions of the invaders and their ability to organise and fight back, but getting indignant about the language just looks silly by comparison. Did these people actually watch the movie, or just hear about it?
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Kyle, withdrawal accepted.
And apologies for accusing you of accusing me of being a liar. It was just incredibly frustrating to be told that I couldn't possibly know what I've seen because it doesn't mesh with someone else's understanding of the world. All the more so when it was in the face of clear evidence that the Police are still investing a lot of money in buying motorcycles. -
Kyle, this is a heck of a lot of wasted money if it's just used for demonstrations and open days, wouldn't you say? I count seven, which is conservatively over $200k in vehicle investment.
This looks like operational use of motorcycles to me, too, as do several of the photos on this page, this photo, and some of these photos. Sorry if that's not good enough for you, but it's the best I can offer aside from my personal observation that the cops up here have motorcycles in daily use on patrol. -
Kyle, so I've imagined the motorcycle cops I've seen with people they've pulled over on the motorway? Or are you calling me a liar?
Why would they bother to buy new BMW bikes just for open days? Those bikes retail for over $30k, and even with a government discount there's still a hefty cost to mark them up, fit them with emergency response kit, and do the other work needed to turn them into police bikes. If they're going to go to the trouble and expense, they're going to want to get their money's worth.
You did notice that the bike I posted a photo of is a 2007 model, right? That's not some leftover from the bad old days. -
mounted police divided the crowd at the corner of Fort and Jean Batten
Cooperative tactics with a belligerent crowd. hmm, that sounds remarkably like *gasp* a mounted police unit to me. No, can't possibly be.