Posts by giovanni tiso

Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First

  • I feel Ayn Rand,

    PS: A quickie analysis claims his top nine sponsors have suffered a $12 billion loss of stock market value as a result of his fall from grace.

    That's one of the most uplifting pieces of news I've heard this decade. And I started it in 2001, not just a few days ago.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Field Theory: One in a billion,

    Nope. I did it by assuming that gay athletes might be put off by the outwardly homophobic sports world.

    HA! Finally I can my put my finger on the issue I've had with this argument since you made it. The sports world may be outwardly homophobic, but then so is the non-sports world. So really gay people should be put off by any old endeavour (outside perhaps of stage design, home decorating and other sitcom cliches.)

    Even if you took the view that some environments are more homophobic than others, then there ought to be no gay people in the army according to your logic. Which seems far fetched.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Honours,

    Even living in South Auckland it was entirely normal for kids to disappear all day, with no fixed destination, right through the end of the 80s.

    When Google Earth came out I looked at my grandmother's village and surrounding areas and at the route I used to travel on my bycicle every other day when holidaying there since a very tender age. That came as a bit of a shock, I went for MILES. (And it involved passing a notoriously dodgey railway crossing.)

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • I feel Ayn Rand,

    Gossip is how humans communicate, a lot of the time

    True, it goes right back to when we were hunters and gatherers, when KDONK [he is hit on the head by an anvil that leaves him unconscious.]

    How many sponsorship deals did Michael Jackson have?

    Quite a number

    Er, okay, fair cop. What I meant is that you hardly need to have constructed a squaky clean image for the purposes of selling stuff for the public to relish ripping you to shreds if your famous life has taken a turn for the weird, or the adulterous, or the self-destructive. Perhaps in this respect Tiger deserves a little less pity than others, but really not that much in my view.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • I feel Ayn Rand,

    Therefore you can't blame "society" for tearing him down. He played with fire.

    Are you saying he wouldn't have been torn down if he hadn't accepted sponsorships? How many sponsorship deals did Michael Jackson have?

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • I feel Ayn Rand,

    Didn't he tear himself down by living a double life and betraying his family????

    Er... You could question whatever it might have to do with his golfing, surely? (Hint: it rhymes with "buck hall") It doesn't strike me as an Ayn Rand story in fact precisely because Tiger is no Randian hero, just a bloke who's good at golf who because of the madness of how we treat celebrities has been endowed with the duties of a moral leader. But arguably he never asked for it, although he was certainly complicit by reaping the sponsorship benefits.

    I couldn't muster any interest in the story, but I did enjoy reading numerous people writing "Tiger is a cheater!" on Facebook and Twitter because obviously they didn't understand the joke.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: Holiday Musings,

    Precisely - the first Alien is a lot more subtle and menacing. The badness of Reiser and the corporation in Aliens is just silly.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Honours,

    sadly, I am indeed lumbered with
    an initially taxing acronym...

    Lovely to have you back.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: Holiday Musings,

    He inherited that, didn't he? And watered it down some.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Honours,

    I'm not sure why we don't have a health system like that.

    Because it's anathema to the ideology of both major parties, and has been successfully sold to us that the status quo is the only option there is. *And* they still have to gall to claim that certain services are funded on a needs basis, as opposed to as a function of what the budgeted resources can provide.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

Last ←Newer Page 1 361 362 363 364 365 747 Older→ First