Posts by Rich Lock
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Hard News: Why we thought what we thought, in reply to Lindsay Vette,
Exactly, although Republicans persist in labelling Democrats as pinko liberalists hell-bent on introducing some radical form of socialism, next stop the gulag for all “right” thinking gun-toting god-fearing citizens.
Tussock beat me to posting up The Political Compass. To my mind, it provides a much better way of looking at things than a traditional left/right analyis, especially given what you’ve noted above. Republicans in the US, and other parties of the ‘right’ in other countries, have been sucessfully scaring the horses by labelling their opponents as screaming loony lefties for decades, all the while pulling the supposed centre-line to the right with all their might.
I was sourly amused by the stampede of pollies tripping over themselves to canonise Nelson Mandela. If you run the test yourself, you get to see where they think today’s main party leaders sit (see attached). They’re mostly clustered up along the right and towards the top-right corner. Nelson Mandela is down slightly bottom left.
Personally, I sit more-or-less bang on the Green Party. Which saves me from having to do anything boring and hard like read policy or think about my vote. Thanks, Political Compass!
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Hard News: Why we thought what we thought, in reply to Steve Barnes,
I think I can see a pattern here and it ain’t no fucking butterfly. More like roadkill.
Rorschach's journal, September 1st 2014: Whale carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach.
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By the way, I don't know if it's been mentioned before, but a very minor nugget of possible interest:
As we know, 'Rawshark' is the pseudonym of the anonymous e-mail leaker.
In Alan Moore's graphic novel 'Watchmen', one of the vigilantes has the pseudonym 'Rorschach'. At one point in the plot, an anonymous tipster call the police and asks if they want to know where to find Rorschach, which is misheard by the detective on the other end of the phone.
"Raw what? Did you say shark? Raw shark? Why should I want to know where to find Raw shark."
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Hard News: Why we thought what we thought, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
Canon fodder…
Loose Canons? They do appear to be rolling around all over the gundeck of the good ship National, causing all sorts of chaos.
Although 'loose Canons' sounds more like something you might get after eating the bad parts of your Curate's egg.
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Hard News: UPDATED: Media Take: Election…, in reply to Russell Brown,
Via Photoshop. And headed “Leader of the Pack”. In an election period.
Well, that's a zebra of a different stripe. Details that I wasn't fully aware of.
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Hard News: UPDATED: Media Take: Election…, in reply to Kumara Republic,
Didn’t Russell describe himself as such? Even then, I’m amused when moderate liberals get the Reductio ad Stalinum label thrown at them – I’m looking at you, Redsterbaiter & Mr Loudon.
Wasn't the point that someone (Russell) on 'the left' can quite happily publicly note when they think someone on their 'team' is out of line, without the sky falling?
The obvious between the lines reading being that those on 'the right' don't seem capable of doing the same?
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Hard News: UPDATED: Media Take: Election…, in reply to Hilary Stace,
What about the cover of the rugby magazine with John Key pretending to be an All Black? It is in every book and magazine shop and dairy across NZ. Surely that is an election advertisement. Much more so than a song or a former MP’s dresses.
A few election cycles ago, Helen Clarke turned up on the cover of more or less every NZ women's magazine.
Cuts both ways.
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Up Front: Oh, God, in reply to Danielle,
it’s not like I’m completely hostile to all religious feeling.
I certainly like to fill myself with the holy spirit.
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Up Front: Oh, God, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Instead those bible classes try and indoctrinate children into one or other of those very same religions that have so happily maimed, killed, raped and abused in the not-too-distant past.
I’m fine with people believing what they like, I’m fine with them getting together and providing social and moral comfort to each other … it’s the bloody religions I loathe, and letting those organisations near our children … sheesh.
It had been arranged by the prison charlie, as part of my further education to read him the Bible. I didn't so much like the latter part of the book which is more like all preachy talking, than fighting and the old in-out. I liked the parts where these old yahoodies tolchock each other and then drink their Hebrew vino and, then getting on to the bed with their wives' handmaidens. That kept me going.
I read all about the scourging and the crowning with thorns and all that, and I could viddy myself helping in and even taking charge of the tolchocking and the nailing in, being dressed in the height of Roman fashion.
- A Clockwork Orange
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Hard News: Didn't see that coming, in reply to Andre Alessi,
Imagine a situation where employers could routinely hire call center workers for below minimum wage on short term contracts to “fulfill a need”, for example. It would be sold to the public as ” giving new workers experience” even though call center experience is not particularly useful to workers, and the effect would be depressing wages further in what is already a low-paying industry.
It's not particularly hard to imagine as it already happens (in the UK at least) - zero hours contacts and work-for-dole are both becoming increasingly widespread.
