Posts by Rich Lock
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Hard News: The crybaby philosopher, in reply to Lucy Telfar Barnard,
I’ve been posting this around all over the place lately, and can’t remember where it came to me from (was it here? If so, oops, sorry.) but it’s relevant and I really like it so I’m going to post it again.
I originally saw that on The Guardian, here, back in June. Could have been where this wave came from, although I think they've been doing 'fear of a brown planet' since 2011.
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Hard News: The crybaby philosopher, in reply to andin,
I might just wait till the movie
We have Netflix, and it keeps popping up on there as a suggested popular choice for me. I've been half-tempted a couple of times just to see what an awful trainwreck* of a movie it is, but I'm not entirely sure there's enough alcohol in the world for me to cleanse my brain afterwards.
*see what I did there? Boom, nailed it.
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Steve, Sophie - boiler rooms (effectively what he was doing) are illegal in some (most) countries. Even in neocon captial-friendly countries like the US where they are technically not illegal, they certainly violate things like the National Association of Securities Dealers' rules of fair practice. It's usually VERY difficult to get convictions for the sort of things he was convicted for (that's convicted, not charged), like insider trading (which is illegal for good reasons). Have a think about how bang-to-rights he must have been for that to stick.
The subsequent businesses he built using that money, and which he made most of his current dosh from, were also (to put it mildly) somewhat questionable in their methods, certainly testing the elasticity of the law to breaking point and beyond.
I don't think he deserves the demonisation and shit-slinging he gets from 'the right'. He clearly rattling their cage anf they're reacting to that. But my enemy's enemy =/= my friend.
Your view, my view, but personally, I wouldn't trust him to lie straight in bed.
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Hard News: Dotcom: Further news of the unlikely, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
At least Dotcom hasn’t done that.
No, but he’s very far from being the jolly larrikin pirate that some seem keen to paint him as, too – he got started via insider trading and embezzlement (he has convictions for both in Germany).
If he’s so keen to splash his money around, perhaps he could pay some to the out-of-pocket investors in letsbuyit.com
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Hard News: Dotcom: Further news of the unlikely, in reply to Kumara Republic,
Is it me, or is the whole Anglosphere seemingly going down that path?
It would be nice to be able to turn one's back and wish a pox on all their houses. Unfortunately, as the saying goes, just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.
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Hard News: A wretched editorial, in reply to B Jones,
I reckon that’s a group who are noisier than their numbers might indicate
There's been discussion on here before of 'things men say about women when women aren't around'. Can't remember the thread, unfortunately. One poster had a male partner who didn't voluntarily hang around with certain men from his work, and when queried on this, told her it was because of certain obnoxious opinions in relation to women that they felt free to express in all-male company, but not in front of women. I doubt there's a man on this forum who hasn't had this or a similar experience many, many times.
My wife is fond of quoting Germaine Greer: "Women have very little idea of how much men hate them." Now, it's a ridiculously over-the-top thing to say. And yet......there's a rather large grain of truth at the centre of that hot air and bluster.
Oh, and #notallmen. Obviously....
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Hard News: Going solar?, in reply to Stamper Stamp,
Folks – if it was a ‘no brainer’ to move to solar – every one would do it; instead we have the arguments for/against for trying to save planet/energy/money.
It you have to argue – it is obviously NOT compelling.
So – are we going to save planet/energy/money – or are we just going to “feel good” ?
Maybe green energy isn’t a reality after you have looked at the whole picture – a bit like the bio-energy fiasco.Solar power in Germany: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Germany The article quotes 35% but I read somehwere recently that they topped 50% this year.
Solar power in China: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_China
Solar power in India: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Power_in_India
Solar power in Australia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Australia
And according to this article link text, "the wholesale price of electricity in Queensland fell into negative territory" for the first time. In a country that generates a tiny fraction of it's electricity from solar.
2 million Peruvians will soon have free solar power http://grist.org/list/perus-poorest-will-soon-have-solar-power/
And here's a map that shows much much of the surface of the entire world we need to cover to supply all our energy needs: http://www.iflscience.com/environment/how-much-room-do-we-need-supply-entire-world-solar-electricity
There is no argument. It's over. Solar won. The only 'argument' is how we best circumvent passive and active social and establishment resistance.
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One half of Pitch Black does a solo album, available to stream/download/buy here:
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Hard News: A wretched editorial, in reply to Sacha,
tend to assume that there is a large group of lurking Guys Who Don’t Get It rolling their eyes at everything feminist I post.
Really? How come?
Because, even here, there is the occasional methane belch from the depths of the swamp that indicates lurking horrors and that the ground is not quite as stable is it may appear.
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Hard News: Media Take: Afghanistan,…, in reply to Stephen R,
I could well believe that that could end up slightly out of alignment
If I recall correctly from the first-person pilot accounts I've read, the 'splash zone' for the cannon on the Apache has a radius of around 10-15m at the best of times. Meaning that rounds might impact anywhere in a radius of 10-15m from your actual aiming point.