Posts by Kracklite
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Hard News: The file-sharing bill, in reply to Sacha,
Well, I know the latter part is facetious. Possibly the recall option…
Part of the problem with California now is the fact that it has become ungovernable through, I believe, an excess of populism through excessive reliance on referenda, which is not the same as representative democracy. Of course everyone will prefer lower taxes; of course everyone will prefer X, which incidentally costs more… and so on. There’s a nice quote from Burke, I believe…
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Hard News: The file-sharing bill, in reply to Rex Widerstrom,
Was it Eisenhower who expressed surprise that half the population was below average? MMP has nothing to do with this moronic inferno. Our representatives are… our representatives. I’m depressed by this fact, but I’m angered when they don’t do what they’re paid to do or claim to do (Hello Mr Robertson, how's that inquiry going? I hear that the police have been rather uncivil with someone else lately).
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Hard News: The file-sharing bill, in reply to Hilary Stace,
person with Aspergers unjustly charged and imprisoned.
Yes, and get this: The officer who conducted the interview with Mr Farmer was “moved sideways” within the force. Could that bus ticket be any wetter? I can't wait to hear Greg O'Connor's comment.
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But, look over there..
I am not of conspiratorial mind, but I do think that has been an actual strategy this week.
The worst thing is that a conspiracy is unnecessary. I'm waiting for Goff's Labour to create some utterly pointless distraction through some MP throwing another tantrum even without someone pointing out that they never opposed it anyway. A millipede with OCD and a gatling gun couldn't shoot itself in the foot more often.
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Hard News: Perverse Entertainment, in reply to Kracklite,
Addendum re the Trotteroids: I mean that those who might be inherently conservative and authoritarian have found niches under the left banner.
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Hard News: Perverse Entertainment, in reply to Steve Barnes,
Well, I've come across other studies that also find a correlation between neurology and openness to new experiences and ideas, but I've seen plenty of (nominal) left-wing ossification and authoritarianism - Trotter, for example. I'm also dubious about sorting people into goodies and baddies according to physical characteristics, or arguing that biology is predestination.
I know, you put a smiley there, so sorry if this seems a bit po-faced.
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Hard News: Perverse Entertainment, in reply to Islander,
it’s just making limited provocative sorties
You're right, of course. It's probing, testing limits and not going too far, but seeing just how far it can go to get a response. No grand explosion is likely, nothing that will get it definitely banned in this incarnation. There'll be another strategy, a declaration of victory, or it will quietly vanish.
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In other news... Rodders has named his child "Liberty".
Anyone remember The Young Ones? There's this classic line: "This is the band Radical Posture, and my name is Alexei Yuri Gagarin Siege of Stalingrad Glorious Five-Year Plan Sputnik Pravda Moscow Dynamo Back Four Balowski. Me Dad was a bit of a Communist, know what I mean?"
There is what I call HSP - Hippie Parent Syndrome, related to CPS - Celebrity Parent Syndrome - some poor person is cursed with a name like Sunshine or Apple or Moon Unit because their narcissistic git of a parent sees their child as some sort of animate accessory to show the world how incredibly cool they are.
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Hard News: Perverse Entertainment, in reply to Islander,
Yes, that's what I find so existentially depressing about psychopaths or those that adopt their behaviour. They add nothing. They do provide entertainment if you can avoid being ensnared by them, but in the end... well, John Ralston Saul put it so nicely paraphrasing Hannah Arendt in saying that they are the incarnation of the evil of banality.
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Hard News: Perverse Entertainment, in reply to Islander,
Yeah, a couple of notes:
I’m having fun because it gives me an opportunity to take my Doug Piranha persona out for a joyride.
I’ve known two or three people who could be classified as psychopaths, and while this isn’t T’ Standard and I won’t throw the label at anyone I find amusing/disagreeable/pathetic, a behaviour that is characteristic of (if not limited to) psychopaths is the treatment of other people as machines that light up if you press the appropriate buttons. Dribblette is looking for buttons to push to make the pretty lights flash. All it wants is to see is pretty flashing lights.
When Dribblette is frustrated, Dribblette will get angry at first, and then it will try another button to push. The trick is never to let it wind you up, because that is the thing that will gratify it. It’s just like the rats that had electrodes implanted in their pleasure centres that would keep zapping themselves and forget to feed themselves until they died of thirst or starvation. It’s hopelessly dependent on the buzz. It has no vision of any further objective.
I predict that it will try a few more strategies, and then when it sees that it’s getting nowhere, it will declare victory and flounce away until the next time it’s bored. It should be banned eventually, because while it may be ephemerally entertaining, and someone like me can see it as material (there might be a paper or short story in this down the line somewhere), a lot of other people are going to get bored themselves and we don’t want it sullying a more serious thread.