Posts by B Jones

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  • Hard News: How much speech does it take?,

    Antifeminism and anti-Islam have a lot of fellow travellers, under the broader heading of general conservatism. NZConservative and the NZCPR forum do a fair bit of both. The former has one poster prematurely declaring the massacre to be one of the benefits of multiculturalism before performing a world record volte face, and I see echoes of Lucia Maria's "OMG they're forcing my boy to play netball" in Breivik's complaint about being taught knitting at school. The latter has a thread on Islamism has a comment as follows: "About time the west lopped a few heads off to show our disgust at thier burning a sacred symbol of our boys sacrifice. Oh sorry its only barbaric, savages who do that sort of thing eh."

    Goodness knows what the difference between keyboard pajamahedeen and people who take it into the real world is. I still don't know where the Urewera crowd sit on that spectrum. I hope the inevitable damage Breivik does to his cause will give activist groups of all stripes a bit more of an incentive to keep an eye on members who might take things too far.

    The thing (of all things) I find odd is that he listed Caprica among his favourite TV shows on Facebook. I guess anyone contemplating terrorism would be intrigued by its terrorism themes, but I'm boggled how anyone could get out of it that it's a good idea.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report

  • Legal Beagle: Asking the next question,

    One persuasive argument I read, and damned if I can cite it years after the fact, was that Maori knowledge of kawanatanga would have been referenced to the Bible, which had for years been taught to Maori by missionaries, and had examples like Pontius Pilate and Caesar.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report

  • Speaker: The great New Zealand phone…, in reply to Rich Lock,

    Another crack in Enigma's armour, I think, was the practice of repeating the three-letter callsign of the operator. The users got too focused on the clarity of the message at the expense of its security.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report

  • Legal Beagle: Asking the next question, in reply to Idiot Savant,

    Don't ask me, it's a conspiracy. Doesn't have to make sense, only that the Truth is being Covered Up by Vested Interests.

    It's very helpful as a shibboleth for redneckery, anyway.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report

  • Legal Beagle: Asking the next question, in reply to ScottY,

    Back in the Orewa day, someone asked him that, and he said he was familiar with both versions, and also the Littlewood one. The latter is a draft or translation discovered in 1992 that nobody actually signed, but which nevertheless gets the Maori Weren't Here First crowd very excited because it fails to promise a few things that the real ones do, and is apparently being Suppressed.

    Ansell mentioned it the other day as well, shortly before referring to pre-Maori races. Both are indicators of high-dose conspiracy theory.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report

  • Speaker: John and Phil meet Bob,

    I'm leaning towards Lucy's point - I think if you did this well, it would be a good opportunity to put a wedge between the organisers and the soft "families are important" message they hide behind. Something like this: "Families are the building block of society - they're part of all our lives. Supporting families means doing the best for the coming generations. Religious organisations like yourselves have a lot to offer families (cite inoffensive programme like pre-marriage counselling), but while we're all part of families, only 2/3 of NZers profess a religion. We need to support all families, and part of that is recognising that the world's religions don't have all the answers for all time. While I applaud the support you do in your communities, the government is for everyone - for people who want to choose when they start a family, for children growing up in families that can't provide for or protect them, for people whose families need to change shape: all families. "

    Ya de ya. Keeps the base on board and might pull a few moderate opponents away from the "lesbian conspiracy to put all our children in state-run orphanages" camp and into the "well, we all have different points of view, can't argue with their good intentions" camp. I'm pretty sure the latter is a big one.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report

  • Hard News: #NetHui: it's all about you,

    That's weird, mine loves helping load and unload the dishwasher. That being said, she's not quite two and the price of her help is the occasional investigative slurping of the clean dishes. Saves me doing half the bending down, and she's short enough to fit in the lower cupboards without banging her head on the bench.

    Back to magnets, Miss Nearly Two also likes moving the weak bendy advert fridge magnets onto the dishwasher, where they seem neither to affect the electronics or the surface.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report

  • Hard News: #NetHui: it's all about you,

    My work got some flash new F&P dishwashers a few months back, and a System (a little sign) was established to make sure staff didn't load dirty cups into a clean load, or put away a dirty one. After the third or fourth callout, the technicians were mystified over why they kept failing - resetting to factory settings somehow. The only reason they'd do that was if someone put a strong magnet against them, and why would anyone do that?

    The System now attaches the sign to the front of the dishwasher with velcro.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report

  • Hard News: #NetHui: it's all about you, in reply to James Butler,

    does the dishwasher come into existence at conception, or at some undetermined time between leaving home and getting your first mortgage?

    My mother's arrived the month my sister and I left home. Mine appeared when I could afford to pay over $150 a week in rent.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report

  • Hard News: #NetHui: it's all about you, in reply to Rob S,

    I think I belong to that church. Sharp knives are either bad for the dishwasher (or users) or dishwashers are bad for sharp knives, I forget which. Also, no aluminium and the only crystal allowed in is the cheap glassware I don't care about if it gets etched.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report

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