Posts by BenWilson
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to Bart Janssen,
How did this become about the "rights" of churches to exclude people from their rites?
That doesn't really sound that crazy to me. Are churches public or private institutions? I don't know the answer.
Interesting debate, one that seems likely to remain entirely hypothetical, because people generally want their celebrant to be in their corner, rather than someone who has a fundamental problem with them. If they really did push on through regardless, and try to make some old homophobe marry them, then I'd expect it to end in tears all round. Might be worth doing anyway, to make the point, but it would be an unusual kind of person that wanted that kind of thing on their wedding day.
-
Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Lilith __,
I've heard estimates as high as $1.8B
I'd be amazed if it was a cheap as that. But it's built to last, something that would be a novelty in NZ.
-
Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Keir Leslie,
Well it's not an idea that's generally monorailly. Again, might not be appropriate for ChCh, but there are numerous examples of successful tram systems around the world.
I'd have thought buses better, personally, just because we're a poor country, and buses are the initially cheap option, very low political hurdles, whilst still a big improvement on a system designed around cars. A tram system needs to be committed to, or it's piecemeal and pointless. Christchurch has a chance that might never come again to consider it fully. A tram system done well is teh awesome, so I'd hate for it to be off the table just because we're all short term thinking stallies.
-
Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to Emma Hart,
There is also no religious right to perform a state function.
Well, there shouldn't be, anyway. Our official Head of State is also the head of the Church of England, and has both of those positions by birthright, something that also has male-preference primogeniture built in. Hopefully we'll get to that one day.
I think religious celebrants shouldn't be bigots, and the right not to be affected by bigotry should be protected in law, but practically, who wants to be married by a bigot that is bitter on them anyway? Even if there were legislation to force celebrants to marry gay people overriding their own personal views, it would be impractical to insist on it in any case. The priest could always just call in sick on the day, or deliberately fuck the proceedings up, lose the keys to the church, forget to bring the papers, etc.
It seems likely to me that any gay people wanting a religious service will simply choose a celebrant who is not a bigot.
However, hopefully, just by the legislation making gay marriage possible (and I really do hope this passes, it really gives me goosebumps when stuff like this happens, when millenia of prejudice are finally overridden by reason), hopefully a lot more religious celebrants will show that actually, they're not all arseholes, and get on with sealing the deal for their gay flock. I'd expect them to find it's actually good for their churches.
-
Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Lilith __,
I have to say, rapid acceleration was not their forte, but perhaps technology has improved. Perhaps you're talking about trolley buses?
You're right about that, battery powered EVs don't tend to have good acceleration. Not that rapid acceleration is especially desirable in buses on the road anyway. The EVs with high acceleration are typically running off the grid.
I'm curious about the general antipathy towards trams here. They do have some advantages. The high setup cost is counterbalanced by very long life spans of the tracks and vehicles. The ride is much higher quality than a bus. They can add carriages relatively easily during rush hour, delivering more passengers per driver. The dedicated lanes are much narrower than bus lanes, trams pass each other only a meter apart safely. The fuel efficiency is considerably more than fossil fuel powered buses. It's a closer race for electric buses, but trams still have the edge, steel on steel has much less friction than rubber on bitumen. Boarding times are much faster.
Not saying ChCh should have them, the ongoing seismic instability is an issue. But they're not something that's obviously bad. A tram system is best if it's designed into the city right from the start, and ChCh has a unique opportunity to do that. It's worth considering the pros and cons.
-
Gandalf is not gay. He's just really busy, and a bit too old for any carry on of any kind. Ian McKellen, however, makes a mockery of such pitiful excuses.
-
Hard News: It's not funny because it's…, in reply to Matthew Poole,
f DARPA had worried about opportunity costs when it began looking at packet-switched networks and ultimately developed the internet then we wouldn't be having this discussion, in this forum, because the internet would never have been created. Sometimes you just need to do it.
Perhaps we might have had something even better. Opportunity cost still has to be considered, even if it's vague. If you don't then you could be choking off something even more valuable. But yes, it is hard to measure.
-
By amusing I don't mean I approve of him being homophobic, or find that funny. It's just ironic. There's massive psychological overcompensation going on with that guy.
-
Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to simon g,
Never mind their "principles", it's the basic intelligence of our MPs that astounds.
To me it's the basic cowardice, because I can't for a minute believe any one of the people who said they hadn't thought about it were telling the truth. To that end, Horan was at least not actually lying. He is indeed a homophobic wanker, something I'll find amusing to the end of my days considering how many men I've seen him rolling around with wearing nothing more than rubber undies, and how many of them he tore off.
-
Hard News: It's not funny because it's…, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
And I don't think our economic future hinges on winning at WoW.
No one loses in WoW.
ETA: Or wins.
ETA2: There is some appeal to finally becoming a LPB, though
Last ←Newer Page 1 … 426 427 428 429 430 … 1066 Older→ First