Posts by Bart Janssen
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s it really the case that the previous four coaches of the All Blacks were losers who needed to "take responsibility" by resigning or being fired?
Not at all. I have no real problem with a coach trying something new and having it fail. I like to see our sportsfolk win but sometimes you don't.
I don't demand coaches resign because they fail.
But if you deny that anything went wrong. For example JB said it was OK to allow our test cricket skills to wane because we would do really well at the one day game. And then we do really crap at the one day game and JB says everything is just fine and there is no reason to change anything ... then I have a problem.
The example from that sport played in winter is more egregious. I think the problem is not the JH failed, the problem is that he won't accept that he made a bad call. If he doesn't accept he made a bad call then there is no reason not to do exactly the same thing again. If you do the same thing again you can expect the same result. That's why I don't believe either JB or JH should have kept their jobs.
Failure is not the problem - denial is the problem. Hmm I seem to remember a blog post with something like that in the title...
cheers
Bart -
It's cricket season dammit!
So I'll keep my opinions about coaches in NZ general.
I don't mind sticking with losing coaches. All coaches lose sometimes.
BUT
Really good coaches can identify their own errors and really good coaches have the people skills and management skills necessary to admit when a mistake has been made.
Both JB and JH failed in their efforts to win a world cup. And both made quite dramatic calls leading up to the world cups. Both teams failed to perform as well as they could/should. And both coaches were demonstrably wrong.
And both coaches have not admitted that they stuffed up.
For that reason I believe both coaches need to be replaced.
Why is it in NZ that we tolerate this behaviour where someone in authority stuffs up and it's OK to let them carry on without ever admitting their mistake. It isn't restricted to sports coaches. And it is a serious problem when it is something less trivial than a sports coach eg a DHB chairperson, or a police commissioner.
And frankly at this time of year I couldn't give a rats arse about rugby but dammit why can't we get rid of the incompetent that is in charge of our cricket team???????
Back to talkback now...
cheers
Bart -
Mark pointed to Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market by Eric Schlosser which was published in 2003.
From the review of the book in The Guardian It seems that in 2003 Porn was as big as Holywood at around US$10 billion and about half as big as corn at US$19b
And that was 4 years ago!
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On the other hand, South Koreans do seem to pay vastly more per head for porn than the citizens of any other nation. But almost all internet porn is American. Go figure.
So here's a question for which someone must have done a PhD to figure out the answer and then published on the web.
What percentage of the USA's GDP does porn make up?
Is porn bigger than corn? Is it bigger than Hollywood? Or bigger than big oil?
Really anyone got any info on it I'm curious. About the economics not the porn (the porn is even more boring than second life).
cheers
Bart -
Man you go away for a week and what happens?
The mild mannered David H attracts a troll and a flame war starts. And this inspired by a hilarious description of the (traumatic) events occurring in the first few months of a new life!!
Good grief what next??
I’m sorry David but our war of honour will have to be postponed, we clearly need to unite our respective fleets and go to war on the evil-doers that your postings have attracted. This will of course necessitate combined manoeuvres to integrate our command and control systems, long sessions of planning, and even longer debriefings (catered of course).
I also strongly suspect we will need to recruit to strengthen our navies to fully prepare ourselves for future battles. I will be accepting recruits (especially those with catering experience) providing they understand that despite joint manoeuvres they still sail for The Orange.
Oh Sarah you misinterpret
…So bollocks to nasty, judgmental, bah-humbug types who don't believe in procreating….
I firmly believe in procreation (within reasonable limits and properly taxed for carbon emissions) … just really really don’t think I should do it myself :). But you have to admit that the more you know about the process the less appealing it is – until of course you get hit with the pheromones with which your own child controls you.
Russell writ
He still objects vigorously to my singing though ...
heh and if you ever doubt that he’s a smart kid, remember that.
only nobody gets to fly ...
Everyone gets to fly! Look what your children show us from the interweb – that’s flying! You may not see it because you do all the ground maintenance but to me he’s flying.
As for acupuncture – well I’m a “non-responder” so give me drugs. That said, on Mythbusters they tested lots of cures for nausea and Ginger actually worked. It was Mythbusters so it must be true!
cheers
Bart -
ZOMG
I'm not a parent and have no plans to become one. But you have my sympathy and gratitude that you and your partner are passing your genes on.
I have no experience from which to give advice. But remember biology isn't that much different from engineering - more than one solution to any problem and don't forget your stats - yes your baby can indeed be the outlier.
Oh and just a point about milk allergies, the enzymes the body uses to degrade milk change through development. There is every chance that Bob will grow up with no milk allergy in later in life.
Good luck
Bart
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re Dutch coal
"Ok let me get this straight boss - when I goes home we have to pump the water out of the bedroom to go to sleep - and you want me to dig a hole in the ground and go down it?????"
re Dutch land borders
Heh I always viewed The Netherlands as the place the Dutch went to because they figured nobody would want to invade. Of course that's not entirely true after all the Germans did invade but really it's hard to imagine that strip of boggy coastline as of any strategic value to anyone with any brains at all.
re Re-enactments
Thanks Emma for the suggestion next time I'm down on the other island I'll try and get David to reenact the great sea battles, but I suspect the only problem will be trying to prevent the other nations from trying to intervene.But in true Dutch tradition you have to allow me some time before the battle to try and sell you some genuine guaranteed sure to fire cannons (no no no not damaged at all just an excess production run - of course they are best quality) and allow me to donate some of this fine beverage for your crew, the rumours about severe indigestion are all slander from our competitors.
cheers
Bart -
More seriously :)
I think you're right David this is a really interesting period for energy use. All the sailing nations were working tremendously hard to develop energy efficient transport (boats) to explore and exploit the world. One of the reasons the Dutch were so succesful was because of their remarkably efficient and robust merchant ships.
But the consequence of all that shipbuilding was a lack of wood and wood at the time was a major energy source. And as you point out England had an alternative that The Netherlands didn't have.
cheers
Bart -
The sadly misinformed David writ large thusly...
By the end of the 1600s, this navy had become the largest and most formidable in the world [15]; a state of affairs that would last (in the form of the Royal Navy) right up until the early years of the twentieth century [16].
<outrage>
This can’t go unchallenged. It is with outrage that I decry the rewriting of history by the English swines. My noble ancestors the Dutch were the true rulers of the waves and all the great sailing innovations were theirs!!!!
</outrage>Seriously though as my father was taught in school it was the Dutch defeated that Spanish Main (the English were mostly spectators and pirates). And the Dutch Navy really was the largest and most powerful in the world until the late 1700s. When they were defeated by an evil alliance between the French and the English – who’d have thought the frogs and the Ros-beefs could co-operate like that?
I’m sure the Spanish have a different version as well, and the Portuguese.
Oh and it was a Dutchman who discovered NZ, hence the name!
...the battle of Chatham (1667) took place, arguably the worst naval defeat in English history until this very day. The third Anglo-Dutch war was in fact a conspiracy between France, England, Cologne and Munster to attack the Netherlands and destroy the Dutch republic as the world’s superpower.
Although the Dutch fleet was the largest of the world at the time, the combined fleet of France and England quickly put the Dutch in a defensive position, but due to the tactical brilliance of Michiel de Ruyter, they managed to inflict so much damage to both fleets during the Dutch nation's zero-hour that the offensive capabilities of France and England were reduced to almost nothing.
cheers
Bart -
because it's not the real world -- you can't share the stuff you make.
Heh guess that should have been obvious. When you learn how to do something new you usually want to show what you can do to your friends and get their feedback. After all they are the important people in your life.
That is probably one of the cool things about teh internet. Learn how to do something new, post it, get feedback.
Almost like what happens in a classroom :).
I'd like to see some of Leo's creations - bearing in mind I have no such skills myself and hence would be easily impressed :).
cheers
Bart