Posts by chris
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Those illustrations scream 'classic', the story sounds hilarious David.
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after we discovered the Chinese worshipped him.
He's still remembered. But one glaring omission from the Chinese version of his-story:
He did not distinguish between casualties, treating wounded Japanese prisoners as well as Chinese.
Mao Ze Dong neglected to mention this 'minor' inconvenient detail in his poem 纪念白求恩 'remember Bethune', which is as far as I know, still taught in schools.
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It's the kids. They ooze life, preschoolers.
Yes. there's no question that working with young un's is some of the hardest work there is . It takes bundles of patience and energy while requiring the most delicate sensitivity. I'd never have what it takes.
desiderium
Thanks for this word Islander, fresh clay!
(may I just say it is a fact that Maori didnt beat their children until encouraged to do so by missionary-beasts?)
Needs to be said, acknowledging sources and all.
1. Capitalism building on patriarchy.
2. The apparent paradox that we can't challenge these ideas safely unless we are in a position of power over those who hold them dear, yet it seems that we cannot attain positions of power over those who hold them dear without acquiescing to these ideas to an extent that makes it difficult not to internalise them.That's great Stephen, both erudite and eloquent.
"Until they soar"...maybe he was talking of young adults.
Yeah I guess so.
But at least sort out the fledgling part of growing up. It makes soaring a shit load easier. And cheaper for society in the long run.
Too true Ross, I don't think it's ever too early to start nor too late to continue (thinking specifically of whaleoil here for some reason). The expectations the privileged have of our caregivers are often almost impossible to live up to; the whole rearing process needs to be duly resanctified at the deepest level of our consciousness to its rightful primary position as the hub round which the social mechanism spins. Thanks for this Jackie.
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Great work Jackie, long may your words echo.
A society that really valued children wouldn't be so cruel to those trying to raise them alone.
Indeed, a society that really valued *children* would put them foremost.
That reminds me of a Gene 'Demon' Simmons (of all people) quote.
Kids should never be allowed, much less forced, to leave the nest until and unless they can fly - or, preferably, soar
A quite natural philosophy in many cultures, but in NZ or perhaps the new world (US?, Aus, Can?) it seems distinctly alien. Is it in anyway related to the impact of the pioneer days/ depression relative to the length of countries' modern histories? What elevated concepts such as harshness and hardness to the forefront of our social inventory and what compels them to retain this position?
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No, "the establishment" just got better at lying ( the growth in forms of positivist linguistic expression were immensely helpful to the dumb fucks)
And making minor changes around the fringes (while making a big deal about it).Thanks Andin. Pinpointed without reserve.
and we'd got both Labour and NZ First to commit to a universal allowance. We'd done everything a lobby organisation could successfully do and Labour didn't have enough seats and Winston went with National. Spewing.
Yeah, that's a tragedy Kyle, good on you for fighting though. The strangest loophole was that students who were married could get the allowance, I could never quite get my head around that. Most interesting in that it was so rarely exploited (at least amongst those I knew).
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Apologies for the double negative above
One being a dearth of jobs for women that paid anything like reasonable wages....but that was the world I grew to adulthood in-
True Islander, I'm duly chastened* by that, despite ongoing discrepancies, the increases in equality (gender/ racial/ physical/ political) are certainly something I have personally taken for granted throughout my life, even in childhood those pre revolution gulfs seemed antiquated, prehistoric, otherworldly even.
In many ways because these bigger cultural battles were fought, and for all intents and purposes won before our time, the would-be political (re)activists in subsequent generations (enamored with the struggles of our predecessors) seem hindered a little by a collective inferiority muteness and sense of powerlessness against the apparent lack of sufficiently flawed adversaries or relevant contestable doctrine (excluding of course the ongoing battle for a clean and sustainable environment....)
When the shit went down in the 60s, The activists seemed to have existed in a largely polarized social and cultural structure, where the equality movement was railing against a "this is the way it is, and it is right!" prerogative
Since that line was replaced with the new standard "we're working on it, we will sort this out...eventually", significant protestation on almost any worthy issue (such as the state of environment) seems to have been in effect disenfranchised to some extent, the establishment now seems to fly much lower under the radar in this more streamlined amorphous state.
This seems to have led to a rise of the moderates, whose reactions, while liberal are distinctly moderate, so much so that it's hard to disagree with their seasoned takes despite the fact that this prime issue humanity now faces is anything but moderate and playing havoc with our seasons.
Or am I just reading the wrong books?
*not to the point of monk hood -
That's all true enough, Chris, but far fewer Boomers than Gen-Xers got to go to university at all.
Yeah, it's an interesting quandary, with the highly educated being forced to take low skilled jobs. Sir Peter and Sir Richard (amongst others) have provided meaningful employment to partially fill that void, and their contributions should not never be taken for granted. Sorry, somebody's at the door...
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May I correct one thing in your post, Russell?
Not wanting to go overboard as your post was excellent Russell, but I'm going to have to get a little Yorkshireman on you here Islander.
It actually cost quite a bit to attend university, mainly for books and sundry fees. I was a law student at Canterbury for 4 terms (1968/69) but left because I could no longer afford to pay my way (a large number of students worked their holidays earning money for each term,
Generation X's parents were means tested. If parents' incomes were above the threshold, we were forced to take out loans accruing interest of 12.5% per annum.
Unfortunately some of these parents were partial to the concept or at least the soundbite 'tough love' (made popular by Bill Milliken's 1968 book), and used some twisted version of this rhetoric to validate not paying for their offspring's tertiary study.
These loans, not simply for books but for rent, bills, food, drink, GST appeared like chasms beneath the middle class kids at the conclusion of high school. Many had jobs. In an urban setting one could make about $1500 per summer working fulltime (1 term's living expenses). During term time, part time work was much harder to find given that unemployment was by then lingering at about 9.5%.
Obviously blaming the baby boomers is fruitless, as it's far too big a generalization (And the fees/ loans could have been introduced in any epoch and there would have been casualties).
For those still affected (specifically those who chose to study and were charged interest to survive) This is more of a personal issue between the NZ Xs, their families and the differing interpretations of the intent of policy, personally I think the buck should have stopped with the Govt. The policy they facilitated left clear leeway for exploitation, which duly happened.
Simply stated, I think Russell is right. Yes Islander it actually cost you quite a bit to attend university, but it was money you had. And it certainly seldom cost you the relationship with your family or the privilege of hitting 21, free of debt.
Obviously the wise choice would have been to forgo or delay a university education, but most 18 y/o aren't that onto it.
It shouldn't have been allowed to happen like that, I hope it works as a partial explanation for the small degree of inter-generational animosity.
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Blonde Redhead
Played here last month, but it was just too damn cold, generally prone to tearing up the place. Great band.