2010-01-30, 21:46 | Link #5861 |
The AnimeSuki Pet kitten
IT Support
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So basically they're voting to defend something that is blatantly worse.
What I think is that most people are afraid of change. Most people who get around the loopholes in the current system will no longer be able to, and I believe it's those people who vote against change, because they've worked their lives around a system with holes in it. So the government decides to pave over the holes at a slightly bigger cost and the majority of people who complain about these holes are saying "no"? It'd be like the new state transport minister promising to rebuild public transport in Victoria by setting aside funding for Metro, KDR, and 50 other operators in the state with maintenance and reliability improvements, and for us (who have been blaming the entire system's failure on the state) to say "No, we don't want it to change."
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2010-01-30, 21:51 | Link #5862 | ||
Le fou, c'est moi
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA
Age: 34
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1) They're all white, and not just any white but with a vague white-trashy look. 2) The woman looks very ugly in her rage. Some pictures of anger inspire sympathy and desire for justice, others terror or even hateful recoil. This one only makes you feel mock pity and alienation, a sort of "wtf is this stupid woman riled up about" kind of picture. 3) The old man has the "I'm Bill O'Reilly's target audience" look all over him. 4) Although they clearly don't look like upper class people (though looks as measures of class distinctions in America just don't work period), they don't give the sympathetic air of the suffering proletariat either. This ain't no noble les miserables to be honored and lionized. In conclusion: lol BBC, lol. Quote:
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2010-01-31, 00:22 | Link #5863 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Age: 35
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2010-01-31, 00:50 | Link #5864 | |||
Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
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The notion that all media organisations are biased, in one way or another, is a universally accepted opinion. And this applies even to the venerated BBC, much vaunted for its impartiality. The above story is one of those rare examples of very poor reporting and extremely questionable editorial judgment on the BBC's part. First of all, there is the unspoken assumption that Mr Obama's health-care reforms are universally accepted by Democrat-voting Americans while unanimously opposed by those who vote Republican. As the lengthy discussions in AnimeSuki alone would suggest, the consensus is not quite so clear cut. The choice of photo, as Irenicus pointed out, is deliberately misleading, as it aims — unambigiously — to portray typical Republican-voting Americans as dumb rednecks. To be sure, the BBC is doing what it often does: It loves demonising the United States in general, playing to the usual stereotype that the British have of Americans as being shallow, stupid people too in love with corporatist capitalism to look after the social welfare of their own countrymen. It is fine to pillory the self-serving politicians who oppose Mr Obama for the sake of opposition. But, then, do you notice how the article happily puts Republicans on the dock, quoting the views of two "exasperated" Democrats, while not giving similar space for Republican views? Where is the fairness and balance in the story then, as expected from a news organisation that prides itself for its impartiality? Is it OK to run a polarising story such as this without giving the accused party the right of reply? So, the point I was trying to make to Yoko_Takeo is this: He is half right in claiming some kind of bias within media. Examples such as the one provided by BBC above show that even some of the best in the industry fall prey to internalised prejudices. Where he is wrong, however, is in suggesting that all the distortions are caused by the profit motive. The BBC runs, in effect, on a tax on every British citizen in the form of radio and TV licensing fees. It has a guaranteed income of around 3 billion pounds (US$4.8 billion) a year, if not more. It doesn't have to chase a profit, not when it has an assured source of annual revenue. And yet, even then, the BBC is vulnerable — like any other organisation, media-related or otherwise — to fall victim to group-think. This is one of the most persistent problems likely to occur in any group, big or small, for the simple reason that crows of a feather tend to flock together. You see this even in a forum such as AnimeSuki, made up of individuals who are presumably free of organisational coercion and therefore free to speak their minds. Yet, it doesn't take much for an impartial observer to see that AnimeSuki's members generally favour left-wing, progressive politics. We are generally suspicious of authority, and especially allergic to religion. In general, we are anti-racisim, pro-minority rights, especially those of women and homosexuals, and are generally pro-internationalism (if not necessarily pro-globalisation). These internal biases show up in the more controversial topics that have cropped up from time to time in the General forum, from the threads on religion to gay rights. People who attempt, however reasonably, to put forth an opposing view tend to get pilloried as reactionary conservatives too lazy to think. ========== Now, rambling thoughts aside, I'd take you back to your regular news service. Here's a small story that cropped up last week from China, most likely missed by the rest of the world. China bans further employment of substitute teachers Quote:
More poignantly though, the story reminds me of a little-known 1999 movie by Zhang Yimou, Not One Less. |
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2010-01-31, 02:13 | Link #5865 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: China
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Reading into the story, I'm guessing that one possible reason to do this is to stop possible agitation by the substitute teachers who want to be treated/paid as a regular teacher? At the same time, if the villages are too poor to afford the required salary of a regular teacher, that would mean the central government, via the provincial ones, would need to subsidize the cost. That is one way to stimulate the economy - but really just by a bit - without dumping more money through bank loans, which was supposed to be under tighter control now as (1) letters of credit are harder to get and (2) reviews are done daily supposedly. Having "regular" teachers - even if their quality is the same as the substitutes - can also be a good PR move as well.
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2010-01-31, 04:18 | Link #5870 |
Disabled By Request
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It's a good point that it might be a risk to security among inmates if such a game was allowed. They might give him permission to play, but what about everyone else? They would feel as if they're treated unfairly. The guy's a murderer after all and he deserves the punishment he's given. Allowing him to play the game is like giving a child candy after a spanking. He doesn't deserve rights and special permissions because he's serving life when he's taken a human life. He could at least try to get out for good conduct (fat chance, and I wouldn't let him out even for that if it was up to me) and then play.
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2010-01-31, 04:55 | Link #5871 | |
The AnimeSuki Pet kitten
IT Support
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2010-01-31, 11:41 | Link #5872 |
AS Oji-kun
Join Date: Nov 2006
Age: 74
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We have so many members from East and Southeast Asia, that I'm curious how the US weapons deal with Taiwan is being viewed in the region. On the one hand, I realize that we made this commitment years ago so that backing out now might be seen as abandoning our promises. Nevertheless the whole notion of selling advanced armaments to Taiwan seems quite destabilizing to me. How threatened is Taiwan really in 2010? Certainly we're far from the days of the Quemoy/Matsu crisis. Do people in Taiwan and its neighbors really believe the Mainland Chinese will attack the island in the years to come? If we believe that the maintenance of a separate government on Taiwan is an important foreign-policy objective (personally I don't), wouldn't some form of multi-lateral treaty obligations among the US and other Asian states to defend Taiwan be more effective, and more stabilizing, in the long run?
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2010-01-31, 13:10 | Link #5873 | ||
Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
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^ Speaking strictly in a personal capacity, I welcome the arms sale to Taiwan. The people of South-east Asia may welcome China's growth as a market, but I do believe the unspoken feeling is that we all equally hate and fear the increasingly arrogant giant.
The reasons are myriad and complex, but there have been hints that national leaders and foreign-policy wonks in this part of the world favour a balance of power to keep China in check, not least because few of us genuinely trust Beijing's intentions. That is not to say we expect a hot war any time soon — such violence would be unthinkable, not to mention economically intolerable. But while Asean may carry China's balls in public, secretly, I think everyone's happy to see China's hubris pricked every now and then. It's not the best source I can find at short notice, but you may recall the furore that former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew kicked up during his visit to the United States last year: Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew angers Chinese netizens Quote:
Carrying on, I have another story for which I hope Germans could provide some background: 'Insolvents Anonymous': German therapy for bankrupts Quote:
Last edited by TinyRedLeaf; 2010-01-31 at 13:34. |
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2010-01-31, 14:31 | Link #5874 | |
思想工作
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Vereinigte Staaten
Age: 32
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2010-01-31, 16:57 | Link #5875 | |
Le fou, c'est moi
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA
Age: 34
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One could argue that this is an irresponsible position; others could counter that they are placed in this position with little blame of their own (it's not like common Americans even knew about the dirty ponzi schemes their financiers were doing). But on a larger point it shows how a society that suffers as a whole will eventually come to consider what was once denounced as shameful as acceptable. The German example seem to indicate that Germany is relatively unfamiliar with bankruptcy as a "legitimate" financial measure and that the term still carries there a deep meaning of failure or even fraudulence, something which Americans around the Californian maelstrom have long since discarded in the practical conditions of their surroundings. Misery needs company et al. In a slightly related anecdote, the issue of what bankruptcy really means is actually much older than the 20th century and all the fancy financial institutions that have been established since. I refer to Louis-Sebastien Mercier of 18th century France, who complained that bankruptcies "[h]ave become so frequent as to be no disgrace" although he blamed the "present" condition to the decadence of his day and considered the procedure "fraudulent." Of course, he, like many Frenchmen of his day, carried deep-seated hatred for financiers thanks to one of them causing a devastating collapse in France earlier in the century. Sounds awfully familiar. |
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2010-01-31, 19:51 | Link #5879 | |
✖ ǝʇ ɯıqnɾl ☆
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Mortuary : D
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I don't know what to say but a Big Thank You for bringing this director to my attention, you have my gratitude . I been searching the name of this one movie for a good 4 years . Heck I even made a thread right here on AS regarding this movie. When the name came up I goggled up and out of curiosity . Then Started checking out his other movies and found the one I was looking for . The movie I am speaking about is Happy Times ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbn08yxNb0Y )
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2010-01-31, 20:00 | Link #5880 | |||
AS Oji-kun
Join Date: Nov 2006
Age: 74
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World Leaders Remain Mum on Chinese Attacks on Google
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What makes this silence more profound are these other two stories that appeared just today: China bugs and burgles Britain Quote:
International Federation of Journalists Report on Increased Censorship in China From the IFJ report: Quote:
What especially bothers me about the Google/China story is the lack of reporting about the other thirty or more companies that Google believes also have been compromised. Nor should any of this have been a big surprise to anyone paying attention. A report [PDF] from defense contractor Northrup Grumman detailed Chinese cyber-espionage efforts last October.
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current affairs, discussion, international |
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