There hasn’t been nearly enough condemnation or loud denunciation lately. Which evil political, cultural, social, musical, religious, and other phenomena need condemnation? (Or loud denunciation?)
You’re encouraged to condemn anything except David Rovics. Or me, for not being a better anarchist than he is. Or me, for not being an anarchist of any sort. Or me, for posting an audio-only youtube link (have a listen anyway, it’s a laugh). Rovics is touring Australia at the moment, including a free gig at RMIT at midday tomorrow for those of you in central Melbourne.
I condemn Manichean political culture whereby a. Facts are subordinate to point-scoring against the enemy b. The enemy is your enemy not just a person who disagrees with you, and c. Said enemy is evil, insane or stupid. Pehaps all three.
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Manichean political culture is all three.
Oh look I have to denounce the capitalist system, the ruling elites that benefit from said system and the compromised middle class that propagate it – otherwise why am I here?
I do like a good anarchist…
Well, over at BmL I am currently condemning the lameass word “partner” in reference to one’s main squeeze. I think it really blows, and we need a new word.
Oh, oh blogwhoring.
I condemn blogwhoring.
I condem blogs that allow the most prolific contributors to totally ignore the subject and wander off into a diatribe that would not be out of place at Aunty Jane’s arvo tea. If you want to run a blog do so, but when it becomes a chat room for the few you really have lost the point people, it no longer qualifies as a blog.
I ‘gently chide’ those business folk in Jakarta who too readily followed a routine of meetings with others in hotel venues such that their regimen became known to the islamo-fascist bomb throwers. I condemn the same unthinking approach of ADF bean counters who gave the job of army base security to a private company that failed to impress our latest would-be jihadists. In both cases you wonder if a little more nous had been applied we would have been spared a deathly bombing in the first and the makings of a criminal conspiracy in the second.
I condemn jetlag
robbo @4, I’m forced to condemn you for dissing my arvo teas.
I condemn those who condemn those who hired civilian security guards for army bases instead of using soldiers.
Imagine the outraged wailing & gnashing if armed soldiers with a round up the spout were to stop cars at the Enoggera or Victoria Barracks or Watsonia main gates on the off chance that bin Laden or one of his acolytes just might be inside clutching a Kalashnikov.
Anyway, just how many expensive armed soldiers do the condemners think would be needed to patrol each base’s perimeter? And if they are needed at army bases, why not at the various Oz parliaments and other public buildings? And shopping centres? And I’d want a few diggers patrolling my place 24/7 just in case those screeching moggie mating calls at midnight are really a bunch of terrorists plotting my downfall in loud Arabic.
Reality check, anyone?
“Imagine the outraged wailing & gnashing if armed soldiers with a round up the spout were to stop cars at the Enoggera or Victoria Barracks or Watsonia main gates”
Um…actually much “outraged wailing & gnashing” seems to be about the fact we didn’t have armed soldiers with a round up the spout ready to stop cars at the Enoggera or Victoria Barracks or Watsonia main gates.
I condemn London accommodation. £55 is really a bit much to ask for a cell with a broken toilet, smashed window and frayed carpets, even if it is in Paddington.
And I seem to recall hearing that it is actually more expensive to use Chubb as gate guards at army barracks/bases then it is to use soldiers.
I condemn the Libs for being predictable & unimaginative…& their media enablers:
Andrew Robb eh?
Yippee…no wonder the fear-mongering, racist dog whistles were playing that familiar tune that makes any sane, rational, tolerant person highly uncomfortable. Remember the past 14 years? Minus some peaceful, tranquil moments under Rudd for a few mths here & there.
OK…so Turnbull gets slayed in the OZ & elsewhere, the OZ potentially puts pressure on the Feds to raid naughty potential terrorists, Michelle Grattan starts mumbling, Howard falls for Pauline…& govt. starts to threaten Senate investigation…& then possibly cometh Robb. Another ‘Merchant of Fear & Loathing’?:
http://howardseduction.com.au/chapter4.html
Plus ce change…
Seems all pretty obvious to me. Training schools, Islamic & Aboriginal training & business stuff, terrowism, privacy issues (hmmm…), Japan & China relations, bloody inconvenient climate change requirements/emissions emissions, emissions…means-testing (poor widdle middle class recipients…boohoo)…the list goes on…
N’
(x-posted at blogocrats…too tired to be original…just like the Libs apparently)
Yep, I condemn the OZ too:
“testing testing testing Robb for the Libs, 123″…
N’
terangeree @ 10, no, it’s actually cheaper to use civilian security believe it or not. (It’s also cheaper to use civilian cooks and stewards in the messes, which is why they did it. I condemn Keating for that one.)
What you’ve overlooked is that, if you have soldiers guarding the joint, you have to feed them (which you wouldn’t if they lived off-base), and you have to give them time off the next day because they’ve been up all night. There are other expenses too, including the substantially higher wages soldiers get compared to civvie security guards.
Before we get all excited about condemning the Oz, I’d like to rebuke Simon Overland, the Victorian police commissioner, for immediately calling for more legal restrictions on what media outlets can report about terrorism.
Well Steve Bracks has defended the OZ on ABC 2 Breakfast Morning so let’s all get on board.
Good reason we need a strong third party in this country.
And changes to the media ownership laws would help. Amongst other things.
N’
This lol
http://business.theage.com.au/business/us-anchor-labels-rudd-serial-killer-over-camels-20090805-e9iy.html
bahahhahahahaha
“Before we get all excited about condemning the Oz, I’d like to rebuke Simon Overland, the Victorian police commissioner, for immediately calling for more legal restrictions on what media outlets can report about terrorism.”
Where did he call for that, Robert? Do you have a link? I have been unable to find anything apart from his reasonable demand to find out about The Australian leak, that compromised the operation even to the extent of its timing.
Private security may be a bit cheaper David Irving (no relation), but for these sort of jobs i reckon they are as good as useless.
Even well armed private security are trained to cooperate with armed offenders. Good example is the armoured cars that pick up cash from banks. The crews are armed with shotguns and automatic pistols, but they are trained to drop their guns and cooperate if anyone actually tries to rob them.
Many private security guards are also physically unfit and undertrained, at least by military or police standards. And the less said about the legal restrictions that private security have to work within, the better.
No point it being cheaper to use Chubb guards if they are unable to resist an attacker, are unable to arrest or detain trespassers and who’s entire training revolves around AVOIDING confrontation.
So in that spirit, I condemn privatization (AND Keating, Dave). The private sector DOESN’T always do it better!
Joe2: You’re right. I take back my condemnation. However, I am suspicious about what this might entail.
Cheers, Robert. I was really just wondering whether I had missed something as Overland is still a bit of a mystery to me.
While I am here I condemn the ANZ bank for wanting to charge me 14 dollars for a bloody bank statement so I could work out my tax. Bastards.
I condemn private schools for turning out pompous, bigoted, smug, gits.
I din’t say I thought it was a good idea, DBD. (I don’t.) I was just pointing out that it costs less.
I still condemn Keating for it.
I likewise condemn private schools for the above, and also having parents of said kids who have the same characteristics AND 99.2% of whom drive huge 4WD vehicles through suburban streets to drop off and collect their gits and drive as if they own the road, not to mention the footpath, residents’ driveways and anything else they can think of.
As a pompous, bigoted, smug git I would like to declare my condemnation for your condemnation, Trubbel.
The NSW public school system gave *me* my sense of quiet superiority. Anything the GPS can sneer at, we can sneer at better.
I condemn oveseas on line booksellers who have a book available but won’t post it to Australia.
I condemn my lack of self control when I am faced with websites offering the ability to have large quantities of wine delivered to my house. It’s not like I actually believe I will cellar any of it, yet the purchases continue.
Robbo – I condem blogs that allow the most prolific contributors to totally ignore the subject and wander off into a diatribe that would not be out of place at Aunty Jane’s arvo tea.
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Robbo the emnity that 90% of commentors feel here for Catallaxy is well know.
Heh, why do you think Robbo was referring specifically to Catallaxy, Adrien?
As to emnity, the site is rarely mentioned here, although I do think that the recent comment that it was the grease trap of the Australian blogsphere to be an amusingly apt one.
I would guess that there are many more comments directed against this site by certain obsessives over there than vice versa.
Being the “GPS public school” kid is da killer tho, Liam.
I’ve found it’s a very useful tool in shutting down inexorable, interminable discussions about ‘where the kids are going to high school’ as inevitably “where did you go to high school” emerges and when answered leads straight onto discussing the very best places to buy European bathroom tiles, funnily enough.
I therefore will not condemn NSW selective public schools for one reason only, and that is making super privileged middle-upper class parents remember that at the end of the day, that they can’t always buy a spot for their sprogs….”oh, not that they’d want to…ohnoes…….”
Anyway, there is this terrific little shop in Waterloo…
Heh.
Yes, heh!
What exactly do you mean, David Irving (no relation) @ 13?
The soldiers already live on the base (in the case of bases like Enoggera), and — unlike security guards — don’t get paid overtime, don’t get shift allowances and never go on strike.
And I’d bet anything that an infantryman with a Steyr rifle is better-trained at dealing with armed invaders than a Tellychubby with a stick and a Webley pistol.
I further condemn Medicins Sans Frontieres for telephoning me at dinnertime to beg some more money out of me (I already contribute through payroll deductions). My estimation of that organisation has gone downwards substantially as a result.
terangeree @ 32, it works like this (or used to when I was in the Army). Married soldiers, at least, don’t live in and don’t get fed by the Army. A lot of single soldiers also prefer to live off base.
When they’re guarding the joint, married soldiers, at least, are fed at govt expense, although this is a minor part of the costs involved.
Soldiers may not get paid overtime, but their hourly rate is probably twice what the bloke from Chubb gets, and when they spend the night on guard, they get the next day off (as a rule), at least in peace time, so that’s perceived as a wasted day’s pay.
It’s certainly true that an armed soldier would be far more effective than a civvie security guard if he or she were armed, but as I and others have pointed out, the guns are locked up and the bullets are kept somewhere else completely.
I think it’s stupid, but it’s the way the beancounters who run Defence do things. After all, private enterprise does things soooo much better …
Adrian – I would guess that there are many more comments directed against this site by certain obsessives over there than vice versa.
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No you are lying.
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Jo – “where did you go to high school” emerges and when answered leads straight onto discussing the very best places to buy European bathroom tiles, funnily enough.
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That’s very Melb/Sydney centric. In Qld the greater public schools aim to combine the qualities of the working and ruling classes of this great colony of Her Majaesty the bloddy German.
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We aim to instill in our youth the great tradition of snobbery whilst cultivating the purist vulgarity and bad taste in things.
Err, Adrien @ 27, I dunno what catallaxy is, but now I can add you to my condem,for jumping to conclusions.
And now I have to condemn meself for the crook spelling. Bugger.
Adrien, robbo was obviously referring to Fran Barlow, Elise and a couple of other thread-hogging, long-winded motor-mouth bores! In the first instance!
I condemn the use of “won’t … xyz …. any time soon” which is as a plague upon public speech.
I second that condemn.
I condemn organisations that ask you to fax them some information, and are aghast when you explain you don’t have a fax machine. What century are these people living in? Fax? People still fax? *shrugs*
FB, yes, people still fax. I have to fax my timesheet through to Acacia Ridge and the City at the end of each shift, and hope that the fax machine works at the other end.
Thirded, Pav (except re UNHCR – who then bumped mine up further than I said they could. They got a tart phone call shortly afterward in return, contribution now back to what I agreed to!).
Good works is no excuse for crappy fundraising, dudes!
terangeree – I don’t get it, why not email? I asked this particular company to send me the form via email and it came as a PDF which could not be added to, so they told me to print it out and email it back..which would be fine, except that would require a scanner and mine hasn’t worked in two years. Why is it so hard to send a form as a document that can be added to? For most of my business correspondence I have gone completely paperless, just time sheets etc that get emailed back and forth…it’s really not that hard.
Also to the theme of the tendency of organisations to try and get more money out of you, I finally stopped donating to one organisation because of their relentless pestering, it took a very long time for them to actually stop the direct debit, and they still send me self-serving [full colour glossy] propaganda, I’m sure the only reason I don’t get phone calls still is because I ditched the landline.
FB, I work at a place where there’s a fair few old hands who can’t figure out the intricacies of desktop computers and email, where the people in charge of sorting out our pay packets are about 15 miles away and where sending something in hardcopy betwixt the two places is highly problematic.
And where trust is in short supply.
Hence the twice-faxed timesheets.
And I condemn Optus yet again…
And I condemn Optus yet again…
I condemn the recent SBS programme on the Liberal Party. Not that it wasn’t good. I thought it was. Its just that I got so angry when I watched it. Almost close to apoplexy at times. But it is very good to be reminded of exactly how evil Howard and his cronies are, I suppose.
And usually I’m a pretty calm person.
I condemn the DJIA, the ASX, and other markets for rallying way before they have cause to.
Don’t worry, Gary. The Markets (TM) will soon be back on track.
I condemn the Doors for coming up with the potentially brilliant rock anthum “light my fire” and turning it into prissy, gutless, church music when they should have left it for Bruce Springsteen to discover.
I condemn the universities (oh dear, I hardly need to go on, do I) for their new policy of treating PhD thesis examiners like junior house-elves while continuing to pay them at a rate that works out — at least for any examiner who actually does it properly — at less than $10 an hour. The logic behind this is, wouldn’t you know, the logic of the ‘product’, which in this case means churning out as many done-and-dusted graduate theses as possible per year.
This puts pressure on both the students and the examiners to do everything as quickly as possible — never mind the quality, feel the funding — and is terrible not only for the house-elves but also for students and for standards.
I condemn those people who photographed animals at the Brisbane Ekka without switching off the flash in their cameras.
I dunno, Jenny @ 50, I thought it was pretty cool when I first heard the extended organ solo (although, 40 years on, I reckon the words are pretty naff).
I condemn Jose Felliciano’s really lame cover of it. It was considerably more gutless and prissy than the original.
I condemn all the self-indulgent treatise about this, that and the other on LP lately. The weekend threads at least used to have a modicum of levity. GET A BLOG!
Where is the Jovial Monk? Could he be celebrating his little mutt finally having come to heel? I wonder what he would celebrate with?..it was cold yesterday, so perhaps a strong, dark ale?
“church music”?
I condemn folks who don’t get The Doors.
Meet me in the back of the Blue Bus…
Between heaven and hell, eh, japerz?
Most of the lyrics were a bit mawkish, but jesus the music was good!
I would like to condemn the bean counters in the Chinese Communist Party, for claiming that Rio diddled them out of a grand total of about $120 billion (more than they “should have paid”) during the last 5 years.
Excess $120 billion mind you, not total sales.
Rio’s total iron ore sales in the five years from 2004 to 2008 were $41 billion, according to Bloomberg data.
Umm, let me see, if $41 billion is $120 billion in excess, then $41 bn minus $120 bn equals about negative $80 billion in iron ore sales.
Good grief, you mean Rio PAID the Chinese to take their ore, for all that time???
Well I never!!! Have to agree that this is beyond the pale…
Good to see those guys in the Communist Party have all their ducks in a row for the case against Stern Hu? What hope does he have against such a solid argument?