1701

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Australians are sick of being lectured to by the UN, says Abbott

« on: March 09, 2015, 12:10:18 PM »

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-australians-sick-of-being-lectured-to-by-united-nations-after-report-finds-antitorture-breach-20150309-13z3j0.html

This guy. Fuck. Seriously.

Abbott's tenure is now well beyond a joke. I thought things were bad towards the end of last year, when his party restricted the wearing of burqas in Parliament House and passed new anti-terrorism laws reminiscent of America's PATRIOT Act. He repealed the carbon tax and consistently avoids directly answering questions from Labor and Greens representatives about environmental issues in Parliament. On a more entertaining note, he and his party have made various embarrassing blunders over the past few years.

But this is just inexcusable. Not taking torture allegations from the UN seriously is not something anyone I know wants this country to be associated with. I suppose the silver lining here is that this will only serve to drive the Coalition's popularity down further before the next election.

1702

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Political compass

« on: March 09, 2015, 05:25:09 AM »

You're meant to go right when you get old, not left. Unless you're Robert Redford.

I went very far left and down between 15 and 22. Then I've been drifting right ever since.

Somebody please shoot me if I get to the purple quadrant.

1703

Suggestions & Concerns / Re: Why were Thork's posts split out of Political Compass?

« on: March 09, 2015, 12:48:42 AM »

For the record, I don't think the split needed to happen (a vague thread about political views is bound to spawn discussions of those views), but I won't be merging the threads back together now that they've begun to diverge further post-split.

1704

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: New South Wales state election 2015

« on: March 08, 2015, 11:25:55 PM »

It's not that I support the Greens so much as that I think they're less bad than the alternatives. Given that they have no hope of gaining a majority, any seats they win will simply help to serve as a counterpoint in debate and (in the case of a hung parliament) a deciding vote, keeping the government's decisions in check. And the authoritarian right-wing major parties we have definitely need to be kept in check.

My donation was a strategic move, not a mark of loyalty. My own views are much more closely aligned with the Sex Party and the Pirate Party, but neither is running in this election.

1705

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Individual rights and responsibilities versus state protection of citizens

« on: March 08, 2015, 11:14:00 PM »

You would allow businesses to sell heroin for recreational use?

Yes.

That seems insane. Heroine is highly addictive and it kills. Heroin addicts only have a 50% survival rate.

Yes, and that's tragic. Let's solve the problem by making it illegal, thus providing incentives for addicts not to seek help for fear of retribution. Makes sense.

How about cocaine (US example) ... currently not widely available

Among emergency room visits for illegal drugs, cocaine use topped the list at 482,000 visits

482,000 sounds widely available to me. It's almost as if making drugs illegal doesn't stop people from using them.

Drugs like those are so dangerous to a population, they are illegal in every country on earth. The British tried to sell opiates to the Chinese public and that led to the Opium wars. The Chinese did not want a huge proportion of their population wacked out of their minds and a high mortality rate.

The Chinese can run China the way they want. As a citizen of Australia, I'll focus on influencing Australia the way I want.

Then there is taking heroin or cocaine and driving

... which I'm not advocating legalising.

kids finding the stuff lying about (you just made it widespread) and could OD

You mean like alcohol?

the increased risk of HIV and other diseases from sharing needles

Largely a result of drugs being illegal. Suppose heroin was legalised, and regulated so that every heroin vendor was required to offer clean needles with every sale of the drug. Imagine how much less damage could be done.

sick days as large numbers of people just don't get to work because they are sky high and don't care - there aren't many heroine addicts that hold down a 9-5 job, the huge elevation in crime because addicts will do absolutely anything for a fix.

Do you have any evidence that legalising it will increase the number of addicts? If, as you say, they will do anything for a fix, then they will find a way to obtain the drug whether or not it is legal. It's much easier to recognise and deal with such problems when they're out in the open, though.

This is a terrible idea. I'm all for personal responsibility, but I don't agree class A drugs should be legal because there are large numbers of vulnerable people and this would ruin their lives.

On the contrary, I think it would help a lot of people whose lives are being ruined now.

Also I'm a libertarian for the most part and I don't think guns should be legal either.

I didn't say that. I'm a moderate on the gun debate; as on many other issues, I advocate regulation rather than prohibition. I don't think it should be illegal to obtain a gun, but I also don't think it should be easy.

Companies suing anyone saying their products are harmful?
Human trials by pharma companies on students who need the money?

You can't make it legal and then allow business to do whatever business wants. You need to draw the line somewhere.

For fuck's sake, Thork. Did you actually read the post you're replying to? Here, let me reiterate the important part:

In all of the above cases, I believe that the role of government is not to prohibit, but to regulate

No, I don't think business should have a free hand when it comes to these things. However, I would prefer to see heroin and cocaine being sold by legitimate, regulated, taxable businesses than by the black market.

1706

Philosophy, Religion & Society / New South Wales state election 2015

« on: March 08, 2015, 10:35:39 AM »

Here in New South Wales, we're facing another state election in three weeks. Personally, I don't have high hopes; I suspect we're going to end up with another Coalition government, although the polls are pretty close so it could be a hung parliament. In an attempt to influence the result in that direction, since I live in a safe Liberal electorate and thus my vote won't count for very much, I donated $250 to the Greens today.

I'm not in full agreement with all of the Greens' policies, but they're the only party with vaguely sensible views that has even the slightest chance of gathering enough votes to get seats in the Legislative Assembly (lower house). The best realistic outcome we can hope for is a hung Parliament with the Greens and some Independents making up the crossbench; the most likely government would then be a Labor/Greens coalition.

Election day is in 20 days. Here's hoping.

1707

Arts & Entertainment / Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through

« on: March 08, 2015, 09:14:30 AM »

Syd Barrett
The Peel Session
Studio EP


Recorded: 24 February 1970
Released: 25 January 1987

Band

Syd Barrett (guitar)
David Gilmour (bass, guitar, organ)
Jerry Shirley (percussion)

All tracks authored by Syd Barrett, except where noted.

Track listing

1. Terrapin (3:02)
2. Gigolo Aunt (3:35)
3. Baby Lemonade (2:37)
4. Effervescing Elephant (:57)
5. Two of a Kind (Richard Wright) (2:28)

Review

This is a collection of Syd Barrett recordings from 1970, released many years later, perhaps to fill the void left by Pink Floyd's temporary breakup in the '80s. Whatever the reason, these recordings provide an interesting glimpse into Syd's live sound; much more raw and chaotic than his studio albums, these recordings contain live-in-studio performances for the Top Gear radio show which lack the endless retakes and overdubs required to coalesce Syd's unpredictable '70s performances into coherent albums.

This is of interest mainly for its historical significance; aside from Two of a Kind, a fairly uninteresting tune which has its authorship disputed between Syd and Rick, these recordings are the same songs previously released on Syd's studio albums, just littered with more mistakes. A forgettable indulgence unless you're a hardcore Barrett fan.

1708

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Individual rights and responsibilities versus state protection of citizens

« on: March 08, 2015, 04:49:01 AM »

I just took this again for the first time in four years, and apparently I'm drifting slowly to the right:

While we're giving explanations of our views, I'll outline how and why my views have changed.

The primary driver for my move to the right is a focus on individual rights and responsibilities, particularly with regard to purchasing decisions. For example, I believe that businesses are well within their rights to do all of the following things:

• Run a pub where smoking is permitted, and expect support from the law.
• Run a pub where smoking is prohibited, and expect support from the law.
• Sell marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs for recreational use.
• Sell mince containing unusual ingredients, such as horse meat.
• Pre-install abhorrently insecure malware on laptops. This is a terrible business decision, but it is not wrong.
  
• Provide assisted suicide services, subject to some regulation to avoid this becoming an easy option for people with temporary depression.

In all of the above cases, I believe that the role of government is not to prohibit, but to regulate; the government should ensure that products are labelled with accurate and complete information as to their contents, so that consumers may make educated decisions.

On the other hand, the reason I am still in the green quadrant is that I still feel there is a place for stronger regulations when it comes to business decisions that affect society and the environment. When purchasing decisions impact the world around us, rather than only the person making the decision, the government needs to step in and provide incentives for businesses and consumers to do the right thing. The much-debated carbon tax in Australia is an example of this, as is the gun control issue.

On civil liberties (the vertical scale), my position is unchanged. Gun control is probably the only issue I don't agree with your average libertarian on. I strongly believe in equality for men and women of all races, gay marriage, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to use drugs and drastically reduced copyright and patent laws. A government's role is to protect its people, not protect antiquated customs and traditions.

1709

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Political compass

« on: March 07, 2015, 03:58:47 PM »

w0w I literally transformed into Blanko

You also seem to have made exactly the same move as me, albeit in a slightly different place on the compass.

Also, I am the most libertarian person here so far. FES literally wants to live in a dictatorship.

1710

Arts & Entertainment / Re: The Elder Scrolls Online/General Elder Scrolls Discussion

« on: March 07, 2015, 02:26:28 PM »

Big fan of the show. First time poster. What elder scrolls game should I start with?

Morrowind. (Disclaimer: It's the only one I've played.)

1711

Arts & Entertainment / Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through

« on: March 07, 2015, 01:33:19 PM »

When the Wind Blows
Film (directed by Jimmy Murakami)

Released: 24 October 1986

All tracks authored by Roger Waters and performed by The Bleeding Heart Band, except where noted.

The Bleeding Heart Band

Roger Waters (bass, guitar)
Jay Stapley (guitar)
John Gordon (bass)
Matt Irving (keyboards)
Nick Glennie-Smith (keyboards)
John Linwood (programming)
Mel Collins (saxophone)
Freddie Krc (drums)

Clare Torry (backing vocals on "Towers of Faith")
Paul Carrack (keyboards and vocals on "Folded Flags")

Songs included
Taken from the film soundtrack listing. I am uncertain of the precise ordering in the film.

When the Wind Blows (David Bowie, Erdal Kızılçay)
 * Performed by David Bowie.
Facts and Figures (Hugh Cornwell)
 * Performed by Hugh Cornwell.
The Brazilian (Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford)
 * Performed by Genesis.
What Have They Done? (Chris Difford, Glenn Tilbrook)
 * Performed by Squeeze.
The Shuffle (Paul Hardcastle)
 * Performed by Paul Hardcastle.
The Russian Missile
Towers of Faith
Hilda's Dream
The American Bomber
The Anderson Shelter
The British Submarine
The Attack
The Fall Out
Hilda's Hair
Folded Flags

Review

This is an animated drama that ended up being almost exactly what I expected for something Roger Waters was involved with in the '80s; a predictable and dull story about tragedies of war. Most of the music is incidental music, and the actual songs are typical Roger sob stories that would have been well placed on The Final Cut.

Without the scaffolding of a concept album as his modus operandi, Waters ends up producing nothing but crappy songs. Sadly, the film isn't that great either; it's a story of two incredibly boring people who get radiation sickness following a nuclear holocaust and die. The main redeeming feature of this film is that it seems like a step up after White City. Do not watch.

1712

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Political compass

« on: March 07, 2015, 09:53:21 AM »

There were a few threads about this on the old site. For those not in the know, the Political Compass is an attempt to engineer a test that maps political beliefs onto a two-dimensional graph. It's far from perfect, but I find it interesting to see how my views have changed over the years.

See also: http://politicalcompass.org/

I just took this again for the first time in four years, and apparently I'm drifting slowly to the right:



Compare with my previous result from 2011.

1713

Status Notices / Re: Scheduled maintenance, 2015-03-05

« on: March 05, 2015, 07:15:02 AM »

Maintenance was over fairly quickly; however, as it was carried out by the hosting provider and I was busy at work at the time, I failed to notice that the forum didn't come back up properly afterwards. Sorry for the resulting downtime, but everything is back to normal now.

1714

Status Notices / Scheduled maintenance, 2015-03-05

« on: March 02, 2015, 04:10:18 AM »

The forum, wiki and IRC will be going offline for up to two hours on 2015-03-05, between 05:00 and 07:00 UTC.

For convenience, this means:

EST (USA east coast):
2015-03-05, 00:00-02:00

UTC (UK):
2015-03-05, 05:00-07:00

AEDT (Australia east coast):
2015-03-05, 16:00-18:00


This maintenance is being initiated by the hosting provider in order to rectify a security issue with the virtualisation software used for the VPS. While there is a two-hour window allocated, the actual downtime will likely be much less. For more information, see the Linode status page for this maintenance.

We will be taking this opportunity to install security updates on the server which hosts the forum, wiki and IRC. These will be non-disruptive to functionality, as the server is running a stable OS release that gets critical fixes only.

1715

Technology & Information / Re: My weekly OpenBSD time

« on: March 01, 2015, 10:56:06 AM »

This week is a bit special. I am going to troubleshoot why my window manager (i3) isn't correctly picking up my Mod keystrokes on my new iBook, so I can begin using X seriously.

Successful afternoon is successful:

https://github.com/i3/i3/pull/1504

1716

Technology & Information / Re: I finally caved

« on: March 01, 2015, 06:28:28 AM »

I had heard that although the old mac laptops specs were not as powerful on paper as old intel based laptops, they performed comparably.  would you agree or disagree with this?

I haven't been using it for long enough to comment, but it definitely performs better than I would have expected it to.

Also, I just found an endianness bug in my window manager. Owning a big-endian system is already paying dividends.

1717

Technology & Information / Re: I finally caved

« on: March 01, 2015, 03:42:57 AM »

... did Thork seriously just confuse compilation with installation? w0w

Also, compiling X.org takes just under three hours, which means a full recompilation of my OS including X takes less than seven hours. Not bad for a decade-old PowerPC laptop.

1718

Technology & Information / Re: My weekly OpenBSD time

« on: March 01, 2015, 03:41:51 AM »

This week is a bit special. I am going to troubleshoot why my window manager (i3) isn't correctly picking up my Mod keystrokes on my new iBook, so I can begin using X seriously.

1719

Technology & Information / Re: I finally caved

« on: February 28, 2015, 06:17:55 PM »

Building the OpenBSD userland takes about 202 minutes. That means I can get a full OS built (excluding X.org) in under four hours.

Time to compile X.org and see how long that takes. I'd guess maybe two hours or so.

Sounds like there is a huge amount of bloatware in there.

Out of curiosity, what is your point of reference here? Given how loudly you like to proclaim your ineptitude with operating systems on a regular basis, I wouldn't have picked you as having any experience building them from source.

1720

Technology & Information / Re: I finally caved

« on: February 28, 2015, 04:38:56 PM »

Building the OpenBSD userland takes about 202 minutes. That means I can get a full OS built (excluding X.org) in under four hours.

Time to compile X.org and see how long that takes. I'd guess maybe two hours or so.