rbg246

'The unfortunate reality is that mankind as we know it'

The only was I can read that quote is mankind as we know it is the grain society that was enforced you point out.

I think you are right, there are only nuanced, localised level solutions to this issue.

But to not address the parent's issue is really not an option.

From all the history I have read of civilisation, it's been grain that has been the foundation of human society as we know it, meat couldn't get us anywhere.

Meat eating among the poor in European societies and derived societies is a new phenomenon at least in the idea that every meal has meat in it.

Take a look outside of Europe or even within less wealthy areas of Europe and their diets are magnitudes lower in their meat consumption.

I've read the opposite re: inflammatory side effects of meat that we are discovering. WHO a few years ago put eating sulfite infested meat as being carcinogenic.

Look it's all subjective but their comments were hardly pernicious and divisive - they were a fair observation of the situation.

The fact that he was replying to a comment that used it as an example of Australia's 'authoritarian' response to covid and the fact that it received widespread news coverage and we all got to see her distress Vs the other guy who got arrested and received zero coverage for the same crime seems to suggest that this it is relevant and on the balance of probabilities a good example of white lady in distress.

Because the reaction to her arrest is a good example of white lady in distress.

Whether you agree or disagree with her arrest and release like two hours after this sort of stuff happens all the time with police but it's a big deal if it's a white lady.

Just for the record im not sure I agree with her arrest but you know... Bigger things to worry about

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_white_woman_syndrome

Thank you, how long have you used it for?

I'm always distrustful of fancy looking mice but I read a list of the features and it looks great

Magic mouse 2 is the worst mouse I have used since I stopped using mice with the ball inside.

It's too shallow for my hands

It has a rough edge around the back when it should be smooth, the cheap plastic top doesn't line up perfectly with the metallic base.

And does tell you, you are low on battery until the day you need to recharge and you can't use it and recharge!!

It is the epitomy of bad design.

But that said I like the look of the older mice!

They have had that option for twenty years already.

It hasn't happened because cultural fit is super important to a business if it wants to create a quality product.

Look at the areas where the services have been outsourced to overseas, it's support and maintenance of products and services, generally post-sales support where they don't care about the quality of the service or it's a company with a natural monopoly and they care more about saving money than providing a good service.

Having a hand picked team with unique interlocking skills is what creates a quality product, you can't do that if you are outsourcing entire teams overseas, you have no control on who you are hiring and quality.

Or at the least these problems are super difficult to overcome and probably the cost to overcome them is too much for anything less than a global company to get any savings out of doing.

PS I've totally generalised to make a point, there are 1000s of exceptions I am sure.

This is an interesting question, what makes this more gross than killing in video games.

For some reason I would want to show some reverence for historical events. It probably comes down to whether I have emotional connection to the event.

I wouldn't feel comfortable carrying out atrocities in a war video game for entertainment but the unrealistic killing that is depicted in video games and Hollywood is not the same calibre. But you are right to ask the question it's an interesting topic.

Is that glorification of murder and violence a positive thing? What do you think about it all?

I played it as a ten year old and loved it. It has great game mechanics and loved the interplay between empires.

But having read several books on what colonisation actually means I would be reluctant to play it again.

For some reason for me Civilisation the game keeps it at a fictional enough level that you are not re-enacting whereas colonisation does not keep that level of separation.

The big question in the room is should you be re-enacting historical slavery for fun?

I could probably play a game where it wasn't historical and feel ok with it like a science fiction game but when it's something as insanely terrible as the trans-atlantic slave trade and you want to 'play' that game it feels morally wrong to me.

Looks supported now

One thing I always find interesting about Wittenoom Mine is that it's construction and then sale to CSR seems to be the seed capital for Lang Hancock and his daughter Gina Rinehart to build a giant empire in iron ore mining.

Gina Rinehart is the wealthiest person in Australia.

I am sorry if I misinterpreted what you were saying.

But we do seem to have diametrically opposed views.

You pay a union worker more, that means that everyone else pays for it through higher prices.

You pay a union member more and they put more into the economy creating more opportunities for local business - the economy is circular.

Union membership has taken a nose dive since the 1980s which also correlates with the nose dive in share of company profit with workers. Insecure work is at much higher levels now which again correlates strongly with this.

I'm not arguing that union's have their fair share of mediocre workers, I would argue that they protect all worker's including the mediocre ones and it's better to protect everyone than no-one.

I would argue that there are just as many mediocre workers in non-unionised workplaces, they are everywhere and being in a union is not a predictor of this.

We get mad at businesses for monopolies, yet a union is a monopoly on labor.

I also disagree with your stance regarding unions create a monopoly, this makes no sense. It's the same as asking medium sized companies to break up into smaller companies because they have too much power - unions give poor workers some negotiating power rather than none which on the whole produces better results for society.

Silicon valley comment - is an outlier / strawman , I'm not advocating programmers who are making outlier amounts of money need to implement collective bargaining (which see below is different from a union).

You talk about unions as though they are a monolithic organisation and all unions are the same, this is certainly not the case.

I've been a member of a union for five years now, I treat it as a democratic institution that makes society stronger it keeps a balance between capital and labour.

I do not agree with the direction that the union takes sometimes but that's ok, it's democratic and I believe collectively we can work together and make things better.

I don't belong to a union that stops non-unionised workforce but I am in a union that demands and fights for minimum conditions for all workers especially the most vulnerable. I have never been part of industrial action either!

I've worked non-union workplaces including startups, commercial property, travel, professional services and I'm currently now working at a university. I don't fit into any of the categories that you have mentioned of a union worker. I am certainly not mediocre or average in my workplace.

And unemployment rate? Before corona skewed everything, the US unemployment rate was below 4%. In Sweden? Close to 7%.

I don't live in the US but I look with utter fear that my country will follow America's workplace relations. Sure it works well if you earn good money (see Silicon valley worker) but the way the poorest workers are treated in the US, that is the stuff of nightmares.

Having to have two or three minimum-pay jobs just to be able to survive in the 'richest' country on earth is certainly a dystopia that I hope my country doesn't follow.

I don't think all unions are good, or make good decisions in the same way I don't think all business managers are good or make the right decisions. They are just humans making decisions and taking actions, some are good, some are selfish and bad, most probably in the middle. But unions on the whole do ensure the lowest paid and the most vulnerable have some power and leverage in a society that based on a lot of history has not cared how they fared.

Unions bring far more good to society than bad to society.

They have given the non-landed class of people a life that even a century ago was unheard of.

Countries that have decent levels of union involvement have much better working conditions and standard of living than countries that don't.

Blaming unions for failed companies is incredibly flimsy argument against unions as a whole.

Sure there are unions that contributed to the collapse of some companies, people make mistakes.

Bad management is a far more leading cause of business collapse than unions.

Too true the thought crossed my mind but it provides an opportunity to make your own point in reply.

As they say ignorance is not an excuse, politicians are just a reflection of the people who voted for them.

But it sure beats authoritarianism, at least there is a chance of making it work!

It might have the unintended social positive of Google not indexing or allowing people to link to news limited on their services.

If I may add:

theguardian.com/au

michaelwest.com.au

theconversation.com

themonthly.com.au

All do decent analysis of policy and economics and holding government to account.

I see your point, I also got that feeling with the noting that him and Travis didn't get along in the article.

Isn't it good that a company owned by rich people can write about the morals of other rich people? Albeit a vapid article.

My apologies for the following, but this is something I have never heard of. I have many questions

I tried googling but the beds seem to be stone but you then place a mattress on.

Doesn't it hurt your bones when you wake up in the morning? How long have you slept on it? Is it in a frame or straight on the floor? Is your floor specially supported or is it thin like a kitchen bench top?

That is a massive problem especially when as you say when talking about political budgets.

True but not too much, he is trying to control the narrative on regulation

They like flexibility because it's their second job trying to make enough to live on.

This is fear of being regulated, I think the gig economy is low hanging fruit to regulate and tear apart to pretend they (whoever is in charge) are changing society, he is trying to frame Uber as part of the 'solution' rather than the problem.

Politics I would suspect would prohibit this sort of investment in infrastructure for Australian markets.

Thanks that makes it clear yes I was taught outside (from Australia) and I didn't know there was an inside rule, I must look out for that in the novel I'm reading

This is suitably obscure. Do you mean inverted commas or a comma?

I do however admire the American spelling of aluminium it does a great job of making alluminum sound more exotic.