Feb 16, 2012
David Nixon commented on Even Reagan Was a Keynesian. Sorta..
We really should start calling it The European Plan. The Republicans will love that.
Jan 25, 2012
David Nixon commented on Occupy Seattle May Streamline Decision-Making.
@4: If consensus means "acceptance by the whole", then any proposal can be blocked by just one individual. I'd certainly say that one individual is a slim minority.
Someone should go down there and block every last proposal until they decide that democracy is better than "consensus".
I suspect though, that consensus in practice isn't really going to be unanimous agreement, but is one of those slippery ideas that ultimately allows a few people running the meetings to have their way. For example, if everyone present at a meeting agrees with proposal X except for one cranky annoying person who disagrees with everything, SOME random person who wields some informal power (due to their demeanor or style or respect or longevity in the movement) will make a decision about whether a consensus has been reached or whether they should keep talking and try to convince the crankypants. Instead of power and decision-making processes being transparent and open, power is subtly in the hands of unelected people who basically just step up and take it (even if they're totally well-meaning people).
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Someone should go down there and block every last proposal until they decide that democracy is better than "consensus".
I suspect though, that consensus in practice isn't really going to be unanimous agreement, but is one of those slippery ideas that ultimately allows a few people running the meetings to have their way. For example, if everyone present at a meeting agrees with proposal X except for one cranky annoying person who disagrees with everything, SOME random person who wields some informal power (due to their demeanor or style or respect or longevity in the movement) will make a decision about whether a consensus has been reached or whether they should keep talking and try to convince the crankypants. Instead of power and decision-making processes being transparent and open, power is subtly in the hands of unelected people who basically just step up and take it (even if they're totally well-meaning people).
Jan 19, 2012
David Nixon commented on Textbooks Have Just Been Reinvented, Whether Apple Ultimately Prevails or Not.
I, and most of the other college professors I know, ban laptops and iPads in the classroom. I've tried all kinds of other policies, but the temptation to be checking your facebook page (or stumble, or fail blog, or e-mail, or WoW or...) is just too temping for college students to resist. Anytime I let them open their laptops -- even for taking notes on a lecture -- they're dinking around on the web instead of paying attention. So I'm forced to make them take notes with pen and paper, which is annoying for everyone.
I wonder how this pervasive problem will be affected when textbooks are all on the laptop/iPad. Will professors have to be saying, "NO, you cannot look at your e-textbook during class"?
I wonder how the profs of the immanent future will deal with this problem.
Then again, perhaps physically present teachers will be replaced by the Skyping-it-in variety, where students can be at home playing video games and masturbating while "in class".
I wonder how this pervasive problem will be affected when textbooks are all on the laptop/iPad. Will professors have to be saying, "NO, you cannot look at your e-textbook during class"?
I wonder how the profs of the immanent future will deal with this problem.
Then again, perhaps physically present teachers will be replaced by the Skyping-it-in variety, where students can be at home playing video games and masturbating while "in class".
Jan 18, 2012
David Nixon commented on Maybe Public Schools Would Benefit from Less Competition....
Weird. I've never actually heard anyone argue for charter schools as a way to improve public schools. I've only heard people support charter schools because they think public schools suck and they want an alternative to them.
Jan 9, 2012
David Nixon commented on Hutcherson Cancels on Gay Marriage Debate.
I wonder what the real reason for canceling is.
Jan 9, 2012
David Nixon commented on 520 Bridge Cheapskates Ruin My Morning.
Tolls are flat taxes. I'm against flat taxes (they're terribly regressive), therefore I'm against tolls. I'm surprised that Goldy would be in favor of a tax that hurts poor people (like himself) so much more than rich people.
Jan 4, 2012
David Nixon commented on City Says Not to Drink the Water in Certain Parts of South Seattle.
It's weird how Seattle Public Utilities has no way of directly contacting the residents affected by this. If I hadn't been looking at Slog, I would never of known.
Dec 14, 2011
David Nixon commented on Known Witch Endorses Mitt Romney.
pleased to have her in your coven, you mean.
Dec 5, 2011
David Nixon commented on If You Love the Movies, Go See Hugo.
I was sooooo ready to love this movie. Or at least like it. Scorsese is an awesome director, and the book was great! Instead, I was really bored. This is one of those kids movies where the writer/director think that kids are really stupid and need every last thing spelled out for them. SLOWLY.
I almost walked out of the movie -- something which I think I've only done once in my life. It was just so long and tedious.
The two main child actors were very much CHILD ACTORS. They are clearly trying very hard to act. It's all melodramatic and unrealistic. Sometimes, as the camera cuts back and forth between the two kids, you get the impression that they had to get many different takes, and then when they edited them together, the expressions don't really fit what they're saying, or their reactions don't match what the other kid just said. I actually had to consciously relax my face when I realized how long I'd been cringing.
Even Ben Kingsley -- Oscar-winning BEN KINGSLEY for god's sakes! -- was pretty terrible. His emotions seemed completely unmotivated and out of place. And then the turn-about from bitter curmudgeon to loving parent adopting a street urchin was so sudden. I was thinking to myself, "Well, a lot of times they film the sequences completely out of order, so it's hard for the actors to make gradual transitions in character." I was basically making excuses for the actors because I so wanted to love this movie.
Even the music was off. Howard Shore is great (Lord of the Rings!), but there were multiple times when the music was telling you, "this is a really MAGICAL moment! You should be feeling all tingly right now!", but the scene being scored was kind of mundane.
Many times I agree with David and Paul, but whoa, not this time!
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I almost walked out of the movie -- something which I think I've only done once in my life. It was just so long and tedious.
The two main child actors were very much CHILD ACTORS. They are clearly trying very hard to act. It's all melodramatic and unrealistic. Sometimes, as the camera cuts back and forth between the two kids, you get the impression that they had to get many different takes, and then when they edited them together, the expressions don't really fit what they're saying, or their reactions don't match what the other kid just said. I actually had to consciously relax my face when I realized how long I'd been cringing.
Even Ben Kingsley -- Oscar-winning BEN KINGSLEY for god's sakes! -- was pretty terrible. His emotions seemed completely unmotivated and out of place. And then the turn-about from bitter curmudgeon to loving parent adopting a street urchin was so sudden. I was thinking to myself, "Well, a lot of times they film the sequences completely out of order, so it's hard for the actors to make gradual transitions in character." I was basically making excuses for the actors because I so wanted to love this movie.
Even the music was off. Howard Shore is great (Lord of the Rings!), but there were multiple times when the music was telling you, "this is a really MAGICAL moment! You should be feeling all tingly right now!", but the scene being scored was kind of mundane.
Many times I agree with David and Paul, but whoa, not this time!
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But a more reasonable interpretation is probably something like, "I will never sleep with someone else" or "My sleeping with someone else is so unlikely that I doubt it will ever happen". In that case, whether it is true depends on who's saying it. Some are telling the truth; Some people will never actually sleep around, (as I'm sure Dan would agree), even if they are perfectly capable of IMAGINING it (and some of them may never cheat even if they OFTEN imagine it, say, when masturbating).
Compare: "I can't imagine ever throwing my cat off the Space Needle." Really? You can't IMAGINE it? I bet you're imagining it right now. But we understand what you mean: you'd never do it. (I hope.)