Comments for skepticlawyer

Comment on Crabs in a bucket by DeusExMacintosh

DeusExMacintosh — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:44:42 +0000

And people wonder how we got into “all shall have prizes” territory…

As there seems to be little difference between the candidate numbers/performance/results of African-American and Hispanic applicants I’m surprised that they seem to be saying that the particular group on which the test has a disparate impact is “anyone who isn’t white”. (You call that a particular group?)

More likely is that the test has a disparate impact on those “without a college level education”, who are more likely to be candidates from among ethnic minorities. However I don’t think this is an inappropriate or unacceptable point of discrimination when you are trying to find the best possible candidates for a limited number of promotions.

Comment on He’s NOT the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy! by DeusExMacintosh

DeusExMacintosh — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:05:38 +0000

I grew up in Queensland. I am unsurprised.

Comment on Don’t blame it on the Blankie by skepticlawyer » Crabs in a bucket

skepticlawyer » Crabs in a bucket — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:14:24 +0000

[...] comments on my post on Michael Jackson, Su mentioned the “crabs in a bucket” syndrome that affects race relations in the US - the notion [...]

Comment on He’s NOT the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy! by Caz

Caz — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:04:05 +0000

OMG - this was banned for 30 years?!

Go figure!

Comment on Don’t blame it on the Blankie by Legal Eagle

Legal Eagle — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:10:48 +0000

Lad Litter, I’d agree with your judgment of Jackson - he didn’t start a musical movement like some of the other artists and bands you mention. Also, I haven’t really liked any of Jackson’s work since about 1986.

Actually, the hubby and I were thinking about comparisons between Jackson and Cobain. Both of us agreed Nirvana’s music was more significant in our lives, and much more revolutionary, but maybe that’s just us.

Comment on Don’t blame it on the Blankie by Lad Litter

Lad Litter — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:14:17 +0000

I’m inclined to agree with West about conspicuous compassion. And Jackson’s musical legacy has been overstated. Not that he wasn’t a significant pop star, the only influence would be that his collaborations with McCartney; Jagger; van Halen et al led to an increase in other collaborations - U2 and BB King; the Travelling Wilburys etc. But that’s not a musical movement like the ones started by the Beatles; Rolling Stones; Dylan; Nirvana etc. That’s about it really.

Comment on The spam filter, she is touchy by Jacques Chester

Jacques Chester — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:51:55 +0000

Your faith in Akismet eventually not sucking is adorable.

Comment on Don’t blame it on the Blankie by skepticlawyer

skepticlawyer — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:17:32 +0000

Now I know what Eminem meant when he asked ‘am I just another crab in the bucket’ in ‘8 mile road’ (very impressive song from the movie). I’d always heard it as a mondegreen, ie ‘crap in the bucket’ and never got it. Now I do.

Also I’m not sure it’s unconscious envy with things like that su. I think it’s highly deliberate; LE and I have had a few chats offline about ‘the politics of envy’ and just how ugly it can get. We seem to have lost the ability to accept graciously that some people have exceptional talent and should just be appreciated for what they are. The hypocritical media treatment of MJ falls into that category, I suspect.

Comment on Don’t blame it on the Blankie by Legal Eagle

Legal Eagle — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:32:15 +0000

Su, it must be an image which resonates for kids who went fishing for crabs. My great uncle caught a massive mud crab once, and was slavering at the thought of the delicious meal, but when he got it home, it was all bony carapace and no meat. Poor old crab, caught for nothing.

Thanks Pete. Glad you liked it.

Comment on Don’t blame it on the Blankie by pete m

pete m — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:34:10 +0000

Great post LE. 100 times better than McKew’s paltry effort in The Punch today.

re bucket - it works for feminism to some extent too. See too often the biggest hurdle a woman faces has been placed their by other women.

I think the media is mostly responding to the public’s demand re MJ - articles on him have been the highest read. But of course they go too far, and it causes people with some sympathy (especially for his children - and I don’t care who the real parents are) to instead get sick of it all very quickly and care less.

I too found parenthood made me acutely more emotional about stories of children suffering / new parents losing their life. It also kept me awake at night wondering how’d I’d react if something aweful happened to my kids.

While Prince Charles put up with a lot, I do have the impression he married not for love but for the sake of it. Quite sad really, and may well have contributed to Diana’s psychositic reaction to it all. And Adrien, don’t be sour because you didn’t get a reply to your fan mail.