Petty Things That Get On Your Nerves...

[Fullerene]

4 hours ago, welshbairn said:

Vehicles that crawl along a single carriageway at 40/50 then speed up when there's a short passing lane so you have to break the speed limit to pass them. Usually vans rather than lorries for some reason.

Any driver that cannot believe that anyone can drive a stretch of road faster than they can.
Especially those who never look in the rear view mirror.

I remember following one driver once.
He went quite fast on the straight bits of the road but was painfully slow on the twisty bits.
Obviously not acquainted with gears.

[Redstarstranraer]

58 minutes ago, pandarilla said:

 

Petty? Really?
 

 

I don't think anyone is suggesting that the loss of life in Haiti is a petty irritation or is attempting to trivialise it in any way.  The petty irritation is clearly the use of a natural disaster to push an agenda that is clearly nonsensical and in actuality self-defeating.

Before saying anything else, and being accused of holding views I do not (or indeed before I start attracting support from the likes of banana) there clearly are still massive problems with racial inequality and sexism etc in the developed and developing world.  That's just obvious.  I do think however that the likes of Ms Bogado are actually causing more harm than good by looking for evidence of these phenomena in absolutely everything, to the point of absurdity.  It is also saddening that some of these activists seem only to be concerned about events like this when they impact upon their chosen cause of concern.

Hundreds of people dying in Haiti is clearly a terrible thing which we ought to be concerned about.  We shouldn't be concerned about it however, as that tweet insinuates, because they happen to be mostly black (one assumes).  The idea that this is some sort of 'racism' is also clearly ridiculous, seeing as a hurricane clearly does not differentiate between people of different races.  This disaster is no more evidence of a racist agenda than a typhoon in the Philippines is evidence of an agenda against Asians.  Evidently natural disasters do have a greater negative impact on poorer communities with less ability to mitigate their effects, but that is a side-effect of global inequality in general.  We should be concerned about poverty and inequality in Haiti for its own sake, not because it happens to be a predominantly black nation.  Again climate change is a global environmental disaster with global consequences for all deprived communities not a conspiracy against one particular race.  It ought to be dealt with because of its consequences for humanity in general; she might not mean to imply (although I think she does) that it only bothers her because of what it will do to one community but that is the clear implication of her tweet one way or the other.

Stuff like this does annoy me a tad.  The other day some woman on the radio was demanding action in a certain part of Africa where there was no running water and women had to fetch their drinking water from wells several miles distant.  I think that is an entirely reasonable thing to be concerned about.  She however was irate about this not because of the poverty of these communities or the health implications but because it was the women who had to carry the water.  This implied if there was a gender balance in terms of sharing out that particular chore she'd have been content with the way things were.

There are genuine and much more important fights for feminists and anti-racists to pick if they want to solve the deep-rooted inequalities in society than trying to claim a storm is evidence of 'environmental racism'.  Wanting us to be worried about poverty or a natural disaster on the basis it effects a particular race or gender is just offensive and self-defeating.

[supermik]

Spent 3 hours yesterday doing a "temporary" job which was a real pain in the butt and left me covered in cuts and bruises.

Got a message today from the man that pays the wages to tell me to go back to the job and that it is all to be stripped back out as they have decided to do something different. Also can I go back on Monday and put everything back again 

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

6 minutes ago, supermik said:

Spent 3 hours yesterday doing a "temporary" job which was a real pain in the butt and left me covered in cuts and bruises.

Got a message today from the man that pays the wages to tell me to go back to the job and that it is all to be stripped back out as they have decided to do something different. Also can I go back on Monday and put everything back again 

I hope you're not a surgeon.

[supermik]

Drain surgeon sometimes.

[jmothecat]

Still game. I think it's a perfectly fine sit com, I don't dislike it at all, but the amount of hype over it coming back to TV is way over the top.

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

5 minutes ago, jmothecat said:

Still game. I think it's a perfectly fine sit com, I don't dislike it at all, but the amount of hype over it coming back to TV is way over the top.

[EdgarusQPFC]

55 minutes ago, Redstarstranraer said:

I don't think anyone is suggesting that the loss of life in Haiti is a petty irritation or is attempting to trivialise it in any way.  The petty irritation is clearly the use of a natural disaster to push an agenda that is clearly nonsensical and in actuality self-defeating.

Before saying anything else, and being accused of holding views I do not (or indeed before I start attracting support from the likes of banana) there clearly are still massive problems with racial inequality and sexism etc in the developed and developing world.  That's just obvious.  I do think however that the likes of Ms Bogado are actually causing more harm than good by looking for evidence of these phenomena in absolutely everything, to the point of absurdity.  It is also saddening that some of these activists seem only to be concerned about events like this when they impact upon their chosen cause of concern.

Hundreds of people dying in Haiti is clearly a terrible thing which we ought to be concerned about.  We shouldn't be concerned about it however, as that tweet insinuates, because they happen to be mostly black (one assumes).  The idea that this is some sort of 'racism' is also clearly ridiculous, seeing as a hurricane clearly does not differentiate between people of different races.  This disaster is no more evidence of a racist agenda than a typhoon in the Philippines is evidence of an agenda against Asians.  Evidently natural disasters do have a greater negative impact on poorer communities with less ability to mitigate their effects, but that is a side-effect of global inequality in general.  We should be concerned about poverty and inequality in Haiti for its own sake, not because it happens to be a predominantly black nation.  Again climate change is a global environmental disaster with global consequences for all deprived communities not a conspiracy against one particular race.  It ought to be dealt with because of its consequences for humanity in general; she might not mean to imply (although I think she does) that it only bothers her because of what it will do to one community but that is the clear implication of her tweet one way or the other.

Stuff like this does annoy me a tad.  The other day some woman on the radio was demanding action in a certain part of Africa where there was no running water and women had to fetch their drinking water from wells several miles distant.  I think that is an entirely reasonable thing to be concerned about.  She however was irate about this not because of the poverty of these communities or the health implications but because it was the women who had to carry the water.  This implied if there was a gender balance in terms of sharing out that particular chore she'd have been content with the way things were.

There are genuine and much more important fights for feminists and anti-racists to pick if they want to solve the deep-rooted inequalities in society than trying to claim a storm is evidence of 'environmental racism'.  Wanting us to be worried about poverty or a natural disaster on the basis it effects a particular race or gender is just offensive and self-defeating.

Thats modern day activism for you tho. Completely missing the point

[EdgarusQPFC]

9 minutes ago, jmothecat said:

Still game. I think it's a perfectly fine sit com, I don't dislike it at all, but the amount of hype over it coming back to TV is way over the top.

I think one of the big reasons for the Hype is because there almost wasn't a new series. After season 6 and the cast fall out the show basically died a sudden and very quiet death. Its not like the show was losing its charm or it was due for being cancelled or anything, it was in its prime and some really great comedy was being made then it was gone. People are definitely excited for new Still Game, but they are equally as excited that there is new Still Game.

[Bigmouth Strikes Again]

2 hours ago, EdgarusQPFC said:

"Environmental Racism" 

... 

Wid.

[pandarilla]

I don't think anyone is suggesting that the loss of life in Haiti is a petty irritation or is attempting to trivialise it in any way.  The petty irritation is clearly the use of a natural disaster to push an agenda that is clearly nonsensical and in actuality self-defeating.

Before saying anything else, and being accused of holding views I do not (or indeed before I start attracting support from the likes of banana) there clearly are still massive problems with racial inequality and sexism etc in the developed and developing world.  That's just obvious.  I do think however that the likes of Ms Bogado are actually causing more harm than good by looking for evidence of these phenomena in absolutely everything, to the point of absurdity.  It is also saddening that some of these activists seem only to be concerned about events like this when they impact upon their chosen cause of concern.

Hundreds of people dying in Haiti is clearly a terrible thing which we ought to be concerned about.  We shouldn't be concerned about it however, as that tweet insinuates, because they happen to be mostly black (one assumes).  The idea that this is some sort of 'racism' is also clearly ridiculous, seeing as a hurricane clearly does not differentiate between people of different races.  This disaster is no more evidence of a racist agenda than a typhoon in the Philippines is evidence of an agenda against Asians.  Evidently natural disasters do have a greater negative impact on poorer communities with less ability to mitigate their effects, but that is a side-effect of global inequality in general.  We should be concerned about poverty and inequality in Haiti for its own sake, not because it happens to be a predominantly black nation.  Again climate change is a global environmental disaster with global consequences for all deprived communities not a conspiracy against one particular race.  It ought to be dealt with because of its consequences for humanity in general; she might not mean to imply (although I think she does) that it only bothers her because of what it will do to one community but that is the clear implication of her tweet one way or the other.

Stuff like this does annoy me a tad.  The other day some woman on the radio was demanding action in a certain part of Africa where there was no running water and women had to fetch their drinking water from wells several miles distant.  I think that is an entirely reasonable thing to be concerned about.  She however was irate about this not because of the poverty of these communities or the health implications but because it was the women who had to carry the water.  This implied if there was a gender balance in terms of sharing out that particular chore she'd have been content with the way things were.

There are genuine and much more important fights for feminists and anti-racists to pick if they want to solve the deep-rooted inequalities in society than trying to claim a storm is evidence of 'environmental racism'.  Wanting us to be worried about poverty or a natural disaster on the basis it effects a particular race or gender is just offensive and self-defeating.

Excellent post.

I may well be wrong but I took 'environmental racism' to be the idea that we in the west are not going to get to grips with the effects of climate change until it's our countries being affected (ie, predominantly white and wealthy).

It's not the hurricane that's racist but the response to it (or lack thereof).

[mjw]

Wid.

Environmental sexism IMO.

[Grim O'Grady]

18 minutes ago, pandarilla said:

 

Excellent post.

I may well be wrong but I took 'environmental racism' to be the idea that we in the west are not going to get to grips with the effects of climate change until it's our countries being affected (ie, predominantly white and wealthy).

It's not the hurricane that's racist but the response to it (or lack thereof).

 

So does that make God the racist c**t? 

Grimbo 

[welshbairn]

#blackandwhitelivesmatter

#ebonyandivory

Edited October 7, 2016 by welshbairn

[milton75]

While I agree on the points above, my understanding of the notion of Environmental Racism is that is falls into 2 distinct camps.

Historically it was basically that the poorest communities were often in the areas with most direct pollution. That's not that surprising; many of the people in those communities were employed in said industries. That said, there are also many notable cases of dumping of toxic waste near poor communities.

The modern interpretation, however, which I think that particular activist was cack-handedly trying to raise awareness of should perhaps better be named "Climate Change Racism". This is down to the fact that many of the most extreme and regular effects of climate change can be seen to be most likely and most common across, broadly, the world's poorest regions (glibly, the middle bits).

The opposite extreme also applies whereby countries like the UK, which pollute at the high end of the per-capita scale, are least likely to be extremely affected by climate change.

So while I agree that many of these activists are annoying, they're not being so without at least some justification.

[DA Baracus]

HurriKKKane Matthew

[Redstarstranraer]

1 hour ago, milton75 said:

While I agree on the points above, my understanding of the notion of Environmental Racism is that is falls into 2 distinct camps.

Historically it was basically that the poorest communities were often in the areas with most direct pollution. That's not that surprising; many of the people in those communities were employed in said industries. That said, there are also many notable cases of dumping of toxic waste near poor communities.

The modern interpretation, however, which I think that particular activist was cack-handedly trying to raise awareness of should perhaps better be named "Climate Change Racism". This is down to the fact that many of the most extreme and regular effects of climate change can be seen to be most likely and most common across, broadly, the world's poorest regions (glibly, the middle bits).

The opposite extreme also applies whereby countries like the UK, which pollute at the high end of the per-capita scale, are least likely to be extremely affected by climate change.

So while I agree that many of these activists are annoying, they're not being so without at least some justification.

As I said in my previous post though climate change as a phenomenon isn't anything really to do with racism; it could hardly be argued that over the past couple of centuries when industries in the developed countries were pumping out greenhouse gases they were doing so on the understanding that the worst effects would be felt in countries that were predominantly non-white.  For most of that time they weren't conscious of creating a problem at all let alone where or by whom the worst effects would be felt.  The fact that the most extreme and regular effects of climate change will mostly effect the world's poorest regions has nothing directly to do with race. So why drag arguments about racism into it at all?  Why use the term racism at all?

As you point out in the past pollution of all descriptions mostly affected the poor.  You just have to look at Scottish history to see that.  Again though that's the poor in general, not specifically any one ethnic group so racism is a totally misleading and inadequate term to use.

Yes the world's poorest are being disproportionately affected by climate change, but that should be seen as a side effect of systematic income inequalities and uneven development rather than a race issue.  As I've said before we ought to be concerned about this on the basis those impacted by these changes are human beings who, due to their relative poverty, are much less able to mitigate the problems climate change will bring.  Asking people to act on the basis that this inequality is based on racism is disingenuous and misses the point entirely.  Evidently these activists have some justification in that there is a problem, it's just that they're totally mis-characterising what that problem is and misattributing the blame (or more accurately the causation).  I still also feel that by couching the arguments in these terms it gives the impression that were the impacts to be equal somehow across different races then these activists would not have any issue with them, which is clearly an absurd position to take.  

The real issue I have with this is the conflation of almost every issue that we have in contemporary global society with racism by some activists and the counterproductive impact that message might have in society.  Yes there is racism out there but a hurricane really isn't it.  If you do drag race into everything then there is a real danger that genuine issues around race will be subsumed by this background noise of folk looking for evidence of prejudice where it doesn't really exist.

 

 

Basically aye there is a problem but it's a more general issue about relative inequality between the developed and undeveloped world and calling it 'racism' is the wrong way to go about motivating people to do something to fix it.  However it is formulated 'Environmental Racism' is an unhelpful term, in my opinion.

Edited October 7, 2016 by Redstarstranraer

[Miguel Sanchez]

I think you're all missing the point in that Haiti has a majority black population and is situated in a place prone to hurricanes.

[mattyaccies]

I think you're all missing the point in that Haiti has a majority black population and is situated in a place prone to hurricanes.

Yep, just like Ethiopia gets a bit more sun than we do...

[ICTJohnboy]

13 hours ago, MEADOWXI said:

So stopped you to tell you that you had done nothing wrong, and in the process the slow car had passed you and got ahead again..........

The sense of humour of the Police is amazing.

Indeed. 

I think he was heading for Aberdeen.