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Prof_Pretorius's Blog
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Cloak of Invisibilty 10-19-2007 06:09 pm Prof_Pretorius's Blog
I recently purchased a used auto, which shall remain brandless. It doesn't have a CD player, a GPS device, a DVD player, air bags, heated seats, or a tilt steering wheel. It's 24 years old, and runs beautifully. It doesn't have power assisted steering, or an automatic transmission, or a power outlet for charging my laptop, it doesn't even have cup holders. But it looks nice. In fact it ought to turn heads. Blokes ask me all the time, "do people comment?" The answer is they don't. It's not the kind of auto you see every day. In fact, it's quite rare. But no shouts of "awright" or thumbs up, or any comments in general. It makes me wonder. Are people afraid to be spontaneous anymore? Certainly I don't appear threatening. I don't think people see me and think I'm some mercenary, and liable to pull a gun on them. (I do look a bit like that Yank writer Hunter S. Thompson, but not like his twin.) I wonder if people in general these days are afraid to comment on something even if it's positive? Are we so afraid of each other? I joke that it has a built-in cloaking device, but I haven't found the switch to turn it off. I get tempted to try something bizarre like wearing Groucho glasses, or some odd get-up just to see how far this goes. I've read of blokes wearing bizarre costumes in public to see people's reactions, and then getting none. What's at work here? We see something out of the ordinary, and turn our head back so we don't get seen looking. But seen by who? I live in a frightfully large city, and never see anyone I know when I'm out driving. Who is everyone afraid of? The next time I'm out and about, and see a nice Porsche, I'll make a point of complimenting the driver, just to see what happens.....
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Comments
Well in bigger cities with higher population density people seem to be very afraid of being different. The herd mentality seems to be too strong. The herd doesn't tell them how to react so they do nothing. From an evolutionary standpoint this would be logical, when one lives in a herd and thusly derive great protection from other malicious sources by acting according to the herd. It would not be in one's self-interest to go against the group, reinforced by the group's self-cleansing qualities such as blaming fringe-people for negative occurences.
Unlike places where the population density is significantly lower and the people are thusly more independant for protection against evil. In this case... bla, bla, bla...
I just love pulling stuff from my ass. Playing tug-of-war with my donkey makes me happy.
Oh forgive me.
What kind of car is it?
10-20-2007 09:49 pm Gosmokesome
Many here say the government point came in September when Mr. Passos Coelho offered a plan to redistribute social security funds by cutting employers’ social security taxes while significantly raising those of employees. Although the measure was meant to lower labor costs, the outcry from workers was so ferocious that he was soon forced to withdraw it. Suddenly, the Portuguese, too, have joined the swelling ranks of Europe’s discontented, following Greece and Spain, after the government tried to take another step up the austerity path last month. For many here, it was one step too far, driving tens of thousands into the streets in the largest protest of Portugal’s crisis. As Pedro Passos Coelho, Portugal’s center-right prime minister, prepares to announce a new budget on Monday — filled with still more steep tax increases and public sector job cuts — he faces the kind of popular backlash that was, until recently, absent from the political and social landscape here. Taking a page from the playbook of their Spanish neighbors, Portuguese protesters are planning to encircle the Parliament building here in the capital for the budget announcement. For their part, Portugal’s powerful trade unions are preparing a general strike for Nov. 14. Arménio Carlos, the leader of the CGTP union, compared Mr. Passos Coelho to Pinocchio, accusing him of constantly changing his austerity message.
10-15-2012 03:26 am yoyoyo
Our investigations took us to St Petersburg and the Soviet Submariners Veterans' Society via the National Security Archive in Washington DC, where Svetlana Savranskaya, the director of the Russian archives, told us an incredible story. November 1962 has put our own experiences into perspective - and maybe given rise to a few more grey hairs along the way. There had been a second secret missile crisis that continued the danger of a catastrophic nuclear war until the end of November 1962. This extended the known missile crisis well beyond the weekend of 27-28 October, the time that had always been thought of as the moment the danger finally lifted with the deal between Kennedy and Khrushchev to withdraw the Soviet missiles in exchange for a US promise not to invade Cuba.The secret missile crisis came about through an unnerving mix of Soviet duplicity, American intelligence failures and the mercurial temperament of Fidel Castro. The Cuban leader, cut out of the main negotiations between the superpowers over the fate of the long range Soviet missiles stationed in Cuba, began to cease cooperation with Moscow.
10-19-2012 09:12 pm yoyoyo
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