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Month: February 2017
What are the most memorable backhanded comments you have received?
From someone I used to hang out with on IRC. (Yes, I am that old.) “Nick Nicholas! You wouldn’t be half as obnoxious as you are if you weren’t called that!” Um… I thank you, and my three cousins called Nick Nicholas also thank you? High school frenemy (well, friend in high school, because I […]
Why is Australia considered more Anglo-Celtic than the USA, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa?
The use of the term Anglo–Celtic in Australia has to do with the history of ethnic relations and the formation of the dominant identity in that country. For a very long time, the Irish and their descendants, identified through Catholicism, were a separate and somewhat disadvantaged identity in Australia. They had trouble accessing the highest […]
Why are the leaders of the Australian political parties so prone to being toppled?
All the answers given here have been excellent. I particularly liked Kai Neagle’s. Several factors have contributed to Australia recently turning into postwar Italy, and most of them have already been pointed out. Labor has always been factionalised. The Liberals have become much more factionalised recently, with the resurgence of the reactionary right. Both parties […]
At what point does a spiritual tradition cross the line into a religion?
I’m with Lyonel Perabo. Vote #1: Lyonel Perabo’s answer to At what point does a spiritual tradition cross the line into a religion? The distinction between spirituality and religion is not a particularly old one. People who want to believe in something beyond the material, but want to dissociate themselves from Christianity or other formalised […]
Is it true that redheads are better in bed?
Placebo effect, people. A lot of this plays out in people’s heads. Not just the redhead-chasers’ heads, but the redheads’ too. If you live in a culture in which redheads are told they are better in bed, a non-trivial number of redheads are going to believe that they really are better in bed, and act […]
Do you think UKrainian-Australian olena khamula is pretty or not?
I’ve made this a survey question. This is a purely subjective opinion, as all such questions are. It is informed by Nick Nicholas’ answer to Do you think Australian singer Delta Goodrem is pretty?: Individual: Not really into blondes, man. As opposed to Season 3 Australian Bachelor Richie Strahan, who was only into blondes, man, […]
Am I shallow or superficial for thinking Australia’s aboriginals are the least attractive race of humans in the world?
Fascinated why I got A2A’d this. I mean, I have my self-flattering theory as to why, but Robert Thompson, who A2A’d me, do get in touch! Kia Ora, OP, my Māori fellow antipodean! Do me a favour. Google pictures of the Khoisan. (Previous unfriendly names: Bushmen, Hottentot.) Tell me whether you find them more unattractive. […]
Why do Australians really dislike Aborigines?
My fellow nationals, let us not hide behind our finger. (I think that’s a Greek expression.) Yes, I’m sure none of us here are racist. But racism against Aboriginal Australians is there, and visitors to Australia regularly manage to chronicle it. (It’s the one dark aspect of Bill Bryson’s otherwise panegyrical Down Under/In A Sunburned […]
I didn’t understand the last scene of Whiplash. What does the ending mean? Why does Andrew continue to play after the end signal from Fletcher?
I had a slightly different take on the final scene, and I’m a little surprised that nobody else had the same take. Must be just me then. Yes, Andrew starts playing out of spite, because he’ll show Fletcher what he’s made of, and he’s happy to disrupt Fletcher’s show while doing it. But as Andrew […]
The Decalogue of Nick #5: I’m a middle-aged cishet man, recently married, no kids
For Tracey Bryan and Sam Murray. This breaks up in three. This… goes places. Middle-aged Before I even noticed, I’m 45. I don’t want to feel the weight of snow on my temples. I just posted about how I refuse to pay Death any mind: Nick Nicholas’ answer to Do you consciously live your life […]