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61
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Trumpled (Alternative Leading)
Last post by LP -
I think it's just a fundamental nature of tyrants, and there are tyrants on all sides of this issue, there is no good will evident from any angle.

The more disturbing aspect of this latest series of events, is that RedTrump did not even consult his own caucus in the planning. It's a sign he no longer holds regard for the political process, he has become bolder and bigger than the GOP. As a result I doubt he will abide by the next election result, and I suspect the fundamentals of the US constitution are now at very high risk, more so than at any time previous and previous events were alarming enough.
63
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Trumpled (Alternative Leading)
Last post by Lods -
Amidst all the bluster from all sides there may be a fair bit of talking taking place in private, that doesn't quite align with some of the 'public' declarations.

But just at the moment it seems that, having patted themselves on the back, the US administration isn't quite sure what the next step should be.

64
The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
Last post by LP -
We went into a SCG test without a spinner, batting so deeply Starc is at 10, and we sent out a nightwatchmen.

There are so many wrongs with the current state of Test Cricket I don't know where to start, the sport of cricket is doing this to itself, it's like Test Cricket is now an unwanted obligation rather than the pinnacle of the sport!
65
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Trumpled (Alternative Leading)
Last post by LP -
RedTrump, Maduro, Rodriguez, Putin, Xi, Kim, etc., etc., are basically all grifters lining their own pockets at the expense of the societies they live in, they are a den of thieves and cannot be trusted in either words or actions.

I feel the only way to get them into line is for society to threaten their personal wealth, but I have no idea how that could be accomplished. I'd like to see far greater personal risk attached to their investments, with much longer term liability.

Brazil did well with Bolsonaro, but Brazil is a rather unique politically active and highly motived culture that has a history of defending it's environment.
66
The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
Last post by DJC -
Cricket factoid: Australia’s nightwatchman and regular tail-ender has scored more first class centuries than England’s number three.

Oh, not a bad knock from Travis Head … again!
67
The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
Last post by DJC -
Quote from: kruddler – on
Quote from: PaulP – on
One needs to mediate carefully between the group and the individual. There may be a small element of truth to certain groups conforming to certain behaviors, but that needs to be measured against that fact we are individual minds, and you need to be wary of flattening or erasing any nuance or legitimate difference that exists between members of a group.

In terms of parental pushiness, my experiences were decidedly mixed, with 2 children involved in soccer, cricket, swimming, ballet, fencing, drama, choir, art classes, gymnastics. Pushy parents come in all shapes and skin colors, as do chill parents.

This is wise words.

That being said, our work has put on 2 'indian cultural days' where the goal is to help understand the differences between Indians and 'traditional' clients and how to navigate this without being offensive.

It was run by an indian woman who has been in Melbourne for almost 2 decades now.

Summarised best by explaining India is so big and varied its best thinking about it essentially as different countries. Wealth, education, language, religion, mannerisms all change depending on where you are.

However, take home message is this. As a general rule, "if you don't ask, you don't get" and "You can't say 'no' to indians" put a lot of people offside from our end. Culturally, they are 'pushy' because they need to be. There's a billion other people they are competing with. While as a group/company, we acknowledge this, but its poor form to bow down to such demands in comparison to any other client. Why should they get favouritism simply because they are pushy??

Obviously, within that individual personalities vary, just like other cultures, but they acknowledge themselves its part of theirs. This certainly does show up in sports and with pushy parents.

For those interested in movies, 'Dangal' is an indian movie based of real events of an overbearing parent going against tradition and training his daughters up to be world class wrestlers, competing at commonwealth and olympic games as a result. A great standalone movie in its own right, but gives you a look at 'the other side'.

Nice post Kruddler!

I haven't been to India but I hope to one day.  A lot of what I know about India has been gleaned from cricket commentators like Harsha Bhogle on the wireless.  They often stress how diverse India is with so many different religions, ethnic groups, languages, cuisines, cultural practices, etc, etc.

One of my former colleagues is from Nigeria but he obtained one of his degrees at Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar.  Some of his fellow students were Muslims and they couldn't get beef in Amritsar. Mba was travelling to a Muslim city and they asked him to bring some beef back with him on the bus.  Unfortunately, one of the passengers noticed blood dripping from Mba's bag and he was confronted.  He fessed up and was worried that he was about to be kicked off the bus in the middle of nowhere.  However, all of the other passengers left the bus and he returned to Anritsar by himself.  
68
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Trumpled (Alternative Leading)
Last post by DJC -
The attempt to obfuscate the need for Congressional authority to use force under US domestic law won’t work if a couple of Republicans grow a spine.

While the US attacks in Venezuela are clearly a breach of Article 2(4) of the UN charter, nothing will come of that … apart from Putin acknowledging that international law does apply to other countries.

Taco was quick to bully Nigeria using the false claims that Christians are being killed.  The strike he ordered, without Congressional approval, was ineffective, unless you’re the owner of one of the mud huts the missiles hit.

No prizes for guessing what Nigeria and Venezuela have in common but Nigeria also has significant lithium deposits.

I suspect that Russia and/or China will be extending the hand of friendship to Bola Tinubu.
69
The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
Last post by kruddler -
Quote from: PaulP – on
One needs to mediate carefully between the group and the individual. There may be a small element of truth to certain groups conforming to certain behaviors, but that needs to be measured against that fact we are individual minds, and you need to be wary of flattening or erasing any nuance or legitimate difference that exists between members of a group.

In terms of parental pushiness, my experiences were decidedly mixed, with 2 children involved in soccer, cricket, swimming, ballet, fencing, drama, choir, art classes, gymnastics. Pushy parents come in all shapes and skin colors, as do chill parents.

This is wise words.

That being said, our work has put on 2 'indian cultural days' where the goal is to help understand the differences between Indians and 'traditional' clients and how to navigate this without being offensive.

It was run by an indian woman who has been in Melbourne for almost 2 decades now.

Summarised best by explaining India is so big and varied its best thinking about it essentially as different countries. Wealth, education, language, religion, mannerisms all change depending on where you are.

However, take home message is this. As a general rule, "if you don't ask, you don't get" and "You can't say 'no' to indians" put a lot of people offside from our end. Culturally, they are 'pushy' because they need to be. There's a billion other people they are competing with. While as a group/company, we acknowledge this, but its poor form to bow down to such demands in comparison to any other client. Why should they get favouritism simply because they are pushy??

Obviously, within that individual personalities vary, just like other cultures, but they acknowledge themselves its part of theirs. This certainly does show up in sports and with pushy parents.

For those interested in movies, 'Dangal' is an indian movie based of real events of an overbearing parent going against tradition and training his daughters up to be world class wrestlers, competing at commonwealth and olympic games as a result. A great standalone movie in its own right, but gives you a look at 'the other side'.