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tcpipAre propertarians, that right-wing "libertarian" political philosophy, among the worst thinkers of all? Or, ironically, as bad as vulgar Marxists? I raise this possibility to two recent debates with such individuals where they have shown a disdain for factual information. One claimed that Marxism has no influence in Europe, in Germany in particular. I mentioned everything from the Frankfurt Declaration, to various research institutes, to the state parliament of Thuringia. The next tried argued about Chinese communism, and were less than happy when I suggested it was probably better than the alternatives available at the time. So it goes; the Stalinist communists think I'm an apologist for capitalism, the propertarians and neoliberals think I'm an apologist for communism, and in reality I'm neither. It's just that I start with contextual facts without partisanship. I actually think that consciously losing a sense of political partisanship was one of the smartest acts of self-improvement I've ever done - even it both confuses and annoys those with rigid ideologies.
Anyway, as an example of the horrors of government interventions, when an Australian turns fifty, the government likes to check their bum and I've provided them that opportunity. What I'm referring to is the National Bowel Cancer screening program, a voluntary at-home program which does lead to a reduction in cancer incidence. Of course, people claim that they "don't have time", and to be fair it was weeks before I even read the documentation. For what it's worth this is an encouragement for people to actually pull their finger out and do this, because it can be a life-saving exercise. It is actually better to know, rather than cancer catching you when it's too late. Apropos on other health issues, an old friend has been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis; I have taken the opportunity to recall a story from my youth (Facebook) where involving a memorable confusion between sclerosis and cirrhosis.
Neglected to mention in the last post that I attended the Linux Users of Victoria meeting last Tuesday on the use of FOSS tools in the production of the play 'Share' by Dr. Katherine Phelps, which introduced me to the script-writing tool, CeltX. Also this week ran the usual set of three training courses; whilst the first went really well, even if the class were mostly beginners, the latter two had to be cancelled due to non-attendances. This is the first time in eight years or so that this has ever happened and I've suggested that, whilst we offer the training for free to researchers, that perhaps we need to add a deposit to encourage their attendance. The courses are in very high-demand and it really isn't fair for those who do make the effort to attend.
Anyway, as an example of the horrors of government interventions, when an Australian turns fifty, the government likes to check their bum and I've provided them that opportunity. What I'm referring to is the National Bowel Cancer screening program, a voluntary at-home program which does lead to a reduction in cancer incidence. Of course, people claim that they "don't have time", and to be fair it was weeks before I even read the documentation. For what it's worth this is an encouragement for people to actually pull their finger out and do this, because it can be a life-saving exercise. It is actually better to know, rather than cancer catching you when it's too late. Apropos on other health issues, an old friend has been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis; I have taken the opportunity to recall a story from my youth (Facebook) where involving a memorable confusion between sclerosis and cirrhosis.
Neglected to mention in the last post that I attended the Linux Users of Victoria meeting last Tuesday on the use of FOSS tools in the production of the play 'Share' by Dr. Katherine Phelps, which introduced me to the script-writing tool, CeltX. Also this week ran the usual set of three training courses; whilst the first went really well, even if the class were mostly beginners, the latter two had to be cancelled due to non-attendances. This is the first time in eight years or so that this has ever happened and I've suggested that, whilst we offer the training for free to researchers, that perhaps we need to add a deposit to encourage their attendance. The courses are in very high-demand and it really isn't fair for those who do make the effort to attend.
