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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 48 to 72 of 117. Go back in thread:
Posted by alexandra_k on November 8, 2018, at 4:41:37
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM, posted by alexandra_k on November 8, 2018, at 3:58:27
I suspect the UK has taken over the Med testing because the Aussies started doing what is oh so prevalent here...
Taking the piss out of the situation.
What do I mean?
Well...
There was a whole book about the test. A well written book. As you would expect, given how much money we pay for the test. You would expect them to have editors, and the like.
In the section on 'disability' there was a typographical error. Like... They didn't bother writing that section properly.
They asked for information... That year they asked about what secondary school you went to (whether it was a private australian or whether it was a public / New Zealand school). It was clear all New Zealanders (including those from our private schools) were considered to be on a par with the public Australians as far as they were concerned.
That year they also asked whether you had purchased or attended any other preparation material.
I suppose I got disability accommodations, that year.
It turned out that the way that works is that a particular dignosis means you are 'entitled' to a particular accommodatin. So.. For Autism Spectrum you get a smaller testing room (I think up to 10 people or something like that) and... 10 minutes for every hour. Or something like that.
I didn't know what to do about any of that, honestly. But it was done.
So... When I sat the UMAT next time (without requesting accommodations) I guess... They had to give me a slightly lower score this time, because I had less time. Right?
But then... What about all the study preparation I did for it this time that I didn't do last time?
And what about their f*ck*d up questions this time? They asked what gender we were... And then they asked a bunch of questions that mentioned or used 'statistics' in the question.
We pay them for the privaledge of sitting this test, remember.
It is used to decide who gets to study Medicine.
What is this... Psychology from the 60's because we haven't managed to learn it yet?
?
?
?
what the f*ck.
Where does the money go?
Posted by alexandra_k on November 8, 2018, at 5:27:57
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM, posted by alexandra_k on November 8, 2018, at 4:41:37
of course i realise that the NHS is in trouble... the government is wanting to reduce spending to them and that can't be good i would imagine... i don't imagine healthcare would get cheaper, all of a sudden. it must mean (i would think) that they have decided that the thing should / will take a dive...
and of course...
the queen and so on isn't getting healthcare from the NHS. clearly. so there must be some kind of private system going on.
and what is perhaps scarier about that is that it isn't talked of, at all.
whereas at least in the US it is clear to everyone (the world over) that there is such a thing. that it costs a great deal. that it can be problematic if people want every freaking test under the sun (that that might not be in their best interests, even). that insurance companies paying is a kind of waver to privacy / confidentiality (if you want to go that way). that access is a genuine issue / problem / thing. a genuine thing.
we just redefine 'access' so it's that people have access to the patient. the patients organs and tissues and genetic information. that's what better access means. it's not for the good of the patient. it's a taking the piss kind of irony that has us believe cuts can be cut and access can be improved.
thus far...
the US has given me a curriculum. something that seems worthwhile learning.
i know it's just the start and probably more fool me... but it's the best i've been offered thus far. Australia: my hard work didn't pay off. i don't know if it was that they pre-judged me or what... it's possible there is some master plan where what i'm told and what my school is told are two differnet things (or whatever). who knows... they say you can't compare your score from year to year but your percentile place from year to year can be compared, surely...
anyway... England moving in... the restructure of the NHS... i'm suspicious.
maybe they do want to get us thinking further afield than Australia.
I am concerned I won't end up with a quiet place to study.
Posted by alexandra_k on November 8, 2018, at 6:40:16
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM, posted by alexandra_k on November 8, 2018, at 5:27:57
something about how the best defence is a good offence.
Trump is fairly offensive.
The rest of the world is on the defensive.
If that makes sense.Our last Prime Minister should have been seen as offensive by his own people long before he was.
It got really very bad, indeed.
I mean, he was pulling the pig-tails of waitresses, and so on...Our current avatair doesn't make any more sense / coherance than Trump, however.
Sure she gave birth to her baby in the hospital renowned for sexual abuses of infants. Sure, sure, sure she did. And is her baby's blood in storage in the basement right there with the rest of the Nations?
It's just not the slightest little bit plausible, at all.
Posted by sigismund on November 8, 2018, at 8:35:41
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM, posted by alexandra_k on November 8, 2018, at 3:46:14
Some people, yes. Betsy deVos? But not the overall society. Well, the idea of a Commonwealth has been under attack for most of my life. These people are the morbid symptoms of which Gramsci wrote... The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.
If we take this to its logical extreme where 1 or 2 families own (say) 95% of everything no one will have any money to buy their products.
Posted by sigismund on November 8, 2018, at 8:38:41
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM, posted by alexandra_k on November 8, 2018, at 4:41:37
For a US visa they ask 'Are you a terrorist?'
Posted by beckett2 on November 8, 2018, at 13:27:42
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM, posted by sigismund on November 8, 2018, at 3:07:24
> Anyway, you have heard it all before. You can't pay attention to identity politics of your economic policy destroys jobs. I recall Obama and Clinton saying that they would all get better jobs.
>
> There is more light/difference between the Democratic and the Republican Parties now?Not to insult, but to point out, this is b*llsh*t and we know it.
Then I learn two winning incumbents have pending felon charges. Will they serve their constituents from prison?
Posted by beckett2 on November 8, 2018, at 13:34:05
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM, posted by alexandra_k on November 8, 2018, at 1:45:53
Omg, lane issues. I remember that from when I swam in a huge indoor pool at the YMCA. That and there was a rooftop track, and some people would run the opposite direction to the rules. Swimming with 6+ people in your lane and in the adjacent lanes. Oh well, it was a crowded city.
I just read that Auckland is in the top ten most expensive cities to live.
>do american people have guidelines on teaching / learning or...
I think there is, but standards vary from school, meaning the meeting of those standards vary.
Posted by beckett2 on November 8, 2018, at 13:40:30
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM » alexandra_k, posted by sigismund on November 8, 2018, at 8:38:41
> For a US visa they ask 'Are you a terrorist?'
Apparently our terrorist quota is full atm. Today 13 dies in a night club shooting in Southern California. He was a gunner in afghanistan. The sheriff on the scene said, "Dean alluded to these earlier attacks, saying the carnage in Borderline is part of the horrors that are happening in our country and everywhere, and I think its impossible to put any logic or any sense to the senseless.
When asked by a reporter what it looked like inside the venue, Dean responded: Like hell.
No Country for Old Men.
Posted by beckett2 on November 8, 2018, at 13:45:32
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM » sigismund, posted by beckett2 on November 8, 2018, at 13:40:30
The past 24 hours have been insane here.
Trump has lost it. The WH released altered videos.
But there is this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/11/08/year-old-man-asks-be-declared-claiming-age-is-fluid-gender/?utm_term=.28e98673f05e
Posted by beckett2 on November 8, 2018, at 13:52:50
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM, posted by sigismund on November 8, 2018, at 8:35:41
Have you seen this book? http://a.co/d/4drDfCg
The Majority Report mentioned it. I'll never get to it--but it looks interesting.
There is also a conversation at The Intercept podcast with Chris Hedges. https://theintercept.com/2018/11/07/chris-hedges-on-elections-christian-fascists-and-the-rot-within-the-american-system/?campaign=homepage-podcast-intercepted
Maybe you've seen it.
Posted by sigismund on November 8, 2018, at 15:27:17
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM » sigismund, posted by beckett2 on November 8, 2018, at 13:27:42
>Not to insult, but to point out, this is b*llsh*t and we know it.
You mean there is NO difference with the corporates?
We are so fortunate. For all of its faults the ALP and the Greens are different.
Posted by sigismund on November 8, 2018, at 15:30:18
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM » sigismund, posted by beckett2 on November 8, 2018, at 13:40:30
Somehow the wars come home.
I was really shocked to see tanks or was it armoured vehicles on the streets of Ferguson under Obama.
Well, really, he was groomed for his future from a long time back? No idea by whom. Citibank?
Posted by beckett2 on November 8, 2018, at 15:31:05
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM, posted by sigismund on November 8, 2018, at 15:27:17
> >Not to insult, but to point out, this is b*llsh*t and we know it.
>
> You mean there is NO difference with the corporates?
>
> We are so fortunate. For all of its faults the ALP and the Greens are different.I'm not sure I understand. I'm not strictly talking of reps vs dems if that's what corporates are.
AU is much better off, agreed.
Posted by sigismund on November 8, 2018, at 15:33:48
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM » sigismund, posted by beckett2 on November 8, 2018, at 13:52:50
Not the book which seems interesting.
But Hedges, most probably, I've heard just about everything of his.
I want to look up his ordination ceremony on youtube. He was talking about it somewhere.
Posted by beckett2 on November 8, 2018, at 15:40:40
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM, posted by sigismund on November 8, 2018, at 15:30:18
> Somehow the wars come home.
>
> I was really shocked to see tanks or was it armoured vehicles on the streets of Ferguson under Obama.
>
> Well, really, he was groomed for his future from a long time back? No idea by whom. Citibank?I don't know, but he's disappointing. As much as I find him charming and intelligent. He looks frightened now, while he was out stumping recently. I feel sad. Like, yup, we're really in the sh*ts.
Posted by beckett2 on November 8, 2018, at 15:44:23
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM » beckett2, posted by sigismund on November 8, 2018, at 15:33:48
I would care much less except for our climate. There just isn't the time. Just recently I heard someone (my mind is scrambled from input--sorry) that they find comfort in history. I thought of you. I wish I could because I am thinking the jig is up. I think about this all the time. Literally. Which is why I was diagnosed with GAD. Lyrica is the only thing that seems to keep my thoughts from swimming.
Posted by beckett2 on November 8, 2018, at 15:45:40
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM » beckett2, posted by sigismund on November 8, 2018, at 15:33:48
After my child was born, I realized how real everything is. Does that make sense?
Posted by beckett2 on November 8, 2018, at 15:48:22
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM, posted by beckett2 on November 8, 2018, at 15:45:40
I'm sorry. I feel really cranked up atm.
Posted by alexandra_k on November 8, 2018, at 18:06:05
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM, posted by sigismund on November 8, 2018, at 8:35:41
> If we take this to its logical extreme where 1 or 2 families own (say) 95% of everything no one will have any money to buy their products.
people will always have to have a little money / a line of credit with which to purchase (even only temporary access to) the resources they need.
but all the money / line of credit they have will go to those families and those families will have control over all of the resources.
we have what feels an awful lot like a false economy in nz. think about the people on welfare, for a minute.
all of their money goes to:
- rent
- power
- transport (bus, car maintenence / repairs and gas)
- food (one of the major supermarkets of which i do believe there are 2)
- clothes
- phone / internet (telecommunications)and that's about it and they are struggling to purchase those things.
it is typically not really possible for them to locate local producers and / or get to the location where they are...
the exisence of inferior goods (pots and pans and vaccums and washing machines and jeans made in sweatshops with carcinogenic dye and so on)... and the exisence of welfare as teh source of the money / line of credit means they are forced for all their money to go to these things...
power companies vary. one doesn't require a contract and tehy sign you up same day. that would be the one for the people on welfare. then you have the ones that will sign you up for a contract down teh track... then you have thee ones who want to do a whole credit history check and the like before connecting you...
how much does every individual pay for power?
insurance?just so long as every individual thinks they are getting some magical cheap rate so they better keep their mouth shut of tehy will be kicked back to... being ripped off
all the money comes in... all the money goes straight back out...
there are only a few businesses in charge of most things.
or, they'd certainly try and have everyone believe it.look at how they keep their people?
i just keep thinking how cognitvely short-sighted they are... how miserable their lives must be really. all the human uniqueness and creativity. genuine laughter and happiness. all the voluntary mutually beneficial interactions... all prevented. all upset. because these demented people prefer to be head of some hierarchy of rubbish.
only...
there's plenty of people living amongst that who would do similarly if hteir circumstances were reversed. so...
what ya gonna do?
Posted by alexandra_k on November 8, 2018, at 18:09:42
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM » alexandra_k, posted by sigismund on November 8, 2018, at 8:38:41
> For a US visa they ask 'Are you a terrorist?'
There is a reason for that. My understanding of US law is fairly limited...
It has something to do with them being able to detain you / charge you / deport you for good reason to believe you LIED on that form...
Apparently there are problems with the legality of those things, otherwise.
I don't understand more than that.
Posted by alexandra_k on November 8, 2018, at 18:38:19
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM » alexandra_k, posted by beckett2 on November 8, 2018, at 13:34:05
> Omg, lane issues. I remember that from when I swam in a huge indoor pool at the YMCA. That and there was a rooftop track, and some people would run the opposite direction to the rules. Swimming with 6+ people in your lane and in the adjacent lanes. Oh well, it was a crowded city.
Sigh. Yeah. It gets like that, at times. Perhaps not that bad, but I've been there when it's been 3 or 4 to a short course lane (25m).
> I just read that Auckland is in the top ten most expensive cities to live.
Yeah. And then you need to factor in the low low low (how low can we go?) wages of the people trying to live / work there. That is what typically shocks people. They think they'll be alright but they didn't factor in that they were going to have 'frictional unemployment' for over a year and then only be offered something fairly low level / temporary / terminal with respect to promotion etc.
I'll basically be at the mercy of the government / housing new zealand. As I have been since returning to new zealand. Nothing has changed there.
I have said for years 'I just want a quiet place to work on my thesis'. I have said for many years 'quiet, for me, is not listening to teenagers blast their music or television or hang about in groups guffawing and screaming and carrying on'. I have said for many years 'quiet, for me, is not living with another person. It's about not having to socialise with people on demand'. I have made it really f*ck*ng clear I just want a quiet space by myself.
This year I finally got that quiet space my myself. I wrote the thesis. Suprise. Lets's take nearly a decade of totally ignoring everything she has to say beause if we ignore her for long enough some gang banger will simply claim her and kill her if she's a pain, and then we won't have to bother about her, anymore.
great job, new zealand!
anyway...
If I get to do it I'll apply for a transfer, here. I don't suppose I will get one. Her can be problematic because if I have classes at 8am (and I think I will have) then there will be snow / ice for a significant chunk of the year and I only have a motorcycle and I don't know that the back roads will be ridable.
I have already put my name down for a state house housing transfer and I'm high priority but of course nobody can do anything until I actually have an offer of place.
Who knows what they will offer me in Auckland. They could offer me something in a g*ng b*ng*ng area of South Auckland with a several hour commute. Because they decide I'm not allowed to study / work.
They have houses that are suitable with little commute. I am sure. The house I am in at the moment has a pleasant aesthetic, even. They have good houses. But that doesn't mean that I will get one.
They have apartments in the city / ghetto, too. But I expect they will be noisy and / or there will be lonely peole in them and it wouldn't take long before someone decides that if I dont want to socialise with them the way they want me to then they have the God given right to bang and stomp on the walls / ceilings / floors / all around the hallway.
My current house works because the house is a bit big for me. I have a single central room in the house that is internally insulated by hallway / kitchen / loungeroom. The outlook is over across a hill and there is a nature reserve behind my large back yard. I am bothered a bit by people walking pas teh nature reserve yelling at theier dog... But it's really infrequent and I can deal with it mostly. Nobody camps out there.
In Auckalnd there are large sections in Remuera (inner city adjacent). But , you know, people have large sections in LA, too - right? lolz.
> >do american people have guidelines on teaching / learning or...
> I think there is, but standards vary from school, meaning the meeting of those standards vary.Yeah. I do understand that. I know there are people stuck in slums in LA and NY and Chicago and St Louis and... Most places. Sydney. Melbourne... Most places. Little kids in tenement blocks with needles in the hallway and seccrity lighting kicked out. People being raised in trailor parks. I watch TV / listen to music. Sometimes lawfullly. Hrmph. If NZ had have paid me more money over the years I would have been able to afford the entertainment that is a huge part of what helped me get through so as for me to still be here, today.
Our national standards are a joke. A national embarrassment. A... System that got dumber and dumber and dumber to try and conceal how our kids are becoming less educated in reading writing and arithmetic over time.
It meant private schools became more important - because some of the very expensive ones used Cambridge Curriculum (UK). Which meant their school performance could be compared to those kids which meant they could hopefully get entry to a US or UK university for their first / undergraduate degree. Some of our public schools are pretty good, but that really really really drives up the house prices in teh area. There are / were / are rumoured to be some pretty good scchools that are zoned central city Auckland. New Zealanders would traditionally only have lived in teh inner city slums for short time (as teenagers / very young adults) and then moved to suburbia to have a family. But immigrants undrstand better the value of education and are willing to pack themselves in tighter and tigher spaces to raise kids in inner city school zones. Especially because people come from HOng Kong and the like and, well, us Kiwis don't understand what overcrowding is...
But what they don't factor... Is you get a big tribal dude (for example) who is used to ranging over a space... Like... A few kilometers... Something like that.... Used to cooie yelling and the like... And a boisterous manner with that... And when there are only 2 people in a tiny little apartment... Living like that... The noise just fills the whole (like 13 floors) building. Parly because of the cheap plywood construction. Then add harbour shipping traffic and constrution traffic and subway traffic and commuter swearing and honking traffic...
I have to trust it will be okay. Because there is no other way.
I'm meeting the connections / people I will need. In the journals. Learning who is 'good' here. If I have a problem. To approach them. Building up my reputation so people may listen to me when I need them to. Learning about pursuing things in the UK and so on.
That Step 1 thing got to be... There's rather a lot more information in that than I first thought. It's deceptive. But it is really high quality. The best thing is that nearly all of it is familiar to me and I can follow nearly all of it. I know what the abbreviaions are and so on. I mean sometimes I find a chunk I haven't learned / that's not true of but... Well... Over the last however many years I suppose I have learned a great deal about the content...
I don't think what I've said abbout the UMAT questions is problematic. Thinking about the commentary in first aid that isn't deemed breaching. Also the UMAT is going away. It will not be offered from next year. Also everything I've said is only my opinion and why trust / believe me when I didn't even do well at it? Maybe I'm stupid. I mean... I've studied interpersonal stuff for years and years and I still don't seem to get it. Sigh.
Australia doesn't know how to see / view disability.
The best stuff on that is American. I think because of the human rights focus from equality.
I understand the implementation of the ideal is patchy. The main virtue is the presence of a coherent ideal, however. I mean... If you aren't working towards an ideal you beleive in then what teh hell are you doing / working for?
Work often isn't rewarded in Australia.
And work often isn't possible in teh first place in New Zealand.
Posted by alexandra_k on November 8, 2018, at 18:42:23
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM, posted by alexandra_k on November 8, 2018, at 18:09:42
> > For a US visa they ask 'Are you a terrorist?'
>
> There is a reason for that. My understanding of US law is fairly limited...
>
> It has something to do with them being able to detain you / charge you / deport you for good reason to believe you LIED on that form...
>
> Apparently there are problems with the legality of those things, otherwise.
>
> I don't understand more than that.Actually, I think the form may ask if you are a terrorist... But also, whether you associate with known terrorists and whether you are planning on engaging in terrorist activity while you are in the US.
Then if you are found to be associating with known terrorists / people under suspiction and so on the fact you lied about the later means you may rightly be... Feared?? to have lied about the former.
It is something legal like that.
Posted by alexandra_k on November 8, 2018, at 19:13:35
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM, posted by alexandra_k on November 8, 2018, at 18:42:23
There is a lot of resistence to people identifying as 'New Zealander'.
But 'Australian' is considered a perfectly good / acceptable ethnic category.
In New Zealand, people would need to pass over 'NZ Maaori' 'NZ European' and a few other listings in order to check 'Other' and then they would need to write in the slot 'New Zealander'.
And quite a few did.
And ethnicity coders, in some instances, *reclassified* them as 'New Zealand European'. Because ethnicity coders know better than the individual does, of course.
They said that (though I don't know that any actual study was done) that people who regarded themselves to be 'New Zealanders' were (all?) New Zealand European males from southland who were trying to... Undermine... An attempt to compile Maaori vs non-Maaori statistics.
Which doesn't make sense to me. Becuase I... And a number of my friends (since I was a teenager in the North Island) regarded ourselves to be 'New Zealanders'. And some of them were New Zealand European (ancestrally) and some of them had Maaori ancestry.
I think the reason why there is a... Refusal to accept 'New Zealander' as an ethnic group is because then we could start to consider how oppressed (or otherwise) New Zealanders are - on the world stage.
New Zealanders are a people, in other words.
Only we simply refuse to be. Preferring to engage in localised warring / petty squabbles Maaori vs European or Northland Maaori vs Waikato Maaori. Or whatever. Keeping the focus on local squabbles and preventing (people with often very little brain) from seeing the bigger picture...
Who profits?
?
The people I knew who thought of themself as New Zealanders were of the opinion that we are all in this together and need to figure a way to work together into the future. Immigrants are particularly fond of regarding tehmselves to be New Zealanders esepcialy when they are new and bright eyed and still believing that here mgiht give them a better life. Pacific Islanders (who on all stats are doign worse in New Zealand than Maaori are in New Zealand) are likely to prefer to be regarded as New Zealander. Not least because being identified as Pacific Islander means they are a target for Maaori opression.
Posted by sigismund on November 8, 2018, at 19:35:19
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM, posted by beckett2 on November 8, 2018, at 15:44:23
>that they find comfort in history.
It's a desperate sort of comfort. Today I watched Russian films with English subtitles from the past on youtube for a bit.
The comfort is not that things will be right. It's more that they have always been difficult.
Posted by beckett2 on November 8, 2018, at 19:43:16
In reply to Re: one of my favorite FDOTM, posted by sigismund on November 8, 2018, at 19:35:19
> The comfort is not that things will be right. It's more that they have always been difficult.
Ah. That's interesting. Good point. Yes, oddly, I find watching older footage and history interesting that way, and yes, it is comforting. Maybe familiar. Good for long thoughts.
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