It is 3am the morning after I returned home. I feel better, mostly due to Marko's TLC yesterday.
Travelling so long took a lot out of me, that plus jet lag make me feel only partly recovered.
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Since it came up lately, I thought I'd take an opportunity to explain the burden of proof. Though I doubt any of my regular readers will need it.
The burden of proof refers to whose job it is to prove something when a claim is made. Some say it's on the person making the claim to prove what they are saying is right. Others say it is up to the person hearing the claim to "prove them wrong".
To demonstrate which is correct, here is an example.
"You owe me ten thousand dollars. Pay up."
Is it up to hypothetical-me to prove hypothetical-you has a $10,000 debt, or up to hypothetical-you to prove the claim false and that there is no $10,000 debt?
Obviously the former.
Now this comes up in political and religious debates all the time, with articles of faith like "trickle down economics" and so on. But the same rule applies, the burden of proof falls on the one making the claim.
Case in point, this oft-repeated conversation.
"Obama is a muslim!"
"Wow, really? Prove it."
"No, prove me wrong."
And the matching one about his frequently shown birth certificate.
Or the religious version:
"All my beliefs are true, all yours are false".
"How insulting. Prove it."
"You can't prove my god doesn't exist"
"I don't have to, and you can't prove my god doesn't exist"
*cue the holy war*
Or the similar version vs atheists.
What inspired this exploration of supporting our claims if we want to convince others? You guessed it, exposure to Glen Beck and his completely unsubstantiated historical revisionism and alternative version of reality.
Thanks for listening.
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The clock ticks over to 2012 in 10 minutes.
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I have a lot of good friends, and don't give them each enough credit.
Like the two who were here today. Good friends.
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One thing that bugs me here in Australia is the rural vs urban or country vs city mindset that creeps into our media and politics.
Some country advocates paint it as the country producing everything and the cities only consuming...but it's in the cities that all the agricultural chemicals are made, all the farm equipment is made, and so on. Without that farm life would be much harder. Also all the financing that let's farmers own a fortune in land flows from the cities. And without the customers buying the crops, the country folk wouldn't last long.
But really this boils down to the same old issue, "don't blame others for your own problems". Instead of the disgruntled country folk speaking for their non-disgruntled peers and railing against the big bad cities, they should STFU and fix their own problems. No amount of bitching at others will help them resolve their own circumstances.
And yes this includes (but is not limited to) Bob Katter's "blame a scapegoat" party which is fostering this rural vs urban animosity, (and race-baiting, and blaming gays every chance they get, and not too happy about women's lib' taking jobs from the blokes, etc).
It makes me wonder, rather than blaming cities for country community issues, what might happen if they worked together to solve the problems?
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Okay, so I got through the not-as-bad-as-expected meeting at work today.
Tomorrow is the day I get my stitches checked and maybe removed.
Friday I'll rest up.
Saturday I drop my computer off to get fixed and then need to get started on Battletech miniature painting for the game I plan to run some-month.
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I have two new holes in my hide to go with the first dozen. Two more suspect spots and lumps removed before they grew into a crop of skin cancer.
So I am sore and stitched-tight but safe now.
It's another example of how good the Australian health care system is overall. From my phonecall to leaving the clinic post-op was under 24 hours. It cost $65 and I got about half that back on rebate...Marko and I would struggle to eat out as a couple for the money that preventative care cost.
So I might be sore but overall I am happy and relieved.
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Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
A raccoon picked your pockets,
The flowers were to distract you.
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Marko's flight has landed and he is working his way through customs now.
Thanks to all the people who gave my beloved such a warm welcome in Europe.
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I am really not sure I feel about Bob Katter, a local politician. On the surface he is one of those "local interest first" types but under the surface he has some worrying prejudices that he has acted on politically.
These include opposing a lot of gender equality efforts, opposing gay rights causes (he famously opposed decriminalizing homosexuality) and unfailingly opposing any form of racial equality wether the non-white people are Australian born or from overseas.
The reason this comes up is that Bob set up a "Australia Party" scant weeks ago and wants to merge it with the Queensland Party (another locals first party) and...how successful the combined group will be is unknown so far. So is the question wether policy or prejudice will dominate in the new amalgamated party.
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So it seems my iPhone can connect to LJ but my other computers can't log in using the same password? Weird eh?
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And, I'm back. LJ is my main social networking site once again.
My Facebook experience was cut short when a pile of furry accounts were purged, probably because it fouled up Facebook's perpetual data-mining efforts.
I'm on a phone app for live-journal which is going well so far.
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