tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.comments2024-03-08T13:21:43.158-05:00Saideman's Semi-SpewSteve Saidemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09881915512311951902noreply@blogger.comBlogger3379125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-13986768201029868802024-03-08T13:21:43.158-05:002024-03-08T13:21:43.158-05:00This is a great article 👏 This is a great article 👏 Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-71808188788952839242024-03-02T16:11:39.147-05:002024-03-02T16:11:39.147-05:00I wish I could blame autocorrect for that one...
...I wish I could blame autocorrect for that one...<br /><br />fixedSteve Saidemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09881915512311951902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-90665334565290810662024-03-02T16:10:32.268-05:002024-03-02T16:10:32.268-05:00Your autocorrect seems to be bullying Olaf Scholz....Your autocorrect seems to be bullying Olaf Scholz.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-25340346531693290342024-02-27T09:11:19.501-05:002024-02-27T09:11:19.501-05:00Few people are truly cancelled. Woody Allen kept ...Few people are truly cancelled. Woody Allen kept making movies that people kept going to see. Mel Gibson keeps making movies. <br /><br />But there is something here though--should we tolerate the intolerant? Should we welcome into our homes those who espouse hate?<br /><br />On an individual basis (and on a corporate basis until the US Supreme Court fucks up its next decision), we don't have to listen to or repost those who we don't like. The collective pile-ons can be problematic, but on the other hand, I am pretty damned glad that Harvey Weinstein isn't making movies these days (or is he?)Steve Saidemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09881915512311951902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-30956404306733834412024-02-26T09:05:51.457-05:002024-02-26T09:05:51.457-05:00I see. Perhaps I misunderstood you. You appeared t...I see. Perhaps I misunderstood you. You appeared to reinforce the notion by using the term. I think many believe the word cancelled to mean shunned or erased and no longer worthy of mention or enjoying life. It’s particularly harsh when ‘awful’ is somewhat subjective and worse yet when it is social media-fuelled and the deeds exaggerated to the point where one is deemed cancelled by an undisciplined process of outrage and vilification. Not a very tolerant or humane way to view another human being. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-34819481815679247052024-02-26T02:35:29.969-05:002024-02-26T02:35:29.969-05:00MM refers to himself as cancelled. I am joking at...MM refers to himself as cancelled. I am joking at his expense since he has a regular column at a national paper and gets platformed by one of the major parties--he is not cancelled.<br /><br />I do think that people who have engaged in awful behavior or who incite hate and violence should not be platformed--which I think is what cancelling means. Steve Saidemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09881915512311951902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-88811345468433421722024-02-25T19:28:03.126-05:002024-02-25T19:28:03.126-05:00Cancelling is really not a thing, or at least it s...Cancelling is really not a thing, or at least it shouldn’t be. Like scarlet letters, shunning, mob rule or even jailing people for their sexuality, you really ought to refrain from labelling someone like that, even if you disagree with them. Argue the merits of your case, but your case is harmed by ad hominem attacks with labels. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-44260367891207791342024-02-13T11:10:50.586-05:002024-02-13T11:10:50.586-05:00Sorry, but you equate consensual sex between adult...Sorry, but you equate consensual sex between adults as misconduct. Such is the trope these days. There are not now nor were there ever regulations prohibiting consensual relations between adults regardless of rank. I’ve never heard of Vance preying on people, but I have heard he was an incredible leader throughout his career. You liked him until you didn’t like the (rumoured) details of his personal life and now you are an evangelist. And yes, after years of a consensual intimate relationship one has to wonder why his accuser went public over the fact they had sex. I grant you he reacted poorly to that whole thing. Shitty thing to happen after so many years of service. I believe the complainants in the main, but please, the woman scorned routine made out to be (military) misconduct I just don’t buy. Now, poor husband, yes. That’s something he has to work out with his spouse. <br />And just one more thing…you seem innocent to the ways of women. They too can manipulate and prey and covet. Regret after the fact does not equate to misconduct in the first place. Sex is not misconduct. Would have hated to be LGBTQ with you in charge in the bad old days. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-85956118715079064982024-02-12T19:42:25.370-05:002024-02-12T19:42:25.370-05:00My outrage is quite real. That the guy in charge ...My outrage is quite real. That the guy in charge of addressing sexual misconduct in the military had been engaged in it for decades and skated until retirement? That was outraging. That this same guy put a guy with a nickname for escaping a rape charge (until now) is outraging. I really liked Vance, and then I learned about his behavior, his entitlement. His abuse of power came in several forms: preying on any subordinate that caught his fancy, his perpetuation of his own reign by helping to select out viable candidates, his telling his former lover to lie about their relationship to obstruct justice (the conviction thing you keep citing is a clever dodge, but he did plead guilty--that he did get more than a slap on the wrist says more about the judicial system than about Vance's "innocence"), and so on. <br /><br />Again, I will believe the women who have been abused, rather than trying to interpret the dudes as being maligned. Power matters in all of this, and, yes, the dudes had the power, not the women. Steve Saidemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09881915512311951902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-69927919861185608122024-02-12T14:47:34.727-05:002024-02-12T14:47:34.727-05:00I should add, to remind you, he wasn’t convicted. ...I should add, to remind you, he wasn’t convicted. So, a competent judge, a competent prosecutor and the accuser herself were satisfied with a non-conviction. Maybe when competent people look at the facts and evidence there is more to the case than what you and your fellow exaggerators actually know. Why not a shred of circumspection on your part as a learned man?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-12983498623004069542024-02-12T14:23:56.369-05:002024-02-12T14:23:56.369-05:00I get how you and the faux outrage crowd want to e...I get how you and the faux outrage crowd want to exaggerate and that it’s fashionable to beat on the senior guys these days. But seriously, if there was such an investigation into Vance, especially abuse of power, it would have resulted in a case of non-consensual sex, and a civil charge for assault. You also know that his accuser mislead people. I and many others see his case as a long term relationship gone sideways. You have used the phrase abuse of power often, but no such abuse seemed to have occurred and it was everybody but the accuser who applied that accusation to the case. I don’t think you know enough to condemn for accusations neither competently levelled nor resulting in a competent investigative conclusion. You’re just acting like a member of a mob. Not a good look. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-88892085872254632082024-02-12T12:29:27.113-05:002024-02-12T12:29:27.113-05:00I like how you diminish the fact that the former h...I like how you diminish the fact that the former head of the entire Canadian Armed Forces pled guilty to obstruction of justice, and the justice he was obstructing was an investigation into a career long abuse of power and misconduct. <br /><br />Edmundson was credibly accused of rape--the case is now in court, although it is hard to try things after so many years. That Vance put Edmundson as head of personnel after having a reputation for having narrowly escaped prosecution for rape says even more about Vance and the culture of impunity and abuse of power.<br /><br />Yes, I tend to believe the accusers after multiple former supreme court justices have found plenty of fault with the military justice system. The idea that women just gin up false accusations for shits and giggles is pretty offensive.<br /><br />My career? You don't really know anything about academia as I have reached the my final position, none of this stuff gets me more money or promotion or whatever. <br /><br />It does remind me of a Natyncyzk lecture about how careerism was hurting the military, so maybe you are projecting?Steve Saidemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09881915512311951902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-10447965141108957922024-02-12T11:44:12.160-05:002024-02-12T11:44:12.160-05:00Yes Vance did. Pleaded guilty to summary obstructi...Yes Vance did. Pleaded guilty to summary obstruction (misdemeanour) for which he was not convicted. Art - a nothing burger. Your commentary here and elsewhere paints them and the others (Fortin, Whelen, Cadieau) as being accused and found guilty of sexual misconduct (not a charge under NDA btw) or worse you pull out the old ‘rapist’ tripe. Yes indeed, you and many others jumped on the zeitgeist bandwagon because you found a niche that fit you politically and helped your career. Nothing about this over reaction to the wild accusations against senior people has helped any real victims, nor has it in any way contributed in a positive way to improved culture, recruiting or retention. But hey…you got cited a few times. Bully for you. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-28539956173023045132024-02-11T23:38:21.833-05:002024-02-11T23:38:21.833-05:00so, Jon Vance did not plead guilty to obstruction ...so, Jon Vance did not plead guilty to obstruction of justice?<br /><br />McDonald didn't send an email to the entire set of generals and admirals telling them he would be back in command?<br /><br />Oh and sexual assault is a "difficult aspect of people's private lives"?<br /><br />Please.Steve Saidemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09881915512311951902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-64690038811854844392024-02-11T21:26:24.184-05:002024-02-11T21:26:24.184-05:00Yes, you have been a part of a wildly exaggerated ...Yes, you have been a part of a wildly exaggerated response to what has turned out to be false accusations and difficult aspects of people’s private lives. You keep labeling people with what the zeitgeist labelled them - but the zeitgeist has been wrong. As have you. You should be more careful professor. Your libellous language will disqualify you to run your DND funded program. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-9287916607527130682024-02-08T16:15:29.524-05:002024-02-08T16:15:29.524-05:00In the US the FTC has proposed a common-sense rule...In the US the FTC has proposed a common-sense rule about this. I hope it gets implemented.<br /><br />https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/03/federal-trade-commission-proposes-rule-provision-making-it-easier-consumers-click-cancel-recurring<br /><br />The FTC is also suing amazon over this. While amazon is one of the easiest online retailers to deal with in general, on this matter I think the FTC has a point.<br /><br />https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/06/ftc-takes-action-against-amazon-enrolling-consumers-amazon-prime-without-consent-sabotaging-theirBruce Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13889440013826088099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-57204217709035850202024-01-24T22:41:41.472-05:002024-01-24T22:41:41.472-05:00I think the political theorists tend to believe it...I think the political theorists tend to believe it tarted with plato or aristotleSteve Saidemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09881915512311951902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-25517575245032980262024-01-24T13:49:35.597-05:002024-01-24T13:49:35.597-05:00Thanks for reminding me of the Machiavelli quote i...Thanks for reminding me of the Machiavelli quote in your intro. <br /><br />Do you consider Machiavelli the founding father of your discipline?<br /><br />“It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them.”<br />― Niccolò Machiavelli, The PrinceRob Chasenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03027020613644797339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-73252375374704673112024-01-24T02:51:00.135-05:002024-01-24T02:51:00.135-05:00Lets not even get into if said ex/deadbeat dad qui...Lets not even get into if said ex/deadbeat dad quits his job to collect a portion of the single mom's income upon asset split - taking food right out of the child's mouth, while paying student loans...mjenningshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13884966668956962884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-60107330081840702812024-01-21T08:18:08.180-05:002024-01-21T08:18:08.180-05:00I enjoyed following along with this great trip on ...I enjoyed following along with this great trip on Facebook. I was surprised to read your companions would be doing even more skiing, which brought to mind a social science question-- diminishing marginal benefits? Presumably, at some point, after X days in a row of skiing, its better to end and save future skiing days for a future trip for the greatest psychological benefit. I would've thought 5 days would be plenty for most any skier. L'il Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07282692963428671643noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-89592191878883184612024-01-20T19:29:50.956-05:002024-01-20T19:29:50.956-05:00I am so glad you joined us. I love skiing with you...I am so glad you joined us. I love skiing with you and spending so much time with you. It was probably our most time together since I went off to college. Thanks so much for joining us. I will try to ski with you in Europe when I am there for my board meeting there next February. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-79426740745201599812024-01-07T21:21:36.805-05:002024-01-07T21:21:36.805-05:00You are forgetting the other half of Starfleet'...You are forgetting the other half of Starfleet's mission, which is essentially to serve as NASA. Starfleet was put together by Earth, with contributing personnel from other Federation planets, to not simply protect the territory of the Federation from non-members but to actively find and bring more member planets into the Federation, by exploring, studying, mapping unexplored and underexplored territories of space, making contact with new spacefaring civilizations and trying to establish first trade & science exchange relations and then, if all went well, membership into the Federation. They are also tasked in that exploration with finding and exploiting resources that can help Federation planets, as long as that doesn't disturb or harm existing civilizations. Additionally, they do provide protection but also transport, science and communication assistance to scientific exploration groups, outer Federation operations and colonies. They are in charge of all of Earth's and much of the whole Federation's exploration of space. <br /><br />One of the most revered episodes of the original Star Trek is "The Devil in the Dark," in which the Enterprise is called to a far out facility to deal with a threat, but not a NATO like threat of non-Federation space invaders from another planet nation -- a science mystery/native life form that is killing miners. And they discover it's sentient and let it live, make first contact, negotiate a truce, adding to the knowledge of the Federation. <br /><br />Additionally, Starfleet regularly ferries diplomats and aides in inter-planet negotiations, particularly first contact ones, is involved with trade affairs ("The Trouble with Tribbles") and economic concerns and does numerous rescue missions that are not military in nature. So the Federation is more like the UN than NATO. It is a political alliance that regularly meets with each other to hash things out among member planets. And Starfleet is a combo of NATO, UN military forces and NASA. Mrs. Spewnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-55286992065732076352024-01-06T07:18:51.608-05:002024-01-06T07:18:51.608-05:00The recent story about the systemic gender violenc... <i>The recent story about the systemic gender violence committed by Hamas </i> <br /><br />Is that the one the NYT just retracted? jrkrideauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04869979887929067657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-54160334011377168782023-12-30T10:28:05.581-05:002023-12-30T10:28:05.581-05:00Really appreciated these thoughts. I think the &q...Really appreciated these thoughts. I think the "All of this is awful..." paragraph really nails it. I'm so tired of "only the side I don't like is awful..."L'il Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07282692963428671643noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-8296531367952617402023-12-18T22:46:57.828-05:002023-12-18T22:46:57.828-05:00I love this post and I love your cookie baking obs...I love this post and I love your cookie baking obsession!! <br /> L'il Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07282692963428671643noreply@blogger.com