tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36994129.post1581116537449599876..comments2024-02-26T21:27:17.091+13:00Comments on The Fundy Post: SundayPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024440694895271805noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36994129.post-22052238285502578282007-08-03T11:12:00.000+12:002007-08-03T11:12:00.000+12:00Just wanted to say that, having being pointed at y...Just wanted to say that, having being pointed at your blog by a friend, I have abandoned the plans I had to join the NZARH. Two reasons. Firstly, because it doesn't sound like they DO anything. And secondly, because they sound like a bunch of bitchy little snots.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36994129.post-53873867092772577092007-07-02T14:13:00.000+12:002007-07-02T14:13:00.000+12:00Hmmmmm....Heroes of Humanism?People for the Ethica...Hmmmmm....<BR/>Heroes of Humanism?<BR/>People for the Ethical Treatises<BR/>of Atheists?<BR/>Society for Panning of Uncouth Christians?<BR/>Society for the Proliferation of<BR/>Cute Secularists?<BR/>New Zealand Secularist Intervention Squad?<BR/><BR/>Craig Y <BR/>;)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36994129.post-29776167240024721402007-07-02T10:04:00.000+12:002007-07-02T10:04:00.000+12:00Paul, I am ashamed at the way that you have been t...Paul, I am ashamed at the way that you have been treated by the NZARH, having witnessed it to some extent first hand. I have not renewed my membership this year, and may not do so for quite a while. <BR/><BR/>I am glad that you are looking for bigger and better things, because you deserve them, and you will do them<BR/><BR/>XhAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36994129.post-75828737831720757202007-07-01T22:13:00.000+12:002007-07-01T22:13:00.000+12:00PaulYou certainly gave NZARH a sense of purpose wh...Paul<BR/><BR/>You certainly gave NZARH a sense of purpose when you launched your case against Brucey at Maxim Institute.<BR/><BR/>NZARH is missing when it could be such an important asset. With local body and national elections due in the next year and a half, there are bound to be fundies floating to the surface. They need to be identified and pilloried.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36994129.post-34673470000985512222007-07-01T13:55:00.000+12:002007-07-01T13:55:00.000+12:00You will have to try harder than that. A high stan...You will have to try harder than that. A high standard of abuse is expected on these pages. Writing in coherent sentences would also help your cause; and don't call me Pauk.<BR/><BR/>Do tell me of whom was I jealous and in what respect was I incompetent?Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08024440694895271805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36994129.post-6069430543077790812007-06-30T16:53:00.000+12:002007-06-30T16:53:00.000+12:00"an individual who combines in himself a high conc..."an individual who combines in himself a high concentration of incompetence and jealousy" - Sounds just like Pauk you at the NZARH....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36994129.post-4138392825235153742007-06-29T11:34:00.000+12:002007-06-29T11:34:00.000+12:00Apparently, one only gets to be an Emmanuel Goldst...Apparently, one only gets to be an Emmanuel Goldstein if one has broken from a highly unpleasant authoritarian orthodoxy that suppresses free thought and attacks<BR/>dissidents and those who have left the fold, or so Orwell said.<BR/><BR/>Hmmmm. That means we're *both* eligible. There's one line of thought that says that Emmanuel Goldstein in 1984 was nothing more than a folk devil conjured up to create compliance through unity<BR/>against a scapegoat. <BR/><BR/>Therefore, my blighted alma mater dolorosa Middleton Grange and NZARH both qualify as contexts...<BR/><BR/>Craig YAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36994129.post-52410998164675034362007-06-28T19:59:00.000+12:002007-06-28T19:59:00.000+12:00No, no, I want to be Goldstein. Please, it's my tu...No, no, I want to be Goldstein. Please, it's my turn.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08024440694895271805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36994129.post-77859879205951803642007-06-28T09:34:00.000+12:002007-06-28T09:34:00.000+12:00Ignore NZARH from this point on, mate. I certainly...Ignore NZARH from this point on, mate. I certainly intend to do so.<BR/>It's just one of the little nuisances that life throws ones way. Like people who view me as some sort of latter-day Emmanuel<BR/>Goldstein...<BR/><BR/>Craig YAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36994129.post-79119512342858717972007-06-27T23:34:00.000+12:002007-06-27T23:34:00.000+12:00I have read it. I did so while I was working for t...I have read it. I did so while I was working for the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall and agreed with every word.<BR/><BR/>You chaps are right. Thank you. Onwards, upwards, etcPaulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08024440694895271805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36994129.post-61575172774255843242007-06-27T21:09:00.000+12:002007-06-27T21:09:00.000+12:00That's a sad tale you tell, Paul. I agree that ins...That's a sad tale you tell, Paul. I agree that institutional imperatives are at least partly to blame. If you can lay your hands on a copy of Parkinson's Law, read the chapter on Injelitance, and it may ring true.<BR/><BR/><I>The first sign of danger is represented by the appearance in the organization's hierarchy of an individual who combines in himself a high concentration of incompetence and jealousy. Neither quality is significant in itself and most people have a certain proportion of each. But when these two qualities reach a certain concentration -- represented at present by the formula I3J5 [I-cubed by J to the fifth] -- there is a chemical reaction. The two elements fuse, producing a new substance that we have termed "injelitance." The presence of this substance can be safely inferred from the actions of any individual who, having failed to make anything of his own department, tries constantly to interfere with other departments and gain control of the central administration. The specialist who observes this particular mixture of failure and ambition will at once shake his head and murmur, "Primary or idiopathic injelitance." The symptoms, as we shall see, are quite unmistakable.<BR/><BR/>The next or secondary stage in the progress of the disease is reached when the infected individual gains complete or partial control of the central organization. In many instances this stage is reached without any period of primary infection, the individual having actually entered the organization at that level. The injelitant individual is easily recognizable at this stage from the persistence with which he struggles to eject all those abler than himself, as also from his resistance to the appointment or promotion of anyone who might prove abler in course of time. He dare not say, "Mr Asterisk is too able", so he says, "Asterisk? Clever, perhaps -- but is he sound? I incline to prefer Mr Cypher." He dare not say, "Mr Asterisk makes me feel small," so he says, "Mr Cypher appears to me to have the better judgement." Judgement is an interesting word that signifies in this context the opposite of intelligence; it means, in fact, doing what was done last time. So Mr Cypher is promoted and Mr Asterisk goes elsewhere. The central administration gradually fills up with people stupider than the chairman, director, or manager. If the head of the organization is second-rate, he will see to it that his immediate staff are all third-rate; and they will, in turn, see to it that their subordinates are fourth-rate. There will soon be an actual competition in stupidity, people pretending to be even more brainless than they are.</I><BR/><BR/>Read the whole thing if you can. I'm afraid I nicked my copy from my Dad, and you can't have it.stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04486889878636801969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36994129.post-68280133636720337432007-06-27T18:08:00.000+12:002007-06-27T18:08:00.000+12:00I agree with weekend viking. I suspect your goose ...I agree with weekend viking. I suspect your goose was Cooked the moment you started stirring. Your best recourse is to prove that you were right and they were wrong by forming a young, vibrant, thrusting alternative organisation. Now if you can also manage to draft a constitution that is both stable and avoids weekend viking's trap you may have a patent on your hands ;-)<BR/><BR/>I am given to understand that revenge is a dish best served cold. I suggest to you that the best revenge will be when you and your triumphant organisation buy Rationalist House from the NZARH's last member, a Dr Cooke.<BR/><BR/>Peter<BR/>In Journalism CityAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36994129.post-89997273020262346772007-06-27T14:24:00.000+12:002007-06-27T14:24:00.000+12:00You appear to have fallen foul of that tendency of...You appear to have fallen foul of that tendency of bureaucratic organisations to cease doing that thing humans set up to do (any number of fun, profitable or charitable tasks), and instead to operate to perpetuate the organisation at the cost of both its members and its original aims.<BR/><BR/>I find that any bureaucracy I've been in, even the good ones, tend to have at some point, a functionally evil outcome. It's less obvious with corporate bureaucracy, more so with that of govt departments and small volunteer operations. It's especially bad when people start playing primate heirachy games.Weekend_Vikinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02863068062497281215noreply@blogger.com