The Off Topic Topic

[Razgovory]

Well, I finally moved and have been here an entire week.  I live 451 feet from a Chinese restaurant that is next door to a Sushi restaurant.  The owners come out everyday and argue over text books and stuff.  There's also a place that has a woman who exclusively takes pictures of the sky (Julia Sky Photography) and an owl butcher and furniture store (Barred Owl Butcher and Table).  I was struck how much this place resembles southern Mongolia.  It's flat, there is a Mongolian grill here, and there is a conspicuous absence of sharks, rays and skates.  Truly, this is the Dalanzadgad of the West!

Sounds reasonably okay

What's the whole "arguing about textbooks" thing about?

That was a bad joke.

[viper37]

Well, I finally moved and have been here an entire week.  I live 451 feet from a Chinese restaurant that is next door to a Sushi restaurant.  The owners come out everyday and argue over text books and stuff.  There's also a place that has a woman who exclusively takes pictures of the sky (Julia Sky Photography) and an owl butcher and furniture store (Barred Owl Butcher and Table).  I was struck how much this place resembles southern Mongolia.  It's flat, there is a Mongolian grill here, and there is a conspicuous absence of sharks, rays and skates.  Truly, this is the Dalanzadgad of the West!

Sounds like a nice place, overall.

[viper37]

Weird, well, not so weird, it happens all the time, really, a judge seems to lack judgement, gives a ridiculously light sentence for a sexual abuse case by finding some redeeming light were most people can't. 

I remember once, the judge gave a lighter sentence to a man because he anally raped his victim, therefore preserved her virginity, which was important in their culture.

...

One of the reasons why I favored minimum sentencing, to remove some leeway from such idiot judges.

Anyway, so here is another one:
https://globalnews.ca/news/8971139/quebec-judge-sexual-assault-conditional-discharge/

Houle admitted during therapy to having assaulted another person in 2015, and Poliquin described that admission as concerning but said it also showed a "desire for transparency."

Poliquin also wrote in the decision that the assault happened "all in all quickly," adding that Houle had taken therapy seriously and sincerely regretted his actions.

"A sentence other than a discharge would have a significant impact on his career as an engineer," the judge wrote. "It is in the general interest that the accused, an asset for society, can continue his professional career."

Not mentionned in the english text is this part:

Simon Houle, qui a entrepris un certificat à temps partiel en droit, a démontré qu'il est une personne de bonne moralité et que ses crimes sont contextuels et ponctuels dans sa vie, peut-on lire dans la décision.

Link

Simon Houle, who undertook a part-time certificate in law, has demonstrated that he is a person of good character and that his crimes are contextual and punctual in his life, the decision reads.


And so, this week, this happens:
Woman claims Quebec man groped her days after conditional discharge for sexual assault

a person of good character...  They say things come in threes is true, I guess.

[Razgovory]

I'm jealous you live next to a Mongolian grill.

It's on the other other side of town!  It's just a stir fry chain.  I doubt there is anything genuinely Mongolian about it.  I ate at the one in Madison Wisconsin, but I've never eaten at the one here.

[Josquius]

Traveling to mordor for work.
Second time on a train in recent weeks.
Notable each time that so many seats are booked but untaken

[Threviel]

What on earth kind of work do you do in Russia?

[crazy canuck]

Grumbler, there are rumours that the president of UBC will be appointed as president at Michigan.

[crazy canuck]

scuttlebutt confirmed.

[grumbler]

Grumbler, there are rumours that the president of UBC will be appointed as president at Michigan.

Yeah, he's an interesting choice.  He's the first U-M president in maybe 50 years that is an actual college sports fan, and he is a medical type.  Given the Robert Anderson medical/athletic scandal that has come out fairly recently, he may have been brought on to ensue that proper procedures are really in place to prevent anything like that occurring in the future.  He certainly has a broad CV, having done just about everything you can do in the university administration department.  I like this choice.

[garbon]

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jul/14/melbourne-woman-dehumanised-by-viral-tiktok-filmed-without-her-consent

Melbourne woman 'dehumanised' by viral TikTok filmed without her consent

A Melbourne woman says she feels "dehumanised" after being filmed without consent for a "random act of kindness" TikTok that went viral.

The video shows TikTok creator Harrison Pawluk approaching the woman, Maree, in a public shopping centre. He asked her to hold a bouquet of flowers while he put on a jacket.

Before Maree could return the bouquet, Pawluk wished her a good day and walked away. Maree's shocked reaction was caught on camera.

The video now has more than 59m views and 11m likes.

Posted on the @LifeOfHarrison TikTok account several weeks ago with the caption, "I hope this made her day better," it attracted largely supportive comments.

"Wow that was so beautiful I swear I would cry," one user said.

Another wrote: "My heart! That made her feel so good and it looks like she might have needed it."

However, Maree was cynical of Pawluk's intentions after seeing the video had been posted.

Maree, who did not disclose her surname, told ABC Radio Melbourne, "these artificial things are not random acts of kindness".

"He interrupted my quiet time, filmed and uploaded a video without my consent, turning it into something it wasn't ... I feel he is making quite a lot of money through it."

"It's the patronising assumption that ... older women will be thrilled by some random stranger giving them flowers."

She said she had ask whether she was being filmed, and was told "no". She also said she offered the flowers back to Pawluk.

"I didn't want to carry them home on the tram, to really be quite frank," Maree said.

"But I wasn't given that opportunity."

A friend contacted Maree that evening, sharing the uploaded video. At the time, Maree "didn't think much of it".

But after seeing the TikTok video featured in media reports describing her as an "elderly woman" with a "heartbreaking tale," she said she "felt dehumanised".

"I feel like clickbait," she said.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Pawluk said the video was "designed to spread love and compassion".

The statement noted on Pawluk's recent trip to Los Angeles he witnessed "the extent of ... poverty and homelessness in a city where that shouldn't be the case," and it had inspired him to create content concentrated on "random acts of kindness".

"He offers flowers and pays for complete strangers' groceries," the statement said.

"So far Harrison has only encountered gratitude for what he has done, however it is clear in this case someone is upset. He wholeheartedly apologises to Maree if she was offended by what he did and urges her to contact him privately so he can personally apologise. If she requests him to take down the video he will do that."

[Eddie Teach]

Mixed feelings on this one. People shouldn't be filmed without permission imo. But "dehumanizing"? Give me a break.

[Tamas]

If he financially benefits from it, not to mention filming it, it's not a random act of kindness. What a nauseating term to begin with.

[Admiral Yi]

I get dehumanizing.  She was treated as a prop.  She had no agency.

[The Brain]

Mislabeling it as random and kindness is assholish to the viewers. And I think interacting with strangers in a dishonest way is often best avoided (not always, for instance I think it IS possible to do "public space jokes" in a way that isn't douchey, obviously not applicable in this example for several reasons). Filming without consent is pretty aggressive, but publishing the material without consent is worse. If you're doing Candid Camera style stuff then getting consent to publish seems to me to be the right thing to do.

[garbon]

If he financially benefits from it, not to mention filming it, it's not a random act of kindness. What a nauseating term to begin with.

I think it would only potentially be a random act of kidness if he clearly gave them to her. Asking someone to hold onto something and then running away isn't kind.