That's not how you debate

I wrote this on Facebook earlier:

 "I was taught that debate goes like this:

1. Person or Group A makes an evidence-backed claim.
2. Person or Group B disagrees but support it with their own evidence.

Not:

1. Repeat step one.
2. Person or Group B disagrees and either yells at A to find evidence to support B's argument or demands that A find evidence for the claim A has already given evidence for.
3. B engages in insults if A points out the absurdity of this.

The latter seems to be increasing in popularity..."

I was inspired to write the post because in the past couple of days, on a discussion I noticed a bunch of people criticising some statistics but they offered no evidence to support their claims, although the statistics had a source themselves. When I politely asked for sources to be provided, the response was the people insulting me and demanding that I provide evidence to support the statistics that they were criticising. I ended up blocking a bunch of them because while for the most part I shrug off online insults, even my patience has limits when it comes to dealing with trolls.

The new bus pass redux

When my first term at university began, I bought myself a bus pass, which cost me £229:

http://airnicetolivelands.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/the-new-bus-pass.html

As of the 28th of January, if I'd still been using cash I'd have spent £229.50 on Nottingham City Transport bus trips; I've travelled on the bus on both days since and so every time I use my bus pass now, I'm making a saving. Back when I bought the pass I was almost certain that it would be a good financial decision and I have been proved correct.

Free ride Sunday (2)

Last weekend, I decided to accept Trentbarton's free ride Sunday offer hour to travel to my grandparents' town, from which I then walked back to Nottingham. I travelled again to their town but rather than walking to Nottingham, I carried on back to Clifton; however, I was about a third of the way to Clifton while in West Bridgford before I caught South Notts 1 for the remainder of the journey.

This wasn't because I was lazy or tired, oh no. I had arranged to see Mum and my brother at a certain time and if I'd continued walking rather than ridden back, I'd have been late.

The shopping librarian

A familiar face crossed my path in Morrisons this evening. I was busy shopping there when I spotted a former librarian from Central shopping in there; he acknowledged me with a wink but he and I later conversed outside when we both ended up finishing our shopping near-simultaneously.

This particular librarian showed us around Central's library on my very first day there back in September 2014 and he left last year to work elsewhere. He popped in to visit later on in the academic year to see how his former colleagues were doing.

The module choice

To follow up on what I said the other day about which of two options I was considering for one of my Media modules, I went ahead and chose the practical work. It will be something new for me, a new challenge, and it gives me more options in the future, both at university and beyond.

Now almost been a week...

"It's been almost a week into a certain unspeakable's time in office and at this point it's safe to say that not only is he not qualified for the role but he's completely unsuitable and, to be blunt, downright dangerous. It's almost impossible to keep track of every terrible thing he does and it's becoming worse by the day.

People aren't protesting this president because they are "bad losers" but instead because they are genuinely frightened of him - and for good reason. American presidents are not supposed to be figures of fear; when one is, that president has failed America - its people, its constituton and everything the country represents."

Back to Central, January 2017

I visited Central for about two hours this afternoon. My primary purpose there was to deliver some Christmas cards I hadn't been able to give at the end of last year but I was also visiting to catch a little with some of the people there whom I know. This was mostly the receptionists and library staff, but also my teachers and the canteen workers.

The library staff said they'd been talking about me that morning, as they had been discussing some pictures of mine. Last year, I had given them some of my Poland image for use in the Holocaust memorial they would setting up this year.

It was only a short visit back to Central but I was able to fit a lot into that two hours - far more than I expected - and it was a worthwhile use of time; it was good to see former familiar faces again.

Pipelines

So the winner of the 2016 presidential election in the United States has now approved the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines, both of which President Obama cancelled:

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-expected-to-sign-executive-actions-to-advance-keystone-dakota-access-pipelines-234095

This, alongside an overall war that he seems to be waging against the EPA and the environment in general. The United States is being run by someone who believes in conspiracy theories, one such conspiracy theory being that the belief that climate change is, in itself, a conspiracy theory. How long is this going to go on for?

New term, new changes (2)

Back when the new term began, I mentioned that one of my two Media modules would be changing. It was revealed two weeks ago that one of two choices available for what path we wanted to take on the module was a research project; today, the other option was discussed in the lecture.

This other option? A practice piece, in which students work in groups to produce a 1-3 minute long and poem-inspired clip. It does involve working with various forms of recording equipment and editing software, as well as creating a portfolio of the created work.

Prior to today's lecture, I had decided on the research piece but now I am leaning towards the practice option. Producing a media clip is something I haven't done before and it would be more interesting to do that than another written assignment. Also, the practice option allows access to practical work in the second and third years, which I would likely be barred from if I were to go along with the research choice.

Free ride Sunday

For every Sunday this month, Trentbarton has been offering a free ride hour between 10:00 and 11:00am on any of their routes, minus some that are joint-operated with another company, such as Pronto. They opened this offer last year but as I possessed a college-provided bus pass back then, the offer wasn't of any use to me. This year, however, I decided to use it.

I travelled on the Rushcliffe Mainline to my grandparents' town and then walked back to Nottingham. Prior to today, it had been ages since I lasted walked my old bus route and it seemed like a good opportunity to do so. The bus driver was one I recall seeing when I was a regular on the Rushcliffe Mainline/Villager and it was good to see her again.

A day of buses

As I hadn't done it for a while, I decided to spend the day riding buses. I went on my old route of Nottingham-->Mansfield-->Derby-->Nottingham-->Derby-->Nottingham and afterwards rode to my old village and back. After the recent class test and assignment, I thought a break like this would do me some good and it did.

Also, I wanted to try out a bus upgrade. The Nines route from Mansfield to Derby has had its fleet replaced with new buses. They have a larger capacity and also support USB charging and contain access to the Internet. The old Nines buses were small and contained none of those advanced features. An already-highly enjoyable route is now even more fun than it used to be!

That day has arrived...

And it's happened, Hillary Clinton's election opponent has been sworn in as President of the United States. No, I did not watch the inauguration nor do I want to see any footage from it. Somebody who should never have been president is now president - and we now have to hope that his damage will be limited in scope as much as possible.

President Obama is a far more graceful man than anyone takes him for. For every year Obama was president, the person who resides in the Oval Office now spent that time spouting birther nonsense and other garbage. During the 2012 election as the early results came through and Obama won despite appearing to lose the popular vote, the shouldn't-be-Commander-in-Chief whined about the Electoral College - and the Electoral College ended up being how he won! How President Obama was able to keep a calm front during that transition, no one will ever know.

Clinton was slammed for being "corrupt" and "a liar". The new president has proved several times over to be both and yet his supporters don't seem to care. This is a sad day for America and, indeed, for the world.

A presidency's end

I wrote this elsewhere earlier:

"While President Obama's second term ends in under 24 hours, his victory over 8 eight ago remains one of the happiest days of my life, as I was both relieved at his win and because I believed in the message of "Hope and Change". After everything, I still do; while President Obama has not been perfect and at times has carried out policies I've disagreed with, I have never given up on him and I have always believed that he is, at heart, a kind and caring person. I hope that in his post-presidential life, he will follow in the footsteps of President Jimmy Carter and go on to promote and defend causes that are beneficial to humanity, as well as remain a strong voice of positivity.

And somewhere around, I still have my Obama t-shirt; after election day 2008, Dad bought one for each of us."

I'm going miss President Obama being in the White House. He brought a rare type of respectability to the Office of President, which won't be seen there again any time soon. Thanks for everything positive you did, President Obama, and I genuinely mean that.

"Freak Like Me" - Adina Howard

On the same day, in the same store I heard Angie Stone's "Wish I Didn't Miss You", I heard this song on the store radio:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iirDzMk5ysI

The song is called "Freak Like Me", was released in 1995 and is by Adina Howard; it is her debut single and is from her debut album, Do You Wanna Ride? (1995). Prior to hearing "Freak Like Me" in the store, the last time I think I might have heard it would have been on Heart radio; however, the first I heard it would have been on American radio, most likely in a segment on KIFS (107.5 Kiss FM) called the "Back in the Day Cafe".

First test at university

Yesterday afternoon, I underwent the first official test of my course, which occurred in one of my Media modules. The test was a 75-minute session that consisted of reading in advance a chapter of a book about television, summarising in the test a section of said chapter and writing about how a television show I (and others) had seen fit in with what the section discussed.

I won't comment on how well I think I did; all I can say is that I studied for the rest, went in, answered the question to the best of my ability in the given time and was able to write a conclusion, albeit a few seconds before the test ended. I'll find out my result in the coming weeks.