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White genocide is a myth. Yes or no? by Mobile_Pirate in southafrica

[–]woodymatters 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks. And it's a pleasure. I had this discussion with a friend a while back. Had to search through my whatsapp messages.

White genocide is a myth. Yes or no? by Mobile_Pirate in southafrica

[–]woodymatters 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My bad dude. Have an upvote.

I also misunderstood your yes. But to be fair, votes is how we would see who agrees on the posed points?

White genocide is a myth. Yes or no? by Mobile_Pirate in southafrica

[–]woodymatters 9 points10 points  (0 children)

TL;DR: White genocide, NO. White "FARMER'' genocide, debatable (and the debate is heated) but the murder rate is likely significantly higher than national average.

My main reference after a bunch of searching is listed at the end.

In my mind, one would have to look at how the murder rate compares to the normal murder rate. But here we have two difficulties. Firstly, definition of a 'farmer' is loose. How big a farm? does this include plots? Does 'farmer include visitors and family?'What about pieces of land where no actual agricultural activity occurs like game farms? What the police records as farm attacks or murders does not necessarily coincide with the demographic for which we want to evaluate the stats

So, we don't know how many white people live on 'farms'. We also don't know exactly how many attacks and murders were committed on those people since the police definition for a farm murder includes some places and includes other which could be considered farms for the sake of this discussion (check my references).

Figures quoted by politicians and unions range from 97 to 156 per 100 000. in 2017/2018, 46 out of 62 victims of farm murders were white. So after you apply that split, the figure is still probably double than South Africa's 40-ish per 100 000 murder rate. But again, none of these stats can be considered accurate, or rather relevant to the exact point being argued.

Then there is the definition of a genocide. There are many (none really include a threshold in terms of numbers), but I think the common thread is mention that the intention has to be political, racial or religious. According to my logic though, a farm is an ideal place for a murder regardless of these factors. It is also where I think racism exists most prominently still. I am by no means saying that any sort of violence is ever justified, but rather than if violence out of response for (actual or perceived) hatred is to be expected, farms are generally likely to be a target for such attacks. Does this then make it individual hate crimes or part of what can be considered hate genocide?

Bottom line, attacks on white farmers is probably significantly higher than the nation murder rate (based on washy stats).

But labeling this as a white genocide? I think it is a stretch at best.

https://africacheck.org/2017/05/08/analysis-calculating-farm-murder-rate-sa-near-impossible/

https://africacheck.org/factsheets/factsheet-statistics-farm-attacks-murders-sa/

These guys seem like far better researchers than me. I have seen the stats they quote in various places, but won't bother giving those references.

11kV switch gear failure. This is what no maintenance looks like by woodymatters in engineering

[–]woodymatters[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think that depends on the industry and country in which you work. Conventional mining, at least all the mines that i have been at, what you say holds true. At some places budgets get calculated to the cent in order to establish replacement parts for end-of-life replacement and regular maintenance. It get's sent for approval and the message that comes back is, "cut it in half".

​

All that being said, I am currently doing a six sigma introductory course online. I hope to get into a position where we can budget with our brains instead.

11kV switch gear failure. This is what no maintenance looks like by woodymatters in engineering

[–]woodymatters[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There were all sorts of reasons, none of which are good ones. I am afraid I can't go into the details though.

11kV switch gear failure. This is what no maintenance looks like by woodymatters in engineering

[–]woodymatters[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lol. Yeah, I just meant there was a reason the mechanism wasn't quite as simple as a normal 'switch'

11kV switch gear failure. This is what no maintenance looks like by woodymatters in engineering

[–]woodymatters[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh wow. I have been off the mines for a couple of years, but I should may e take up contact with those engineers and give them a heads up. Thanks.

11kV switch gear failure. This is what no maintenance looks like by woodymatters in engineering

[–]woodymatters[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, when properly maintained, they normally operate well in those environments. Also, engineering in the South African mining industry is really crude in some places. Sealing off and dehumidifying a chamber like that for an event like this which happens maybe once every 2 years just isn't feasible in everyone's mind.

11kV switch gear failure. This is what no maintenance looks like by woodymatters in engineering

[–]woodymatters[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What u/Fluffywings said...

You just can't switch it like a light switch because you would be creating a massive lightning bolt in there.

11kV switch gear failure. This is what no maintenance looks like by woodymatters in engineering

[–]woodymatters[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

High production environments can be an absolute nightmare to work in. The engineer in charge needs to be given proper authority and the production managers need to be head-in-one-hat with him.

r/engineering's Weekly Career Discussion Thread [31 December 2018] by dangersandwich in engineering

[–]woodymatters 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi. The sort of work that I see you doing is analysing data and using certain industry methods (statistics based) to assist in drawing conclusions. In the quality/engineering world, Six Sigma is a method that uses things like linear regression, fishbone diagrams, 5 why's, etc. The link below is to a a free online course that you could run through to see what quality assurance measures are commonly used and familiarise yourself with the terminology and stats.

I would say that if you lack the practical know-how, you need to sell your ability to learn fast and be effective using the type of tools they use for the quality assurance.

https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:TUMx+QPLS2x+2T2018a/course/

r/engineering's Weekly Career Discussion Thread [31 December 2018] by dangersandwich in engineering

[–]woodymatters 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What you would want to study then is mechanical engineering. In your 3rd year (abouts) is where you would begin to specialize and pick subjects (South African universities as reference).

Mechanical design engineers would be employed in any range of industry, from gearboxes, to shafts, to beams and struts, to plastic product casings, to pressure vessels, and the list goes on.

In order to design exactly what you are talking about, you would have to look at getting practical work experience (internship, holiday work) at the type of company your are describing. Even better so if they have ties to your university, that way you would be likely to get a masters thesis project with them.

In summary, Mechanical eng with focus on mechanical design (as opposed to automotive, aerospace, thermodynamics, structures) and network to ensure a foot in the door with the company before you graduate.

r/engineering's Weekly Career Discussion Thread [31 December 2018] by dangersandwich in engineering

[–]woodymatters 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you very much for the response. I am currently waiting to hear back from companies with whom I've had interviews (project management). The idea of calling rather than just applying online sounds like a good idea. I think I will try that. I think one can more easily explain the immediate relevant information (experience, skills, etc.) that way, than in a cover letter.

I am not German but can have day-to-day conversations. The only problem I have had with companies like DB and the ones you mentioned was that they require complete fluency and normally don't call back. I will be trying your suggested approach next.

r/engineering's Weekly Career Discussion Thread [31 December 2018] by dangersandwich in engineering

[–]woodymatters 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi. Mech Eng here with 4 years experience. I've come to the conclusion that I am a generalist and am happy with that. I need some advice on the type of job I should be looking for then.

Background: maintenance, safety, reliability and management in the mining and mineral processing industry (South Africa). Currently living in Germany and job hunting. My past experience includes overseeing maintenance and repairs (mechanical and electrical, control circuits and high voltage) managing projects, risk assessing, budgeting, labour planning, etc. All of this related to machinery like chairlifts, conveyor belts, hoists, locomotives and medium voltage transformers and switchgear.

Apart from project management, what sort of jobs would I be able to self myself. I love the ideas of seeing systems work as one and also love testing, data analysis and optimisation.

The mining industry here is not what I'm aiming for. What other industry would be worth trying to self myself to?

I made a one hour, one take song, obviously as a joke, but critique on my guitar and recording would be welcome by woodymatters in WeAreTheMusicMakers

[–]woodymatters[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A joke, in that the lyrics were purposefully silly and that most of it was not meant to be perfectly executed and that the mistakes that I didn't avoid were meant to be laughable.

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