Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Occupy: Don't call it a protest

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  • DCBCauchi, in reply to Hilary Stace,

    and be snapped up by people who would appreciate them

    And there’s the core of the preservation strand. Out of private libraries will the restored libraries of the future be built. The problem at the moment is that you need to be part of a personal network to access them.

    Kind of like the Irish monks of old.

    Oh, and if you belong to an institution that has an old printing press and trays of type on the premises, I reckon you should take immediate steps to secure it, then get someone who knows what they're talking about (like my dad) to tell you what you need to do to get it working again. Easily removable parts have probably been taken as souvenirs, because of your neglect.

    My 2c.

    Since Feb 2011 • 320 posts Report

  • Carol Stewart,

    Fabiana Kubke of SciBlogs talks about Open Access week at the University of Auckland.

    Wellington • Since Jul 2008 • 830 posts Report

  • Kate Hannah, in reply to DCBCauchi,

    Readers - above all indeed. in my experience, people I like seem to have eclectic books and wide-ranging interests ....

    Auckland • Since Mar 2010 • 107 posts Report

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to JacksonP,

    Ag + Fish = starch munchers...

    Anyone else missing the book blogs? Anyone?

    What we need is a secondhand blog shop...
    Here's one on Madeline by Gordon Campbell
    and a whole raft of 'em from Werewolf

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report

  • dyan campbell,

    Sorry if this is a bit late to the discussion – but is Paul Moon really an academic?

    He criticises Anne Salmond’s choice of phrases “rights of man” and “human dignity” not realising they have specific practical and legal definitions in the EU Charter.

    "From there, she swerves to the subject of the Enlightenment, where she attempts to illuminate Adam Smith’s principle of the “invisible hand” but nudging it closer to ideals such as the “rights of man” and the slightly more nebulous “human dignity”."

    EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (Article 1)

    Definition

    Human Dignity is inviolable. It must be respected and protected.

    Legal Explanations

    The dignity of the human person is not only a fundamental right in itself but constitutes the real basis of fundamental rights. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrined this principle in its preamble: ‘Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world’.

    It results that none of the rights laid down in this Charter may be used to harm the dignity of another person, and that the dignity of the human person is part of the substance of the rights laid down in this Charter. It must therefore be respected, even where a right is restricted.

    When Moon cites “[Adam] Smith’s overt enthusiasm for the pursuit of economic self-interest” he clearly missed the part where Smith wrote “the wise and virtuous man is at all times willing that his private interest should be sacrificed to the public interest of his own particular order or society. He is at all times willing, too, that the interest of this order or society should be sacrificed to the greater interest of the state or sovereignty.”

    I am reminded of that John Ralston Saul wrote about free market enthusiasts quoting a “few words of Adam Smith to support the sort of interest driven civilisation in which Smith actually did not believe.”

    Moon also brings his academic credibility into further doubt when he asserts:

    “And as for the mantra that greater income redistribution is somehow a panacea for whatever social ills we have, Lesotho, Namibia, Sierra Leone and Haiti stand out as examples of countries with high levels of income equality between rich and poor, whereas nations such as Switzerland Canada, Denmark have much greater disparities.”

    Exactly the opposite is true. His assertion is a blatant, um, mistake.

    Moon goes on to say

    "I am sure that if someone told a New Zealander in 1971, for example, that 40 years later, there would be people classified as being in the poorest quartile in the country owning more than one telephone, a car with power steering and air conditioning, they surely would have scoffed at the possibility."

    A New Zealander in 1971 would have been shocked to find that the health of this country’s children was so incredibly poor compared to other developed countries that in some aspects (dental health, pneumonia, rheumatic fever to mention only a few) these health outcomes put NZ on a par with 3rd world countries. The most common and pernicious of these conditions are a result of, and directly correlated to poverty.

    Finally Paul Moon quotes John Kenneth Galbraith

    “Maybe we could both take solace in the observation of the great economist John Kenneth Galbraith, who asserted that economic policy “is the choice is between courses that are almost equally good or equally bad. It is the narrowest decisions that are most ardently debated”."

    But Galbraith’s quote – had it been used accurately – would have been more relevant to Salmond’s argument than Moon’s

    “In the usual (though certainly not in every) public decision on economic policy, the choice is between courses that are almost equally good or equally bad. It is the narrowest decisions that are most ardently debated. If the world is lucky enough to enjoy peace, it may even one day make the discovery, to the horror of doctrinaire free-enterprisers and doctrinaire planners alike, that what is called capitalism and what is called socialism are both capable of working quite well.”

    Another Galbraith quote may be required

    “All successful revolutions are the kicking in of a rotten door.”

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 595 posts Report

  • merc,

    And all revolutionaries supplant tyranny with tyranny.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report

  • Tom Semmens,

    And all revolutionaries supplant tyranny with tyranny.

    And all bumper stickers are stupid.

    What about the American revolutionaries? The Glorious Revolution? Tunisia today?

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Tom Semmens,

    Tunisia today

    That's a cooking show, right?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • merc,

    Heh, one revolutionary is another's terrorist ;-)
    Is it just me or is the NZ paper media totally ignoring this,
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/27/occupy-oakland-scott-olsen-surgery?CMP=twt_fd

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to dyan campbell,

    is Paul Moon really an academic?

    I guess like other professions they have a range of competence.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Tom Semmens,

    That’s a cooking show, right?

    Sound more like breakfast TV to me, but it could be a breakfast TV with a fine cooking segment.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report

  • Carol Stewart, in reply to Tom Semmens,

    And all bumper stickers are stupid.

    Au contraire

    Wellington • Since Jul 2008 • 830 posts Report

  • merc,

    And there's the infamous Chappaquiddick bumper sticker that threw an election.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chappaquiddick_incident
    The bumper sticker was...At least our candidate never drowned anybody.
    True story.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report

  • Tom Semmens,

    Is it just me or is the NZ paper media totally ignoring this,

    Apparently the RWC coming to NZ will cause a minute variation in the planet's gravity.

    Meanwhile, a classroom project in Geraldine correctly picked every score in the knock-out stage of the tournament.

    I read in the Herald that Steve Hansen was spotted "looking dishevilled but happy" by revellers outside a kebab shop at 3.30am. When recognised, he raised his kebab and slurred "WE DID IT" which brought cheers from onlookers.

    Did you know the one of the vehicles used in the RWC parade in Weellington was actually assembled by Quade Coopers father in a Brisbane assembly plant?!??

    Wendy Petrie has discovered that Zac Guilford is her fourth cousin, twice removed. Closeup will explore this remarkable blood bond at seven...

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report

  • dyan campbell,

    is Paul Moon really an academic?

    I guess like other professions they have a range of competence.

    Well yes, Sacha, exactly my point. So that's why I asked, is Paul Moon really an academic?

    Gotta go back to work and do menial crap. I wish I was an academic.

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 595 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Tom Semmens,

    Wendy Petrie has discovered

    Highly implausible..

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to dyan campbell,

    I wish I was an academic

    Paid to think would be nice, yes.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Carol Stewart, in reply to Sacha,

    I don't believe thinking counts as a PBRF output.

    Wellington • Since Jul 2008 • 830 posts Report

  • merc,

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/5870412/Occupy-protesters-march-through-city
    First reference I have seen in paper media, electronic version.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to merc,

    Not true. The search box on that site brings up pages of stories about Occupy movements in NZ and elsewhere.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • DCBCauchi, in reply to merc,

    First reference I have seen in paper media, electronic version.

    Speaking of valiant journalists telling the truth in the public interest, check out what Stuff’s decided the most interesting news about the Hobbit is today.

    I wonder. Is that really how best to serve the public interest on the subject of working conditions for film workers on what is probably the world’s biggest film project at the moment? Not to mention the possibly relevant relationship between Jackson, Key, and other interested parties.

    Does anyone else wonder whether there might be other stories Stuff could’ve told instead? How would I find out? Whose job is it to tell me?

    Since Feb 2011 • 320 posts Report

  • Carol Stewart,

    I was also surprised that the Herald gave so little coverage to the Maui gas pipeline rupture and its cascading impacts on businesses, infrastructure, food production, distribution and storage and so on. Having to dump 11 million litres of milk is not insignificant.
    The DomPost covered it quite well.

    Wellington • Since Jul 2008 • 830 posts Report

  • DCBCauchi, in reply to Carol Stewart,

    Having to dump 11 million litres of milk is not insignificant.

    No doubt that was the easiest and most economic option, but I wonder what else they might have done with it.

    Since Feb 2011 • 320 posts Report

  • merc, in reply to Sacha,

    First I have seen personally and I scan pretty often. To the best of my knowledge, the Herald and Stuff aggregated papers did not feature the injured person at Oklahoma incident, of course I may have missed some mention.
    Pays to watch carefully what is not there round election time I reckon.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to DCBCauchi,

    but I wonder what else they might have done with it.

    John Key could have made blocks of cheese to hand out as election bribes.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report

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