Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: That Buzzing Sound

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  • Steve Barnes,

    Someone draws their rectangles lying down.

    In which case I presume you would be referring to height and width, hence the terms Portrait and landscape are used to define orientation.
    As well you know.
    ;-)

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report

  • Gareth Ward,

    I've never been a big believer in the "ZOMG Government are releasing other stories to bury their incompetence" stuff (naive? me?) but it has been pretty amusing to see Brash's stolen emails suddenly resurface this week!
    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0905/S00182.htm
    http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2009/05/not_wrong.html

    It's almost like they're the only folder in the "In Case of Awkward Press Coverage" filing cabinet...

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report

  • Claret,

    Still fuming about this whole Christine Rankin debacle. BUT (no pun intended), the Herald has outdone pretty much everyone with their cartoon today (Herald cartoon)

    Damn.

    Wellington • Since May 2009 • 4 posts Report

  • dyan campbell,

    Bonjour Bart

    I think we are largely in agreement about the use of GE and the role of science, except perhaps

    However I would point out that GE has been around since 1983, I was personally making transgenic plants 20 years ago! And GE crops have been on sale since the early 1990s. How long do you want?

    26 years is not long in science. It's certainly not long in medicine. As I quoted Julian Davies, speaking at a conference in biosciences

    "in fact already in 1946, Alexander Fleming warned that we should be careful not to overuse antibiotics because of the possibility of acquired resistance but no one could have predicted either its extent nor its stability in the year 2000. It makes one wonder what the comparable consequences of the introduction of GMOs might be?"


    26 years may seem like a long time when you're young, but it's really short time in terms of assessing the long term effects of a new technology. Just as in previous generations were wrong about the effects of radiation, a generation later they were wrong about the the rate at which bacteria could mutate in response to antibiotics, it's quite likely the present generation of scientists will be wrong about some aspect of the introduction of GM into the food chain. I'm not saying that we should stop researching GM, but I do think we should be extremely cautious. Geneticist David Suzuki says it all much better than I can

    Biotechnology: A Geneticist's Personal Perspective

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 595 posts Report

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Brash's stolen emails

    It's a wierd and nagging obsession, isn't it.

    Even if his computer got "hacked", which I doubt, nobody in the NZ police would be able to track anything down. They do motoring offences, shoplifting and brawls, not IT security.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • Bart Janssen,

    26 years is not long in science

    mmm yes and no.

    Yes there are times when it takes a long time to see or understand that a dogma is wrong. And yes there are some things that only reveal themselves over generational timescales.

    But also no - 26 years is an eternity in some ways as well. Given the level of scrutiny given to GE it is very difficult to believe that any of the concerns raised initially are real. During those 26 years we developed PCR and sequenced genomes and discovered epigenetics and ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I've never been a big believer in the "ZOMG Government are releasing other stories to bury their incompetence" stuff (naive? me?) but it has been pretty amusing to see Brash's stolen emails suddenly resurface this week!

    Gareth: So, now not only are Key and Brash bestest buds, but I guess Judith Collins pressured the Police to so severely redact the fille that it would inevitably be not only newsworthy but piss Brash off beyond endurance?

    My God, so when do they start building the Death Star and bring about the collapse of ten thousand years of peace?

    Meanwhile, anyone think Melissa Lee being cleared is going to get the same coverage of the initial allegations? Or that she's going to be getting a public apology from Goff and Mallard in this lifetime?

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Gareth Ward,

    Gareth: So, now not only are Key and Brash bestest buds, but I guess Judith Collins pressured the Police to so severely redact the fille that it would inevitably be not only newsworthy but piss Brash off beyond endurance?

    Excuse the gagging, I'm just trying to get these words out of my mouth... :>
    Like I said (and you quoted in fact) I'm NOT a super conspiracy guy but the timing of bringing that chestnut up again just seemed pretty funny. In the "ha" sense of funny.

    The Lee "clearance" is currently top story on TVNZ website, a Today Top Story on the Herald and I don't get the Stuff website anymore so fuck knows. She is due an apology IMO but the little I know about the House and politics in general suggests it won't be arriving too smartly.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    It's a wierd and nagging obsession, isn't it.

    Thought it quite interesting on TVNZ7 news last night that Guyon Espiner was waving a leaked memo from his source, for National MPs.This was to be the standard response should any of them be quizzed about Cristine Rankin and then it jumped to Key using it at a press conference.The Nat MP on Back Benches used it also couplle of hours later.It's not who you know you know. :)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Excuse the gagging, I'm just trying to get these words out of my mouth... :>
    Like I said (and you quoted in fact) I'm NOT a super conspiracy guy but the timing of bringing that chestnut up again just seemed pretty funny. In the "ha" sense of funny.

    Sorry, but the thought of Don Brash clearing his actions with the Beehive, or actually give a flying fuck about the political needs of Key and his Government made me chortle. PASers can snigger, but I actually think he's genuinely pissed off. And I think he's got every right to be -- because the Police, in my view, have quite a history of treating the Official Information Act or any form of public disclosure as a grotesque impertinence.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Gareth Ward,

    Out of simple interest, what involvement does Mr Brash have with National anymore? Out entirely?

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    The Lee "clearance"

    Any particular reason for the air quotes?

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Meanwhile, anyone think Melissa Lee being cleared is going to get the same coverage of the initial allegations?

    Like Winston Peters and Sow crates eh?

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report

  • Gareth Ward,

    Any particular reason for the air quotes?

    A slow brain past 5pm that couldn't think of the right term to use so quoted it as a "ya know, clearancey thingy". Nothing sinister or contrary intended.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie,

    PASers can snigger, but I actually think he's genuinely pissed off.

    Nana Brash is pissed off? I'm wetting myself with fear.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Nana Brash is pissed off? I'm wetting myself with fear.

    Joe: When you're trying to get information about your treatment at the hands of the Police or your local hospital or how your kids are being treated at school, I suggest you get very scared and extremely angry when you're fucked around by people who can't be arsed meeting their basic (and hardly onerous) legal disclosure requirements. I believe the OIA is there for everyone's benefit, not just the people I happen to like.

    A slow brain past 5pm that couldn't think of the right term to use so quoted it as a "ya know, clearancey thingy". Nothing sinister or contrary intended.

    Yeah, I've post five-itis too. Time to start on dinner, I guess.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Well, Brash is getting some relief from his email angst:

    Police to analyse Brash email case

    Hopefully this will put paid to the absurd demands from Fran O'Sullivam et al for Key to order a full Commission of Inquiry.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie,

    Craid:
    Fetishise the elderly wonk all you want, poor Don will never be more than a martyr to his own ineptitude.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie,

    Oops, Craig.
    Typos are forgivable, except with names.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    The Police process in this case seems sucky. It's understandable to be pissed off about that and I get it that the Nats don't want to acknowledge it's probably one of their own. Haven't read Hager's book, but from media coverage of this the "insider leak" theory seems to fit way better than the "theft/hacking" one. That's a pretty secure electronic environment, I'm told.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Fetishise the elderly wonk all you want, poor Don will never be more than a martyr to his own ineptitude.

    Joe: I've actually had a rather pleasant and productive day. Please don't harsh it by being gratuitously jerky.

    Well, Brash is getting some relief from his email angst:

    Police to analyse Brash email case

    I've got a better idea. Howard Broad arranges to get a briefing on the Police's obligations under the Official Information Act and insists they're followed in a timely and precise manner. I'd go for cock-up over conspiracy, but its hardly a good look.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie,

    It's the truth, Craig. If Don hadn't allowed himself to be drafted into electoral politics - a career for which he was demonstrably ill-suited - by some very dodgy people, he'd be a much happier man today.

    Anyway, you've got Maggie, and Kylie, and probably a whole pantheon of others. Have a lovely evening.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Jeremy Eade,

    Length is always greater than width but has less influence. A natural conundrum,

    Yes ,well the width isn't defined as nuture or nature so it's still a cool quote. It is a mindfuck to think you are a product of someone elses control , a control that can reshape or cancel nature.Thank the lord God's kept me natural.

    Dyan and Bert have kind of crunched the GE arguement right down to it's core, How long is a long time to notice abnormalities in or from GE produce?

    But after 23 years surely the doomsdayers are at least a little perplexed? What is suitable caution?

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    Leverage? So it's not the dimensions of the rectangle, it's what you do with it?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    I'm glad you took my innuendo so spiritually, Steven.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

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