Posts by James Littlewood*

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  • Hard News: Potency and purity,

    alcohol is by far the most harmful drug in our society.

    Only because it's legal and therefore the most prevalent. And, in moderation, for most people, it's totally harmless.

    Opening up the legal market for other drugs will also attract industry lobbyists for those drugs. For instance, a former pot campaigner in the U.S. was on Nights with Bryan Crump a while ago, explaining how decriminalisation has failed to account for this.

    Commercial operators use good old fashioned brand campaigns to generate a whole generation of customer addicts.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Happy Days,

    Tracy, do you claim to be immune to emotional influences in your choices about the stuff you consume?

    The term "brand" accounts for just this. How you feel about what you get.

    Doesn't mean good journalism doesn't count. Quite the contrary. But do magazines have any future besides a trans-media one? And if so, what do you call them? Because the magazine part is just that: a part.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Nelson Street: Not too…,

    I'm not sure about the shared cycle & walkway concept. The NW cycle lane feels to me like it's going to collide a cyclist with a pedestrian in a way that's gonna hurt.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • Up Front: Not Uniform,

    I wore a uniform and hated every minute of it. Does that count?

    Later on, I didn't have to wear a uniform, and choosing what to wear was the least of my worries. Believe me.

    Those stats on trans kids are enlightening. I'd have thought uniformity (neutral or otherwise) was a poor way to allow someone to explore and identify their identity. But then, I'm not trans. Anyone?

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • Up Front: Stand for... Something,

    See Bragg, Billy: "The Progressive Patriot" for a discourse on how other people besides conservative establishment (not to mention downright racists) can and should be out about patriots. "I love Britain" says he, and goes on from there.

    There's also an American scholar whose name I forget who's big on Democrats taking a stronger stand on patriotism, on account of its been hijacked by Republicans.

    He suggests much of the traditional Democratic agenda could be better advanced under the banner of patriotism, e.g., "patriots pay tax."

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Friday Music: What Alltracks…,

    Gutted I missed Thomston. The guy's young enough for teachers at our West AK primary school to remember him, but his music is achingly beautiful, and seems to get under the surface of humdrum suburban banality in a way that's broth brainy and passionate.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Villainy and engagement,

    quite unusual

    Don't people get sledged on these shows all the time? I'll admit the sacking doesn't happen. Not to judges anyway. Nice development, that.

    Maybe the unusual bit is that the audience suddenly decided they'd had a gutsful and said so. At once.

    It's all a bit Hunger Games/Running Man for me.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Villainy and engagement,

    Kinda with Craig on this. Whether any of it's planned or not, it's all a massive set piece.

    In fact, one could sympathise with the judges. Like the contestants, they're only doing what's expected of them and emulating the form of the tyrannical master Judge Cowell.

    Just don't watch that shit, people.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Villainy and engagement,

    Just to go back a few steps:

    <q>engagement isn't directly convertible into revenue<q/>

    Not that I'm an expert, but wasn't Shorty the highest earning property on TVNZ for a fair few years, but without being the most viewed, precisely due to engagement? That was a while ago, early 2000s, well before the social media juggernaut.

    It'd be hard to believe that engagement's any less convertible to revenue now than it was over 10 year ago.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • OnPoint: Leviathan,

    Greenwald says

    Listen to the whole interview: both to see the type of adversarial questioning to which U.S. political leaders are so rarely subjected, but also to see just how obfuscating Key’s answers are.

    which is a nice endorsement of natrad eh. But makes me think, who among us here in nz can do the John Stewart thing? My vote: Urzila Carlson

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

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