Posts by Tom Semmens
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
High speed internet, a big cap and torrents have made the tyranny of free-to-air scheduling a thing of the past in our household, we've already watched the latest BSG series in high definition and its a cracker!
-
Here is a couple of genuine Green questions, that came up last night as we were stoking up the fire in the lounge at home.
1/ What happens to all those plastic milk bottles that go out every Tuesday in Kingsland for recycling? Some say they just get sent to the land fill, others say they are chopped up and sent to fuel China's thermal power stations.
2/ If either of the above is correct, is it actually more sustainable in a total carbon lifecycle/footprint way to just burn the bottles on your own fire and save the fossil fuels used to transport and compact/burn them, and economise on wood?
-
I don't know Paul. Arguably David Farrar's moral and intellectual dishonesty is more offensive, because by all accounts he is a likeable and intelligent fellow. Instead of coming and saying what he clearly thinks - a hardline neo-liberalism combined with a Slateresque "laddism" - he loads the gun and hands it to his sewer, then tut tuts at the entirely predictable results. A sort of Pontius Pilate for the keyboard age.
-
This morning on morning report Sean Plunket tried that bullshit about "its not all one-sided" when interviewing their political editor Brent Edwards, and it roused Mr. Edwards to a surprisingly vigorous defence of Clark, noting Key hasn't had to put up with whispering campaigns about his spouse, his sexuality, his children or lack thereoff, and the other faux-scandals spread by National party on-line smear specialists like Cameron Slater and David Farrar.
-
Like all incumbent governments in the western world, the decline of the popularity of Labour can almost exactly be matched against the burst of the housing bubble and the soaring price of energy. Never mind both of these issues are the result of forces beyond our control.
Given that this may be the start of a period of prolonged global economic downturn, here is something to think about when you contemplate all these oxymoronic and vague desires for authoritarians who can free us from the nanny state: All fascist movements of the 20th century emerged as a vague anger in an impoverished middle class.
-
Voting day to be a public holiday along the lines of Xmas Day, to ensure everyone has the opportunity to vote. And it should come complete with various celebrations of democracy.
-
Oh and in relation to the Maori seats - just as only a conservative government could probably deliver us unto the sun lit uplands of becoming a republic, so only a left wing government would be able to abolish the Maori seats, and only then if Maori agree.
-
Is there a blog fued between the standard and kiwiblog? I don't think so.
When asked in the 17th century why England was going to war with the Dutch, some English general or another frankly replied along the lines of "Because they have to much trade and we have resolved to take some of it." I think that is the nature of the relationship vis-a-vis the left-leaning Standard and David Farrar's National party cypher kiwiblog, and i think The Standard has achieved its goal of leveling the research playing field and bringing the bracing breeze of competition (doesn't everyone love competition?) to the blogsphere.
-
"...its an obvious mouth organ, far more so than David Farrar's site or any other political blog in New Zealand. And the people who contribute to it do seem to have endless amounts of time to research and write their virulently pro-government anti-National propaganda. It just seems to me to be the most plausible explanation..."
That is getting quite close to a whine there Danyl, especially as you haven't graced it with anything approaching a fact. the amount of trying to discredit the standard that goes on in the right wing blogsphere approaches paranoia at times. Most lefties on the web long ago accepted Farrar's impact as significant - it sometimes seems Kiwiblog is the primary news source for the Herald op-ed writers - and stopped bleating about it. So you can hardly complain if somebody's got organised and set up their shingle right across the virtual road.
-
Facinating politics session on NatRad just now. Matthew Hooten clearly hates Hagar personally, but then Hooten is fuckwit - whereas most of us think Crosby/Textor are base, Hooten IS their base - but its also fairly clear to me that Hooten had come onto Kathryn Ryan's show with a pre-determined plan of attack to shout down Laile Harre and hose down the debate. And that is quite interesting.