Hard News: A voice of reason and authority
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Nor do the players or the spectators, or presumably the ref, come out of this with much credit
True; but teenagers fighting on the rugby field are likely to be getting their lead from somewhere.
Would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at a couple of school assemblies this morning.
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And back to Wishart again.
I would have thought Wishart was skating on very thin ice in suing Gareth Renowden for defamation. I followed Wishart's response to Gareth's review of Air Con quite closely, and Wishart's responses were far more vindictively personal and defamatory than anything in the original review. He didn't so much throw his toys as launch them into orbit where they are now geostationary.
Just as Russell said, it's a bullying tactic. -
Does Mr Wishart and ilk resist such intentions? Will God fix it all?
I recall someone in US politics did say we don't have to worry about the enivronment because the rapture will be soon.
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Would it have been that difficult to just say "There is an disciplinary process in train, and it wouldn't be appropriate to comment further"?
Totally agree, Craig. I wasn't trying to excuse them.
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“Barton has accused me of being dishonest, and or stupid, on the issue of climate change,” Wishart said today.
There is nothing defamatory here, we just need to remove the climate change qualification.
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Totally agree, Craig. I wasn't trying to excuse them.
Didn't think you were, Carol. Its just that when I have to allocate bile between idiot teenage boys and alleged adults, the lion's share will go to the latter because I expect slightly better from them. :)
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Bile is a zero sum game? :-)
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It is a tough situation for a country like NZ. Nothing NZ could ever do will make even a speck of difference, no matter how badly NZ damaged its own economy, but there is the global pr aspect.
That is untrue James.
We could impose carbon taxes based upon the actual carbon footprint of goods consumed in NZ. This would be local action to create impetus amoung local and foriegn suppliers to improve their carbon efficiency. The most efficient producer having a price advantage to the consumer. This willl impact positively on the worlds climate and not cost our industry much at all, because taxes do not get placed on exports. It will however require ditching Kyoto, this will be bad PR.
Or we could follow the Greens* preferred methodology and put in place a rigorous Cap of 40% reduction or greater on emissions. All our future requirements in consumerable products and a lot of food stuffs would then be imported from 1000s of miles away. Tonnes of additional carbon would flow from Chinese smoke stacks, bulk carrier freighters and 747s. And it would deliver us great PR in the EU where such polluting policy has sustained by a thriving Green movement. Oh, it will kill the planet quicker, but great PR will be derived suckling to the EUs exemplar.
* Green politics on climate change are a Greenwash - they look good and sound good as long as no one takes off their glasses, looks behind the curtain.
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Sam Vilain has compiled a fascinating record of Wishart's blatherings, the criticisms they have attracted, and the subsequent legal threats hurled around by Wishart.
He really is a dreadful little man.
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Just thinking wrote:"I'm very happy no-one was imprisoned in that manslaughter case and hope non-custodial sentencing become the norm where there is no risk to the wider community."
Consistency would be needed. But that would take a whole new look at Crime and Punishment, against the power of the "popular" Sensible Sentencing lobby. Politically its easier to just throw away the key - except in this case they key was not thrown.
How many in prison are there top protect the community? -
This is an important contribution to the exorcism thing, with a few other precedents described.
That was an interesting case. But the main cause for questioning the original guilty verdict was that the jury probably should have been directed to consider the victims religious beliefs, or more particularly her consent based on those beliefs to the procedure. It’s a tricky one because it looks like they made it rather difficult for her to withdraw consent once the process of “exorcism” was underway.
In the Janet Moses case, she likely had a mental illness, and so probably could not (meaningfully) consent.
I'm not sure whether the "is it a genuine cultural practice or not" line of enquiry is a useful one. At what point does the circle of people who believe in supernatural effect X become so small that the criminal law can take precedence?
The criminal law should always take precedence, regardless of whether people sincerely believe in supernatural effect X, or whatever cultural or religious tradition. Whether the accused genuinely believed they were doing good by the victim might come into it in some cases, as a mitigating factor, though.
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Sorry for the jack but when it comes to voices of reason and authority, I think we can grade Auckland Grammar and Kelston principals John Morris and Steve Watt F for epic fail.
What they need is something to keep the spectators and players apart. Something that lets them still see the game, but stops them jumping on the field of play. Some big boards around the playing field - also help keep the ball in. But the top part of the boards could be glass, so they could still see.
And then if they put the game into hyperdrive and make it more physical, that would be good too. And a big block of ice underneath to help keep the players cool from all that exercise.
You can see a sample at the Dunedin Ice Stadium this Saturday 7pm, Sunday 4pm, when the Australian Ice Hockey team takes on our Ice Blacks. Game 1 will be delayed on Sky Sport 3 at noon on Sunday, game 2 live at 4pm.
[Any segueway to promote the game]
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Islander and Jeremy: It appears to be going through one of its apparently semi-regular meltdowns, but The New Zealand Electronic Text Centre has some of Elsdon Best's work. Not, unfortunately, Maori Religion & Mythology but a few of his minor ones on related subjects.
The two parts of Maori Religion and Mythology are still in print through Te Papa Press. I can definitely confirm that the Text Centre plans to digitize further Best texts in the future; it's good to know that there's a demand out there for them.
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Some big boards around the playing field - also help keep the ball in. But the top part of the boards could be glass, so they could still see.
Yes, but the boards and glass don't protect people who get in cabs with Patrick Kane, Kyle :P.
On Wishart - does anyone have an actual measure of how many people actually buy into his complete conspiracy theory insanity? He continually says he's a bestseller, but I'm vaguely convinced that it's a scam - somewhat like the way scientologists were instructed to buy up many many copies of Battlefield Earth so L Ron Hubbard looked like a bestseller.How many books and magazines does the man actually sell?
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Absolutely Ian Mc. And probably if someone is a risk to the community there is a medical aspect that might be more effective to focus on, which is very different to what we havew today.
Carbon Efficency is a questionable approach I'm not convinced by it at all. That we prolong the road to destruction isn't a path to survival.
We need to seriously look at our:
Quality of life vs Standard of LivingThese are different things. Our 'Advanced Economy' is not a sustainable option and not able to be transfered to the majority of the worlds people. What is sustainable is a good quality of life and this is transferable to the worlds people.
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DeepRed:
And how would they deal with a worst-case scenario of the American Clean Energy & Security Act - throw eggs at the US Embassy?
Teabags, surely?
Russell:
I don't mind that he favours technological solutions over emission-reduction
That's a false dichotomy. Technological solutions (e.g. replacing coal-fired power plants with wind-turbines, or shifting to biofuels, or building more efficient cars, or even using more efficient lightbulbs) are emissions reduction. The problem is that those on the right use technology as a delaying tactic (we'll just wait for CCS) while refusing to recognise or implement the real technologies we have which could reduce emissions right now.
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When people measure happiness, would that be as happy as two motherless children whose mother was tortured against her will by her aunts and uncles resulting in drowning and death?
The curse came about when other family members stole a concrete lion statue from outside a tavern after a drinking session. That’s a sounds basis for initiating a spiritual mission and subsequent ritual.
The "curse" according to the accused came down on only two family members a 14 year old niece and Janet Moses. Off course the curse visits the most vulnerable, the ones who can be over powered.
The judiciary live in another dimension as do the accused.
The "crime of love' sentence is an insult to any sense empathy or humanity and is disgusting in the most extreme sense of the word.
What crap.
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How many books and magazines does the man actually sell?
Too many ..
Last time time I looked, Air Con had been displaced off the nonfiction bestseller list by the crockpot cookbooks and psychic memoirs. Heh.
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Bile is a zero sum game? :-)
More like the bile is not as plentiful as it used to be. Bugger.
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I have come to the conclusion that atempts to get agreements on emission reductions will all fail.
The only hope is developing carbon sequestration technologies, otherwise our great children will reap a very bitter harvest indeed.
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Bile is a zero sum game? :-)
Then after SOLO's response to the PM's Science Advisor we all have to be really polite for a bit.
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displaced off the nonfiction bestseller list by the crockpot cookbooks and psychic memoirs
So what we want to do is write a book about crockpot conspiracy theories.
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Craig: Bile is a zero sum game? :-)
More like the bile is not as plentiful as it used to be. Bugger.
Was that a deliberate misprint. Did you mean that: the Bible is a zero sum game?
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Tom,
I agree with you, but think the failure to reach agreement will be a good thing consigning the exploitative Kyoto approach to the dust bin.
Sequesterisation is good idea, but to motivate its introduction in the absence of a Cap'n'Trade reckon we need sky high consumer carbon taxes on rich world consumers.
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He really is a dreadful little man.
Ew... Sam should take this as a compliment, but I wanted to go download some porn to get clean after reading that thing. Wishart seems to be determined to turn himself in a local version of Robert Maxwell -- who had something like a hundred defamation suits against journalists and media outlets in train when he died. Not anything to be proud of.
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