Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: That Buzzing Sound

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  • Gareth Ward,

    I had recently been trying to tone down my tendency to advocatus diablo (which even my pseudo-science HR pyshcometrics tell me tend to).
    Then I "met" (in the textual online sense) Craig R. I prostate myself before you sir.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    I prostate myself

    What is this, urology day at PAS?

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Carol Stewart,

    A canal along the motorway, so our Mt Albert privateers can shoot the cars of South Aucklanders from our gunboats.

    They can enlist the help of Julia Hartley Moore and her SUV:

    Julia Hartley Moore loves her SUV Nissan Murano. She bought it brand new three years ago and neither fuel prices nor carbon emissions would make her quit it. “It’s sticking with me till the day I drop.”

    One reason she likes it so much is the feeling of security it gives her, especially when she drives alone to her home, 45 minutes from Auckland, on rural roads with little street lighting. Once, a carload of youths in front of her hurled a bottle onto her bonnet, then stopped their car in the middle of the road and turned off their lights.

    “I thought, ‘Holy shit’, and the only thing I felt was that I would ram the little bastards, because my car is big.”

    From The Listener #3554

    Wellington • Since Jul 2008 • 830 posts Report Reply

  • ScottY,

    The irony is that Labour by making this attack has ensured that Melissa Lee's name recognition will go sky high.

    And that media strategy worked well for Winston Peters in last year's election, didn't it?

    I'm glad you're keeping an eye on Whaleoil, because I can't bring myself to visit his site. I have a weak stomach.

    West • Since Feb 2009 • 794 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    She bought it brand new three years ago and neither fuel prices nor carbon emissions would make her quit it. “It’s sticking with me till the day I drop.”

    Like, once the baby arrives she'll trade it for something smaller?

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Blake Monkley,

    Bulldozing homes over and building barriers. I thought they only did this in the middle east?

    Auckland • Since Jul 2008 • 215 posts Report Reply

  • Duncan McKenzie,

    Bus-ted
    John Boscawen and partner free-riding the New North Road bus this morning handing out pamphlets.
    NZ Bus have been informed. It is not company policy to allow election or advertising material to be handed out on a bus.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 53 posts Report Reply

  • Mikaere Curtis,

    The part of my that buys into ethnic stereotyping has been secretly hoping that, given the large number of Somalian families in our Mt Albert neighbourhood, we'll see a resurgence in piracy.

    Does that mean we get to dump nuclear waste in their back yards ?

    Oh, and to respond to the GE non-thread-jack: Saying that the Greens risk-averse position on GE is akin to saying that all GE is evil is exactly the point I have been making about reductionist positions that some people take with respect to the the Greens.

    A big problem with GE is our current economic model. Capitalism seeks to externalise costs wherever possible (e.g. farmers flushing effluent into waterways that pollute my lake), and to hell with the poor sods who have to wear the cost. Does anyone here really believe that the track record of multinational corporations will result in a ethical, responsible approach to GE, or more of the same irresponsible cost externalisation ?

    And if someone does screw up a GE experiment and we end up with genetic pollution, how would we ever clean it up ? We can't even deal with something the size of a possum...

    Tamaki Makaurau • Since Nov 2006 • 528 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    I don't think anyone has posted the campaign video at the centre of the fuss.

    Pansy Wong's good in it:

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    One reason she likes it so much is the feeling of security it gives her

    Sorry for the previous-thread-reference-jack, but gosh. What a *cerebral* attitude that New Zealander has to the purchase of an SUV. Not at all like those dumb Americans who buy cars for all the wrong reasons.

    Snerkity snerk, Matthew P. :)

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Saying that the Greens risk-averse position on GE is akin to saying that all GE is evil is exactly the point I have been making about reductionist positions that some people take with respect to the the Greens.

    And I find it hard to define Kedgle's position on GE as anything other than reductionist. Cuts both ways.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    But given Slater's history of racist, misogynist blather ... well, let's just say he has no discernible sense of irony.

    With the racism, I suspect it's more the Model Minority stereotype - yellow/sepia good, brown/black/sandy bad, or something to that effect. A stereotype that is, from my own experiences, total fucking bullshit.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    And I find it hard to define Kedgle's position on GE as anything other than reductionist. Cuts both ways.

    As in quasi-McGillicuddyism without the humour?

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    As in quasi-McGillicuddyism without the humour?

    Kind of, yeah. I still can't get over that time when she was asked by a local paper along with the other local candidates what aninmal she'd like to be, and they all gave their stock mildly humorous answers, but she had to launch into a tirade about how she'd hate to be a bettery hen, and in the end didn't actually say what animal she'd like to be. A hectoring dolphin, one would have to think.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • James Francis,

    John Boscawen and partner free-riding the New North Road bus this morning handing out pamphlets.

    He has a Gold Card?

    St John's, Newfoundland • Since Nov 2006 • 121 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen,

    Does anyone here really believe that the track record of multinational corporations will result in a ethical, responsible approach to GE, or more of the same irresponsible cost externalisation ?

    Um I do. Seriously Mikaere, Monsanto has been incredibly careful in the release of it's GE products. They keep a really close eye on farmers to make sure the farmers maintain refuges that have, thus far protected against BT resistance. They've been really responsible about the way the crops have gone through safety assessment.

    Don't get me wrong I hate the way business driven by maximising shareholder benefit has done disgusting things. And Monsanto in it prior incarnations has been as bad as any. But on GE they've been pretty damn good.

    But the other half of your statement is that you believe that only big business can develop GE crops. If that is true now it is only because of the ridiculously complex and restrictive research and development environment created by opponents of GE. Most of the GE research is done in (small) government labs. And is done by incredibly honourable and devoted scientists, almost all of whom would like nothing better than to have their work help save the planet. But we can't get out of the lab without some "person" destroying the experiments, and that's after going through the incredibly thorough and expensive ERMA process.

    Saying that the Greens risk-averse position on GE is akin to saying that all GE is evil...

    Sorry that's kind of unfair. The Greens version of "risk averse" demands that we prove 100% safety before we are allowed to do anything out of the lab. Never mind that similar demands are not made of organic crops or herbal remedies, the real problem with such a stance, as you and the greens know, is that nothing absolutely nothing can ever ever be proven 100% safe. So it is exactly the same as a complete ban.

    Let me be clear none of the scientists working on GE believe that we should do anything other than test thoroughly to make as sure as is reasonable that what is done is safe. And we get pretty pissed off ourselves when someone stuffs up. But the key is reasonable risk and balancing that against reward. At the moment I don't feel the Green party are reasonable on this issue.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Simon J Taylor,

    "I remember noting here that Asian passes as diversity in our leafy eastern suburbs.'

    The term Asian would imply a fair bit of diversity, in its own right and vis-a-vis Europeans, I would have thought. What other ingredients need to be in that pie?

    Mt Eden, Akl • Since May 2009 • 7 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole,

    Monsanto has been incredibly careful in the release of it's GE products. They keep a really close eye on farmers to make sure the farmers maintain refuges that have, thus far protected against BT resistance.

    You mean like how, and you even conceded this was true, they sued farmers who'd had their crops contaminated by GE wheat that hadn't come from their own farms?

    I disagree with the Greens' stance on GE, as do you, but pretending that it's completely divorced from a reality of crop contamination isn't tenable. Biological systems reproduce according to their own rules, not patent law.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Easterbrook,

    The term Asian would imply a fair bit of diversity, in its own right and vis-a-vis Europeans, I would have thought. What other ingredients need to be in that pie?

    Hey, we were talking piracy, not cannibalism.

    But seriously....general New Zealand discourse has never done a good job of acknowledging the variety of cultures and ethnicities that get lumped together by the term "Asian". And the way we use it always seems to exclude Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans and Bangladeshis.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 265 posts Report Reply

  • Andrew Hubbard,

    <blockquote>They've been really responsible about the way the crops have gone through safety assessment./<blockquote>

    wtf? I guess they must be just one more poor misunderstood, much-maligned, multinational...:

    http://current.com/items/89686443_monsantos-roundup-residues-in-gm-food-cause-cell-damage.htm

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 18 posts Report Reply

  • Kim Sokolich,

    Craig Ranapia
    From: North Shore, Auckland
    Since: Nov 2006
    Posts: 5050

    Reply Posted at 2:49AM on 14 May 09.

    Craig Ranapia
    From: North Shore, Auckland
    Since: Nov 2006
    Posts: 5050

    Reply Posted at 5:26AM on 14 May 09

    @Craig
    I know this is lively thread but when do you sleep???

    Since Oct 2008 • 47 posts Report Reply

  • Clarke,

    Gordon Campbell is skewering Melissa Lee:

    It is rare indeed to find arrogance and ignorance combined so exquisitely in the one harsh and clanging package, and the P.R. crew down at National party head office must be thinking that polling day in Mt Albert just can’t come soon enough, to get her off the front pages.

    It's a delight.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 85 posts Report Reply

  • ScottY,

    wtf? I guess they must be just one more poor misunderstood, much-maligned, multinational...:

    WTF indeed. I'm bored of the whole " multinational = evil scum" angle. Is belief in an evil multinational cabal a requirement for membership of the Greens? Just wondering.

    West • Since Feb 2009 • 794 posts Report Reply

  • Just thinking,

    All Lee had to do was smile and hold to the party line. No-one expected her to win (except maybe one person).

    This looks very bad, I wonder if she can lose a list seat from this & they'll replace her with Stephen Franks?

    Tunnel/Canal, bulldoze 500 or bulldoze 400, I really don't see the difference other than partisan politics to squabble over.

    It is not a solution to the problem. It only moves the problem a few kms further north and with growth will be obsolete in 10yrs.

    Labour failed to grasp the issue and install an Airport to City (& beyond) train years ago.

    Putaringamotu • Since Apr 2009 • 1158 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    bored of

    Bored with

    "bored of" is a mistranscription of a mispronunciation.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

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