Posts by Walter Nicholls
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Hard News: Together Alone, in reply to Gabor Toth,
Methanol ... hasn’t been used in NZ meths for about 20 years
Now that's useful information I'd forgotten - not that we have a lot of meths (unlike turps!) but at least supermarkets sell it. Although at home, soap is pretty good, given we're not going out anywhere. (I'm working on various video & audio footage from the times when we could go to venues, planning a virtual choir, and things like that to support our communities via online methods. Could be fun).
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Hard News: Rage and change: RNZ's music problem, in reply to Russell Brown,
6 Music, which is digital-only
It is on DAB radio* which is equivalent to being on FM, but that is a whole other story to get into (NZ: spectrum use, broadcasting equipment, receivers in the hands of the public). As to Freeview which we do have - I've never seen a car receiver for that either.
( * Yes I know that's digital, ie what you said) -
Also sorry for the paywalled link but this 2 days ago from the UK:
"Radio 3 has posted its highest audience ratings in three years as young people migrate to classical music ... Radio 1, the BBC’s flagship youth station, slumped"
Dangerous to assume what applies in the UK applies here but interesting nonetheless. -
Concert’s share has even ticked up a bit to 4% of the listening audience
My understanding of maths is that 165000 listeners is close to 3½% of the total population – do 85% of NZers listen to the radio? I guess they might.
The RNZ line is that the proposed changes do not end Concert FM but since they remove everything that makes Concert FM better than just streaming classical music on Google Play (presenters, careful curation, interviews with local and visiting musicians etc, and the ability to listen in the car), actually they do.
Considering youth: Concert FM in its current form is I think the only radio station my kids (18 and 20) listen to, all their other music comes online. I’ve often thought that there is room for a quality music-oriented radio station following the Concert FM model – it just needed to expand its range. I’d be pleased with New Age Mondays, Baroque Tuesdays, Jazz wednesday, Hip hop Thursday and Bollywood Friday .. I’d just not tune in on Thursdays. -
Hard News: These things we must now change, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
The 'elite private school' that eventually bowed to pressure to allow pupils to wear the hijab for one day only
They backtracked this morning (as in, not just one day any more)
I ran that news story past my daughter when she got home yesterday. Without being told, she guessed the name of the school on the first try.
I love the way the Principal was (yesterday) saying that "visible religious items" were not part of the school uniform, apparently unaware of the crosses, mitre, and several others on the school crest ... proudly embroidered on every student's blazer.
I don't want to call conspiracy, but the previous news article seems to have vanished from RNZ's website. this was the link (now 404)
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Legal Beagle: The climate strike and the…, in reply to ,
For all the kids who vote the same as their parents ... there will be plenty of kids who vote differently to their parents
What we want of course is kids to vote the same when that is the right thing to do, and differently when that is the right thing to do, and for them to , er, have the wisdom to decide the difference.
... school included democracy training...
My daughter has been griping for years about [the lack of] this. Actually what we could do with is some kind of compulsory "general studies" course that continues into the NCEA years. A week of law, another week of economics, politics, budgetting ... all this stuff that many would say that parents should be teaching their children but usually can't. (Hell, I don't know very much about law myself, and even in my own fields of expertise, that in itself doesn't mean I would be a good teacher).
Direct democracy (participating in decision making) is also different to representative democracy (picking the people to make the decisions for you). Rationally looking at a politician's track record and determining if they can be trusted, instead of being swayed by rhetoric, is a developed skill.
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Legal Beagle: The climate strike and the…, in reply to Moz,
I suspect there will be more kids who vote climate emergency or other long-term issues than their parents do
As I'm sure it applies with 18+ although I can't just lay my hands on evidence in 5min searching. The general election results are too crude to determine this kind of thing since they can only distinguish voters by their electorate.
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Legal Beagle: The climate strike and the…, in reply to Stephen Day,
I've meet 30-year-olds who we probably shouldn't include
I've often wished that people had to answer a test of general political awareness before they are permitted to vote. Unfortunately I imagine that such a test is far more subvertable than the current process of attracting votes by campaigning.
I'd probably enjoy reading such a quiz if someone wants to make one. Just for fun, you understand.
Q1. This test contains difficult words. Can you read?
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I'm not supporting giving votes to 14-17 year-olds because I think they'll vote a particular way.
Nor do I. I'm just observing that our best efforts have gone into helping our children become independent thinkers, and this has resulted them in choosing support for exactly the same party I vote for. In fact the older one has joined said party. Naturally I think this proves they are sane, but I would, wouldn't I?
I support this because I think they should be allowed to have a say in the future.
Yup.
On the other side of this thread: our daughter's school has this morning sent out an official response to the "strike". To paraphrase, they will grant students with a provable track record of "significant, on-going environmental involvement" permission to attend the rally. All other students will be considered bunking off with the corresponding blemish on their attendance record.
This is considerably more supportive than what I expected, which was more along the lines of "we understand why you want to do it and good on you but don't" ... which as a responsible parent is my official line. My daughter also understands the unofficial line that she is an independent thinker and can make her own decision for her own reasons - and will receive supportive hugs either way!
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I do not know what policy changes they seek
Call me a cynic but the majority of them don't and won't know. However this does not devalue their purpose or sincerity, they could reasonably expect that the Government has resources to get the advice of experts.
As to voting at 14, I'll be cynical again and wonder if anyone has done research into the correlation of 14-17 year-olds' voting preferences with that of their parents. It's not the best argument for enfranchising this age group , but at worst the voting preference of parents with teenagers will get a small boost.
But being influenced into voting 'imperfectly' is hardly limited to any age or gender. (To avoid a modern form of Godwin's Law, I will not mention a certain referendum held in the UK in mid 2016)