Posts by Jimmy D

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  • Hard News: Not so much ironic as outrageous,

    Dave's blog post somehow doesn't make me feel any better. In fact, though it appears to defend Bishop, it damns her with faint praise and paints a picture of an extremely poor domestic environment for which she bears a large responsibility.

    I don't believe that the perceived infringement of the rights of adults offsets the great benefits that this legislative amendment brings us. As Russell said earlier, violence breeds violence. It cannot be justified, even when it may be forgiven.

    I imagine that Dave and many of his rhetorical opponents have a similar belief: that we have a duty to our descendants to break the cycle of violence - but differ in how it should be achieved. Should we trust that parents will always do the right thing? That's not a policy. We don't trust that people won't murder each other or speed or drink drive. How do we ask people to stop beating their kids when violence towards children is legal, or can be legally justified?

    I was physically disciplined as a child - by my parents and by my schoolteachers. I'm not at all bitter about it, and I didn't turn out so bad. But is that because of the beatings, or in spite of them?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 16 posts Report Reply

  • Speaker: Copywrong II,

    Nandor has just made my morning. Of course, the threat of that bill still hangs over our heads, but the man must be applauded for his efforts to introduce some sensible argument on this topic.

    When will we be brave enough to admit that there is no such thing as IP? Such a statement does not need to contradict an author or artist's rights to assert copyright or to make a living from their work. Let's see this trend toward the protection of 'IP' for what it is - ruthless capitalism applied to creative endeavour and the realm of ideas. Locking down memes, stifling invention and competition, and in the end, the control of personal thought and behaviour by corporations.

    Phew. Sounds like the new manifesto of the copyleftists. I'm going to take a few deep breaths and replace my morning cup with a decaf.

    Seriously though, who's with me? We need volunteers for the barricades...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 16 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Citizen Key II: The High…,

    I won a prize at school for a poem about maths. The only way that could have been nerdier would be if I'd written a computer program to generate it.

    Dude. Mad respect. I think you should post a copy to John Key.

    My current business partner once wrote a program that turned any piece of random prose into poetry by removing the redundant words and improving what he termed the 'idea density'. The software actually worked (artistic considerations aside.) He then wrote an article about it, providing research and a scientific definition to back up his poetry algorithm. Now that's nerdy.

    i've still got it somewhere...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 16 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Citizen Key II: The High…,

    And the next year I won English and Creative English, the fruits of the latter being reproduced in the 1980 yearbook in the form of an amusingly romantic poem with the inscrutable title 'Integration by Inspection' (First Prize, Senior Poetry).

    Hidden depths! I also have a school prize for poetry, and I imagine that hidden out there among journalists, accountants, teachers, business leaders and street cleaners are thousands more. It's a wonderful thought that so many ghosts of teenage poets (and a few living ones) walk among us.

    In a more disturbing vein, I was also on the school debating team.

    How many former debaters walk among us? And, excuse me for this but the pun has to be made, does this make public figures like John Key mass debaters?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 16 posts Report Reply

  • Yellow Peril: Been busy. Facilitating vengeance.,

    My dad once had a boat called 'the yellow peril' in which he'd take us kids fishing. She was a dangerous beast, and painted a bright yellow because we figured that if it overturned (a not unlikely possibility) at least someone would be able to see us. Hence the name.

    I've always figured that just like my memories of a boat that once seemed huge and ugly, those that spoke of asian migrants in this way would one day shrink and decay among a mass of mildew and old fish bait. We watch on, both horrified and fascinated by their occasional outbursts, but are they really a credible threat to any seaworthy flotilla?

    Perhaps my metaphor has strained it's moorings a little too far, but you catch my drift. These people are surely no more than an amusing spectacle, a remnant of a more quaint and xenophobic time.

    P.S. Avast!

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 16 posts Report Reply

  • Yellow Peril: Public meatings,

    Forget the major organised religions. There is an insidious form of ethics creeping into the country via badly made websites and poorly written historical tracts. It makes no promises, it swears allegiance to no god. Worst of all, it's italian. sort of.

    Epicurianism is on the rise. It is a subversive & salacious philosophy believed only by godless bastards. Not only that, but most people think it's something to do with that chef on TV. Ramsay, I think. And eating snails. In such a disingenuous fashion is it gaining a foothold in our society.

    You want sensational? You want to pick on minorities? Man, you gotta find the real threats.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 16 posts Report Reply

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