Posts by Rich Lock
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Gaddafi has exploited tribal divisions within Libya to his own advantage in exactly the same way Saddam did in Iraq
Would love to know a bit more about this - can someone point me in the direction of some further reading?
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another Kosovo?*
Ah, but...
8. There is no sectarian or ethnic dimension to the Libyan conflict
So..
what exactly is it?
Perhaps something entirely new that needs to be engaged with on it's own terms?
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So nzlemming posts:
Who's that trit-trotting on my bridge?!?
And the very next post is our friend from N'awlins. I wish my timing was that good. Must be all the jazz.
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Hard News: Getting dressed for the party, in reply to Andre Alessi,
The People's Republic of Devonport is putting a plan into action to disable all ferries across the harbour (possibly with trained giant otters, details TBA) and sticking a roadblock at Narrowneck to keep out anyone who responds to the prompt "Rugby?" with "Maaaaaaate."
<gasp!> You had that dream, too! Now, if only we can persuade another 998 cats...erm, people to dream it, too!
(obscure Neil Gaiman references: I haz them)
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Field Theory: Japan moves, in reply to Emma Hart,
Um... okay. Had we done that here (and our distance from the estuary is measured in metres, not kms) it'd have been about the dumbest thing we could have done. Those "nearest hills" were in the process of falling on Redcliffs and Sumner. And we'd have been running from a tsunami that wasn't coming - for lack of information, leaving a safe place for a dangerous place.
Also, you might want to check whether your screaming and fleeing neighbours are big fans of Ken Ring's.
My Hobson's choice is to risk the rocks, or risk the waves. Watching footage of the Tsunami in Japan has given me a nasty case of the heebie-jeebies, so my personal choice is to risk the rocks. Each to their own, I guess.
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Speaker: TPPA: It's Extreme, in reply to 3410,
The key quote in that wiki article is this:
Regardless of the legal requirements for labeling, extensive education efforts by the Champagne region and the use of alternative names by non-Champagne quality sparkling wine producers, some consumers and wine sellers continue to regard champagne as a generic term for white sparkling wines, regardless of origin.
The champagne enforcers have to work double-hard to stop everyone thinking it's generic, and they're more or less fighting a losing battle. As a consequence, they're going to be jumping hard on every possible infringement to stop their unique identifier going the same way as the 'Hoover' trademark.
I still think you'd have a defence if you called your sparkling wine 'champagne-style', but you'd probably spend an awful lot of money to find out one way or the other.
Not quite my area of expertise, anyway.
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Speaker: TPPA: It's Extreme, in reply to Sacha,
Some lawyers really do have too much time on their hands.
Hey, don't blame the hammer for the hand that wields it.
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Field Theory: Japan moves, in reply to Islander,
Rich Lock - cool!
BUT
but you could be called fucking stupid.
"Disconnection" from all instant news in understandable but - when the wave comes in, you will want help, yep?
And you will expect that help to come from - just precisely where? Especially if you havent made any disaster arrangements?
Good luck with that floating house-Hey, I may be fucking stupid, but I'm not dumb!
If there's an earthquake locally, I won't be waiting for the text - I'll be grabbing the emergency supplies (which includes a radio) with one hand and the family with the other, and heading up the nearest hill. Fortunately, there's an 87m high one just outside my front door. The local CD HQ is halfway up the side of it, too.
My reason for signing up to the text alert is for anything I may not immediately be able to feel, where it's reasonable to expect a bit of a warning (say, a couple of hours or so). The phone stays on and with me all the time - I just don't feel the need to be obsessively connected to the interweb 24/7. We also sporadically listen to the radio, and I gamble that anything major we need to know about would interrupt the usual programming.
Also, if I see the neighbours screaming and fleeing, I might take a bit of notice.
Anything else, like an ACT coup in Wellington or an alien invasion, can wait until Monday morning. Asteroid strikes - I'll just have to deal with as they happen.
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Speaker: TPPA: It's Extreme, in reply to Rick Shera,
@Rick Lock/Chris Bell GIs aren't actually listed
No, some informed googling post-comment implied as much.
The WIPO page on geographic indicators is here. More Euro-specific info here.
**What is a "generic" geographical indication?**
If a geographical term is used as the common designation of a kind of product, rather than an indication of the place of origin of that product, then the term no longer functions as a geographical indication. Where this has occurred in a certain country, then that country may refuse to recognize or protect that term as a geographical indication. For example, the term “cologne” now denotes a certain kind of perfumed toilet water, regardless of whether or not it was produced in the region of Cologne.
To me, it looks like it is the responsibility of interested national organisations to defend what they consider to be their GI rights in order to stop these becoming genericised. I'm pretty comfortable with this - it's fairly clear from the examples given that the product needs to be strongly associated with a location in order for protection to be considered. I doubt very much that something as generic as stilton or cheddar would get very far. A trader is not stopped from selling Parma-**style** ham or sparkling champagne-**style** wine by this, but they do have to make it clear that it doesn't come from a particular area.