Posts by Rich Lock

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  • Hard News: Standards Matter,

    WRT 'Freakonomics', I got sucked into the hype and was mildly excited to get a copy out of the library. Very disappointing. I finished more or less every chapter thinking 'well, duh'. Most of it appeared to be stating the bleeding obvious. Isn't looking at the data in different ways what stats guys and economists are meant to be doing anyway? If there's something in the data that seems anomolous, you go looking for the reason, rather than ignoring it, right?

    And their sequel, where they suggest geo-engineering the earth to combat global warming by adding SO2 to the stratosphere where it oxidises to SO4 (sulphate) aerosols which, since they are reflective, reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the ground.

    Just...but....uh....what?

    I did enjoy one of the spin-offs - Sudhir Venkatesh's 'Gang Leader for a Day'. If you liked 'the wire', you'll probably enjoy it.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Hard News: A solution in search of…,

    I took a long, hard, look at them last time I came back from Waiheke. Good God they are an eyesore.

    Lucky that some developers built a few enormous concrete turds with orange piss-streaks down their sides right behind them. Helps distract the eye, innit?

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Up Front: Do My Homework For Me,

    Every day and every night we are subjected to World War 2 on National Geographic, The History Channel and others.

    I like to stroll into the breakroom at work (which has a telly and a sky subscription), and ask if there's any warporn on worth watching.

    Although lately they've taken to showing a whole bunch of documentaries about Atlantis and similar. Guess they must finally have run out of WW2 stuff....

    Anyway, on topic. I'd be interested in opinions on that scene in 'trainspotting', since we're discussing 'lolita', and the trainspotting scene is far more explicit.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Busytown: Testing, 1 2 3,

    A philosopher named Camus once taught
    "Aujourd'hui, maman est morte"
    But in things existential
    Satre proved less tempremental
    So de Beauvoir by Satre was caught.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Busytown: Testing, 1 2 3,

    Camus moment

    Camus can do. But Sartre is smartre.

    Don't be A Stranger, now!

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Island Life: What I saw at the step change.,

    John Key's love, is like bad medicine.
    Bad Medicine ain't what we need.

    Shake that tax system up, just like a bad medicine.
    You ain't the politician that can cure society's disease.

    We ain't got a fever, got a permanent disease
    It'll take more than a PM to prescribe a remedy
    you got lots of money but that isn't what we need
    Gonna take more than a shot to get this poison out of me

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Island Life: What I saw at the step change.,

    Jon Bonjovi sure makes sense sometimes

    Tommy used to work on the docks. Union's been on strike, he's down on his luck. It's tough, so tough.

    Words of wisdom for these troubled economic times.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Hard News: Standards Matter,

    my Spanish sounds a lot like a character from an Almodovar film

    Heh. My (almost non-existent) Spanish sounds like a bad Hollywood western for the same reason.

    Esto es un robo! Arriba las manos!

    Perhaps not the most useful phrases when enjoying a relaxing holiday in the Catalonian sun

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Tax cut zombies,

    Keith, you really must stop indulging in such doubleplusbadthink.

    You're making it very difficult for our National Overlords and their MSM toadies to achieve the consensus reality we require in order to make New Zealand internationally competitive.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Hard News: Standards Matter,

    Does the query imply that people have been commenting on the party policy without reading it? Tut tut.

    No, because the query was my first post in this thread.

    Which would tend to imply that I'm intending to read it before I comment on it, no?

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

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